The IPO (Initial Public Offering) of the PR Mix
When I lived in San Francisco, I began to compile a secret music playlist. It's a secret family recipe of sorts. Though it has nothing to do with my family. But it is a recipe...
...for romance. (I just came up with that)
The PR mix gained quite a mysterious reputation among my friends in San Francisco. I think I talked about it one night while having some drinks with a group of female friends. In typical "Rommy" fashion I spoke about the enchanting effects it had on women after a few drinks and a happy frolic back to my place.
The girls laughed in my face. Also typical.
But just the mention of this magical "hookup" mix started to pique some interest. Because expectedly some of them started to wonder in their own head what kind of music could possibly be on this mix. As I got further into their heads, I could tell that they started to wonder what music would get THEM in the mood. So they casually started to ask questions.
And then I was the one laughing. There was no way I would be willing to divulge the secret. It had been simply too important and far too effective for me to just give away. Particularly to girls I was HITTING on. Furthermore if I let the cat out of the bag, it was a death sentence for my sex life in San Francisco. Every dude running around with the PR mix is NOT what I needed for competition.
The mix didn't just come to me. It went through MANY iterations taking years to perfect. It's eclectic. I've listened to it over a thousand times. I've changed the order, added some songs, removed some others. And I continued to try it on women, gauging their reactions, gauging my own. If I skipped a song, I took a mental note to drop it. If I heard a great song while driving, I took a mental note to add it.
I literally got it to the point where just about every song got them smiling or relaxed or laughing or...other stuff. I knew I nailed it, when at the beginning of each song I would hear "I love this song!" or "This mix is amazing." I gave it to a couple female friends who I hadn't been romantically involved with. One of them brought it to work. She claimed she had to shut the door to her office when she listened to it. When she told her friends how awesome the mix was, they all wanted copies of it.
I'd created a monster. And it was mine. And it worked. I could just about pinpoint their mental and physical moods at precise moments throughout the mix. And I won't say that all the women were predictable. It worked better on some women than it did on others, but the success rate was almost 100%. I wish I was kidding.
So these female friends of mine had a good laugh about it. Mostly them laughing at me for being so silly and chauvinistic/douchebaggy. And me laughing at them because despite this mockery/disgust they still wanted to know what was on it.
I don't think it's perfect yet. But it hasn't changed for a while, only because I don't want to offset the balance. And for every guy, the PR mix might be different. Everything from their type of woman to their location (the PR Mix has had only moderate success in Europe) to their taste in music. My PR mix has some personal flavor with some personal meaning behind some of the songs.
Some tips for a PR mix include:
- The order is critical to its success. Shuffle is NOT your friend.
- You'll want to start with songs that serve as background music so that you can speak over it. But if you're both drunk you'd want them to be able to smile and recognize the song and feel comfortable/relaxed.
- Some electronic lounge early on is a good relaxant. Especially with some wine.
- Mix it up. Be eclectic. Show your range. Lounge, pop, 80s, crooners, jazz, bossa nova.
- It's key to throw in some songs that everyone recognizes. It keeps a conversation going when she can smile and appreciate your choice in music.
- Don't be too obvious. Don't throw Barry White on it unless you want her to laugh at you. Romance can be fun, but it shouldn't be obvious.
- Put your best songs in the middle. It's the heart of the mix. The songs below in green are the ones that cause serious emotional conflict and physical desire. They melt even the coldest hearts.
- Put your most relaxing songs at the end.
I swore I wouldn't divulge the mix, but I'm getting old, and I need to pass on the secret. Plus, it gives everyone a little something to talk about, something to laugh at, and something to disagree with (as is the case with every list).
