Music Recommendations / What are you listening to?

[Foghawk]

I'm one of those people who are always trying to be more interested in music than they are, and as I was recently given iTunes money, I figured it was time I should legally acquire some! Unfortunately I am incapable of buying anything I haven't heard in advance, and I never know what to look up because I'm so out of touch, and anyway most of the time there'll be one song I like out of the band's whole discography, and when I finally decide to get something I always worry - completely irrationally - about skewing the genre balance of my collection*, and... well. Perhaps you see the scope of the problem.

The solution, as always, is to turn to the internet! So what are you guys listening to, and if you're looking yourself, what would you like to hear more of?

I'm fond of novelty and especially satire.** I like electronic, but I have as much as I could ever want, really. I have a taste for neofolk and celtpunk, American folk blues, and, okay, Motown. Most of the music I actually listen to is alt-rock (in which area I have a certain weakness for incredibly generic '90s stuff).
I really enjoy metal, but don't listen to much as this affection does not extend to metal vocals. If anyone can recommend a decent instrumentals-only metal band - or better yet, a band with metal instrumentation and actual singing, however aggressive, instead of ridiculous gargling (something like this? just, consistently) - I will give them cookies. So many cookies.
I am also woefully ignorant of classic rock; there's just so much. Feel free to yell at me for my cluelessness.

* I feel like if I don't keep everything scrupulously balanced - each band and genre represented in proportion to how much I like it - my music collection will cease to reflect my tastes or me as a person. And that would be bad for some reason. Wtf, self?
** I was going to link some Sondheim here too, but youtube has nothing good. Shocking! He is one of the best lyricists of all time and I heartily recommend his work, but if you want to try it, skip original cast recordings and just go for the collections; they have better singers and higher quality.

Edit: Doubled link fixed. Copy/paste fail, oops...

[Tom]

Ahaha, though I see that it will be absolutely no use to you, I feel now is a very appropriate time to plug my last.fm account - which, with a very quick glance, you will see my taste extends predominantly to pop music, with very slight hints of indie and a few other lesser genres. Anyone is welcome to friend me (as... I accept anyone who does, unless they look /very/ creepy) if they wish!

As far as actual recommendations go, everything I listen to is probably mainstream enough that you know whether you love it or hate it. The only thing I'd recommend listening to really would be Florence + The Machine - I've met very few people who dislike her. But then again, having sold over 1.2 million albums in the UK alone, she's hardly niche. Though having seen her live last May, she was absolutely amazing and I don't think I could ever tire of Cosmic Love.

So yes, unhelpful post is unhelpful.

[Griffin]

I couldn't make any specific recommendations, but as you might already know, last.fm and Pandora Radio are great places to go to stumble upon music. The latter is less useful to me personally because it lacks foreign and obscure bands.

As for what I'm listening to, I've been trying to find new stuff as well. I'm a big fan of Japanese music, mostly metal, folk, blues, classic and prog rock with smatterings of every other genre under the sun. I've exhausted my main scenes completely but I can rarely get into the Western/European equivalents (originators, rather) of the same stuff. It's a je ne sais quoi kind of thing, or maybe I just have bad taste. Anyway, last.fm has given me a few new things to enjoy, mostly obscure 60's rock bands, but it's a start.

edit: Hey, I didn't know there was a last.fm group for Neocolours! I'll join up so everyone can collectively shrug at my unappealing music library. My username's kgriffn.

[Silver Link]

I'm mostly an alt-rock person so I'll list the stuff I like. btw, you posted the Del Amitri video twice, which makes me think you like that song a lot

Gorillaz (anything they play is a must)
Mumford and Sons
Vampire Weekend
Metric
Black Keys


Go to Groove Shark, type in the band name and listen to some of the stuff they have. Then you can make your choices

[Kantark]

My likes/dislikes are many and varied and pretty much random - it's probably easier for me to point you at my last.fm profile, where you can listen to a radio stream of songs I like. (I've been listening to a lot of 80's cheese recently so I apologise in advance for any Rick Astley you might encounter :-P )

In a nutshell by far my favourite genre is electronic, esp. anything with synths - from the likes of Pink Floyd/Jean-Michel Jarre/Kraftwerk, through 80's synth pop (OMD, Thompson Twins), to rave/acid house (KLF), trance, ambient and chillout, etc.

