A little while back, I read about an iPod software upgrade at Of dreams and visions. It includes a new button called Genius (Apple never were very modest…) which creates automatic playlists, combining music you already own in new and interesting ways.
As I’m flu-ey just now, I thought this would be exactly the right kind of undemanding activity, so I finally got round to installing the upgrade and playing around with it.
This Genius thing really is pretty good. What you do is select a song you own, click the Genius button and it chooses from all the music you have on your iPod to combine tracks that work well together.
I do have, it must be said, a pretty eclectic collection of music. For my first test I chose, pretty much at random, a song by Loreena McKennitt. For those of you who don’t know her work, her music is heavily Celtic influenced.
Well that little Genius button served me up a mini-interfaith and international playlist that I never would have thought of putting together! The list of tracks contained more Celtic stuff, from McKennitt and Enya, several pieces of Moroccan and other Sufi music, some of Yusuf Islam’s best songs, the amazing Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour, a good helping of monastic chant and a couple of pieces of birdsong I’d forgotten I even had. It was beautiful sitting back and listening to all these pieces blending into one another. A lovely metaphor for what we hold in common.
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Huge fan of Yusuf, and now going to update my iTunes and see what will happen. Thanks!
Drink tea, stay cozy, and be well, friend.
Love the music, but I have no iPod, iPhone, blackberry, or the like. I have a cell phone …
I saw a shirt recently that said:
“Living a 78rpm life in an iPod world.”
Perhaps I need that shirt?!
Hugs!
Glad you had some fun with Genius. It does throw up some wierd combinations, but I guess that’s part of its charm.
Get well soon!
hope the music is easing the flu-eyness
this is so exciting. i installed the genius upgrade a couple of weeks ago and all i saw it do was recommend music for me to buy so i closed it up and haven’t look again…but that’s about to change!
love the little interfaith playlist you received. can’t wait to go play myself.
I’m glad this post struck a chord (pause while you all groan at terrible pun).
Barbara, love the idea of that T-shirt. I’m fairly geeky in most respects but although I have one, the thing I really dislike is the mobile phone. Very few people have the number and I keep it for urgent calls only.
That sounds like some fantastic playlist. Wow. Music to make art by
Tess, Having gone down with the cold, achey, sneezing, coughing, stuffy head, runny nose, slight temperature – yukky – myself a couple of weeks ago I can certainly relate to your situation. I hope it is short rather than long lived.
Loved your tips on Genius – I saw the notice too and didn’t take time to follow up on it – will now:) Thanks.