Category Archives: Music

Last.fm 1.0.9.6 updated

John has been working in the Last.fm client code and prepared some nice patches, so here’s a new minor release for Debian etch (1.0.9.6-0etch3) and Ubuntu edgy (1.0.9.6-0edgy3).

Changes include:

  • Some leaks were fixed, so now the client wastes less memory 😉
  • A new ALSA plugin has been introduced.
  • Users can select the web browser from the options dialog.

Get the full changelog and source code at John’s page.

As usual, compiled packages are available from my webpage. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Enjoy!

Last.fm 1.0.7 updated

I have updated the last.fm packages for Debian sarge (1.0.7-0sarge2) and Ubuntu dapper (1.0.7-0dapper2). This update solves a bug that caused the program to segfault when double clicking on Friends.

Download them at http://people.igalia.com/berto.

Version 1.0.9.6 is not affected by this bug, so if you’re using Debian etch or Ubuntu edgy you don’t need to do anything.

Happy holidays.

A Christmas gift for you

I’m pleased to announce the availability of new Debian and Ubuntu packages of the the latest version of the Last.fm client for x86 systems.

New versions have been released by the Last.fm team, being 1.0.9.6 the current one. However the only official download for GNU/Linux is still several months old and lacks the newest features and bug fixes.

I have been combining efforts with John Stamp and we have prepared packages for Debian and Ubuntu. We’ll try to keep them updated with every new release from Last.fm (you can subscribe to this blog’s feed for announcements if you want to).

Go here for downloads and more information.

These packages are unofficial and they haven’t been tested thoroughly, so comments and suggestions are welcome.

Merry Christmas for you all!

P.S.: I’m sure that some of you know where I took this post’s title from. Highly recommended, of course, and not just for these dates 😉

Last.fm client for Debian and Ubuntu

I wrote about Last.fm some time ago in this blog, and mentioned some of the programs you can use to listen to this internet station.

However, the previous official player is deprecated and no longer supported (although it still works) as the Last.fm team has released a new client (in beta stage for GNU/Linux systems). This new client can be downloaded here, but there’s no Debian package, just a precompiled binary in a .tar.bz2 file. Moreover, this binary does not work in sarge, the current stable release of Debian.

As this new client is GPL too (congratulations!) I downloaded the source code and made a Debian package ready to run in sarge systems. You can get it from my webpage. I have been using it successfully for some time, but any comments regarding its packaging are welcome. Enjoy!

Updated 03-12-2006: I also built another package for Debian testing (etch). You can download it from the same page I mentioned above.

Updated 04-12-2006: Now a package for Ubuntu edgy is available too!

The Last.fm player and radio stations

As some of you might already know, Last.fm is an online community based on musical tastes. You have to create an account (it’s free), install a plugin on your music player and your program will send statistics of the music you play in your computer to Last.fm.

Then you will be able to see what is the music you listen to the most, view recommendations, users with musical tastes similar to yours (called neighbours), create communities, blog, and many other things.

Besides this, Last.fm also offers personalized online radio. Using a free player downloadable from its website you can listen to many radio stations, including things like:

  • Music your neighbours listen to.
  • Music similar to a given artist/band.
  • Music recommended to you by Last.fm
  • Music tagged with a given tag.

The streaming quality is good (MP3 at 128kbps) and you can skip any track, and tell the player which songs you love the most and which songs you don’t want to hear anymore.

The player is very small and nice, and it is released under the GNU GPL license (you can access the Subversion repository too), so congratulations to the Last.fm people.

Besides the official player, a number of other compatible third-party players are out, such as Last Exit (GTK+) and Shell.FM (console). Recent versions of Amarok can also play Last.fm radios.

The official Last.fm player is available in Debian etch (testing). If you want to install it in a Debian sarge, you can use a backport. Just add 'deb http://www.backports.org/debian/ sarge-backports main' to your sources.list and run 'apt-get -t sarge-backports install lastfm'.

Won’t you miss me?

Syd Barrett

It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here
And I’m most obliged to you for making it clear
That I’m not here

And I never knew the moon could be so big
And I never knew the moon could be so blue
And I’m grateful that you threw away my old shoes
And brought me here instead dressed in red

And I’m wondering who could be writing this song

I don’t care if the sun don’t shine
And I don’t care if nothing is mine
And I don’t care if I’m nervous with you
I’ll do my loving in the Winter

And the sea isn’t green
And I love the Queen
And what exactly is a dream?
And what exactly is a joke?

Syd Barrett (06/Jan/1946 – 07/Jul/2006)

Metal Machine Music

Este sábado 24 o programa Extrarradio da Radio Galega foi gravado ao lado da praia de Riazor. Entre os convidados ao programa estivo Pulpiño Viascón, participante no concurso A Polo Ghit.

Ademais de falar um pouco da sua carreira, Pulpiño mostrou as suas habilidades musicais interpretando diante de todos nós várias conhecidas melodias usando como instrumento um serrucho.

A lista das obras que interpretou:

  • O tema principal de Star Wars
  • Love Me Tender
  • O Sole Mio
  • Negra Sombra

Aqui podemos escoitar o mini-concerto completo.

E aqui temos a Pulpiño durante o recital:

Pulpiño a tocar o instrumento

Here comes the summer!

Onde se nota que vai chegando a temporada estival é (entre outras muitas cousas) nos concertos e festivais de música.

Nas próximas semanas/meses teremos por aqui perto a artistas como por exemplo Morrissey, os Yeah Yeah Yeahs ou Kiko Veneno.

Esta semana vamos abrindo boca: o Festival do Norte 2006 (Vilagarcia de Arousa), com conhecidos convidados internacionais como The Divine Comedy ou os clássicos Echo & The Bunnymen.

Além disto, no Festival Sinsal (Vigo) actuará esta mesma semana o duo finês de electrónica experimental Pan Sonic.