[Zankras]

Looking for more music.

Orchestra's are good, like those. Moby is good. Elegia by New Order is my current favourite song. The short film More by Mark Osbourne is where I heard it, truly riveting video if you watch it a few times (can be seen on the Youtube). I'm a pretty big fan of Enigma. A lot of Mike Oldfield's works (generally the early and later stuff. Some of the middle albums are good.). Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, some forms of rap (intense, but not unnecessarily vulgar. Instrumentals/beats play a key role as well as riveting lyrics.), Phil Colins, John Mayer. Heavier stuff such as Nightwish, Within Temptation. Quite a fan of female vocals no matter the genre. Paul Oakenfold, other trance artists but I haven't really gotten into the genre as much.

Also, anyone a fan of the sub-genre Dark Ambient? I have just started listening to different artists tonight and it is quite intense. However, I am also looking for more music with an ambient like intro, building up an "intense" ending. Not necessarily ear-drum bursting loud, but packed with raw emotion.

Heh, as you can see I have a vast array of musical preferences and will try pretty much anything. Except most country. No one REALLY like country besides Johnny Cash.

Right now, I am listening to all my music on my computer in .flac or 320kbps MP3's if there isn't a hard copy retail version of an album. Headphones are Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro's plugged into a dedicated sound card. I will be purchasing Sennheiser IE8's and a 32GB iPod Touch 3rd Gen within a week, so my collection will become ALAC when necessary. Not sure if any of this changes your potential recommendations of music.

Anyways, thank you in advance, and to all a goodnight. Or morning. Seems to be a vast array of people on these forums. I guess head-fi doesn't care what currency is in your wallet, as long as it's not there by the time you go to bed.

 

[Maxvla]

I would recommend a big detour to acoustic folk (almost redundant). Some of this gets towards country, but not like pop country aka Garth Brooks, etc.

A couple highlights I never get tired of:

Nickel Creek - This Side - 3 person band (2 male 1 female) with violin guitar and mandolin occasional string bass on some tracks. You might think 'well what can 3 20 somethings do with 3 instruments in the same pitch range?' I dare you to listen and not be engaged by it. This is sort of a bluegrass fusion meaning bluegrass sounds, but modern approach. Nothing twangy at all.

Wailin' Jennys - Firecracker - 3 female singers/instrumentalists all with different pitch ranges in their voices. Amazing harmony and some really breathtaking songs. One of my top 5 songs of all time is Prairie Town on this album.

Acoustic folk can be some of the simplest music and also some of the most rewarding. There is no clutter of instruments to mask mistakes, and often the singers are not as well trained, but that only adds to the realism. The female vocalist in Nickel Creek is a perfect example. She is not an amazing singer, but I love when she sings because she sounds like a normal talented singer with the exception of being well in tune (many normal singers have difficulty with exact pitches).

A different genre to try is metal. I recently picked up both of the Five Finger Death Punch albums and really enjoy them. Some of it isn't as musical as others, but most songs are great for when you need some good blasting.

Porcupine Tree gets good press here, but I never checked it out til recently when I saw someone post about it in an impressions thread. Check out their song Open Car on youtube. This link is the first of a concert they gave with great audio recording. Watch it all if you enjoy it. I bought the album Deadwing and like almost every track.

 

[RedSky0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am also looking for more music with an ambient like intro, building up an "intense" ending. Not necessarily ear-drum bursting loud, but packed with raw emotion.

You sir, are interested in post rock.

Yndi Halda - Enjoy Eternal Bliss
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# ∞
Mono - You Are There
Lights Out Asia - Tanks And Recognizers
Kashiwa Daisuke - Program Music I
Kronos Quartet and Mogwai - The Fountain OST

Also, some recommendations from other genres since you're open to suggestions:


Jazz/Fusion:

Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
John Coltrane - Blue Train
Electric Masada - At the Mountains of Madness
Bar Kokhba - Lucifer: Book of Angels Volume 10
Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow


Indie/Shoegaze/Alt:

Hey Rosetta! - Plan Your Escape
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - The Dust of Retreat
Trespassers William - Different Stars
Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth
Arcade Fire - Funeral
M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts
Mew - Frengers
Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving


Punk/Ska/Post-Hardcore:

Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come
Streetlight Manifesto - Everything Goes Numb
Thrice - Vheissu
Thrice - The Artist In The Ambulance
Minutemen - Double Nickels On the Dime
NoMeansNo - Wrong
Converge - Jane Doe


Progressive Rock (the new kind):

Riverside - Second Life Syndrome
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Rx Bandits - Mandala
Pure Reason - Revolution The Dark Third


Ambient:

Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Black Earth
Brian Eno - Another Green World
Eluvium - Copia
Bark Psychosis - Hex


Technical Death Metal:

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
Cynic - Traced In Air
Death - Symbolic
Quo Vadis - Day Into Night
Gorod - Process of a New Decline


Progressive Metal/Melodic Death Metal/Other

X Japan - Art Of Life
Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery
Insomnium - Since the Day It All Came Down
Le Grand Guignol - The Great Maddening
Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment
Mirrorthrone - Carriers of Dust
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Wintersun - Wintersun
Blotted Science - The Machinations Of Dementia
Ephel Duath - The Painter's Palette
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - I Have Made My Bed in Darkness
Ikuinen Kaamos - Closure
In Mourning - Shrouded Divine
Into Eternity - Buried In Oblivion
Orphaned Land - Mabool (The Story of the Three Sons...)

 

[Azathoth]

Based on the OP's original post, I highly recommend these artists/albums:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heavier stuff such as Nightwish, Within Temptation. Quite a fan of female vocals no matter the genre.

After Forever - Decipher, After Forever
Made Out of Babies - The Ruiner
Kylesa - Static Tensions

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif However, I am also looking for more music with an ambient like intro, building up an "intense" ending. Not necessarily ear-drum bursting loud, but packed with raw emotion.

Pelican - What We All Come To Need, The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw
Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade
Agalloch - any of their albums, really...Pale Folklore, The Mantle, Ashes Against The Grain
Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood
Altar of Plagues - White Tomb

 

[Nisstyre56]

Metal albums (I won't list any black or heavy/old school death metal unless you ask for it)

Death - Symbolic
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Butcher's Ballroom
Edge of Sanity - Crimson
Enslaved - Below The Lights
Grand Magus - Iron Will
Kreator - Coma of Souls
Minotauri - Minotauri
Saint Vitus - Born Too Late
Cynic - Focus and Traced In Air

This list is rather short, but I'm a huge metal fan. It's just most of the metal I like is really extreme for most people.

Classical (Romantic, Baroque, 20th Century, etc..)

Too lazy to add diacritics to these

Antonin Dvorak
Arthur Honegger
Alexander Borodin
Camille Saint-Saens
Claude Debussy (Anything conducted by Pierre Boulez)
Erik Satie
Francis Poulenc
Frederic Chopin
Gabriel Faure
Germaine Tailleferre (Yes, a woman!)
Gioacchino Rossini
Giuseppe Verdi
Harry Partch
Henri Lazarof
Iannis Xenakis
Igor Stravinsky
Jean Françaix
Jean Sibelius
Joe Hisaishi (the only soundtrack composer I'll include)
Johannes Brahms
Johann Sebastian Bach (listen to his Oratorios)
Leonard Bernstein
Ludwig Van Beethoven (1st Symphony is underrated)
Maurice Ravel (piano trios, Daphnis et Chloé, and concertos for piano are great)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Joaquin Rodrigo (concierto de aranjuez)
Olivier Messiaen (Petites Liturgies is amazing)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (I'm embarrassingly short on my Tchaikovsky knowledge, all I know is The Nutcracker and his 6th Symphony)
Pierre Boulez (Structures for Two Pianos, anything else you can get your hands on)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (anything if you like the British version of impressionism)
Robert Schumann (anything, but concerto for piano in A minor is amazing)
Samuel Barber
Sergei Prokofiev (Scythian Suite, Peter and The Wolf)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (I have Piano Concertos 1 and 3, but I'm sure anything by him is great)
Sir Granville Bantock (Celtic Symphony, and Hebridean Symphony)
Toru Takemitsu (A flock descends into the pentagonal garden, Arc and Green, any of his soundtracks as well)
Toshi Ichiyanagi (Opera From the Works of Tadanori Yoku, anything else you can get)


And that about does it for classical

A few Jazz and fusion albums I think are essential:

Miles Davis - Nefertiti
Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond - The Duets
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Allan Holdsworth - None Too Soon

Miscellaneous artists and/or albums you should check out:

Aphex Twin + aliases like Power Pill, AFX, etc..
Emiliana Torrini (Fisherman's Woman and Me and Armini)
Faye Wong (Random Thoughts, Restless)
Yumi Arai (anything from the 70s)
Goblin
John Cale (Paris 1919, Hobo Sapiens, Vintage Violence, Music For A New Society)
Jon Rose (anything you can get your hands on)
Le Orme (Collage)


Well I think that's enough for now!

 

[limpidglitch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif …Red Hot Chili Peppers…

Fugazi, do it! 13 Songs is a good start.

