Recent Discoveries

I'm always discovering new music, whether by recommendations from friends or by hearing about it elsewhere. Calling it "new music" doesn't in this case mean that it is recent in the chronological sense, just that I hadn't heard it before now and that it's something that I think you might not have heard before and that you might appreciate.

 ††† (Crosses)

A while back I downloaded the debut EP of Chino Moreno's (of Deftones) side project ††† (Crosses). I like Deftones' music, although I don't know it that well, and I remember liking Chino's vocals so I thought I'd give it a listen. The fact it was free (legally I might add) sweetened the deal a measure, but when I hit play I was ready to give it a fair chance without any prejudice, or pre-bias as the case may be. I really liked it; the vocals seemed like a fusion of My Chemical Romance and HIM. The former really came out during snatched moments of the vocals where Chino really sounded like Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance). In terms of overall genre it's a combination of Electronica and Rock. The way in which the two parts fit together is really good, neither dominating the music. Listening to it as I write this, I'm struck by a moment in the fifth song that's very Nine Inch Nails. I was pleasantly surprised by this piece and will be watching them closely. Go to their website to download the EP (www.crossesmusic.com).




Parov Stelar

I can't really comment too much on this artist since I know very little about them. The song I've heard I first came into contact with at work and loved it. So I bought it when I got home and have been rather addicted to it. It's called Come Closer, and it's one of the most relaxing things in my library. Do check him out.

Devin Townsend

There's a story to this. For years I'd loved the album artwork for Devin Townsend's Ziltoid the Omniscient but had never listened to it. Not that long ago a friend of mine was collating album art as inspiration for an art project. I sent a copy of the album artwork to her and it was well received. Not long later the same friend tells me that the music from said album is also phenomenal, so I decided to get hold of it. Turns out it's awesome. Lots of bands try to be silly or funny and succeed, but often when they try to take themselves seriously it all falls apart. The thing with this album is that while it is hilarious (it's about an omniscient being besieging Earth for coffee) the talent is obvious and the music itself is enjoyable; and that's difficult to pull off. Annoyingly he was playing really close to where I live a couple of months back; I wish I'd listened to it sooner.

The Protomen

Just the other day I listened to The Protomen for the first time as was very taken by them. I don't know them that well, having only given them a preliminary listen, but they're rather good. I listened to their self titled album (The Protomen) which was full of lovely choral type parts that really gave the music something that made them unique. I've got their other album, Act II: The Father of Death, which I'll listen to soon; but from their debut I'm expecting good things.

That's it for now. I'll write one of these articles every so often so that I can talk about new things I find that might not necessarily have their own individual posts.