Only a Memory
On Saturday night, our whirlwind tour of concert going took us to Decatur, home of ADM and soybeans, and, for one night only, the Smithereens. It was definitely worth the smell as the band played rocking versions of all of their college radio hits, save for House We Used to Live In*, much to the chagrin of one fan. @lisha will be happy to know that the band was very good at time keeping and stage presents.

I hadn’t kept up with the band in recent years and was thus a bit shocked when they took the stage. Pat DiNizio is standing a lot further from his guitar these days, if you get my meaning. I heard after the show that he’s had some serious health issues that may have contributed to his added poundage. It didn’t affect the energy with which he delivered his vocals, however, and the band was in great form. Three of the original four piece were there, with a stand-in standing in for their new bassist. They’d be a great get for a future American Music Show, a little power pop for those of us who came of age in the 80s.

*We talked to Pat briefly after the show and he explained that they played that song during their set earlier in the evening.

Spinning All of Your Favorite Songs of Yesterday and Today
Speaking of music, if you haven’t been to Pandora yet, go there now. Wait, wait! Not yet. Let me explain first.

Pandora is free Internet radio that builds its playlists around your tastes. Tell it a favorite song or band, and it will select songs that fit that mold. It’s based on the Music Genome Project that aims to classify songs at their fundamental level and:

"capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song – everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony."

Once you create a channel, you can refine it by giving "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to the songs it plays for you. Pandora remembers your endorsements and pans when selecting songs in the future. It lets you exert influence on playlists just like record companies have for years, but without the cocaine or payola.

I have an exquisite Rilo Kiley channel going thats aged beautifully over the last couple of weeks. If I had a new iPhone so I could play it away from my laptop, I’d be golden.

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
Speaking again of music, Zooey Deschanel is the rare actress who has crossed over into singing without embarrassing herself. In fact, she has a terrific voice. She’s hooked up with M. Ward and made this, a most captivating video. It mines in Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins territory, both in the traditional country sound and the depravity-beneath-the-purity theme of the video. Enjoy, won’t you.