Music advice for old(er) moms
March 1, 2021 6:21 PM   Subscribe

I've been listening to the same music for a while: The Beatles, Magnetic Fields, Harry Nilsson, Morphine, QOTSA, The Kinks, Weezer, Nirvana, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, and Daft Punk. I need some new choices to change up my playlist. Please send me your favorites.

My LGBTQA kid recently introduced me to some amazing songs:
-Bad Idea by Girl in Red
-Needs by Verzache
-It's Only Sex by Car Seat Headrest
-Daddy Issues by The Neighbourhood

I found a few others:
-Genderqueer Love Song by Schmekel
-all of The Weepies
-Was It Something I Said by MyKey
-Hell N Back by Bakar
-Drugs by Tai Verdes

It's all over the place, completely unfocused, and I need help. I'm spending all my time inside, just like the entire world, and I know you have music I haven't heard yet. Send me your goods, please.
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? to Media & Arts (40 answers total) 57 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: As a longtime fan of Weezer, The Kinks and Daft Punk I would recommend:
The Pixies
Mitski
Phoebe Bridgers
Cherry Glazerr
Bartees Strange

Ahh, I feel like I'm missing so much but these are some faves off the top of my head.
posted by thebots at 6:28 PM on March 1, 2021


Response by poster: thebots, I like the Pixies already; the next three are interesting. Adding to the convoluted playlist now. That last one, though, isn't for me.

If you have any others, let me know please?
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 6:50 PM on March 1, 2021


You might enjoy Beirut, San Fermin, Final Fantasy, and early Jens Lekman. The two albums by The 6ths are just more Magnetic Fields, but great stuff.
posted by chr1sb0y at 7:00 PM on March 1, 2021


Deerhoof could work with your list. I loove Friend Opportunity.
posted by umbú at 7:10 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Why not try listening to the Strombo Show? He plays music from a variety of genres but there was definitely some Magnetic Fields in last week's episode. I find that if I have it on in the background then I can just Shazam any song that sounds interesting and let the algorithms take over from there.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:16 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Not exactly sure what I'm basing this on (vibes maybe?), but I would recommend:

- Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Heads Will Roll, Maps, Y Control)
- Metric (Help I'm Alive, Monster Hospital, Stadium Love)
- Vampire Weekend (Campus, A-Punk, Harmony Hall)
posted by mhum at 7:21 PM on March 1, 2021 [4 favorites]


Best answer: I think you might like the Arkells:
Knocking at the Door
posted by DEiBnL13 at 7:29 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: If you like The Beatles, you will surely enjoy Cotton Mather.
posted by Carouselle at 7:46 PM on March 1, 2021


I have similar music tastes and I'm guessing we are of similar age. Since there isn't a great college radio FM station that I can listen to here, I listen to XM radio's Sirius XMU, which is their approximation of a "college radio" channel. My impression of it is that if it's an accurate representation of indie music today, that scene has gotten way more synth/electronic pop-oriented than it was when I was on university radio. Anyway, a few things I've heard on there stood out to me enough that I actually bought some new records in my old middle age:

Tame Impala - The Slow Rush. First single was It Might be Time
Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! Here's the title track.

I haven't bought this one yet, but I keep meaning to pick up Welcome to Bobby's Motel by Pottery. Track that got me was Texas Drums pt. I and II.

Trying to keep up with new stuff is exhausting, though, so I also spend a lot of time digging into older scenes that I've enjoyed in the past but still have unexplored corners. Lately for me, that's been late 80s/early 90s Shoegaze, Krautrock, and that continuity of Jamaican music that runs through first wave ska/rocksteady/reggae/dub. Some recent favorite tracks or albums among those:
Pale Saints - Sight of You
Lush - Sweetness and Light
Harmonia - Walky Talky
La Dusseldorf - Dusseldorf
The entire Tighten Up Volume II compilation. First track: Long Shot Kick De Bucket - The Pioneers
Augustus Pablo - King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown

Other than that, as my work has gotten extremely stressful during the COVID times, I've found myself mostly unwinding to lots of piano pieces by Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Debussy.
posted by TrialByMedia at 7:51 PM on March 1, 2021 [4 favorites]


Do you know The Weakerthans?
posted by Alterscape at 8:10 PM on March 1, 2021 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Best way I know to break out of a self-imposed preference bubble is to give up on playlists altogether and let the lovely volunteers at PBS FM curate my listening experience for a while.
posted by flabdablet at 8:11 PM on March 1, 2021 [4 favorites]


Best answer: And then of course there's this.
posted by flabdablet at 8:13 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Alterscape, I don't know them, but I will tomorrow.

flabdablet - ohhhhh.

