I'm in a Music Slump

Early B.

Went through my music collection a few days ago and purged a bunch of CDs I rarely (if ever) listen to. This only left me with a handful of my favorites. Now I'd like to replace some of the CDs I got rid of. Problem is -- there ain't much out there. I've already exhausted my search for starving artists on websites such as www.cdbaby.com. Now all I can think of doing is buying more CDs from artists I already have.

You guys ever get in a music slump? How do you dig yourself out of it?

VR3

www.pandora.com

AsSiMiLaTeD

yeah, pandora is a great site for finding new music

shack

Spend some time on the FM looking for genres that you would not normally listen to. Look for college stations. If you are into classical or jazz, NPR sometimes has good stuff. Go to AMG and spend time in genres or artists you have never heard before and at least listen to the 30-60 sec. previews available. Find a used CD store and buy a bunch of stuff and resell what you don't like. Go to a good CD store (not BB or CC) and ask them what they have for demo's...you know they have stacks and stacks they listen to all day long...they'll let you listen to some. Scour the "What are you listening to threads" here on the forum. There is lots of music out there that you have never even heard of. Aren't you in the ATL area? Surely you can find something around there that's new. Find 5 - 6 CDs you think you might like and go from there.

Demiurge

Decemberists - Castaways & Cutouts
Decemberists - Her Majesty...
Decemberists - Picaresque

I reccomend in that order. Definitely different stuff, but it's been my favorite band going on 3 years now. Have no idea what your tastes are.

MrBuhl

Demiurge wrote:

Decemberists - Castaways & Cutouts
Decemberists - Her Majesty...
Decemberists - Piqaresque

I reccomend in that order. Definitely different stuff, but it's been my favorite band going on 3 years now. Have no idea what your tastes are.

I was thinking the SAME thing !! Decemberists... very cool. Great musicians.

Also - go to some shows - that always wakes up the musical taste buds, not the big stadium rockin stuff - nor the symphony... go hang out at a college bar thats hosting open mike or a local band - it's almost always a new flavor! Can't promise it will be good - but it will probably be new...

MrBuhl

Now that I think of it - if you shoot me a PM with a mailing address - I have some CD Karma for your musical slump... oddball mixed sampler cds...

danger boy

I live in a permanent music slump. It's true. there is so little music I like out there.. i keep going with the same dozen or so artists i've liked for years. I really need to be exposed to some new music.

Early B.

Yep. Danger totally summed it up.

I listen to contemporary jazz, with a terrible weakness for strong & sultry female vocals. No need to recommend the standard female vocalists (i.e., Krall, Jones, Sutton, etc.) cuz I either have them already or don't like their style. I'm kinda picky, too.

I'll definitely follow up on some of the recommendations made here and report back.

Thanks.

Early B.

BTW -- Pandora is cool !!! I'm listening to it now and following up on some leads.

Thanks, fellas.

Shizelbs

The best solutions for my music slumps are always totally new ways of listening to music. The best cures for my music slumps have been adding my first subwoofer, my first pair of polks, my first pair of good headphones, surround sound, and with the SDAs. Each time each of those was introduced I found myself rediscovering all my old music like it were new again. The thing each of them have in common was that they were substantially different that what I would be listening to prior to that.

I realize thats probably not the answer you were looking for, but its what I thought of.

TroyD

IMO, xm is a GREAT resource to listen to new music.

Dave (DAGLJAM6) has turned me on to a TON of new stuff as have other folks on the fourm.

Don't be afraid of different types of music be it classical, jazz etc etc......there is more good music out there then you will have time to listen.

BDT

reeltrouble1

+3 for XM. Have you tried Yourmusic.com? Very easy, requires little effort and 5.99 a disc delivered to your door. No ups no extras.

RT1

Early B.

I should elaborate on what I said about being picky. I typically won't buy a CD unless I like two-thirds of the songs. Perhaps that partly explains why I'm in a music slump. I usually go to amazon.com and listen to every song on the CD before I buy it. Most people probably don't shop for music like that.

shack

I should elaborate on what I said about being picky. I typically won't buy a CD unless I like two-thirds of the songs.

