There is seldom a mood that doesn't have its music. I listen to music to sustain my mood. I listen to music to alter my mood. I listen to music a lot. And my listening tastes vary a lot. To cut to the chase, the lists below are me exploring music and Circles are what is essentially my favorites.
The exploration of music, to me, is part of the experience. And an important part. One site that helps a lot is Music-Map (https://www.music-map.com/). Put in a band/artist, and get a "scatter-gram" of related bands. Outside of reading about music, it's my go-to place for looking up names.
Another place that I love is Bandcamp (https://bandcamp.com/). Mostly because they treat the artists better than other places. I look to bandcamp.com first to pick up stuff from artists. I'll admit, smaller artists are sold-out on CDs, which I miss adding to my collection. But I'd rather have the tunes than not. :-)
Oh! What about the bands I've been in? Though eclectic in some ways, they have been regular old rock bands. I've moved all that here.
Below are some bands that I'm into at the moment. They are either new favorites or old stuff I can't put down right now. The bands and the babbling about them will change as often as I get the chance to update this page.
The Jesus Lizard: These guys just released a new album, Rack. Yeah, it's an album after 26 years. After being cautiously optimistic for a while, the album is starting to really grip my attention. It's almost like they picked up where they left off. It does sound "later", but not in any bad forms. Some killer tunes, some that are okay. I wouldn't call any bad, though some wouldn't be on my regular playlists. In the end, almost entirely the opposite of what most might expect of a band coming back after 26 years.
Frankie And The Witch Fingers: What a great find, thank you, KEXP! These guys are so much fun. A band that I'd just call alternative back in the 90's. They definitely fit the post-rock and post-psychadelic labels.
Elephant Gym: A friend texted me links to tricot & Elephant Gym. Both are math rock-y, and Elephant Gym is kind fusion rock-y. Elephant Gym is more on the jazz and indie side of things. I'm definitely digging them, though there are songs that I'm not that into.
In Rio's life that is. :-P This is stuff that is on my playlists right now. Either I'm just getting to know them or they've recently resurfaced. More will come and some will go.
Zozobra: This is a branch from Cave In. Caleb Scofield, the bass player from Cave In, started it. It was his project, even though he had other prominent folks in Zozobra. Sadly, Caleb passed away in 2018. They are pretty cool, but I've got too much other stuff drawing me away. I have a feeling I'll like them more if I find some quiet (lol) time to focus on them.
Unwound: I haven't thought about these guys since college; thank god a friend from college brought them up! And what an idiot I am for forgetting about them! They are reminiscent of that nebulous idea in my head. I'm not sure they are firmly in that genre, but time to work through their catalog!
Ningen Isu: Another random find from YouTube. A metal band that has been around for a long time. It is said they have a lot of literary references. They dress in somewhat tongue-in-cheek costumes from Japanese culture. I'm loving their Kuraku album.
American Draft: Jeff Wojtysiak and Mike Baldwin from Volta Do Mar are in this group. I liked The Rescue from 2019 enough to get all of their collection. In general, one could say it's halfway between Volta Do Mar and Elder. That is great. There is a bit more to it too, though I'm not sure how to describe it. One way to describe the style is as if a 70's rock became epic 80's rock, but with less cheesy-ness. I'm mostly digging it, though sometimes I feel like they are changing it up just to not rehash older material. If you noticed, they moved from Recent Hits to Trending. I'll keep listening, there are other things that's drawing more of my attention.
Otoboke Beaver: They pack a lot in such short songs. Definitely punk, but not like Aburina Town. They are an all-female group from Japan. There are aspects that are almost Dead Kennedy like. Not like covers, but energy, attitude, and riffs. That "I'm gonna do whatever the bleep I want" style.
Gospel: Okay, an "Emo prog band" sounds interesting to me. Some folks on that list I know, and will go up here eventually (Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive). I tried Hail The Sun, and though interesting, they didn't grip me. These folks, Gospel, on the other hand, I'm digging. They are a bit proggy and emo/alternative in ways I like. After listening for a bit, I can't decide if they are slightly in that genre in my head, or just sitting on the border. They're not as experimental as others, and fit best in the post-rock / post-hardcore area. They have that jammy quality with a tiny bit of psychadelic as well. Some songs have made it into the upper listening lists. I'm not sure yet though what circle Gospel falls into.
