Two examples that come to me immediately are Enya and Smashing Pumpkins. If music starts feeling stale, I can put on Enya and music feels new again. It’s such a pleasant departure from the standard pop/rock/RnB etc sounds that dominate (even if I like those artists).
Anybody have their own equivalents?
A lot of old industrial and some industrial-metal definitely does. War by :Wumpscut: comes to mind.
That one reminds me very much of NIN, Marylin Manson and other groups I would have heard on the radio in the late 90s here in Ireland. We were lucky to have a Sunday night show called The Metal Show with John Kenny. The national broadcaster was playing stuff they would never have played normally. I don’t think they’ve done anything like it since.
The Cure. They definitely have their own sound.
They do. Good rec.
Great point. Just because it’s the first time we’ve heard a sound doesn’t mean they’re not standing on the shoulders of others a little/lot.
Tool
Great example. Haven’t listened in years so I must get to them now.
Their latest album Fear Inoculum is a masterpiece
Thanks for the rec, I’m listening to it now. I currently on the first track and it’s already excellent - just like that “rediscovering music” feeling I’ve been looking for! Very rare to experience this so thanks again. They’ve developed quite a bit since Undertow, when I last heard them.
Hell yeah, I’m pumped to hear you’re giving it a listen and enjoying it!
If you ever happen to take shrooms or acid, definitely make some time to listen to this album, or 10,000 Days, or Lateralus. they’re all incredible on psychedelics, there’s so many nuances that really come to life
I doubt myself and psychedelics would mix very well, but I’ll definitely check out 10,000 Days or Lateralus and see if they hold up when I’m on liquorice tea and Tony’s Chocolonely :)
Gotta slide in with my boys King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, no matter what genre they’re recording in
Also shout out to Sleater - Kinney, I know they made a pretty major tonal shift in recent years, but that early era has a feeling all its own
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
They have a big discography. Any recs in particular for starting off?
Short Answer: I’m in your Mind Fuzz
Long Answer: subjective pick for sure, but no matter what part of Mind Fuzz you like, there’s another album that sounds like it to keep running with
Second place: Nonagon Infinity: like the album concept, probably my fave generic list of radio friendly rock bops, and there are a couple segments that call back to mind fuzz and forward to other pieces (interconnected themes and leitmotifs is a common theme of the band)
if you’re a metalhead I’d recommend Infest the Rats Nest if it’s above 35 degrees and you’re driving a vehicle with no aircon (but I won’t gatekeep) or PetroDragonic Apocalypse; Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation
Other than that, if you’re looking for something upbeat and emotional I’d recommend Butterfly 3000
I can’t speak to their virtuosity, but if you’re a musician or interested in the technique they have a lot to be interested in, Ice Death Planets Lungs Mushrooms and Lava is an album where each track is ina different mode of the major scale, they have 2 different microtonal albums
And if I’m reading you wrong and you’re looking for something weird and avant guard to spark interest in a dull world there’s Murder of the Universe, the Silver Cord, or Omnium Gatherum
And I don’t want anyone to think that omission from this list is a bad mark, 12 bar bruise, Flight b741 and Phantom Island are great, just not necessarily my speed
I’m enjoying I’m in Your Mind Fuzz and Nonagon Infinity, thanks. There’s a kind of an implicit psychedelic drone that draws me in. They remind me slightly (only slightly) of the group Swervedriver from the soundtrack of Road Rash 3D on the 3DO years ago.
Infest the Rats Nest is a very enjoyable listen too. Their sound is a little different to other rock groups in my collection, but I’m very out of date with that genre (as in decades). I’ll get on to your other recommendations too. Thanks again!
2 that come to my mind
Of Montreal
They might be giants
They both have whopping discographies from what I’m seeing. Any recs for where I should start off?
I think Queen is in this category, cause it’s rock opera.
Yeah I’d agree with that, especially at the time they were active. I remember when You Don’t Fool Me came out and you could tell in the first few seconds that it was going to be a Queen song just from the combined harmonies and guitar riff.
Louis Cole / Knower
I’m listening to Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi by Knower. Good suggestion, thanks.
Louis and Genevieve are the two permanent members of Knower, but they also do a bunch of side projects as well. About a year ago Louis put out some huge orchestral works and live performances and then had some health issues and kinda disappeared. Hope he’s doing alright!
Lemmy put me on to Knower. Check out “Do Hot Girls Like Chords” for the song that started it all!
Clipping. Totally out of my usual genres.
I’m listening to Dead Channel Sky. It’s definitely distinctive / refreshing. Thank you very much!