Everyone, thank you. Thank you so much. Stay safe if you can.
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 8:19 PM on March 1, 2021


One of the best trends in music right now is women and women led groups making really excellent (largely) guitar driven indie music. A few were mentioned up thread (Mitski, Phoebe Bridges, and Cherry Glazerr). Here are a few of my favs:

Snail Mail
Soccer Mommy
Japanese Breakfast
Jay Som
Alvvays
Clairo
posted by TurnKey at 8:21 PM on March 1, 2021 [7 favorites]


Best answer: Some good tracks from the last 2-3 years (mostly):

Lala Lala - The Flu
Helado Negro - Running
Eleanor Friedberger - Stare at the Sun
U.S. Girls - Poem
DEHD - Loner
Hurray for the Riff Raff - Living in the City
Land of Talk - This Time
The Weather Station - The Robber
Big Thief - Cattails
Cate Le Bon - Daylight Matters
Sault - Wildfires
The Courtneys - Silver Velvet
Car Seat Headrest - Bodys
Porridge Radio - Give / Take
Shamir - On My Own
The Goon Sax - Make Time 4 Love
Fleet Foxes - Jara
H.C. McEntire - Footman's Coat
posted by theory at 8:21 PM on March 1, 2021 [3 favorites]


Best answer: My favorite Weezer-adjacent contemporary band is Rozwell Kid. Blow It is a good one that emphasizes their Weezer-adjacency while Kangaroo Pocket is one of their best songs.
posted by Polycarp at 8:53 PM on March 1, 2021


There have been two album releases in the last month or so that I've been playing a lot. They are The Last Exit by Still Corners and Wellfare Jazz by Viagra Boys.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 9:05 PM on March 1, 2021


Best answer: If you haven't heard of That Dog, you're really going to like That Dog:Never say Never. And I could see Strfkr Being No One, Going Nowhere fitting in with some things you've mentioned.

I've found myself really enjoying some different genres that I used to because of our local low power radio station. You might really enjoy saturday mornings. Radio Bandelero is a bit out there, an they dip into world music and psychedelic rock, but I find it a great hour. Reverse Couple Skate, Music For Neighbors, Radio Bandelero. I really like Beaches and The Impact Sound, but you might not; they're soul/R&B and reggae (or as the DJ put it; Jamaican oldies). They're different genres than I'd normally be into, but the DJ's are very good, and I've gotten alot of enjoyment out of them both.

Sunday afternoons are really good, and have a bunch of music that you'd probably enjoy Hot Fudge Sundazzze. Late night has Chances With Wolves is pretty dope, and I'll regularly tune into later in the week.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:38 PM on March 1, 2021


John Martyn. Start with "Solid Air".
posted by Chitownfats at 9:44 PM on March 1, 2021


I have no focus on a particular genre myself. When I was into music, I listen to everything... Well, maybe not Death Metal...

Nightwish -- alt metal
Dragonforce -- power metal (faster than "heavy metal")
Savage Garden -- pop
Shania Twain / Faith Hill -- country
Enya -- alt?
Josh Groban -- vocalist? Pop?
Sarah Brightman -- opera? vocalist? pop?
Adele -- (duh)

Personally, I just tell Alexa to "play me something like ______" :)
posted by kschang at 9:45 PM on March 1, 2021


send me your favorites

OK, you asked for it.

This one is not background music for something else. Played by my favourite four-piece ever, it needs a quarter of an hour that nothing else will intrude into, dimmed lighting, a glass of wine and plenty of volume. If you can arrange for those things I think it will reward you.

The singer is the drummer, by the way.
posted by flabdablet at 10:10 PM on March 1, 2021


Grandaddy
posted by mani at 11:57 PM on March 1, 2021 [3 favorites]


Along with PBS FM, I'd give Triple RRR a go too.

