Music of the excellent variety.

Hey everybody. I have some music to share, and would like to have music shared with me. I really like any good music. Maybe this forum could be my new one stop shop for any and all music that I like. Just a suggestion forum, only FOR ME!

What I am looking for is basically just a collective of music, which MUST be well mastered. I have a HUGE variety of music in my library, and of all the songs, I have found a few recurring themes in the instruments and tones among my favorite songs. I am basically looking for more songs that fit the bill. I find my demographic quite absent on this website, (Except for people asking what skull candy headphones to buy) so maybe I could actually share some music that other people may like as well. Most music I hear my friends listen to is unbearable to me. Just lacks any character, no redeeming qualities. This thread is also a starting place for what I may eventually turn into a blog of sorts, on my own site, when I create it. I love music, and to share it. Kind of a “song of the day” thing, or “artist of the *unspecified time period*”.

These are the ingredients I have realized are in a favorite track for me (not all in one, basically just things I love, they are pretty vague):

1. A good, strong, beat.
2. Acoustic guitar.
3. Dramatic, sweeping violins.
4. Clean drums.
5. Smooth bass guitars.
6. Catchy lyrics.
7. Solos of any instrument.

 I am not a musical virtuoso, I don’t know many technical terms. My explanations may be lacking refinement for some people’s standards.

Some prime examples of songs that I love:

Yellow, In my Place, Shiver, A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay. Acoustic guitar, Strong simple beat, nice bassline. There aren’t many Coldplay songs I don’t like.

Deep inside of you and Jumper  by Third Eye Blind. Basically the same reason^

Island in the Sun by Weezer. I actually enjoy any Weezer, My favorite band… except their newer three albums.

The Shins and Broken Bells. (both are bands) Anything James Mercer touches is great.

Won’t get Fooled Again, Blue Red and Grey, My Generation, Baba O’Riley, by The Who. Okay, so these guys are just awesome. No explanation needed.

Hotel California by The Eagles. Basically has the nice all around feel that I like in a song. I love the quality of the guitar/bass guitar when I listen to this song. Simple drumlins make me happy.

Missed The Boat, Dashboard by Modest Mouse. Another oddball of sorts, just two tracks that I love.

Behold A Pale Horse, by Martin O’Donnell. Maybe it’s just because I play Halo, but this is one of the examples of the violin that I like in any song. Bittersweet Symphony is another, by The Verve. I don’t know how to explain it, but that sort of rhythm just gets me going.

Hans Zimmer. Continuing the soundtrack vibe.

I like lots of classical music, but the naming of these pieces of art deserves its own college course, perhaps even its own degree. I understand basic composer names, but above that, I’m lost. I apologize for butchering anyones names. I should probably take a music class. In fact I’m not even sure what qualifies as “classical”.  I like….

Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude, Yo-Yo Ma. (Did I copy paste that?) Another example viol… erm…. Cello that I like. I don’t think there is a person on the planet who shouldn’t like this.

William Joseph’s cover of Kashmir from Led Zeppelin. Just epic.

Returning to the non-classical:

Califonia by Phantom Planet. Just a catchy song. I love the piano in the background, and the bass that comes in after the chorus.

Hang On, Satellite by Guster. Another that I just thoroughly enjoy. Not much to explain here.

Free energy, Light Love, Bang pop,  by  Free energy. A pretty unknown band, which has really been tickling my pickle lately. I like their guitar. Kind of an awkward sound at times though.

The Gambler, Walking the Dog (lite), I Wanna be the One, by Fun. Simple melodies play harmonically into some other tonal balance with excellent rhythm and wonderful chordal distribution. (I actually just like how simple this band is, and the voice of the lead singer, but I’ve decided to spruce it up a bit, I really don’t know what I just said.)

The Science of Selling Yourself Short, by Less Than Jake. Again, no particular reason, just pure arbitrary bliss when I listen to this song.

Staring at the Sun by Simple Kid. The rest of this band is pretty subpar in my opinion, but this song is just great. You can really tell that they probably don’t have that type of grade-a talent to go very far, but I find this one song quite nice.

You Can Call Me Al, Me and Julio, by Paul Simon. This is the type of guitar and bass that I really love. Simple. I am a minimalist, what can I say.

For What it’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield. This song is great. He has EMOTION! This music is inspired, exactly what is lacking in a lot of my demographics’ music.

Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival. See above^

Ain’t No Reason, by Brett Dennen. This guy is actually from my hometown, but he is getting to be pretty well known lately. I don’t personally know him or anything, but I may be a bit biased as to how good he actually is.

Run-Around, by Blues Traveler. This was one of my favorite songs as a child. Just a feel good song for me. It has always seemed very well recorded, but I am probably wrong. I have never found a speaker or headphone that

can make this song sound bad to me. There’s just something about it.

Two Princes, by Spin Doctors. See above^

The Temple of Syrus, by Rush. This track is just a pleasure to listen to. All around excellence. I love testing new headphones with this song.

