Music
Introduction
There is almost never 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.
The exploration of music, to me, is part of the experience. Two sites that I love for this exploration are:
Music-Map (https://www.music-map.com/) - Put in a band/artist, and get a "scatter-gram" of related bands. Though you don't listen to music on Music-Map, I've liked Pandora less and less. My go-to place when looking for new music.
Bandcamp (https://bandcamp.com/) - For those who want to control their musical exploration, go to Bandcamp. The rest can look at charts and fight for dominance. Bandcamp has smaller bands and bigger names. I always try Bandcamp.com first when looking to listen to or buy music. BTW, to read more about directly supporting the artists you love, check out my blog post about Bandcamp.com.
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.
Recent Hits
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. Some babbling from my mind for added context.
Meshuggah: The first reason they are on my list is a friend mentioned them (too long ago). I'll admit the other reason they made the list is that they are known for "their innovative musical style and their complex, poly metered song structures and polyrhythms.". I do like what I hear. Sometimes I'm like, "this sounds familiar, but something is different". I check it out, and it's them, and I'm glad. :-)
{More to come as I load/listen to the current additions to my playlists.]
Currently Trending
In Rio's life that is. :-P This is stuff that is on my playlists right now. Basically, just getting to know them or they've recently resurfaced. The more recent are on top.
{I'm in the process of getting those bands that are "0" on the list. I.e. more to come soon.}
Tomb Mold: Various things I've read online make reference to Tomb Mold. They also seem to get flak because they don't dress like the typical Death Metal artists. The last bit is hilarious; kinda like how many punks does it take to change a light bulb? They have demos from various years on bandcamp.com under their name and albums under Blood Harvest Records. The first album is hard to find on CD; the cheapest I found is $65!!!. I got their latest on CD; sadly, from Amazon. More to come!
3TEETH: I don't know where I got the note that they are "Tool-approved industrial metal". But all three words combined sound good to me. As I often do, I got their first release and their latest release. It's a shame that the latest release isn't on bandcamp.com. :-(
Hella: They just released a "new" album on bandcamp.com, so they popped back on my radar. The album is a reissue with some demo tracks; one could say a money grab, or one could say something good for collectors. ;-) Anyway, I decided to put them back on regular rotation for a while. They are a math rock band that I came across way back because of, well, Red Hot Chilli Peppers -> Dot Hacker -> Hella. The details are Spencer Seim was in Dot Hacker with Josh Klinghoffer, who was in Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Riverside: From Poland, "runs the gamut of intensity, too, from serene self-reflections to explosive bursts of anger and heartache, and every member fills their role perfectly" - 10 Progressive Metal Bands You Need To Get Into
Riverside (NYC): I found this band on bandcamp.com when looking for the Riverside above. They are not prog-metal from Poland! They remind me of the punk I listened to in the 90's, and are decent. The album is from 2010, and the page says they're from NYC. Tom Werring seems to be the main person; he recorded everything on their demo. I haven't been able to find anything else about them online.
Discharge: An old punk band that many metal bands say influenced them. I actually didn't have anything on CD or digital, so bought Grave New World and Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. They aren't making to the hits list, but I don't want to remove them from trending yet.
Crown Lands: I've heard good things about them. So far, they aren't gripping me. But some bands take time.
Ataxia: There are two bands that I know of that go by this name. The one that is linked, that I'm listening to now, is a "supergroup" comprised of guitarist John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), bassist Joe Lally (Fugazi), and drummer Josh Klinghoffer (Dot Hacker, The Bicycle Thief). When artists have these kinda collaborations, especially, to me, these guys, they have the potential to make some really interesting music.
Next On The List
I used to keep a separate list. But now all the stuff I've heard about that I want to check out is on this spreadsheet.
So Last Year
Okay, definitely just a joke. Here are some bands that are on the current playlists, but not brand new (to me). It's more that I don't want them falling off the "notice me" list. I might babble a bit about them too.
Soufly: Max Cavalera left Sepultura and formed Soulfly, but at the time I wasn't paying attention. I thank a colleague for bringing them to my attention. Slowly working my way through all their albums.
Volta Do Mar: I've had in my head a genre that I can't describe besides me. I'm not trying to be ego-centric, just that there is a larger pattern to those patterns that speak to me on a fundamental level. Anyway, here is a band in that genre.
Punch Face Champions: A bit heavier, but they fit in that genre that I can't describe, but know it when I hear it.
covet: A good friend suggested them and they fit into that same unknown genre.
Old Stand-bys
What, favorites aren't first? I guess that means the journey is as important as the destination. And ranks only work for what to listen to next, not how much I like a band. And there are a ton of others that I listen to as well.
{More blabbing to be added as I have time.}