In praise of Spotify

AndyinBrum

Sigh no More by Mumford & Sons is excellent. Little Lion Man is a brilliant track, even with the naughty word use.

Rhoda Klapp

No Zep either. But I've been listening to Bessie Smith, Joseph Locke, Peter Dawson and Warren Zevon, all mixed up with Robeson, Baez, Muse, Beiderbecke and Klapp Juniors band and tons of other stuff. And all free, if you don't mind the odd commercial.

Glucoboost

Spotify is unbelievable.

The Cocteau Twins, Julius Hemphill, loads of versions of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue, Paula Abdul's Straight Up, Stanley Jordan's Freddie Freeloader, etc., etc. The problem is that it is so distracting!

charles hercock

I concur spotify lets you relive your youth and expands misic horizons in a way that the ipod.Capital Radio and Classic FM cannot.All should subscribe.Bet Dave does

David Ossitt

I hate this new Comments lay-out.

Anders Austad

Hi, great writeup! Make sure you check out Pitchify.com for discovering the most recent and best music on Spotify

James A

I agree with all. It's great just browsing for music trying it out and then discarding.

Very good for classical music too.

I mostly love it because on my iPhone I can listen to music on the go and store the music offline on the iPhone for when on the underground or in dodgy mobile reception. Now the offline works while on mobile network too no need for wifi.

Apparently it will run in the background on the iPhone shortly removing my last bugbear about it (I cannot listen while browsing the web on my iPhone)

cmp

Same experience as you Fraser. A bunch of us have a shared playlist we can all add tracks to, lots of new gems discovered.
Re Air, I guess you've tried Royksopp - Melody AM?

EC

David Ossitt,

"I hate this new Comments lay-out."

So, nothing new there then!

Joe

An album as good as MOON SAFARI? How about SUPER DISCOUNT by Etienne DeCrecy?

Joe

Scott Jordan Harris

Now that Fraser Nelson has posted here, I feel the new Spectator Arts Blog has truly arrived. It's a great honour to be associated with it.

I've yet to succumb to Spotify but, after reading this, I sense my conversion is inevitable. And the prospect of a Spotify for films is just mind-blowing.

Joe

Another recommendation. This time a song and not an album. Check out a song called PLOCK by a band called PLONE. I am not sure if it is on SPOTIFY but you can hear it on YouTube. Has an AIR type feel to it - but it is even better. One of the best songes ever...

libertarian

All fine an dandy unless you live in the country, broadband ? Don't make me laugh.

Come on BT I live in the SE of England less than 30 miles from London and on a main A road surely you can do better than less than 1 meg

Bonzodog

Watch out with spotify for those with capped download limits .... very very bandwidth hungry!

Leo

"all without feeling the guilt of spending 69p on an iTunes indulgence"

How very Scottish of you!

Joe

One more!

Check out the album IN BETWEEN by Jazzanova. Particularly the opening track (L.O.V.E YOU AND I).

Joe

I lied! How can I leave this thread without mentioning 'THE THREE EPS' by THE BETA BAND? They are kinda' like a Scottish version of AIR. I hate putting labels to music - so that is probably a stupid description!

Joe

Joe

Man. A couple more. I can't not mention these:

Check out - LA REVANCHA DEL TANGO by THE GOTAN PRJECT.

And - WALTZ FOR KOOP by KOOP. The ALTERNATIVE TAKES remix version of that album is very good as well...

And any compliaiton albums by Giles Peterson. Particulary the first WORLDWIDE double album and the INCREDIBLE SOUND OF GILES PETERSON album.

I'll shut up now...

Joe

Joe

Joe

old fogey

oh ye gods, an editor of the esteemed and beloved Spectator listening to aural tat (apart from the Scottish folk stuff); the ubiquity of Anglo -American musical trash has been one of the reasons for the general dumbing down in these countries.

Greg

Try last.fm

David Jennings

Spotify is a Swedish company with very few staff in the UK. In what way is it "directed from London"? Or are you referring to the equity stake that the more London-based record companies have in Spotify (though the biggest of those are in turn owned by Americans, French and Japanese)?

