Discovering New Music

By Nicholas Neyhouse on November 18, 2014
Experimental Music

Image from: http://goo.gl/J2M8ns, taken by: FunGi (Trading), on May 10, 2011

Music fills the heart with so many different emotions, and bridges individuals tightly together so you feel their pain, love and joy. I believe that every piece of music fills a role that the creator desired to place upon that song, and then the listener interprets it on their own. There is a point to all music! Don’t close your mind off to a certain genre because you believe it deserves to go into a trash can.

The first thing that you must keep in mind when exploring new music is that when a musician sits down and begins to write out a new song some intent of a desired audience and certain emotion goes into the music.

You will find music that you do not enjoy and this may stem from the fact that you are not necessarily the audience that the composer intended the music for, or you are not in the mental place to receive the message that the song provides. It’s fine if you don’t connect with some music, but understand that someone else may receive what they need from that music.

Finding new music that genuinely interests you is a difficulty itself, although music that you don’t enjoy should never discourage you from trying to find new things. Don’t limit yourself by saying statements such as: ‘all modern music is bad and I can only listen to rock from the 60’s-80’s’. This will ground you in an impenetrable way, and your mind will automatically write off anything contemporary.

Instead of trying random new things, branch out of what you already enjoy. Spotify suggests artists related to the one you are listening to. If you continue to select new artists by journeying down one artist you may find yourself listening to something completely new by the end of the night.

Accepting that a new artist will sound different than the previous one pushes yourself to find new artists as well. Don’t expect the new to sound exactly like the old, and if you really desire to find new artists and new kinds of music then you will want the artists to sound different.

Another way to find new music comes from exploring off of other’s interests. I bet that plenty of people tell you try a new band or check out a single, and I recommend keeping a list of those bands and songs on your phone. Then when you look for new music you begin with those off of the list.

I think that a lot of people listen to their friend’s opinions, but another important resource of new ideas comes from listening to what other artists are listening to. I watch a lot of interviews with musicians, artists and actors, and I pay close attention to whenever music comes up.

Most of the time I enjoy the music that other artists enjoy. You may want to try this and keep a list of those bands as well.

Anthony Fantano “The Needle Drop” Milo – Things That Happen At Day / Things That Happen At Night EP REVIEW

I also recommend that you look into reviews of music as a means of finding new artists that you may enjoy. One reviewer that I find humorous and insightful is Anthony Fantano. He has a Youtube channel entitled “the needle drop” and reviews a new album almost every weekday. You should take his review with a grain of salt and expect to disagree with him at times, but he can be another resource for new music.

He is a lover of all types of music, and he does his best to remain unbiased, although of course he is human and bias always comes in somehow. He has done a few reviews of the philosophical and nerdy rap artist ‘Milo,’ and has gotten me hooked on his material.

Here is his review on two of Milo’s mixtapes:

Ask yourself now, why do you want to look for new music? I personally feel that the best answer to this consists of something along the lines of: ‘I desire a new pallet to explore and experiment with.’

A lot of music experiments with new sounds and structuring of songs, and I believe that a lover of music will want to explore and discover this new progress. A lot of the most critically successful music comes from those that make pop sounding songs with a twist on them and utilize thought provoking lyrics.

So don’t think that you need to stretch far from the norm to find new music, but just keep your mind and ears open and new music will come. It is important to push yourself to understand and accept new sources of art, because it helps you grow as an individual and it helps you understand the world around you.

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