Picky is putting it mildly

I will often buy a CD if l like only ONE song. In many cases I end up liking the rest of the CD better. While the 30 seconds on Amazon and AMG give you a "taste" of the rest of the CD it's hard to know for sure if it is really good.

Get your buy on and start living a little uninhibited when it comes to your music…..

lanion

Ive been really liking the itunes staff picks lately. It only updates about once a week which is nice because you can actually listen to everything. I've discovered at least 1 artist a week that I like a lot, since they recommend lesser known artists frequently.

Early B.

Just ordered 5 new CDs. Should arrive next week.

madmax

Early B. wrote:

Problem is -- there ain't much out there.

Time to become a rapper or a country boy...

madmax

cfrizz

I'm the same way Early! I will listen to every track on a cd, if there is no variety to the music, & each song sounds the same I skip it.

I made the mistake of picking up Bare Naked Ladies live album, with the exception of If I Had A Million Dollars & one other song, they all sounded the same! I've listened to each song from then on.

Early B. wrote:

I should elaborate on what I said about being picky. I typically won't buy a CD unless I like two-thirds of the songs. Perhaps that partly explains why I'm in a music slump. I usually go to amazon.com and listen to every song on the CD before I buy it. Most people probably don't shop for music like that.

steveinaz

One thing I've noticed about a trend in music versus, say the 1970's; Modern artists are putting together much better ENTIRE albums, where alot of 70's artists had 1 good song and everything else was aweful "filler" music.

Early B.

steveinaz wrote:

One thing I've noticed about a trend in music versus, say the 1970's; Modern artists are putting together much better ENTIRE albums, where alot of 70's artists had 1 good song and everything else was aweful "filler" music.

I have the opposite opinion. The difference in the music of the 70's is that most of the artists were legitimately talented, so their albums were generally decent. But today since talent is a rarity, artists have no choice but to fill their CDs up with junk.

A great artist usually produces consistently good CDs for many years. Those are the ones I want in my collection.

VR3

Check out Jennifer Daniels

Demiurge

Early B. wrote:

I have the opposite opinion. The difference in the music of the 70's is that most of the artists were legitimately talented, so their albums were generally decent. But today since talent is a rarity, artists have no choice but to fill their CDs up with junk.

A great artist usually produces consistently good CDs for many years. Those are the ones I want in my collection.

Talent isn't a rarity at all. It's simply what the order of the day is. If all you do is pay attention to Rolling Stone, Spin, VH1, MTV (for example), or any of the other 'Hot' music information available....you're not going to find much substance.

It's my opinion that there is a great deal of talent out there, but so much of it is hidden by the avenues these artists choose to take. I find the bands/musicians that don't take themselves too seriously and aren't on a quest to land 'The Deal' are the artists with the most talent when you compare the two. More importantly...they're the most genuine. The music has more soul, and thusly the emotional reactions are greater. Be it happy, or sad...and everything in between. Believe me, I know there's a ton of crap out there, there's no denying it. I do think the talent pool is as rich, if not richer, than it has ever been.

I was raised on music from all eras and I still love it all. Live through all of it as a kid and i'm still living through it now as an adult. I do have a diverse taste in music and I can thank people in my family for that.

There are bands out there that have been around for many years, and of which each album is great, in my opinion, and they have never gotten an ounce of mainstream FM radio play. It has absolutely nothing to do with the talent level of their art, but moreso what is behind them to get them heard. For many of these artists the only vein of exposure was to hit the bars and clubs in your region and play. With the advent of the internet, the connection to the rest of the world to artists like this has never been greater.

My CD collection, which was large prior to my discoveries, is now completely overwhelmed with independent musicians of all types. I've never heard music more moving than from artists like this.

I don't know...I'd rather be out with a handful of friends, a tall Jack & Coke, at the local haunt soaking up some good music than sitting in a gigantic arena craining my neck just to see.

Like i've said before on the forums...it's hard to point people in a certain direction without knowing them and their tastes....even harder when you don't know how 'open' they are to new music. It also takes some personal initiative to not be afraid to seek this stuff out, rather than the convetional method of just having someone put the spoon in your mouth. It's much more exciting this way, and it gives you something new to talk about. I do like talking about and introducing friends to bands and artists they have never heard of before.

my .02.

cfrizz

You beat me to it Early! I was going to say the same exact thing! And even the ones that might have talent, nobody pushes them to develop it & improve it. Nobody demands that they meet higher expectations!

