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Do you have certain genres/bands for certain moods? If so, what are they and why them in particular?
I, personally, have a lot of music I listen to, but I can't just throw anything on when I want to jam. I have certain bands and certain genres whenever I'm feeling strongly one way or the other. Sad usually gets (to name a few) The Smiths, Blue October, or Motion City Soundtrack. Angry gets Periphery, some early Coheed and Cambria, or some early Incubus. Happy might get Weezer, Fleetwood Mac, or Polyphia. To name a few examples.
Or sometimes, I'm just feeling a certain band/sound and nothing else for days at a time. At the moment, it's been Thank You Scientist. If you can't put bands to emotions, what have you stuck on repeat lately?
I have this mental state – call it "intense" – where I'm not exactly angry, but I get pressure inside, in the same way you get pressure inside a furnace burning coal. It makes me very focused, but also pushing the limits of composure. I'm not the kind of a person to break things when I'm angry, but if I could afford to, this would be the mental state where I would break things.
When I get like this, I listen to Rollins Band. It relates the feeling very well, and it helps me come down from it – not entirely, but enough that I can refocus.
Run the Jewels helps me work: it's a familiar-band that I could tune them out, but they have the beat and the rhythm that I like to keep me going.
Other than that, it's specific songs.
I get that, but instead of listening to songs that calm me down sometimes I listen to songs that encourage that. Not all the time though - lets say I need to intensely focus on a monotonous task or I really need to get something done and power through it - those are the moments I really listen to it.
I listen to far too many song varieties to count. I just listen to whatever Spotify recommends to me as I've listened to far too many interesting artists this way than I was listening to the local radio.
EDIT: Some that I'll recommend just to throw it in the mix:
Intense focus music:
Mega Drive - Acid Spit
Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth
FREKT - Richard
Sidewalks and Skeletons - Memory
Perturbator - Hard Wired (Instrumental)
Chill out days:
Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
Silver - Wham Bang Shang-a-lang
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere
Carly Simons - Coming Around Again
And some jazz because why not:
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Chet Baker Quartet - No Problem
Perfect. Thanks for sharing.
Everywhere is such a good song. I always have some Fleetwood in my rotation. Big Love, Everywhere, and Gypsy are my fuckin jams
I get in the same sort of "intense" mood and often listen to Henry Rollins' stuff as well, though I'm more of a Black Flag fan than Rollins Band. Hot Animal Machine is one of my go tos as well. And when I'm in that mood some other favorites of mine are SOAD, Linkin Park and Billy Talent (a fantastic Canadian alt/emo/punk band that I highly recommend checking out).
What's your go-to SOAD album?
All of them! :P SOAD is one of my absolute favorite bands and I listen to them a lot, as well as all of Serj Tankian's solo stuff too. But if you're looking for a good place to start, Steal This Album! would be my recommendation. It's their most underrated album IMO.
Oh, no, I was asking from one fan to another! I love SOAD and share the same sentiment about STA!
Ah, okay, gotcha. Yeah, SOAD are the bomb.
p.s. Did you check out Billy Talent? If you did, what did you think of them? The lead singer used to work at 102.1 The Edge, my favorite Hard Rock radio station here in Toronto, so I have been a fan of them forever now too.
I'm checking them out now, and I dig the hell out of the vocalist! Abrasive and different, but not in a bad way. Kinda reminds me of The Offspring a bit. I really like Fallen Leaves so far
LOL, yeah in my experience people either love Billy Talent or absolutely hate them because of his voice... as you said, it's abrasive and grating but somehow still works and IMO fits the music perfectly. Fallen Leaves is one of my favorite songs too, nice.
And yeah, I can definitely see the Offspring similarity. I used to love Offspring as well, but haven't listened to them in ages. Their albums used to be my go-to driving music way back in high-school. :P
Yeah I'm due for a Smash/Americana listen. Pay The Man and Smash are such good "prog punk" songs.
I definitely see why people would hate it but it seems to be a perfect voice for the style they've got going on. Fits their tone well. Any album in particular you think I should dissect first?
Since you liked Fallen Leaves which is from Billy Talent II, that might be a decent place to start... but I am still partial to their first album just because of the nostalgia factor for me. Their latest album Afraid of Heights is great too... and honestly there really isn't a bad place to start IMO, even their Hits album or live stuff... so you could just go by whatever album art you like the best and still be fine. :P
I went with Billy Talent II. I dig the hell out of Surrender and Cover of Cowardice. Very good songs. I'm gonna give the album a few more listenthroughs before picking another one
Sweet! I'm glad you are enjoying them. :) And yeah Surrender is one of my favorites, too. They are nothing like SOAD, but they scratch that same sort of itch for me, especially when I'm in that "intense", kind of smoldering angry mood. :P
Toxicity.
I wanted to get into Black Flag, but it's too raw for me. It's pure anger, where I'm looking for something more controlled. It's why I like Rollins Band: the main man has matured significantly over the years, and it shows.
Black Flag's songs are a torrent of anger, fitting to punk rock. It's a blast. Me, I'm more of a "West Memphis Three re-recording" kinda guy. The later My War version is exactly what I'm looking for.
Yeah, I prefer super angry/angsty music when I am in my "intense" mood as it helps get those feelings out of my system so I can move past them. So I prefer the younger, angrier Rollins music. ;) But I can totally see why you would be more into Rollins Band if that's the opposite for you.
I definitely feel the "intense" sometimes, too. That's usually when I'll throw on periphery, or NIN's Pretty Hate Machine, or Four Year Strong. Something punchy
I liked Zardonic's remix of The Hand that Feeds. It's a torrent of electronic noise, and it sounds way angrier than the original in terms of the instrumentals.
I plqy an artist discography at a time.
If I want to zone out and focus on something, I put on Autechre. I have a playlist of all of their stuff on Spotify. Quarstice and Exqi are great albums for this.
If I want to chill out, I'll play either Milo (rapper, from Wisconsin on/running Ruby Yacht, not oje of many other acts with a common name), Aphex Twin, Busdriver, Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic (separately, and together as Hail Mary Mallon, their music works great combined), or Open Mike Eagle.
More neutrally, the avove list, plus Rammstein, Soundgarden, deadmau5, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Death Grips, Meshuggah or Mastodon. Extreme music, like Meshuggah or Death Grips doesn't amp me up or anything, I just like the rhythm and texture it provides as a stimulating backdrop to every day. It seems to scratch an itch, in a sense.
When I feel happy, I like upbeat music - especially hits from the 60s or 80s. When I feel sort of low, I prefer to listen to what some people might call 'Gothic' or sad heavy metal ballads. When I'm in a bad mood, I like to hear industrial and hard driving rock. When I'm in a nostalgic mood, I love to put on tunes from the 70s. I have eclectic tastes in music, I can listen to 50s doowop, classical music, old school rap, 90s alternative, etc.