Van Canto is very unique as all instruments (except percussions and drums) are made in Acapella.
Master of Puppets as an Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKAzE8nVft8
Fear of the Dark as another Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tlpRMmTHS4
I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite like this before at all, thank you! I’m not sure how long I could listen to it continuously but I think it’s very cool and well done.
Mogwai, gybe, beach house
Thanks. I’m listening to The Hawk is Howling by Mogwai. On one hand it doesn’t sound that unique to me, but maybe it’s from all my time playing guitar in bands - I might just be immune to those sounds. But there is a certain something to it that keeps me listening.
I haven’t heard Godspeed You Black Emperor mentioned in so many years, excellent example and thank you so much for bringing me back to them.
Beach house have quite a few albums. Now I’m listening to Become (2023) and it’s starting off well with some unexpected turns in the progressions.
Yeah I can see that with Mogwai, I play guitar myself and am hearing it. I do always love to put them out and space out but I could get that with someone like ten east as well.
Godspeed is so damn great, glad I could rejuvenate them for you :).
Yeah beach house has some interesting stuff. Their first albums were real lofi and really based off hip hop beats with dream pop stuff going on. Always dug them for just getting stoned out and meandering through thoughts.
Have you fucked with bitches brew and that fusion jazz before it got too generic sounding? I’ve honestly listened to that stuff and it’s so mesmerizing and hard to even process some of it, I love how out there Miles was getting in the 70s
BB as in Miles Davis? No. I like modern Jazz that departs from the old-time stuff so I avoid names like that. Maybe I shouldn’t though. I’m not sure if I’ve heard fusion jazz because I’m not so good with genres, but as I mentioned in another comment I enjoyed Glasper, Dave, Hodge, Bey: Live at North Sea Jazz Festival 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5QVcYeT74I&list=RDs5QVcYeT74I&start_radio=1
Makes me think of the (soundscape) leveling role of mixing engineers in rock music (my area)
That sounds interesting! I’ve played a few instruments over the years but am an amateur (being generous here) when it comes to mixing. If rock is your area, that makes me think of Queens of the Stone Age. When a new song of theirs would come out, I’d sometimes know it was them immediately even before the vocals started. An evolution more than a revolution, but still uniquely identifiable I think.
Oh yeah I didn’t mean we all sound the same. It is after all a quest of finding your sound, as in a sound that is uniquely yours. But in the limits of what the genre is
I didn’t read you as saying the sounds are the same so no worries there. It’s such an interesting area.
- Explosions in the Sky
- Neutral Milk Hotel
- mewithoutYou
And it’s not really representative of the rest of their work, but I have never found anything that sounds quite like Sigur Ros’ album Kveikur. It’s this dreary, echoy, droney sound that is such a vibe.
For Explosions in the Sky I chose Take Care, Take Care, Take Care. They have quite a few albums so I don’t know how representative it is of their other work but it’s very pleasant to listen to.
For Neutral Milk Hotel I tried In The Aeroplane over the Sea. It is unusually (and pleasantly) less “rigid” sounding than most popular music. Good recommendation. There’s a kind of spontaneous feel to it.
For mewithouYou I tried Pale Horses. It’s excellent. Fairly straight indie rock but very well done.
All just my opinion of course!
Nice! Glad you enjoyed them. If I knew you were going to take a listen, I would have offered entrypoints. But I appreciate that you listened to entire albums rather than whatever the top tracks are on spotify.
When I think Explosions, I think The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place or All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. But TC, TC, TC is one of my favs. The Wilderness is probably their most bold departure from the typical organic sound. Very industrial feeling.
Aeroplane is probably the one you should listen to if nothing else. As I understand it, part of their noteworthy sound comes from their use of a distortion pedal with an acoustic guitar. I recommend listening to Song Against Sex real quick too.
Probably the mwY album I’d recommend as an entry would be Brother, Sister. Their first album was considered post-hardcore, and I can see it, but I honestly am not sure how to classify their second. After that I think they’d be more considered folk, and then maybe back towards indie and post-hardcore. But even without the notable vocals, their instrumental segments are so uniquely “them”. I have a friend who always knew I listened to them, but was never his thing until Ten Stories came out, and then told me, “I get it now.”
The best demonstration of their evolution is probably to listen to Bullet to Binary (first track from their first album), and then Bullet to Binary Pt2 (from their 4th album). They’re clearly different genres, yet musically you can hear their unique sound is behind both.
Take care! (tc tc)
I’ve listened to The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, too. I actually can’t remember it now because I’ve listened to so many things at this stage, but I’ve bookmarked it under my “shopping list” folder so it made a good impression. I’m halfway through Brother, Sister and there are definitely a few songs I’d like to favourite on it. It’s funny because it seems like a fairly standard rock sound at first, but there are these little details or events at times that stand out.
