A Tribute To Tunes

Dear musicians and geeks, here is my love letter to Pandora.com and all the amazing bands that have taken me through many long days filled with hedge fund articles. My introduction to the amazing algorithm-driven Web radio site came in May while visiting my brother in San Francisco.

We were cooking a healthy NoCal meal, stirfry from farmer’s market veggies, with baked fish and a nice full red from–where else—Napa. And so the Motown blared, a remnant of our childhood filled with music from the one cassette our father owned—the soundtrack to The Big Chill. The Tracks of My Tears…

And so I return to the moment, where in my cubbie hole in NYC, I sit, pounding the keyboard. It can all seem insignificant when people are dying, bombs are being made, folks are losing their jobs and our wise elders are aging, tiring of the fight.

But when I’ve already capped my carb and coffee limits, I plug in the headphones and head to Pandora.com The stations vary, but the latest favorites are the songs that blare from the Miike Snow and Animal Collective stations. From there, MGMT and The Mary Onettes blare, then Discovery, Phoenix and Passion Pit. Those are the moments when the synthesized sounds are enlightened, more than electronica, they enhance the alternative pop that is introverted and pensive, but upbeat instead of melancholy. Those are the moments I send a silent tribute to all the budding musicians. Peace and love.