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Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

I always hear people saying "music sucks nowadays," and though I agree that 98% of what's popular on the radio is pretty awful, I think music released nowadays (mostly what you have to do some searching for) can rival the best music of any generation in quality. So here's a chance to recommend any good newcomers you've discovered. You can post links, or write your own descriptions. I'd say to try to keep any recommendations to bands that released their first signed albums after the '90s. I'll name some to get the ball rolling with a few bands I've picked up on lately:

Off With Their Heads- http://www.myspace.com/offwiththeirheads
These guys are probably my favorite band right now. They play a good mid-western punk style, using catchy bubblegum melodies with powerful instruments and emotionally charged lyrics to create some great rainy-day mosh tunes.

The Gaslight Anthem- http://www.myspace.com/thegaslightanthem
With Bruce Springsteen sucking for his last few albums, and Meat Loaf doing god knows what, we need sappy, ballad-ish rock more than anything right now. With Gaslight Anthem you get that, plus the added bonus of it not being cringe-worthily bad.

Posted: Jul 25 2009 12:38 pm

Giants - http://www.myspace.com/giantsmusic
Mellow instrumental "rock", I guess you could call it.

Posted: Jul 25 2009 01:17 pm

I saw an awesome band called God Forbid at the recent Manson Cannibal Corpse Slayer etc show, really good stage presence / performance. Cool

Posted: Jul 25 2009 02:28 pm

These Matches Won't Light In The Damp - http://www.myspace.com/tmwlitd
Amazing the sound someone can produce with just a guitar and vocals.

Posted: Jul 25 2009 02:37 pm

Manchester Orchestra - http://www.myspace.com/manchesterorchestra
Eisley - http://www.myspace.com/eisley

Can't say much. They might sound kinda generic by professional standards, but they kinda make that soothing and mellow sound I like in some modern rock bands.

Posted: Jul 25 2009 06:04 pm

For newer metal I'd have to recommend Gama Bomb. They're a thrash band from Ireland with two albums out right now. I think they're one of the better New Wave of Thrash bands.

Joined: Nov 02 2008 Posts: 725

For older music, I'd say go with Gamma Ray. I recently found them via someone's YouTube comment, which invoked my curiosity about the band, and I spied on some more of their songs and they were all great.

Newer music...well, Rammstein is about to release their new album, Schnieder.

Posted: Jul 25 2009 08:33 pm

Yay, here we go!

The Sounds- http://www.myspace.com/thesounds
Basically like a Swedish Blondie of today. Super catchy, and the singer's pretty freaky.

Suzie McNeil- http://www.myspace.com/suziemcneilmusic
You may remember her as the final female contestant on Rockstar: INXS or from my post about meeting her. Kinda like a bluesier Kelly Clarkson. The stuff on her MySpace isn't very representative of her sound though.

Skye Sweetnam- http://www.myspace.com/skyesweetnam
Little Canadian girl with a huge voice. Kinda like industrial-inspired pop music. She's also got like the sexiest voice I've ever heard.

Goatmilk- http://www.myspace.com/antoniogoatmilk
Local shout-out here. I'm pretty good buds with the bassist (babe) and keyboardist in the band. Kinda like a less depressed Death Cab For Cutie.

The Shoe- http://www.myspace.com/theshoeperforms
Like if Daniel Johnston was a female. FUN FACT: You may recognize the singer as Donnie's girlfriend from Donnie Darko.

Joined: May 13 2009 Location: lowell, ma Posts: 289

Blackout wrote:

I saw an awesome band called God Forbid at the recent Manson Cannibal Corpse Slayer etc show, really good stage presence / performance. Cool

Dude God Forbid is awesome, well I havent heard them in a couple years but they're first two albums are great. If you liked them check out Unearth, On Broken Wings, Seneca, to name a few.

Posted: Aug 03 2009 12:25 am

as soon as they get a MySpace:

The Missing Kids

Joined: Oct 12 2007 Posts: 821

Brutal Force - http://www.myspace.com/thebrutalforce
A local metal band. I personally find the vocals kind of meh, but everything else is great. They classify themselves as Thrash and Black Metal.
Favorite Song: Unholy Innocence

Vyncent Flaw - http://www.myspace.com/vyncentflaw
An electric group form Sacramento. they are very similar in style to many grime bands, so if you like that type of music you will like these guys.
Favorite Song: Pixy Stix and Crack

Angelspit - http://www.myspace.com/krankhaus
An Electro-Industrial band from Australia. Although I linked their myspace, you should probably find their stuff another way, as they only put a minute or two of their stuff up. Only Electro-Industrial band I can think of with a good female vocalist.
Favorite Song: 100%

Dommin - http://www.myspace.com/dommin
A local Gothic rock band. I describe them as My Chemical Romance without all the suck, mostly due to the singer's deeper voice, and a slower and darker tone of the songs.
Favorite Song: My Heart, Your Hands

