Blog

1 Fela Kuti - The Best of the Black President (1999)
Nigeria
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2 Salif Keita - The Mansa of Mali...a Retrospective (1994)
Mali
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3 King Sunny Adé - Juju Music (1982)
Nigeria
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4
Thomas Mapfumo - Chimurenga Forever: The Best of Thomas Mapfumo (1995)
Zimbabwe
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5 Orchestra Baobab - Pirate's Choice (1982)
Senegal
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6 Tinariwen - Aman Iman; Water Is Life (2007)
Mali
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7
Mulatu Astatke - Ethiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974 (1998)
Ethiopia
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8 Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata (1967)
South Africa
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9
Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra - Boulevard De L'independance (2006)
Mali
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10 Hugh Masekela - The boys doin' it (1975)
South Africa
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11 Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako (2005)
Mali
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12 Mahmoud Ahmed - Ethiopiques, Vol. 7: Ere Mela Mela (1999)
Ethiopia
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13 Ali Farka Touré - Ali Farka Touré (1988)
Mali
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14 Youssou N'Dour - Set (1990)
Senegal
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15 Khaled - Khaled (1991)
Algeria
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16 Baaba Maal - Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) (2001)
Senegal
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17 Orchestra Baobab - Specialist In All Styles (2002)
Senegal
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18 Franco - The Rumba Giant of Zaire (2000)
Zaire
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19 Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck - Djam Leelii (1989)
Senegal
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20 Fela Kuti - Confusion/Gentleman (2000)
Nigeria
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21 Babatunde Olatunji - Drums of Passion (1959)
Nigeria
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22 Tinariwen - The Radio Tisdas Sessions (2001)
Mali
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23 Mory Kante - Sabou (2004)
Guinea
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24 Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa (1962)
Cameroon
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25 Toumani Diabaté - Djelika (1995)
Mali
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26 Miriam Makeba - Miriam Makeba (1960)
South Africa
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27 Femi Kuti - Femi Kuti (1995)
Nigeria
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28 Rakotozafy - Valiha Malaza (1995)
Madagascar
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29 Salif Keita - Soro (1987)
Mali
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30 Hugh Masekela - Grrr (1966)
South Africa
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31 Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder - Talking Timbuktu (1994)
Mali
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32 Miriam Makeba - Sangoma (1988)
South Africa
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33 ismael lo - Ismael Lo (1992)
Senegal
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34 Rachid Taha - Made in Medina (2000)
Algeria
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35 Salif Keita - Amen (1991)
Mali
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36 Alpha Blondy - Apartheid Is Nazism (1987)
Cote d'Ivoire
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37 Amadou & Mariam - Sou Ni Tile (1999)
Mali
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38 Konono No1 - Congotronics (2005)
Congo
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39 Rokia Traore - Wanita (2000)
Mali
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40 Habib Koite & Bamada - Muso Ko
Mali

. . . and now the good people of Last.fm have a quick way to let me find out just how eclectic they are.

Here are the instructions and results:

Take your top 20 artists. For each of these artists, collect the top 5 similar artists. The resulting number of unique artists is your eclectic score. If the score is small (extreme = 5) your musical preferences are very limited, and if it is large (larger than 80, extreme = 100), then you have an eclectic musical preference. You can compute your own score at http://anthony.liekens.net/pub/scripts/last.fm/eclectic.php

My eclectic score is currently




The 76 related artists for my profile are Alanis Morissette Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder Amadou & Mariam Aretha Franklin B.B. King & Eric Clapton Beck Björk (2) Blind Faith Blondie Bob Dylan (3) Boubacar Traoré Brian Eno Brian Eno & David Byrne Bruce Springsteen Buddy Guy Can Coldplay (2) Cream Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young David Bowie (2) Elvis Presley Emerson, Lake & Palmer (2) Eric Clapton Explosions in the Sky Fela Kuti Fiona Apple Frank Sinatra Frank Zappa (2) Franz Liszt Frédéric Chopin Garbage Genesis (2) Gentle Giant Grateful Dead James Brown Jethro Tull Jimi Hendrix Johann Sebastian Bach Johannes Brahms John Lee Hooker Kate Bush King Crimson Led Zeppelin (2) Marvin Gaye Mogwai Muddy Waters Nick Drake Oasis Pere Ubu Pink Floyd (3) R.E.M. (2) Radiohead (3) Rush Sarah McLachlan Sergei Rachmaninoff Simon & Garfunkel Stevie Wonder Sting Sufjan Stevens The Allman Brothers Band The Arcade Fire (2) The Beatles (5) The Doors The Police The Residents The Rolling Stones (3) The Smashing Pumpkins The Smiths The Velvet Underground The Who Tinariwen Tom Waits (2) Tori Amos U2 (2) Van Morrison (2) Yes

Some observations:
It seems like the Beatles, the 'Stones and Pink Floyd are "similar" to just about anyone from the '60s--including each other. That, of course, is a rather weird thing to say; Last.fm's saying it, though, keeps me from achieving eclectic Nirvana (80). 76 isn't too bad, though.

Ah, well. I suspect that my good friends Fearful Syzygy and Mozo have me beat in the eclecticism department anyway.

Take your top 20 artists. For each of these artists, collect the top 5 similar artists. The resulting number of unique artists is your eclectic score. If the score is small (extreme = 5) your musical preferences are very limited, and if it is large (larger than 80, extreme = 100), then you have an eclectic musical preference. You can compute your own score at http://anthony.liekens.net/pub/scripts/last.fm/eclectic.php

My eclectic score is currently



The 93 related artists for my profile are Albert Ayler Ali Farka Touré Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder (2) Ali Farka Touré, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, Jim Keltner, John Patitucci & Ry Cooder Ali Farka Touré, Jim Keltner, John Patitucci & Ry Cooder Amadou & Mariam Andy Bowers Antonio Vivaldi (2) Armen Chakmakian Bill Evans Bill Frisell Bob Dylan Boubacar Traoré Brad Mehldau Cali Lewis CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio Podcasting CBC Radio Podcasts CBC Radio: The Best of Ideas Charles Mingus Chicago Public Radio Chick Corea cLOUDDEAD commandN David Bowie Deva Premal Devakant Dido digg.com Doctor Tiki Déjà Vu/Tasmin Enigma Eric Dolphy Fela Kuti Frédéric Chopin (2) Genesis Georg Friedrich Händel Hannah Jones/Respect Hariprasad Chaurasia Johann Sebastian Bach John Coltrane John Scofield & Pat Metheny Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett Trio Krishna Das Ludwig van Beethoven (2) Madonna Miles Davis (2) Mitzi B/Tabu Moby Neil Young Nick Drake Nikhil Banerjee Ornette Coleman Pat Metheny Pat Metheny Group Patrick Norton Pharoah Sanders Quirks & Quarks - CBC Radio R.E.M. Ravi Shankar Respect/Shirley Lewis Sada Sat kaur Sage Francis Science Friday Podcast Shivkumar Sharma Simon & Garfunkel Sina Vodjani Sixtoo Snatam Kaur Khalsa Sole Sting Sun Ra The Beatles (2) The Cranberries The Onion The Police The Rolling Stones The Velvet Underground Thelonious Monk Themselves Tinariwen Tulku U2 Van Morrison Vilayat Khan Weather Report Who's That Girl WNYC, New York Public Radio Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (2) Zeava Ben Zen Men