I got my year end PLAYBACK report from last.fm, a site which tracks all of my music listening (scrobbles) and it’s a really interesting wrapup of my year in music. I’ll be writing more about it over the next few days but I wanted to start with what I thought was the most interesting slide:

I am a rooted, discerning, adventurer which means I listen consistently to a large group of artists and songs but I do venture off towards the uncharted as well to discover new things. Many of the stable of artists and songs I like have come from these adventures. I have always been that way when it comes to music. I start with something I like but then I branch out from there:

What else has this band or artist released that I can listen to?

Were the people in this band in other bands I can listen to?

Were there any guest musicians on this album I can listen to?

Who produced this album and who else have they worked with that I can listen to?

Who influenced this artist and what did they do that I can listen to?

This has worked very well for me over the years, some of my favorite bands would have surely flown under the radar had I not gone out looking for them.

And then sometimes I just stumble across an artist out of nowhere that I end up liking a lot, which makes being an adventurer worth it when I find a band like The Greenberry Woods. I don’t recall how I found them but I am sure glad I went looking that day…