Strange ways to discover awesome music.

[Squeek]

Thought about it on my way home from work.

I'm always interested in finding good music. Something original, something with a good beat, something that really draws my attention away from the standard means of finding music (entire albums / OSTs).

Some of the best songs on my playlist were not discovered on the radio, as the intro to a television show / anime, recommendations from friends, etc. In fact, most of the top songs on my Last.FM prove that music obtained by a strange means is my favorite stuff.

http://www.last.fm/user/MreSqueek/

So let's look at my top tracks.

1) KOTOKO - Wing My Way
2) KOTOKO - Hallucino

Kefit recommended and divulged Wing My Way at the same time I requested the impossibly rare songs from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's, episodes 11 and 12 (aka, the best episodes of an anime in a long long time). Thanks Kefit, it's my favorite song now.

Hallucino came from a friend's level 70 job advance video in Maple Story. Turns out she WAS Japanese / Chinese / Whatever, and KOTOKO was one of her favorite bands. She used Hallucino as the background music for the most unique job advance video ever: Energy Bolt only. While the video lacked in flair, the song fit the style so perfectly. Amazing song.

3) Daft Punk - Revolution 909

Anyone who plays Flash games knows. Squares 2! This song sparked my interest in Daft Punk. I should have known better due to their popularity during my time with "Around the World" on the radio, but I just neglected it in the future.

The next two tracks were simply EDs that I thoroughly enjoyed. "Proof" is one of Angela's best songs, and "Eternal Pose" is the best ending them to One Piece. Go ending theme #15!

6) Jimmy Eat World - 23

Wow, a non-techno non-Japanese song on my playlist?! This song (and #15, "Kill") both came from the same video. It was a Super Monkey Ball world records video (http://www.vortiginous.com/listing.p...ield=datetime). The first and third songs are from Jimmy Eat World, and they are spectacular. 23 especially. I don't care if people call Jimmy Eat World an emo band.

Originally Posted by Wiki

With the release of Bleed American and the subsequent success of second single "The Middle", the band found itself at the center of newfound attention to "emo". For most of the 90s, "emo" had been an underground movement that almost completely evaded major label and mainstream control. Nearly every late-90s emo band that signed to a major label broke up before releasing an album. But where Clarity was seen as the quintessential emo album, Bleed American was a step away from that sound, standing closer to mainstream rock. While songs like the title track were certainly emo-influenced, songs like "A Praise Chorus", "The Middle", and "The Authority Song" clearly were not. However, since the mainstream media had nowhere else to attach the "emo" label, Jimmy Eat World continued to be referred to as an "emo" band, meaning that the term "emo" began to describe something completely different and more mainstream than what existed in the 90s. Major labels pounced, and began signing bands and releasing music that subscribed to this "new" version of emo.

Yeah.

Unranked Track) DragonForce - Fury of the Storm

Haha. You were all talking about DragonForce for such a long time and I did not catch on at all. This is the downside to not being a Stepmania player any longer. Found the song while watching yet another Maple video, even though I had quit months before. The video encapsulated my vision of how the game should have been, and the song only managed to amplify that. It's just coincidental that I discovered DragonForce on the very weekend where I was home alone. Let's just say that anyone walking anywhere near my house would be able to hear it.

Anyway, the point of this is to discover new music through different means. It's a shame I can't find videos to back up some of them, but I'm sure you'll have better luck with yours.

tl;dr: Post songs you discovered in odd ways.

[jewpinthethird]

It's great that you are breaking out of your anime-ost/j-pop shell.

You don't have to read this, but it's pretty interesting...to me at least.

Personally, I have already mapped what shaped my interest in music beginning in the fifth grade. The first CD I ever bought was the Mortal Kombat soundtrack, which mind you, was mostly metal and industral. Then my friend introduced me to ska and punk music which got me interested in reggae and the british punk scene. Another friend introduced me to Daft Punk, though I wasn't into electronic scene yet, I really liked their album Discovery. I then became a nerd and started watching anime and playing ddr so I only really listened to the DDR soundtrack. I also searched for "Japanese Techno" in KaZaA where I found an untitled track. Two years later I found out the track was called Niji by Denki Groove. Many of my friends were into trance and techno and they did influence much of the must I listened too. Car commercials have also influenced my taste in music. I discovered the Wise Guys, Telepopmuzik, Electric Light Orchestra, and the most peculiar of all the Polyphonic Spree. Through the Polyphonic Spree's website I discovered Built to Spill and through Built to Spill I discovered Modest Mouse who is now my favorite band of all time.

Eeeeeeeeeeeh.

[sleeplessdragn]

THe first CD I ever bought was the James bon Goldeneye OST, which I found to be very good. But it was sometime in the 7th grade that a friend of mine showed me Fruity Loops (which he had, by the way, purchased), and I instantly fell in love with electronic production. It was around that time that a friend of mine introduced me to Flogging Molly and the punk scene, as well as me starting to favor the heavier and heavier basses and speeds of DDR music. I think what really influenced my electronic tastes the most was when I first heard Heart of Asia, and it was from that song that my brother showed me the Cynic Project. And finally it was the Cynic Project CD that I was trying to purchase on Amazon as a junior in high school that lead me to finding out about Chicane, who is now one of my favorite artists. I also learned about happy hardcore music and the rave scene sometime in 8th grade, and that has lead me to falling in love with Trixxy, Force and Styles, and old skool Hixxy and Scott Brown. Oh, and of course Sharpnel. Two years ago I discovered Dragonforce through Stepmania, and a few days ago I found the Magister Negi Magi OST through that thread that was posted, which is making me smiley as of right now.

