expanding my taste

Submitted by jj4540 t3_1247kya in Music

huge question, but how do i get into music? by that i mean how do expand my taste in music? i grew up super christian so i wasn’t exposed to anything not jesus related until i was 15 and during my teens i just listened to the pop songs of the week. i realized embarrassingly recently how good music can be and feel intimidated by how much catching up i have to do. right now i just get random recommendations from friends and the internet.

what’re some classics that i NEED need to listen to? i’ve gone through a lot of the super popular classics, but what’re some must listen to artists and albums that might not be super mainstream that’ll give me some new sounds to listen to?

i don’t really know how to describe my current taste/experience. spotify says my main categories are alt metal, nu metal, j-rock/pop/metal/jazz, indie rock/pop, jazz (rly narrowing it down i know), bossa nova, classic rock and melancholy.

off the top of my head in no particular order some of my favorite artists/bands are: system of a down, coheed and cambria, damien jurado, masayoshi tanaka, the beatles, the strokes, chet baker, deftones, radiohead (just dont), elis regina, stan getz, yes, kendrick lamar, billy joel, kingo hamada, queen, liana flores, guns n’ roses, nirvana, modern baseball, vansire, the fugees, lauryn hill, sublime, hozier, the neighborhood, nara leão, maximum the hormone, fallout boy, franz ferdinand, IDK, lucy dacus, anri, earth wind and fire, sorry, c418, björk, frank sinatra, her’s, lsd and the search for god, djo, simon and garfunkel, taeko onuki, daisuke ishiwatari, ichiko aoba, japanese breakfast, paramore, hikaru utada, static-x, marcos valle, adele, coldplay, curtis mayfield and the pillows. not a comprehensive list, but a decent sample.

also, just to be safe, i don’t really know anything about these artists apart from their music so if any of them are super problematic i have no idea. i haven’t gone through all of their discographies, so if there’s anything problematic in the music itself i may not have heard it. i do believe in separating the art from the artist but there are some extreme cases i have a hard time getting over (cough…kanye..cough)

i can’t pick a favorite song but some of my favorite albums are: toxicity and hypnotize (system of a down), superfly (curtis mayfield), caught in the trees (damien jurado), in rainbows (radiohead, and again pls just don’t), the aftermath deluxe edition (coheed and cambria), chet baker sings (chet baker), to pimp a butterfly and damn (kendrick), around the fur (deftones), jubilee (japanese breakfast), is he real (IDK), getz/gilberto (stan getz), fragile (yes), from under the corkscrew tree (fallout boy), abbey road (duh), nevermind (duh), franz ferdinand (self named), the miseducation of lauryn hill (duh), windswept adan (ichiko aoba), minecraft vol alpha (c418), flcl progressive/alternative soundtrack (the pillows) and 925 (sorry).

again, not comprehensive and not necessarily even my favorites from these artists, just what comes to mind.

also, i was really getting into korn and limpbizkit for a while but all in the family really soured me on both of them.

also also i can sing most of the monogatari OPs by heart, same with cruel angels thesis, komm susser tod (i listened to that one 576 times last year) and one last kiss. if i had to answer what my favorite song is with a gun to my head, one of these would be in contention. these and apron boy (todays menu for the emiya family OP) or the carnival phantasm OP. i love all of these songs to an irrational degree, it’s actually unhealthy.

so all that said, thoughts? please be nice i’m just a little baby bird.

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IamMothManAMA t1_jdy5i3n wrote

I’d find some music websites you like and start listening to music from there you think might be interesting. I go to Pitchfork and Stereogum every day and listen to the new tracks and stuff from the albums they’re reviewing. That exploded my music taste about 9 or 10 years ago and I still do it every week day.

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crrtis t1_jdyhpnf wrote

I usually find something I like on YouTube, and will spend time going down rabbit holes and checking stuff out thru the recommended section. Sometimes there is duds, sometimes you find something good.

I will say, check out Sadistik.

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ivoiiovi t1_jdyj10e wrote

The way it was for me before streaming services and suggestions from algorithms, was that I would go read about artists I like via wikipedia or discogs. I have a pretty expansive and eclectic music library and almost everything came from following threads like that.

I remember seeing some version of Napalm Death at a festival and kind of liking it, that led me to the internet where I read about the original lineup and a guy called Mick Harris.. I saw he did a project called Painkiller which was mixing grindcore with jazz and dub and thought that may be cool so I bought a vinyl blindly on ebay… HOLY F*€K, John Zorn. that was then an ever expanding spiral as that guy is as prolific as they come and has worked with more people than I could count, and almost any style of music you could imagine. Following threads from the bass player I discovered Praxis, Mix Master Mike/turntablism in geberal, Buckethead, Jonas Hellborg, a load of great dub and funk, even going backwards in time to a love of Parliament via the Bootsy/Bernie connections with Laswell.

