Music: Suggestions, discussions, and opinions

Originally posted by batmanwest Back by popular request...it's the westa A-Z music you need to hear list.  So....let's get started. Head Automatica: Pretty poppy, slightly "emo" but still a little rockin. Pretty generic sound, that many other bands are doing, but non the less they do it well. Not always my cup of tea, but find myself listening to them when the temps. get a little warmer. Spring time kind of music if that makes ANY sense. Still though, I can't take more than a few songs of them at a time. The Hippos: Well...looks like H is the poppiest-sappy rock-emo shit of a letter on my ipods...hahha. Non the less these guys should be mentioned. Mainly for just how into them I was back in my teens, and there seem to be a decent amount of teenagers on the boards. Anyways, back on topic...while most of their lyrics are about girls, and love, and heartbreak...they still rock at what they do. They have a little bit of a ska oriented background, and I also have a soft spot for lefty guitarists. Holy Fuck*: There isn't an asterisk, just had to get around the naughty filter here...hhaha. So these dudes are pretty good. Great long drive music, or casual riding music. Heavily instrumental. Mainly electrica but with actual instruments. Hot Hot Heat: I love these dudes. Once again, pretty poppy, but so farking rockin. Great style..pretty reminiscent of Tokyo Police Club, but a little more raw. I am sure most of you have heard of these dudes... Hot Snakes: All time top 10 favorite band. Thank you fugazi for putting me on to these dudes way back in the day. Slightly political, slightly punk, slightly pop, 100% pure good ole' fashion rockin guitar melting fun. Iron & Wine: Super chill...extremely talented group. One of the best live shows I have ever been too. I'll just let the music talk for me..... Islands: So, these guys used to be the band "The unicorns" but broke up a few years back, and 1/2 of them re-grouped to form the Islands. While I like what the Unicorns did better, the Islands are nothing to sneeze at. Indie rock/pop, keyboard heavy, with heavy doses of goofiness. Hoping this works. My favorite song off the album "Vertigo (if it's a crime) is in two parts..and I feel it is very important to listen to both together. Found this one on a playlist that has them back to back...If you are really interested here is the link to the playlist so you can listen to both...if not just click the part 1 video below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR6GfifWLwk&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLBAD9BCCA2CBBE64F Here is some songs from their first album "Return to the Sea" If you can't tell...I have this obsession with this group. SORRY, NO VIDEO. BUT YOU KNOW HOW YOUTUBE AND VIMEO WORK, GO USE THEM TO LOOK UP ALL THE A-Z BANDS, BISHES!

I recommend Faded Paper Figures for either listening or making some snowboard clips.

Now that the season is over for me, I have gone back to listening to Post-Hardcore/Metal. I am really into this fairly new band that I discovered last year, Famous Last Words. They released their first album, Pick Your Poison, in January of last year. It was a pretty good album IMO. They just announced the release date for their new album, Two Face Charade, yesterday and it is set to release on 4/30. One song was leaked already and I have to say, it is really good. A lot better than their last album. I can't wait for the whole album to release. If you're into this kind of music, you should really look them up. They are not well known but they are really good.

I didn't read through all the previous posts to see if it has been mentioned, but I like bandcamp.com. There are a ton of lesser known artists on the site (anyone can upload their music), you can stream as much as you want for free, and you can buy albums directly.

You can browse artists by genre (here) based on best-selling, newest, or most recommended.

Since there are a lot of artists who are starting out, you can find many who let you name your own price for their albums, so you can support ones who deserve it based on how much you like their music and what you can afford.

A few things I've found that I like:
Red Fang
Baroness
Juice
Dan Dankmeyer
The Oh Hellos

I just watched the Punch Brothers video posted above and was surprised to see the dude from Nickel Creek. I haven't kept up with them since they split, and I hadn't heard of the Punch Brothers before. I'll have to check them out.

Here is a Nickel Creek song I've always liked.