http://www.etherbeat.com

and

http://www.novaplanet.com
(annoying Parisian ads esp during primetime but their playlist is phenomenal IMHO)

Enjoy!

i know this because ten years ago i was the young’un being exposed to eddie palmieri, early mingus, stevie wonder, dollar brand…while i was deep in my mos def, stone temple pilots, massive attack…

part of they key to never losing your passion for life is to keep the young with you; this happens to apply nicely to music, as well.

excelent post, by the way. it’s good to hear adult voices on the ‘net.

I wanted to address Alex’s complaint from earlier in the post: hearing music you love, in commercials.

Does anyone lose a little part of their soul when Nirvana’s “In Bloom,” plays during that baseball video-game ad?

Or what about “Blister in the Sun,” (Violent Femmes, obviously) being used to hock burgers for some unmemorable fast-food chain?

Boo.

Just getting that off my chest.

http://www.slacker.com (as Joel has already linked)

http://hypem.com

I feel your pain, man. While I do listen to a fair amount of somewhat recent stuff, the overwhelming majority of my collection is from the early-to-mid 20th Century. Primarily jazz and blues, with a lot of early rock, up into the beginnings of classic R&B, funk, psychedelic and proto-punk. After about the mid-1970s everything tapers off. It’s not necessarily that I don’t want to listen to newer stuff, it’s that I’m so busy going back over all this awesome “historical” material (which, in my opinion, is recorded in a way that sounds 100 times better than the slick-as-shit modern standard) that I hardly have time to seek out newer artists.

That said, I find MySpace (sorry, I said it) is actually a pretty good place to just surf around and find cool bands that I might otherwise never have heard of. I’ve found everything from awesome little obscure screaming noise jazz deconstruction bands from Toledo which I never would otherwise have heard of, to bands I probably should have already heard of but had been completely oblivious to (e.g., Wolfmother).

There’s too much good music being created at any given point to be able to parse it all unless it’s your full time job.

There’s so much stuff I want to buy that I already know I’m going to like, why do I want to take a shot with new artists anyway? With jazz, I can’t imagine I’m going to find albums I would like as much as I would if I added to my Art Blakey library, and if you’re talking about some dude and his guitar, who’s better than Dylan? Even after I’m done there, I’ve still got work to do with JJ Cale, Townes Van Zandt and John Prine anyway.

The only way I’ve managed to even try a little to keep up is through recommendations from a friend who sees a ton of live music. She steered me to Jason Molina (okay, I guess) and Jeff Klein (at least he’s not mired in that dude+guitar+minor chord aural soundscape shit that traps a lot of the lazier singer-songwriter types). I did just pick up “Illinoise” by Sufjan Stevens too, so I’ve got that to chew on.

But wouldn’t my $9.99 on iTunes be better spent on Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline?” Am I being too provincial when I’d rather by “GP/Grevious Angel” than finding music by someone with a pulse I might be able to see live someday?

I don’t think I wear this preference like a badge of superiority (i.e., all those MetaCritic end-of-year lists that are filled with bands you’ll never ever hear of just so they can prove their indie cred), but if I know I like Dylan between 64 and 70, why wouldn’t I want to buy all that stuff up? After that, Gram Parsons and maybe from there Emmylou Harris?

I ask this question with all honesty, and not at all in a snarky sort of way: Am I seriously short-changing myself by listening almost exclusively to music that was put under museum glass two or more decades ago?

Also, I usually try to keep tabs over @ http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/, they’ve provided me with more then a few tips on some good bands and they also have a laundry list of links to follow to check out other sites.

And then there is the age old method that I have followed for years, any time I find a relatively new band I will always check out what label they are on and then listen to the other bands on that label. Sometimes its hit or miss, other times it can turn into a goldmine of a listening experience. In addition to this, I will usually check out what bands are coming to town and use that as a way to find some new tunes as well.

But the best way to find the new stuff? You have to get out there. You have to go hear and experience the music first hand. Up and coming bands always play $5/$10/$15 shows. Find out who has the buzz and go check them out. Hit up clubs (if that’s too much, lounges) see what the DJ’s are playing. Talk to them (when they are NOT spinning…).

Maybe it is easier since I have very close friends in touch with the scene but in the end it was our interest in music and culture that brought us together.

Klaxons are a pretty cool new band. Going to go see Junior Boys and Lo-Fi Fnk next Saturday (it also happens to be the Klaxons album release party). And possibly Spank Rock on Thursday. I guess I’m just lucky to be living in Miami during Winter Music Conference…

and there is no shame in thinking that all those listed bands sound the same. you can like new music and still hate that shit.

I’m also tentatively hopeful about http://slacker.com, which is for the moment a Pandora-like streaming station, but will soon add a hardware player with similar capabilities. (Including streaming music channels down to your portable player via satellite. Quite nifty.)