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What's an album/artist that you love that you'd never expect yourself to like?
The best one that comes to mind for me is the album Brother, Sister by Mewithoutyou. I don't really like any other Post-Hardcore album and I really can't get into most other albums by Mewithoutyou, but I've probably listened to this one close to a hundred times.
Death Grips
They were angry to the point of being an internet joke, essentially. It seemed like the kind of angsty teenage stuff that I thought I'd outgrown. Like RATM but with rap. Turns out I was wrong. I listened to Ex-Military beginning to end and I loved every goddamn second.
...Isn't RATM pretty rap-heavy?
Anyway, the biggest issue with Death Grips is definitely their fanbase. They act like DG are some supernaturally experimental force in music, when in reality, they're just a band that combines the experimental sides of hip-hop, punk, and electronic music. I love them though, the only album of theirs I don't listen to at least once every couple of months is Bottomless Pit.
I guess RATM is kinda rap-adjacent.
And yeah, I haven't interacted with the DG fanbase at all. Fanbases tend to ruin my enjoyment of things, most of the time.
Rap is the technique of delivering lyrics as some form of spoken word. RATM isn't hip-hop, but Zach de la Rocha is a rapper.
Have you checked out Run the Jewels yet? They're often considered to be the RATM successor. More cartoony but also more accessible than Death Grips.
To be honest, I don't agree with it either but a lot of people seem to get sold on them based on the idea, so maybe it works for some people when used as a recommendation.
I love RTJ, I've been listening to them for years.
Listening now -- I actually dig the rap and the beats on the album, but I can do without some of the more blaring repetitive alarms and horns.
6/10 better than I expected. I'll try to give it some more listens!
See the blaring was kinda what I ended up digging. It was just so...aggro. I loved it.
Every album of theirs is distinct from the others. They're all abrasive, industrial hip-hop with varying levels of rock/punk influence, but Exmilitary is their most hip-hop, The Money Store is very clean and not overly abrasive, No Love Deep Web is paranoid and electro-y, so on and so forth. I recommend listening to each of their albums in chronological order if you get into them.
Pink Floyd. When I started listening to them I knew just about the main songs like Another brick in the wall etc. (which I now see as a bad rep for the whole artist) And couldn't really feel it, but after making myself listen to Dark Side a lot from a recommendation from a friend, I really got into it and find them one of my favourite artists I listen to.
Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands. I think one of my favorite albums of theirs is Meddle, which it seems most people have never heard of.
My favorite is the Division Bell, but damn, the first track on Meddle is sooo goood.
Well, I haven't either so I'll look at that. Cheers :)
Edit: I really need to listen to more of their albums, was only really listening to Dark side and Wish you were here before. Was put off a bit from the wall. So much other great stuff. Thanks
I like everything Robyn has done, which is odd for me considering I rarely listen to any pop. I am almost entirely on metal, hardcore, post-hardcore, punk, metalcore, etc. I am also a straight guy that can't dance to save my life. But, for some odd reason Beats Music (remember them?) recommended Body Talk to me one day and I took a flyer on her and I've been a fan ever since.
This is the exact kind of response I was hoping to see -- something completely different from what people normally listen to!
Glass Animals debut album didn't seem all that interesting to me upon listening to a few songs of theirs, but man, that album is great.
Similarly, I did not expect to like the band Lucius very much, but their first 3 albums (haven't heard their 4th release, which is primarily acoustic covers) are incredible from start to finish. My wife and I used their cover of the Kinks' song Strangers as our wedding song
I've never heard of Lucius before, but I really like Glass Animals. I threw on the first playlist that google offered me, and I've been digging it. It reminds me a bit of the Kossoy Sisters, which I've liked since I heard them on "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Decent playlist too. But I think you'd do well to listen to their albums from start to finish.
Lucius' vocalist has an amazing voice! I feel like I hear her on public radio a lot, but sometimes female vocalists in this style (Camera Obscura; She & Him; etc.) kind of blend together in my head.
Your comment reminds me what I love about Lucius. There are two vocalists Holly and Jess who are just the perfect complement to each other. Had I never seen them live (or on youtube I guess), I could be convinced it was one girl who double tracked everything. I mean it's obviously more than one voice, but their sound is different than even a vocalist with background vocals because it's always on -- they're always singing as one. They even wear matching outfits.