Wow that was long.

[Tasuke]

I first liked only what I heard on the radio, but then I went through the whole "I'm gonna go listen to Techno on my computer" but I've started to go farther and farther from that to where I'd find out about a band, download their music and while searching I'd find a different band or something along those lines, and that band ended up pretty neat. Like, I would search for "Pony Up!" and I would get a song by Minus the Bear called "Pony Up" so i check out Minus the bear find out their pretty neat and voila I've got a new band to listen to. But mainly it's just what i hear from people on the internets which ends up being pretty neat.
Like I am Robot and Proud.

[jewpinthethird]

I am Robot and Proud is super great.

[bobbycat73]

Originally Posted by Squeek

Thought about it on my way home from work.

I'm always interested in finding good music. Something original, something with a good beat, something that really draws my attention away from the standard means of finding music (entire albums / OSTs).

Some of the best songs on my playlist were not discovered on the radio, as the intro to a television show / anime, recommendations from friends, etc. In fact, most of the top songs on my Last.FM prove that music obtained by a strange means is my favorite stuff.

http://www.last.fm/user/MreSqueek/

So let's look at my top tracks.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Unranked Track) DragonForce - Fury of the Storm

Haha. You were all talking about DragonForce for such a long time and I did not catch on at all. This is the downside to not being a Stepmania player any longer. Found the song while watching yet another Maple video, even though I had quit months before. The video encapsulated my vision of how the game should have been, and the song only managed to amplify that. It's just coincidental that I discovered DragonForce on the very weekend where I was home alone. Let's just say that anyone walking anywhere near my house would be able to hear it.

Anyway, the point of this is to discover new music through different means. It's a shame I can't find videos to back up some of them, but I'm sure you'll have better luck with yours.

Ahh, so you saw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkaWI2C70E0

Looking at some of my charts, I see some Kenny G. It was by chance that I found Kenny G and so many other artists, it was at a CD store where I went in to get some metal CDs, Agalloch and Blind Guardian had new releases. I looked over at the jazz section and picked up a John Coltrane greatest hits album, and saw Ultimate Kenny G. Good "reviews" (whatever was written on the CD), and smooth jazz seems nice. I ended up listening to more Kenny G than the metal I intended to get in the first place.

Also, last.fm has helped me a lot in finding new music. Going from smooth jazz of Kenny G, to older jazz like classic John Coltrane or Miles Davis, to baroque composers like Bach, Vivaldi, and Haydn. Then, I found the wonders of video game/anime composers, mostly japanese, and film score producers, Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, Jon Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, Don Davis, the list goes on.

I've seen that I've shifted to more "real music", and I don't mean to say that, but most people consider violins better than screaming and whatever instruments they play in black metal. I don't what to cause controversy with this statement, it's just that there's no other way to say it. All music is music, all genres have good points, and not every artist has one genre.

[DarkVampiress21]

Haha. I've found my favorite bands through Pandora.
www.pandora.com

Pretty nifty. o-o;;

[Moogy]

http://www.last.fm/user/Moogy0

All I listen to now is VGM and anime music. No real interesting stories there, oh well.

PS: Nanoha A's is incredible. Definitely one of the best series ever.

[Squeek]

As an addendum, by a random stroke of awesome, I met one of the guys on my "Neighbors" list. Turns out he was in my friend's dorm. Also turns out he has 2TB of anime. Also turns out he came to visit recently.

PS I probably have the most # of total tracks 8)

[GuidoHunter]

I discovered a few songs from Pandora, but my strangest story was this:

So I was looking for the theme songs for Samurai Pizza Cats. Couldn't find it on LW, so I searched for SPC. Apparently there's a Brazilian band called So Pra Contrariar that's pretty cool, so I got some of their music.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

[Omeganitros]

I dont want to get into my history of discovering music.

But it all started when I got the soundtrack of Tomb Raider: The Movie.

[FluorescentArmy]

Limewire, Friends, Band's Influences, Certain products websites

www.last.fm/user/fluorescentarmy

[Pyroshock]

A year ago or so I opened the trance radio for DI.fm and it was playing Tunnel Trance Force, Volume 29 (disc 2) mixed by DJ Dean, and I loved it, so I decided to search for a place online to buy it.

Amazon.com had a copy, so I ordered it. I loved it, so I ordered another Tunnel Trance Force. After listening to those a long time, I bought a album by DJ Dean off of eBay.

Now pretty much all I listen to is various volumes of Tunnel Trance Force and DJ Dean/other DJs from Europe. Now most American electronic music dissapoints me.

[Shard-Z-One]

OMG one way is simply listen to something other than your everyday band/singer ! thank Limewire and MTV for that...

P.S. Trance owns....Kudos to Alek Szahala!