Music I discovered today: an occasional series
During this period of increased output I am trying to write about a 'new' band every week. If you know anything about music blogs you will know that there is often a rivalry to try and write about the latest 'buzzband' first. I find that annoying; discovering music that's new to you shouldn't be a race or a contest. In fact it doesn't even have to be new, though the shame of titling a post 'new band of the day' and finding they were in some people's top 10 of 2011 would have some bloggers dying with embarrassment
I find new bands all sorts of ways. Obviously I pay attention to other blogs, people I know on twitter recommend new music to me and when I go out to a gig I try to make it time to watch the support bands. If I get emails from bands with links to soundcloud or bandcamp I will listen, and I regularly search spotify for 'what's new'.
I think it's significant that I rarely use the two methods I used when I was growing up – printed media and the radio – as time's tide has turned against them.
I'll tell you one thing that I like doing which proves very useful, is looking at what other's listen to on last fm. I've 27 friends on it, not many, and there are only a handful I actually know, but we are friends because we have initially similar tastes. I looked at it this morning and the last 7 people who had listened to something had played something I'd never heard of! So for the first 'new music' post I decided not to list an up-and-coming act – many other music sites have already done this for 2012, and many of my choices would be duplicated. Instead I am posting something by an act I have just discovered today by looking through my last.fm friends list, listening to music I didn't know and choosing the one I liked best. Which is....
Idiot Glee. This came out in April 2011, but I only discovered it this morning. It seems to be the solo project of a Kentucky based guy called James Friley, and it has lo-fi echoes of the Beach Boys and Eno's Another Green World, as well as a ghostly, hymnal quality. Fans of Animal Collective and Perfume Genius should go for this, I reckon, but then I have only heard of him today.
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