One of the joys about being a big music fan like me is the thrill of discovering a new band, or album, or even a song that connects with you in some way. For today’s post, I’m reviewing ten albums I’ve found in the past ten years that came to me from artists I had very little, if any, knowledge of before. It’s kind of a long post, so let’s get right to it. As always, in no particular order:
The Airborne Toxic Event: All I Ever Wanted (Live from the Walt Disney Concert Hall) (2010)
I found this band on iTunes, previewing the one of their albums just because their name caught my attention. I did some research and learned the name was a literary reference, so I had to try them out. I wasn’t sure what to make of this live album when I first found it since the performances are largely acoustic arrangements, which is a departure from the band’s typical sound. It didn’t take more than a few listens to see it’s really something special. Some of the songs on this are as heartbreaking or energetic as anything else in my music library. Since the performance recorded here was a landmark for the band, they invited several guest musicians to perform with them at different times during the show: a string quartet, a high school marching band, and an elementary school choir, all of whom appear onstage together and collaborate on the closing song.
Garbage: Not Your Kind of People (2012)
One summer while I was out in Seattle visiting my friend Dax and his wife Melissa, Dax was in the middle of sort of an experiment in musical rediscovery. Whenever he was driving and had his iPod plugged into the car, he kept it on shuffle. Like me, he has a ridiculously large music library, and this meant several songs he hadn’t played in years would come up in the rotation. One of the songs that came on during one of our longer drives was Garbage’s “Battle in Me.” I knew of Garbage and had even bought one of their earlier albums after I kind of liked a song of theirs I had played along with on the original Rock Band game, but the album never caught on for me. When this song came up on Dax’s iPod, it was so rough and pounding and electric that I had to track it down. Within weeks of my returning from vacation I had downloaded everything by Garbage and was listening to little else. This album, which is still the latest one they’ve released, has always easily stood out as my favorite from them, with only maybe two songs that come across as filler.
Needtobreathe: The Reckoning (2011)
I kept seeing this band mentioned on Facebook by a woman I work with, and I figured any band that inspired that kind of passion was worth investigating. I downloaded this album first for reasons I don’t remember; not two minutes in and it had knocked me out. The music is just straightforward, no-nonsense rock with a slight southern rock/gospel flavor to it, which isn’t surprising since the band sometimes winds up being categorized as Christian. I’d argue against that point, though. I think they’re better described as a rock band that occasionally incorporates Christian imagery or themes into their songwriting, and most of the time they’re very subtle about it, almost to a degree it will come across more as a revelation of personal values and character struggles than anything overtly religious. They released a live album a few weeks ago which I loved from the first listen; the only thing that could have made it better would have been even more songs from this particular album. They’re just a great, tight rock band with that intangible quality that makes them something great.
Joe Bonamassa: Beacon Theatre (Live from New York) (2012)
Joe was playing guitar in a rock supergroup called Black Country Communion, which I first heard of from watching “That Metal Show” on VH1 Classic. I’d heard of the drummer, bass player, and keyboardist in the band, but I had no idea who he was, and his guitar playing was what really made that band come alive. After liking two BCC albums, I decided to try out one of Joe’s solo works, and went with a live album since they’re usually good showcases for guitar players. I’ve never been much of a fan of straight blues so it took awhile to warm into it, but after I picked up a few examples of the superhuman virtuosity in his playing, I became a fast fan. This album still stands as a favorite of his for me since it was my introduction to his catalog, but also because some of the performances became the defining versions of his songs for me. There are more than a few guitar solos on here that are so incredible I’ll usually stop whatever I’m doing when they come on and just listen.
The Hold Steady: Stay Positive (2008)
This band is all too readily claimed by the Twin Cities as one of our own. Even though they formed in Brooklyn, New York, the driving creative force of the band came from the Cities, and all you have to do is listen to the location checks and references in their songs to see how connected they still are to the area. Much like Needtobreathe, they’re a straightforward rock band, but with much more of a punk aesthetic instead of southern rock. They also have a lot of religious imagery, but they mix it with enough sex, drugs, and stories of misspent youth to guarantee no one will ever mistake them for a Christian band. I find most of their albums are inconsistent mixes of a handful of absolutely great songs mixed with a few that don’t do much for me; this one probably has the best ratio between great songs and middling ones, plus a few of my favorites from them.
Sleigh Bells: Treats (2010)
This came at me out of nowhere. I kept reading good things about the band, which is really just the singer (who was once an elementary teacher!) and a guy who does all of this instrumentation. The music is layered with loud guitars, synthesizers, and percussion, then recorded loud to the edge of distortion, with a nice melodic female voice alternately singing and shouting over it all. Since I like loud guitars and dominating drums and that’s 89% of what this band does, I got into it once I was brave enough to give the album a try. More than anything else on this list, I would say this band is NOT for everyone, especially this, their first album. But I love it.
Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More (2010)
I won’t spend too much time gushing over this one because I wrote all about Mumford & Sons just a couple of days ago, and of all the albums on this list, this one is probably the most well-known. It took me awhile to warm into the idea of giving the album a try, but once I did the writing, and the fact that there was nothing else like it at the time, ultimately won me over.
Japandroids: Celebration Rock (2012)
I first heard Japandroids on The Current (NPR’s local modern rock station, for the non-locals). They didn’t leave much of an impression on me other than having a hilarious name. Years later I saw them show up in iTunes and ran the previews. It was the best kind of garage rock noise, nothing but two guys playing drums and guitars and singing really loud, so I gave it a chance. It’s not an album that changed my life in any way, but it’s absolutely in my Hall of Fame for summertime driving albums.
Hozier (2014)
I had heard and read a lot about Hozier right before his album came out, so I was into this one way before it was impossible to sit in the waiting room of a dentist's office without hearing “Take Me to Church” played at least twice. I grew as tired as that song as everyone else eventually did, but the album is loaded with great songwriting and performances, to say nothing of the soulful, bluesy arrangements that are so different than everything else today. I have October of 2014 imprinted on this album after playing it so constantly.
Smashing Pumpkins: Oceania (2012)
The only Smashing Pumpkins album I had before this one was their greatest hits collection, so I didn’t know much of them beyond the radio. When I first saw this show up I thought, eh. Another 90s relic struggling for a comeback; kind of sad. But later as I was flipping channels one night I found myself watching a live performance from the tour they did supporting this album. The sound of the songs they were playing from the new album was different enough from their self-hating grunge-era material, and in a good way. It was the same variety of heavy rock, but was thick with a level of melody I hadn’t heard from them before, and with a tone that, for them, was almost celebratory. Billy Corgan’s voice is...pretty distinct, and generally polarizing, and doesn’t always work for me, but as long as it serves the song well enough I’m okay with it. I enjoyed the part of the show I saw enough to become curious. Ultimately I was very happy I bought the album. Years later now it’s still an album I’ll pull out and listen to all the way through.
Even though I know a lot of people find their music from streaming services now -- a leap I have yet to make myself -- I hope they still take occasional risks on new music. Every favorite song had to be heard for a first time at some point, after all.
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