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From abundance to meaning in Spotify

Gabriel — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:37:54 +0000

Since Spotify Social was launched about a month ago, I have noticed some interesting behaviors among my Facebook friends when it comes to the use of playlists.

A number of my friends use their playlist column just to dump albums that they like. They have a (often) large number of playlists that each just contains one album. I guess this makes sense if you want to stay in the library mentality that iTunes is built on. Considering that Spotify now has a library of its own, with all the music that you have "saved" across all playlists sorted according to artist, title or album, makes this approach pretty much redundant.

Some of them, including me, try to organize playlists according to genre. So I have about 15 playlists each entitled things like Jazz, Reggae & Dub, French, 80s House, and I try to keep them somewhat homogenous, though it's pretty hard after a while and I started to doubt this approach when I almost added a new playlist called Electronic Upbeat Lounge. And you don't need to mention that Jazz should probably be at least five different lists, I know.

But the most interesting way to deal with the playlists is what you could call the "mood approach". Well, mood and/or situational, I guess. These people are making lists with songs that are homogenous, not in the way they sound, but in the mood or occasion they fit. This is not a new concept, people have been making mix tapes since the 80s, but it's quite a different thing when you can do it with this amount of music so easily available and in such a social manner. In fact, the playlists that I have enjoyed subscribing to the most are the ones that are completely mood based. It gives a lot more insight into the person who made them and allows for much more interesting music discovery.

This collection process and use of songs seems very postdigital [swedish link] to me. There seems to be a strong need (or natural tendency) for context when consuming music and Spotify are enabling their users to take heed of this need with their new social features.

Mest slätstruken vinner

Gabriel — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:23:00 +0000

Anna Björklund skriver klokt om bristen på (riktig) journalistik om Gants roddtävling mellan internatskolorna i Lundsberg och Sigtuna och passar på att ge en känga åt den samlade modebloggsvärlden för deras totala brist på (själv)kritik. Jag kommer att tänka på videointervjun med några bloggare från i höstas gjord av Fashion Tale Magazine.

Mest slående är Signe Siemsens “Jag skriver inte alls även fast jag tycker att den är bra eller verkligen inte för att jag tycker det är en dålig produkt. Det är inte okej, man har ju ändå fått en produkt.”

Synthetic life or the convergence of everything

Gabriel — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:57:00 +0000

The news just broke that Dr Craig Venter of J. Craig Venter Institute has created “synthetic life” in a controlled lab environment. A cell with an entirely new, constructed, genetic code is replicating without mutating, if I have understood the experiment correctly and not mistranslated it into layman’s terms.

While this is news in itself and one the most exciting things to happen in natural science in my lifetime, I will let other, more qualified individuals, comment on that, at least for now. However, just today I finished reading the novel Atomised by Michel Houellebecq. The book ends with an epilogue describing how in 2011 and onward, a movement to replace the human species with a new, perfected, version of “us” is launched. It left a very profound impression with me this afternoon and I know have serious doubts about my moral ground. Unfortunately I loaned it to a friend just a couple of hours ago so I can’t quote from it.

So imagine how I feel after this new piece of news (a piece that is nowhere to be found on the CNN.com first page, by the way). But more than anything I am struck by how whenever I encounter something new in my life it seems to pop up everywhere. Today the creation of synthetic life. The day before yesterday speculoos (à tartiner). A phenomenon I just dubbed convergence of everything (a humbug term of course, but it’ll do until I’ve read more about it) and will probably write more about.

Read more about the synthetic life of JCV Institute: BBC, Edge, the article in Science.

Steve Jobs will “free” us all from porn

Gabriel — Sat, 15 May 2010 20:44:54 +0000

Having email discussions with Steve Jobs on friday nights can lead to some pretty juicy quotes. How about "[we're offering] freedom from porn!". While I won't contest that Apple are probably pretty smart (at least in the short run) to make the iPad a closed environment, the tone and subtext of his opinions don't really make me a more loyal Apple customer. If I buy a DVD player, I wan't it to be able to play all DVDs, even ones with questionable content.

#followfriday i bloggform, vecka 46

Gabriel — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:58:00 +0000

Följer ett antal exempel och skriver ett längre inlägg istället för att endast via twitter rekommendera spännande människor. Dessa personer har på ett eller annat sätt förgyllt den gångna veckan för mig. Se till att följa dem!

Ingen inbördes ordning(!):

@chezpim – En av mina favoritmatbloggar.

@jocke – För att han rapporterat live från mötet för Visby Agenda och verkat föredömligt insatt

@JohnMellkvist – Reklam och PR (och annat) med hjärta och hjärna.

@FredrikW – Ägnade gårdagen att driva med jagvillhajobb.nu o dyl. ‘Nuff said.

@Hammarstrand – En RT-maskin. Många spännande länkar och puffade inlägg per dag.

@foraretaffel – Sveriges bästa matpersonlighet på nätet (öht?).

@7direkt – Radiohumorn har flyttat till ett mer socialt medium.

@gowalla och @foursquare – Roligaste nya mobiltjänsterna just nu. Kör båda parallelt, ska snart skriva något om dem. Någon som undrar något särskilt om gowalla vs foursquare?

Trevlig helg!

The Invention of Solitude

Gabriel — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:47:00 +0000

“He wants to say. That is to say, he means. As in the French, ‘vouloir dire,’ which means, literally, to want to say, but which means, in fact, to mean. He means to say what he wants. He wants to say what he means. He says what he wants to mean. He means what he says”

Från The Invention of Solitude, Paul Auster 1982

Men det ger övning.

Gabriel — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:27:00 +0000

Du kan inte lära dig att laga mat genom att följa recept

via bacon.hornfeldt.se

Naked Highway – Wet Like Sweat (The Model Remix)

Gabriel — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:55:58 +0000

via youtube.com

(NSFW) Fantastiskt; dekadent, sexigt och låten är magnifik.

Via: ADDICTS

Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – Bonkers (Video)

Gabriel — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:27:20 +0000

via youtube.com

Jag antar att hiphopen och den elektroniska musikens intåg i varandras domäner har pågått ett tag nu, så hade det inte varit Dizzee och Armand hade det varit några andra. Men jag gillar det.

Posted via web from gbergin’s posterous

Late to the minimalist party

Gabriel — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:26:53 +0000

…but what a party it turned out to be. I have just discovered the musical genius that is Steve Reich – thank you Spotify!

I’ve only yet scratched the surface of what seems to be a musical universe, probably the most interesting universe I’ve come across so far. Listening through a collection of some of Mr Reich’s works while trying to grasp theories and practices behind marketing, which all of a sudden seems terribly inconsequential when placed next to this ethereal and exciting auditory experience.

Listen: Ensemble Modern – Phases

Posted via web from gbergin’s posterous