THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: SeanBateman on 14 Mar 2006, 09:19
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I used to be like any other indie rock kid. I would spend the time and money to be ahead of the curve, making sure I knew the newest acts before anyone else. It was satisfying for a while, and I listened to a lot of great stuff.
Recently though, I seem to have lost the knack. I've fallen onto standbys, listening to more and more albums I own, and only buying new ones if they're by a band I already like (eg, Rabbit Fur Coat, 29, and the new Built To Spill when it comes out.)
I am not exactly happy with this turn of affairs, but I honestly can't seem to get the bug back. So here's where you come in. I don't need you to reccomend me new music. I need to find a way to care about new shit again. Websites that are up to speed on this sort of thing, amusing anecdotes about how fun it is to be ahead of the curve, hell even the way a certain band made you feel the first time you hear them.
Seriously guys. If I listen to this Mates of State album one more time, my heart is going to stop. Help me.
Please.
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Is this a joke?
You don't really strike me as the sort of person to care about that sort of thing. Kind of like...
"I'll listen to whatever i want, fuck off" kind o' guy...
But meh, i guess you could try introducing yourself to a new genre.
If you haven't listened to much...say....IDM ^_^ , try some of that out!
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It's not that I am worried about the shit I like not being COOL anymore.
I just seem to have lost the ability to go out and find new acts to listen to. So while I still love the shit I listen to already, the same records again and again and again get boring no matter what you do.
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www.gnoosic.com might help
although it's not very good at turning up rarer acts
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I don't see why you should care. Just listen to what you want to listen to, and the decent new acts will fall into your lap every now and then.
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Noise.
Especially the danish princes of noise, Wäldchengarten's newest album Electrical Bonding. Desolate noise ambient that sounds like the soundtrack to a metropolis after a fallout. Seriously I adore these guys even though its not exactly a pleasant listen. I wrote a science fiction story while listening to it with the lights out. I think it improved the story, even if you get a mild headache from listening to it on repeat.
But it's the good kind of headache ;)
You could also get into industrial pioneers like Nurse With Wound, Throbbing Gristle or Einstürzende Neubauten.
And I can't post in any thread without mentioning Under Byen, their second album Det er Mig der Holder Træerne Sammen hit me like a slice lemon tied to a brick. Even though I understand what they sing about, it was still so alien and alienating on the first listen. But after a couple months I digged it up again and it made perfect sense. This is the best band in the world. It is not immediately likable but once you get into it, you might agree with me :)
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You could go to shows featuring some music you like, but also with a bunch of acts you've never heard of before, but that's sort of something that you just have to cross your fingers and hope happens. I'm having some problems, too, with that sort of thing. Fortunately, for my classical fix, I know this guy who really knows his stuff and can recommend some newer composers. Also, Amazon.com lists and stuff are great, as well as reviews that mention other artists.
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A. www.pandora.com
B.
Noise.
Especially the danish princes of noise, Wäldchengarten's newest album Electrical Bonding. Desolate noise ambient that sounds like the soundtrack to a metropolis after a fallout. Seriously I adore these guys even though its not exactly a pleasant listen. I wrote a science fiction story while listening to it with the lights out. I think it improved the story, even if you get a mild headache from listening to it on repeat.
But it's the good kind of headache ;)
You could also get into industrial pioneers like Nurse With Wound, Throbbing Gristle or Einstürzende Neubauten.
And I can't post in any thread without mentioning Under Byen, their second album Det er Mig der Holder Træerne Sammen hit me like a slice lemon tied to a brick. Even though I understand what they sing about, it was still so alien and alienating on the first listen. But after a couple months I digged it up again and it made perfect sense. This is the best band in the world. It is not immediately likable but once you get into it, you might agree with me :)
If you like these artists, try Bass Communion, Earth, White Mice, :zoviet*france: and Thomas Koner.
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Friend on me: "Wow, I should listen to you more, you find out about stuff years before anyone else."
There's some incentive.
Although, it could turn the other way.
"What the hell? Arcade Fire? what the fuck is this shit? Sigur Ros? Hahah, this sounds gay!"
(Actual conversation, late 04)
Few months back: "You know the Arcade Fire? Probably the best band of
I know that feeling. Up until two years ago I was laughed at by one of the (now) indie hipsters because my favourite bands were Radiohead and Belle and Sebastian. He used to really like some shitty mexican soft rock band.
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Listen to the radio?
Maybe check out the best-sellers list at HMV?
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I found what worked for me was to buy a pair of shoes so shitty that no venue that served alcohol would let me in after 9 oclock, unless they were also a place that had live music. For some reason live music actually lowers the dress code.
Eventually, through drunken trial and error, I found quite a few venues that are always giving new bands a go, and you get to pick and choose from there.
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I use wikipedia a lot, and pitchfork. But yeah, my drive for new bands seems to have floundered. At least indie-ish, it's all getting so generic. I'm starting to get into world beats and electronica personally. Theivery Corporation is the shit.
Anybody know some cool bands along those lines? (Here's another way I find bands)
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A. www.pandora.com
I really hate that thing. I fed it about 20 bands before it actually knew one. And then for Icon of Coil, it played one vaguely relevant tune that everyone already knows anyhow before moving on to crazy Eurotrash-style pop :|
Might be better for indie though I guess.
OP: try some Datach'i, Múm, Telefon Tel Aviv, Venetian Snares if you haven't already...
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Myspace is at least good for checking out bands.
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A. www.pandora.com
I really hate that thing. I fed it about 20 bands before it actually knew one. And then for Icon of Coil, it played one vaguely relevant tune that everyone already knows anyhow before moving on to crazy Eurotrash-style pop :|
Pandora works great for some things, but as I've said before, it's flaw is the subjectivity of that 'music gene' system. Some of the bands that share qualities are ridiculous. For example, I type in Current 93, and it gives me Coldplay because of the piano. That would be wonderful if even a majority of Current 93 releases used the piano, or if they toured with one live. Despite the fact it turns up strange genre matches, I find that last.fm's system is much superior, because it quantifies the unquantifiable, and can throw you totally left-field bands that sound nothing like what you've heard before but which you're likely to like (how I found Sopor Aeternus and the Ensemble of Shadows, for example). Also, last.fm can suggest tracks and artists it doesn't have stored for downloading in its database, which is a huge advantage.
Get a last.fm account!
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Yeah, the last FM radio machine is badass.
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Pandora works great for some things, but as I've said before, it's flaw is the subjectivity of that 'music gene' system. Some of the bands that share qualities are ridiculous. For example, I type in Current 93, and it gives me Coldplay because of the piano. That would be wonderful if even a majority of Current 93 releases used the piano, or if they toured with one live.
I think this could alternately be attributed to the computation of similarity on only an artist level. This obviously leads to a lot of overgeneralization for artists that have experimented a lot or who have genre-hopped in their careers, like C93 or Brian Eno. It would be nice to see their system implemented on a track level (or even an album level), but it's difficult to scale a system like theirs down to that level.
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Nah, the gene system is just flawed. Another example: the genes variety seems to be weighted to certain forms of music. Lots of random metal and nu-metal acts seem to have almost exactly the same genes. I should NOT be able to type in Mayhem and be offered Puddle of Mudd.