Please broaden my horizons.

[Jayblah]

Heya.

I'm pretty much at a loss when it comes to discovering new music. Pitchfork and Hamtunes (now defunct) are my primary sources when it comes to finding out about new music to give a try. I've decided to pick your brains this time around. I've added a list of what music I currently have on my PC. I would say my musical taste is eclectic; I will listen to pretty much anything if it sounds good, genre be damned.

Please take a look and offer suggestions that you think I might like based on what I currently listen to. In exchange for your time and advice, I promise to make an effort to give your recommendations a fair shake.

Some things to note before you recommend anything:
1. If I have the album already below, chances are I have also listened most of that musician's other albums and did not like them or was indifferent to them. Example: The Mars Volta: I hate all of their albums except the one I have, which I love.
2. If you recommend rap (my least listened to genre), please avoid recommending tripe (e.g. songs about bitches and hos, gettin' rich, how badass the rapper is).
3. Please don't recommend anything that consists of a singer growling/barking into the mic (e.g. most metal I've heard). I can appreciate your like for this type of music, but I intensely dislike this style of music. I do enjoy metal with good vocalists however, despite the absence of that genre on my current playlist.
4. Please don't recommend anything that's nothing more than glorified, spaced-out bleeps and blips (e.g. A Silver Mount Zion, Tortoise). I hate this type of post-rock/electronica. The type of post-rock I love is evident by my albums below. I can appreciate your like for this type of music, but I intensely dislike this style of music.
5. You might then be wondering wtf A Silver Mount Zion is doing in my playlist; well, its just one song. I just structure my music this way. Quite a few of my albums are mostly just a few songs off one album. Example: Every Linkin Park album on the list.
6. If the album is boldfaced, I really, really like that album as a whole and would love recommendations that sound similar.
7. Beyond the aforementioned, don't let genres or age of an album dissuade you from recommending it!

Thanks!

A Perfect Circle\Mer De Noms
A Silver Mt. Zion\Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward
Animal Collective\Strawberry Jam
Annuals\Be He Me
Arcade Fire\Funeral
Arcade Fire\Neon Bible
Band of Horses\Cease to Begin
Beirut\The Flying Club Cup Bloc Party\A Weekend In The City
Bloc Party\Silent Alarm
Brand New\Deja Entendu
Brand New\The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
Caribou\Andorra
Caspian\The Four Trees
Caspian\You Are The Conductor
Death Cab For Cutie\Plans
Death Cab For Cutie\Transatlanticism
Deer Tick\War Elephant
Dropkick Murphys\Blackout
EF\EF
EF\Give Me Beauty ...Or Give Me Death!
Explosions In The Sky\The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Fujiya & Miyagi\Transparent Things
God Is An Astronaut\Far From Refuge
God Is An Astronaut\The End of the Beginning
Guns N' Roses\Greatest Hits
Iron & Wine\The Shepherd's Dog
Jens Lekman\Night Falls Over Kortedala
Jens Lekman\Oh You're So Silent Jens
Junior Boys\So This Is Goodbye
Keane\Hopes And Fears
Keane\Under The Iron Sea
Linkin Park\Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park\Meteora
Linkin Park\Minutes to Midnight
M83\Before The Dawn Heals Us
M83\Digital Shades Vol. 1
M83\m83
Mew\And The Glass Handed Kites
Michael Jackson\Number Ones
Mogwai\Happy Songs for Happy People
Mogwai\My Father My King
Mogwai\Rock Action
Muse\Black Holes And Revelations
Neutral Milk Hotel\In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Nice Krispy\The Yeahs and the Naws
Nine Inch Nails\The Fragile
Nine Inch Nails\The Downward Spiral
Oasis\What's the Story, Morning Glory
Pavement\Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Radiohead\In Rainbows
Radiohead\OK Computer
Rage Against The Machine\Evil Empire
Rage Against The Machine\The Battle of Los Angeles
Saul Williams\NiggyTardust
Sea Wolf\Leaves in the River
Sigur Ros\( )
Sigur Ros\Takk
Soundtracks\Heat
Soundtracks\Last Of The Mohicans
Soundtracks\Leon
Soundtracks\The Fountain
Soundtracks\The Last Samurai
Sparta\Porcelain
Sparta\Wiretap Scars
Spoon\Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon\Get Nice!
The Album Leaf\In A Safe Place
The Album Leaf\The Enchanted Hill
The Decemberists\Castaways and Cutouts
The Decemberists\The Crane Wife
The Flaming Lips\Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Mars Volta\De-Loused in the Comatorium The Postal Service\Give Up
The Radio Dept\Pet Grief
The Tough Alliance\New Chance
Tool\Aenima
U2\Joshua Tree
U2\All That You Can't Leave Behind
Weezer\Pinkerton
Weezer\Blue Album
Weezer\Green Album
Wooden Wand\James and the Quiet
Yeah Yeah Yeahs\Fever To Tell
Yeasayer\All Hour Cymbals
Yndi Halda\Enjoy Eternal Bliss
Yo La Tengo\I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