If you're not already familiar, I recommend their Tiny Desk appearance for checking out the intense fashion if nothing else.
The Kinks, definitely.
I never really cared for You Really Got Me or All Day And All Of The Night. Lola I did enjoy but didn't make me investigate further.
As I was getting more into music I explored Abit more of their discography and came to love it. They had so many different kinds of projects over the years, and Ray Davies' writing style is great in my opinion. Been my favorite band for a while now.
Aw, no way! The Kinks are pretty good, but I've only heavily listened to Arthur and haven't explored much more, admittedly.
Arthur is actually my personal favorite though I'd say Muswell Hillbillies has the highest quality of all their stuff. But don't forget to check out Give The People What They Want from their 80s come back, that's some good stuff.
I'm not sure about loving their music, but Grimes stands out in my library that otherwise consists of hip-hop, post rock, and jazz. What can I say, she's a good songwriter who utilizes some inventive techniques.
I'm not really into pop either (aside from some (usually more experimental) indie pop, like EDEN), but I listened to a bit of Dua Lipa and liked New Rules. I can't quite put my finger on it, but New Rules reminded me a lot of another artist or song I've heard before - the drop sounds really familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
The closest I can think of right now is Bishu, but it's not exactly who I'm thinking of. You might like Bishu - Machine or Bishu - Eyes Wide Open, they're the first songs that come to mind.
Ooo ooo, I have a great answer to this: Shpongle. When I got into electronic music, it started with heavy hitters like Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem, Pretty Lights, etc. etc. A few years later, I'm listening to My Head Feels Like a Frisbee unironically at 3 AM late nighting after a concert. It was almost a joke when we first discovered Shpongle, then we realized, hey this music is weirdly entrancing.
I once saw Shpongle at a one-eyed man's birthday party (local music promoter) that was hosted at a bowling alley/skating rink - they even had a bouncy castle you could jump in across the stage. The line to get in was taking so long and we had to pee so badly that we bribed the cops working security $5 each to skip it. Arguably the most surreal night of my entire life and insanely weird crowd. I'm pretty sure the place was not vetted for fire safety and that we would have died if a fire had started due to the overcrowding and lack of designated exits. Life on the edge, I guess. Stay Shpongled.
OP, if you're actually going through and listening to links, at least get through the turn of My Head Feels Like a Frisbee about 4 mins in. It becomes electronic salsa music after that.
Die Antwoord.
Absolutely amazing artists. I really didn't want to like them, but I just couldn't help it. It was Fatty Boom Boom that got me in the end. Then I had to go back and give them a proper chance. Fucking amazing band.
This is a great answer! I remember seeing them and saying out loud they were gonna suck, but I actually didn't hate them
They're like a drug, once you latch on to a song of theirs a whole new (really weird) world opens up, you can stop listening. Their music videos play a big part too.
I find that most of the best music takes a while to get into. When. I look back at my favourite bands, they're usually the ones I didn't like in the beginning.
This seems like an album I'd never seek out, but I'm actually digging it a lot!
I used to go to every mewithoutYou show I could. They were amazing live, and I've probably seen them a dozen times.
I haven't really cared much for anything they've done since Brother, Sister, but I wore out those first few albums for sure. Catch For Us The Foxes is great. I'm surprised you can't get into that album if you like Brother, Sister. They're very similar.
Catch For Us The Foxes is the only other album I've heard from them that I kind of like, but not to nearly the level of Brother, Sister
I feel like they'd be astounding live though, whatever they played.
Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring. Did not like their late era post-rock albums at all, had no idea that they made poppy stuff like on The Colour of Spring before I just decided to listen to it based off how I thought the cover was cool. Ended up liking it way more than their other albums.
This is awesome -- reminds me a lot of a lighter XTC!
Bolt Thrower. I'm not one for metal, but by god do I love Bolt Thrower. It's weird, but it's the only metal band I can truly appreciate. I can't put my finger on it, but for me it's the "calm" aggression that makes me like it: slow enough to be calm, but rough enough to be aggressive. It's hard to explain.
Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
Florence and the Machine - Everything they've done
I had never properly given them the time of day in the 10+ years they've been active then a couple of years ago I listened to a few of their songs and was hooked (both artists). Listen to them constantly now.