I love my music, and I like to think that my music loves me a little too. I remember as a child finding a cassette tape and recording my favorite song off the radio (piracy started young in my family) to be played back over and over and over again… I’ve gone through a whole lotta genres, from Oldies, Country, 80s, Hard Rock, Chill Rock, New Age, Classical, Religious, bla bla bla bla bla.
Now however, I don’t know if I can pin myself to a particular genre – perhaps I’ve reached a state of musical Nirvana (er, wait…). The following are the playlists that I have syncing to my beloved 30GB first-gen white refurbished zune and reflect the different musical moods I find myself in:
- Bato’ Bugoy – This is Ilonggo for “Rock Punk”, but Bato’ literally means rock (stone?) and Bugoy is kind of a troublesome (usually young) person — so it makes sense to me but wouldn’t to a real honest to goodness Ilonggo. This playlist is just a broad swath of Rock and Punk music -> 1661 Songs, 6510 Minutes
- Chillax – This is what I listen to when I am looking for a soothin’ and I don’t want my music in my face, trying to get my attention. This is working music -> 1590 Songs, 6382 Minutes
- Courage Waves – This is music that I listen to whilst snowboarding. All Rock/Hard Rock here -> 199 Songs, 757 Minutes
- Groovin’ – This is the small amount of Electronica or Dance Music (Euro-Pop) I have, like Ratatat, Daft Punk, Erasure -> 88 Songs, 349 Minutes
- Our Savior’s Love – This is my uplifting music playlist, full of awesomeness that raises me up when I am down -> 749 Songs, 2818 Minutes
Even with my beloved playlists on my beloved zune, I have been feeling discontent lately. I recently signed up for a Zune Pass and absolutely love it. Trying to find new music through the Zune Pass however has been a chore. It does have some features to recommend music to me, but the music it thinks I want is Top 40 junk that drove me away (crying) from the FM dial to Zunie McZunester in the first place.
So, I have found a new love: Indie. I had a brief 2 month stand with Indie before I was a missionary (post high-school) but on my mission my music choices were limited and I lost what Indie I had (back when Death Cab and Modest Mouse were unsigned).
Doing some internet searches has turned up some pretty sweet resources for discovering music: Podcasts. I used to think that Podcasts were limited to news and uninteresting niche blogs, but hey! They can be used for cool stuff too! I found the following RSS feeds (which, if you plug into iTunes or Zune Software, equals Podcast) for discovering new music, and so far I love what I’m finding:
- Hellthy Entertainment – Audio/Video Podcast – This feed consists of individual tracks and seems to offer a lot of different styles
- Indie Jack – Audio Podcast – This seems to be some guy making hour long playlists of Indie he likes, and from what I’ve heard, he has good taste
- Insomnia Radio – Daily Dose – This is a single-song daily podcast that has my favorite tracks on it so far
- Insomnia Radio – Standalone Feed – This feed isn’t updated as often as the Daily Dose feed, but it contains hour-long playlists
- Beat City Radio – This seems to be only hour-long playlists, and isn’t updated often, but I like what I hear. They’re based out of Pocatello, ID
The podcasts above represents a lot of opportunities to explore some great music! Another source I’ve found good for discovering new music of any genre is Paste Magazine. Each month you get a magazine with a CD of 15-20 tracks. If you keep your eyes out you can get a year sub for $10-20. If you’re really lucky (like I was) you can get one for $1, but I don’t know if Paste will ever run that promo again.
If you know of any other sources for good, fresh music, please let me know. I’m always looking. To close this up, I’ll post some of my favorite indie (or lesser-known) songs/artists.
Paloalto – Throwing Stones (not really Indie, but a lesser-known band)
Mates of State – My Only Offer
Faded Paper Figures – North By North
Disclaimer: This music was made freely available on various blogs. If you are involved with any of the respective bands I have posted and you take issue with this, please contact me at bradford [at] law-family.org
I love that you are such a sleuth and can find cool things like good Indie podcasts. Something I can benefit from without having to do the dirty work
Thanks for sharing!