Beginning to Get to Me, You Could Be Happy, by Snow Patrol. Just two more songs that seem very clean to me. Simple beats, good vocals, Catchy.

Alice’s Restaurant, by Arlo Guthrie. A Tradition on Thanksgiving, I know it by heart. A marvelous feat of endurance. I love how it turns out that the entire song is basically just a build to a punch line, but with “feeling”….

Happy Kid, See These Bones, Whose Authority, by Nada Surf. On par with Weezer as one of my favorite bands of all time. They are much more acoustically oriented than Weezer.

Before The Worst, Breakeven, by the Script. The bass guitar is very punctuated here, and it pleases me in a way that makes me want to speak Spanish. Me gusta mucho.

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Duh. The greatest sing along song of all time for a bunch of teenagers in a car. Well, at least among my super awesome friends.

Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day. I love how this song changes tone about five times. None of the phases are bad. Kick-butt beat too. You can blast this song without any problems.

Last Night, Capital H, Everything is Alright, Monsters Invisible, by Motion City Soundtrack. This is just a nice band, not too death screamy metal, but very easy to listen to. The song “Capital H” has one line in particular that makes me smile (said in one breath): Singing songs from the balcony as the city crumbles under the powers of an evil doctor rocket science monster with capabilities to destroy the entire universe.

Other assorted Favorites:

Under The Bridge, by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Salute Your Solution, by The Raconteurs.

Fall Back Down, by Rancid.

Rock it by Sub Focus.

Anything by Pheonix. (Hint: anything is not the name of a song)

Major Tom by Shiny Toy Guns.

Anyway, If anyone likes any of my suggestions, I may continue at my own pace, I really just put my library on shuffle, and just started writing. I suggest we all do the same! This isn’t really a “What are you listening to” as much as a “what do you like, that may or may not be relevant to what OP likes, so he can expand his musical tastes”. Thank you for reading this MARATHON post!

EDIT: If I sound like a baboon in this post, feel free to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. I would appreciate it so I don't waste my time next time. DISCLAIMER: Music is highly subjective, please keep this in mind.

Double edit: This isn't ALL of the music I like. just a taste.

And Pink Floyd. I don't know how I forgot that one. The gunner's dream gives me goosebumps I swear. And Led Zeppelin. I am apparently quite tired If I forgot those two.

Just a quick 3 hour bump before I can't check all Monday.

Nobody? I wrote this big huge post and nobody loves me. I feel like crying. 

Damnation seems great! I like the music. The vocals are kind of misfit for the music though. Still excellent! Props Sokolov!

Albedo- Genesis was one of those bands that I had heard songs from, and liked, but never knew the name nor remembered well enough to buy their music. I love you. Thank you. I now know their name.

Thank you Mr. Esoteric, Welcome to Head-Fi!

Sadness.

:O Why can't classical music just be named like most music? Artist, Album, Track. Hehe I understand that different groups have played the same composition and everything, so there's much variation, but really.... I did manage to find many of these online or on youtube and I liked Berlioz's Symphonie. I have Mozart and Beethoven already, My mom had CD's of them lying around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianneG 

Maybe my musical taste is all wrong for you, LOL, but still as long as we're here to do a musical taste expansion: I might be able to point out a few on the classical frontier you might like: Music from Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel: For Bach, you have the Cello Suites; Rostropovich's recordings are good, and of course there's Pablo Casals' pioneering work (IIRC he was the first to popularise them). Vivaldi's Four Seasons needs no introduction, but he has this lovely Gloria (RV 589) that I listen to for an instant mood boost when I'm feeling blue. Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks is really nice, and of course, you've probably heard of the oratorio he wrote, the Messiah. Mozart is also awesome, and Beethoven's various Symphonies. Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Carl Orff's Carmina Burana O Fortuna. Chopin's Nocturnes. Debussy's Arabesque in E (delicate-- this song always reminds me of spider webs heavy with dew in the morning); Strauss if you like waltzes. For early music-- I don't know if you like early polyphony, but for massive choral: Tallis's Spem in alium (either the Tallis Scholars version, or the Huelgas Ensemble's recording on the album Utopia Triumphans are good!), Ockeghem, Bruckner (those Symphonies are wow, and I love his choral piece Locus Iste), Mahler, Holst, Elgar's Cello Concerto No. 1, of which Jacqueline Du Pre's recording is widely held to be the definitive version. Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 and Totus Tuus. Morton Lauridsen, John Rutter, Arvo Part and Eric Whitacre for modern choir work.

Very well put Albedo. I agree. There is so much music out there, people should enjoy what they have, and expand based off of it. I guess that's more what I meant by this thread, I said what the songs were that I realize meet my musical preferences. I know there's a whole world out there, but I feel that a lot of the music is the sort that I have realized I won't find very pleasing. If I like 1% of all the songs in the world, thats still a Metric Fudge-Ton of music to last me a lifetime. 

It's nice to put a name to that genre. I like Progressive rock. I can say that with confidence. Thank you!

Arianne: I guess that's why it's called classical