Finding new music used to be as easy as turning on MTV2. Now it can seem daunting... at least to find the good stuff. Where do you start when you haven't been keeping up for years?
Listen to Iggy Pop on BBC Sounds - a goldmine for new / old / interesting music
Follow and listen to 'Trippin Balls' podcast. They can do the hard work for you.
Keep your mind and ears open. All genres have worthy artists, ya just gotta keep digging. Don't get stuck in the one rut. Being a music fan since '80s - always cool new tunes / bands hitting the world.
Share your playlists, so that others may learn your gospel / quirks.
Recent faves include: Louis Cole - Nothing; Tenzin Choegyal - Whispering Sky; Them Moose Rush - Zepaxia; Emily Wurramurra - Nara; Amigo the Devil - Yours Until The War Is Over; Mutoid Man - Mutants ... the list is long, varied but interesting. Never stop exploring.
“hydrated intervertebral discs”! Ha! That’s true, but with me, it’s knees!! Then there are the music makers who seek out their people. Finding your community is a great way to find great music (music makers AND lovers!) and with bad knees, I can still make pretty decent music (I think) at age 52!! https://brittapejic.bandcamp.com
You only mentioned it briefly here, but I really got to shout out Rate Your Music as the place to find new stuff. Unlike other aggregate sites like Metacritic or AOTY it really is run by it's own community and as such is not beholden to any of the weird basis of mainstream music publication ratings(out of control poptimism among other things). While it can be clunky to use once you get used to it it becomes very easy to find obscure underappreciated releases by just plugging in generes of your interest into the ratings chart or by checking out other people's lists. I use the site daily and have found so many albums and artists from it I never would've even heard of otherwise.
You're totally right -- I definitely haven't used RYM to its full potential, so I should let a power user walk through it sometime, honestly. I mention it as an option but just don't need it in my personal arsenal since I'm already kind of overwhelmed with new stuff as it is, but I think if I were starting from scratch and had the patience, I might actually have gone just the RYM route and populated it with all of my most loved older artists and then gone digging the lists there.
Having said that, I'm a pop lover and a poptimist apologist (to some degree). I get a little prickly at the ire over it, though I fully agree that mainstream music pubs' ridiculous pandering to the same rotating handful of 5-10 records every single year is transparent and incredibly boring. Even for a pop lover, there is far better to be found with a bit of digging than in the critics' lists.
A relevant addendum is to pretty much ignore or the overall ratings of albums for a lot of genres that aren’t popular among the type of people that use the website, or otherwise to only compare album ratings relative to the genre/artist—the reason for this is immediately evident if you take a look at the top albums of all time on the site. Certain genres just get lower ratings by that particular community.
Of course, I agree that the real value comes from looking at people’s lists and whatnot. But searching through hyper-specific genre rankings can be fun too.
I’d like to recommend “Nation of Language”. Seems like a retro 80’s synth vibe you would embrace. I’ve seen them live - in LA last year. KCRW.com has been friendly to their cause so they won’t be small for long.
My favorite way is to create a playlist based on the AllMusic.com Editors' Choices. I add 3 Choice songs from nearly every album (sorry, I don't do rap or classical) and listen to it. For instance, here's July's:
Good advice — I used to depend on algorithms and occasionally Sirius XM and KEXP for most of my new music. But about five years ago I stumbled onto an amazing independent indie rock station, bagelradio.com, and since then it’s mostly been as simple for me as “listen to bagelradio.com.” Shockingly good.
Nice post, I have a substack where I write a monthly round up of favorites that catch my attention - primarily left of center indie and bass oriented dance music. It's a continuation of my site which I've been doing the same for 5+ years.
Honestly, it's because I only personally started using Bandcamp as an actual discovery tool (rather than a "look up artists I already know so I can buy merch or show people where to buy records" tool) in the last few months! I'm sure there are dozens of boneheadedly obvious things that I didn't mention.
Here's some more good tips:
Listen to Iggy Pop on BBC Sounds - a goldmine for new / old / interesting music
Follow and listen to 'Trippin Balls' podcast. They can do the hard work for you.
Keep your mind and ears open. All genres have worthy artists, ya just gotta keep digging. Don't get stuck in the one rut. Being a music fan since '80s - always cool new tunes / bands hitting the world.
Share your playlists, so that others may learn your gospel / quirks.
