Spotify Wars (Sonos part 2)
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| Warning! Spotify + Sonos + Family can lead to mayhem! |
It was time for bed - we
old farts were tired. All six of us went upstairs: two yawning adults, one
college kid, one high school kid, and two goofy Standard Poodles. Nice picture,
right? Due to bathrrom scheduling issues (1.5 baths for 4 people is a bitch)
Brent and I were crashed on our bed with our iPads while our daughter was
finishing up in the bathroom.
I was innocently playing
Candy Crush on my iPad, cursing under my breath at this "ducky"
level, and all of a sudden I hear a quiet snicker from the clown beside me.
K: "What?"
B: "Oh, nothing..." (grins evilly)
Then the music starts.
Okay, he's playing with Spotify, and probably found another theme song for the
puppy, I think. Boy was I wrong...
"Hey Mr,
mistertambourineman. mistertambourineman, play a song for me!"
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| Proof that if you are an actor stick to acting ... |
It was William Shatner's
awful rendition of that song. Can't exactly say he "sung" it, more
like chanted it. I felt my sanity crack a little bit.
"ACK! Get that crap
off! Now! Dammit, not Shatner! Not at bedtime - that is cruel! Anything but this!"
I highlighted my key
mistake in that comment above. "Anything but this" was not a good
choice of words. Because while Mr. Tambourine Man was gone, out came:
"Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes"
Aaaaahhhhh!!!
Yes, Shatner as strung
out stalker. I believe that I actually did scream in frustration.
"NO. MORE. SHATNER!"
Brent could barely talk he was laughing so hard. He instantly switched to Leonard Nimoy's The Sage of Bilbo Baggins ... argh!
At this point I think my
head exploded. And then I got quiet. I realized that we could spread the pain. heh heh heh. Maria was finishing up in the bathroom, and didn't suspect a
thing. Her turn was next. Unfortunately, her reaction was not running from the room screaming about evil parents and step-parents. Instead, she joined forces with Brent to further torment me. Epic Fail.
Now I have to
interject here. While the above was close
to what actually happened, one thing we were finding out is that having the
means to play things all over the house, AND a library such as Spotify's -
finding covers of songs was very very easy. I am nearly sorry for having
it serenade the album that proved that if you have been typecast, it may be for
a reason - case in point Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner. I am not
sorry at all about finding the 27 1/2 versions of Sweet Caroline by Neil
Diamond. I am proud to find his version isn't the best either. And
am quick to point out that the Elvis impersonator at our wedding sang it
without me even asking. Honest. I didn't ask. Really.
No, REALLY. Elvis did a cover of it - so it was an honest song selection.
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| Sweet Caroline - not the best version |
So. This might seem like a review more for Spotify that Sonos. And in a way it is, but in reality it is the Sonos that brought Spotify to the whole family. We found that when not tethered to a laptop those sorts of streaming services become easier to use, everyone uses them, and comes up with all kinds of "creative" ways to use it. It's better than typical over the air radio, and frankly that or Pandora is usually playing when it isn't something that isn't being played for entertainment in the evening. I think the old "mix tape" is under pressure as Spotify and Pandora convenience is brought to the fore.
When Brent is not trying to find the most obscure covers of marginal songs, Spotify is a great way to explore music. When I just want music somewhere in the house via Sonos, I usually put on Spotify since I haven't bothered to spend the time making various playlists of our odd iTunes collection. Shuffle play of our iTunes music frustrates me since we have so many genres of music, and I am too lazy to make selections, or the room that needs tunes is too far from the rack of equipment. Sonos + Spotify is way better than a "boom box" from back in the day, and if you aren't lazy, you can have all of your digital music at your fingertips, in any room you desire. [Unless it is high bitrate stuff!] Sonos is much more convenient than having iThingies in each room for your iPod, has much better sound than the old wireless speaker/transmitter solution I had, and keeps the kids (and the neighbors) from complaining about the volume level if you instead try to play the "real" stereo loudly enough to fill the bill. Adding Spotify, your digital library, and streaming radio into the mix is just the cherry on top of the Sonos sundae. Giant "thumbs up" from me [both of us!] for the Sonos!
I just count it a win if I can listen to Sonos without Shatner, Nimoy, or that not-so-sweet Caroline showing up in the garden or during my workout.
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