It also features a singer who sounds vaguely stoned and the faint sounds of women squealing, though I suppose that's not what you're looking for

I can't shake the feeling that I'm well behind the times on this, but Pandora: Radio from the Music Genome Project is the coolest website ever.

If you haven't used it, you essentially enter an artist or song, and it spits out an entire library of music that sounds like it. For instance, it asked for my favorite song -- I entered "The Unforgiven" (of course) and was immediately greeted with Skid Row's "18 to Life," a song I'd never really heard before. And it sounded exactly like "The Unforgiven."

I started another "station," this one based on Dave Matthews (of course). Unfortunately, the most "representative" Dave track they could find was a live version of "Fool to Think," which is not of their best. But then it followed it up with an O.A.R. (who?) song that rocked. I notice a "Why is this song playing?" I click and am told, Based on what you've told us so far, we're playing this track because it features mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, major key tonality, acoustic rhythm guitars and many other similarities identified in the music genome project. Um, whoa.

And it sounded scarily like Dave -- hell, it was even live! And before I could even finish thinking, "John Mayer's coming up any minute now," the next song started, and it was John Meyer. Live John Mayer, even. 'Cause hey, he sounds like Dave.

(Steve and I once had a conversation about Mr. Meyer, of whom I'm not a big fan. Steve is [or was, at this time we had this conversation]. I said to him, "If I want to listen to a drunken Dave Matthews impersonator, I'll listen to you." Steve conceded my point.)

Next will come the Fiona Apple station. Then the Radiohead station. I could spend hours doing this.

In fact, I think I will.

(One quick one, though: on the Dave station, it spits out "Halloween," one of the very finest DMB tracks -- a nightmarish masterpiece. Why is it playing? ...because it features extensive vamping. Hahahaha.)