Best Ever Albums

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

JasonZaia — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 19:00:08 GMT

Author: JasonZaia

Posted: 01/21/2015 00:00

I sometimes base it on hype, sometimes influence, sometimes genre - you know, what ever I'm into at the time.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

Antonio-Pedro — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 08:14:58 GMT

Author: Antonio-Pedro

Posted: 07/26/2014 12:14

denmarkman wrote:

A better question would be how do albums choose you.

they are there in the shelf... I look them, If I feel, then yeah they choose me to play them, sometimes it's destiny, last year in a day, it was raining So I went to a drugstore, and there were some albums there, in CD, so I was just taking a look, when Some album cover drew my attention, it was M B V, even not even knowing who they were last year I feel Like I needed to listen to that, I think that album made it rain, then it would make me look for it.... I think.....but there is not a single way to albums choose you

I never liked too much critics in music, like If I want to listen to an album I listen to it and then take a look in the reviews to see If I was losing something, Because If an album was bad rated it could influence me to not liking to say, wow It's not good and then create a bad image of the album, that's why I don't like seeing critics before listening to the album, but after a listen I see no problem with them

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

migglemo — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 04:50:26 GMT

Author: migglemo

Posted: 07/26/2014 08:50

Best question: how do you choose the albums that choose you.

I go to acclaimedmusic.net

Then youtube.

I figure anything in the top 3000 is probably worth hearing in some sense.
I like fast n bulbous pretty well.
And allmusic has done some good.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

denmarkman — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 02:39:25 GMT

Author: denmarkman

Posted: 07/26/2014 06:39

A better question would be how do albums choose you.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

eyezayzay — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 01:56:04 GMT

Author: eyezayzay

Posted: 07/26/2014 05:56

nicklas wrote:

I generally go to a variety of sources for new music. In no particular order:

Friends
I have a half-dozen friends with great taste in music, and they're constantly hunting for good stuff and passing it my way. I may never have discovered The Cocteau Twins or Balam Acab if not for some good friends.

Dad
I wasn't alive for The Beatles, Coltrane, Floyd or The Smiths, but my dad was. He's helped give me perspective on the past and has always recommended me high quality music from the days of the dinosaurs. Most notably, he got me turned onto Peter Gabriel's work (solo and Genesis), Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd in addition to a billion other artists.

The Needle Drop
What I love about Anthony Fantana is that he's just one guy with an opinion. He's very opinionated, but he's got good taste, and he admits that everything he says is nothing more than his own personal rhetoric. He's got a channel on Youtube and posts daily. Recently, he got me hooked on Melt-Banana.

Youtube
I usually use this in conjunction with other sources, but just about every album is on Youtube these days. If I get a rec, I go there ASAP. If I like the album, I go to my local record store and pick up a copy. I stumbled onto Cloud Cult for the first time over at Youtube. The Avalanches is another group I first found on Youtube (who could forget Frontier Psychiatrist?)

Everyday Music
Speaking of local record store, Everyday Music is another place to find new music. This is the local shop near my crib. It seems they're always playing something I've never heard before when I go inside, and they are staffed with genuine music-nerds. I first found Arcade Fire and Guillemots at EM.

Pitchfork
As a rule, I don't take much stock in critics like Pitchfork who make money doing reviews. It's not hard for record companies to send cash Pitchfork's way to inflate the scores for their acts (i.e. Sub Pop used to be one of their biggest sponsors). Nonetheless, solely on account of the fact that Pitchfork reviews five new albums every day (25/week), I like to check in from time to time. Ignore the ratings and the review comments though. This is the site that first introduced me to Animal Collective nearly a decade ago.

Best Ever Albums
This is a good place to find recommendations. I generally find charts that I find really interesting and mine the stuff I haven't heard yet. I discovered Moondog and Stina Nordenstam here among others, and there have been many others.

Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that takes an aggregate score of all the music critics out there that they can dig up. Unfortunately, their lists tend to reflect old news, but occasionally, I'll come across something I missed the first time around. It was through Metacritic that I first came across Mariam and Amadou.

Pandora
This has got to be the worst place to find new music, but there are rare occasions on which something pops up here. I found My Brightest Diamond through Pandora, so it's not all bad.

I also frequent Everyday Music...hmm...

