Suggest new music for me!

[TheFoo]

After a nearly decade-long hiatus, I am trying to listen to new music. Essentially, my taste and knowledge stopped evolving when I graduated from college (2004). I grew up listening to 90's alt-rock (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, etc.), which I still very much love. In college, I liked the Strokes, the White Stripes, and Wilco (one of my absolute favorite bands).

Now what?

I find that most indie rock is too weak and/or gimmicky for me. I ******* hate Arcade Fire. ******* awful. Generally, I prefer electric guitars to sound like electric guitars. I like vocals to lead and cut through the instrumentation. That's not to say I can't be happy with electronic music. What I can't ******* stand is when band's deploy a twelve-piece orchestra for novelty's sake (which is to say, every single time).

Some more recent bands I'm enjoying: Arctic Monkeys, the Black Keys, Rival Sons, etc. I guess garage/blues rock, essentially.

Suggestions? Please feel free to push me in a new direction. But if there is excessive whistling, eccentric instrument use, or general cuteness, count me out.

 

[raoulduke]

Take this with a grain of salt as it's a noob post but I have been lurking about this forum for a fairly decent stretch of time. From what you've mentioned about your tastes in music, which I'd say are fairly similar to those of my own, I'd recommend The Walkmen and B.R.M.C. (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club). Both aren't particularly new and The Walkmen have somewhat recently announced that they are on permanent hiatus, however they are what I have progressed onto listening to after thrashing a lot of the bands/albums that you said formed the foundation of your music collection. As they've both been around awhile you may well have come across their music and found it not to have been to your liking. If so, then I apologise and you can ignore the following recommendations. If you haven't however had the chance to listen to their respective back catalogues, I reckon there's a fair bit to explore given the fact that both bands have gone through different "phases" throughout their history. Anyway, without further ado, some song recommendations to get you started:

The Walkmen - Four Provinces


The Walkmen - I lost You


The Walkmen - Heaven


The Walkmen - The Rat


The Walkmen - If Only It Were True


(Majority of songs from their album, You & Me)



B.R.M.C. - Spread Your Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcQ8PsbKnqo


B.R.M.C. - Howl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DQot33XoQ


B.R.M.C. - Beat The Devil's Tattoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn9C1vKd7Gc


B.R.M.C. - Devil's Waiting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iasbeJLOi5E


B.R.M.C.- Mercy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU5Ab9zHvM0

(I've tried to include songs that show their "range". If you do some more listening you'll find a really eclectic bunch of songs, from old school blues to synth heavy rock)



I hope you find something that appeals to you amongst these songs and if not, good luck in your continued search. There's good music out there but it's often buried under mountains of mundane, mediocre and generic garbage. A veritable needle in haystack.