discover new music

Magnatune have started offering a free song of the day taken from their catalog. I regularly download it and some of them are very good. As the artists on Magnatune are little known, you are virtually guaranteed to discover something new and more interesting than what you have in your average pop chart.

If you’re into pop music, have a look at popjustice. I found them completely by accident last week. I haven’t really trawled through the site but they seem to have a few interesting pieces and a sense of humour.

Talking about publishing music with a friend yesterday, I remembered Magnatune, an online music label that has some great music by little known artists. All the music is available for download online, in a variety of formats of varying quality, up to CD quality. As you can download the artwork as well, you can create your own CDs. Another interesting aspect of it is that you decide how much you want to pay for the album, with a minimum of $5, 50% of the sum going to the artist.

If you have iTunes, you have access to the attached Music Store. Even if you don’t want to buy anything from it, there is one great feature: the Single of the Week. Every week, you have a new single that you can download for free. Legally free music? I’ll have some of this! Especially considering it’s usually good tracks from little known artists. That’s how I just discovered Dangerous Muse and I love it.

I bought the February 2006 issue of Q magazine, where they had a list of the 100 Greatest Albums Ever as voted by their readers. It’s obviously subjective but a good way to discover new interesting music. Here is the list, in order, with the ones I own checked out:

1. Radiohead: OK Computer
2. Radiohead: The Bends
3. Nirvana: Nevermind
4. The Beatles: Revolver
5. Oasis: Definitely Maybe
6. The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses
7. R.E.M.: Automatic For The People
8. Oasis: (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
9. U2: Achtung Baby
10. Radiohead: Kid A
11. U2: The Joshua Tree
12. The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead
13. Jeff Buckley: Grace
14. The Beatles: Abbey Road
15. Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon
16. The Verve: Urban Hymns
17. The Beatles: The Beatles
18. The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
19. The Beatles: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
20. The Clash: London Calling
21. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV
22. Nirvana: In Utero
23. Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks
24. Guns N’ Roses: Appetite For Destruction
25. Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
26. The Strokes: Is This It
27. Pink Floyd: The Wall
28. Sex Pistols: Never Mind The Bollocks
29. The Beatles: Rubber Soul
30. Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
31. Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Californication
32. Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On
33. Madonna: Ray Of Light
34. The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main St.
35. Blur: Parklife
36. Bob Dylan: Blonde On Blonde
37. R.E.M.: Out Of Time
38. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland
39. Primal Scream: Screamadelica
40. Coldplay: Parachutes
41. David Bowie: The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
42. The Velvet Underground & Nico: The Velvet Underground & Nico
43. Pixies: Doolittles
44. Joy Division: Closer
45. Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited
46. David Bowies: Hunky Dory
47. Van Morrison: Astral Weeks
48. The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers
49. R.E.M.: Document
50. Love: Forever Changes
51. The Who: Who’s Next
52. Nirvana: Unplugged In New York
53. U2: All That You Can’t Leave Behind
54. Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
55. Portishead: Dummy
56. Moby: Play
57. Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti
58. Michael Jackson: Thriller
59. Pearl Jam: Ten
60. Radiohead: Amnesiac
61. Beck: Odelay
62. Kate Bush: Hounds Of Love
63. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced
64. The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed
65. Massive Attack: Blue Lines
66. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
67. David Gray: White Ladder
68. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
69. Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible
70. Travis: The Man Who
71. Rage Against The Machine: Rage Against The Machine
72. Miles Davis: Kind Of Blues
73. Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill
74. Muse: Origin Of Symmetry
75. The Doors: The Doors
76. Johnny Cash: American III
77. The Clash: The Clash
78. AC/DC: Back In Black
79. The Jam: Setting Sons
80. David Bowie: Low
81. Stereophonics: Word Gets Around
82. Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run
83. Paul Weller: Stanley Road
84. Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life
85. Pulp: Different Class
86. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP
87. PJ Harvey: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
88. Neil Young: After The Goldrush
89. Morrissey: Vauxhall & I
90. The Cure: Disintegration
91. Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
92. Manic Street Preachers: Everything Must Go
93. Bob Marley And The Wailers: Exodus
94. Prince And The Revolution: Purple Rain
95. Iggy And The Stooges: Raw Power
96. Kraftwerk: The Man-Machine
97. Lou Reed: Transformer
98. Beastie Boys: Paul’s Boutique
99. Tom Waits: Rain Dogs
100. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Conclusion: considering the number I own in this list, I have a lot of listening to do.

Last year, I found a flyer in one of my local pubs for Swell Music. The site is simple and promotes independant artists and stuff that they found interesting. You can register to their newletter. Through their recommendations, I’ve discovered quite a few interesting albums. A good way to get away from chart music.