Search the City, "Ambulance Chaser"

In a previous post, we argued for the music identification service, Shazam, being the second most important invention (behind the washing machine) of the modern era. 

In retrospect, we may have been a bit dismissive of other inventions (invoking the ire of penicillin backers in particular) and a bit rash in our pronouncements.  For certainly there are strong arguments to be made for Pandora.

For the uninitiated, here’s the scoop on Pandora. You enter a song or artist that you like.  Then, leveraging something called the Music Genome Project, Pandora classifies your selection on the basis of up to 400 different characteristic or “genes” and starts serving up tunes.  By “upthumbing” (or downthumbing) the songs you hear, your station becomes increasingly personalized over time.  It’s like an infinitely more musically enlightened version of yourself, DJing your own station.

Photo: Harry_Nl, Flickr (CC by-NC-SA 2.0)

We at MWMT (not to be confused with MGMT or for that matter, TMNT), can envision a future where there is a Pandora for everything.  For finding new clothes you like (bring in your favorite shirt to be analyzed!)  New foods.  New beers (no more microbrew aisle panic attacks!). New friends. Or even significant others (if you like Kris, you’re going to love Kelly!).  OK, maybe the concept is best suited to subjects where variety seeking is more readily embraced.

But as a champion of the underdog and the underappreciated, we love how Pandora opens people up to new bands they might not otherwise have heard.  I know I have discovered some of my favorite songs and artists via Pandora, including this post’s featured artist, Search the City.  I think it was Anberlin (who is slightly too successful to feature on this blog, but worth checking out) that got me to Search the City.  And based on YouTube comments, it looks like many others discovered them the same way.

After a fairly ridiculous amount of internal debate (associated with the fact that I love a bunch of songs equally), I opted for the track, Ambulance Chaser.

Now as this is supposedly a music blog and all, this is where I should tell you something about the band and the song.  But unfortunately the more musically enlightened version of myself solely exists as a Pandora algorithm. Besides, when is the last time you were sold on a band because of a description?

If perchance you do dig Ambulance Chaser, we've arranged a longer tour of the City.  Please proceed to the tracks below. Then take a brief detour to check out the former lead singer’s subsequent (and already defunct) project -- Evil Us. 

Then, for god's sake, tell someone else. Don't make Pandora do all the work.

-m 

Search the City (original band):
Son of a Gun (not viewable on mobile)
The Rescue (not viewable on mobile)
Detroit Was Built on Secrets (not viewable on mobile)
Clocks and Timepieces (not viewable on mobile)

Search the City (new singer):
My Secrets Have Secrets Too
Light the Fire

Evil Us:
Bless Your Heart 
Promise You the Ocean
Clocks and Timepieces (different version, which do you prefer?)