How do you discover new music, and what’s the latest gem you’ve found?
I have two sources. Pitchfork (American skewed), and 6Music. I’m listening to the later at the moment, as I do most workdays when I can.
6Music, a digital radio station from the BBC, has been a source of new music for a while now. Their remit is to play "a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands." and I am smack bang in their catchment audience.
Pitchfork widens my musical view to artists I likely wouldn’t pick up otherwise, and I check their recommendations about once a week and usually find something interesting enough to go into rotation.
I should probably also mention Shazam. I’ve been using it for years, crossing fingers in noisy bars, to capture music I hear out and about, and since post-COVID has pushed me to working from home more and more, it’s still useful. A song comes on the radio, I fire up Shazam, and a few minutes later the track is located and added to a playlist in Apple Music —258 tracks and counting— and from there I can drag it to my G Radio playlist which puts it into heavy rotation outside of work hours.
I’ve been introduced to many bands this way; Run the Jewels, Ghostpoet, Vampire Weekend, Broken Social Scene, Lola Young, Mitski and many more. It’s also brought me songs from artists I knew but hadn’t explored.
As for the most recent gem, it’s from a band that released their first album in 2012! So, while this track is new, the band are hardly ‘new’ but hey, they are new to me and that’s all that really matters.
“The Fountain” by DIIV
Listen to Gordon McLean's Apple Music playlist
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What are your thoughts?