Some new artist albums I bought in the past year:

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (my favourites are probably On Melancholy Hill and Superfast Jellyfish. The two tracks featuring Little Dragon are very pretty and make me want to check them out. Quite a wide-ranging album, this)
Broken Bells (side project of Danger Mouse & a chap out of the Shins whose name I can't remember. Try out 'The High Road' or 'Your Head Is On Fire')
School of Seven Bells - Disconnect from Desire (Shoegaze/electronic/dreampop band. 'I L U' is the standout track for me.)
Chicane - Giants (dance music so maybe not your cup of tea, 'Middledistancerunner' and 'Poppihola' are lush.'Barefoot' is a really chilled track for a summer's evening i.e. not now.)

I'd never seen the Animals performing 'House of the rising sun' before - the lead singer does not look anything like I expected!

[EofS]

I'd never seen the Animals performing 'House of the rising sun' before - the lead singer does not look anything like I expected!

I know! He looks like... well, any 1960s pop act. He actually looks startlingly like someone, but I can't work out who. I always imagined them with wild hair and scraggly beards. I can picture the image I thought was like them very clearly, but don't have enough idea who it is to find it.

I have no idea whether or not I can help with your initial query Foghawk. My tastes tend towards the 1960s, with random bits of 80s and a few modern groups (The Killers, The Kaiser Chiefs, The Scissor Sisters omg the scissor sisters... Oh, and oldschool Brit Pop, love me some Blur or Pulp).

However last year I discovered The Baseballs who are fun and rather different, maybe you would like them? They cover modern pop songs in a rockabilly style - and in many cases, significantly improve on them! I particularly like Chasing Cars, Umbrella and Delilah. And their cover of Dontcha is just surreal and brilliant, but the only versions on Youtube are live. Of which this is the best I can find but it's nowhere near as good as the album version. (Not least because they don't have the female vocalist.) Or similarly, a brilliant cover of Viva la Vida which sadly isn't even on an album, so the best you'll get is this not great live version with girls swooning loudly.

I'm determined to convert somebody else to Baseballs love. I have this impish idea when I get married to only have 1950s and 60s music at the reception, but slip in a couple of Baseballs songs. And see how long it is until somebody realises that they're singing "dontcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me, dontcha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me". *Looks innocent*

Edit: Oh of course! If you like satire and novelty, why did I not pimp possibly the greatest song on youtube ever.

Have you tried Tim Minchin or Bill Bailey? Great comic musicians.

[Foghawk]

Haven't had time to look at anything yet - thanks, though, guys! - but just wanted to pop in:

He actually looks startlingly like someone, but I can't work out who.

I felt exactly the same way when I first saw him. And then I realized:

[Officer 1BDI]

Edit: @Foghawk- Woah. o_o

I may never stop plugging Jimmy Eat World, so I might as well get that out of the way. Invented, their newest album, came out last fall and I've basically been listening to it non-stop since September. Even if you're not a fan of their singles, I urge you to give their other tracks a listen; most of my favorite songs from them are (afaik) tracks that have never hit the airwaves.

I'm also a huge Gorillaz fan, so throw my recommendation into the pile as well. I'm more into their newer stuff than their older work, though (Plastic Beach is my favorite album by them). And I'm still ticked off by the canceled video for Rhinestone Eyes, because the animatic looked absolutely wonderful.

I'm also big on Metric right now. Trying to fall and stay in love with Mumford and Sons and Arcade Fire but find a lot of their songs hit-or-miss. When I'm in a melancholy mood I hunt down some Eels music, which is almost joyfully depressing.

Most of the other stuff I'm into right now is established pop/punk rock (My Chemical Romance's new album is my latest guilty pleasure) and is already being played ad nauseous on the radio (or, at least, my radio).

[AngharadTy]

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Unkle (video is NSFW) and The Crystal Method. My favorites that everyone has already heard of are Nine Inch Nails and Tool. (Although make sure to try How To Destroy Angels.) My favorite almost no one has heard of (except Fjorab!) is Shpongle. Also, Younger Brother, who are criminally neglected by the world. And also Infected Mushroom.

Most of those artists have a pretty wide variety, so I just picked from my mostest favorite songs. Unkle uses a lot of different vocalists (including Josh Homme and Thom Yorke) and several musical styles. TCM has a lot of music with a heavier electronica feel, but others that are slow and soothing. And Infected Mushroom can vary wildly within the same song, heh.

[Faun]

I listen to a lot of different music. lately I've had a bit of an addiction to game soundtracks.

