Rest in Peace, Michael Dahlquist.

Off the album “Firewater” (1996)

I always enjoy a good “If you like this ____ you might like this____” recommendation from a music reviewer, so I was excited to give my updated iTunes (now with genius power) a whirl.

Yes, “Genius” is a silly name and just begs for a good drubbing, but that’s the ever-haughty Apple for ya. For those who purchase affordable computers, you may not know that Apple has a “Genius Bar” in its stores, very misleading, there’s nothing genius about a bar with no alcohol. “Underpaid, Half-Interested in Your Problem Nerd Bar” would be a more realistic moniker.

On the design side of things, it doesn’t take a real genius to see from where those lazy Apple designer stole the logo. See Exhibit A:

Okay, back to the review. In addition to our crack team at UsedWigs Labs, we’ve asked a bunch of local music mavens to give us some feedback on the product. Let us see if the Apple music geeks can start preparing their applications to Mensa. Our findings:

Well, I have downloaded it and have begun experimenting. My initial reaction is that it is cool that it generates a playlist based on one song.

However, I am finding that the playlists it is generating are not as eclectic as I would like. So for example, when I “genius” the song Trashcan by Delta Spirit, the genius gives me a good mix of my alternative/modern/indie rock related songs from my playlist. It seems to be populating the playlist by related genres; I’d like there to be more a diverse genre mix.

I wished you could also make a playlist and then be able to “genius” the entire playlist. As for the recommendations, I’ve already purchased way too many songs as a result of this in the last 24 hours. Those guys at Apple are smart.

Bruce Warren
WXPN-FM
Some Velvet Blog

“I have assembled two mixes. One based upon ‘Sacrificial Bonfire’, the last track on XTC’s Rundgren-produced ‘Skylarking’, and another based upon ‘Snowden’ by Doves from ‘Some Cities’.

Overall, I am really impressed with iTunes’ ability to keep a ‘vibe’ with a given mix, which is what I mainly want. It is also pretty cool that it digs through some stuff you have never heard in your music collection, like, oh ‘Roscoe’ by Midlake. Huh? But it does a really good job of matching genres, feel, and even bands that hail from the same city. Coincidental? Only the Genius knows.

I do not like it when the Genius serves up tunes from the same album the mix was based upon. I don’t need to see three or four other tracks from Skylarking. Of course they are going to sound complimentary. Genius, you need to earn the money that I’m not paying you.”

Greg Hoy
Happy Cog

Apple has no problem with throwing the word genius around. At 55, founder Steve Jobs continues to be touted as a “boy genius”. The Apple Store unapologetically bills a collection of four stools and a T-shirt clad techie, the “Genius Bar”. Following form, this week Apple released version 8.0 of their flagship software application, iTunes, complete with its own built in “Genius”. Being an inhabitant of the venn diagram overlap between music geek and tech nerd, I was thrilled.

The iTunes Genius function promises to reacquaint you with your own musical library by suggesting other songs that are similar to a selected track. Having a library of almost 3000 albums, I was thrilled with the possibility of learning more about my neglected digital possessions. Admittedly, having a new software function introduce me to my own music felt a little like going to a marriage counselor to learn more about my wife but the doohickey delivers.

After downloading a boatload of information from the Apple iTunes Store about my collection, Genius busily offered tips to compliment my listening experience. Some made perfect sense (suggesting Wolf Parade to compliment TV on the Radio), while others where less helpful (suggesting TV on the Radio to compliment TV on the Radio). In all cases, the suggestions where on the money. After Genius does its thing, you can ask for more suggestions (up to 100 at a time), “refresh” the list with a quick reshuffle or even save it as a dynamic “Genius Playlist” (making the previous “Smart Playlists” feel like total morons in comparison). As you might expect, Genius also has some recommendations from the iTunes store but it certainly isn’t a pushy salesman. You can preview the purchasable music from within a sidebar or simply slam the section shut if you aren’t in the mood to kick start our economy.

I was curious about Genius’s selection making criteria and wondered if it was based on Pandora’s music genome project so I pointed my browser to Apple’s web page to learn more. Disappointingly, the “how Genius works” section is just a simple set of user directions. It’s as if Apple was telling me, “don’t worry your pretty little head about it because you’ll never understand, it’s a Genius.” Ambiguity aside, Genius is a welcomed addition to iTunes and one more notch in the hipster “mac guy’s” bedpost.

