Archive for October, 2009

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Spotify goes The Bible

October 28th, 2009

It’s funny that when you think you know all the possible genres and themes that can appear in Spotify, you get surprised, again.

This time it’s about religion, Christian religion, that is. Not one but several ways to approach the theme of the bible, each one of them with its own style. On one side we have the tell-a-tale version, with ‘Re-enacted bible stories‘ (spotify link), it’s a huge collection of passages from the Holy Book. The style is intended to be amusing and probably directed to children. The production quality is remarcable, adding musical arrangements and an assortment of voice actors. It isn’t a bad idea at all, if you want your children to study the subject without much complaint.

The Old Testament is read in a more serious manner in ‘Readings from the Bible – Old Testament‘ (spotify link) compiled by Sholem Asch and read by Harry Fleetwood (this is another record that belongs to the great Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution).

The most serious approach is the ‘Inductive Bible Study‘ (spotify link), asking you to submerge in the bible and learn ‘How to study through the scriptures effectively’ (as advertised on the cover).

This blog being devoted to the spoken word so I’ve just sampled what there is on the matter of the Bible on Spotify. Of course, there’s plenty of religion related music, starting for huge collections of Gospel or classical music. Just go search for any of those keywords (try baptist, gospel or mass, for example).

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Spotify first TV Commercial

October 27th, 2009

It has only been aired in Sweden (and that’s why you probably won’t understand a thing).

This is a quick and dirty translation I stole from the comments page by some mr.blixt (thanks!) at the Spotify blog:

Your favorite songs – and the favorites you didn’t know existed. They exist: in Spotify. And now our world of music has just become bigger. On your computer – and in your mobile phone. And with our new flying mode, you never have to stop listening. For only 99 kronor (SEK) per month, you get Spotify.

(via Twitter and The Spotify Blog)

Related links:
- Spotify.com

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Eddie Murphy in Spotify (great standup comedy)

October 26th, 2009

Like Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor before him, Eddie Murphy was the preeminent African-American comic of his era; in fact, Murphy was arguably the preeminent comic of the 1980s, period — at his peak, no other performer, regardless of race, was a bigger star or a more audacious talent. Combining Pryor’s viciously acute observational gifts and love of obscenities with Cosby’s undeniable mainstream appeal, Murphy quickly leaped from clubs to television to film — even finding success as a serious pop singer — on the way to establishing himself as the most wildly popular comedian since the heyday of Steve Martin.

From the Spotify bio

Related links:

- Eddie Murphy (Wikipedia)
- Eddie Murphy (IMDB)

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The Picture of Dorian Gray performed by Hurd Hatfield

October 21st, 2009

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) is one of his most important works, probably the most popular. Here it appears as an audiobook, narrated by Hurd Hatfield, an american actor who also appeared as the main character on the 1945 adaptation of the novel.

Related links:
- The Picture of Dorian Gray at Google Books
- The Picture of Dorian Gray at Project Gutenberg
- Hurd Hatfield (IMDB)

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Posted in audiobook

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Alfred Hitchcock – The Master of Suspense

October 19th, 2009

What a find! Eight radio adaptations of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies. It includes recordings for The Lodger, Suspicion, Foreign Correspondent, Shadow of a doubt, Notorious, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Information Please. They appear in various radio programs from CBS and NBC under the name of  Screen Directors Playhouse Spellbound (also known as Screen Directors Guild Assignment or Screen Directors Assignment). This series had Hollywood actors performing adaptations of popular movies of the time that were broadcast between from 1939 until 1952.

We get to hear some of the original actors of the movies, like Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Robert Montgomery or Glenn Ford. It’s also funny to hear to the sponsors commercials, it brings memories of ‘Radio Days‘ the 1987 film by Woody Allen.

You can listen to the Spotify selection clicking on the image or the links below, there’s also a huge collection of the Screen Guild Theater radio plays at Archive.org.