So without further ado, I present to you Rommy's long-awaited PR Mix:
- New York State of Mind - Billy Joel
- I Left My Heart in San Francisco - Tony Bennett
- Happy Together - The Turtles
- Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers
- The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room - Flight of the Conchords
- She's Always a Woman to Me - Billy Joel
- (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
- A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum (not on Spotify)
- Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
- Porcelain - Moby
- Jesus to a Child - George Michael
- Nude - Radiohead
- Stand by Me - Ben E. King
- Slow Motion Bossa Nova - Celso Fonseca
- Trouble - Coldplay
- Falling in Love At a Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg (not on Spotify)
- One More Try - George Michael
- Nightswimming - R.E.M.
- In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Frank Sinatra
- Hideaway - Karen O and the Kids
If you want to subscribe to it, I have the playlist up on Spotify (PR Mix Spotify), but unfortunately some of the songs are unavailable due to licensing issues. It's only at 90% over there, but it's still close.
Oh and I'll spare you the details of what PR stands for (it's not as bad as you think).
Tarantino and Anderson and their film soundtracks
More than just being filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson are auteurs. Auteurs are filmmakers who have a very distinct personal style and retain almost complete creative control over their films - from the visual style and cinematography to the art direction and even some aspects of production. Other modern examples of auteurs include the Coen Brothers (who I love) and Guy Ritchie (who though I particularly don't like, fits the mold).
Tarantino and Anderson are very intimately involved with their film soundtracks. As I sit here and listen to the soundtrack from Kill Bill 2, I realize Tarantino's film music choices play such a large role in his films, they simply would not be the same films without his choice of music. And it goes without saying that Wes Anderson's soundtracks rest comfortably among my favorite albums.
If someone were to put a gun to my head and demand that I name one over the other, I'd probably take the bullet.
Ok, I'd take Anderson over Tarantino. In part because I prefer Anderson's films and film style and in part because his music taste is more closely aligned with my own. But I want Tarantino to know that this wasn't an easy decision and that if he had a role open for me, he should not let this blog post, in any way, factor into his opinion of me.
The best opening to any set ever
Two weekends ago, I celebrated Easter weekend touring Edinburgh with my friends, Thérèse and Peter.
On the plane ride to Edinburgh, Peter was going on about how Top Gun was the best film ever made. Thérèse thought he was smoking crack (then again, hers appeared to be Dirty Dancing). I think they're both wrong. It's easily Footloose.
That Sunday night we went to a bar called Biddy Mulligan's which was a fantastic place loaded with locals. These old geezers got up on stage and opened with, what Peter would likely argue was the best opening to any set ever (you'll see his ecstatic reaction). Make sure to watch the whole video, as it then seamlessly blends into some awesome traditional Scottish folk music.
My love affair with Spotify
Thus begins the second in the series of things to which I want to make sweet passionate love.
Spotify is taking the music industry and music fans by storm. Though it's not available in the US, and though it hasn't shown profitability yet, Spotify is paving the path for the future of online media distribution.
Spotify is a streaming music service, which eliminates the need for downloading music, and recentralizes the distribution of music. In an industry running rampant with piracy, Spotify has used technology to not only legitimize the distribution, but also to quell the demand for pirated music. Digital rights management (DRM) is maintained centrally at the distributor and simplifies the complexities that iTunes faces on a daily basis. From a consumer standpoint, it eliminates the limitations of digital storage, and places the burden on the digital pipeline, which is rapidly expanding and is a shared cost among consumers. It eliminates the need for consumers to backup media files and to manage their personal, digital libraries.
In short, it's the future of music, books, and film. For me personally, it's practically rendered iTunes completely obsolete. I haven't bought an album off iTunes in months and it feels great. Spotify is a light, lightning-fast client application which you download. The user interface is easy-to-use. For free you can listen to Spotify's entire catalogue and every few songs you hear ads. Users can also pay 99 SEK per month (around 15 USD) to get a wide range of premium options, including: no ads, higher bitrate quality, offline playability, and early access to music. For me this is worth it, because these are features I use AND it's still cheaper than what I would spend on iTunes to buy albums of the course of a year. I also don't have to back anything up or worry about losing music. I can create playlists and email my friends links to any of the music from a catalogue that is the best among all streaming applications and frankly has just about everything my wide taste in music seeks (though iTunes catalogue is still bigger). There's also a 24-hour premium option for those that want to have a wide music catalogue for an event like a party, and don't want to hear ads (brilliant, btw). Furthermore, there's a Spotify application on the iPhone which allows you to stream on-demand music to a portable device. This is awesome and ridiculous.