Maybe give Maps a listen, and maybe The Cave or Local and/or General.
posted by antipodes at 12:52 AM on March 2, 2021


Charly Bliss - Young Enough
posted by signal at 3:37 AM on March 2, 2021


If you like the Weakerthans, or other folk-punk, check out Frank Turner.
posted by Medieval Maven at 5:05 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


If you were already a Pixies fan, perhaps you heard of Uncle Tupelo? They broke up 25+ years ago, but still have an effect...

I'm pretty much "Here, take my money" on the following bands:
Calexico - Started out making Mariachi desert jazz, now a little more pop-ey, but all-around killer musicianship.
Wussy - REM drone with a bunch of fuzz and both male and female vocalists. Lyrics perfectly catching growing up a loser.
Sigur Ros - Icelandic gibberish space music. May inspire you to run naked across icy fields.
Drive-By Truckers - Originally a sort-of joke band name, now a great progressive voice. They bring the RAWK and more introspective stuff, with themes both universal and personal.
posted by notsnot at 5:15 AM on March 2, 2021


One of my favorites from Back In The Day, The Psychedelic Furs, just released a new video to go with tunes from their first studio album in almost THIRTY YEARS.

"The Wrong Train"
from their album "Made of Rain".
posted by Bill Watches Movies Podcast at 6:22 AM on March 2, 2021


LP - Strange
Noah Gundersen - The Sound
posted by dearwassily at 6:28 AM on March 2, 2021


Best answer: I like a lot of this music (especially glad to see That Dog mentioned above). One thing I really recommend is going through the youtube recommended playlist for songs you like.

Here are a few I really like lately in a variety of genres:

The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
Tessa Violet - Crush
Flight of the Conchords - Inner City Pressure (check out the show and all of the music)
Courtney Barnett - Elevator Operator
mitsume - Akogare
Chairlift - Amanaemonesia
Le Cassette - Arms of Mine
Daði Freyr (Daði & Gagnamagnið) – Think About Things
The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
The Midnight -Sunset
KRISTINE - The Deepest Blue
Hana Vu - Crying on the Subway
AURORA - Running With The Wolves
The Microphones - The Moon
The Blow - Parantheses
Anna Burch - 2 Cool 2 Care
Chet Faker - Gold
Noname - Telefone (album)
Toshiki Kadomatsu - After 5 Crash
Jody Glenham - War On This World
case/lang/veirs - "Best Kept Secret" (I'm a longtime Laura Veirs fan)
Pavement - Cut Your Hair (if you don't know Pavement, you're in for a lot of listening)
posted by msbrauer at 6:57 AM on March 2, 2021 [2 favorites]


Purity Ring. The music is atmospheric, the lyrics can be strange.
posted by lhauser at 7:11 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


Did you miss the White Stripes then? Try Seven Nation Army.
posted by slidell at 8:15 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]




Best answer: This website (music-map.com) is a fun tool to explore new artists. You can enter an artist you enjoy and the website spits out a map of other artists that are clumped by similarity.
posted by blueberrypuffin at 9:41 AM on March 2, 2021 [3 favorites]


A few more: Girlpool, Angel Olsen, Weyes Blood, The Avalanches (newest album We Will Always Love You is great and has a track with Rivers Cuomo).
posted by thebots at 9:49 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


The Smithereens, Matthew Sweet, Nelly Furtado
posted by Beholder at 12:36 PM on March 2, 2021


Best answer: I just want to second the suggestion that the best way to get out of a rut is to let an algorithm guide you. Tell the software what you already like and it will suggest many things. As we age, our tastes become increasingly rigid, and this has been a really useful technique for breaking me out. Of course, it can become an echo chamber if you're not willing to follow the leads, but it works great if you are.

I just use Spotify. It works.
posted by epanalepsis at 3:17 PM on March 2, 2021


I've found NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series is a pretty good source for new-to-me artists. Based on the stuff you like, maybe start with Big Thief or Superorganism
posted by Mender at 4:11 PM on March 2, 2021


Also, if she likes Weezer, They Might Be Giants.
posted by Beholder at 5:15 PM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Your kid has great taste. You might like:

Won't Let You Go by Dope Lemon
Drift by Great Gable
For The Mighty Dollar by Sola Rosa
Wake Up by Kowloon
Facing East by 79.5
Spark It Up by Leisure
posted by shimmerbug at 10:58 PM on March 4, 2021


I'm wondering whether you might like the Thee Oh Sees See also the live incarnation with two drummers.
posted by Chairboy at 3:16 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


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