Comments on: Help introduce me to new indie music.

Question: Help introduce me to new indie music.

phyrewerx — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:00:09 -0800

Help introduce me to new indie music and any blogs that cover them.

I really enjoy Canadian rock - works by The Weakerthan, Stars, Metric, the Most Serene Republic are constantly on my playlist. CBC Radio 3 is my online radio of choice. Could any one introduce me to blogs/sites that talk about this type of music elsewhere in the US or Europe? Pitchfork is a decent site, but it doesn't seem too accessible for quick browsing.

Additionally - my only source of learning about American indie/college rock was from the OC. Now that show is over, are there any good sources to expose oneself to bands like those or similar soundtracks? Last.fm's referral seems too vauge.

*This isn't a discussion about the quality of Schwartz's work, he picked upbeat and decent music that I could study to.

By: Wanderlust88

Wanderlust88 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:09:15 -0800

Oh my, what a task.

For the scene around Dallas and Austin Gorilla vs. Bear does an awesome job of covering. There is also have a lot of links to sites they like, which are all good.

No-Datta is good because it lets you sample an album, assuming you delete it after 24 hours.

Same with:
SadSongsForDirtyLovers
DeekMedia

and if that fails use trusty old Music Search

And from there just branch out, find what you like, look them up on All Music or Discogs and have fun!

By: Wanderlust88

Wanderlust88 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:10:02 -0800

err.... They also have a lot of links*

By: Jaltcoh

Jaltcoh — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:16:49 -0800

There are tons of AskMe questions about this.

I know you don't like Pitchfork, but this regularly updated list seems pretty accessible.

Take the bands you like (Stars, Metric, etc.) and plug them into Pandora. (Actually, I like last.fm better, but you apparently don't like that either.)

eMusic is a pay site where you can buy albums for maybe 25-30% of what you'd pay on iTunes. They have a huge selection of indie label music -- no major labels. They have lots of features that are conducive to discovering indie music: (1) very nuanced genre breakdowns, e.g. not just "electronic" but "electroclash," "IDM," etc.; (2) tons of album lists created by the site and by users; (3) 30-second samples of each song. I usually start with the 30-second clips, then look for the band's MySpace page (google "myspace" and the band name) to hear samples of a few full songs. Of course, this is a lot like Amazon, but it's cheaper and more indie-friendly. I believe if you sign up you get a two-week trial with 25 free tracks (make sure to cancel within 2 weeks if you don't want the paid account to start up automatically).

Those are all sites I've actually used and found to be worthwhile, and I have no affiliation with any of them.

Also, the "top places to get free and legal music."

By: tmcw

tmcw — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:18:29 -0800

Stereogum is replacing Pitchfork (which reached its social coolness expiration date recently). Also Largeheartedboy and Music (for robots) are kind of MP3-blog mainstays.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:18:56 -0800

The Hype Machine aggregates a lot of good ones, you can browse around an make a note of which blogs seem to be turning you on to good music consistently.

By: tmcw

tmcw — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:20:57 -0800

(also branching out to the Broken Social Scene spinoffs/projects is an easy jump. off the top of my head...

Jason Collett
Feist (and from Feist, Peaches)
Do Make Say Think
Stars
Kevin Drew's solo CD
Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton
Apostle of Hustle (only comes into its own on the second CD)
Weakerthans
hHead

By: nikksioux

nikksioux — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:22:37 -0800

Pandora's referral system seems to be superior to Lastfm's.

I also enjoy:

Stereogum

Three Imaginary Girls

KEXP's streaming archive is a good source for indie, especially John in the Morning's show and the Mid-day show.

Tiny Mix Tapes

By: pilibeen

pilibeen — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:36:09 -0800

cokemachineglow is my personal favorite. I also like Stylus.

By: emd3737

emd3737 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:42:41 -0800

My favorite music blog is Can You See The Sunset From the South Side?

I recommend it highly.

By: lxs

lxs — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:45:51 -0800

maybe you could check out some playlists on imeem.com?

By: Dr. Send

Dr. Send — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:57:51 -0800

I second cokemachineglow, and I occasionally check out Metacritic's music page for second opinions (not just apart from cmg but in general) because they source lots of different critics, as the name implies.

By: Large Marge

Large Marge — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:03:34 -0800

KEXP also does a live shows podcast and a song of the day. and kcrw podcasts it's morning becomes eclectic shows. Both great.

By: dropkick queen

dropkick queen — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:07:37 -0800

my two favorite Canadian music blogs are Chromewaves and Said The Gramophone.

you mentioned CBC Radio 3, so I assume you must listen to their podcasts - if not, the weekly podcast with Grant Lawrence is a fantastic resource (I've discovered quite a few favorite bands through it), and the R3-30 podcast is also pretty good.

By: Del Far

Del Far — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:12:21 -0800

My Old Kentucky Blog was pretty interesting and I've enjoyed some of the music I found on it.

And one of my favorite Indie Bands are a group called Tally Hall.

By: Bunglegirl

Bunglegirl — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:17:07 -0800

It's not the band I hate, it's their fans

Skatterbrain

Insound has a free MP3 section which is good for trying new obscure bands out. It also has a weekly newsletter. At the bottom is a place to sign up for it's free MP3 of the week.

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:34:58 -0800

In addition to Stereogum, My Old Kentucky Blog, Largehearted Boy, Gorilla Vs. Bear, Tiny Mixtapes, Stylus, cokemachineglow, Chromewaves, Said the Gramophone, and Skatterbrain:

You Ain't No Picasso, mp3hugger, Daytrotter, I Guess I'm Floating and Quick Before it Melts.

Elbo.ws is another aggregator in addition to the hype machine.

And of course you simply must watch the Takeaway Shows on La Blogotheque.

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:44:01 -0800

And Fluxblog. Also ILM sometimes, if you're in the right thread. Here's the Rolling Indie Thread 2008. Also I agree with Morning Becomes Eclectic, although the Takeaway Shows are usually cooler.

By: spongeboy

spongeboy — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:00:27 -0800

Not quite a blog, but a guy called Shankly does a monthly mixtape, available via bittorrent. Highly recommend.

http://thepiratebay.org/search/shankly/0/99/0

By: keith0718

keith0718 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:04:51 -0800

NPR has some music shows that they podcast.

I second eMusic. The community and editorial staff there has helped me find a lot of good stuff.

I also second the KEXP podcasts.

By: unmake

unmake — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:20:01 -0800

Growing up in New Jersey, I thought Princeton's WPRB radio was the quintessential college/indie sound - some pretty smart kids with truly amateur on-air personas, mostly sticking to the new records bin, 'discovering' the music of their hipster predecessors. As a bonus, a lot of significant people seem to pass through for live performances.

Most of the (elite) schools with significant student populations of affluent white kids play host to similar stations: WNYU, WVKR.

By: hellopanda

hellopanda — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:04:18 -0800

Most of my favourites (Said The Gramophone, Fluxblog, You Ain't No Picasso, Largehearted Boy) have been mentioned above.

I really like 3hive too.

By: keith0718

keith0718 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:48:34 -0800

The NPR show/podcast is called All Songs Considered.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:46:07 -0800

Y'know, I've had really good luck with the music section at Cnet/download.com. It's kinda cool you can pick your genre then sub genre (click 'browse all artists of this genre') and then sort it by the number of listens last week. Like this.

By: phyrewerx

phyrewerx — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:10:58 -0800

Wow. Thanks everybody! I will spend my weekend checking out these sites.