Help me get more in touch with music a young American might know.
September 25, 2015 9:50 AM Subscribe
(Sorry for posting this right on the heels of another music recommendation thread!)
This is a music recommendations request with a special snowflakey focus. For whatever reason, but I think mostly due to my weeaboo nature and my social isolation, I like a lot of Japanese music but am largely ignorant of music that a typical young American might be aware of or into. And I mean really ignorant, enough that I specifically made a project of listening to all the Beatles albums last year (and in so doing discovered that one of the songs that I like by one of my favorite Japanese bands was actually a Beatles cover). In short, I'd like Metafilter's help to get me more plugged into music that a young American might know about.
Part of this means classic, "background knowledge" stuff, like Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, and so on. Part of it means music that's being made right now. And part of it may still mean acts that a lot of my peers would never have heard of, just as long as it's easier to talk about than, say, my favorite '80s Japanese pop singer. I certainly don't want to stop listening to the Japanese music I like, but I do wish I could also listen to some music that I could more easily talk about with my peers, or that I could actually expect to see in concert here in the States (although I did have the pleasure of seeing Masahide Sakuma in Chicago shortly before he passed away).
I'm really open to flexible interpretations of this request. Song, artist, and genre recommendations would certainly be appreciated, but I'd also like some advice on how to do this discovery for myself. (I've read How To Ask Questions the Smart Way; I know at some point I need to do my own work here.) On the other hand, though I know that one solution to my problem is to stop worrying about it and embrace being The Guy Who Likes Japanese Music, I'm already pretty much the Japan guy among my friends and I'd like to be able to talk about something else for a change.
Western artists that I do already know about and like are Gordon Lightfoot, Beirut, M.I.A., and Daft Punk. Examples of Japanese artists and songs that I like are below. Some of the genre classifications may be vague or even wrong, as a result of my aforementioned musical ignorance.
Thanks!
Folk/rock: Takehara Pistol--my dear (I should mention that I adore Takehara Pistol for his deeply personal and earnest lyrics)
Weird folk whatever: Tayutau--Kuzureru Asa to (3:33-5:12 in this video)
Pop/folk: Kotringo--Life
Folk rock: ROTH BART BARON--Chiisana Kyojin
'80s Pop: EPO--Doyou no Yoru wa Paradise
'80s Pop: Miki Matsubara--Ai wa Energy
Pop/Adult contemporary: Miwa Sasagawa--Machi no Akari
Electronic: Serph--Session
Pop/EDM: LIL--Girls Around
EDM: Hiroyuki ODA--Thirty
Indie Rock: Aquarifa--Self-Harm
Pop rock: CreepHyp--Love Hotel (song cuts out in the middle)
Rock/OST: Hideki Taniuchi--Wish
DIY rock: Mothercoat--Trickster
Alt rock/post-rock: Mass of the Fermenting Dregs--Aoi, Koi, Daidaiiro no Hi
Weird rock rap thing:Uhnellys--Switch
Prog./Psych. rock: J.A. Seazer (the origin of my name!)--Wasan
Prog. rock: Yonin Bayashi--Omatsuri (6:08-17:23)
Psych. rock: Jacks--Gloomy Flower
Rock/funk: Jagatara--Tango
Hip hop/rap Nujabes ft. Pase Rock--Yes
Part of this means classic, "background knowledge" stuff, like Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, and so on. Part of it means music that's being made right now. And part of it may still mean acts that a lot of my peers would never have heard of, just as long as it's easier to talk about than, say, my favorite '80s Japanese pop singer. I certainly don't want to stop listening to the Japanese music I like, but I do wish I could also listen to some music that I could more easily talk about with my peers, or that I could actually expect to see in concert here in the States (although I did have the pleasure of seeing Masahide Sakuma in Chicago shortly before he passed away).
I'm really open to flexible interpretations of this request. Song, artist, and genre recommendations would certainly be appreciated, but I'd also like some advice on how to do this discovery for myself. (I've read How To Ask Questions the Smart Way; I know at some point I need to do my own work here.) On the other hand, though I know that one solution to my problem is to stop worrying about it and embrace being The Guy Who Likes Japanese Music, I'm already pretty much the Japan guy among my friends and I'd like to be able to talk about something else for a change.
Western artists that I do already know about and like are Gordon Lightfoot, Beirut, M.I.A., and Daft Punk. Examples of Japanese artists and songs that I like are below. Some of the genre classifications may be vague or even wrong, as a result of my aforementioned musical ignorance.
Thanks!
