Releases from 2016: Serenity's Codex Atlanticus, HÆLOS's Full Circle, Brian Fallon's Painkillers, Hands Like Houses's Dissonants, Light Up The Sky's NightLife, Jetty Bones's Crucial States EP.
Older releases: Luca Turilli's discography is still amazing. Mree has an incredible voice. Longtime favorites Mayday Parade and The Classic Crime have solid discographies I've finally caught up on. Discovered Wolf Gang and A Silent Film and listened to Passion Pit and Capital Cities thanks to Sarah. Started listening to Stary Olsa for some reason and I'm enjoying it. Hands Like Houses is all-around great (I saw them at Warped a couple years back, but didn't follow up). SECRETS and Ice Nine Kills are solid. Finally listened to Thrice's The Artist in the Ambulance. Theatre of Tragedy has a great atmosphere to their albums.
Recommendations: If you want a symphonic rock/metal album about Leonardo da Vinci, check out the Serenity album. If you like dreampop/synth à la Purity Ring or Lights or The xx, give HÆLOS a try. If you're looking for solid pop with dreamy vocals, Mree has some amazing songs. If you dig The Killers and Bruce Springsteen (or The Gaslight Anthem and The Horrible Crowes, but that's cheating), don't sleep on Brian Fallon's record. For melodic hard rock with spiritual undertones, go with Hands Like Houses or The Classic Crime. If you want some post-hardcore screamo fun, Light Up the Sky, SECRETS, and Ice Nine Kills will be right up your alley. And, of course, if you've a soft spot for Belarusian folk/rock/instrumental/spoken word stuff, Stary Olsa is for you.
Explanation
Most of you probably know that I listen to a lot of music and that I'm always interested in finding new music to love. It used to be that if I heard a song I loved in public I'd have to pick out a memorable line of lyrics and memorize it so that I could look it up later—Shazam has made that a lot easier now.
I'm kind of obsessive when it comes to listening to music. Sure, I can casually turn on the radio for a while, or listen to my laptop/iPhone on shuffle, or just put something on and zone out. But mostly, when I'm listening to music, I do it methodically: I look up everything there is to know about the artist, listen to their discography in chronological order and by complete albums, and catalogue what I've listened to so I know to revisit it later if I liked it. I've got a calendar of upcoming releases I'm looking forward to and a backlist of hundreds of artists I've been meaning to check out.
Anyway. I like music and music is great. In 2015 I listened to about 180 new albums. That doesn't include ones I'd already heard before—I don't really see the point in manually tracking how many times I listen to a Jimmy Eat World album—though hopefully most of those 180 albums will become new favorites as I continue to familiarize myself with them. For 2016 I set a goal to listen to 366 new albums. I'm well on track with that goal at this point—in fact, I'm averaging two new albums a day right now. It's been a lot of fun, and I've discovered some great bands that have become instant favorites and that I've already listened to on repeat for hours on end.
I'm going to try to post periodic album blurbs/reviews here, but I decided that I should probably also post a monthly update to keep track of everything I listened to that month and toss out a couple recommendations. I structured this post so that the main content—my favorite albums and my recommendations—comes right at the beginning, followed by this explanation and then the full list; it might be tedious to read the whole entry, but I'm hoping that at least a few people will read the first section and will come away with an album or band to check out.
Also, I'd love for feedback, so if you've any thoughts on the music I've been listening to, any recommendations, or any reasons why my musical opinions suck, please let me know in the comments.
Cheers.
Full March list
bolded albums are ones that I purchased
++ means I loved it
+ means I liked/really liked it
* means I'm indifferent or that it had some good songs
– means I won't listen again
116. Luca Turilli – Prophet of the Last Eclipse [2002] ++
117. Don McLean – American Pie [1971] ++
118. Luca Turilli – The Infinite Wonders of Creation [2006] ++
119. Luca Turilli – Demonheart EP [2002] ++
120. Luca Turilli's Dreamquest – Lost Horizons [2006] ++
121. Safe, So Simple – Too Close To Closure EP [2016] +
122. Tonight Alive – The Other Side [2013] ++
123. Mayday Parade – Monsters in the Closet [2013] ++
124. Capital Cities – In a Tidal Wave of Mystery (Deluxe) [2013] +
125. Capital Cities – Capital Cities EP [2011] +
126. Capital Cities – Kangaroo Court EP [2013] +
127. Wolf Gang – Suego Faults [2011] ++
128. Wolf Gang – Wolf Gang EP [2011] +
129. Wolf Gang – Black River EP [2013] ++
130. Wolf Gang – Alveron [2014] ++
131. Serenity – Codex Atlanticus [2016] ++
132. A Silent Film – The City That Sleeps [2008] +
133. A Silent Film – Sand & Snow [2012] ++
134. Mree – Grow [2011] ++
135. Stary Olsa (Стары Ольса) – Kielich Koła [2000] ++
136. Stary Olsa (Стары Ольса) – Vir [2001] ++
137. A Silent Film – New Year EP [2015] +
138. A Silent Film – A Silent Film [2015] ++
139. She Is We – War [2016] ++
140. Tonight Alive – Limitless [2016] +
141. Jetty Bones – Crucial States EP [2016] ++
142. Låpsley – Understudy EP [2015] +
143. Låpsley – Long Way Home [2016] +
144. Odesza – In Return [2014] +
145. Stary Olsa (Стары Ольса) – Verbum [2002] ++
146. Blind Guardian – Battalions of Fear [1988] *
147. Luca Turilli's Rhapsody – Ascending to Infinity [2012] ++
148. Passion Pit – Chunk of Change EP [2008] +
149. Passion Pit – Manners [2009] ++
150. Stary Olsa (Стары Ольса) – Šlach [2003] ++
151. HÆLOS – Earth Not Above EP [2015] ++
152. HÆLOS – Full Circle [2016] ++
153. Light Up The Sky – NightLife [2016] ++
154. Passion Pit – Gossamer [2012] ++
155. Passion Pit – Kindred [2015] ++
156. Passion Pit – Constant Conversations EP [2013] ++
157. Brian Fallon – Painkillers [2016] ++
158. Hands Like Houses – Ground Dweller [2012] ++
159. Hands Like Houses – Unimagine [2013] ++
160. Hands Like Houses – Reimagine EP [2014] ++
161. Hands Like Houses – Dissonants [2016] ++
162. From Ashes to New – From Ashes to New EP [2013] ++
163. From Ashes to New – Day One [2016] ++
164. Luca Turilli's Rhapsody – Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus [2015] ++
165. Theatre of Tragedy – Velvet Darkness They Fear [1996] ++
166. Theatre of Tragedy – A Rose For The Dead EP [1997] +
167. Theatre of Tragedy – Inperspective EP [2000] +
168. The Classic Crime – Albatross [2006] ++
169. The Classic Crime – Vagabonds [2010] ++
170. Ice Nine Kills – Safe is Just a Shadow [2010] +
171. Sleeping With Sirens – Let's Cheers to This [2011] ++
172. Amaranthe – Amaranthe [2011] ++
173. SECRETS – The Ascent [2012] ++
174. SECRETS – Fragile Figures [2013] ++
175. SECRETS – Renditions EP [2015] ++
176. SECRETS – Everything That Got Us Here [2015] ++
177. Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance [2003] ++
178. Pentimento – Wrecked EP [2011] +
179. Pentimento – Inside the Sea EP [2013] +
180. Pentimento – Pentimento [2012] +
181. Ice Nine Kills – The Predator Becomes the Prey [2014] +
182. Ice Nine Kills – Every Trick in the Book [2015] ++
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