We’ve done these threads before, they’re always really interesting, and they tend to shift and change a bit.
I’m curious if there are any new voices you’ve found or things like QoBuz editorial has come up a bit
Be great to also maybe hear about the acts you’ve discovered lately and where you found them
NEW ACTS
I tend to keep an eye on my favourite labels (4AD, Hyperdub, Sacred Bones, etc) and listen to their new signings. I’ll also go through music conference line ups and listen to 300 or so acts, find 10 I wanna see and then stumble around for 3 days seeing things people I trust or new friends recommend. I’ll also look at bigger festival line ups and check out new names I’m not that familiar with. And then things I bump into doomscrolling.
NEW RELEASES
The thread on here every week is fantastic and the monthly lists are great. I’ll also dip into different media titles and browse the recommended racks in stores or on streaming services. Also a big fan of reviews aggregators like Any Decent Music and Album of the Year.
I’m probably forgetting some other methods but those are the most fruitful ones
These are some of the bits that came up in Derrick Gee’s video from things his community mentioned
Spotify - Discover Weekly / Release Radar
Friends
Research based on music you already like
Similar artists on Spotify and last fm
Wikipedia for side projects and influences
Articles in the media
Follow artists and labels online (I’ve done this but rarely see stuff)
Discogs credits to check out other projects
Rateyourmusic genre tags
Finding someone you like the taste of and checking their soundcloud likes or playlists
you play one track you like and it gives you a playlist of 50 more based on what other people who are listening to that track are listening to. It’s tremnedous
It just happens, idk. I’ll occasionally check Boomkat’s new releases which probably gives me the highest percentage of stuff i’ve never heard of. New releases thread on here can be good but there can be a lot of chaff to wade through
Here
Spotify (new releases, my massive monthly playlists, playlists from various labels/publications)
Radio shows
Labels
Instagram
Various blogs (gfp, rosy overdrive, swim into the sound for emo stuff)
Websites like paste, stereogum ect…
Friends
Shops like resident
Gigs/festivals
Following bands on social media (who are they touring with/hanging out with and who are they recommending)
Following labels on social media (who have they signed/what are they promoting)
The articles on bandcamp are always full of great discoveries
On the browser version of bandcamp there is a section down the bottom left of the page where bands can recommend releases by other artists. Not enough artists do this, but when they do it’s always a good source.
I also play a little game with the ticker on the browser version of bandcamp. Pick an album at random as it flies past and try and guess the genre of music. I have made a ton of discoveries this way, as it forces you to step out of your comfort zone.
Add everything with competent cover art that’s not obviously rap, metal or EDM (hit rate is too low on those) to my YouTube Music queue. This is generally ~70 albums every Friday.
Add everything from the DiS new release thread to the queue that isn’t already on there.
Listen to the queue. The useless stuff is generally apparent and skippable very quickly so it’s important not to lose focus and end up wasting 20 minutes on an inoffensive but nothing album.
Jot the good stuff down in notes.
Go back during the weekend and look at the aoty pages again cause not everything shows up on Friday. Add more.
I’ll generally keep the full queue intact through Wednesday and just scroll around it a bunch. It’s a big unwieldy mess but I feel like being able to pick out the arts in the crowd kinda helps me commit stuff to memory better.
On Thursday go to the upcoming releases section, start a new queue with singles of Friday releases to pregame a bit.
I search whichever genre I feel like delving into on Bandcamp and wishlist anything that intrigues me either aesthetically or name-wise. My hit/miss ratio is surprisingly good, have stumbled across loads of great music this way.
RYM user lists, RYM charts, New music Friday threads, other DiS threads, occasional streaming radios and genre playlists, online publications I follow, etc.
