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 the Circles are what one my call 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. I do have to admit that lately, more niche bands are not listed. 🤨
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. They also have a lot more "under the radar" and newer bands. These smaller artists often do less CD pressings, so they sell out quickly. I still buy the digital downloads, but I miss adding lots of CDs to my collection. Even better though, their suggestions at the bottom of an album seem to get my eclectic tastes more and more.
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.
Been quite a while since I changed this list. But that doesn't mean I haven't been listening to new music. Anyway, the standard header and then the bands...
Below are some bands that I'm into at the moment. Some are new favorites. Others are 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.
Soulfly: They just released a new album. Still digesting it. No standout tracks on the first few listens, but nicely hard-hitting.
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.
The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra: A friend sent me this band. Self-described as "an Art-Rock/Jazz-Fusion band that started back in 2009 to make music that challenges us — complex, spontaneous", which fits. Favorite track so far is "Fish of a Feather".
OLTH:
Wet Leg: These folks won an Emmy. Or was it a Grammy?
Hum: I used to listen to these guys a lot more in college and just out of college. They released the Inlet album in 2020, about 12 years after their last album. Pretty good though, I'm digging it.
Antone’s 50th Allstars:
Black Sky Giant: My sister gave me an album from Bandcamp.com. Really cool heavy psychedelic/jam rock.
Vivra Vera: A local Boston band to watch out for. If they refine/smooth out their sound, I think they could "go somewhere".
sleepmakeswaves: {commentary to come}
Shellac: {commentary to come}
After The Burial: {commentary to come}
Eastern Pine: {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.
Jolly: {commentary to come}
GEL: {commentary to come}
Have Heart: {commentary to come}
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.
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 it's time to work through their catalog!
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.
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.
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. I just have to keep the shout-out to them. 😁
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. As I became more familiar with them, it became easier to sustain getting lost in the patterns, riding the more surface qualities, and appreciating the complexity.
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, The Sounds Of Animals Fighting, American Draft, Rocket, Acid Bath, Zozobra, Anciients, BALTHVS, Gospel, Ningen Isu, Fin Del Mundo, Otoboke Beaver, The Jesus Lizard, Elder, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra,
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.
There are a few artists that I can't decide what circle they are in. I'm not so actively listening to them, so don't want to forget. Eventually they'll settle in my mind enough, but not quite yet.
Zozobra, Anciients, Gospel, Ningen Isu, Otoboke Beaver, Earth Lift,