A Full Day of Music Vol. 4

8hrs of the best music, just for you.

“Back once again. B-b-back once again…”

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Every three of four months or so, my buddy Sarah and I collaborate on a ‘Full Day of Music’ playlist. It takes a while to build it up (and it’s an awesome way of discovering new music – we’re both looking for the best tracks to share for it all the time) and, when it ticks over 8hrs, we package it up and share it out.

Volume 4 has just done that and so here it is for your aural enjoyment.

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^ just some of the tracks, yo ^

If you’re new to this, Sarah and I have been doing this for just over a year now and, if you’ve missed the other entries in series – worry not; here are the links to Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3 (all ace, btw) respectively.

What else is there to add? Oh, I asked Sarah for some words on this playlist and she spake thus:

“Hits and should’ve-been-hits from the first half of 2016, with a few classics thrown in.”

So there you have it.

Enjoy.
 

A Full Day of Music Vol. 3

8hrs and 8mins. 127 tracks. In short: exactly what you’ve been looking for this entire time.

It’s that time again.

CHOONz

Volumes 1 and 2 are merely dreams of yesteryear.

How about we kick off 2016 with a brand new eight hour playlist, perfect for your ears, phone, office, etc… whatever – just a good solid FULL DAY OF MUSIC as curated by yours truly and my dear friend, Sarah Lang.

I asked Sarah how she might describe volume three, this is legit what she sent back:

‘[AFDoM V3 is] a mix that is up to the two equally important tasks of getting you to strut your stuff on the dance floor and getting you through those moments of existential angst. Or something. And also just great to have on while gsd.’

You can perhaps see now why we get on so well…

On Spotify? Go get.

Not on Spotify? Who even are you?

You go and enjoy A Full Day of Music Vol. 3 and Sarah and I will crack on with Vol. 4. See you back here again in a few months, yeah?

Yeah.

 

A Full Day of Music, Vol 2

A Full Day of Music is a mix of tunes that we added because they were the perfect track at the moment we were listening to them. And it’s here, for you.

Music. For you. From a friend (and me).

A Full Day of Music, Vol II

I use Spotify and I like playlists.

If you use Spotify and like playlists too, then this blog post is for you.

Back in April, my friend Sarah and I decided to share a playlist that we’d built together entitled ‘A Full Day of Music, Vol 1‘. The pitch for the playlist was simple:

A Full Day of Music is a mix of tunes that we added because they were the perfect track at the moment we were listening to them. And it’s here, for you.

Designed so you can hit play on the moment you leave the house in the morning to the moment you arrive back home again in the evening.

We were pleased with Vol 1 (both in length and content) and, given the nature of the numbering system that we’ve employed in the naming convention, Vol 2 was the next obvious step.

And here it is: A Full Day of Music, Vol 2.

We like it a lot and we hope you like it too.

_____

PS. Of course we’ve already started Vol 3. Expect it in a couple of months or so.

PPS. If you like Vol 2, use this link to tell your friends about it.

 

A Full Day of Music, Vol I

Music. For you. From me (and a friend).

Music. For you. From me (and a friend).

Spotify

I use Spotify and I like playlists.

If you use Spotify and like playlists too, then this blog post is for you.

A little while ago, my friend Sarah and I started putting a Spotify list together of all the best music we were listening to at that time. The playlist went by a different name at that point but now, some 18mths later, we think we’ve finished building it and are ready to share it with the world.

Made up of an eclectic mix of chilled out tunes, electro funk, and the occasional diversion into retro awesome, ‘A Full Day of Music, Vol I‘ weighs in at a hefty 139 tracks and just over 9hrs worth of aural enjoyment.

As Sarah put it herself:

‘[This playlist is a] mix of tunes that we added because they were the perfect track at the moment we were listening to them.’

We like it a lot and we hope you do too.

LISTEN NOW.

PS. If you like it, share it!
PPS. We’ve already started Vol II. So you’ve got that to look forward to. Kinda.

 

What’s on your iPad?

OK, I’ll go first —

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A little while ago, I was asked to put together my top five iPad apps.

So, here they are. Ready?

1. Chrome
I’m so late to the Chrome-across-multiple-devices party it’s ridiculous. I’ve used Chrome on the desktop for yonks, then I added it to my phone (at the moment: the Motorola RAZR i), and then I finally added it to my iPad. Sign-in sync is nothing short of a revelation.

Alright some of you are going to be reading this going ‘OH COME ON WHATLEY! HOW HAVE YOU NOT BEEN USING THIS?!’ – well, I haven’t. Deal with it.

But seriously, it’s ace. I’m on my MacBook Pro at work; I open up some tabs to read later and when I get on the tube on the way home? Boom, there’s my stuff waiting for me on my iPad. Brilliant.

2. Paper by Fifty-Three
I’ve been using Paper since March last year when I spotted an awesome write-up over on Read Write Web. Since downloading it I’ve used it for a TON of things. From sketching superheroes (and super villains) to inventing mind robots that know when you want a cup of tea.

Paper is magnificent. It’s not cheap (if you want all the bells and whistles) but it’s 100% worth the investment.

3. Spotify
When you absolutely positively gotta have music when you’re cooking in the kitchen: accept no substitute. My iPad is my portable stereo system when I’m around the house and Spotify, when linked with a fairly awesome bluetooth speaker (bought from Carphone Warehouse), follows me around the home everywhere. Winner.