Folk/rock: Takehara Pistol--my dear (I should mention that I adore Takehara Pistol for his deeply personal and earnest lyrics)
Weird folk whatever: Tayutau--Kuzureru Asa to (3:33-5:12 in this video)
Pop/folk: Kotringo--Life
Folk rock: ROTH BART BARON--Chiisana Kyojin
'80s Pop: EPO--Doyou no Yoru wa Paradise
'80s Pop: Miki Matsubara--Ai wa Energy
Pop/Adult contemporary: Miwa Sasagawa--Machi no Akari
Electronic: Serph--Session
Pop/EDM: LIL--Girls Around
EDM: Hiroyuki ODA--Thirty
Indie Rock: Aquarifa--Self-Harm
Pop rock: CreepHyp--Love Hotel (song cuts out in the middle)
Rock/OST: Hideki Taniuchi--Wish
DIY rock: Mothercoat--Trickster
Alt rock/post-rock: Mass of the Fermenting Dregs--Aoi, Koi, Daidaiiro no Hi
Weird rock rap thing:Uhnellys--Switch
Prog./Psych. rock: J.A. Seazer (the origin of my name!)--Wasan
Prog. rock: Yonin Bayashi--Omatsuri (6:08-17:23)
Psych. rock: Jacks--Gloomy Flower
Rock/funk: Jagatara--Tango
Hip hop/rap Nujabes ft. Pase Rock--Yes
Can you clarify whst young people you're talking about? 30 year olds and 15 year olds would differ. Do you mean what pop is played on the radio right now or what musical knowledge will make you sound smart at a party?
You may want to subscribe to the blog Stereogum. They do a nice job of highlighting good songs from a fairly wide variety of genres.
posted by k8t at 10:14 AM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
You may want to subscribe to the blog Stereogum. They do a nice job of highlighting good songs from a fairly wide variety of genres.
posted by k8t at 10:14 AM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Metafilter isn't made up of typical young Americans; Metafilter is somewhat older (30+), very nerdy and kind of aesthetically rareified Americans.
You want to be asking your friends what they like, Spotify playlists, Pandora, music blogs for the genres you like, and random Youtube browsing while watching videos of artists you like, more or less in that order.
Also this: Part of this means classic, "background knowledge" stuff, like Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, and so on.
If you really mean actual young people, hoo boy, no not really, not unless they are massive nerds/hipsters about music. If you want stuff to talk about with generalized "young people" while not being not a weirdo, I wouldn't sweat Miles Davis too much. Of course, it's 100% okay to be a weirdo and Miles Davis is the shit, but if you're talking about actual young people, most of them will have no idea who he is. Or Pink Floyd. They might have heard about Nirvana, but that's about it.
Also, from a quick random sample of about a half-dozen of your links, it seems like your broad musical taste is such that, if it was translated over to Western artists, would be very very very white. Not even necessarily the artists, just the style of music and it's influences. Again, that's totally fine, but given how popular rap and hip-hop are among American young people, you might want to consciously try and expose yourself to more music like that.
But I also get the impression that you might just not have taste that fits in with what's going on in American pop music right now. If you don't mind being a bit of a hipster and it's really important to find music you actually enjoy, I might cut straight to the chase and basically look into everything that Pitchfork would call "Rockist".
posted by The Master and Margarita Mix at 10:28 AM on September 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
You want to be asking your friends what they like, Spotify playlists, Pandora, music blogs for the genres you like, and random Youtube browsing while watching videos of artists you like, more or less in that order.
Also this: Part of this means classic, "background knowledge" stuff, like Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, and so on.
If you really mean actual young people, hoo boy, no not really, not unless they are massive nerds/hipsters about music. If you want stuff to talk about with generalized "young people" while not being not a weirdo, I wouldn't sweat Miles Davis too much. Of course, it's 100% okay to be a weirdo and Miles Davis is the shit, but if you're talking about actual young people, most of them will have no idea who he is. Or Pink Floyd. They might have heard about Nirvana, but that's about it.
Also, from a quick random sample of about a half-dozen of your links, it seems like your broad musical taste is such that, if it was translated over to Western artists, would be very very very white. Not even necessarily the artists, just the style of music and it's influences. Again, that's totally fine, but given how popular rap and hip-hop are among American young people, you might want to consciously try and expose yourself to more music like that.
