Help me find new music! ....Please....

[haydendavenport]

Hello everyone...

I am fairly desperate for some new music.

But not just any kind of music...

I am looking for innovative songwriting. Oozing with creativity and originality.

Kind of like..... Owen Pallett's music.

Here are some bands/artists/composers that I really really enjoy:
- Owen Pallett
- Les Mouches
- Anathallo (Especially Floating World)
- Sufjan Stevens
- Sigur Ros
- Wilco (Sky Blue Sky and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot mainly)

Here are some bands/artists/composers that I medium enjoy... Or at least that I enjoy less than the above bands, but still do listen to:
- Arcade Fire
- Andrew Bird
- Lost in the Trees
- Frank Zappa (Apostrophe)
- Modest Mouse
- Red Hot Chili Peppers (Californication, By The Way, and Stadium Arcadium mainly)
- Joanna Newsom
- Nico Muhly
- Sam Amidon
- St. Vincent

Here are some bands/artists/composers that I have given a try and don't care for much:
- Patrick Wolf
- Stars
- Fleet Foxes
- Grizzly Bear
- Bon Iver
- Caribou
- Stuff with typical chord progressions and/or repetitive melodies

I am in desperate need of a new artist. I have listened to Owen's music regularly and more frequently than any other artist before. I'm afraid I need to stop for a while, or it's going to lose its magic.

When I listen to music, even songwriting, I do it fairly critically. And nothing hits home more strongly for me than an extremely well crafted melody. (A talent I feel Owen is unparalleled in. At least in songwriting.)
I also like intricate rhythms, surprising changes, and incredibly well chosen chords.

Could anyone help me out by introducing me to a new band? I don't even care if you are a member of it. Shamelessly promote, if you feel that I might enjoy your music based on this information.

To anyone who takes the time to read this... Thank you very much!

[sarpedon]

Wellll it seems we'd have very similar "really really enjoy" lists, so here's a few bands I really like, with a short description for each:

-Grimes (get Visions for starters); a totally new take on pop music, with a lot of analog synth and ethereal highly ranged vocals.
-The Go! Team; rock+shoegaze+double dutching/rapping+60s tv music
-Beach Boys (like Pet Sounds and Smile); I feel like this is a somewhat cliche choice, but both of these albums have everything you're asking for, and then some.
-Royksopp; They are a genuinely different-yet-palatable electronica
-Also, I know everyone has heard them, but Radiohead also quite fits this bill as well, and they've been my all-time favorite for some time.

---These are my first few choices, but if you want more later, let me know!

[haydendavenport]

Thank you for the response!

I did fail to mention Radiohead.. Basically because I wasn't sure what category to put them in. I love some of their music... Tracks like Paranoid Android, All I Need, and Everything in its Right Place. But other songs/albums... I wind up not being able to appreciate.

I have heard some Royskopp before. And The Beach Boys of course. I haven't even heard of the others before though.

I listened to a few tracks of each of them so far. I won't go in depth about how I feel yet, because I do want to make sure I give them all a fair chance. (I will be listening again tomorrow.)

My initial impression, though, is that I might be looking for something a bit more organic, if that makes sense. But again, I need to go a bit more in depth with these artists before I set anything in stone.

I really appreciate the help. Thank you!

[sarpedon]

Off the top of my head, an organic band I love which may fit in well would be The Hidden Cameras (I always liked Mississauga Goddam the best), but let me know how the others pan out!

[lerocketrolla]

Radiohead I really only like the song Just... don't know why, they seem to be the exact right kind of band for me, but for whatever reason I can't get into their music.

I'm gonna go with the obvious one: Muse. I mean, it's basically the only band me and my brother agree on, which is a miracle.

Does it have to be rock/pop/indie? Because if you like cool chord progressions, you could do worse than Tom Jobim, which while not new, is a classic.

A Beatles album like Sgt. Pepper's is also cool, and I have "full album cover of Sgt. Pepper's" on my bucket list.

Emilie Autumn isn't all that progressive in chords or rhythms, but the arrangements are incredible, and though I don't identify one bit with her lyrics, they're really powerful stuff.

If it doesn't have to be exactly new, the classics of prog should be right up your alley: King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Rush, Dream Theater, and so on. If you don't mind jazzing it up a bit, another oldie that's goldie is Steely Dan.

I'm not gonna go into the new indie songwriters because I haven't had time to explore them that well yet, and I'm sure that there's a lot of people here who can give you much more complete recommendations.

[Owen from Final Fantasy]

It's clear to me and everyone else that you're a Krautrock fiend waiting to happen.

Get all these right now, start with Cluster and Neu!

