Pandora Radio Leads The Best New Music-Related iPhone Apps

Today is a big day for fans of tiny gadgets that do big things, as Apple rolls out the new, speedier iPhone 3G. But perhaps the bigger news is the host of applications available in the new software update. The new toys include a bunch of games, news, sports and organizational tools, but the slate of music-related tools is pretty impressive. Most notable is the iPhone version of Pandora, the customizable Internet radio site that caters stations to your favorite bands. The Pandora app (available free via iTunes) lets users import their already-existing Pandora stations or create fresh ones for their phone. Though it'll be a burden on our battery, Rock Daily is now excited it can take its Guns n' Roses station with it wherever it goes.

The greatness doesn't stop there. Other iTunes apps for music fans include Midomi (which will allow users to figure out what songs are playing in those Cadillac commercials by either singing a bit into their phone or holding the iPhone up to a speaker playing the song), Guitar Toolkit (a guitar tuner that also stocks chord maps) and a plug-in that turns your iPhone into a remote that lets you wirelessly control iTunes and Apple TV. Most of these are also compatible with the iPod Touch and are available free of charge. For more, visit the iPhone site.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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