Dueling Apps: Pandora vs. Last.fm, Round Six: Pixies
My best iPhone music app experiences are currently with Pandora and Last.fm. I downloaded Pandora almost instantly once I got the phone, but I was pointed to Last.fm by a friend two weeks ago and since the two services are fairly similar in format and functionality, I decided it would be interesting to take one artist each day and build stations for them on the individual services. I will list the first 10 songs Pandora and Last.fm deliver for each artist, and then assess which service offered the best response.
Today, we focus on Pixies, one of the greatest bands of my generation, currently preparing to tour in support of the 20th anniversary of Doolittle.
Pandora, send me on a wave of mutilation:
1. Pixies, “Debaser.”
2. Nirvana, “Lake of Fire (live).”
3. The White Stripes, “We’re Going To Be Friends.”
4. Violent Femmes, “Blister in the Sun.”
5. Pixies, “Dead.”
6. The Strokes, “Reptilia.”
7. Modest Mouse, “3rd Planet.”
8. Nirvana, “The Man Who Sold the World.”
9. Smashing Pumpkins, “Today.”
10. Pixies, “La La Love You.”
Pro: This is a damn fine list — not a bum track on it, and it starts with one of Pixies’ all-time best, “Debaser.” Beyond that, Pandora pulled from bands that owed immeasurable debts to Black Francis and company: Kurt Cobain famously said “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was “basically trying to rip off the Pixies,” so it makes sense that Nirvana shows up twice, albeit with covers. And from that same era, there are few radio hits that sound as much like Pixies as “Today.” This is a station that could stay on for days and kick the living hell out of any commercial alternative rock station in the country.
Con: Pandora’s output could use more Pixies contemporaries and fewer descendants. The late-’80s were a ridiculously fertile period for Boston bands, 4AD bands, noisy college bands. Throwing Muses, perhaps? More please.
Last.fm, gouge away:
1. Black Francis, “You Can’t Break a Heart and Have It.”
2. Frank Black and the Catholics, “Six-Sixty-Six.”
3. The Flaming Lips, “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell.”
4. Violent Femmes, “Confessions.”
5. Dinosaur Jr., “Just Like Heaven.”
6. Sonic Youth, “Superstar.”
7. Pavement, “Secret Knowledge of Backroads.”
8. Jane’s Addiction, “Jane Says.”
9. Built To Spill, “Traces.”
10. The Replacements, “Take Me Down To The Hospital.”
Pro: Hard to argue with Dinosaur Jr. or Sonic Youth being on Last.fm’s list, and I’ll take the ‘Mats or the Lips in any context. Also, I think there’s a fair argument to be made that Gordon Gano’s ranting style must have seeped into Black Francis’ mind at some point, so the Femmes definitely work, and that Pavement track is a classic by any measure.
Con: This is becoming a familiar refrain with Last.fm, but there’s no Pixies here. I took it out about 35 songs, and Pixies never showed up. And even with superb Dino Jr., Sebadoh, Husker Du, and Sonic Youth regularly turning up, it never got closer to the mark than Frank Black/Black Francis solo material.
Advantage: Despite good scholarship, Last.fm got tripped up by a hole in their licensing. Pandora wins.
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Jorge – what do you think of the Slacker music site? I’ve actually had a great time with that one.