But I also get the impression that you might just not have taste that fits in with what's going on in American pop music right now. If you don't mind being a bit of a hipster and it's really important to find music you actually enjoy, I might cut straight to the chase and basically look into everything that Pitchfork would call "Rockist".
posted by The Master and Margarita Mix at 10:28 AM on September 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
Also as a college peofessor I've noticed that kids that grew up in the digital music Era have a much different, perhaps more varied, exposure to music than I did as a kid/teen.
posted by k8t at 10:33 AM on September 25, 2015
posted by k8t at 10:33 AM on September 25, 2015
Listen to your local top 40, hip hop/R&B, and classic rock radio stations. Every day. For hours. When you hear a song you like, Google a snippet of the lyrics.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:36 AM on September 25, 2015
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:36 AM on September 25, 2015
Response by poster: k8t: "Young" means mid-20s. My peer group leans pretty intellectual and nerdy, so I would expect a good fraction of them to have at least heard of Miles Davis et al. My goal is mostly social; I want to find music that I like that is also easier to talk about and share with friends (this includes the likelihood of concerts in Chicago), so that means both what's playing now (though it doesn't have to be on the radio) and what's not playing now but is useful background knowledge
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:48 AM on September 25, 2015
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:48 AM on September 25, 2015
to find out for yourself, you might try one of the apps listed at http://the.echonest.com/showcase/. i use echonest's data directly to classify my own music, but unless you like writing code you're better using an app from one of their customers.
there's also last.fm, but they just changed their UI and as far as i can see show a lot less related artists.
but i suspect your best bet is to try asking your friends which (1) would help with conversation and (2) be much more direct (and good luck - i actually listen to some of the music you list and got there trying to find things better than what's currently available, but i am not young or american, so i can't help more...)
posted by andrewcooke at 11:00 AM on September 25, 2015
there's also last.fm, but they just changed their UI and as far as i can see show a lot less related artists.
but i suspect your best bet is to try asking your friends which (1) would help with conversation and (2) be much more direct (and good luck - i actually listen to some of the music you list and got there trying to find things better than what's currently available, but i am not young or american, so i can't help more...)
posted by andrewcooke at 11:00 AM on September 25, 2015
Asking friends—or just observing them, following them on streaming music sites if they use them, etc.—is definitely the way to go here. That's how most Normal Young People find music their cohort likes, in my experience: You come to college, you get anxious about the cool music everybody else except you must like, and you take every opportunity to listen to what the people around you recommend.
My impression—I was a music writer for a little while, and dealt mostly with people 5-10 years younger than me—is that there's less shared "background knowledge" now than there used to be, in that radio playlists everybody listened to have been replaced by YouTube playlists that meander based on what you've shown an interest in so far.
The Beatles are kind of like the Bible, in that after you listen through all of it you realize how much of our idiom comes from them. If you're hoping to catch more references and allusions from your friends, your best bet is probably just listening to the popular music that came out when you were a kid. (i.e. I'm 28, so all my friends, for all their intellect and expensive degrees, are caught in an endless loop of Smashmouth references.)
posted by Polycarp at 11:59 AM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
My impression—I was a music writer for a little while, and dealt mostly with people 5-10 years younger than me—is that there's less shared "background knowledge" now than there used to be, in that radio playlists everybody listened to have been replaced by YouTube playlists that meander based on what you've shown an interest in so far.
The Beatles are kind of like the Bible, in that after you listen through all of it you realize how much of our idiom comes from them. If you're hoping to catch more references and allusions from your friends, your best bet is probably just listening to the popular music that came out when you were a kid. (i.e. I'm 28, so all my friends, for all their intellect and expensive degrees, are caught in an endless loop of Smashmouth references.)
posted by Polycarp at 11:59 AM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
It seems to me that the issue is that the stuff you like is not generally stuff your peers have heard of or are into, and so you want to find stuff that you are likely to share in common with your peers.
So, as other people have said, one thing to do is to ask about your friends what they like. The advantage here is that you're not spending a lot of time absorbing stuff that the people you're interacting with don't actually like, and in general, people like to share stuff they're into and be the expert and influencer.
The disadvantage of this process is that you may not actually like this stuff, and once a person suggests a bunch of things to you that you don't get into, they're less interested in continuing to make an effort to suggest things to you specifically.
My recommendation would be:
1) start listening to college/indie radio. You can find a lot on iheartradio or on their own online players. My personal recs would be KALX, KEXP, WFMU, but there are dozens of lists of best college radio, best indie radio stations all over the web. Usually these radio stations play a combo of indie (indie rock, indie pop, indie rap/hiphop, some world stuff), more mainstream indie, critical favorites from past and present and some more out-there stuff. Sometimes they have themed shows, you may get to know DJs you like better than others. If this stuff is on passively, you may find some things you actually enjoy.