It's not the first time we've seen streaming music services. Rhapsody, Pandora, Last.fm, Blip.fm, Lala, etc. etc. etc. However it seems to be doing it more successfully than anyone else. This likely has to do with significant investments in early business development, securing distribution deals with major music distributors and building a large music catalogue up front.
Though this early widespread success doesn't come without struggle. Spotify is 7 million strong in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France, and Spain. Only 250K of these are paying subscribers (3.5% - 4%). And although in Sweden, Spotify generated more revenue for the major music distributors than iTunes did in 2009, it's likely because most Swedish consumers were getting their music for free. My true belief here is that Spotify simply gives too much away for free, and provides little reason to go premium, unless you are a tech geek who is really into music.
Spotify is attempting to make its entrance in the US market in 2010, but rumor has it it's going to be very difficult unless they get rid of the ad model. Distributors simply don't believe in it. However I do believe that if Spotifycan create a content-based ad model (similar to Google), tailored to different listener segments (heavy metal v. classical v. jazz v. pop) they could be successful. Furthermore, if this ad platform can allow for local ads, I can imagine it would be essentially on-demand internet radio station. I do believe the ad model can work, and I do believe that this can be profitable (as it appears to be for radio), but Spotify needs to make some significant short-term investments in its ad platform for longer term profitability, and furthermore to sell the distributors on it.
Spotify is top-notch, cutting-edge, and smart. But the next few years will be critical to determining its long-term success in Europe and eventually abroad...especially with Rdio just around the corner.
Spotify is currently invite only, but I have three outstanding invites and I get two every month, so if you or anyone you know needs one (and you live in the aforementioned countries), let me know.
Help my friends Omid and Alannah win a trip on the inaugural Air France A380 flight
Air France is holding a YouTube video contest. They commissioned a French group to write a song and then challenged the public to put together a video to the music. The winners win a trip to and weekend in New York, flying on the maiden voyage of the A380 flight.
Hands down the best video happens to be the one by my friend Omid and his wife Alannah, two expats living in Paris. The more views they get of their video, the better the chance they have of winning. I won't need to tell you to watch it more than once, because you'll find it worthy enough to do so on your own. Also leave comments and rate the video. The *most fun* comment (in French) also has a chance at winning a spot above the flight!
Greatest James Bond Tracks
So I found some gold on Spotify (sorry Americans you are unable to access it).
The Best of Bond...James bond
It's a collection of the best tracks from the Bond films. It's more or less all the ones that mattered. This album reminded me of why I loved (and later despised) Bond as a kid. This album also reminded me of what fantastic pop hits came from these films. I mostly like the sultry spy theme that permeates throughout many of these tracks.
Some tracks of course stand out more than the others. Here are my top 5:
- Thunderball by Tom Jones
- A View to a Kill by Duran Duran
- Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey
- Live and Let Die by Sir Paul McCartney
- You Know My Name by Chris Cornell (though I really like THIS version far better which has a prime spot on my gym mix)
Then there were those from the extremely cheesy Roger Moore 70s Bond films, easily in my mind the absolute bottom of the Bond years (ok fine, the Timothy Dalton era was worse). I didn't mind All Time High by Rita Coolidge or Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon, so I'll just give them an honorable mention, but they simply don't have the edgy Bond spy appeal of the above.
Another honorable mention is the classic Bond theme from Dr. No.
Epic fail is For Your Eyes Only. What the hell were they thinking?
