How do you find new music?
I'm sitting here watching the Grammies, and wondering who's off base. I don't know most of the singers or groups, and what I'm seeing of them makes me feel quite okay with that. I'm inclined to call it a bunch of crap, and recede into a world where, I fear, I won't hear anything recorded less than a decade ago, unless it's put down by Neil Young, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, or Bob Dylan.
I don't want to be like that.
Right now, I rely on my kids and some of the brilliant bloggers like Fine Tune, Fluxblog and There Stands the Glass (which deserves a special shout-out, since it exists to bring exposure to overlooked music). And they have truly enriched my life. I appreciate and celebrate them.
But it seems like years ago, new music happened more organically. I remember drinking beer at the Soccer Dome after a game a decade ago, and hearing Living Colour's Love Rears its Ugly Head. I remember hopping in the car after winning an election, and hearing Tom Cochrane's upbeat Life is a Highway.
I don't want to lose new music in my life. How do you find new music?
posted by Dan at 2/08/2006 09:00:00 PM
8 Comments:
I read your blog, that's how.
Try Pandora.com. You type in an artist or song that you like, and it will find similar music and play it for you; if you hear something you like, you can check it out. It's like internet radio - where the DJ may play all kinds of stuff. Cool.
Sometimes you discover odd connections between music you didn't recognize as connected.
Might give it a try.
http://pandora.com/
http://www.last.fm/
These two sites are GREAT. Basically, you start with naming the music you like, and they start to make suggestions about what other bands you might be interested in.
Pandora is based on the Music Genome Project which quantifies and categorizes music based on certain parameters. Last.fm is based on an amazon-style "people who listened to this band also liked THIS band"
Have fun!
I listen to the radio occasionally and will find a new band from time to time. But most of my recent favorites have come from hearing a new band play as part of music festivals like Ozzfest.
Pandora sounds cool, I'll have to check that out, too.
I agree with George Carlin, who said that if you're over 6-years-old and still get your music from the radio, there is something seriously wrong with you.
Dan, get and iPod and start subscribing to music podcasts. The content is free and there's tons of GREAT "podsafe" music out there. You can thank that big-haired fag Adam Cury for helping set up the Podsafe Music Network of independent artists who choose not to bend over for the Britney Clarksen pop pushing music industry.
OK - I'll show my ignorance. What in God's name is a podcast, and how do I listen to it?
Anonymous, here's some info about what podcasting is.
The easiest way to listen is to install the free iTunes application (for mac or windows) and start subscribing.
Good luck.
The recommendations for Pandora are right on. Their computers are psychic! And while most people use MySpace to hook up, I use it to check out who's playing in town any given night- go to "music," then to "shows," then type in 64111. You'll be astounded.
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