2) If/When you find artists you like, use streaming radio services like Pandora or Apple Music to get listen to stuff that other people who like what you like listen to. So if you put in MIA or Beirut into Pandora or another streaming service, it may direct you to more stuff you like, and that stuff is likely to coincide with what other people who like that artist like. Again, this may not be what you end up liking, but if you do, it's probably stuff that your peers have heard of if they care about these artists. (This is going to work better for you for Western music than for the Japanese artists you already like - streaming radio tends to stay regional.)
3) The Sound Opinions podcast, probably other music-oriented podcasts: I have mixed mileage with this podcast because I find the hosts a little smug and irritating, and it may veer toward an older market than you're after, but they do talk about a variety of different types of music, it tends to be stuff other people are caring about and listening to at the same time, but not necessarily mainstream pop, and I feel like they give you some idea of whether stuff is useful to engage with, plus they provide some background stuff about the artists so that may be fodder for conversation about those artists with other people.
posted by vunder at 12:12 PM on September 25, 2015
So, as other people have said, one thing to do is to ask about your friends what they like. The advantage here is that you're not spending a lot of time absorbing stuff that the people you're interacting with don't actually like, and in general, people like to share stuff they're into and be the expert and influencer.
The disadvantage of this process is that you may not actually like this stuff, and once a person suggests a bunch of things to you that you don't get into, they're less interested in continuing to make an effort to suggest things to you specifically.
My recommendation would be:
1) start listening to college/indie radio. You can find a lot on iheartradio or on their own online players. My personal recs would be KALX, KEXP, WFMU, but there are dozens of lists of best college radio, best indie radio stations all over the web. Usually these radio stations play a combo of indie (indie rock, indie pop, indie rap/hiphop, some world stuff), more mainstream indie, critical favorites from past and present and some more out-there stuff. Sometimes they have themed shows, you may get to know DJs you like better than others. If this stuff is on passively, you may find some things you actually enjoy.
2) If/When you find artists you like, use streaming radio services like Pandora or Apple Music to get listen to stuff that other people who like what you like listen to. So if you put in MIA or Beirut into Pandora or another streaming service, it may direct you to more stuff you like, and that stuff is likely to coincide with what other people who like that artist like. Again, this may not be what you end up liking, but if you do, it's probably stuff that your peers have heard of if they care about these artists. (This is going to work better for you for Western music than for the Japanese artists you already like - streaming radio tends to stay regional.)
3) The Sound Opinions podcast, probably other music-oriented podcasts: I have mixed mileage with this podcast because I find the hosts a little smug and irritating, and it may veer toward an older market than you're after, but they do talk about a variety of different types of music, it tends to be stuff other people are caring about and listening to at the same time, but not necessarily mainstream pop, and I feel like they give you some idea of whether stuff is useful to engage with, plus they provide some background stuff about the artists so that may be fodder for conversation about those artists with other people.
posted by vunder at 12:12 PM on September 25, 2015
Also, I have a friend who made a project of going through Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the 500 best albums and listening to each one. You'll get a (Western/rockist) musical education that way and it will tend to intersect in various places with most peoples' own musical backgrounds. Spin has a list of the top 125 albums of the last 25 years (also from 2012) which may overlap more closely with your peers' musical backgrounds.
posted by vunder at 12:24 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by vunder at 12:24 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
Spotify hires people to answer this question for them. You can go to one of their lists and get a corporate summary of top 40 rap / "indie" / whatever. You can just random play through them and add what you like to a playlist.
posted by codacorolla at 12:25 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by codacorolla at 12:25 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Here's how I'd find what I like from current and recent pop (and other defined genre) music:
You've probably heard of most major pop artists but may not be familiar with their work. I'd honestly just create a playlist of the top 5ish songs from VMA winners and Grammy winners of the top 5 years (just select whatever categories you think you might like). There are also some solid premade pop (and other genre) playlists already available on spotify: Billboard Top 100 (current radio hits), Spotify American Top 100, 500 best songs of the 2000's from Pitchfork, and SO many more in Spotify Browse.
I'd play those playlists on shuffle until you can pick out some things you like. Then, pandora (or whatever service - last.fm, spotify radio) can lead you to similar music from farther back and slightly less well-known artists.