PS - In case you're wondering, the Bond reboot with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace have absolutely reinvigorated my passion for what was a completely dead Bond franchise.
Andrasko performing @ Lidingö
My favorite albums ever
In alphabetical order (not in preference)...
Greatest Film Score Composers
I haven't updated this in a while, which sucks because there is SO much that's going on that's worth writing about. The mother of all blog posts will be happening this weekend...and it has to do with the amazing women of Sweden. So stay tuned...
In the meantime, I was listening to some film scores and felt the need to call out my favorite (i.e. the Greatest...just kidding) film score composers since film began...
- Ennio Morricone - You name it. This guy wrote some of the most unbelievably touching film scores. When he won the Lifetime Achievement Award I was thrilled even though the montage didn't feature what I considered his best, Cinema Paradiso. Once Upon a Time in the West, The Mission, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Malena, Moses, Marco Polo. The man is the greatest film score composer to date.
- Elmer Bernstein - He did the soundtracks to Cape Fear, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ghostbusters, Airplane, Trading Places, True Grit. If this isn't range and talent to some of the most widely known film scores, then I don't know what is. He was a master of film scoring since 1952 and the immortal passed away in 2004.
- John Williams - Personally, I still put him at 3. He is truly amazing. His music delivers a powerful message, from Munich, to Schindler's List, to Saving Private Ryan, to Star Wars, to ET, he provides an awe-inspiring backdrop to some of the strongest films made.
- Bernard Herrmann - Hitchcock would've been nothing without this man. I'm listening to the North by Northwest and Vertigo right now. The original Cape Fear had his score, which in the remake, was redone by Elmer Bernstein who, with Scorsese wanted to pay homage to Herrmann. A romantic thriller isn't a romantic thriller without this man's stylistic touch.
- Henry Mancini - Along with Bernstein, Mancini helped to pioneer jazz films into film scores but outshined even himself with The Pink Panther. He was also known for some 50s sci-fi films (The Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came From Outer Space, Tarantula), Breakfast at Tiffany's, and of course the great Welles noir, Touch of Evil. Oh yeah...he also did some TV scores...like TIC TAC DOUGH!!!
- Max Steiner - The first great film score composer in the 20th century, he was known for such classics as Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, The Jazz Singer, and The Caine Mutiny.
I think film scoring brings with it a sense of nostalgia. As a kid, it's amazing how the sense of hearing is so well-developed, that as kids, we can hear a song and instantly recognize it, and remember it, and become emotionally connect to it. Film scores are almost always the first thing I remember about a film and to me can be the added element that makes the film.
Qype: Glenn Miller Cafe in Stockholm
I moved to Stockholm last Saturday. By Wednesday night, I'd already found the best jazz venue in Stockholm.
This place blew my socks off.
Totally hidden in a very central part of Stockholm, the Glenn Miller Cafe is a total gem of a jazz establishment. I felt like I walked into an eastern European, jazz bar circa 1930. The venue is small and is a restaurant/bar. The ceilings are high, the decor is inspired, the owners are wonderful. I'm convinced it's the best venue in which to see a local jazz trio. And a great one at that.
When I came on Wednesday, a local scando-jazz quartet completely inspired me with some amazing jazz. Very outside, extreme jazz. Mindblowing jazz. I was totally surprised by the level of music that was being played. Reminiscent of Ornette Coleman at the Golden Circle here in Stockholm 40 years ago...
It was crowded. We managed a table off to the side. So if you don't like small crowded places, reconsider. However, the crowd makes the place and adds to the energy. The beer and wine was flowing. The crowd was a local, loyal group of jazz enthusiasts of all ages. Everyone was into the music. The energy was awesome.
Oh...and no cover. Someone comes around with a donation basket and you're free to give as much as you want. Unreal.
I will definitely be a regular here.
Check out my review of Glenn Miller Cafe - I am dunedonkey - on Qype
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