Iglu & Hartly - http://www.myspace.com/igluandhartly
Wikipedia says they are pop rock, so I guess lets go with that. This band is kind of hit or miss, as songs like In This City, Jump Out Of Your Car, and Violent and Young are filled with emotion and heart, as well as catchy and fun. Then there are the songs like Dayglow, which are boring, stupid, and annoying.
Favorite Song: In This City

Suicide Commando - http://www.myspace.com/suicidecommando
More Electro-Industrial. Yes, I know he released stuff before the 90's, but they were tapes, not CD's, so I am no counting them. Anyways, this guy is great, the perfect mixture of anger and slow beats. This guy is destain to be an Electro-Industrial legend.
Favorite Song: We Are the Sinners

Hadoken! - http://www.myspace.com/hadouken
A grindie band from the UK. This band is amazing, combining elements from grime and indie in order to make something that sounds just amazing. Easily one of my favorite recent discoveries.
Favorite Song: That Boy That Girl

Posted: Aug 10 2009 08:41 pm

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=100635
http://www.myspace.com/goblincock

Goblin Cock has to be the greatest band name ever. Bagged and Boarded is a pretty good stoner/doom album and the cover art's great, too.

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=95
http://www.myspace.com/officialfinntroll

Probably my favorite new band, though I heard a bit of Ur Jordens Djup and didn't really like it (I haven't heard the whole album, though). Nattfödd is an amazing album and Trollhammaren and Jaktens Tid are both great.

Posted: Aug 10 2009 10:04 pm

portugal. the man. you can find some on youtube. dont know if they have a myspace or not.

kinch. they're a local band. theyre pretty neat. dont know if they have a myspace or not

Posted: Aug 13 2009 05:07 pm

There's this new band called Astra I've been listening to a lot lately. I'm pretty sure they're around right now, they might be from Pennsylvania or something. I don't really know how to describe it. They do long songs that are mostly instrumental, but have short parts with vocals. I don't know, it's weird but it's good. It sort of reminds me of Deep Purple but I don't know why.

EDIT: They're from San Diego. Here's a description of the music from their website

Quote:

Like a heavy hammer onto anvil, down from Ether's starry meadows, the sounds of ASTRA are engulfing this planet Earth. With their heads floating in the mist of Europe's original psychedelic and progressive eras, ASTRA make timeless music for timeless minds. Their approach is genuine and heartfelt - focusing on melody, symphonic landscapes, cosmic atmospheres as well as raw energy, dynamics and space travel. ASTRA began their space odyssey under the winter sun of San Diego, CA in the year 2001. With the joining of new drummer/multi-instrumentalist David Hurley in 2006 and the recent addition of guitar wizard Brian Ellis, the planets aligned and ASTRA was complete.

Posted: Aug 14 2009 08:30 am

Last year, I picked up on what I thought was a very unique artist called Leeni who I think you guys will really like. She basically does electronic/pop music, but it's all done on a Game Boy and sounds very 8-bit. It's really cool stuff and I definitely recommend her album, 8-Bit Heart, which is excellent.

http://www.myspace.com/leenimusic

Posted: Aug 14 2009 08:49 am

Punk: Cheeky, Bomb The Music Industry
Metal: Pax Cecilia
Electronica: Justice, Crystal Castles, LCD Soundsystem
Indie: Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire, Kaiser Chiefs.

Those are my recommendations that kick ass.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Nekkoru, BTMI! is a great band, and it doesn't hurt that they give their music away for free.

Posted: Aug 14 2009 01:44 pm

I know, right? Cheeky are on the same label as these guys, so they're also free... And so is Pax Cecilia.

Posted: Aug 14 2009 09:42 pm

Nekkoru wrote:

Electronica:Crystal Castles

Abso-frakkin'-lutely seconded. They don't get the recognition they deserve.

Posted: Aug 15 2009 06:37 am

I want your babies, Cameron. I want your babies.

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

Most of you will probably know these. If you do whatever, if you don't here you go!

Mr. Bungle - Experimental Band from California, Frontman is Faith No More singer Mike Patton and is one of his many side projects. They've split up now but i would encourage a listen at least once. Their live shows are absolutely hilarious:

Mr Bungle - Egg with Medley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME9d2H4WWU0

Hella - Math rock/Noise duo from California. Absolutely amazing, complex. You really need to see it for yourself.

Republic of rough and ruin: unbelievably tight performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX_Ayqu7VIw

Posted: Aug 15 2009 12:36 pm

"The Advantage"

Syd-Middle
Vald-Far Right
Jeebus-Drums
Zarack-Far Left

Posted: Aug 22 2009 09:09 pm

We were a little sloppy that night. We've been better.

Joined: Nov 02 2008 Posts: 725

If you're looking for new artists, not just bands, NewGrounds Audio Portal can be a goldmine on this matter, and the music's public domain and free. Even if it's one of the most well-known sites on the internet, it's a good suggestion. I got several of my songs there.