warren's posterous

...content to be confirmed...

Simple but so rich: gender plot of artists listened to on Last FM #dataviz

Click here to download:
gender_plot.pdf (14 KB)
(download)

[Download the pdf so you can see what's going on properly]

Seriously, this is is so good. Axes are pretty self-explanatory - the vertical axis show the gender ratio for listeners to an artist (ie Gaga v. popular with the ladies, Kyle Hall not so). The size of the artist's name corresponds to my number of listens in the last six months.

On a side note, this covers the last six months. I don't actually listen to a lot of music through Last Fm itself (occasionally I use the artist radio stations). Mostly this is scrobbling my own stuff through iTunes and, more recently, through Spotify which I'm using more despite it's quite limited selection. One blind spot on scrobbling is listening to mixes, even if it picks up the DJ name OK - listening to an hour of Bok Bok registers the same as a 3-minute DJ Nate track.

Perhaps an option to use length of time rather than number of tracks as a variable could be included?

All in all, a *great* data visualisation - if you're a Last FM user you can get your gender plot here.

[hat tip to @lexpretend]

Glasto highlights: #1 Avett Brothers

David Roberts from Grist puts together an annual 'best of' CD which, remarkably, he's happy to ship to anyone who requests it for free. Last year's edition turned me on to a lot of stuff I'd never heard before, most notably the Avett Brothers.

Relatively unknown in the UK, the Avalon tent was respectably populated but nothing like the ridiculous roadblock for the preceding errr....Wurzels.

The performance was insane, incredible energy and musicianship to match the jawdrpping songwriting. I and You and Love and (party banger) Slight Figure of Speech were highlights, but I've picked Laundry Room here; one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in a long time.

Ladies & gennlemen, THE AY-VETT BRUDDERS!

Glasto highlights countdown #4: Block 9

Wandering around the site on the Friday night after the main stages finished, we inevitably ended up in the Shangri-La/Block 9 area where dancing and loud music was available *all night*.

Turning the corner into Block 9 was the only moment my jaw genuinely dropped, on seeing this:

4746109797_c43e41e8b1
(Flickr user: Paul Holloway)

An extremely convincing stage set of six storey high block of flats impaled halfway up by an Underground train, under which was a superb club space, a long, low ceilinged strobe-hole.

My only Glastonbury regret was not spending more time here during the weekend. What time was spent here was mostly in Bez's Acid House, some good music marred by dodgy DJing; although this could possibly be excused by Bez 'delivering vibes' in close proximity to the decks at all times.

Having said that, once one of the greatest intros in the history of music kicked in, needless to say it 'went off':

Glasto highlights countdown: #5 Florence and the Machine

In an attempt to prevent all this year's Glasto memories evaporating, I'm counting down my top 5 moments in reverse order, one per day, in true Fluff Freeman style. In at 5...

Glastonbury is all about serendipity, seeing the stuff you wouldn't normally make an effort to or would never even come into contact with. If anyone says to you "don't fancy much in the line-up this year" *that's not the point*. There has never been much I really like in advance; the first year I went, this house music fiend was not catered for at all but still had the time of his life.

Anyhow, Flo and her unspecified contraption are just the sort of thing Glasto is for - I wouldn't normally go out of my way to see her Kate Bush 2.0 stylings but was intrigued to see her live. Her performance was superb: generating huge stage presence with nothing more than great theatricality and an astonishing voice. I thought some of the songs were over-long and, on occasion, a little dull, but I was clearly the minority in a large, loud, adoring crowd.

The unexpected treat was a cover of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain, something suprisingly few partists have tried. Here's an audio version, probably a case of enjoy this before it's taken down:

 

PS I'll be linking to YouTube material in these Glasto posts. There is a ton of material available on the BBC's Glastonbury site (including the Florence gig), but I believe it will all be taken down fairly swiftly in true iPlayer fashion. In addition, most of the material is not embeddable anyway.

I don't know the ins and outs of the copyright issues involved, but surely the BBC would be better equipped to defend its spending on the coverage if it was a permanently accessible archive of a national arts institution, rather than something that disappears after a few days.

The Xmas Mix 09 is here!

Santamoped

 

After a bit of prodding from peeps who enjoyed last year's effort, my second annual Christmas mix has been borne into in the world:

The Xmas Rush '09 (right-click to download)

...so called because its gestation was *much* shorter than last year's epic and, upon listening, you will feel a massive surge of *Yule*phoria.

There are no physical copies this year - download only baby - so click and be merry. It's your annual antidote to holiday humbug.

As usual, it's up to you to guess the tracks - if you recognise anything or want to cheer/boo the choices, feel free to leave your answers in the comments below (you can log in via Facebook if you like).

However, be warned: after last year's teaser, the 'droids duet is included in full...