Why pop? I'd guess that a lot of what you'd find above is not things your friends would directly recommend, but it's still valuable because A) it's part of a certain canon and it's fun to understand those references and B) people tend to suggest their more obscure musical interests when asked but that doesn't mean they don't regularly sing along to top 40 radio in their car (ok obviously some don't but I promise you some also do). Not that many people (esp. intellectual/nerdy people) are going to say that poppy artists like Miley Cyrus (or Sam Smith, or Adele, or Kanye West) are one of their favorite musicians but the numbers show that tons of people are listening to them. But of course, you can also find premade playlists for plenty of other categories and genres, and random ones like indie drinking songs or Best of Bond or whatever catches your fancy could also be the gateway to other fun stuff.
posted by R a c h e l at 12:33 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
You've probably heard of most major pop artists but may not be familiar with their work. I'd honestly just create a playlist of the top 5ish songs from VMA winners and Grammy winners of the top 5 years (just select whatever categories you think you might like). There are also some solid premade pop (and other genre) playlists already available on spotify: Billboard Top 100 (current radio hits), Spotify American Top 100, 500 best songs of the 2000's from Pitchfork, and SO many more in Spotify Browse.
I'd play those playlists on shuffle until you can pick out some things you like. Then, pandora (or whatever service - last.fm, spotify radio) can lead you to similar music from farther back and slightly less well-known artists.
Why pop? I'd guess that a lot of what you'd find above is not things your friends would directly recommend, but it's still valuable because A) it's part of a certain canon and it's fun to understand those references and B) people tend to suggest their more obscure musical interests when asked but that doesn't mean they don't regularly sing along to top 40 radio in their car (ok obviously some don't but I promise you some also do). Not that many people (esp. intellectual/nerdy people) are going to say that poppy artists like Miley Cyrus (or Sam Smith, or Adele, or Kanye West) are one of their favorite musicians but the numbers show that tons of people are listening to them. But of course, you can also find premade playlists for plenty of other categories and genres, and random ones like indie drinking songs or Best of Bond or whatever catches your fancy could also be the gateway to other fun stuff.
posted by R a c h e l at 12:33 PM on September 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
background knowledge stuff's easy. Just look up any American music publication's "100 GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME!!!!" lists, which are all over the place online, and pick and choose anything that sounds appealing for a listen.
posted by Hoopo at 1:11 PM on September 25, 2015
posted by Hoopo at 1:11 PM on September 25, 2015
Echonest has a fascinating interactive music genre map called Every Noise At Once. You could look up J-Rock and other J- genres and see related genres and popular artists that you might enjoy.
I'd personally recommend checking out Coldplay, Grimes, Phoenix and Bonobo as starting points. They are all bands I've talked about with different friends and I think you might like them too.
posted by thepdm at 1:14 PM on September 25, 2015
I'd personally recommend checking out Coldplay, Grimes, Phoenix and Bonobo as starting points. They are all bands I've talked about with different friends and I think you might like them too.
posted by thepdm at 1:14 PM on September 25, 2015
This is a little project that a friend started to put together for another friend who was somewhat in your shoes (mid-20s but his only musical knowledge was pop). This isn't the most mainstream everyone your age knows sort of stuff, but if you're on the geekier/nerdier side, you might appreciate the background info he gives with the various videos. It'll help fill in some of the blanks from the late 70s to 80s and how/why those songs were chosen might be interesting.
Other than that, definitely Nthing the ask people about their favorite music advice.
posted by imbri at 1:50 PM on September 25, 2015
Other than that, definitely Nthing the ask people about their favorite music advice.
posted by imbri at 1:50 PM on September 25, 2015
You have great taste! I was also faced with the same dilemma a few years ago. I'm on the earlier side of my 20s, and also predominately listened to Japanese and Korean indie and pop music for a long time, and still do. Love Mass of Fermenting Dregs and Nujabes. It's not considered out of place in my area though, because I'm in California. If anything, most of my "Western music listening friends" actually listen to a good bit of Asian music, have greatly enjoyed my recommendations, and have swapped me their libraries.
What I've done is use a lot of Last.Fm Radio, Pandora, Spotify, and Shazam. The latest is really good if you hear a song anywhere and can grab it, then look up the artist and listen to their discography, or find similar artists. I usually go through Spotify and listen through any of their genre stations, then use either Spotify or Pandora Radio to find similar songs. Music recommendation systems now tend to cluster artists who have a similar sub-genre or sound, so it becomes incredibly easy to find a few sub-genres you like, and become an aficionado.
Through this method, I've found several Western subgenres that I'm really into, and can recommend to other friends. I also see other people play them a lot in my networks through coincidence. Sometimes I ask them how they find their artists, and they introduce to me their channels, but I do believe that because of music streaming services and torrent websites, it is much easier to find artists and have more diverse tastes nowadays. I'm currently really into ethereal dark indie-pop that has a bit of trap music in it, so ASTR, Purity Ring, XXYXX. I found ASTR through Spotify's Alternative RnB playlist, and then found Purity Ring and XXYXX through the Alina Baraz & Gallmatias Radio. I found the latter artist through this Noon Pacific playlist or the Spotify Alt RnB one.
