I’m increasingly puzzled by how and where people are finding new (to them) music and great releases from the infinite jukebox that is the internet.
I know we have a constant wall of recommendations and competing voices that we trust or pay attention to, and that a lot of us use about 30 different ways of picking up on music to listen to.
So, how do you find things?
Or if it’s easier to answer… who was the last great act you discovered, and how/where did you find them?
I subscribe to several record shop mailouts:
Norman
Resident
Monorail
Boomkat
I get a lot of recommendations from there and then go on Spotify/Bandcamp etc to hear the things I like the description of. It really helps when shops review records themselves rather than cutting and pasting the press release.
I also find new bands via festival lineups - I always check out unfamiliar names playing a festival Im going to.
The weekly new releases thread on here is another good source of recommendations.
Sometimes I’ll see friends posting on SM or talking about a new band and I’ll check them out on the basis of that.
Occasionally I’ll find new bands because they are the support act for a band I’m going to see.
Lots of ways then, but special thanks to Norman Records above all.
Yeah, and that’s the real magic, and I’m often the same (got into Tomberlin before Xmas because of so many year-end list mentions).
It’s something that is incredibly challenging to pull off as a label or self-releasing artist, to line up enough little mentions in various places, that things naturally feel like they’re surfacing all over the place.
I find that with acts they support or are supported by, but it’s interesting how few acts seem to talk about other acts they like - then again, I’ve seen Katy Perry bigging up School of Seven Bells and The 1975 recommending their fans check out James Yorkston, so maybe it does happen at that level a little more…?
Mainly through a couple of blogs/social media accounts like Gold Flake Paint (not that they do much now they’re in print, but the Sunday Slowdown mixes and eoty lists are grand), small albums (get so many recommendations from these guys) the grey estates. And mailouts from Resident and Norman.
Also the new releases/rolling threads are a great source. Generally look out for posts from users with similar taste to see if I’ve missed anything.
Last great release I’ve discovered is probably the Sun June record from last year courtesy of @GoldFlakePaint and small albums
+1 for mailouts from the likes of Norman & Boomkat. They must invest a fair bit in these and as I don’t have a local record store it’s something I really appreciate.
Got a few blogs I follow, then a mix of following labels on bandcamp, following artists and labels on the twitter, and of course the rolling and weekly threads here.
Oh and Electronic Sound magazine (print magazine) which is bloody brilliant.
The weekly threads on here are great. The ones that stick with me and make me check them out are the ones where people actually describe the sound and the genre rather than just listing the records that are out though.
I also do read the album reviews onpitchfork but I’m not sure I should confess to this as they seem to be very unpopular on here.
Had to pretend to like Manic Street Preachers out of politeness when the guy in there was playing the new album and started talking to me about how good it was.
I’m really late to the party with bandcamp and I’m sure not using it to its full potential in this regard but it has definitely become a great way for me to discover stuff over the last couple of years , just by following artists and the odd label.