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

NowhereMan — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 07:31:30 GMT

Author: NowhereMan

Posted: 07/25/2014 11:31

besteveruser wrote:

critics

Are you able to send me their user name on Twitter? This appeals to me; a way of keeping up to date without really making any effort.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 17:02:49 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/24/2014 21:02

Oh that sounds great besteveruser 😄 The idea of not being critical to music has appeals to me. The last line is kind of a nice way to see things

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

besteveruser — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:30:54 GMT

Author: besteveruser

Posted: 07/24/2014 20:30

Some of my favorite critics are

Maura Johnston
Katherine St. Asaph
Matthew Perpetua (fluxblog)
Mark Richardson
Ned Raggett

All of those people don't fit the showmen persona you imagine. They write thoughtfully and have different points of views that I find insightful. Mark Richardson especially avoids saying anything is bad or it sucks or something along those lines -- which you definitely see on any message board, this one included, from people who aren't even paid to say certain artists suck. He looks at things knowing that just because it doesn't appeal to him, that doesn't mean it's not working for someone else very effectively and that he wouldn't want to ruin that experience for anyone else just because it doesn't work for him

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

besteveruser — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:23:18 GMT

Author: besteveruser

Posted: 07/24/2014 20:23

I think you have the wrong idea about critics, Kiki

Remember: critics are people too.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 15:57:56 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/24/2014 19:57

besteveruser, critics seem like a bad idea. Well to me. It seems its about showmanship sometimes. Critic also seems to be short for critical which would only put me off further. I'd never want to be a full time critic as I feel I may lost enjoyment and excitement in music. 🙁

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

besteveruser — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 15:51:32 GMT

Author: besteveruser

Posted: 07/24/2014 19:51

I follow a ton of critics on Twitter, and they tend to talk about new releases constantly. And if you can narrow down who your favorite critics are, and if they have a Tumblr that they update often, you might get better and more suggestions that appeal to you.

I like certain online music publications and follow their posts on Facebook. Things like FACT Magazine, Spin, Pitchfork, Stereogum, PopJustice, and Resident Advisor. When something big premieres, you're bound to be clued in early that way.

There's a message board I get on that has an ongoing thread about a specific genre of music I like. If you can find a message board out there with that kind of thread about a genre of music you care about, you will have an easy time discovering new music you like.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

NowhereMan — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:34:30 GMT

Author: NowhereMan

Posted: 07/24/2014 09:34

RepoMan wrote:

Sounds wonderful. What a great evening ritual!

Ditto. �'�

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 20:00:20 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/24/2014 00:00

zdwyatt wrote:

Every night during dinner, we listen to an album from our physical collection. It's a way to unwind after work, and a fun way to expose the kids to the classics. For example, I recently discovered that my two-year-old loves Purple Rain.

Sounds wonderful. What a great evening ritual!

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 19:20:06 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/23/2014 23:20

Finding accident albums... 😲

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

CripplingAutism — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 19:10:26 GMT

Author: CripplingAutism

Posted: 07/23/2014 23:10

SuedeSwede wrote:

You missed the part about you looking for albums about rape.

But I didn't.
I had heard so much about the album that I figured "fuck it, I'll give it a shot" and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

meattrain — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 19:09:33 GMT

Author: meattrain

Posted: 07/23/2014 23:09

On What.CD, I download based off my friends recs. On last.fm, I look at the similar artists. On Soulseek, I see under the user i've downloaded and see what else they have up. I do some research, I might listen to it if sounds interesting enough. It's mostly through wandering around. I might stumble on something on accident. I might attend a share thread on /mu/ here and there. I might ask someone for a rec if I think they have good taste and etc.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 19:07:39 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 07/23/2014 23:07

I only use BEA right now to find albums. Mostly going around looking myself. Rarely people will ask me to listen to albums. Most people have charts to find albums on.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

SuedeSwede — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 18:30:55 GMT

Author: SuedeSwede

Posted: 07/23/2014 22:30

CripplingAutism wrote:

I try to go by the album cover/band name/album name looks interesting, though sometimes I'll take recs from friends.
I also keep a list of any bands that sound interesting to look into on my phone and computer, for organization purposes, butI only use it for bands who's music I don't have immediate access to their music, otherwise I will do a quick Spotify/youtube/various archival site search to download a few albums.

You missed the part about you looking for albums about rape.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

CripplingAutism — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 18:16:37 GMT

Author: CripplingAutism

Posted: 07/23/2014 22:16

I try to go by the album cover/band name/album name looks interesting, though sometimes I'll take recs from friends.
I also keep a list of any bands that sound interesting to look into on my phone and computer, for organization purposes, butI only use it for bands who's music I don't have immediate access to their music, otherwise I will do a quick Spotify/youtube/various archival site search to download a few albums.

Re: How do You choose what album you will look/listen to?

Charicature — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 16:00:23 GMT

Author: Charicature

Posted: 07/23/2014 20:00

Usually by hearing a couple songs, liking them and deciding I want to hear more.

Used to be just one song but I got burned too often.

Occasionally now I've listened to albums everyone praises on this board to see what all the hubbub's about. Found a couple good ones this way but mostly I just find a massive generation gap in tastes that I can't overcome no matter how many chances I give things.