Pandora wants me to know it has indie cred

by Katie

My iPod’s battery died at work today. So I went with Plan B and clicked over to Pandora. Since I’d been enjoying “Outer South” on the iPod, I went with the Conor Oberst station. And ever since that fateful click, Pandora has been trying to prove to me that it has cred.

Pandora identifies Conor Oberst songs as featuring “basic rock song structures, country influence, subtle use of vocal harmony, mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, and major key tonality.”

Why, then, did they proceed to play this list of songs, which features basically none of those traits?

• Danny Callahan – Conor
• We Looked Like Giants – Death Cab for Cutie
• Falling – Ben Kweller
• The Crane Wife 3 – Decemberists
• Moab – Conor
• Someday You Will Be Loved – Death Cab
• Waitin’ For a Superman – Iron and Wine
• Kissing the Lipless – The Shins
• Float On – Modest Mouse
• 405 – Death Cab
• Such Great Heights – Postal Service (IT IS THE SAME GUY AS IN DEATH CAB, PANDORA)
• Gone for Good – The Shins
• Don’t Know Why – Ben Kweller
• Get-Well Cards – Conor

I get it, Pandora. You’re a total hipster. I concede some sort of indie cred to you, whatever that may be worth. Now kindly play something else.

(If you’re wondering, the song playing after “Get Well Cards” is another Death Cab song. I DO NOT REALLY LOVE THEM, PANDORA.)