First up, one of my all time favorite bands: Thrice. These guys are simply amazing. All four volumes of the Alchemey Indexes have been in heavy rotation on my music player at work. This isn’t the Thrice I originally started listening too with album The Illusion of Saftety, they’ve gone completely beyond metal or any category you would want to put them into. All I can really say about them is that they love making music, they love exploring music and it is awesome to be able to enjoy the ride with them. You can expect to be giving a full spectrum of their abilities with the Alchemey Indexes, metal, electronic rock, and folk. This music inspires me and gets my mind twisting down all these different stories the songs conjure up.
Next: The Album Leaf – In a Safe Place. This cd is pure relaxation, perfect for doing just about anything. It is hard for me to describe these guys. I want to say that the music doesn’t get in your way and is perfect for working. But if you do actually listen to the music, it’s very good and as I mentioned soothing. The music itself covers acoustic guitar, piano, and some soft electronic effects. The cd is mostly instrumental, but there are a few songs on it that amazingly do not interrupt the flow of the entire album.
Iron & Wine – Dusty told me about this guy a few years ago and I’ve really only gotten into him recently. This is a very mellow completely acoustic guitar solo act. Definitely a nice twist(from my normal music). The lyrics to some of the songs are amazing.
Muse – All I can say is if you have not listened to the Blackholes & Revalations album you are truly missing out. This is a great album and I hope there is more of this music on the way. This is another band not content with sticking to one style of music, and even on this album they don’t just stick with driving techno rock music.
Finally, I want to talk about Revolution Void, I haven’t listened to this music that much but what I’ve heard I have enjoyed. It can be described as electronic-jazz but I think it is better than the music I think of when I here those two words together. Anyhow he releases his music under the CC so you can download it for free, and if you enjoy it you can give something back to him. Something worth looking into if you’re looking for something different. So far it sits in the work music category, not annoying enough for me to skip it but not quite good enough for me to want to listen to in my car or at home, but that could change as I listen to it more.
It amazes me as I listen to all this new music I can always go back to stuff I’ve listened to for years and get right back into it. It’s not the same as when I first heard it, but it is still great, like having old friends that were with you through the tough times. Ghoti Hook, Five Iron Frenzy, Alkaline Trio, and many others will still be in my playlist for years to come.