this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2023
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What music genre or artist changed your life?
Like, actually influenced your life going forward?

all 48 comments
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[–] _finger_ 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly it was classical. I had a music appreciation class in high school and the teacher was incredible, ended up being a step by step historical analysis of how music changed over the years and how it’s all connected from Ancient Greece all the way to Tupac. I truly believe that there isn’t another musical genre that has the ability to capture such a wide range of emotions with such pinpoint accuracy as classical music without having to rely on any lyrics to explain what’s going on. What would the musical equivalent of falling down the steps sound like? Losing a loved one? Getting lost in the Sahara? Riding a bike through Paris in 1925? Traveling to different planets? It made me realize how limited other genres are because they’re so stuck in their own mold and can barely wiggle out of the predefined standards of what that genre requires. It doesn’t make that music any less important, but it’s interesting to think about.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Always wanted to get into classical music for this very reason but it's hard to find an entry point. My dopamine seeking brain doesn't help either

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah I don't blame you, the dopamine chasing keeps piano boring

Although, I've personally found some really good melodic hardcore EDM and Speedcore because of it, so that's what I've been aspiring towards

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No man please blame me, I gotta stop this vicious cycle of not being able to enjoy things I'm curious about

[–] _finger_ 1 points 1 year ago

If you don’t like it then you don’t like it, no need to be hard on yourself for thinking you should like something. I’m the complete opposite; I feel like I should be listening to more popular genres so I can enjoy it with others, but most of the time I just can’t. It’s left me lonely with the music I love, although sometimes I come across others who have similar interests. It feels like trying to force feed myself food that I can’t stand. So.. I just said fuck it and stopped trying

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You might enjoy Karl Haas' Adventures in Good Music radio show. There are some preserved on the internet archive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Sounds good! I'm going to listen it on the way to work tomorrow morning!

[–] _finger_ 1 points 1 year ago

Start with newer film scores that have 100% live orchestras (Zimmer and most modern film scores would be the opposite of this) and work your way backward.

John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elliot Goldenthal, Danny Elfman - most these men utilize classical composition and most of their scores feature live players with small exception.

Think about why you listen to your favorite music and what meaning you get out of the music. Is it to project an image of yourself to other people so they understand you? Do you listen to stay current? What are you listening for? A beat? Dissonance? Do you have to turn the music up so loud that you can physically feel it in order to… emotionally feel it? Why? Is a whisper not as powerful as a scream? What does silence mean to you? What does sadness sound like to you? Joy? Bravery? Betrayal? Jealousy? -These were all questions my music appreciation teacher asked us.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hearing ambient for the first time (specifically Eno's Music for Airports) was an epiphany. It fits the inside of my head.

[–] START9 1 points 1 year ago

Same except it was Tycho for me.

[–] udes1516 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Blackgaze, in my case. Listening to Holy Fawn is just....I cant describe.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Deafheaven opened my eyes in many ways. Sunbather was so original sounding when it came out

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

For me it was „deathgaze“ Strongly recommend the Band Kardashev

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Holy Fawn is so fucking good.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Arcade Fire saved me from religion and now speaks to me on a religious level. M83 speaks to me on a celestial level. Both have deepened my love for music.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

The first album I heard from M83 was Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, and it's been my favorite ever since. Highly recommend playing that one front to back if you have the time, it's an adventure.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

This might sound stupid as hell, but vaporwave music. It captures the essence of a feeling I've had since the mid 2000's, but could never articulate in words. Then I read this thing about its anticapitalist roots, and I felt even more seen.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I was listening to Jonathan Coulton on the drive to an unfulfilling job that I probably would have just kept doing forever because change is hard and scary. I was sitting there that day with “A Talk with George” stuck in my head on a loop.

Don't live another day unless you make it count
There's someone else that you're supposed to be
'Cause something deep inside of you that still wants out
And shame on you if you don't set it free

That was the day I walked out the door, sent in my resignation, and started a career that made a lot better use of my skills.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Shoegaze and dream pop.

I will always remember the first day I listened to the otherworldly guitars of my bloody valentine, or the combination of the haunting dreamy vocals and guitars of Cocteau Twins.

I did not know music could sound so mystical and magical. It’s like being in another world’s soundscape.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Huh. Never heard of this before and so far it's... Interesting. Side note, I have ADHD and autism so if this sounds negative or judgy that's not my goa l- I'm not trying to come across as negative here, just sharing my first experience of this.

First few songs I've found and the overall sound is kinda grating on me, there's a lot of dissonance and it feels like all the instruments and vocals are competing with each other for my attention. The vocals sound like the singers are too far away from the microphone and turned down too far in the mix, but still trying to compete with the (already loud+dissonant) rest of the track. It almost feels like unorganized chaos in a musical trenchcoat if that makes sense.

I had to turn off the playlist I found after four songs, my head is already so noisy that something so loud (broadband noise if that makes sense) makes me feel horrible.

