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Music recs for someone with particular (read fussy) tastes?


mori child

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Hi everyone,

 

I'm a musicky sort of person, and I like music that is unusual and exciting in certain specific ways. My tastes span a lot of genres, but usually there are only a few artists within those genres who do the things I like, so if I use music recommendation services like gnoosic or Pandora or whatever I end up getting mostly stuff that doesn't do much for me.

 

I was sitting around the other day, and I compiled a list of all the criteria that I think make a song interesting. I'd really like to share it and ask for recommendations, but I haven't found many music recommendation forums online -- I thought there would be more! And I'm aware that this is a kind of arrogant thing to do, posting a list of wildly specific musical criteria and then asking for recommendations... but on the other hand it would be so great to get some recommendations that I really enjoyed. I don't know, does anyone have advice about this? I'm going to include my list of musical criteria in the spoiler below in case you're interested.

 

Spoiler

Here are things that I like in music:

  1. Extended chords, or anything more complex than triads, especially major or minor 7th chords
  2. 8 bit
  3. Synths, especially 80s style
  4. Strange or unexpected modulations (chromatic mediant modulations for example)
  5. Words in a foreign language or nonsense lyrics
  6. Vocal harmonies
  7. Acoustic stringed instruments, especially non Western or what you might call "world" instruments
  8. Strongly dissonant or even atonal moments
  9. Instruments that "pop" and then leave a beat or two of total silence -- digital black
  10. Vocaloid or digitized voices
  11. Melodies with a really wide range or that jump around a lot
  12. Found sounds or "tactile" sampling
  13. Polyrhythms or odd time signatures
  14. Brazilian beats, or otherwise groovily syncopated beats
  15. Simple, straightforward, or naive vocal style
  16. Syncopation in general
  17. Prominent vocal melodies
  18. Triplets in a duple meter
  19. Various traditional vocal styles from different countries (especially with trills or interesting melisma)
  20. Multi-layered or complex background orchestration
  21. A silly, strange, sad, or happy mood
  22. Detuned instruments

Things I do not like in music:

  • Too much distortion
  • Words in English, generally -- (I'm not sure why this is; maybe it distracts me from the music)
  • "Belting" vocal style
  • The vocal style that I most often hear in alternative music... I don't know how to describe it other than the singers always sound bored and/or whiny
  • Harmony that is too static

 

Finally, some examples of songs that meet many of my personal criteria. You'll notice that the majority of these are Japanese. I don't know if I happen to appreciate musical things that Japanese music does, or if Japanese music happens to include things that I appreciate. Anyway, I like a lot of Japanese music.

 

This song hits criteria numbers: 2, 4, 5, 10, 16, 17, 21

 

This song hits criteria numbers: 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22

 

This song hits criteria numbers: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13,15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22

 

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Fitting your requirements for 1, 4, 8, sometimes 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20,  and 22, I would definitely try listening to Dal Niente (link).  They're an experimental "orchestral" group.  They often use found instrumental like media samples/typewriters/glasses/whatnot in the layering for a neat effect.  Try a few different clips--they do several styles. 

 

Kronos Quartet (link) also hits a lot of these marks, but has a bit too much sample looping and is a bit too dissonant for my taste.  You may like it though.

 

As for '80s style synths (and many more numbers), you can't go wrong with the Doors (link)

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EmotionalAndroid

I don't know that it fits all your qualifications, but I think you may like Omodaka's music. He combines Enka (traditional Japanese music) with 8-bit EDM music. The vocals are usually digitized/autotuned, too.

 

Here are a few of my favorites that you may like:

 

 

 

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a minor triad

Funny. While I was reading through your list, I was thinking Japanese music would be your best bet, and then I got to the bottom of your post. Haha! Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with any music that fit your requirements besides the limited Japanese music I am familiar with.

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19 hours ago, EmotionalAndroid said:

I don't know that it fits all your qualifications, but I think you may like Omodaka's music.

I laughed when I saw this post -- I adore Omodaka! Also, thank you Heart Of Darkness, for the recommendations. I will check them out!

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