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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   4432 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 17, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Reading the title of the post I was sad initially at the more limited scope going forward, but given that Aretha Franklin and another less well-known rap album are on the list, I guess it's a small mistake?

Speaking of IS Ellipsis: can you shed some light on your discovery process? I've never heard of it, a YouTube upload has 12k views and on Spotify the group's highest tracks barely crack 100k. Given that this is an underground rap album from 2005, before the age of easy discoverability via Google, YouTube/Spotify algorithm or things like bandcamp I'm left wondering how stuff with limited reach like that shows up on someone's radar.

Thanks again for doing this, I somehow never knew about the Talking Heads live album and it majorly sweetened a long drive.

Sorry to take so long to get to your question but people have asked me this before and there's really no simple answer. The best I can give you is that you have to really pay attention; there's no one magic bullet that will clue you in to good new music. When I was a kid I used to get various record guides and thumb through them, reading reviews of CDs that I could never afford to buy all of but was desperate to hear nonetheless. The All Music Guide is now on the internet, and they have pretty much everything covered, but it's not the same as browsing a book. That's not to say you still can't get lost in it Wikipedia-style; I used to have a CD-ROM from Billboard with AMG reviews on it as well as song clips, etc. that I used to browse for hours. But really, if you're immersed enough it just happens. I ended up gravitating towards people of a similar mindset in college but whose tastes were just offset enough from my own that it was like discovering a whole new universe. Then afterwards I was living in the city at the height of the hipster era and music was obviously important to practically everyone involved. It's just how things ended up for me.

Also: See the upcoming addendum in the replies to this week's post for a clarification of your first concern.

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