Readers of Hamish's occaisional diary page may have seen a post about Last FM a while back. I decided to jump on board a couple of weeks ago, and like many others I am amazed this sort of thing is a) legal and b) relatively unused.
Here is a little bit from the webpage;
So basically, you download a plugin from Audioscrobbler and sign-up… Winamp or iTunes updates the website with each song played and your music profile starts to build. Once you have a few hundred songs in your profile you can stream a radio station tailored to your musical tastes, you can also sample songs from albums similar to albums in your collection.
You can see my current music profile and listen to my personal radio station by following the links below.At the moment Last FM is not anywhere near its potential, but it is one of those great internet applications which I hope takes off*. One thing that is slowing it down (if you pardon the pun) is bandwidth, most people probably don't have the bandwidth to stream 128kb/s radio and 'work' on the net at the same time, let alone the download quota to stream 1Gb of music a day, but better deals are released every month and it's only a matter of time before internet radio and then internet TV are a very viable option.
Last FM also requires a lot of users for it to be successful. With such a small number of users to choose from my 'Profile Radio' can be a little hit and miss, some of my musical neighbours are not even in the right postcode… I need a few more Fancy D. Bowers and KLs to give me some closer matches and musical direction 
.
* Like epinions, which sadly has not reached its potential either.
KL says:
Are the top artists/albums/songs the top ones for you or overall? Like are they are the ones you have listened to most, or things you have nominated as being your faves or what?
My recommendation would be look for any Ninja Tune stuff, as there is a great artist roster in all different styles. They should lead you onto others. Luke Vibert is on Ninja Tunes.
killer says:
The top artists/albums/songs are for me personally… My Winamp sends the ID3 information to Audioscrobbler/Last FM (they are the same people), this info is then used to create the top artists/albums/songs lists. The album covers just appear once you start building a profile.
badger says:
my audioscrobbler username is big_perm so my page is at
http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/big_perm/
I'm using an old version of itunes here at uni though so the music just represents what I listen to at ma n' pa permies place
hamish says:
there's some way you can make it remember what you listen to even when not connected to the internet, then it coughs it all up at a later date. you have to edit an applescript but it's not too taxing.
killer says:
Couldn't ya update yer copy of iTunes Badger? The public wants to know what you listen to in that ivory tower of yours.
Also, who is dunk_fubiest?
badger says:
I think the main problem is that I'm still rocking Mac OS 9 - the audioscrobbler itunes plugin is a dmg file which i think is an OS X only thing. It is a shame because in addition to keeping the outside world ignorant of the magical phantasia land that is my itunes playlist the rest of the physics department is also denied access to it streaming onto their computers from mine, which is a pretty rad feature of the newer versions of itunes. I could upgrade my operating system but to do that now, within 2 weeks of submitting my thesis, would be both foolhardy and, erm, silly.
Dunkfubiest is my mate Bim in Sydney, he has regularly helped me out over the last couple of years of PhD induced poverty by sending me cds in the mail. He has good taste but comes from more of a sydney style funky house/ hip hop background whereas I'm more of an embittered isolationist country person. Yet somehow we've congrued to the same musical points more or less.
How about we do it the old fashioned way? Rocking my uni itunes at the moment is:
Cats drunk on copper by Current 93
Beelines to Heaven ep by Garageland
a radioplay called "The Lonliest Road" by Gregory Whitehead (featuring music by the books whose album the lemon of pink is FUCKING AWESOME and i can't recommend highly enough)
Guided by Voices doing a version of Baba O'Reilly (originally by the Who)
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death by John Fahey
Mastered by Guy at the Exchange by Max Tundra (props to Curtis and Fancy for this one, I saw him play in Barcelona and he was a fucking insaniac, at the end of his set it was this banging techno number with all the spanish kids dancing their e-addled hearts out and he was playing an electric guitar with one foot on the monitor speaker with this wailing prog rock guitar solo, it was both hilarious and really great)
Ultravisitor by Squarepusher
and finally the Postal Service singing a version of Phil Collin's "Against all odds"
so now you know. I could blather on about this sort of thing for hours.
KL says:
I thought you fucking HATED Phil Collins?
badger says:
That's that twit matty m. bubba. I was arguing FOR Phil. The disheveled office worker glamour. The thinning hair. The sprightly cockney lad that slayed hollywood - he's got it all. Plus didn't he deliver one of the best lines in filmic history, aka "Please sir, can I have some more?"?
Don't you listen to anything we say on the bus?
fancy dave says:
Phil Collins was in "Oliver!"?
What the fucking fuck?!?!?!?!?!?
Listen to some early Genesis (while they still had Peter Gabriel) for more Collins-class fun.
My Dad took me to see him at the Ent Cent, and it was pretty cool, even for a teenager trying not to like it much because my Dad did. He can REALLY play the drums, and he had Chester Thompson playing when he wasn't, and both sometimes. Chester is famously good and black, BTW.
But on a sad note, how much does everything he's done since "Groovy Kind of Love" suck my arse? A lot, for those of you who don't understand rhetorical questions.
KL says:
Badge, that is really weird. I remember that conversation but I got it all arse-backwards. I could have sworn that it was Matty arguing for Phil, me in the middle, and you against.
I stand corrected. And I apologise, sincerely. There's a girl that's been on my mind… Su su ssudio.
badger says:
Damn, a quick internet search reveals he wasn't in the movie Oliver!, just some crummy London musical version of the same name (as the artful dodger). I for one am going to continue to insist that it was him in the movie though like I did to someone last weekend. And if anyone looks it up on the internet i'll go "the internet?" *rolls eyes* "I suppose someone really can insert their head up someone else's bottom then eh?"
Barney says:
I didn't even know Phil Collins had done anything since Groovy Kind of Love.
But then why would I, I suppose…
B-Diddy DubSac says:
I must compliment you on that iTunes list there Badge….
And by compliment I mean to say "what the friggin who now?" Cat Crunk Baba Voices? Where's ya Nelly's, Avril's and downloaded Oz Idol 2 samples?…
Furthermore, IF Phil Collins was (as you say) the Artful Dodger - why in the hell would he be saying the immortal "Please Sir…" line that is actually uttered by Oliver himself (a young Rory Calhoon)???
Stick to the iAcid bro…
And FURTHERMORE, I'll see your "Phil Collins" Fancy, and raise you a "Chris De Burgh"!!!! Eve won free tickets off 6PM (before it became PMFM, y'know when it had cred) and we sat at the top of the Ent Centre knowing only "Lady In Red", but leaving with memories of "Patricia The Stripper" and images of ubernerds swaying in their chairs whilst the discoball rotated…..
BUT TO TOP THAT - Eve then proceeded to fill out a competition form on the way out, and wouldn't ya know ya rotten luck - WON THE ENTIRE BACK CATALOGUE OF CHRIS DEBURGH ON CD!!! - point of fact, this prompted Aunty Jude to actually shell out the bills for a CD PLAYER!!! Sorta hard rotating em on a compass…and yes, I own Disc 10, "Best Of"….
$BDW$ King O Bling *sigh* internet :roll:
hamish says:
I encourage everyone to join the <a href="http://www.last.fm/group/Fuck%2BEvanescence"> FUCK EVANESANCE"</a> group in last.fm.
Good stuff.
There's a group for Flock of Seagulls too.