Brazilian music is famous worldwide — from bossa nova, to choro, to samba.
Bossa is cool, choro is amazing, but my favorite things about samba is that despite being “pop music” it still has complex rhythms and harmonies.
My top favorite thing is the prevalence of the 7 stringed guitar and their use of counterpoints (i.e., parallel melodies).
I love how what (I think) started as guitarists just playing harmonies, turned into them improvising bass lines and counterpoints every once in a while, which eventually became them doing MOSTLY counterpoints and bass lines and barely playing the harmony lmao.
These bass lines and counterpoints, from what I understand, are often times arpeggiations of the chords and so forth, but they add such an amazing effect to the music.
Examples:
- This guy solo playing over a recording.
- This solo guitar + singer.
- Most music by Cartola which features the absolute timeless 7 stringed legend Dino. This one is a classic.
Post-hardcore. Typically 90’s old school like Fugazi and Hot Water Music, and then especially 2010s style “the wave” Touché Amore and La Dispute.
Not the 2000s style that veered into emo and Metalcore territory. Although there were some fantastic bands around that time that experimented with the classic sound, like Thrice and At The Drive In, and an obviously earlier example of that being Refused.
The combination of hardcore punk with slow and mid tempo breaks, throw in spoken sections or poetry. If it’s done right it’s just beautiful and makes you feel everything.
But if it’s done wrong, it’s so bad, don’t even bother. Honestly, for me, there’s so many 2000s-era bands that are unlistenable, and to me don’t even fit the genre as far as what came before and after them. But everything changes and people experiment with different sounds.
And it’s such a flexible genre, you have bands that take post-hardcore sensibility and turn it into indie rock, like Manchester Orchestra.
’90s*
You might like Mewithoutyou
Yes
Technical Death Metal. Depending of the band you get this ridiculously crazy and sophisticated instrumentalism and polyrhythmic beats like Archspire, other times you get more progressive, experimental groups like Blood Incantation that mix and match genres and soundscapes.
In fact, the newest album from Blood Incantation is a good example of that, one moment you’re listening to fast blast beats and then it suddenly takes a hard turn into pink floyd and slowly starts crescendoing back into fast Death Metal over the next couple of minutes. It’s an absurd aural experience to say the least, but I really like experimental music that pushes boundaries even when it doesn’t totally work.
Ok I was curious. I’m not a metal fan in the slightest but I gave Archspire a listen. That was really cool! Felt like an evolution of Polyipha. I probably won’t listen to them again but I really enjoyed hearing it for the first time - excellent recommendation!
Same. I also ended up looking into Blood Incantation. Apparently they recently released a twenty minute video. I watched some of it. Definitely cool.
Not necessarily a favourite but I have a lot of time for Drone Metal - classic example would be ØØ Void by Sunn O))). You can stick on a pair of headphones and the world ceases to exist.
I’ve seen them live! It was fucking incredible. I’m only sort of into metal but I love this kind of music. Admittedly, I don’t follow them much, listen to them often, or know a lot about their discography. But… been listening to ØØ Void for the past 20 minutes. So good, thanks.
Checkout Earth if you haven’t - Earth- Hex, or printing the infernal method
Folk music. I love the sound, obviously, but I also love the way it’s not so much about writing songs as learning them, taking something from the past and carrying it into the future.
Great description.
What are some of your favorites? I adore folk and am always looking for more recommendations
I would recommend The Arcadian Wild
Powerpop. What’s not to like? Jangly guitars, vocal harmonies and killer hooks.
Dreampop is just so relaxing to listen to. It makes you feel like you’re floating on a cloud.
Witch house is also relaxing to listen to. It makes you feel like you’re about to be sacrificed by a death cult.
You have great taste
’80s (new wave, synthpop, post punk) – unadulterated nostalgia
“We don’t search for old songs,
we search for old memories.”Blues, because it has so widely influenced other forms of music.
“The blues has become the basis for nearly every form of American popular music over the past 100 years: jazz, R&B, rock, hip-hop.”
My favorite new blues tune:
Drum N Bass
Yup, you’ve got everything from chilled liquid, to pop-like anthems, to full on neuro and dark step. Love it.
I love many genres of music, so the open ended creativity in the downtempo electronic scene is where I usually find myself regularly being rewarded with something that feels new. Any genre or mix of many can be worked in and explored with the gloves off. And I love deep groovy bass work.
I also can’t get enough of electronic downtempo/chillout/lounge music, mainly prefer instrumental stuff but if it’s gotta have vocals then make them female. got any artist recommendations? I love all the old Pork Records stuff (Fila Brazillia, Baby Mammoth, Leggo Beast, Bullitnuts), and Elektrolux records (Fresh Moods, Guardner, Index ID, Naoki Kenji, The Sushi Club), Tosca, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Peace Orchestra, Nightmares On Wax, Bonobo, etc.
I usually lean more into the psychedelic side as I went deep into the psytrance scene in my twenties, like Ott, Shpongle, Bluetec, Ishq then had a major trip hop phase with Morcheeba, massive attack, Portishead, RJD2 and many artists you mentioned. Supertask has been one of my recent finds that has been impressive. Mostly I am song to song not heavy into particular artists. Here is a small platter of artists you haven’t mentioned.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4kFtWXruto5D6tbFDaMMXq?si=ei3olPlcT8i3vKs0mCAe1g&pi=u-cqsPkzARTy2G
My favorite genre is what I can screechy women singing weirdly. I can’t decide whether my favorite part is the screeching or the weirdness.
I’d most recommend that other people listen to gamelan orchestras though. It’s like the sound of dancing rain.
Grindcore. Blast beats. Anti-capitalism.
Propagandhi?
Not grind.
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but right now I’m really into Funk. Funk as a whole, definitely, but the subsect that is Bubblegum Funk is just so relaxing and chill, I’ve been listening to it while working lately.
What’s bubblegum funk? I’m picturing Tom Tom Club’s Genius of Love.
Any metal with growing. I don’t care for lyrics unless they are funny. This applies to music where you can actually hear them too.
Try suggesting a metal band too extreme for me. I don’t like the lo-fi black metal because of the lo-fi part.
They def won’t be too extreme for you (I mean lmk if any are I guess), and some you’ll likely know already probably, but you’ll probably like some of them just judging from your challenge (mixed subgenres):
Insect Warfare Skinless Nunslaughter Toxic Holocaust Devourment Whitechapel Cattle Decapitation Eyehategod Nails Wormrot Anal Cunt His Hero Is Gone Carcass Dropdead Infest Cryptopsy Necrophagist Magrudergrind Sete Star Sept Suppression ACxDC Lovgun (bisou, 2012)Some of those are more yelly than growly, but check 'em out! Since you didn’t call out a specific genre like goregrind or something I got a little carried away haha.
Thank you!
My theory on metal:
Metal is 90% terrible / discordant background, with 30 seconds of pure blissful harmony that you just wouldn’t appreciate if that 90% terrible contrast didn’t exist.
With time, and repeated exposure, you pick up on the small harmonies within that discord that will continue to blow your mind for the next 10 years as you recognise more patterns in the chaos.
This usually means that your least favourite song by Metal Band X a decade ago is now your favourite, and your most favourite song of theirs a decade ago now sounds like a mere nursery rhyme.
/endtheory
Gothic metal, Peter Steele is my spirit animal and Type O Negative is the soundtrack of my life.