Artist Alfred Hitchcock

Album The Master Of Suspense

Year 2008

  1. Alfred Hitchcock / The Lodger 30 minutes, 48 seconds
  2. Alfred Hitchcock / Suspicion 24 minutes, 43 seconds
  3. Alfred Hitchcock / Foreign Correspondent 29 minutes, 17 seconds
  4. Alfred Hitchcock / Shadow Of A Doubt 28 minutes, 32 seconds
  5. Alfred Hitchcock / Notorious 59 minutes, 6 seconds
  6. Alfred Hitchcock / The Thirty-Nine Steps 1 hour, 3 minutes, 4 seconds
  7. Alfred Hitchcock / Mr. & Mrs Smith 30 minutes
  8. Alfred Hitchcock / Information Please 28 minutes, 14 seconds

(Tracks link to Spotify)

Related links:
- Alfred Hitchcock (IMDB.com)
- Alfred Hitchcock (Wikipedia)
- The Screen Guild Theater (Wikipedia)
- The Screen Guild Theater (recordings at Archive.org)

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Posted in film, radio

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UK Conservative Party to launch Spotify ad campaign

October 16th, 2009
Spotify Politician

First political campaign to appear on Spotify. Beginning next wednesday, a 40 second ad will appear on Spotify clients in England. Featuring the party’s chairman, Eric Pickels speaking about debt (I guess the countries debt, not his own). Rigt after the message users will be asked to vote Tory on next elections.

Apparently, it’s not legal to advertise on TV or radio outside the election period, so I guess this could have a relatively short life if someone decides to legislate against internet publicity outside the established period. I believe this it’s also done to draw some media attention in expense of Spotify’s credit.

Do you care if fed with political propaganda while listening to your favourite music? Maybe this is just the definitive  reason to go premium ;)

 Related links:
- Tories to launch Spotify ad campaign (The Guardian)
- Advertise in Spotify (Spotify.com)

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Standup comedian classic Lenny Bruce

October 15th, 2009

Lenny Bruce is a legend. A standup comedian in the 50s and 60s, he confronted the stablishment with his direct, harsh, uncensored language. Because of that, he had many troubles with the law, that made him appear before court several times. A true pioneer of the genre.

From the Spotify bio:

Bruce changed the whole ball game: no longer would comics have to come out in a cute little suit and tell cute little mother-in-law jokes or feel like they were “working dirty” if they talked openly about sex and other taboo subjects. The shoot-from-the-hip and tell-the-truth work of Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Richard Lewis, and myriad other modern-day comics could never have existed without Bruce first storming the citadel and tearing down the conventional walls of comedy presentation back in the 1950s. He was the original rebel in this marvelous amalgam he invented…

Related links:
- Lenny Bruce Official Website
- Lenny Bruce Bio in Wikipedia

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Posted in comedy, original recording

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Spotify is hiring

October 15th, 2009
Now Hiring

Most of the positions are for developer roles based in Sweden. If interested, ask them at the jobs section here. For better or worse, it’s not a google style offer. Thought it would be fun to know if that would have been a music trivia based puzzle. :P

Here’s what they are looking for:

  • Outstanding work in a previous role
  • A top-notch education from an impressive institution
  • World-class computer science or programming skills
  • A huge network of great contacts
  • Or that ever so difficult to define “star quality”

I think I’ll pass ;)

Related links:

- Jobs at Spotify.com

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Spotinotes giveaway: First 4 comments get Spotify invite

October 14th, 2009
Spotify Girl

Is anyone there? If there is, and you want an Spotify invite, I have four left. You just have to comment on this post. You can put anything you want, maybe why you want to try Spotify. Leave your email (I’ll keep it private) and I’ll contact you with the coupon code. Bye!

Update: Comments are closed on this post. We’ve given away the invites we had. Stay tuned for more opportunities.

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Posted in invites

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Standup comedian Demetri Martin on Spotify

October 12th, 2009

There is no shortage of comedians on Spotify. We already showcased Robin Williams in his classic ‘A Night at the Met’. Today, we review another great standup comedians who has his work on Spotify:

Demetri Martin is a rising star, a talented comedian, actor, writer and musician, now starring his own movie, Taking Woodstock. He also appeared regularly on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and now has his own TV program at Comedy Central.

In this recording, he performs on a theatre with a completely dedicated audience. Very funny stuff.

From the Spotify’s bio:

Demetri Martin is not your average standup comedian. In the style of contemporaries like Eugene Mirman and Zach Galifianakis, Martin stretches the boundaries of the form into something resembling a form of Borscht Belt performance art [...] Incorporating musical instruments, props, and video into his otherwise standard on-stage act, Martin’s primary on-stage persona is that of a naïve youngster reminiscent of ’80s cult comic Emo Phillips, but not nearly so deliberately annoying.

Related links:

- Demetri Martin Official Site
- Taking Woodstock (IMDB.com)
- Demetri Martin at Comedycentral.com

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Posted in comedy

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