New music, Part Two
In accordance with the Almighty List, I am on a quest to discover 25 bands or musicians that I’ve never heard of in 2014. Here’s your second installment, Gentle Reader – five groups and my thoughts on them. Thank you to those who commented with new groups this week! They will be appearing in the next three parts of this series (this one was already scheduled.) If you have any musical suggestions for me, I’m wide open! Leave a link in the comments. Part One can be found here.
The Task: Discover 25 bands etc., like I said above.
The Execution:
6. Tic Tic Boom
We’ll start with a band that’s just starting to take off, Tic Tic Boom. My friend and frequent commenter, Bernie, turned me on to them – their guitarist used to be the drummer for a band they were both in. Awesome! Anyway, here’s them playing in a van, with a song that really appealed to me.
7. Laura Mvula
Similarly, Amber commented with this song and I instantly fell in love. There are no other words, and I’m floored, and if you only listen to one song on this list, it has to be this one. This woman is an angel.
8. My Gay Banjo
So there I was, minding my own business, reading my morning queer news on the Huffington Post – when to my surprise, they had a story about a gay country music duo. As a secret country music fan, and after the success of Steve Grand’s All-American Boy last year, I had high hopes for queer country music, and I was not disappointed by Country Boys In The City, by My Gay Banjo.
9. Ron Sexsmith
Oh, there was some gossip afoot that day – Ms. Capere and I were going up to Seattle, straight to the source, to try and determine if we should be worried about a good friend. On the drive up, I happened to mention this very project, and she gave me Ron Sexsmith right off the bat. As for the gossip – well, loose lips and all that, n’est-ce pas?
10. Frank Ocean
Okay, so I’d actually heard of this fella before – I read Gay Voices over on HuffPo all the time, and when Frank Ocean came out as a gay in the hip-hop community, it was sort of a big deal. Of course, I had never heard his music, because I’m not really into hip-hop.
However. However.
There was some controversy over on my Facebook page when I posted a link (ostensibly) about Macklemore. And someone posted in that long, bitter thread about Frank Ocean, reminding me of his existence. So I went and checked out some of his music. And?
I now have a hip-hop/R&B artist that I enjoy.
The Verdict:
Well, obviously this item isn’t done yet – not by a long shot – but it’s going really well. I am loving the hell out of this. It wins SO many points. Expanding tastes and interests always does, though, doesn’t it?
Do you have music that I should be listening to? Bands that I should be aware of? A favorite song by one of these artists? Let me know!
Tagged: Artists, Bands, Exploring Musical Tastes, New Music, The List
