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[Dakar the Fourth]

Like most artists from that time period/genre, who knew they were still alive? If I remember, I'll have to listen to a sample.

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I think it's more that someone decided to do a remix, and then others followed. The "band" itself is probably long gone.

[Dakar the Fourth]

I only glanced at the wiki entry, but it says they're still active.

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But for curiosity's sake:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

They first had chart success with the singles "What Can You Do For Me" (UK #10), "Something Good" (their biggest UK success at #4) and "Believe In Me", a UK #8 chart hit, which they described as their vocal sample trilogy as those singles sampled Gwen Guthrie, Kate Bush and Human League respectively ("What Can You Do For Me" also features a sample from Eurythmics). Contrary to one rumour, the band were not sued by Kate Bush over the use of a sample from Bush's track "Cloudbusting" in the Utah Saints track "Something Good" - the sample was legally cleared before use. Additionally, Bush sold Utah Saints footage from the video of her original song. This track is currently experiencing a revival in the clubs in 2008 with new remixes by Van She, High Contrast, Prok & Fitch, eSquire, Ian Carey and more.

Utah Saints then moved away from vocal samples with singles such as "I Want You" and "I Still Think Of You" (Jez Willis providing original vocals on each).
After their debut album, the self-titled Utah Saints, and one further single "Ohio", Utah Saints seemed to disappear for several years, though they were still busy doing remixes (for a diverse range of artists including Blondie, Human League, Hawkwind, Simple Minds, James, Annie Lennox and The Osmonds and the theme to the 1995 blockbuster, Mortal Kombat), and producing tracks for other artists such as Terrorvision. During this time, they recorded an album that was to be called "Wired World" but was never released, and produced a handful of Utah Saints tracks that to date have never had a proper release either, with titles such as "Star", "Train" and "Rock".

They eventually re-appeared in late 1999 with charting singles "Love Song", "Funky Music" (featuring Edwin Starr on guest vocals), "Power To The Beats" and "Lost Vagueness" (featuring Chrissie Hynde), by releasing the album Two. Also in 2000, Utah Saints did the soundtrack for the video game Carmageddon TDR2000. In 2002 they went back into hibernation only to surface again in 2008 with a single release. The band are notorious amongst their fans and the dance music community for taking a long time in between their releases - their first album Utah Saints and follow-up album Two were released seven years apart.

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Their "new single" refers to the remix version that's currently doing the rounds. Their last original release seems to have been in 2002.

[Hg2491]

[lavar78]

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iScrobbler only uploaded half my plays this week. Uploading them after didn't update my weekly charts :/

[Dakar the Fourth]

Unique Artists: 129
Total Tracks: 279
Total Plays: 295

Bad week, forgot my iPod one day, and accidentally left it running on an artist (not shown here) another day.

[- - e r i k - -]

Finally some decent plays again:

Unique Artists: 193
Total Tracks: 426
Total Plays: 607

[Dakar the Fourth]

Snap! You really like throwing the curve balls.

I thought Coldplay's new one was surprisingly short (45 minutes?).

I'm looking for that Party Ben song when I get home (If I remember).

---

Did anyone notice that for a moment this or last week, you could sort your stuff by month instead of week? (Though it didn't work)

[Tiresias]

Anyone know a good freeware app for iTunes statistics of the "Most Played This Week/Month" variety?

[Dakar the Fourth]

I look fairly regularly for iTunes stats programs, and I can tell you with confidence it doesn't exist.

I'm not sure iTunes keeps the data necessary for an accurate representation. last.fm records each instance of when a track was played, while iTunes only records the last instance of when the track was played.

[Tiresias]

Couldn't you smart playlist a "Most Recently Played" and then organize it by play count? Would that give you the same thing? Um, I honestly can't say.

Too many gin and tonics for me.

Edit: Of course not. Too bad.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by Tiresias 

Couldn't you smart playlist a "Most Recently Played" and then organize it by play count? Would that give you the same thing? Um, I honestly can't say.

Too many gin and tonics for me.

Play count is a sum of the track's lifetime. There is no splitting it up into time periods.