Portion Control: This group is an industrial band that I heard when a colleague was listening to Sirius XM. They definitely piqued my interest, and bandcamp.com had their entire catalog on sale. Working my way through.
TesseracT: They were already on my list from that area of prog metal that is called djent. Though djent is more a guitar technique, ask Misha Mansoor from Periphery. After reading that same article about Marty Friedman, I found out he played on track from TesseracT. I know I'm listening to too much already, but they are on the active list now!
Gouge Away: I forget where I got these quotes. "hardcore album and a post-hardcore album all at once" and "expansive moments that owe as much to Sonic Youth as they do to The Jesus Lizard". That sounds great. I'm still listening, but I'm not going back to them constantly.
Rocket: I'm encoutering quite a number of bands that could easily sound like they are from 90's alt-rock scene. Rocket is a fun band with thick but not heavy guitars. Not really poppy, but accessible and fun.
Love Among The Mannequins: I first wanted to check them out because they were related to Meet Me In St. Louis. Tobias Hayes, from MMISL, left. But still, I'm checking them out.
Acid Bath: "Acid Bath had a unique sound, blending sludge metal with atmospheric and psychedelic elements.". That's a tag line that sounds up my alley. They seem to be ahead of their time, but that is probably just "convergent evolution" of patterns. I'll still be listening to them on and off for a while more.
After The Burial: {commentary to come}
Anciients: This was a weird nexus / coincidence. My sister had bandcamp.com recommend them to her. She mentioned them and I had just come across them in this article. They have pieces that are prog-y and pieces that are thick and heavy. I picked up their full catalog on bandcamp.com for cheap. I almost want to buy and gift them to folks so they get more money. You know, put your money where your mind is...!
Eastern Pine: {commentary to come}
Have Heart: {commentary to come}
Jolly: {commentary to come}
Lysistrata: They were on KEXP and they grabbed my attention. Another sound right out of 90's alternative, but with a modern twist. Or maybe that twist is that they are from France. Anyways, enjoying listening to them.
GEL: {commentary to come}
sleepmakeswaves: {commentary to come}
Shellac: {commentary to come}
BALTHVS: A friend sent me a link to this video. Way cool song. Listening to their other stuff, it's hard for me to latch onto it. They are a jammy psychedelic band. I could easily listen to them in the background while doing other things. So far, I'm not motivated to kick back and listen to them in depth. You never know, though, maybe I'll want to explore their catalog more later.
Vivra Vera: A local Boston band to watch out for. If they refine/smooth-out their sound, I think they could "go somewhere".
I used to keep a separate list. But it got way too long. Now all the stuff I've heard about or I want to check out is on this spreadsheet. The point numbers are bands I have but haven't loaded yet.
Okay, that's absolutely just a joke. These artists are not falling off my playlists, so I'd guess the opposite! They may have been new to me or just released an album. Either way, I'm not planning to stop listening anytime soon. ;-)
tricot: A friend texted me links to tricot & Elephant Gym. Both are math rock-y, and one might say tricot is a bit hard to pin down. But I don't think that is deliberate, it's just the way they are. Listening to them is like listening to a kaleidoscope of music. It's strange, it took me a while to appreciate them. But that is because they sound "light" on the surface, but they have a lot going on. That overlapping patterns thing that I enjoy so much. I do have to be in the mood so I can sustain both getting lost in the patterns and riding the more surface qualities.
Fin Del Mundo: A band from Argentina with a sound that grabbed my attention. I've been digging their vibe for a few months now. And they just released a new album! An Ursula Le Guin reference? Some info/description ..... In an interview, they said they were going to be just instrumental until they heard the voice of their second guitar player. Very ethereal kinda sound. When my young nephew asked why I like to listen to them, I said it was like floating comfortably in a warm lake on a beautiful summer day. Even though he gave me a look of not complete comprehension, I think he understood that it made me happy.
