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Nerdist was started by Chris Hardwick and has grown to be a many headed beast.

You Are Listening To Los Angeles (Or New York)

by on March 9, 2011

What’s the soundtrack to Los Angeles? Please, PLEASE don’t say The Eagles. No, someone has tried to answer that question with a site called youarelisteningtolosangeles.com, and I’m wondering if anyone else immediately made the connection to Soul Coughing’s “Screenwriter Blues.” But that’s not what you get when you go to the site. No, you get police scanner broadcasts played live over a bed of chill music, and the effect is odd. And a little mesmerizing.

And there’s also a version for New York, youarelistening.to/newyork. While writing this, the first thing I heard was a report of a shooting, with ominous strains wafting below it. The effect depends on how active the scanners are, but I imagine it must be really bizarre late on a Saturday night. (Being home listening to that late on a Saturday night would speak volumes about your life, but that’s a separate issue)

At the right times, this sounds like an avant-garde crime drama. I’ve heard worse things on the radio.

HT: Dave Share, Blogging.la, KNBC-TV (NBC4)/Los Angeles


 
9 comments read them below or add one

  1. “Being home listening to that late on a Saturday night would speak volumes about your life, but that’s a separate issue.”

    … And from that day forward, Nerdist’s traffic dropped off entirely, its readership too hurt to continue reading.

  3. yay! i immediately made the connection to soul coughing’s “screenwriter’s blues”… ” we are all going to receda.”

  7. First thing I thought of when I read the caption was the Soul Coughing song. Maybe it was an intentional reference? As twisted and creepy as this is, “Screenwriter Blues” still causes me more slightly more anxiety. I like it.

  8. Haha yeah, the Soul Coughing song was the first thing to come to mind! I love it… very unnerving.

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