[Tiresias]

By Genre:


Classical:



Contemporary:



Books and Literature:


This excludes media that's been to my library in the last year or two. Strangely I've been going through an 80s flashback lately. Plus Rokysopp, Mazzy Star, Cat Power, Babyshambles, Signor Ros, Johnny Cash, Eminem, et al.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

I thought Coldplay's new one was surprisingly short (45 minutes?).

That's part of its charm. I think it's easily their best to date.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by lavar78 

That's part of its charm. I think it's easily their best to date.

Not even close. That'd be Rush of Blood.

I've listened to it 3 times the past week (which is high for me) and each time, I don't even recall hearing the songs. I'll just suddenly realize it's ended. It leaves no impression. Very weird.

Looks like I need to sit down and just listen to it. On the flip side, there are no bad tracks. There's something very all-occasion or inoffensive about the album. Can't put my finger on it.

---

That last.fm beta is awful. Why they're going that direction I don't know. I'm happy enough with how things are.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Not even close. That'd be Rush of Blood.

Nah, I find that one too uneven and too long. I'm not a big fan of "A Whisper" and I find "Amsterdam" tremendously overrated. Still, it was my favorite until this one.

I've listened to it 3 times the past week (which is high for me) and each time, I don't even recall hearing the songs. I'll just suddenly realize it's ended. It leaves no impression. Very weird.

Looks like I need to sit down and just listen to it. On the flip side, there are no bad tracks. There's something very all-occasion or inoffensive about the album. Can't put my finger on it.

Yeah, we're exactly opposite on this one. The flow and the intro/outro give it an "album" feel that the others don't have (to my ears). I'm also struck by how different and non-conventional Coldplay-like it is. It can be a chore for me to get through other Coldplay albums in one listen, but this one makes me want to play it back-to-back.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by lavar78 

Nah, I find that one too uneven and too long.

Too long?! It's under an hour! Do you struggle with tracks that are over 4 minutes, too?

Originally Posted by lavar78 

I'm not a big fan of "A Whisper" and I find "Amsterdam" tremendously overrated. Still, it was my favorite until this one.

Amsterdam is awful. The album would have been even better if had ended on aRoBttH. Can't say I'm a big fan of Whisper, but at least it isn't that weird whiney that Green Eyes is.

Originally Posted by lavar78 

Yeah, we're exactly opposite on this one. The flow and the intro/outro give it an "album" feel that the others don't have (to my ears). I'm also struck by how different and non-conventional Coldplay-like it is. It can be a chore for me to get through other Coldplay albums in one listen, but this one makes me want to play it back-to-back.

Well, I never have to get through an album, that's why there's a skip button. Anyway, I listened to this one on random, so as to keep my judgment of the songs objective. I never noticed the breaks, however.

I'll give you that this is stronger than most albums (of anything) as a whole, but at the cost of sounding the same all around. I guess if you're concerned with albums over songs, that's fine, but I'll take my Scientists, Rushes of Blood, and My Places, over this every single day of the week.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Too long?! It's under an hour! Do you struggle with tracks that are over 4 minutes, too?

No. I meant too long because there's too much filler, which you acknowledged here:

Amsterdam is awful. The album would have been even better if had ended on aRoBttH. Can't say I'm a big fan of Whisper, but at least it isn't that weird whiney that Green Eyes is.

Coldplay's supposed to be whiny! I like "Green Eyes."

Well, I never have to get through an album, that's why there's a skip button. Anyway, I listened to this one on random, so as to keep my judgment of the songs objective. I never noticed the breaks, however.

I'll give you that this is stronger than most albums (of anything) as a whole, but at the cost of sounding the same all around. I guess if you're concerned with albums over songs, that's fine, but I'll take my Scientists, Rushes of Blood, and My Places, over this every single day of the week.

I love shuffle and skip, but I like to take in albums as a whole on the first few listens (and sometimes on revisits). I honestly believe VLV has stronger songs. "In My Place," my clear favorite on Rush, is the only one I'd consider to be better than "Lost!," "Yes," "42," "Viva la Vida," and "Death and All of His Friends." "Lost!" may be replacing "Shiver" as my all-time favorite by them.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by lavar78 

No. I meant too long because there's too much filler, which you acknowledged here:

Aw, well... at the risk of sounding completely retarded, I think sometimes the filler helps highlight the strong stuff. This coming from someone who can't truly think of a single CD I can always listen to front to back.

