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How Can I Become More Eclectic, and Why Would I Want To?
You probably already have a lot of music in one genre, or perhaps representing a certain era of music. What you want to do is seek out something different, but something you will like. There are several strategies you may choose to employ outlined below. Your diversified record collection will be more stimulating to yourself and others. Perks include being prepared to host any occasion, being less bored and therefore less boring, and ease of attracting potential mates.
1. Track Down Roots
If you like them, you might like what they like. The most obvious way to see an influence is when an artist you like does a cover version of an artist that they like. The White Stripes play a lot of delta blues classics. So you might try Robert Johnson, the King of the Delta Blues, or go for an overview of the genre with Classic Blues From Smithsonian Folkways. Artists will often mention their influences in interviews. For instance, Kid Rock is always talking about Run DMC, so you might check out Raising Hell. Kurt Cobain loved the Pixies, so buy Doolittle. Music critics often resort to pointing out influences in order to sound smart and fill their review columns, and this is another way to find new names. A review of Good Charlotte might mention The Stooges, so you could then track down Raw Power. You get the idea.
2. Track Down Offshoots
It's also possible to do things in the opposite order. If you like Isaac Hayes' Hot Buttered Soul, try The Diary of Alicia Keys. The influence is obvious, but Alicia updates the sound. If you like Willy Nelson, try Car Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams.
3. Go International
A lot of artists have been overlooked by the American mainstream because they did not record in English. However, this does not mean that their style is unrecognizable, and it certainly does not mean that they aren't a great addition to your collection. Rammstein is one example of a band that appeals to Americans who can't understand what they're saying, because the language of heavy metal is universal. So, try to find some music from other countries that suits your tastes. Fans of the Beatles' psychedelic stuff should definitely try out World Psychedelic Classics 1: Brazil: The Best Of Os Mutantes/Everything Is Possible!. If you like The B-52's, download the song "Ca Plane Pour Moi" by Plastic Bertrand.
4. Go Independent/Underground
For whatever reason, some music makes it on the radio and most of it doesn't. Whatever major-label artists you like, there are probably dozens of similar artists who work or worked on independent labels, or were never signed in the first place. Rap fans should try So...How's Your Girl? to provoke a smile or Mr. Lif's I Phantom for some meaningful material. John Mayer fans may enjoy the more mature approach of Spoon's Girls Can Tell. If you like the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, try Nuggets From Nuggets: Choice Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era: 20 great songs by bands who never really made it big.
5. Try A Soundtrack
Don't be afraid to let great soundtracks lead you to great music. For instance, The Royal Tenenbaums (Collector's Edition) could lead you to discover Elliott Smith, or the Ramones. The Big Lebowski: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack could turn you on to Captain Beefheart, Nina Simone, and Townes Van Zandt, among others. Also, don't forget the great film scores you know by heart but have neglected to add to your record collection, such as Psycho: The Complete Original Motion Picture Score and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
6. Try Jazz
Yeah, I know, the final frontier. Try it, you might like it. Green eggs and ham and all that.
Everybody supposedly owns Miles Davis' Kind of Blue which is a fine place to begin, but don't stop there or you'll be accused of tokenism. If you like that one, continue on in the cool jazz mode with some Mingus (try Mingus Ah Um) or maybe some Lou Donaldson (try Blues Walk). For your first venture into bebop, I recommend John Coltrane's Giant Steps. Don't forget great jazz singers, such as Billie, Ella, Lena, Sarah (Holliday, Fitzgerald, Horne, Vaughn). For something completely different, on some sweltering summer night put on Miles Davis' insane, incomprehensibly funky live album Dark Magus: Live At Carnegie Hall [2-CD SET] and drink gin from the bottle. Set off some bottle rockets in your bedroom. You'll soon learn that there's a little more to jazz than you thought.
7. Take My Word For It
While you're here, you might as well use these
Halfvalue list things to find obscure stuff you might want to check out. There's nothing wrong with that. Here's some stuff you might have never heard of if it didn't appear here:
Brainiac: Hissing Prigs in Static Couture: Fun, spastic, futuristic rock.
Solex: Low Kick and Hard Bop: Dutch female record shop owner + Sampler = fun, unpredictable, uncategorisable music.
Joe Pass and J.J. Johnson: We'll Be Together Again Its a trombone dueting an acoustic guitar for an hour. And it's really good.