4. Reeder
Geez, where do I start? Outside of browsing the web, I’d say this is probably my number one used app on my iPad. Pulling in the feeds from my Google Reader, Reeder is where I consume my web.

The best things about Reeder for iPad are as follows

  • It’s my Google Reader, dammit!
  • It downloads content to read offline (essential for commuting)
  • Awesome sharing options (but no Tumblr – weird)
  • Everyone I know swears by it
  • I feel like it’s my friend – yes, that’s weird; and no, I don’t care.

5. Amazon Kindle
I use this app almost every day. Like Chrome, it’s mostly used on the commute to and from work; it’s the perfect accompaniment. And again like Chrome, I love the sync feature. I’ve got Kindle on all of my devices; I close the app on one device and when I open it on the next, it’s on the same page! It’s such a simple and easy thing but it makes ALL the difference.

And that’s that, in short: browsing, creating, listening, reading, and reading.

What’s on your iPad?

 

5 things on Friday #13

Five things of note for the week ending Friday March 30th, 2012

1. How to peel a banana like a monkey
Mind. Blown.

2. A new UK Bank Holiday?
An online petition has appeared recently pushing for the UK to have an extra Bank Holiday (this time in November), but with a twist. As the website says –

“If we get an extra bank holiday, the public will be urged to do something kind on this extra day, each year, to support their local communities…
…it will be a ‘Pay It Forward‘ bank holiday”

Whether or not this will go ahead remains to be seen, but still – it’s a nice idea.

3. Spotify on Facebook
The deadline for brands to make the switch to Facebook Timeline is upon us and while there have been some awesome case studies recently, Spotify have come out and pitched their own ‘history of music’ – superb work indeed. Worth spending some time digging around for some aural beauties? I think so…

4. Slovenski Oglaševalski Festival (SOF)
Last year, when I attended the Weekend Media Festival in Croatia, I was asked if I would be interested in attending (and speaking) at the 2012 Slovenian Advertising Festival. ‘Of course!’ I said, ‘Email me!’ – and in January this year, they did! Fast forward a couple of months and here I am, in the gorgeous coastal town of Portoroz, giving a talk about word of mouth marketing. Lovely stuff.

Why?

I wore red (like last time), I had a lot of fun fun aaaaand, on top of that, I managed to mix things up a little bit with a careful sprinkling of pandas too – so, all in all, I think it went well.

Big thanks to UrÅ¡a Pučko and her team at Pristop for inviting me in the first place, being such great hosts and, of course, organising everything so perfectly. All I can say is – thank you! And to anyone reading this: Visit Slovenia!

5. A real superhero
This story is incredible. First, some background –

Yeah, this actually happened.

Now, I know a few of you are probably already thinking about how freaking awesome this is… right? Right. Well, it gets better. This guy – real name Lenny B. Robinson – is a bonafide superhero. An A-grade, first class, inspirational figure.

Why? Take a look for yourself.

Incredible.

Bonusesthe bizarre world of video game sexual content bureaucracy; the new Superman logo (from the upcoming Man of Steel film) has been revealed; and Maxim needs to remember what year we’re in. 

 

 

Spotify on Windows Phone

It’s here…

Yesterday was a fairly busy day, if you’re a tech-head like me at least; Google+ rolled out their brand pages, the Nokia N9 started updating to the much-heralded mega-fix firmware and, for those that needed it, Spotify dropped onto the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Google+ I’ve covered already (no really, what is it for?), the N9 update I am yet to apply and as for Spotify? Well, what can I say?

Choosing Windows Phone as the last, great, mobile operating system to support, Spotify prepped itself for the promised masses yesterday afternoon (after a preview some six months ago) and boy, is it a beautiful app to use.

First, some caveats:

  • Spotify mobile is only available to premium subscribers
  • Premium is £9.99 a month. A small price to pay to NEVER PAY FOR ANY MUSIC EVER AGAIN.
  • I’ve tried Zune* and, until Spotify dropped, that was fine (if a little alien).

So, to the app itself.

The good stuff:

  • WP7 app design: oh my God this app is gorgeous.
  • Scrolling, sharing, syncing: all of it rocks my face off.
  • It’s Spotify, on my mobile.

The stuff needed in the next update:

  • Background colour options
    Windows Phone offers either ‘dark’ or ‘light’, white on black or black on white respectively. Spotify should either match its app’s skin accordingly or at least offer it up as an in-app option. Strangely, while the app offers the light variation, the desktop client offers dark.
  • Last.fm integration please
    Syncing tracks listened to in online mode and remembering then uploading my tracks listened to in offline mode.
  • Offline playlist filters
    Yeah, love that but, any chance that you filter the playlists by DOWNLOADED FIRST? Having to scroll through all of them in order is a pain.
  • Album art on lockscreen
    I mentioned I was on Zune before, one thing that the WP music player does nicely is show album covers on the lock screen while playing music. It’s a nice touch and adds to the overall experience. Spotify should do this too. See below.

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 Florence playing through Zune

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 Florence playing through Spotify

Overall, great work guys, it’s an awesome service and I’m a big fan. Having it running on my Lumia makes me a very happy bunny indeed. Good job.

Please, continue to iterate, improve and impress.

Danke,
James.

 

*I signed up for a Zune Pass about a day after first getting my Windows Phone. I like that it covers my Xbox too, but I already have Last.fm there. So it was only really the mobile music angle I needed to cover. Now Spotify is here, I just don’t need it.