I also love, love, love 8tracks and sound cloud, and ask any of my savvy friends to send me their mixlists or recommendations. Taking the time to look around and find music curation blogs also help, like Headphone Commute, Noon Pacific, or The Line of Best Fit.
posted by yueliang at 2:24 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
What I've done is use a lot of Last.Fm Radio, Pandora, Spotify, and Shazam. The latest is really good if you hear a song anywhere and can grab it, then look up the artist and listen to their discography, or find similar artists. I usually go through Spotify and listen through any of their genre stations, then use either Spotify or Pandora Radio to find similar songs. Music recommendation systems now tend to cluster artists who have a similar sub-genre or sound, so it becomes incredibly easy to find a few sub-genres you like, and become an aficionado.
Through this method, I've found several Western subgenres that I'm really into, and can recommend to other friends. I also see other people play them a lot in my networks through coincidence. Sometimes I ask them how they find their artists, and they introduce to me their channels, but I do believe that because of music streaming services and torrent websites, it is much easier to find artists and have more diverse tastes nowadays. I'm currently really into ethereal dark indie-pop that has a bit of trap music in it, so ASTR, Purity Ring, XXYXX. I found ASTR through Spotify's Alternative RnB playlist, and then found Purity Ring and XXYXX through the Alina Baraz & Gallmatias Radio. I found the latter artist through this Noon Pacific playlist or the Spotify Alt RnB one.
I also love, love, love 8tracks and sound cloud, and ask any of my savvy friends to send me their mixlists or recommendations. Taking the time to look around and find music curation blogs also help, like Headphone Commute, Noon Pacific, or The Line of Best Fit.
posted by yueliang at 2:24 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
You might like the following radio shows/music podcasts:
Chances with Wolves (soundcloud)
Aquarium Drunkard (mixcloud)
Ross Jackson's Daydream Nation (Ross is a personal friend and a DJ on KTUH)
posted by a halcyon day at 2:28 PM on September 25, 2015
Chances with Wolves (soundcloud)
Aquarium Drunkard (mixcloud)
Ross Jackson's Daydream Nation (Ross is a personal friend and a DJ on KTUH)
posted by a halcyon day at 2:28 PM on September 25, 2015
Also, look at your local PBS website arts or music sections. They often have amazing profiles on music, and NPR is pretty awesome too for finding new music.
KQED Arts/Music (Northern California)
KCET Arts and Music (Southern California)
KDVS 90.3 FM
NPR Music
This is something you can talk about with your friends - T-Pain singing without Autotune, this was on NPR
posted by yueliang at 2:30 PM on September 25, 2015
KQED Arts/Music (Northern California)
KCET Arts and Music (Southern California)
KDVS 90.3 FM
NPR Music
This is something you can talk about with your friends - T-Pain singing without Autotune, this was on NPR
posted by yueliang at 2:30 PM on September 25, 2015
And these are my recommendations for the most popular songs by Top 40 artists in the past years that I think are actually awesome, phenomenal songwriting in them. I tend to learn towards melodic music (big Perfume and Soutaiseriron fan):
Sia - Elastic Heart
The Weeknd - Often (Kygo Remix)
Ellie Goulding - Lights
Beyonce - Halo [her last three albums are pretty awesome]
The Neighborhood - Sweater Weather
Passion Pit - Mirrored Sea
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)
Nicki Minaj - Monster
Lady Gaga - Telephone
And my more indie recommendations, ranging from pop to rnb to dream pop:
The Shins - Turn a Square
Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy (I think this group is one of those "music canon" groups to my understanding)
Aquilo - Human (Marian Hall Remix)
Raleigh Ritchie - Bloodsport
Memoryhouse - In the Years (Full EP)
You can find my "late night summer chill" Spotify playlist here, if you liked my recommendations:
posted by yueliang at 2:49 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sia - Elastic Heart
The Weeknd - Often (Kygo Remix)
Ellie Goulding - Lights
Beyonce - Halo [her last three albums are pretty awesome]
The Neighborhood - Sweater Weather
Passion Pit - Mirrored Sea
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)
Nicki Minaj - Monster
Lady Gaga - Telephone
And my more indie recommendations, ranging from pop to rnb to dream pop:
The Shins - Turn a Square
Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy (I think this group is one of those "music canon" groups to my understanding)
Aquilo - Human (Marian Hall Remix)
Raleigh Ritchie - Bloodsport
Memoryhouse - In the Years (Full EP)
You can find my "late night summer chill" Spotify playlist here, if you liked my recommendations:
posted by yueliang at 2:49 PM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: These are all great recommendations.
