Music Finds (March 2023)

Some notes on new bands I’ve been getting into, plus some comments on music discovery.

New Bands

Architects

There’s some songs I quite like from these guys, mostly from the classic symptoms of a broken spirit and For Those That Wish To Exist since those are the only two full albums of theirs I’ve listened to.

They’re good, but I sometimes feel like their albums run a little too long. They don’t really, I probably feel that way because of pacing or song variety.

Blanket

I’ve only listened to Modern Escapism so far but really like it. They do a great job of blending elements of shoegaze and metal.

Dayseeker

I had Dark Sun on while working the other day so I’ll need another listen or two at least, but I remember liking what I heard. It’s a pretty unique take on metal driven partly by synths.

Moodring

I’ve listened to Stargazer a couple times and thought it was pretty solid rock to do work to.

Thornhill

Along with Blanket, Thornhill is one of my favorite finds in this grouping of artists. Both Heroine and The Dark Pool are good listens with plenty of memorable moments.

Volumes

So far I’ve listened to Happier? and Different Animals once each and ended up preferring Happier?. These guys are definitely the heaviest out of all these artists. Lots of good riffs and rhythms, and they manage to pack in good variety.

Spotify and Music Discovery

Every single one of these artists I found through my Spotify home page recommendations. Most were through album recommendations, Thornhill I believe was through one of those “see what your friends are listening to” recommendations.

I think there are valid complaints about Spotify and how they compensate artists, but I also think they’re deserving of praise for how easy they make it to find new artists and explore their music. So much of the music I listen to today I found through Spotify recommendations. I’ve attended and brought groups to concerts that I otherwise wouldn’t have without Spotify. It’s not my sole channel for discovering new music, but it’s definitely my biggest and most important one.

Which is why I’m more than a little concerned at the recent news that Spotify is getting ready to put their home page through a total redesign – a TikTok-ification with full screen cards, autoplay, everything. Maybe it’s terrible, maybe it’s not. Either way, I’m nervous. In the worst case I’ll just have to be more deliberate and involved with searching out new music, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing thinking about it now.