Todd Marrone
toddmarrone.com
Ghosticorn Apparel
UsedWigs Radio

so iTunes really wants me to clap my hands and say yeah, how do i tell them that i don’t want to.

also, steve poltz in the same room with John Doe, please.

sigur ros, leads to godspeed you black emperor, broken social scene, mogwai, explosions in the sky – so this is pretty reliable and there are a few that I would check out and thankfully no major-label dorks like John Mayer that the geniuses seem to want to choke you with not matter what song you enter.

overall, it does not seem as authentic as the lists on emusic – the iTunes genius lists seem based on downloads rather than ratings, otherwise why would it want me to buy John Mayer?

Brian Seymour
www.brianseymour.com

Update 1: Since we last talked, all it has done is gather information about my library!

Update 2: I only got it to tell me what I would like in my own collection! Help!

Update 3: I’m in, but… Now Genius is “temporarily unable to show you related music.” So, my Top Songs are Pink, T.I, and Rihanna.

Update 4: I did eventually get it working and it did suggest Silkworm as the first band I would like if I dug Bottomless Pit. It could not find any matches for The Feelies (The Feelies!) and suggested A Flock Of Seagulls and Thomas Dolby. For Shellac it suggested an artist named Shella six times…

Conclusion: I don’t know if I would ever use it and it doesn’t seem that different than the right side of the screen in the actual iTunes store. It is a shame there’s no frame of reference for well-known bands that don’t have large iTunes presences like Feelies and Shellac. There has to be an “influences” meta-tag, doesn’t there?

Jon Solomon
WPRB
Local Support Podcast
keepingscoreathome.com

Genius is a bit like taking your favorite DJ home with you. Oh, it all starts out great. He puts together some excellent mixes, blending tracks with an eye for mood and genre, occasionally surprising you with his picks. But now you’ve got a DJ in your house and he doesn’t know your library all that well and he’s starting to look a little sweaty as he smashes a mellow, beat-driven track up against a driving punk song. Then, as you hand him one of your unique favorites, he shrugs and pushes it back at you, a blank look in his face. Genius is better treated like a visitor than a roommate.

Personally, I think I’ll get a lot of use out of Genius. It solves one of my biggest annoyances with shuffle: the total disregard for a cohesive sound or logical sequence. However, while my tastes are fairly diverse, I tend towards out-of-the-mainstream hip-hop and turntablism. So I’m stumping. iTunes maybe 3 or 4 times out of 10, which can be discouraging.* The other issue is that these songs won’t *ever* get queued up by iTunes in association with tracks it can identify. I wish I could see just how many of my 2,250+ tracks are being disregarded because iTunes/Apple can’t identify them.

I tried to discern a pattern for the neglected tracks, as I’d read that it was often a matter of album names not matching the database, but I think Apple was smarter than that. For example, Iron & Wine’s version of The Postal Service’s ‘Such Great Heights’ was mixed in just fine and that track had no album data at all. At a glance, the quickest way to anticipate a failure is if iTunes can’t find album art. It’s not an absolute given (Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton’s *Knives Don’t Have Your Back* is one example), but it’s true more often than not. The next predictor is an odd label or no label at all. For example, I don’t think Danger Mouse’s ‘Grey Album’ will ever be recognized by iTunes, given that it was never sanctified by any label. It’s a shame and is something that shuffle or a playlist won’t have trouble with for obvious reasons. This feature will always exclude some of your music.

The oddest instance of Genius crapping out was when I couldn’t get a single Tettix track to work, even though all of his music is on iTunes. He also distributes it for free on his site, which is where I got it, but I’m still confused by the omission. Perhaps the database doesn’t have enough user data to sample from, leading to a failed Genius request?

But in spite of these misfires, when Genius is on target, it’s spot on. Autolux’s ‘Great Days for the Passenger Element’, Dave Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’ and Portishead’s ‘Wandering Star’ all yielded some great mixes that I’d definitely listen to again. I wouldn’t suggest relying on Genius for all your DJ/party mix needs, but as long as you’re willing to accept its limitations, it’s a solid secondary feature for the behemoth of audio players.

*Four of my hip-hop misses: DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist’s *Hard Sell (Encore)*; DJ Krush’s *Zen*; *The World Famous Beat Junkies, Vol. 2*; Q-Bert’s *Camel Bobsled Race Live Mix*

Chris Rugen
currentconfig.com
rdesignltd.com

“Genius is unavailable for {insert every Grundle song title}”

Listening to Mike Ness solo effort “Cheating at Solitaire” song – “Rest of our Lives” which has a country feel – suggestions included Son Volt (i.e. Alt Country) which was good – but also Sinead O’Conner from her Reggae standards album “Throw down your arms” with the song “Downpressor Man” (an excellent tune), but didn’t see the connection. Then using Genius for “Downpressor Man” returned REM, The Clash, English Beat.