Tiberius

Like you, Fraser, my Dad (in his seventies) thinks Spotify is terrific. Much to my surprise, he did away with a great collection of trad jazz 78s and 33s after putting them on to digital media, and now listens to Spotify at every opportunity.

I'm afraid that I still love to stick on a vinyl LP in preference to anything else. Digital media loses some of the art form that a 33rpm contains.

And on a related topic, remember that Capt. Kirk read paper books. Not for him the ship's computer banks when he wanted a good read.

Breaker

Pandora was even better. Based on a music database, you could set the genre, or just specify a track. Pandora would then play you tracks in the same vein, based on its music database of "this track is a bit like this one..."

The software was adaptive so you could love or hate a given track, and it'd update your profile and emphasise other tracks similar to loved tracks whilst not playing tracks similar to the ones you'd hated.

Within 3 months it was like having my own personal DJ, playing music ranging from dub reggae, trance, metal and electronica.

The BPI and Pandora failed to reach a deal over money, and Pandora was forced to block UK users.

Smart move, BPI you tools. I went from not buying music for about 5 years to buying about 2 albums a month based on Pandora's playlist. BPI tried to bend Pandora over on royalties so they'd break even at best or lose money by providing their service to the UK.

So, after that, I've not bought another album. Free Spotify suffices, but Pandora got me buying CDs again.

Andrew SouthLondon

Spotify is a great resource - for deciding whether you want to buy a particular piece of music in a proper recording medium - vinyl or cd - for proper quality playback in a proper quality soundsystem.

Example: after auditioning various Lee Morgan albums (NYC 1960's) I decided which I really liked most, tracked down a specialist record shop that had this 45 year old record, and spent £35 on buying a Blue Note Liberty release from the early 70's

On my high-end vinyl system I can enjoy this wonderful piece of music as an intimate performance by the hugely talented musicians like a concert staged for me in my living room. I can almost reach out and touch the cymbal-strikes. and there is a young man trapped in my left speaker honking away on a saxophone.

Does Spotify do this for you? You are missing something. Its the difference between an actual Van Gogh and a photocopy of a Van Gogh.

Officialview

But Fraser, you may have noticed that it's a bit irritating because you can't download from Spotify, transfer to an Ipod, transfer to a PC etc. As always, technology has the answer - Roxio Creator and other programmes available on the high street will enable you to record anything coming through your sound card. Then you edit out the odd commercial on playback and: simples! You really do have it all.

Long the UK

Fraser,

Some brilliant albums:

Travels by the Pat Methney Group.

Crystal Silence by Chick Corea.

Padlock by Gwen Guthrie and Larry Levan.

Antarctica by Vangelis.

Passion Fruit by Michael Franks.

Vettekulla

"Directed from London"? Come, come Fraser you of all people should know that Spotify, like Free Schools, is a Swedish invention.

se1man

Fraser et al,
All very well writing about what you like to listen to on Spotify, but why not put together one or two 'Spectator playlists' on Spotify that can be shared with us all through Facebook etc?

Wirch

Fraser you must listen to the Menahan Street Band, and also the Phenomenal Handclap Band

ndm

I prefer the ephemerality of radio. Not to mention I would have to spend an awful long time listening to music to find some of the songs Mark Lamarr comes up with on his Radio 2 show.

James

Excellent post, I've listened to, and come to love, Avro Part, Philip Glass, Jake Thackaray, Schnittke - something impossible, due to cost and difficulty in finding, previously.

I do wonder though how many people have the eclectic taste on show in this thread, are there enough of us to keep it going?

And Alex, if you haven't already please persuade whoever in charge to open up your comments section and make it easier for debate - I'm sure you could get some good discussion going.

Richard Gregory

Moon Safari? Of course, you'll have tried Buckley's Grace, but I suspect an older candidate will hit the spot(ify): Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden. It's a rare week it doesn't take a turn.

Frank P

How much did you cop for the blurb?