I’ll check out the others, you TC, TC, TC too :)
Explosions in the sky is amazing
Mamaleek have a rather recognizable atmosphere despite switching genres between albums and still being unlike anybody else. Check out e.g. ‘Out of Time’, ‘Come and See’, and ‘Diner Coffee’.
Bassist/producer Bill Laswell has both a trademark deep bass sound and a particular production approach, such that I can hear it in other bands’ records that he touched. Plus he has collaborated with lots of people over his long career, some of whom never shaken off his influence even in their solo works. Try e.g. Tabla Beat Science’s ‘Axiom Sound System’ concert, wherein he was a member.
The one man able to compete with Laswell in deep bass is Jah Wobble, and of course their collaboration is a sea of thick basslines.
Mutaforia Lili is quite peculiar pianocore.
Universal Totem Orchestra actually play the zeuhl genre pioneered by Magma, but imo do it even better.
Dead Can Dance are really unique, and even artists covering them on tribute albums never actually had their sound.
Yello still sound like only they do, forty years later.
Messer für Frau Müller entirely functioned on retro that never properly existed, crammed with samples.
Ramones had their own approach, despite having influenced the entire genre of punk rock. Only artists deliberately emulating Ramones sound like Ramones.
I really appreciate the effort you went to in this comment, and to provide links (inline ones too!).
Mamaleek:
- Out of Time: I like the production on this one. I definitely don’t feel like I’m listening to another guitar/bass/drums setup. I know I said I’m not considering lead vocals in the soundscape but they are also excellent here. I’ll check out the other albums with gratitude for the recommendations!
The Axiom Sound System concert is sublime, thank you so much again! That’s a rare concert I would like to attend. Lots of nuance, balance of layers and space between the elements. So refreshing. I haven’t enjoyed something this much since someone linked me to Glasper, Dave, Hodge, Bey: Live at North Sea Jazz Festival 2019. Love the collaboration link you provided too.
Mutaforia Lili is another great example of what I’m trying to discover! I’ve never heard anything like it, thank you so much. The album is probably more expensive than any album I have bought in my life, but I’ll give it some time just in the Bandcamp browser tab and see if it grows on me even further. We’re conditioned to underpay for music/software and labour in general these days IMO.
Universal Totem Orchestra: again, sublime. Another excellent suggestion and I wish I could pin your comment.
Dead Can Dance are one of those groups I’ve heard of many times but never listened to. But listening to the link you provided (again, thank you so much) it’s immediately drawing me in. I think I’ll be putting a lot of my existing music collection into long term storage :)
Yello - they’re new to me, I like it so far. I’ll check out the other suggestions too.
Again, thanks for all this. I tend to make the mistake of falling for a gimmick that sounds unique but wears thin - like a good hook in an otherwise formulaic song and sound scape. So when I made this post I was hoping for discoveries like these, but not expecting so many and such excellent ones in one comment :)
Mutaforia Lili’s several following albums are in the same vein. Also, the dude is a fan of dadaism, and the record prices are rather tongue-in-cheek: I remember them being 666 bucks or something like that at one point. He won’t really mind if you rip the music from Bandcamp with yt-dlp (as he published his music in a local social network), but he sure could use some money considering he’s in Ukraine.
I might add some more bands later, as I likewise dig those with unique sound. I’m also thinking of creating a community for unusual music in this vein, but ironically can’t think of a non-boring name.
For now, check out The Residents. On that album, they incorporated a bunch of melodies from popular music, so it probably sounded even more wild at the time.
And perhaps Nurse With Wound’s ‘Homotopy To Marie’.
You might also like some of what I’m posting in the music communities, e.g.:
I will look into all of those, thank you again. I would definitely like to support someone currently in Ukraine. The personal reports from Kyiv sound frightening.
The community sounds great. Are you trying to avoid a literal/ descriptive name?
I want it descriptive but also at least somewhat quirky. An odd twist is that peculiar naming was how I dealt with boredom of programming in my day job — it was a bit of a specialty of mine, so now having only a boring straightforward name for stuff that’s actually interesting is downright embarrassing. I probably need to get drunk and fire up the thesaurus.
It’s tricky because the name and sidebar carry the job of letting people know the nuance that it’s not just for posting bands we like.
Talk Talk, although I’m mostly thinking of their last 2 albums (Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock)
I came across those two albums in recent weeks and have been listening to them for just that reason. Exquisite.
