The Filter, an ‘instant playlist generator plugin for iTunes’, just launched today. This little plugin, backed by Peter Gabriel, is a great way to build playlists of music on the fly.

You can create playlists in a number of ways, but what seems the most intuitive and accurate for me is selecting a few songs that you’re in the “mood” for and then hitting the “F” on The Filter. The Filter then immediately creates a playlist for you with around two dozen songs based on factors such as your listening habits and the listening habits of other users.

This thing is freakishly good at creating playlists you’d like. I’m not kidding.

Setup was a bit clunky at first and it still seems to have a couple of moments where it feels slow, but otherwise this really is one of my favorite new gadgets for consuming music.

Be sure to check out the screencast that covers a lot of the functionality of it.

Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

(Via The Apple Blog.)