I listen to the pigeon detectives, Florence and the machine, Vampire weekend, Owl City, the Arctic monkeys and a lot of other different stuff. O_O

[Kali_Lupine]

I don't listen to a lot of music, but my tastes vary. I love Adam Lambert, Katie Perry and Lady GaGa. Especially Lady Gaga. My first music love however is old country and folk. I grew up listening to The Highway Men, especially Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. I also love Harry Chapin. I listen to a lot of classical, but Alicorn finds that for me and I usually ignore names and just listen to what I like. Other than classical and my more modern music loves, I am basically my father's daughter when it comes to music. I paid an obscene amount of money for Willie Nelson's unreleased collection. I doubt there are many who share my tastes, but Red Headed Stranger, Seven Spanish Angels, and Long Black Veil, are songs I could listen to over and over.

[Alicorn]

My tastes are all over the place. Usual if I hear a song I like, I like it despite the genera. Though I tend to stay away from rap, r&b and folk. Not saying there aren't a few song I light from those, just tend not to like them in general. I do tend to favor anything rock.

Some singers/bands/groups I'm really into are Adam Lambert (even put up with watching AI for him, now that's love XD), Nickelback (the first and only concert I've been too), Disturbed, Linken Park, Rob Thomas/Matchbox 20, Aerosmith and a bunch of others. I also get into Disney soundtrack stuff from my favorite movies. Same with anime. I also tend to love songs sung in a foreign language. I don't really worry about what they are saying, I just love the sounds of it and what it brings to my mind.

[Ailiel]

Metric is probably my favorite group right now. I've been listening to them for a few years and I just never get tired of their stuff. I finally saw them in concert in December (at a free concert in Miami on the beach that I learned of at the last minute, resulting in me flying in my Jeep across Biscayne Bay in a mad dash) and it was awesome. I haven't had so much fun at a concert since I saw the White Stripes many years ago. Listen to "Combat Baby", "Stadium Love", "Help I'm Alive". Also love Emily Haines independent Soft Skeleton stuff for a nice morose mood.

Florence + the Machine has popped up in a big way and I have to say I am loving it. Cosmic Love is as ethereal and pretty as you would expect, and I hear it all over TV and movies. Really popular and really in right now. "Kiss with a Fist" and "Dog Days are Over" are two other songs you should check out/probably have already heard.

I also had a blast at the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros concert I went to back in November. So much hippy fun. "Home" really shines, and everyone has heard "Janglin" in the Ford Fiesta commercial. I also really love "40 Day Dream". Has a nice homespun and dreamy feel. Rolling Stone was all over how much fun this band was in concert, and they really lived up to the hype.

Other things I listen to a lot right now: Mike Doughty (thanks for the heads up Veronica Mars... check out "I Hear the Bells" and "I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress"), Modest Mouse (older but still so good and relevant... I can never tire of any song at all Good News for People Who Love Bad News, if you haven't heard them before check out "Float On" and "One Chance" and "Black Cadillacs"), Jack's Mannequin (older again, a longtime favorite of my sister's, I was slow to warm up but they won me over with "I'm Ready" and "Dark Blue"), OK Go, Mirah (though not EVERYTHING), Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mumford & Sons (who I hadn't heard of before the grammys, did they rock or what?), and of course whatever last.fm chooses to recommend to me. I can't recommend that site enough for great music. I can't believe how many times I played "The Guy That Says Goodbye"... by Griffin House after it played for me there. Surely you jest, iTunes? But I've found some of my favorites there. Oh, which reminds me, Robyn! I love her for some reason and the reason is because her songs are so fun. I listen to "Fembot" all the time when I run.

[Kantark]

Yay, Robyn! So not really my kind of music but I got drawn in by the fantastic acoustic version of 'With Every Heartbeat' which she did for the Radio 1 Live Lounge several years ago. She's also done a couple of tracks with Royksopp which I liked ('The Girl and the Robot' is well worth checking out.)

[DamionDarkheart]

Can't see how I missed this.

I've been on a huge black metal bender lately, namely the protogeners - HELLHAMMER, Bathory, Venom and the slew of bands they inspired; Megiddo being the strongest/catchiest/most coherent (GAWD post-Euronymous Mayhem blows goats!)

There's also some crossover (punk gone metal) on my ipod as well: D.R.I., Cro-Mags, Suicidal Tendencies.

Metal till deth (physical or spiritual)