MUSIC
Originally published on Wednesday, 06 December 2006
Dave, My Mind Is Going
Have you ever walked into a record store and instantly forgotten the name of every band you've ever liked?
For some reason the human brain seems to short circuit when presented with a wide choice of audio treats. This is where computers come in.
There are a whole bunch of little applications out there that can do this thinking for you, so you're able to free up your synapses for the important stuff (like deciding which X Factor contestant you'd slap if you could only choose one).
Last.FM and Pandora.com are websites specifically designed to help you discover new music based on what you already like. Type in a genre or name of an artist and huge robotic brains will quickly work out that, as a Thom Yorke fan you're probably more receptive to Nick Drake than, say, S-Club 7.
Taking it one step further is The Filter, a downloadable app that generates themed iTunes playlists for you by directly accessing your cerebral cortex (or maybe it just examine your existing library of tunes). It will even load them on to your iPod for you so you don't' have to bother with all that laborious clicking and dragging nonsense.
It's inevitable that one day computers will rise up and take over the world. Just be grateful that when they do you can expect some quality tunes to accompany the ensuing carnage.
The Filter - free to download. Currently only works on Windows XP and iTunes
