I absolutely adore music. One of the best things out there.
I use Spotify and foobar2000 to listen. I’m a bit of an audio nerd, so here’s a drop-down with my setup.
My audio setup
At my desk: Hifiman HE400SE and Sennheiser HD6XX headphones. LakePeople G103 as the headphone amplifier, with the iFi Zen DAC as source.
On the move: Letshuoer S12 IEMs. Qudelix 5K as the source.
Artists
Recommendations are usually albums. I’ll only rec an artist if I’ve listened to everything they’ve put out, or they’re just that good.
alt-J
Banger after banger. Tender at points.
Recs: The Dream (very very well-mastered), This Is All Yours, An Awesome Wave, RELAXER. All very good.
alt-J recs
PJ Harvey
Seriously good music. I only know Dry and Rid of Me well enough to comment, and they’re both excellent.
PJ Harvey recs
Grimes
Just so good. Electronic perfection.
Recs: Visions, Art Angels, Geidi Primes, Miss Anthropocene
Grimes recs
Jockstrap
Goes hard.
Recs: I Love You Jennifer B (unbelievably good), Wicked City, Love Is The Key to the City, Acid (single).
Jockstrap recs
Radiohead
They’re popular for a reason.
Recs: OK Computer, In Rainbows, The Bends, Kid A.
Radiohead recs
MF DOOM
Yeah, he’s that good. Best rap lyrics I’ve heard.
Recs: Operation: Doomsday, Madvillainy, MM..FOOD.
MF DOOM recs
Neutral Milk Hotel
Incredible. These songs have a lot of history for me. Most likely to set me off crying out of any artist on here.
Recs: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, On Avery Island.
Neutral Milk Hotel recs
James Blake
Electronic wizardry with great mastering. Gives me shivers.
Recs: James Blake (hooly moly), Overgrown, The Colour In Anything. Newer stuff less good.
James Blake recs
Kynsy
I like it.
Recs: Things That Don’t Exist EP, Something To Do With Love.
Kynsy recs
Do Nothing
Great songs. Bitingly sardonic lyrics.
Recs: Snake Sideways, Zero Dollar Bill, Glueland EP. Basically their whole discography.
Do Nothing recs
Tame Impala
Also popular for a reason.
Recs: The Slow Rush, Currents, Lonerism.
Tame Impala recs
Julia Jacklin
Very well-written songs. Poignant.
Recs: PRE PLEASURE, Crushing.
Julia Jacklin recs
Billie Eilish
I just really like her songs. They always sound good, which counts for a lot.
Recs: HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, Happier Than Ever, everything i wanted (single), WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO, dont smile at me.
Billie Eilish recs
Rubblebucket
Excellent vibes. Surprisingly hard-hitting at times.
Recs: Earth Worship, Sun Machine (especially Party Like Your Heart Hurts and Formless and New, but the whole thing’s good), Year Of The Banana
Rubblebucket recs
Albums
I’m privileging albums whose artists aren’t in the Artists section above.
Anima, Francesca Belmonte
Dry, PJ Harvey
Also listen to Rid of Me
Doolittle, Pixies
Untrue, Burial
loveless, my bloody valentine
The Comforts of Madness, Pale Saints
Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
Strange Mercy, St. Vincent
St. Vincent (album) is also very good.
Rooty, Basement Jaxx
Violator, Depeche Mode
Placebo, Placebo
Feels.
Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? - The Cranberries
The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
Hot Fuss, The Killers
Also Day & Age from them too.
Their early albums carry heavy nostalgia for me. We had them ripped to a couple CDs in the car when I was little so the lyrics are ingrained deep into my psyche.
Revolver, The Beatles
Imaginal Disk, Magdalena Bay
Great electronic music and voice glitching.
Songs
I’m daunted by the very prospect of creating this. Here’s a copy of my Liked Songs from Spotify as a proxy.
Playlists
This one playlist called Reference by Jake Cheriff has the highest concentration of excellent indie songs that I’ve ever seen. It’s 12 hours long. Listen through the whole thing to find new artists to adore.
I also create a new playlist each month to keep track of all the new songs I find and obsess over. You can find links to all of those here.