Musical duo Bluebrain has taken the guesswork out of listening to music -- their latest album dictates where you can listen to it, what songs it plays, and when it plays them. Take that, playlists! The album, titled The National Mall, will be available only as an iPhone app and the band is calling it the first location-aware album. The app... er, album, uses your phone's GPS to track one's proximity to hundreds of tagged zones spread throughout the landmarks of the Washington DC National Mall, dynamically tweaking the rhythm, melody, instrumentation, and pace of the music as you go.
Despite this fancy smartphone integration, Bluebrain stresses that this is still an album, not a toy or augmented reality application. The experience is strictly location specific, no user input necessary, or available. Want to hear a new melody or arrangement? Walk to a different monument. The project's location-specific nature means that fans outside of the DC area are out of luck for now. The band says two more GPS-powered albums are on the way -- one designed for Brooklyn's Prospect Park, and another spanning the entire length of California's Highway 1. Music, measured in miles -- neat, but Hwy. 1 manages just fine on its own, wouldn't you say?