London Calling

Forget about the Man who changed your life and change this awful comments layout, its so The Sun Newspaper online comments page copied and lowers the tone to grey and dreary…:(...

and Spotify sounds like a spot cream for teenagers…your praise is perverse…
Limewire is free…:)

London Calling

Dubs.

Your search is over Frazer - try A Special Album by Myerz Ralph and the Jack Herren Band.

Nicholas

Nothing more boring than trendy obsessives listing obscure bands and tracks that they personally enjoy. If you haven't listened to it none of these comments tell you anything about the music and are absolutely meaningless.

What about Zonka by the Poggly-Woggly Band, their fifth album and much better than their third, blah, blah, blah. Grow up.

Neil Staton

I have grown to pretty much hate music these days. You cant go anywhere anymore with out having to hear music, it's like my life has a backin track.

Pubs, shops, petrol statons even when at traffic lights theres some dick at the side of you with their music on too loud.

I was in a Subway the other week and the lad behind the counter had to turn the music down because he could'nt hear what I was ordering, I refused to raise my voice, but it makes you wonder what sort of business reliant on customers is thinking when them customers have to shout their order.

simon

The pictures of albums covers to the left of this post mostly link the album on Spotify... Cool music is only a click away!

PayDirt

Bollocks

AndyinBrum

There are some gloriously cumugenly posts on here. It's like my parents & their friends have joined the Speccie

David Ossitt

EC

"So, nothing new there then!"

Why the need for sarcasm?

Tony E

I understand the appeal of Spotify, but it is part of the culture that is destroying the music industry, blow by blow.

In my youth, I never considered music as something disposable. There was always a collectability to what we bought. There was much more than the music in the grooves, and the enjoyment was more than just the listening. Think about the iconic designs which graced albums by Pink Floyd or Queen, or even the starkness of the Pistols album. That really isn't the case now.

So why is piracy such a problem? Precisely because the album as a concept is being killed off by single track downloading. The CD was a big step toward this simply because the feel of the disk and packaging had none of the delicacy and imagination of the vinyl record, and therefore they became less prized- you could abuse them and they still worked and people then treat with less care and attention.

Before the album, music was considered disposable, people bought singles on 7"- there was no artwork, no information and music was very simple. The Album allowed the art form to grow and therefore the product became more desirable - the return to the single download has undone that process. Am I alone in thinking that is rather sad?

PayDirt

Brummie: did you mean curmudgeonly, you illiterate?

AndyinBrum

Paydirt, I did, I'm blaming my iPhone's spell checker (whistles innocently)

Stu

Fleet Foxes is not a new album but it's fantastic. I'm also in love the new Local Natives album (Gorilla Manor).

Dave B

My best album recommendation would have to be 'Am I not your girl' by Sinead O'Connor, which includes my favourite version of Gloomy Sunday.

Link below to 'Gloomy Sunday':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98LDN37-N3A

Andy Carpark

Stu - Vastly inferior, IMO, to the cover version by Anthony Omwukwe with Sandy Toksvig on didgeridoo and J Arthur Rank on gong.

Keep it real, bro. Chirp, Meow, Great Scott.

ollie

guess what - there's a site called Limewire which is completely free. Nobody PAYS for music downloads, do they??

charles hercock

If only politics produced such enthusiasm

The Man

Speccie readers turn out to be a bunch of groovers. Who knew?

James B

Absolutely agreed, Fraser. The exciting thing is that Spotify is the first use of cloud computing that really shows the average Internet user its potential (actually, Gmail was, but the server-side / client-side split of email confuses the hell out of most Internet users, so they didn't properly appreciate it).

Interestingly, though, not everyone is sold. I introduced a friend to Spotify, and he has it installed, but he still will buy an album and load it into iTunes. He just doesn't seem to appreciate listening to the music unless it is somehow 'his' - strange.

KB

Fraser,

If you want to try some ancient French electro rather than retro French electro, have you considered the work of Jean-Jacques Perrey?

old fogey

Nah. German electro retro does it for me everytime.Mmm. And have you heard the latest CD by the Senegalese....