Early B. wrote:

I have the opposite opinion. The difference in the music of the 70's is that most of the artists were legitimately talented, so their albums were generally decent. But today since talent is a rarity, artists have no choice but to fill their CDs up with junk.

A great artist usually produces consistently good CDs for many years. Those are the ones I want in my collection.

Early B.

When you've grown up on great music from great musicians, it's hard to "settle" for many of the newer artists who can't even begin to sound as good as the artists in the past such as Nancy Wilson or Sarah Vaughan, Phyllis Hyman or Etta James. Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson and others who have come on the scene lately simply aren't in the same league, IMO. In fact, since most of them don't have any real style of their own, they copy the styles of others. They sing music that has no soul.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Sure, if every time I sit down to listen to Diana Krall I think to myself 'man she's not as good as Ella' - then it's going to have a negative impact on my listening experience.

But I can also just sit down and listen to her for what she is, and be pleased. Just because Diana doesn't sound unique or as good as Ella (that subjective btw) doesn't mean she's not an excellent musician and fun to listen to. Most likely she's actually a more talented musician than any of those others you listed - based solely on her paino playing ability.

As a whole, I woudn't say musicians today are less talented than musicians in the past. 'Having sould' as you call it, is a more subjective argument and you probably have a good case there. But musicians today are some of the most talented we've ever seen.

Am I talking about people on the radio? For the most part, no - but there are vast amounts on unpopularized music out there for your listening pleasure, you just have to look for it.

I'd say Demi pretty much hit the nail on the head - 90% of the music I listen to will never see any radio time...

cmy330go

Demiurge wrote:

Decemberists - Castaways & Cutouts
Decemberists - Her Majesty...
Decemberists - Picaresque

I reccomend in that order. Definitely different stuff, but it's been my favorite band going on 3 years now. Have no idea what your tastes are.

MrBuhl wrote:

I was thinking the SAME thing !! Decemberists... very cool. Great musicians.

Sorry but I'm going to have to 3rd this motion. These guys are great. The lead man Colin Meloy has a degree in creative writing which makes for some really original lyrics. I would also recommend seeing them live if you have the opportunity. I got to see them last month and they were EVERY BIT as good in person.

Good luck with the new tunes!

Demiurge

Wow..I'm surprised to see even ONE post, much less TWO of someone who knows what the hell band I'm talking about AND has seen them live. AWESOME! If you have seen them on the last little jaunt they did...can you say TIGHT musicianship? I've seen some legends in the industry and nothing compares.

BTW, some years back my cousins band opened up for them and Colin gave me a CD of his first band, Tarkio. I uploaded a track from it, and this is WAY before the Decemberists. I've never seen these songs ANYWHERE, so I'm guess I have a rarity, well...at least until next year, from what I've heard.

Tarkio - Keeping Me Awake

cmy330go

Demiurge wrote:

Tarkio - Keeping Me Awake

That is really cool. That must be the alternative country group that the allmusic.com biography speaks of.

Thanks Much.

deceiver

Try www.pandora.com. You type in an artist or music that you like and it feeds you that along with similar music. It's really pretty cool. It's part of the Music Genome project. They're trying to catalog similar music by using certain set criteria. i.e. Type in Nora Jones and get to hear her along with lots of others (known and unknown) that have similar musical styles. Leo Kottke yields lots of similar style finger picking guitar music, etc.

shack

deceiver wrote:

Try www.pandora.com. You type in an artist or music that you like and it feeds you that along with similar music. It's really pretty cool. It's part of the Music Genome project. They're trying to catalog similar music by using certain set criteria. i.e. Type in Nora Jones and get to hear her along with lots of others (known and unknown) that have similar musical styles. Leo Kottke yields lots of similar style finger picking guitar music, etc.

Sometimes it is a good thing to actually read the threads you post in.....

POST #2

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote:

www.pandora.com

POST #3

Polkmaniac wrote:

yeah, pandora is a great site for finding new music

POST #10

Early B. wrote:

BTW -- Pandora is cool !!! I'm listening to it now and following up on some leads.

Thanks, fellas.