Bored with Music?

Want to try some new stuff? Here's a web site that showcases new music, and has links to hundreds of mp3s of such bands. In the Uk, if you supplement this with Zane Lowe's excellent Radio 1 show from 7-9 on weekdays, you get a pretty good picture of the new and emerging material for the coming year.

I regularly get bored with music. My quest for new music has been with me since I was a teenager, listening to John Peel in my bedroom into the early hours. I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine about why we should both so actively seek out more music, and it's a combination of things. Firstly there's nothing better that 'discovering' a new band. Of course, you're not really discovering them, per se. For you to have heard them in the first place, it was through a friend, or off the radio, or somewhere else. But there's something magical about hearing one track, then opening up the Pandora's Box of their debut album (made more sweet by the fact that nobody you know has ever heard of them), only to find it's a gem. You can then champion them, knowing that they're way cool, and that therefore you are, by proxy.

Of course, the down side is that they then become massively famous, because they are so good, and sometimes the appeal goes with their exclusivity. Not always though; some bands continue to be innovative, and produce more interesting albums. Bands such as the Smiths, Blur and Supergrass were once way cool, but manage to have kept their respectability with consistently good albums, whereas the likes of Oasis, Travis, REM and Suede lost a little something when they became mega.

There are some undesirable effects with this obsession. I have many more albums than I can possibly listen to (roughly 1000). This is compounded by the fact that I am getting hold of roughly 10 new bands a month, whether through internet sites such as the one above, or radio shows, or friend's recommendations. I also love live music, and try to get to at least a couple of gigs a month, thus reducing the time I can listen to the records I own. I can't see that I'll ever lose the need to hear newer material. I realise that there's an element of superficiality in championing the underdog, but you still cannot exchange the excitement of hearing something new that really kicks it, with listening to an old favourite which is like a old friend, always reliable, but rarely electric.

For the record, the things I'm listening to at the moment that are grabbing me (I realise that some of these aren't new, but they're new to me, and most people I speak to at work, in my family etc have never heard of them): Interpol, Emiliana Torrini, The Shins (pictured), The Bravery, Willie Mason, Stephen Fretwell, Bright Eyes, Superwolf, Handsome Boy Modelling School, the Kills, Iron and Wine, Patrick Wolf, Stars.