I’ve always wanted to learn more about music. What I mean by this is learning about different genres to solidify my music taste. In general, I am admittedly a little embarrassed about how limited my knowledge is of music as a whole. For reference, in 2022, I mainly listened to Kanye West, Frank Ocean, and the Hamilton soundtrack. This music is really great, however, I want to broaden my knowledge of music. This includes listening to genres I do not think I will like, including country. But also, exploring genres and artists that I have always been interested in, but never prioritized listening to. Recently, I’ve been listening to music way more than I used to, but I’ve been getting bored of songs quickly.
My plan to develop a stronger music taste consists of two actions. 1) Consulting people for music recommendations. 2) Going to more live music events. Essentially, I am in my music exploration era. I would appreciate any tips/music recommendations that will help expand my music scope. The main reason I am writing this is to hopefully get more recommendations 🙂 Disclaimer, this is a very general overview.
Here are the main genres I am looking into:
- Rock (Alt, Britpop)
Last Friday I saw some punk and rock bands live, and I have a newfound love for rock, still not sure about Punk though, personally. Here are some bands which I loveee:
- Mäneskin (SO GOOD)
- The Runaways
- The Criticals
- Blur
- Pulp
2. Indie Rock
This is one of my favorite genres, so I have focused mainly on trying to find more artists and songs for this. Here are some of my favorite artists so far:
- Sir Chloe
- The Backseat Lovers
- The Arctic Monkeys
- Lana Del Rey
- Sun Room
- Wet Leg
3. R&B
I definitely need more R&B recommendations! However, these artists make some magic:
- SiR
- Brent Faiyaz
- Anderson.Paak
- Cleo Sol
- Country
I feel like a lot of people hate on country so much. However, how can I hate something without even giving it a chance with an open mind? We’ll see, I haven’t listened to that much yet, but some of people’s song recommendations to me include:
- Tequila (Dan + Shay)
- My Girl (Dylan Scott)
- Greatest Love Story (LANCO)
Overall, this is still a work in progress. I thought that I would share some of my cultivated playlists so far because I am genuinely having so much fun exploring all this music. All of the vibes are very different and I love that. This constitutes the first part of my 2-action plan to explore music. Part 2 involves seeing to more live music.
Live music hits different, and I want to invest in more experiences like that. Most notably so far, I’ve seen Taylor Swift in concert a long time ago, Joji last October, and some small punk/rock bands at a coffee house in Willow Springs. This year, I am more interested in finding smaller venues and am very excited to continue my search.
This is one of my 2023 ‘goals,’ so by the end of this year I am excited to see what my music knowledge looks like. Personally, I am using this year as a year of exploration overall. Saying yes to new experiences with an open mind and encouraging my curiosities, especially going into college, is extremely exciting. For the past four years, I have been trying to stay immensely focused on school goals. I know a lot of us have been. In the future, I see myself narrowing in on career goals. However, I truly believe that we can follow our dreams and have fun at the same time.
Something I have thought about a lot is finding the balance between school/career and personal life. It’s a constant struggle to find this balance, but I feel like finding ways to explore at the same time is a great way to expand our minds and perspectives. Anyways, it’s all a learning process.
I hope some of the music/artists/bands that I have listed above are relatable or even a discovery of something new. Once again, I would love for you, the reader, to leave some of your recommendations in your comment and let me know what you think.