Sunday, June 15, 2008

Music recommendations - the people vs. Last.fm



Following the success of my last two crowdsourcing experiments (picking me a new mobile phone and sorting out my holiday reading) I thought I'd ask you lovely people for help with a new task: broadening my musical horizons. As much as I love Last.fm (and I do) its recommendations seldom deliver the wonderful serendipity of a musical tip from a friend. So, what are the albums/tracks that have been tickling your ear drums of late? My musical taste is reasonably eclectic, with a slight bias towards miserable indie rock. Below are my top fifteen most played artists according to Last.fm (full list here). With the OMM's Record doctor unlikely to be paying me a visit any time soon, my musical prescription is in your hands...

1. Eels
2. Ben Folds
3. Beck
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers
5. Radiohead
6. Muse
7. Mercury Rev
8. Langhorne Slim
9. Silver Sun
10. The Arcade Fire
11. Belle and Sebastian
12. The Divine Comedy
13. Jack Johnson
14. The Killers
15. Goldfrapp

8 comments:

Jon Jacob said...

I don't claim to be particularly "in the loop" when it comes to music, but a bit of a recent Thoroughly Good favourite is ... http://tinyurl.com/4z42kk

Anonymous said...

Lo-fi miserabilism I recently came across is Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Etiquette is a good start. They're like Bright Eyes in some ways.

M Ward is a revelation. Alt-county/folk/indieness.

Also look out My Morning Jacket's first Album (The Tenassee Fire).

And more mainstream, but best of all: Wilco. All of their output is outstanding, but start with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and move outwards. One of the albums of the century.

Barronoid said...

At the moment I am mainly recommending: 'Vampire Weekend' by Vampire Weekend; 'Oracular Spectacular' by MGMT; 'Structure and Cosmetics' by Brunettes

Hugh Garry said...

MGMT is perfect for this time of year.

Anonymous said...

Portishead Third is a challenging listen, well worth it even if it's just to get to listen to "The Rip".

Old jazzy electro can be got from The Egg's Albumen.

The Seldom Seen Kid is pretty good too...

dazey rosie said...

this is what i am listening too...

Semaphore:
http://www.myspace.com/semaphore2007

Bon Iver:
http://www.myspace.com/boniver

Cave Singers:
http://www.myspace.com/thecavesingers

As a general music loveliness tip -the Take Away Sessions from Blogotheque:
http://www.blogotheque.net/spip.php?page=cae_all&lang=en

v glad to see others are liking Langhorne Slim :)

Anonymous said...

The Seldom Seen Kid is indeed excellent. As are Fleet Foxes, whose new one is quite possibly the album of the year. Happy listening.

Unknown said...

I agree with: Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Wilco, My Morning Jacket and Fleet Foxes.
Disagree with: James Taylor and Cave Singers.
And can add: The Last of the Shadow Puppets and XX Teens.