MC Paul Barman: It's Very Stimulating Jewish Ivy League-graduate rapper has no flow, no rhythm. Couplets such as "Just for the helovit/ Let's not be celibate" and "I removed her sanitary napkin with my teeth/ There was a panetary backspin underneath" make this brief trip interesting. His full-length is not recommended.
Shuggie Otis: Inspiration Information Slept-on 1970's masterpiece. |
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Top Music Download Items:
How Can I Become More Eclectic, and Why Would I Want To?
| | 1. Track Down Roots | | 1. |  | King of the Delta Blues
by Johnson, Robert
$7.99 Used & New from: $2.99
| | 2. |  | Classic Blues From Smithsonian Folkways
by Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways Recordi
| | 3. |  | Raising Hell [Original recording reissued] [Original recording remastered]
by ??.D.M.C
Used & New from: $5.81
| | 4. |  | Doolittle
by Pixies
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| | 5. |  | Raw Power [Original recording reissued] [Original recording remastered]
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$7.99 Used & New from: $4.95
| | 2. Track Down Offshoots | | 6. |  | Hot Buttered Soul
by Hayes, Isaac
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| | 7. |  | The Diary of Alicia Keys
by Keys, Alicia
$13.99 Used & New from: $3.29
| | 8. |  | Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
by Williams, Lucinda
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| | 3. Go International | | 9. |  | World Psychedelic Classics 1: Brazil: The Best Of Os Mutantes/Everything Is Possible!
by Os Mutantes
Used & New from: $15.98
| | 10. |  | The B-52's
by B-52's
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| | 4. Go Independent/Underground | | 11. |  | So...How's Your Girl?
by Handsome Boy Modeling School
$13.99 Used & New from: $5.00
| | 12. |  | I Phantom
by Mr. Lif
$13.99 Used & New from: $6.85
| | 13. |  | Girls Can Tell
by Spoon
$13.99 Used & New from: $6.75
| | 14. |  | Nuggets From Nuggets: Choice Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era
by Various Artists
$14.99 Used & New from: $13.65
| | 5. Try A Soundtrack | | 15. |  | The Royal Tenenbaums (Collector's Edition) [Original recording remastered] [Soundtrack]
by Various Artists - Soundtracks - 2001
$14.99 Used & New from: $11.80
| | 16. |  | Elliott Smith
by Smith, Elliott
$13.99 Used & New from: $10.26
| | 17. |  | Ramones [Original recording remastered]
by Ramones
$10.99 Used & New from: $2.69
| | 18. |  | The Big Lebowski: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]
by Burwell, Carter
$12.99 Used & New from: $9.50
| | 19. |  | Psycho: The Complete Original Motion Picture Score [Soundtrack]
by Psycho (Related Recordings)
$14.99 Used & New from: $12.53
| | 20. |  | The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]
by Morricone, Ennio
Used & New from: $3.95
| | 6. Try Jazz | | 21. |  | Kind of Blue [Original recording reissued] [Original recording remastered]
by Davis, Miles
$7.99 Used & New from: $4.90
| | 22. |  | Mingus Ah Um [Original recording reissued] [Original recording remastered]
by Mingus, Charles
$7.99 Used & New from: $6.60
| | 23. |  | Blues Walk
by Donaldson, Lou
$11.98 Used & New from: $7.14
| | 24. |  | Giant Steps [Original recording remastered]
by John Coltrane
$10.99 Used & New from: $4.17
| | 25. |  | Billie, Ella, Lena, Sarah
by Fitzgerald, Ella
$9.98 Used & New from: $5.97
| | 26. |  | Dark Magus: Live At Carnegie Hall [2-CD SET] [Live]
by Davis, Miles
$24.98 Used & New from: $11.50
| | 7. Take My Word For It | | 27. |  | Hissing Prigs in Static Couture
by Brainiac
$14.98 Used & New from: $5.38
| | 28. |  | Low Kick and Hard Bop
by Solex
Used & New from: $4.75
| | 29. |  | We'll Be Together Again
by Johnson, J. J.
$11.98 Used & New from: $6.40
| | 30. |  | It's Very Stimulating
by Barman, MC Paul
Used & New from: $18.99
| | 31. |  | Inspiration Information [Original recording reissued]
by Shuggie Otis
$11.99 Used & New from: $9.19
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