Help please. Who/what should I be listening to? Have totally lost my musical way.

[mintymellons]

Right, I'm 38 and more or less up until having kids (so around the age of 30) I was pretty interested in music and had a fair idea of what was around and what I liked. In my late teens and twenties, I was quite into indie stuff, both old and new. I was a big fan of the Manchester bands like Ride, The Stone Roses, Charlatans and so on, but also liked house music, acid jazz and that kind of thing. I went to a lot of gigs at uni and had a large CD collection.

Anyway, fast forward to now, and I don't really have a clue who or what is worth listening to these days. I think my tastes have remained fairly similar although I might add that I like a bit of a folky sort of sound now too.

I'd love to have some ideas for when I go on iTunes!

Thank you

I'm 29 and listen to Alma Cogan, Doris Day and lots of '50s Doo Wop...so probably not much help, but I think nowadays Mumford and Sons seem to be all the rage for the indie crowd....quite a folky sound too.

I think there are apps you can get that suggest new music to try if you tell it what you already like. I think there is one called SuperSonic, that looks at what is already in your iTunes and suggests stuff based on that.

Thanks cat. Your musical taste sounds good to me. Nice to be different.

listen to Radio 6music, they do a lot which follows that kind of stuff.

They're playing a lot of Tim Burgess (from the Charlatans)
new stuff at the moment.

Morning shows are brilliant. I got dressed listening to Aphex Twin on there this morning!

Are you in Manchester, just asking cos of the bands you mention. I am and listen to XFM. They play a lot of indie, eg Smiths, Pulp, Smashing Pumpkins, through to Arctic Monkeys, Oasis; and have introduced me to new bands/singers like Alt J, Everything Everything, Frightened Rabbit. You can listen online.

Ps. I'm 45 but don't think age comes into it.

Thank you. No, not in Manchester, was just a child of the nineties!

Sorry to bump but am in the same position and second radio 6, Craig Charles & Huey Lewis do fantastic funk n soul shows. Love the morning show too.

At the risk of being an old fogey I don't get what the 'sound' now is meant to be. Far too overproduced. Am 31 and haven't listened to anything for about 3 years

Flicked iTunes on tonight though and they have a top albums of the 70's genre and its everything I can remember sneaking a listen to from my parents record collection. Nostalgic stuff!

Will try that ap- let us know OP if you've hit on anything

Have you been on Grooveshark? If you go on there and play a few artists which you like it will suggest you loads of other music that you might like, I've found it quite good.

Based on what you say you like, have a listen to The National. Their most recent album was great x

I second XFM, on digital radio nationally as well as in London and Manchester.

Check out Peace as well, they are new but sound v shoegazey.

Last albums bought:
Lana del ray
P!nk
Mariachi el Bronx
Amy MacDonald
ELiza Doolittle
Gurrumul yunupingu
Ellie Goulding
Morrisey
And anEdith Piaf ( some random selection rather)

Marilyn Manson. That is all.

There's so much hidden music around if you have time to explore on YouTube! I found this great comp where you can look at what people are listening to nowadays pinterest.com/pin/447897125411682593/

if you want to reach right back to your childhood and throw in some folky stuff, there's a label called trunk records that re-releases things like original music from anything from the very folky "Bagpuss" compositions through to the very creepy "Wickerman" soundtrack.

Then there's very odd band "Circulus" who combine mellotron keyboards with medieval instruments!

House music according to my much younger work colleague went through a manic phase, but actually coming back to the sort of tempos played in the 90s, though I doubt big-beat/acid jazz will ever be as big. one quirky find from 1997 is a free tape Fatboy Slim did for the NME which can now be downloaded legitimately from their website and it's a crazy studio mix of very obscure but very good tracks from the early Big beat scene. it's on called Fatboy Slim "Beats up the NME".

Try 'above and beyond' acoustic album. A masterpiece with amazing vocal talents.

Solange Knowles and Vampire Weekend - hope you're still out there ...........

The one act that everyone at work from the age of 18-50 agrees on is Passenger. Brilliant.

Get Spotify

Start on stuff you like already, and look at the suggested related artists.

Blinkbox app is fab... You tune into a station, eg charlatans, and it pays you a mix of similar artists. You then click on a heart if you like a song and it starts compiling a list for you.

Also, Bastille are amazing.

I listen to all sorts so don't subscribe to a certain sound. Currently listening to Cesaria Evora, Ella Fitzgerald, the Zutons, Dexys Midnight Runners so quite an eclectic mix.

Enjoy discovering.