Amon Duul II "Yeti"
Can "Tago Mago" (first four songs only)
Can "Soundtracks"
Cluster "Zuckerzeit"
Cluster "Sowiesoso"
Faust "So Far"
Harmonia "Deluxe"
Neu! "Neu!"
Neu! "'75"
Popol Vuh "In den Garten Pharoas"
Popol Vuh "Hosianna Mantra"
You "Electric Day"

[sarpedon]

I've been eyeing Krautrock like the hot-and-standoffish mystery girl at the party for some time now, but didn't know where to begin; thank you.

[Alpentine]

world's end girlfriend
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cnQw9k1_HE

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eZ_TgE3x_A

Sleep Party People
NSFW www.youtube.com/watch?v=JazOLeHqp-Y

Sunset Rubdown
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgx-29ilLnQ

Cursive
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq6UAORYp9k

[vestenet]

Coming in to second the Krautrock and World's End Girlfriend.

This might be a little left-field, but check out Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBA3oxMh5ZQ

[sorrowbynature]

Maybe you'll like this bunch of associated bands/albums:

Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements
Xiu Xiu - La Forêt
The Dead Science - Villainaire
Jherek Bischoff - Composed

And completely unrelated, but amazing stuff:

of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

/t

[haydendavenport]

Thank you everyone for you responses! I have been diligently listening to your suggestions, and searching for other artists, I'll keep you guys posted about which music I enjoy!

I did find an artist called Veda Hille that I was interested in, but I couldn't find much of her music. Anyone know much about her?

[schemeengenius]

In regards to CAN,
all of Tago Mago and Future Days

[ragamuffin]

Virginia Astley - From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
Scott Walker - 4
Nico - Desertshore
Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.
Cocteau Twins - Treasure

Not sure what you are receptable towards, but if you're in want of some really original music a bit more far-fetched, I can recommend you some. I don't really agree about a lot of those artists you listed being very original/creative.

[haydendavenport]

Ok, I have spent quite some time over the past week or two listening to suggestions.

As far as Krautrock goes... Based on the suggestions I was given, it seems like I am not interested in it. I didn't even realize that Owen made that post until today, but I'm glad... It kept me from being biased. I haven't given up on your suggestions yet though. They just haven't intrigued me much thus far, especially since I am currently looking for songs rather than pieces at the moment.

The suggestions that I have been most interested in are the ones that Alpentine suggested. I listened to both of Sleep Party People's albums, and I quite enjoyed them, which surprised me. My only complaint is that they repeat things a bit too much for my tastes. I am also getting into some cursive. They have impressed me so far, so I will continue to listen to them as well. I will need to go more in depth with your other suggestions though. Thanks, Alpentine!

As far as the other suggestions go, I either haven't gone very far into the suggestions, or I wasn't interested at all in what I heard.

To address what I am receptive towards... I would say that I am receptive towards:
-Brass, and strings.
-Timbre, especially pleasing timbre.
-Song structure. Specifically song structures that are unpredictable, and effective. Ones that give a song an excellent shape.
-Knowledge of the craft of composition (Modulation, modality, chromaticism, atypical chords, color-changes, knowledge of time signatures, extended techniques, textures, etc. Waaaayyyy too much to list here.)
-Artists that know how many times is too many, and how many times is too few.
-Development. It's always awesome to hear a song that goes somewhere.
-Dynamics. Similar to development.
-Concepts. Adding a concept simply adds more depth to an album, making it more valuable as something to appreciate.
-Melody. I have never heard melodies like the one that Owen crafts. I am fascinated by them. They are always extremely unified, always pleasing, and always perfectly unpredictable. Awesome.
-Adding things in with repeats. When an artist/band is going to go back to a verse/chrous/whatever, it is always more delightful to me when I have something new and intriguing to listen to!
-Harmonic interest. I prefer to hear novel progressions and chord choices. Especially progressions that don't always change on the downbeat of one, or at least the bass line doesn't... It's okay at times though, so long as the composer/artist/band is/re aware of what he/she/they is/are doing.
-Motives! Development of motives and themes are always something delightful to follow along to.
-Lyrics. To me, lyrics are an "icing on the cake" type of deal. They certainly can't make the song, but if they are good/not superficially about love, then they add something extra to the song!
-Things I don't understand yet that sound awesome!

So really all of composition interests me. But it is very very rare for someone to come along and pay attention to all of these things. But it does happen. Owen Pallett and Anathallo address these things all of the time, and I can't help but to have fallen in love with the music they create. I may come off as pretentious, but I hope that I don't. I am sure some people listen to songs for the simplicity of them, but it's something that I cannot do. I can always listen to composers if all else fails, but it is nice to hear consistent singers like the vocals of someone like Owen, that you almost never hear from composers. (At least none that I have heard of.)

And again, thank you everyone for your responses. I am making sure to give all of your suggestions a fair listen. It is the least I can do since you all took the time to respond to my initial post.

[haydendavenport]

Oh, and I will check out those more far-fetched original bands if you wouldn't mind, Ragamuffin.