Recent faves include: Louis Cole - Nothing; Tenzin Choegyal - Whispering Sky; Them Moose Rush - Zepaxia; Emily Wurramurra - Nara; Amigo the Devil - Yours Until The War Is Over; Mutoid Man - Mutants ... the list is long, varied but interesting. Never stop exploring.
Find your favourite artists ' personal playlists!
Yes, that's one of my favorites! Best kind of word of mouth.
“hydrated intervertebral discs”! Ha! That’s true, but with me, it’s knees!! Then there are the music makers who seek out their people. Finding your community is a great way to find great music (music makers AND lovers!) and with bad knees, I can still make pretty decent music (I think) at age 52!! https://brittapejic.bandcamp.com
ha ha good music has no age limit! I'll check it out
Awesome Gabbie, thank you! 😁🫒
You only mentioned it briefly here, but I really got to shout out Rate Your Music as the place to find new stuff. Unlike other aggregate sites like Metacritic or AOTY it really is run by it's own community and as such is not beholden to any of the weird basis of mainstream music publication ratings(out of control poptimism among other things). While it can be clunky to use once you get used to it it becomes very easy to find obscure underappreciated releases by just plugging in generes of your interest into the ratings chart or by checking out other people's lists. I use the site daily and have found so many albums and artists from it I never would've even heard of otherwise.
You're totally right -- I definitely haven't used RYM to its full potential, so I should let a power user walk through it sometime, honestly. I mention it as an option but just don't need it in my personal arsenal since I'm already kind of overwhelmed with new stuff as it is, but I think if I were starting from scratch and had the patience, I might actually have gone just the RYM route and populated it with all of my most loved older artists and then gone digging the lists there.
Having said that, I'm a pop lover and a poptimist apologist (to some degree). I get a little prickly at the ire over it, though I fully agree that mainstream music pubs' ridiculous pandering to the same rotating handful of 5-10 records every single year is transparent and incredibly boring. Even for a pop lover, there is far better to be found with a bit of digging than in the critics' lists.
A relevant addendum is to pretty much ignore or the overall ratings of albums for a lot of genres that aren’t popular among the type of people that use the website, or otherwise to only compare album ratings relative to the genre/artist—the reason for this is immediately evident if you take a look at the top albums of all time on the site. Certain genres just get lower ratings by that particular community.
Of course, I agree that the real value comes from looking at people’s lists and whatnot. But searching through hyper-specific genre rankings can be fun too.
I’d like to recommend “Nation of Language”. Seems like a retro 80’s synth vibe you would embrace. I’ve seen them live - in LA last year. KCRW.com has been friendly to their cause so they won’t be small for long.
They are great, aren't they? I've had them in my '80s playlist for a while. Check out Working Men's Club if you like that vibe, too.
This is the most helpful list article I've ever read.
i am DISBELIEF thank you so much
My favorite way is to create a playlist based on the AllMusic.com Editors' Choices. I add 3 Choice songs from nearly every album (sorry, I don't do rap or classical) and listen to it. For instance, here's July's:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0srqPZL5MJGAWxtmtPtJJj?si=8553zue6TkCL0DDVC_n43g&pi=u-3NSrygewR5Ci
i love this strategy… though bummed you’re ignoring genres!
Life is short and music is endless. I have to pick my battles
Thank you, I took Orquesta Akokàn out of it, so it works ! :)
Good advice — I used to depend on algorithms and occasionally Sirius XM and KEXP for most of my new music. But about five years ago I stumbled onto an amazing independent indie rock station, bagelradio.com, and since then it’s mostly been as simple for me as “listen to bagelradio.com.” Shockingly good.
Record review sites and venue schedules
Nice post, I have a substack where I write a monthly round up of favorites that catch my attention - primarily left of center indie and bass oriented dance music. It's a continuation of my site which I've been doing the same for 5+ years.
Pitchfork and stereogum make playlists
Love the Witchy Disco playlist. It did not occur to me to ever put those words together, very glad it occurred to you.
As we get closer into fall, I think I'll dust it off and do a post specifically on it. It's such a fun one.
…Akokán.
Well, isn’t this fun. The moment I saw you link, I’d clicked on it & read + listened.
I hope you enjoyed! there will be new playlists every month
Honestly, it's because I only personally started using Bandcamp as an actual discovery tool (rather than a "look up artists I already know so I can buy merch or show people where to buy records" tool) in the last few months! I'm sure there are dozens of boneheadedly obvious things that I didn't mention.
keep at it man, they are the ones missing out