[Lowk]

Check your PMs

[Lowk]

If the era the music comes from isn't a issue to what you might like definitely reverse engineer your favorite bands. Chances are if you like someone from recent times there is most likely someone who came before them who sounds very similar. Searching for your favorite band on Wikipedia usually will give you a good idea on who they drew from.

Also check out the site Pandora Radio - Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music basically you enter a band you like and they produce a radio station of similar type bands in a radio-eque playlist.

[Ronne]

Second Pandora, big time. Site is amazing with the sheer amount of music it has stored. Pandora + Zune pass/Skreemr is hot, hot musical sex.

[Smocca]

Is Pandora better than Last.fm? Any major differences between them?

[Jhentar_AN|Trib]

They are no defunct but if you can track down the albums and ep's of aussie band Def FX (think in the US they were called Definition FX cause of a Das FX lawsuit) I think you will enjoy it.

I'm a little biased as I was friends with the lead singer, and their lyrics are very pagan influenced but the musical style was a precursor to bands like Prodigy, Chemical Bros and post-DubNoBass Underworld.....basically imo they are/were all kinds of awesome.





YouTube - Def FX Yamaha Rock Awards 1990 - Live Video that can't be embedded but worth seeing.

[brekk]

Lately I've gotten into some new stuff, might fit well compared to stuff on that list.

Sweatshop Union (its rap'ish but not the pimps n ho's shit)
Silversun Pickups
Peter Bjorn and John
Shiny Toy Guns
Girltalk - Nightripper (probably my most listened to album of the past 2 years)
Blur (been into 90's brit rock lately Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Bush mainly. Saw radiohead and oasis on your list, but no blur.)

[Candiarie]

Yeah, last.fm definitely helps for shit like this. Going to artists you like and seeing their related artists or just putting on their radio has helped me find more than a few bands I liked. Brekk's recommendations I'd agree with, except for Girl Talk. His appeal didn't last that long at all with me, but it's worth checking out if only to not be the one person who hasn't listened to the album.

I'll throw Voxtrot out there because it's the only CD that's sitting in front of me and it somewhat fits in with your list.

[Lowk]

Originally Posted by Candiarie

Yeah, last.fm definitely helps for shit like this. Going to artists you like and seeing their related artists or just putting on their radio has helped me find more than a few bands I liked. Brekk's recommendations I'd agree with, except for Girl Talk. His appeal didn't last that long at all with me, but it's worth checking out if only to not be the one person who hasn't listened to the album.

I'll throw Voxtrot out there because it's the only CD that's sitting in front of me and it somewhat fits in with your list.

Girl Talk is all sorts of awesome. I can place 95% of the samples and to hear them interwoven like that is great. It's like Pop Music and Glitch conceived a bady, then had it aborted and the baby ended up living.

