It’s time for something new

Dear interwebs

I have been listening to the same music for the last ten years. Do you have any suggestions for new(ish) music I could try?

Thank you in advance

xx

30 thoughts on “It’s time for something new”

  1. Click on Pandora, punch in a song you like and ask them to make a station for you. At some point they will include new artists with music that is similar to the sounds you like. Pay attention, though, and “dislike” things you don’t want to hear so they can fine tune the station.

    Otherwise you can do the other thing I do – ask a 25 year-old. Some of their music is shit but some stuff isn’t.

    1. My first comment to you, and about time. I was hooked by your blog’s name – I’m in Adelaide – and have been kept a regular visitor by your writing. Thank you. It strikes me you may already listen to them, but what about CocoRosie? After seeing ‘Bastardy’ and hearing the haunting ‘South 2nd’ I explored them further. Their song Hairnet Paradise is worth watching on YouTube just to see how they make that sweet music.

  4. Vampire Weekend (Good for cleaning the house, or jogging)
    Mouldy Peaches (They did the soundtrack to Juno? cheesy but fun)
    Camille (cool french artist who uses her voice as an intrument – gets lots of play on triple j)
    Angus & Julia Stone (just one triple j hottest 100 – folky stuff)
    Jack Johnson (umm… cruisy surfer guitar kinda music.. he did the soundtrack for curious george, and that’s as close as we get to kids music around here)

    there. who knows? you might even like one of them…

      1. stranger things have happened, but not by much… i think my cd left with my ex.
        i like the idea that it travelled half way around the world to you.

  5. I am really enjoying She & Him’s new album.
    As tradition in my household on Australia Day I would check out triple js hottest 100 I always manage to find something new in there.

  6. Hmmm… hard to recommend things without knowing what yiou listen to now.

    Grizzly Bear are great… ethereal and good for background music that snags the foreground occasionally.

    Zero 7’s album ‘The Garden’ is fab, everything else they’ve done is ok, but I’d recommend that for starters.

    Tracy Thorn’s new album is good.

    I felt like you, so I joined eMusic (http://www.emusic.com/) and now I have lots of things that I like, old and new.

    I’ll add more later if you say what you like for when…

    1. I had an emusic subscription, but I took a break for a few months because I didn’t have good internet access, and I wasn’t allowed to rejoin because there was that big hoo-haa with the copyright and so on. It was such a pity, because I could always buy something I’d never heard of but without too much risk. Also, their audiobooks section for children was great. Stoopid unglobalised world.

  7. If you are sick of the old stuff, try some really old stuff. Start with a CD of Mozarts Top 10, or stream ABC Classic FM if you can, and then follow what grabs you.

    1. See, I’m even stuck there, because I keep listening to the same Mozart and Chopin over and over again. I might be able to stream classic FM though. That’s a great idea. There’s a classic radio station here, but it’s fairly predictable and seems to play a lot of Gilbert and Sullivan. Which is fine, but for me at least, only in small doses.

      2. My main music listening is in chunks of 1-2 hours–in the car, reading, doing jigsaws–and to I have bought boxed sets of all the WAM piano sonatas, concertos and symphonies. And really, by the time I get to the end of all those (with Figaro, Don Giovanni, the Requiem, all on high rotation)its time to start again. Though I don’t have a musicological brain, this stimulates and soothes intellectually and emotionally.

  8. Do what I do – visit iTunes and surf randomly, clicking for a free listen to songs that have been given five stars are in the charts or feature on lots of people’s recommended lists. Yes it’s terribly mainstream and unimaginative, but my playlists now range from Traci Thorn to Stone Temple Pilots and I haven’t a single clue as to what any of them look like…

    1. I don’t mind mainstream and unimaginative…it’s just the genius keeps recommending even more hunters and collectors…which shows the state of my music right now.

  9. Try The Parlotones, SA’s biggest rock band (I just blogged about them) for Coldplayesque indie rock. Or lastfm.com, an online radio station. You type in a band you like and they build a playlist that matches your taste – it’s a great way to learn new bands.

    1. so you did…given the number of South Africans in my circle of influence right now I wonder why I haven’t tried them earlier. Added to list.

  10. Based on what I like and what I think you would like (though they are maybe 3-4 years old), I’ve chosen albums, but reckon you can’t go wrong with any of them …

    The National: Alligator

    Band of Horses: Cease to Begin

    Arcade Fire: Funeral

    Paper Scissors: Paper Scissors

    Yo La Tengo: I am not afraid of you & I will beat your ass

    Give me the nod & I’ll upload a couple of things for you to sample to a sekkrit locale.

  11. I asked the same thing last year at craft weekend and a couple of people said try Lucinda Williams. I came home and lo! we had one of her cds already on the shelf.

    I’ve listened to about three songs so far, before the lure of my audio book proved too strong, and I like it.

    What’s Pandora I wonder? Off to investigate.

      1. Nope, just tried it and also googled. Pandora is an American radio station (sort of) and it says something like we are deeply sorry but all non US IPs are blocked. Licensing constraints.

        For the yanks only 🙂

  12. Curtis Mayfield?
    Old Rolling Stones?
    Try some Tim Buckley.
    I’ve been listening to Kid Cudi who works with MGMT and Kanye West.
    New Order always surprises me because they’re one of those “They did this song too?” kind of bands.
    I’ll say Flight of the Conchords studio album, even though no one ever listens.
    That guy who was Gnarles Barkley has a lovely voice .. Cee-lo Green? I like that one song he does.
    Is Amy Winehouse a fridge too far?

    Any way, good luck.

    1. Old Rolling Stones? Here’s where our age difference matters, because if I listen to old Rolling Stones, I am listening to my parents’ music which is fine and all except really I’m desperate to hear things I haven’t heard before.

      Had both Buckleys on high rotation during the Times of Sadness, so best that I avoid them now. I like the sound of that Kid Cudi and Gnarles is such a cool name. Also, I think I have that Flight of the Conchords in storage at home. I love all music to come out of New Zealand even if it’s rubbish.

      1. Okay, then – how about Tom Waits? Or search around for some of Mike Patton’s mildler projects – he did this thing on JJJ where he was doing Italian opera with a children’s choir, but, you know, rockin’ (Mondo Cane). Lovage is a good place to start.

        I assume you’re into paying for your music, but massive collection torrents are still good places to get ideas from – even if you just look at the titles in stuff like “Bestest Songs of the 1990s”.

        Yeasayer is another one I just thought of.

        Youtube can also give you good listening samples.

  13. Seconding Grizzly Bear. Lovely stuff.

    Have you tried any Sufjan Stevens? Start with ‘Come on Feel the Illinoise’ then explore his other albums. Latest one. ‘The Age of Adz’ is a cracker but takes some getting into.

    Joanna Newsom’s ‘Ys’ is a few years old but marvelous, her latest album ‘Have one on me’ is also spectacular, although much more subdued. She plays the harp and her earlier work was a bit fey for my tastes, but I think she’s really matured in the past few years.

    1. I can’t tell you how lovely it is to have you popping up in comments again.

      And now, I am off to hunt down some new music…this is brilliant. Tx all.

  14. I am really enjoying John Grant’s “Queen of Denmark”. He writes songs that tug at you as if you almost remember them. All delivered in a rich luxurious baritone. great lyrics, great tunes.

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