I’ve really been digging the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, “Unlimited Love”. Chad Smith has always been a drumming inspiration as mine, and I’ve been humbled when musicians I’ve played with compare my style to his. My favorite track on the album has to be Aquatic Mouth Dance, which has a really funky groove that accents the off-beat 16th notes from the snare to the kick.
1
e
&
a
2
e
&
a
3
e
&
a
4
e
&
a
Snare
X
X
Kick
X
X
X
X
X
I’ll admit I struggled with the temptation of playing the 2e on the snare. If you listen closely to my cover, I’m sure you’ll find a few of my slip-ups with that groove. Overall this was a really fun song that I was anxious to try.
As always, I’d love to hear what you think and would love to know which Chili Peppers song is your favorite.
It’s taken 9 years, but I’ve eclipsed 60,000 listens, or Scrobbles using Last.fm. For those who don’t know, this is a site that tracks your listens and provides data and recommendations based on your interests. However in the years that have passed, streaming services have eaten the lunch of Last.fm’s latter goal and unfortunately it seems the site is relegated to tracking. Given how much data I’ve been pumping into them, I’m glad that CBS is still keeping them around – for the time being.
It’s taken over three years for me to amass the next 20,000 songs, which is probably slower than most given that I listen to podcasts during essentially every commute. As you’ll see below most of my rankings haven’t changed that much, although there has been a shift in the songs that have become more popular.
10. Ozomatli (517 Plays, New to Top 10). Ozomatli is still a mainstream in my listening, and is my default go-to band when I want to hear some music in Spanish. Top Album: Don’t Mess With The Dragon. Top Tracks: Can’t Stop, La Gallina, Cut Chemist Suite
9. Outkast (557 Plays, Previously #9). If there was one group that I wish would get back together and play music, it would be Outkast. Unfortunately with all things in life: it’s just not that easy. Until then I’ll just need to be comforted by my Andre 3000 playlist. Top Album: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Top Tracks: Ms. Jackson, Rosa Parks, Hey Ya!
8. Jimmy Eat World (562 Plays, Previously #8). I still haven’t seen them play live yet, and I’m wondering if that window is starting to close. Top Album: Chase This Light. Top Tracks: Here It Goes, Open Bar Reception, A Praise Chorus
7. Red Hot Chili Peppers (733 Plays, Previously #5). RHCP may have suffered from not being on streaming platforms for part of the last three years. They finally got their stuff together and sre still putting out great music. Top Album: Stadium Arcadium. Top Tracks: Under the Bridge, Soul to Squeeze, Dani California
6. O.AR. (737 Plays, Previously #6). I’ve really liked a lot of their new stuff that they’ve put out. I’m a little surprised that Peace didn’t make it into my top three tracks, given how much I’m listening to it. Top Album: All Sides. Top Tracks: Love and Memories, This Town, Fire
5. John Butler Trio (816 Plays, Previously #7). Their plethora of great new music helped them swap places with RHCP. I’ve actually done drum covers of Used To Get High and Close To You. Top Album: Grand National. Top Tracks: Used to Get High, Daniella, One Way Road
4. Five for Fighting (872 Plays, Previously #5). I’m sad that my favorite singer-songwriter isn’t really releasing new material at this point. Top Album: Slice. Top Tracks: The Riddle, 100 Years, Slice
3. Michael Franti & Spearhead (924 Plays, Previously #4). I’m really enjoying the latest stuff that Franti and Spreahead are putting together, with the messages being more in-line with their earlier stuff. Top Album: Stay Human. Top Tracks: One Step Closer To You, Hey Hey Hey, We Don’t Stop
2. Muse (1,216 Plays, Muse #2). One of my other favorite bands who don’t seem afraid to try different things with different albums. I’ve had a harder time getting into their new stuff, but that has more to do with the fact that they’re releasing so much, so fast. Top Album: Black Holes and Revelations. Top Tracks: Time Is Running Out (another fun drum cover), New Born, Hyper Music
1. Dave Matthews Band (2,812 Plays). No big change except for the fact that I can’t get enough of my favorite band and am hopeful they can release some new material this next year. Top Album: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. Top Tracks: Two Step, #41, So Much To Say
Thank you for checking in on this journey with me. Just for kicks, I also grabbed my top 5 favorite songs (statistically speaking) from the last year:
Mark Ronson – Feel Right
The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face
Daft Punk – Get Lucky
Enrique Iglesias – Bailando (Spanish Version) – my daughter loves this one
1 Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk
Note: This is a follow-up post to a follow-up post, when I Scrobbled 29,000 songs back in May of 2010.
Back in December of 2006, I heard of this site known as Last.FM that tracked the music you listen to and offered recommendations based on those stats. While I rarely take advantage of the radio stations and streaming, I am fascinated by the data my “Scrobbles” bring. Two years ago I jumped the gun and eagerly published my list before I reached 30,000 songs, so after patiently waiting for 40,000 I am eager to see how much musical tastes have changed over the last two years and 11,000 songs.
