Would love some recommendations

Hey all. New to the forum, but not the archive. Man I love this place. Anyway, I'm having a bit of rough time finding new artists that really reach out and grab me anymore. Granted I'm starting another archive rabbit hole as I type this so that's bound to change, but I thought that it couldn't hurt to ask anyway.

Sigh is a great band throughout its various phases, great metal sound combined with some really bizarre ideas. If you want some really weird stuff, listen to Igorrr, who adopt a style that they call Baroquecore, breakcore with baroque, with Hallelujah being their album that I consider best. 

I can think of a few great newer albums with different degrees of ambient elements. There's Ecailles des Lune from Alcest. The Final Breath Before November of Edison's Children. Ego, Georgius and String Theory from Georgius. Remedies from Soup. And Otra Dimensión from Ekos. You didn't mention Porcupine Tree, so just in case I'll throw Coma Divine in as a suggestion. Since you seem to like ambient stuff, perhaps you might like some of the pioneers. I just got to know and love some Jean-Michel Jarre, with Oxigene and Equinoxe. Perhaps even 666, from Aphrodite's Child (one of the first projects of Vangelis). And rather in the wilder side (not ambient at all), the italian YS, from Il Balleto di Bronzo. Last, you mentioned Prog Folk, so I just found out about a band a little while ago which I still have to explore, but seemed very promising, called Horslips. and while we are at folkish stuff, you might want to check Hamburger Concerto, from Focus.

^ Yeah, I thought you should already known PT, though. I wouldn't have been so sure about Alcest.

Hi Pedro,

I have to be honest (I am a determinist after all), it come across to me that you suggest how others should see and approach things quite frequently in a preachy and patronising fashion (I know that I'm guilty of that). You may not wish to "impose" your tastes on others, but by posting such things, you are imposing your perspective on others, and I find it to be a downer.

Can you see how saying something like "Suggestions are for those who are lost" might come across as inconsiderate to someone asking for suggestions? And has it given you pause when others have complained about such things and thought, "Maybe my approach will not be appreciated and I might try something else or just not say anything as it might not be considered helpful in the circumstances"? You seem rather closed off to other people and other people's ideas, and it doesn't come across as empathetic.

We are all different, and as I have often said, I have discovered a huge amount that I loved thanks to the kind people who make suggestions based on what I mention and from people who really do "get" my tastes or I have similar tastes to. A well-aimed suggestion is a a wonderful thing, and so can be a left-field suggestion.

Pedro, perhaps you should come up with with your own thread for such "honesty" because I don't think many people will find it helpful and many will indeed find it off-putting. Maybe Thorin will find that a most excellent post and say "Wow, that's not at all what I was looking for, but you are so right, you really touched my soul, what a great forum this is, a million thanks" but I highly doubt it. It really might discourage people from becoming active members of this community (a worry I've had before when you've posted such things when someone new came looking for recommendations).

As for me, I won't recommend music as I am not into the bands that Thorin listed (I could research to find similar music, and maybe come up with good suggestions even if not to my taste, but that would seem a bit too impersonal for me right now). Incidentally, I don't like CTTE or Tarkus, and that's fine too.

To give good, well-taken advice, be it music or philosophising, one needs to be open-minded and a good listener, and a bit of warmth goes a long way.

I do love reading many of your posts, by the way, but not when it comes to these such posts. Partially it's the tone, and that I don't think it's the place for such musings. I would genuinely love to have dialectic with you on such things (as long as we are actively listening to and thinking about what each other say with open minds, tolerance, humility and compassion in conversation, then I think it could be enjoyable and enlightening), but this is not the right place for it, I feel.

I think it considerate to try to approach the topic in the way that the poster requests (gong off on tangents can be fine, but try to answer the call if one opts to respond for a perspective that one thinks the poster wants from what they write, I would say. Think, "Is this what they are asking for and is this what I think they will appreciate?" based on what they wrote as a general rule of thumb).

EDIT: and of course, thinking more generally, think, "Am I understanding the intent of a post or request and being charitable in interpretation?" "Am I talking at cross-purposes?" "Am I drawing inferences, or assigning wrong-intent, that might not exist outside of my own head?"

-Greg (aka Logan)

Edited by Logan - February 23 2019 at 08:47

I'm assuming that you've never heard of Harmonium - but they're excellent prog-folkers from Quebec.

^ I do love that post and I do now see much better where you are coming from. Thank you. Times have kind of changed and different people have different resources and strategies. I still like to trawl used record stores or charity shops and pick up LPs based on just the cover (one quite often can judge a book by the cover). When I was young I discovered most music because other people would be playing it -- they didn't suggest most of the time, they just put it on. I think the internet generally has taken away a lot of the surprise/ mystery for me, and that hasn't been a bad thing for me. I still get surprises. I often like to know what to expect, at least in general terms. If I am currently into x album, then I am likely to google looking for music with similar qualities. I read the descriptions. In my early days on the internet I was getting albums more blind which led to major disappointments (in one case it was a suggestion, but not a good one as the person didn't know my tastes well enough). I actually do get suggestions some of which are curve-balls that I don't quite know what to expect, especially from one person here, and the music continues to surprise and delight me and that can lead to many of my own discoveries as I go down that rabbit hole, which can lead into a warren of possibilities, but I ramble....

I don't have people in my non-internet life to regularly share the experience of music with, and the sense of discovery, and I find getting and making suggestions can bring a satisfying communal aspect to the experience for me. I'm pleased as punch when someone recommends to me something that I love or find interesting, and I'm extremely chuffed when I make recommendations or mention music that someone else discovers and likes (that to me is a wonderful, affirming thing, even if it might seem shallow to others -- I'm sure I get exposed to far more via the forum than I expose others too). I always like to be learning, diving deeper, and evolving in a sense, and giving and receiving recommendations is one aspect of that journey for me. Also, when someone says I like such-and-such music, I enjoy the process of thinking through what to recommend that person (it can take some heavy thinking, and sometimes some research if I am unfamiliar with the style or act, which might lead me to discover and appreciate new-to-me things).

Partially it's a time and even financial constraint, rather than shots in the dark hoping for something, getting recommendations can be more efficient than searching on ones own. Even if not directly soliciting recommendations or getting ones directed at me, just by searching the internet I'm getting recommendations that even though not addressed to me, tell me that I should like "that" because I like "this".

Sorry for the stream-of-thought post.

Edited by Logan - February 24 2019 at 09:19

Try this new band from Poland - The Third Project. They released their debut album "When Remembrance Becomes A Thing" last year, but so far it is only available on the bandcamp. Especially worth noting are the title track and the 4th track "The Sea of Slaves". Bought it on the spot (fell almost embarrassed paying this little) and made the CD-R of it and it is still spinning.