Re simply asking my friends: yeah, that's certainly the obvious and easiest way to go about this, haha. I'm pretty bad at remembering that that's a resource in general. I might also just poke around local record stores. And with regard to concerts, rather than looking for acts that might perform here, it would probably be more efficient to look at who is playing here and see if I want to see them.
Re huge best-of playlists: I've always felt sort of intimidated by those, but I guess there's no better way to build up background knowledge, and anyway a journey of a thousand miles etc.
Re podcasts/niche playlists/blogs: I especially like these suggestions because they're niche and can be easily shared.
Thanks for your help. Who knows, maybe if I'm really motivated I'll make a blog of what I've discovered, and I'll post it to Projects or something as a follow-up.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:06 PM on September 25, 2015
Re simply asking my friends: yeah, that's certainly the obvious and easiest way to go about this, haha. I'm pretty bad at remembering that that's a resource in general. I might also just poke around local record stores. And with regard to concerts, rather than looking for acts that might perform here, it would probably be more efficient to look at who is playing here and see if I want to see them.
Re huge best-of playlists: I've always felt sort of intimidated by those, but I guess there's no better way to build up background knowledge, and anyway a journey of a thousand miles etc.
Re podcasts/niche playlists/blogs: I especially like these suggestions because they're niche and can be easily shared.
Thanks for your help. Who knows, maybe if I'm really motivated I'll make a blog of what I've discovered, and I'll post it to Projects or something as a follow-up.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:06 PM on September 25, 2015
My tastes run toward hip-hop, pop, and electronica, but maybe this will give you some ideas to try for your own tastes. One way I find new pop music to like is via Sasha Frere-Jones. Former writer for the New Yorker, he's discovering LA right now, which is fun. For the past few years, he put together a Best Songs of 201x on Spotify so you could work your way through them: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. Or, if you don't like his taste, maybe you could look for playlists by critics whose tastes you share.
Speaking of Spotify, they have playlists you can browse, which is another way I find new stuff to like. They're mostly organized by music type and mood: Summer Party, Electronic Study Music, etc. Also in Spotify, you can search things like "best rap" and then filter for playlists and find, e.g., Top Rap 2012. A lot of those get updated frequently enough that it's worth bookmarking any song you find yourself nodding along to, because the list will change -- and soon, the list of songs you've bookmarked feels more personalized to you than a generic playlist someone else put together.
posted by salvia at 5:48 PM on September 25, 2015
Speaking of Spotify, they have playlists you can browse, which is another way I find new stuff to like. They're mostly organized by music type and mood: Summer Party, Electronic Study Music, etc. Also in Spotify, you can search things like "best rap" and then filter for playlists and find, e.g., Top Rap 2012. A lot of those get updated frequently enough that it's worth bookmarking any song you find yourself nodding along to, because the list will change -- and soon, the list of songs you've bookmarked feels more personalized to you than a generic playlist someone else put together.
posted by salvia at 5:48 PM on September 25, 2015
I love, love my local NPR station, KCRW. It's a great source for new music. It's not pop for the most part, though. Think urban intelligentsia, I suppose. Kinda like MetaFilter tends to skew.
posted by persona au gratin at 11:08 PM on September 25, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 11:08 PM on September 25, 2015
I've also ended up extremely out of sync with current music canon ever since making your own mixtapes off the radio stopped being a thing, and I've found the podcast Switched on Pop extremely helpful and interesting! It goes into full music analysis, so instead of talking about "Taylor Swift sure is popular now!" they talk about what in the melody or the juxtaposition between a particular choice in instruments and lyrics makes specific songs of hers so catchy. They talk about advanced stuff in a way that a total amateur can understand - and without being condescending! (For example, in the first episode they define the difference between a major and a minor key.)