Dropped Off the Last List:
Gym Class Heroes (363 Plays, Previously Ranked #10). This dropped all the way to #13.
#9: OutKast(476 Plays, Previously at 7). Andre 3000 is one of those renaissance men who seems to do anything besides what he does best. OutKast has fallen down on my list simply because they haven’t produced anything relevant in nearly 6 years. Top Album: Speakerboxxx/The Love BelowTop Songs: Ms. Jackson, Rosa Parks, Hey Ya!
#6: O.A.R.(565 Plays, Previously at 8). Another band on my “Need to see Live” list, their newest album King, is really good. Top Album: All SidesTop Songs: Right on Time, War Song, This Town.
#5: Red Hot Chili Peppers(594 Plays, Previously at #3).RCHP was a band that I definitely missed these last few years, and am glad that they’re back with I’m With You, but these guys need to get their stuff together and get on Rdio, which is how I’m consuming 90% of my music today. Top Album: Stadium ArcadiumTop Songs: Under the Bridge, Soul to Squeeze, Dani California.
Thanks for indulging me in the vanity of looking at my listening habits. If you’d like to check out some of my statistically favorite songs, I’ve created an Rdio playlist.
Yesterday I eclipsed my 26,000 song that I Scrobbled on Last.fm. A “Scrobble” is essentially a song play that was tracked by Last.fm. By keeping track what I listen to, Last.fm has put together some pretty interesting statistics of my music tastes, as well as recommended songs that I would like (a feature I really haven’t used too much).
I’ve always wanted to write a reflective post of my top 10 artists according to Last.fm but missed the boat on the 20,000th and 25,000th thousand Scrobbles, so I figured that 26,000 was a nice round number and would take the opportunity to do so. Without further ado, here are my top 10 favorite bands:
10. System of a Down (262 Plays) – Probably my favorite hard rock band – and I guess statistically-speaking, this is right. Top Album: Toxicity Top Songs: Chop Suey, Prison Song, B.Y.O.B., Hypnotize, Revenga
9. Fiction Plane (276 Plays) – I heard them open for the Police and have loved them ever since. Top Album: Left Side of the Brain Top Songs: Two Sisters, It’s A Lie, Death Machine, Running the Country, Presuppose
8. Gym Class Heroes 286 Plays) – The most surprising to me. I think it’s because I really like 2-3 tracks and have really overplayed them. Track #3 (29 plays) nearly doubles Track #4 (15 plays) Top Album: As Cruel as School Children Top Songs: 4th Period: Clothes Off, Cupid’s Chokehold, Peace Sign/Index Down, 3rd Period: New Friend Request, Catch Me If You Can
7. O.A.R. (296 Plays) – O.A.R. is great music to unwind to. I get in these moods where I’ll queue up a bunch of tracks on the playlist and let it rip. Top Album: All Sides. Top Track: War Song, Shattered, The Stranger, Something Coming Over, This Town
6. Five for Fighting (330 Plays) – One of my favorite bands, and I’m so excited that I’ll get to see John Ondrasik acoustically on Sunday! Top Album: Two Lights. Top Songs: World, The Riddle, 100 Years, Something About You, Superman (It’s Not Easy)
5. Outkast (344 Plays) – Definitely my favorite rap group, I especially love the stuff that Andre 3000 does. Top Album: Speakeroxxx/The Love Below. Top Songs: Rosa Parks, Humble Mumble, Hey Ya!, Ms. Jackson, Spottieottiedopaliscious
4. Jimmy Eat World (345 Plays) – Probably tops my “Bands I haven’t seen live but really want to” list. Top Album: Bleed American. Top Songs: Here It Goes, Open Bar Reception, Big Casino, Sweetness, The Middle
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers (425 Plays) – Not much to say, just a great, solid band whose old and new stuff I enjoy. Top Album: Stadium Arcadium. Top Songs: Dani California, Under the Bridge, Show Me Your Soul, Readymade, Californication
2. Michael Franti & Spearhead (431 Plays) – A band that I have loved for years, and am glad that more people are finding out about them. Also the only band in this list where I’ve personally met the singer. Top Album: Stay Human Top Songs: One Step Closer to You, People in the Middle, A Little Bit of Riddim, Listener Supported, East to the West
and as if #1 was going to be any surprise.
#1 – Dave Matthews Band (1,255 Plays)- Almost triples #2 on the list. Considering how much effort I’ve put in to seeing them live, I should love to play them a lot. Top Album: Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King. Top Songs: Grey Street, #41, What Would You Say, Ants Marching, Funny the Way It Is
Note: I removed podcasts from my top 10 list. There was one that fell under this list (ESPN at #2 – which is a family of podcasts).
I would highly recommend that if you’re a fan of music and would like to see what you’re listening to, that you give Last.fm a try. We’ll see what happens when I approach 50,000 Scrobbles, and if my music taste changes much. If you’re on Last.fm, I’d love for you to add my as a friend: RomeyInFC