Prompted by this.
The last twelve months have seen me introduced to several new bands. So many, in fact, that I struggle to remember who sang what and which track I liked more than the other one. If I average out the number of bands I think it works out at around.. oh hang on, let’s do this properly.
Firstly a short explanatory disclaimer, or a history of my ‘new music discovery process’. In years gone by I relied heavily on commercial radio to bring me new artists. Be it the chart (when it was still good), John Peel (not as often as most though), or rare purchases of NME or Q magazine, it was a fairly shallow pool from which I pulled my music purchases. In the last four years or so, with the growth of MP3, downloadable music and the like, the influence of several musically focussed work colleagues – all of whom have a broader take on music than I – and I am experiencing an explosive growth in my scope of music which has all but overwhelmed me.
It’s brought quite a change to my musical tastes (some would say I now HAVE some taste) and whilst some of the bands I’m about to list will already be well known to you, they are all new to me.
Bands I have ‘discovered’ in the past twelve months: Interpol, The FutureHeads, The Killers, Erlend Øye, Lambchop, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Goldfrapp, Abraham, The Fiery Furnaces, Mylo, Liz Phair, Franz Ferdinand, The Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Radio 4, The Postal Service, Scissor Sisters, Gotan Project, Leftfield, Alias, Ed Harcourt, British Sea Power, Kanye West, The Go! Team, ChungKing, Amp Fiddler + the DJ Kicks and Back to Mine compilations.
Albums that I’ve enjoyed in addition to the all of the above: A Grand Don’t Come for Free, Medulla, Aha Shake Heartbreak, Uh Huh Her, Smile, Musicology.
Why am I listing all this? Well I’m just trying to capture my thoughts about the past twelve months and the huge growth in new music that I’ve experienced (new to me at any rate). The last time this happened was when I joined Hospital Radio Lennox and gained access to the record library there. That helped educate me in past music, exposing all manner of iconic musical figures and many more lesser known artists (and has since stood me in good stead in musical pub quizzes). I currently feel that I’m undergoing a new musical education, my horizons are stretching and rediscovering my love for music. I’m loving every minute of it. Now, where did I put that keyboard?
I already have some music pegged for this year: Bloc Party, LCD Soundsystem, new Chemical Brothers, and I’m still waiting for that Joanna Newsom CD to arrive. As ever, further listening suggestions are welcomed – you can take your cue from the artists listed above if you want some guidelines (or ignore them completely if you don’t). Have at it!