There are twenty episodes out right now, and they've covered everything from Top 40 to indie to country to funk to a capella music. I love that they always have insightful things to say about the actual music they discuss, rather than slag off artists for being too commercial or popular with the wrong demographic. It makes a great starting point for getting where music is at right now, and for observing trends in various musical genres.
posted by harujion at 4:39 AM on September 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
There are twenty episodes out right now, and they've covered everything from Top 40 to indie to country to funk to a capella music. I love that they always have insightful things to say about the actual music they discuss, rather than slag off artists for being too commercial or popular with the wrong demographic. It makes a great starting point for getting where music is at right now, and for observing trends in various musical genres.
posted by harujion at 4:39 AM on September 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you have a cable package that includes MTV Hits, watch that channel. It's all current/recent music videos (like MTV used to be in the early days!).
posted by SisterHavana at 9:40 PM on September 26, 2015
posted by SisterHavana at 9:40 PM on September 26, 2015
I am late to this party but I recommend www.acclaimedmusic.com. It aggregates critics' lists of best songs and provides a user-friendly guide to the zeitgeist in terms of 20th/21st century western music in "popular" genres. (I mean popular both as opposed to classical and more mainstream than polka, though some things featured on that site are obscure and/or avant-garde.)
The way I would go about it is to take their "6000 best songs" list, start at the top and go down, taking note of what you like. Then listen to more of that. Something that works in your favor is that music culture is very fragmented these days so everyone has their own hobbyhorses. So it's not that weird to just like what you like but it is probably wise to have some bands you can mention that westerners might have heard of. Maybe make it a point to familiarize yourself a bit more intimately with their top 30 artists, because if someone mentions Radiohead or Kanye at a party and you're giving them a Mt. Rushmore face that'll definitely make you seem critically out of touch.
posted by zeusianfog at 2:56 AM on September 27, 2015
The way I would go about it is to take their "6000 best songs" list, start at the top and go down, taking note of what you like. Then listen to more of that. Something that works in your favor is that music culture is very fragmented these days so everyone has their own hobbyhorses. So it's not that weird to just like what you like but it is probably wise to have some bands you can mention that westerners might have heard of. Maybe make it a point to familiarize yourself a bit more intimately with their top 30 artists, because if someone mentions Radiohead or Kanye at a party and you're giving them a Mt. Rushmore face that'll definitely make you seem critically out of touch.
posted by zeusianfog at 2:56 AM on September 27, 2015
Oh, it's .net not .com. Whoops.
posted by zeusianfog at 3:15 AM on September 27, 2015
posted by zeusianfog at 3:15 AM on September 27, 2015
Ask your friends.
A while back, I went on Twitter and said "I have $100 to spend on new music. Give me a link to where I can buy one album you love and I will buy it." The working theory was that anyone with the sense to follow me obviously has impeccable taste, so they of course all listen to awesome music I will love, right? I got my horizons broadened; some of what I bought is stuff I was vaguely aware of, some was stuff I'd never heard of. Pretty much all of it was pretty cool. I feel like this worked a lot better than the normal method of a friend dumping a band's entire catalog on you; when that happens it's really too much for what is kind of a first date with a new band IMHO. Just one album of awesomeness. Use whatever social network all your friends are on if your circles aren't on Twitter, of course. Spend a week listening to nothing but this new music, instead of your usual stuff.
You will connect specifically with the musical tastes of your friends, instead of some attempt at a generic phantasm of a Young American. If one friend suggests something you really really love, then you have a new artist to explore, and maybe should ask your friend for another Cool Album or two by some other musicians.
This is of course assuming you have friends who are largely not also isolated weebs.
posted by egypturnash at 10:13 AM on September 27, 2015
A while back, I went on Twitter and said "I have $100 to spend on new music. Give me a link to where I can buy one album you love and I will buy it." The working theory was that anyone with the sense to follow me obviously has impeccable taste, so they of course all listen to awesome music I will love, right? I got my horizons broadened; some of what I bought is stuff I was vaguely aware of, some was stuff I'd never heard of. Pretty much all of it was pretty cool. I feel like this worked a lot better than the normal method of a friend dumping a band's entire catalog on you; when that happens it's really too much for what is kind of a first date with a new band IMHO. Just one album of awesomeness. Use whatever social network all your friends are on if your circles aren't on Twitter, of course. Spend a week listening to nothing but this new music, instead of your usual stuff.
You will connect specifically with the musical tastes of your friends, instead of some attempt at a generic phantasm of a Young American. If one friend suggests something you really really love, then you have a new artist to explore, and maybe should ask your friend for another Cool Album or two by some other musicians.
This is of course assuming you have friends who are largely not also isolated weebs.
posted by egypturnash at 10:13 AM on September 27, 2015
Here's another link - my friend created this amazing 2015 summer Spotify playlist with really recent songs, and we've been jamming to it for the past 4-5 months. He has steadily curated it through listening through other playlists, and then adding to it over the months.
posted by yueliang at 3:30 PM on October 2, 2015
posted by yueliang at 3:30 PM on October 2, 2015
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posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 10:08 AM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]