Social Networking on Last.fm

I recently signed up for Last.fm, an internet radio and music community website. Although I've only been a member for a week or so, I feel that I've been there for ages - I'm completely addicted. When you register you download the 'scrobbler' plug-in which builds your profile based on your listening preferences. Essentially it imports your music library from your music player (iTunes in my case), provides you with various statistics, snapshots of your music etc and then recommends music similar to your own. Among other things, it recommends other user music libraries, provides details of band tours, detailed discographies, as well as some free mp3s.
Some artists that I have discovered as a result include Roy Harper, Amadou and Mariam (from Mali), and Brett Dennen. I also discovered how much I've played music by Richard Thompson, a slightly scary statistic!
Last.fm started in 2002, but was purchased by CBS in 2007. It claims to have over 21 million users across the globe.
Check it out, it's free, although premium subscription is $3 per month. It's a cool website and if you're into social networking then you'll get as much out of it as you're prepared to put in.
Oh, and if you're wondering who Amadou and Mariam are, here's a video of them on the Jools Holland show in 2005:

Bless the Weather that Brought You to Me....

I guess I should have seen it coming, but all the same it was a painful moment when I heard of the death of John Martyn on January 29th, 2008. I'm questioning why I would start a blog with a post about the passing of one of the great British folk singer/song-writers of our time, but his music has made a huge impression on me over the last 25 years. It has often been said that John did not get the recognition that he deserved - indeed he was categorically one of the most underrated musicians of his generation, and his was a path that was certainly considerably less traveled.

For many his greatest period was in the early 70's prior to the break-up of his marriage to Beverly Martyn. Classics such as 'Solid Air' (the title track of which was a tribute to John's friend Nick Drake), were soon followed by 'Sunday's Child', and 'Inside Out'. I discovered him in the 80's, a period which many considered to be his weakest. Certainly, his music was inconsistent in this period, although his live performances were mostly excellent. I saw a fair few in the 80s, Reading Hexagon, Shaw Theatre in London among many others. I recall vividly being blown away by his performances, many of which in the mid to late 80s were affected by his alcohol problems - you never knew quite what you would get with John, but there would always be gems even on off nights.
To me his greatest album, released in 1980, was 'Grace and Danger' a bleak work that catalogued the break-up of his marriage to Beverley. None of his albums after this reached these heights, although many are worth listening to. My favourite in his latter years is probably 'The Church with One Bell', a collection of covers including 'Strange Fruit' sang so famously by Billie Holliday. This and many of the songs on 'The Church with One Bell' illuminated Martyn's troubled soul, yet reminded us of his greatness.

John, you will be missed, but your music lives on and perhaps like your old mate Nick Drake will reach new generations to come. Here's a video of John performing 'Small Hours' from 1977's 'One World', another one of his great albums. Enjoy!