[Ham n Cheese]

No idea how you can say Tortoise is bloops and beeps. Did you listen to "Glass Museum", I can understand if you started "Millions now living will never Die" heard the first song (Djed) and turned it off, but that album should start on track 2. Also do you not like the other Mew albums? Frengers was good

All of Clint Mansell's stuff is great so just get all of his shit since you liked the Fountain OST. Really love "Dead Reckoning" on the Smokin' Aces OST. Oh and I think you have a Bloc Party album in your Beirut folder and Postal Service in TMV

PB&J who Brekk recommended is pretty good, but I'm sure you've heard that by now since young folks is so insanely popular. But I'd recommend you go and get "Falling Out", it's their strongest album start to finish. There's also several songs on "Writers Block" that are better than "Young Folks"

You boldfaced Junior Boys, so check out:
Hot Chip (more poppy sounding)


Check out MGMT:



I know you love Caspian, do you not like "This Will Destroy You" too? There's also "Mono - You Are There" and maybe 65daysofstatic or This is your captain speaking


edit: some more random recommendations
Beach House (new album leaked now, but so far I still prefer self titled for the below song, apple orchard and tokyo witch)


Muscles


Burial


Sunset Rubdown (fan video)


!!!


Destroyer


The Microphones (thx to Opulis for this one, I was extremely late to the party on the awesomeness of these guys) - wait about a minute in before the song really starts

[Jayblah]

Thank you all for your replies thus far. I have listened to Girl Talk but it did not manage to remain on my harddrive once the appeal wore off.

Originally Posted by Ham n Cheese

No idea how you can say Tortoise is bloops and beeps. Did you listen to "Glass Museum", I can understand if you started "Millions now living will never Die"

I'll give that album a chance. I did start off with "Millions" and I thought all the songs were slow, boring, and shitty. I think you know this by now but I don't like post-rock that is ambient nice and artsy fartsy shit for 3/4 of the song then "explodes." Sludging through 6 minutes of crap to halfheartedly enjoy 2 minutes of "meh" isn't my idea of fun. That's why (as you know); I looooove Caspian. They start out strong and finish stronger. God is an Astronaut is similar but somewhat more boring than Caspian (and repetitive), as is Explosions in the Sky. Going to definitely give This Will Destroy You a listen.

Also do you not like the other Mew albums? Frengers was good

Did not even know about this album! Unfortunately, its not being seeded on What so I'll have to look around.

All of Clint Mansell's stuff is great so just get all of his shit since you liked the Fountain OST.

The Fountain OST is amazing. I checked out Requiem for a Dream's OST as a result and found it filled with boring filler tracks. The only standout track, obviously, is that one that everyone knows: Lux Aeterna (and its variants).

PB&J who Brekk recommended is pretty good, but I'm sure you've heard that by now since young folks is so insanely popular.

Haven't heard, but I will check them out.

---

Thanks for the quality post Ham; I was hoping you'd find this thread. Though, next time suggest some albums to start with for your picks! Thanks to everyone as well, I will be taking your requests seriously.

[Ham n Cheese]

I can get on soulseek for anything you need, let me know

[Warrik]

You want to broaden your horizons?






That being said:

Porcupine Tree:

[Lowk]

Originally Posted by Warrik

You want to broaden your horizons?

I'd go Pusherman personally if we are talking about Mr.Mayfield..but meh

The album i have been very happy with that i would have most likely never heard of if i didn't read FoH is...

Battles - Mirroed


-edit fuck disregard my comment about curtis it was entered before the pic

[Opulis]

I donno what to recommend. Some of the stuff I have in the past has shown up on your own list (Wooden Wand, Sea Wolf) and Ham's recommendations are all great in my opinion. I'd say to just do what the rest of us do, who spend entirely too much time finding music, and get Last.FM.

Use it to browse 'musical neighbors' and see what they are listening to. Fuck, I've even found stuff through Listmania on Amazon by typing in my favorite albums. Make a list, go on soulseek, what, waffles, indietorrents, or whatever p2p you're using and download stuff. I probably spend at least two hours of my day, every day, sorting and listening to music which mostly ends up being garbage. But, if you care its worth the time.

My username on soulseek is: hinatafan (send me a message on slsk and I'll add you to my userlist)

And I pretty much have everything recommended here and on the Best of 2007 list, or if its on pitchfork, or any other music review site that handles rock/electronica. And I know Ham is the same way.

My last.fm profile is: Sillymonster

Just browse.

My two recommendations:
The Books -- Lost and Safe
Letters Letters -- Letters Letters