Originally Posted by lavar78 

Coldplay's supposed to be whiny! I like "Green Eyes."

Perhaps, but that hits a level of pathetic and annoying I have not noticed from the rest of their catalogue.

Originally Posted by lavar78 

I love shuffle and skip, but I like to take in albums as a whole on the first few listens (and sometimes on revisits). I honestly believe VLV has stronger songs. "In My Place," my clear favorite on Rush, is the only one I'd consider to be better than "Lost!," "Yes," "42," "Viva la Vida," and "Death and All of His Friends." "Lost!" may be replacing "Shiver" as my all-time favorite by them.

Only in the past year or two have I made an effort to listen to all albums all the way through on the first listen. Interestingly, we agree on "In My Place" being the best on aRoBttH. It's the guitar that does it for me. The rest you're nutso on.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Aw, well... at the risk of sounding completely retarded, I think sometimes the filler helps highlight the strong stuff. This coming from someone who can't truly think of a single CD I can always listen to front to back.

Perhaps, but that hits a level of pathetic and annoying I have not noticed from the rest of their catalogue.

Only in the past year or two have I made an effort to listen to all albums all the way through on the first listen. Interestingly, we agree on "In My Place" being the best on aRoBttH. It's the guitar that does it for me. The rest you're nutso on.

...says the guy with 4 personalities. I bet the third would agree with me.

[Peter]

My god the new Last.FM is awful. This current version is bad enough. Their original non-web2.0 was the best one

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There's a new Last.fm? Looks the same as it has the last year or so

[Dakar the Fourth]

*raise eyebrow*

[Dakar the Fourth]

I love last.fm. Somehow Viva la Vida doesn't have an album entry yet.

[NateB]

I like Coldplay .

[Dakar the Fourth]

Man, listening to a song 79 times in such a short period would make me want to shoot myself.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Is that the new beta style?

No real plays to blog home about this week:


Unique Artists: 38
Total Tracks: 58
Total Plays: 59

I got a few new songs this week though, so plays should be back up again next week

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Is that the new beta style?

Yes, sir. To strike fear in the hearts of the many, I'll give you my first impression: MySpace.

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Yeah, a little bit MySpace, but I think the improvements will make it better overall.

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[lavar78]

[Dakar the Fourth]

July was a bad month as I wasn't around, so here's my contribution for the first full week of August.







Unique Artists: 214
Total Tracks: 386
Total Plays: 412

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Top artists last week:


Top Albums last week:


Top songs last three months:

[Dakar the Fourth]

I spent the entire week trying put myself together after hearing Hide & Seek.

[sek929]

Avril Lavigne eh?

[Dakar the Fourth]

Unashamedly.

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Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

I spent the entire week trying put myself together after hearing Hide & Seek.

You cried too, hey?

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

You cried too, hey?

Not exactly. It was unlike anything I have or heard or could have expected. The first two or three listens I was mostly in shock and confusion. Which are odd emotions for a song to elicit.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Could it possibly take longer for the weekly charts to be calculated anymore?
I suppose it's only fair given how quickly it recalculates your Last 7 after a large scrobble.

[Jawbone54]

Listening to music on my iPhone these days has KILLED my Last.fm life...



Getting new speakers at work will probably inspire me to play through my MBP more often. I'm also thinking of using the old iPod as my music player again.

[Dakar V]

A decent glance around google reveals no scrobbling capabilities for the iPhone. That is unfortunate.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

A decent glance around google reveals no scrobbling capabilities for the iPhone. That is unfortunate.

Yeah, I looked everywhere before purchasing, but it's no big deal. Since I can't put my whole library on it, I listen to a ton of podcasts on it anyways.

[Jawbone54]

Wow...how did I miss all the Coldplay conversation weeks ago?

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Originally Posted by Dakar V 

A decent glance around google reveals no scrobbling capabilities for the iPhone. That is unfortunate.

Latest iScrobbler supports the iPhone.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Latest iScrobbler supports the iPhone.

Reeeeally? Well, that solves that. *going to update*

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Wow...how did I miss all the Coldplay conversation weeks ago?

Feel free to chime in, so I can tell you your opinion is wrong.