Where to Find Good New Music

Back in high school, I was a pretty shy and awkward kid. I didn't really know who I was, or what I wanted to be, and really struggled to find anything I was really great at. I was a quick learner, and consequently was quite good at many things, but found myself to be great at nothing; looking back, it seems I might have spread myself too thin between various activities to ever reach that 10,000 hour threshold to greatness. Or perhaps that's just what I like to tell myself.

Whatever the case might be, I was resultantly lacking in the confidence department, and was quite desperate to find a way to impress kids at school. Having moved halfway through high school - at the beginning of grade 11 - I was struggling to find an 'in' with the popular crowd (or really any crowd), and was desperate to find a solution.

That's when I met Pam. For whatever reason, Pam liked me. Despite being far too pretty, far too cool, and - let's face it - far too normal, she liked me.

So this became my moment of truth. Not only my way in with the 'cool crowd,' but my way towards having a girlfriend.

So what did I do? Well, what every awkward teenager - at least in the movies - would do: I rocked her world... with a mix-tape.

If there was one thing that got me through those former days of solitude, it was music, and I'd spent more time than I care to admit searching for new artists who could put my anguish into words. Thankfully, all those nights spent lying in my bed, belting out the chorus to Nirvana & Co. had finally paid off. Not only did Pam like the mix-tape, but she was so impressed she began passing it on to her friends, and before you knew it, I had become the 'music guy' (we'll just ignore the fact that I couldn't sing for the life of me, and had only taken a total of one music lesson in my life).

And so I had a GIRLFRIEND (for about five minutes, but that's another story).

The lesson here? Everyone loves good music, and if you're looking for your own 'in' - regardless of who it's with - music is always a great icebreaker, and particularly effective when you introduce a person to someone new, someone that very few know about, and preferably someone that's pretty good.

The fact is, everyone loves to be in on a good secret.

For those looking to impress, I've included some of the more reliable options for finding good new music out there below. This is certainly far from a comprehensive list, but it should get you headed in the right direction, and ready to impress when the situation warrants it.

1.) Download Playlists

Assuming you're familiar with torrents, downloading playlists is one of the best ways to be introduced to new music (and most of these playlists, provided by various radio stations, magazines, festivals, etc., are legal). The problem? Many playlists consist of over a hundred songs, so you've got to be prepared to blast your way through some absolute rubbish before you find the gems.

One playlist I recommend is the Indie/Rock Playlist, which is released once a month (and linked to below). There are about 130 songs per list, so having these released each month - along with a recent covers playlist that I quite like - is very impressive.

In addition, I would also recommend any of the SXSW playlists. For those who aren't familiar, SXSW (South by Southwest) is the indie/alternative music event of the year. It is a massive festival, after which various playlists are released to help promote the attending bands and artists. You should be warned that many of the playlists are enormous (some as many as 500 songs), but there's a reason these bands were selected, and you'll find more good music than you'll know what do with. Among my personal favorites this year were Scottish band Admiral Fallow, fellow Canadian Carmen Townsend, and Englishman Cosmo Jarvis.

While this should probably go without saying, when you subsequently find some music you like, visit the band's website or MySpace, as you'll likely find a few more free downloads, and if you still like what you hear, buy their album to show your support, and help assure they'll be able to continue making great music.

2.) Read Blogs

I suspect that most Hubpage readers are frequent blog visitors, if not blog owners, so I don't need to tell you why this is a useful resource. There really are a countless number of fantastic indie music blogs, and which blog best suits you depends entirely on your particular tastes and preferred genres. I actually have an indie music blog of my own in the works, titled Flavour-of-the-Week (I'm Canadian, hence the spelling), which I hope to have up and running within the next few months.

A newer blog I recommend is GMAD (Good Music All Day), which is rather light on the writing side of things, but rich in providing some solid up-and-coming artists and bands (link below). While there isn't a whole lot to the blog quite yet, I do think their staff has a decent ear, and they brought attention to one of my favorite new bands, The Tree Ring. I should note that this site is largely targeted towards the college-aged crowd though, so there does also seem to be a certain hipster element.

Somewhere between the realm of blog and magazine is the Indie Rock Cafe, which is another excellent resource. There is a fair amount of free music, and the writing content is far superior to that of GMAD (though, in fairness, GMAD is intended to be more focused on providing video and mp3 content than editorials).

For those who prefer hip-hop, one of the best blogs I've come across is 2dopeboyz. Honestly, from the amount of content on their site, you'd think they live at their computer - it's impressive (or sad). Lots of good music, some very entertaining discussions, and to their credit, they were the ones who introduced me long ago to one of my favorites, Theophilus London.

3. Read Magazines

This is a pretty obvious one, but it's worth mentioning since there are some fantastic magazines out there. Some are admittedly not cheap, but the writing in some of the top magazines is excellent. My personal favorite is Under the Radar, who really provide a quality magazine - well-written reviews and interviews, fantastic photos (ideal for a college dorm room), and just an overall top-notch magazine. I really can't recommend it enough.

Some others that can be useful include Pitchfork, Sentimentalist, and Paste.

4. Join Some Quality Forums

Really, this is my advice for everything - if there's a topic you have a particular interest in, chances are you're not the only one, and a forum can be a fantastic resource. I use forums to work on my writing, to develop as a teacher, to discuss my hobbies and the issues I'm particularly interested in - they're amazing. And discussing music is no exception.

There are forums on the websites of particular labels, magazines, blogs... they're everywhere. It's just a matter of searching them out, depending again on your personal preferences.

I think that about covers it - certainly, this is not a comprehensive list of every way to find good new music, but just some of the methods I prefer to use to get you started.

If you have any questions or would like further advice, feel free to ask in the comments section below. Or if you have your own preferred methods, I'd love to hear them!