General observation: when choosing an obscure (i.e. non radio hit) from an album the majority of recommendations returned were songs that were played on a radio. I didn’t see too many deep cut recommendations.

Bush’s “Comedown” returned an all 90′s play list of “Grunge” era standards – Alice in Chains, Greed Day, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Collective Soul, Everclear, STP, Oasis, Nirvana with one “newer” band Jimmy Eat World.

Tom Jadico
The Grundles

I tested “Oldest Story In the World” by The Plimsouls.

Pretty solid returns:

• Can’t Hardly Wait – The Replacements
• Medicine Show – Big Audio Dynamite
• September Gurls Big Star
• Cuyahoga 4:21 – Lifes Rich Pageant
• Talk About the Passion – R.E.M
• Radio Radio – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
• A Million Miles Away – The Plimsouls
• Awful – Hole
• Hitsville UK – The Clash
• A Sort of Homecoming – U2
• Late At Night – Buffalo Tom
• If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar
• Nobody – The Replacements
• Cut Your Hair – Pavement
• Disturbance at the Heron House – R.E.M.
• Box Full of Letters – Wilco
• Contact – Big Audio Dynamite
• Ester – Elefant
• Become the Enemy The Lemonheads
• Charlie Don’t Surf – The Clash
• See A Little Light – Bob Mould

Mike Pierantozzi
The Brooklyn Brothers

Okay Genius, let’s see what you got. First up, “Death of the Life of The Party” by alt-country demigods Drag The River. Looky here, spot-on results for the first few (Lucero, Whiskey Town, Two Cow Garage, Time Barry) and then you lost must have got distracted by my singing and stop caring: Dynamite Hack? Flight of the Conchords? Beck?. Quit while you’re ahead, Genius, let’s go for Quality not quantity.

Next up, “Egon & Gertie” from Rachel’s — some of the most beautiful, soul-cleansing, neo-classical instrumental music you”ll ever hear (tears of joy and an overwhelming sense of serenity guaranteed.) Okay, you served up some some bands I have not heard of… let’s listen:

• Eluvium – very nice, a little more atmospheric than I like, but a solid result.
• Clogs – also very nice, not as inspired as the Rachel’s, and not enough cello. Never enough cello.
• Unwed Sailor – Kudos Genius! Not only have I heard of these guys (and shouted them out on Wigs a while back), I’ve been meaning to buy the CD “Little Wars” for some time. So I just bought it… on eMusic! I always check there first before I give Apple Inc. any more of my dough. Ha ha Genius.

Next up, let’s kick it old school with “Start With” by dearly-departed Seaweed. Ah ha, stumped you apple brains! You stink. This is one of best songs of the 90s. What were you too busy playing that Cracked Rear View ass-platter over and over instead digging a little deeper and enjoying some quality Northwest post-punk goodness? Shame on you. Don’t even look at me.

The stumping keeps continues… You’ve got nothing for comedian Todd Barry and his classic “Leftover Food” bit? What the…! You could only cough up more Todd Barry recommendations. Real ballsy prediction, “Hmmmm… Jeff likes Todd Barry, maybe just maybe, he might like some more… Todd Barry?” Boo! So you know shit about comedy too, huh Genius. Bet if I typed in Dane Cook you’d have a whole lot to say. Please don’t.

Last Up, “Husker Dave” by Armalite, the greatest punk supergroup ever to grace Philly. Okay Genius, you’ve completely lost your shit. Here’s what you had to say (in the snooty third-person, no less)

“Genius could not find matches for your specific selection, but here are the Top Songs in Our Store.”

Ne-Yo, Nelly, Jason Mraz, Metallica… bluh… get me a bucket! Impressive logic? I bet if you were a waiter and you did not have the delicious asparagus and mushroom risotto I ordered, you bring me a wild boar’s head wrapped in bacon and served with a side of Rocky Mountain oysters. This is heading for an uninstall my friend…

Oh, come on genius, I was just kidding… you did okay. Stop freezing up in embarrassment, take a breath, relax. At least you’re not a complete, insufferable tool like the failed-musician reviewers at Pitchfork. You got a lot to learn pal, so instead of “Genius” how about iTunes “Vee Jay” for now?

Jeff Lyons
Blabbermouth