I’m watching “The real reason algorithms are bad for art” by Digging the greats and can’t remember the last time I asked real humans for recommendations for music. At one point, he is going around asking people of artists/albums that they recommend. I thought that was a cool idea. Then I thought, what if I asked lemmy/mastodon/ect and see what you all recommend?
Who is your favorite artist and what song/album would you recommend?
I’m looking to expand my horizons a bit.
I’ll start.
There’s a local band called the red coats. I think they only have one album. I can’t find a Bandcamp link but their music is here should you like to hear them. My wife and I saw them live at tiny little shops.
“Softly” by Gordon Lightfoot is one of my favorite songs. On the surface it appears to be about a woman but I don’t think it is. I was listening to it one time when it just popped into my head, “Holy shit. He’s talking about the moon.”
I thought about writing him to ask if I was right and I kind of regret that I didn’t while he was still alive. The man was a poet of highest caliber. If you like or can at least listen to folk music, the album “Gord’s Gold” lives up to it’s name.
My go to favourite band is AFI, and they have a great back catalogue to dig into as they’ve been going since the 90s but have changed their style with the times (although always sort of emo/punk adjacent). I flip flop on my favourite album from them, currently I’d say it’s Sing The Sorrow but sometimes it’s Decemberunderground.
My taste changes frequently though, so for something with a completely different style, I find myself constantly returning to Personal Protocol by 8485, a wonderful hyperpop EP with Drum & Bass influences.
I hope you get something out of any of this, and would love to hear what you think!
You can never ever go wrong with the Miles Davis album, Kind of Blue.
An outstanding recommendation.
Hey that’s cool. I get my music from “all songs considered” (new music Friday), the NPR podcast.
Last thing I enjoyed was the new album “embers” by God is an astronaut.
A couple of my favorites, in no particular order…
Dessa - Mineshaft II Dessa writes some of the most evocative, lyrically dense songs I’ve ever heard.
The Gits - Guilt Within Your Head The Gits were a Seattle-based punk rock band that were poised to blow up big in the early 90s. Tragically, lead singer Mia Zapata was murdered just 4 days after they signed their first major contract.
Titus Andronicus - (I’m) Screwed A long-running and critically acclaimed hard rock band that’s avoided finding mainstream success. One of the best live acts I’ve seen.
I’d like to add Whirlwind by The Gits to this list.
Years back I saw Dessa open for another show. Fell in love with Skeleton Key
Choosing a favorite is hard and it changes a lot for me. This time I’ll choose Porcupine Tree and recommend their album In Absentia.
I listen to so many different kinds of music so it is hard to nail down a favorite. Instead I’ll give you the most recent artist I saw live-Jazz guitarist Julian Lage. I saw his trio in Chicago last night and it was an unreal experience with how tight the group was. Truly masters of their craft. Here is one of my favorite tracks of his “Tributary”
Instead of my favorite, which is very well known, I’ve chosen to promote a different awesome song in an adjacent genre:
Destiny Potato - Addict
Excellent song, and the buildup + guitar solo = chefs kiss
Jello Biafra from the Dead Kennedys and the members of Ministry, two of my favourite bands, collaborated and made some truly amazing heavy music.
Recently came across this tune and can’t get enough of it.
Ditto this one.
Finally, you can’t go wrong with this classic from my youth.
Blanco White, British artist with Spanish/Latin influence. ‘The wind rose’ from his EP is such a good song and I think it reflects his style still. https://open.spotify.com/track/2B2iGPBD6RBWJ11uxtb34t?si=GidmWC2uSoSiDvwbw8XmyQ&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A18WIUFEZRfWSRDhfnmO9NB
“Giordano’s dream” (both parts) are an amazing listen too. https://open.spotify.com/album/0ZiiZQCm1aez7Kt77j78QG?si=5e5wSsbETP2dNLOLlMVxhg
I was listening to old punk rock and Kamala’s Too Nice by Screeching Weasel came on, which was really amusing in the current American political landscape. https://youtu.be/EjlhlqcCTjM
If you like this one you’ll probably like the whole My Brain Hurts album.
My favorite band is Enter the Haggis. I’ll give you a couple choices:
Swallowed by a Whale - one of their newest.
Gasoline - one of their most popular ones, a bit country-leaning.
To the Quick - a solid instrumental.
Cake - Pressure Chief
The flow from song to song on this album is near flawless. I think it is their most cohesive album, although they are all great. Motorcade of Generosity is a close second for me.
Comfort Eagle has some great songs but I agree, Pressure Chief has the best flow overall.
Never There is an amazing song.
Super Furry Animals - Radiator
Been my favorite since mid 00’s. As someone from the US, they were never very big here, and I get tons of looks from people if I tell them this. They were pretty successful overseas from the looks of the concerts. I didn’t mind. Whenever they toured here, I got to see them in super small venues, which was great. Sadly, they haven’t put out an album in over 15 years and doubt they will. They all have side projects and kind of moved on but never officially broke up. I can only hope they will return one day. Side projects are really good as well, thankfully.
Country Curious by Lola Kirke
Suffer in Heaven by Chelsea Grin
Hard Groove by The RH Factor
Empress Rising by Monolord
Old RockHounds Never Die by Odetta Hartman
Barefoot Surrender by Barefoot Surrender
Yours Until the War is Over by Amigo the Devil
Science Fiction by Church of the Cosmic Skull
Bilo IV by David Maxim Micic
Quiet World by Native Construct
More Power. More Pain. by Gideon
Here are some of my favorites in no particular order from no particular genre that aren’t generally well known as far as I am aware. I hope you enjoy some of them!