I don't like to hate on music, and I find that there's some artistic merit to most genres... But this feels in my head like anti-art, I think? Where it's clear that the people making it have talent and ability and are using it to purposely make something unsettling.

Can you expand on what's supposed to make this enjoyable? I want to appreciate the artistic value but I'm really struggling to find it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Hello there Hexarei. I am glad you checked it out and found it at the very least interesting. I get nervous in real life when i introduce Shoegaze to people, because I am afraid they will think it sounds…off. And then I have difficulty explaining why it sounds great to me.

Okay, I am going to assume you listened to My Bloody Valentine. The music sounds hazy and distorted, and the vocals and lyrics are unclear.

This is because the they use a lot of guitar pedal effects (reverb, delay, distortion, etc) and specific tunings to achieve the wall of sound. The vocals are buried along side the guitar effects, as it is meant to be part of the “sound”, like the vocals are another instrument in the song. The melodies are buried under all that wall of sound.

I admit MBV can sound distortion heavy and intimidating, especially their earlier stuff, where it has that punk rock energy vibe.

The beauty of Shoegaze is that there are many varieties or flavours. Some are noisy and have more emphasis of distortion, while some focus more on the droning post rock vibe, and there are others that are more mellow and chill. But it’s all to achieve that specific textured sound. That dreamy atmosphere feel, being half awake at 3am.

Maybe you can try something more mellow and chill like Slowdive

Or something more poppy like Chapterhouse

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Fuckin love MBV, it's like a massage for your brain.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I wasn’t really in to music until a friend introduced me to Dragonforce. Little did I know that would be my gateway band to all sorts of metal genres. Depending on the mood I now mostly listen to atmo black, folk, prog, melo death, and of course power still holds a special place.

[–] MiddleWeigh 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Punk > indie > hip hop > jazz, roots, Americana, > all

I play music and I love almost all music styles as long as there is a weighty performance and evokes the human spirit.

There is just something about creation itself that I find beautiful, and there is no one genre or artist that changed my perspective.

If there was it'd be this band Subtle. That informed a lot of my ideas on what good art even means.

My favorite guitar player is Richard Thompson.

I have a bunch of fav drummers, buy anyone who's got soul is worth a listen.

I think that's the point. There is no best, there is only you.

I think poetry changed my musical identity more than music itself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Deftones. Been my favorite band when I first discovered them and that hasn't changed the past decade or so

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@slin 1000 days is heartbreaking, but I'm more of the Perfect Cycle kind of guy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Same. Also Puscifer!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

MOD/S3M and demoscene tunes from the early 90s. Moved to electronic music as the genre matured. Never looked back for over 30 years. Still have an archive of all of the tracker tunes from back then.

[–] kender242 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The devs for Star Control 2 asked mod artists to submit tracks for their game soundtrack. Hearing the complex dum beats and haunting melodies drift out of my tiny PC speaker in the early 90's while playing the game was my first introduction to MOD/XM/S3M music.

Long live fast tracker 2!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Punk.

I'd been pondering a change in career anyway, but I was at work one hot summer's day, sweating my arse off, listening to my tunes on the stereo in the workshop. Pennywise - Same Old Story came on and something clicked in me. Cycled past a tiny local radio station on the way home, went in to ask how to volunteer my help, and a couple of months later I was starting on a radio production degree.

That track still fires me up to this day.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

@DJDarren Oh yeah, Punk never died. It changed me completely.

[–] QuarterSwede 2 points 1 year ago

My church’s choir, went to school to become a recording engineer because of that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Jrock, specifically The Pillows, which lead to dozens of other jrock band discoveries. I don't listen to it much anymore but it defined me and my friends from the years 16-26

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Kobaryo and Speedcore

Half the reason I've picked up music as a hobby

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I can't pick just one band, however, I clearly remember the first time I listened to

  • Black metal as a genre
  • Aphex Twin
  • Aenima by Tool
  • Traversee by Year of no light
  • Black Sabbath
  • Industrial Rock in general and Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails in particular
  • Hyperballad by Björk

I'm sure there are more if I think for longer.

[–] Kyoyeou 1 points 1 year ago

Shaka Ponk The fact that's it's been 12 years where and I have 1200 hours of listening them in those years, they are my taste

But they have also accelerated the importance of ecology and taking care of our planet on their social medias back when I was on Instagram l

[–] Piecemakers3Dprints 1 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Rare Americans. Baggage and moving on are the two songs that had a large influence when going through a divorce.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Terrorvision were the first rock band I heard and was like, 'this is it'. In was sat on the floor in the living room listening to the radio on big ass 80's headphones and Alice What's the Matter came on. I was hooked and from then on I've been a rock and guitar fan. You just can't beat a good overdriven rock guitar sound it's magical.

[–] muaveri 1 points 1 year ago

When I discovered somafm, it just blew my mind. In that moment I understood that there was a whole new world out there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

For ne that was "Cantautorato". That's the equivalent of the singer-songwriter, but in Italy it's so cool. It's a genre that talks about the people, living conditions, daily life, humble loves, collective politics...