"Based on what you have told us so far, we're playing this track because it features mellow rock instrumentation, acoustic sonority, acoustic rhythm piano, extensive vamping, and major key tonality."
What's missing?
Content
Soul
When something as emotional as music is reduced to science, it loses its luster. Experiencing art triggers the same part of the brain as falling in love. And, Pandora is picking songs based on the background not on the content. Granted the background colors the foreground. Even in a play such as "Our Town" where there is intentionally a spartan set, the audience is invited to imagine the houses. But, the background enhances the message of the play: that life is quick.
Back to the music, why do I like the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons? Well, lets start with the background, you throw in a banjo, mandolin, or horn section and you have my attention. But what separates those bands from Old Crow Medicine Show and JTE (other bands I like but not at the level of favorite)? Simple, its the content. It's what makes me listen to Brandi Carlisle instead of Taylor Swift. The lyrics have a deeper meaning than just, I love you. The lyrics cry out of the soul of the singer to the point where the voice remains barely within control. Its the same reason why I like the Christian artist that I do (Gungor, Jon Foreman, Jars of Clay). Their songs come from somewhere else. Some plain where I never been but feels like home. Maybe that's just my taste in music, but I don't think one can quantify or measure that parameter. And, not every song by any of the above artists hits me that way. The mix could include K' Naan's "Wave Your Flag," or maybe one of Common's rap poems, and "Lazy Eye" by the Silver Sun Pickups.
Then we wind up with a mix that even Pandora couldn't compute.
DIOS le bendiga