 

[bcpk]

The Sound Providers. Providing the soundtrack to this video YouTube - 2008 LBI Skim Jam Skimboard Contest

Clean, old-school hip hop over really laid back jazz and piano loops.

 

[SoupRKnowva]

hmm...for harder music, id have to say that either The Fall of Ideals by All That Remains or Horizons by Parkway Drive would be my favorites. For softer music, with louder parts, as you put it, id have to say either Absolution by Muse, my favorite muse cd by a long shot, and then probably Melon Collie and the infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins. And other reccomnedations, someone already mentioned the devil and god by brand new, but i would highly reccoment the previous album, Deja Entendu, amazing cd. Also, either Songs for the Deaf or Lullabies to Paralyze by the Queens of the Stone Age.

amd my favorite female vocalist band would have to be The Material, its a unsigned band out of san diego california, check out the song No One Has to Know on youtube, colleen, the singer, and what i think is the best female voice out there.

have fun finding new music

 

[Li Ching Yuen]

The first two replies are filled with great recommendations. Start there.

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif anyone a fan of the sub-genre Dark Ambient? I have just started listening to different artists tonight and it is quite intense. However, I am also looking for more music with an ambient like intro, building up an "intense" ending. Not necessarily ear-drum bursting loud, but packed with raw emotion.

Internet Archive: Free Download: Diatonis - Dark Edges DVD-Audio ISO

the first albums from Autechre are also not to be missed.

also the gods of DNB have hit the nail right on the head w/ their latest album: Ed Rush And Optical Present : Travel The Galaxy

 

[Cianyx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSky0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ikuinen - Kaamos Closure

Small typo.

And to Nisstyre, Enslaved is Black Metal

Finally to OP, if you're looking for Dark Ambient,

Atrium Carceri
Lustmord
Raison d'etre

My knowledge on it is limited, but if you want more info, the Cold Meat Industry label is a very good starting point.

I guess I'll help you out with some hip-hop.

Black Star - Blackstar (An essential in hip-hop. A critically acclaimed release by Mos Def and Talib Kweli. As a matter of fact, get some Mos Def and Talib as well)
Nas - Illmatic (Like this needs any introduction)
People Under the Stairs - O.S.T
Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star (Pretty intense record performed in a Spoken Wordish way)
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (Another essential in the sub-genre of jazzhop.)
The Problemaddicts - The Dark Side of Oz (If you're a Pink Flyod fan, you would find this rather pleasing)
Arts the Beatdoctor - Transitions (Leaning towards a larger emphasis on the instrumentals)
Nujabes - Modal Soul (Same as above, but a lot better)
Hocus Pocus - 73 Touches (French hip-hop. Really beautiful stuff . Not to mention it is produced by C2C who won the DMC (World DJ Championships) 3 times in a row )
Shad - The Old Prince (Calming, intelligent hip-hop)
Eminem - Infinite (Eminem's debut album. Excellent flows and sure as hell beats the hell out of anything else he released)
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Cause it is that ****ing awesome)
Prolific - Think (This, my friend, is intense hip-hop. Excellent flows and beats and never fails to draw me in with dark atmosphere)

 

[Halftrack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif Orchestra's are good, like those.

I find myself enjoying the various Final Fantasy concerts - especially Distant Worlds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heavier stuff such as Nightwish, Within Temptation. Quite a fan of female vocals no matter the genre.

Lacuna Coil?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zankras /img/forum/go_quote.gif other trance artists but I haven't really gotten into the genre as much.

m.o.v.e (or move in their earlier albums) has trance. And there's some (sort of) rap.

 

[leeperry]

hip hop from the 90's? Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[MaZa]

Dark Ambient

Raison D'Etre (In sadness, silence and solitude; The Empty Hollow Unfolds)
Lustmord (Heresy; Zoetrope; Carbon Core)
Bohren & Der Club Of Core (Black Earth)
Dreams Of Dying Stars (Stardance)
Jääportit (Uumenissa)
Letum (Broken; The Entrance To Salvation)
Kammarheit (Asleep & Well Hidden)


Ambient Blackmetal, listened in pretty much sameway as one listens dark ambient.

Coldworld (Melancholie2; The Stars Are Dead Now ) one of my fav bands in the genre
ANTI (Insignificance Of Life)
Lunar Aurora (Zyklus) other albums are different
Burzum (Filosofem) ditto
Darkspace (Darkspace II; Darkspace III)
Elysian Blaze (Beneath Silent Faces)

 

[Nisstyre56]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cianyx /img/forum/go_quote.gif And to Nisstyre, Enslaved is Black Metal

Oops, but yeah, that album should be a good intro to black metal as it's pretty light, well produced, and doesn't have the usual "buzzsaw" guitars or constant snare.