Mel's Musical Experiment

Out of pure curiosity of the awesome Last.FM and it's users, I decided to conduct an experiment.

For those of you who are not familiar with Last.FM, it's a music networking website which documents the music you listen to on your computer, and puts it all together to make a profile of your music tastes. You can use this programming to find new artists you may like, listen to music you might not have yet (or don't want to spend the money to buy), to experiment with new and different artists, and to meet other music loving audiophiles like yourself.

You can also use it as a radio of sorts, in which you can type in a tag, or a keyword, and it will bring up a playlist of music that has been tagged by that word or phrase by other Last.FM users.

Because I'm curious like a killed cat, I decided to see what I would get if I typed in the tag "terrible". I'm a maverick, I know.

So what to I get?

"Discipline" by Halo33, a remix based project of Nine Inch Nails material. Err...okay, I agree with the "terrible" part.

"Driver Down" by Trent Reznor. Uh...apparently a lot of people dislike Nine Inch Nails, which is strange. I thought they were a hipster extreme band. I mean, Johnny Cash covered one of their songs, for crying out loud. Doesn't that count for their cool factor? I mean, I don't really dig it but...

"The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson. Okay, this one I have to disagree with. As much of a fan I am of pop music, there is just something about this creepy track that I really like. Plus, in some weird disturbing way that I can't quite explain, Vanessa Hudgen's "Let's Dance" reminds me of this song, in the way she half whispers "I've got to keep it together" in a very "The Beautiful People" way. Oh yeah, I just compared Marilyn Manson to Disney star. I'm that edgy. Anyone else hear it? No? Just me? Alright then...

I try a new station based on the tag "stupid". I get:

"No One" by a female-fronted punk band called Stupid. It's actually not half bad.

Hmm...interesting, she smirks.

I try "not good". Here is where it gets strange.

I get "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas, a song from the 'Meet the Robinsons' soundtrack. Strange choice, indeed. Especially because my love T Lopez (of Soluna fame) was featured in the music video. I've seen Rob in concert, and he was phenomenal. Who is this smuck who thinks Rob is "not good"? I need to mess him up a bit. Agreed, this isn't his best track, but still...

"Mind Trick" by Jamie Cullum. Cullum didn't have too big of an impact here in the States but I was under the impression that he was a bit of bigger deal in his native England. Admittedly, "lounge jazz" isn't really my cup of tea, but I suppose he's a perfectly good musician.

Here is the clincher: I get Billy Joel. I'm sorry, but as an "Uptown Girl" myself, nothing -- absolutely NOTHING done by Billy Joel can be considered "not good" by any standard. Much less the song I got: "Movin' Out", the song that spawned a hit Broadway "musical".

Ahhh Last.Fm, you allusive minx. You always surprise me. I was expecting a lot of Jonas Brothers or David Archuleta. Touche. Kind of.