I have basically zero interest in Napalm Death and pretty low interest even in Zorn (despite his brilliance). None of the above demonstates my taste, but I found so much great music just by following those threads from every instance where I heard something I really enjoyed.

also it’s often worth checking other artists on the same record labels as most of the somewhat independent labels show some sort of interlinking qualities even where style varies (this is how I am currently exploring electronic music through my Aphex Twin obsession, with other Warp projects like Autechre and Squarepusher hitting me hard!).

Discogs is the best for finding actual working links between projects, and Wikipedia is great to find the out histories and influences of certain artists you like, which may lead to great discoveries :)

also if you really like a particular artist, find a sub of forum about them or something close and go ask there.. these places are all a mixed bag but usually there are passionate people with a lot of good suggestions :)

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ivoiiovi t1_jdykmdc wrote

as to classics you NEED to listen to. I don’t like many classics but I’ll offer a few that others may not:

Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante (seriously.. and if you survive it, try their other two albums. the first album was very influencial on nu-metal while being not-at-all nu-metal)

Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album (and everything else, but that’s a good start, along with the ’Come to Daddy’ EP)

King Crimson - Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (for the instrumentals and beginning of them being one of the most influencial prog bands, especially on the metal side)

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (total classic of instrumental hip-hop)

… I suck at ”classics” unless we’re talling weird stuff that probably goes nowhere near your tastes.. all else I can think of that may fit is Björk but you’re already into it (she’s a good one to web out from in ways I suggested above, having worked with sooooo many people, from Mike Patton to Bogdan Raczynski to etcetc)

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jj4540 OP t1_jdz698f wrote

i’ve listened to court of the crimson king and enjoyed it. i’ll check out the rest of these artists, thanks.

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jj4540 OP t1_jdz6a6o wrote

i’m more that happy to sample some weird stuff, is there some gateway drug you’d recommend?

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jj4540 OP t1_jdz6cq8 wrote

thanks, thais should keep me busy for a while

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mcsmooothearl t1_jdyn9x3 wrote

Skim through these to see if you like anything - I listen to these on the regular:

#Failure

…There’s 19 years between the following consecutive albums … and you’d never know it. These guys are also known as “Your favorite band’s favorite band.”

“Fantastic Planet” (1996)

“The Heart Is A Monster” (2015)

#First Wave Hello

… these guys disbanded in 2008, but left two awesome albums:

“The Lord and Its Penguin” (2006)

“God Bless, Devil You” (2008)

Both of the above named bands are in the “space rock” category, but First Wave Hello are maybe a bit less “space” and more “indie experimental”

Oh! One more band (genre: noise riff-pop) I really love:

#Sleigh Bells

“Treats” (2010)

“Reign Of Terror” (2012)

“Bitter Rivals” (2013)

“Jessica Rabbit” (2016)

…and for something considered weird but I’ve listened to them both constantly for 20+ years :

Bombay The Hard Way: Guns, Cars,and Sitars (1998)

Bombay 2: Electric Vindaloo (2001)

One last thing (yeah, rrrrright, buddy 😂) - Spotify [all the following playlists are on Spotify] says “melancholy” is one of your preferred genres? You gotta check out my Elliott Smith playlist - a CD-R length of what I consider his best: (note: there’re two camps of Elliott Smith fans - those like me, who prefer his last three albums, and those that prefer the first three): as much as Nine Inch Nails channels my anger, Elliott Smith reflects my sadness.

I did the same thing with (Smashing Pumpkins playlist). Billy Corgan can totally ROCK … but he’s also sensitive/melancholy AF!

Beck is another musical genius that is diverse … I had to make a BECK (-down) playlist for his sad, melancholy stuff and a separate for his upbeat, funky good-time stuff … BECK (+up) playlist.

Three other music acts that I enjoy (I’ve once again play-listed their top-tier stuff … if you don’t like the songs on the playlist, you REALLY won’t like the rest of their stuff!) that I suggest you check out are:

Tame Impala

and

Oasis

and

Moby

… and now I’m gonna shut up (for real 😂) Good luck on your musical journey!

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jj4540 OP t1_jdz6qif wrote

yeah, i wasn’t sure “melancholy” was a genre either. i already have some elliot smith on my list, and i’ll check the rest of these guys out. i listened to a few moby albums (not sure which ones, he’s jumping in the album art of one of them i think) and nothing really stuck out to me. smashing pumpkins rules, so does tame impala.

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mcsmooothearl t1_jdz96o1 wrote

Oh, cool! Yeah, Moby can be an acquired taste … but he’s like so many other artists - has 12 albums or so, but I have to cherry-pick a few decent songs off each one and ignore the rest like it’s trash. I noticed you like Damien Jurado, so make sure to peep the Moby song he is featured on: “Almost Home”

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Bugslugs47 t1_je0lwzi wrote

There is no such thing as “catching up” as you say. There is music from 200 years ago - and before - that is as relevant as today’s music. Given there are dozens of tracks released each day you will never ‘catch up’. Best solution is trying pot luck. Go on YouTube and type in any genre you want, see what comes up and take your pick. Go to Wikipedia and look up ‘Music Genres’.

Right, that’s enough. I’m off to listen to Chicago Blues and then The Band.

😻

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