nprmusic:

NPR Music’s 50 Favorite Songs Of 2014 (So Far) 

(For those on Rdio, click here.)

procrastinaut:

What does Conrad’s Heart of Darkness sound like? Or rather, what would it sound like as music?

TransPose automatically generates music “in response to the emotion of words in literature.”

The text of a novel … [is] segmented into four parts, the octaves determined by the “joy and sadness densities,” and the length of notes set by the density of those emotions.

These emotions in turn are determined by a database of words linked to eight different sentiments, including joy, anticipation, anger, disgust, trust, fear, surprise, and sadness.

So the sections of the book each get an emotional profile.

More detail, and examples, at Hyperallergic.

Heart of Darkness and A Clockwork Orange seem convincing enough, but the musical interpretation of On The Road seems off. Cool experiment, though.

nprmusic:

Watch the Scottish electro-pop trio Chvrches bring its small arsenal of synths to NPR’s Tiny Desk. 

Got a Roku? Help us beta-test the new Tiny Desk Concert app!