Rodrigo y Gabriela: This duo from Mexico does some incredibly inventive two-guitar music. They've released some varied compositions, and you can hear the "Spanish guitar" style. That is an overbroad term in my opinion. Even with the "New Flamenco" that they are labeled. They really should not be pigeonholed at all. It is hard to describe exactly how they veer off. That point leads to putting out albums with heavy jazz and metal influences. I now own all they've released on Bandcamp. They are so cool that they are still on my playlists after a few months.
Elder: After only listening to their first and last (as of 2024) albums, I bought their entire catalog. After a week of listening to them (a lot), they've "moved way up" on the Rio-like-o-meter. My sister called them "stoner, prog, psychedelic, dreamy, beautiful". I couldn't agree more, and glad my sister gave me their latest. Their earlier stuff is more crunchy/punchy, and their latest is cleaner/dreamier. With those prog and other qualities, they are close to that genre in my head. I wouldn't say they are though. They are more jammy than mathy, I guess. It is also hard to pinpoint one song that stands out. I find myself putting their stuff on shuffle and enjoying the ride.
The Sounds Of Animals Fighting: I wasn't sure where to put these folks. When I listen to the songs I like, they are in the genre in my head and are a door to my happy place. There are a few songs on all their releases, but one, that have that patterns in/on patterns thing I love so much. Both simple and complex at the same time. That push/pull that when done right is an incredible ride. The only album that hasn't much is "Lover, the Lord Has Left Us...". One song is just okay to me, and the rest are so out there my brain won't visit the location. Anyways, they were formed by Rich Balling of Rx Bandits. Other artists of note are Matt Embree (Rx Bandits), Anthony Green (Circa Survive), and Craig Owens (Chiodos).
What, favorites aren't first? And on a simple list? I guess the journey is as important as the destination. That, and you don't know me well. 😜
I do put artists/groups into Circles; it is different "levels" of liking bands. There are a ton of artists that I listen to regularly. A lot of different qualities influence where things land too. I can't say I have a favorite mood. And my brain is stimulated by many things in addition to causing different kinds/qualities of pleasure. Now you know why lists might seem quite extensive.
Check out the Circles lists for more bands and how they fit into my listening habits. Below are bands that I've found on my journey since starting these pages. I wouldn't read too much into the order. I used to tack on bands to the end of the list, but now I'm doing the front. Also, you don't know when I first started listening!
2025: Marmozets, Dark Angel, tricot, Botch, Chat Pile,
2024: Joseph Spence, Concertina, Open City, By the End of Tonight, Into It. Over It., Shai Hulud, Human Impact, Babymetal, Aburina Town, Killer Be Killed, Nailbomb, 1349, TTNG (This Town Needs Guns), David Bowie, Sleep Token, 3TEETH, Riverside (from Poland), Daniel Johnston, Three Days Grace
2023: Stuck In November, Covet, Punch Face Champions, Soulfly, Hail The Sun, Tomb Mold, HANABIE., Atic, Ataxia, Nuclear Assault, Al-Namrood, Crown Lands, Tubelord
There is just so much music on YouTube. So I have playlists on my YouTube channel, mostly for exploring. Those are all the "GP" and "AR" lists. They will come and go, basically on my whim. There is also often a playlist named "Now Playing"; is it playing now or weeks old or deleted? Maybe chaos theory will help. 😈
The Circle 1 - Tracks playlist itself won't come and go. Songs on it don't usually either. It's (or will be) stuff I listen to when YouTube is all I have and I want comfort songs. 😉
There is also a Next Stage playlist that has songs that I like in more than a "let's throw these guys in the queue" way. They will, probably, eventually, make it to one of the circles; not 5, and probably not 4 either. You never know, sometimes songs get tiring after a while.
I've gotten rid of the "Currentlly Trending" playlists. It is just too hard to manage the tracks on them. Now you will find bands/artists that are in regular rotation for whatever reason.
BTW, a little rant. I might use YouTube more, but for two reasons. The second one is the ads, OH MY GOD, they are just way too often and often too long. The main one though is that playlists are such a pain to manage. Also, large playlists on YouTube act weird. The shuffle doesn't feel like it's shuffling; the shuffle gets turned off at the oddest times. And each time I return to a playlist, it feels like it plays the same songs. I don't like overplaying songs, even ones I love. Oh, number three is the "similar videos" algorithm isn't that good either. Okay, rant-off.