Music Blog

Music Musings

Favorite Artists/Musicians

  1. Andy Shauf - The best modern storyteller in music. Amazing at saying so much in so few words. A major inspiration for me. The Party is his most popular album, but Wilds is my personal favorite. His band with Darryl Kissick, Foxwarren, is also good.
  2. Dr. Dog - I love this band. I was lucky to see them in concert a few times before they stopped touring. I hope to see them again in the future. They have such an incredible energy with a lot of feel-good songs that are perfect for sing-alongs. Music that makes me feel more human. You can listen to any of their songs on shuffle, but you can also start with their single Heart it Races (which is actually a cover of a song originally performed by Architecture In Helsinki), or the albums Be The Void and Shame, Shame.
  3. Cut Worms - This singer-songwriter has skyrocketed my personal top artists list in just a few years. Something so warm and welcoming about his music. His voice is similar to The Everly Brothers, whom my parents would listen to a lot when I was young (and I myself as a result). I'd recommend anything by him (and for some reason some songs have been re-released in multiple albums), but you can start with the album Nobody Lives Here Anymore.
  4. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - This band has become a legend of sorts. Mention them to any music nerd, and they'll love you. Much more hardcore than the rest of the artists on this list, but also on my listening list overall. I don't really care for harder genres much, but these guys are a talented exception. I'd recommend Nonagon Infinity as a good starting album, but I dearly love Omnium Gatherum. The band they have on the side, The Murlocs, is also very good.
  5. Peach Pit - I love this band's vibes. As someone who's never smoked pot, their songs about getting stoned still fill me with peak levels of relatable nostalgia. It's hard to recommend just one album by them, to be honest. I love the albums Being So Normal, You and Your Friends, and From 2 to 3. Each album has a few songs that I skip here and there, but mostly it's all bangers. I suppose you could listen to the titular tracks off of each album as a starter. The EP Sweet FA also has a few big songs on it.
  6. Big Thief and Adrianne Lenker's solo work - Both contain some of my favorite lyrics and one of the gentlest voices I've ever heard. Adrienne is such a talented individual, and I will listen to anything featuring their voice. Some of my favorite songs include Masterpiece, Mary, Cattails, Not, and Promise Is a Pendulum. Tough choices, but I picked one of my favorite songs for each for each album before 2025.
  7. Vulfpeck and the many spin-offs and solo careers started by multiple band members: Vulfmon (Jack Stratton), The Fearless Flyers, Woody Goss, Theo Katzman, Cory Wong, and Joey Dosik. - All of which are very good. High energy, but low-volume funk with some of the greatest musical minds coming together to make some incredible music.
  8. Mac DeMarco (of course) - He's probably one of the best, most well-known, independant artists of the current generations. It feels a bit cliché, but his music is really that good. A variety of subgenres to choose from per album, but I'd recommend Salad Days, This Old Dog, and Here Comes The Cowboy.
  9. Cage The Elephant - A classic in the Alt-rock genre. Despite having a number of big hits that even play on the radio, they started with indie vibes, and inspire anti-establishment in my heart whenever I listen to them. Melophobia is my all-time favorite album, but I listened to Tell Me I'm Pretty on repeat for months after it first released.
  10. Big Scary - This band got me through a lot. They were number one on my list for a long time, until Dr. Dog took over for a while before Andy Shauf became the solid favorite in the past few years. I don't listen to Big Scary as much as I used to, but I still love them dearly. Their first four albums were on repeat on my iPod Touch back in the day. A good starting point would be the albums Not Art and Animal. Tom Iansek has such a lovely voice, and the spiralling piano like that featured on my favorite song, Rolling By is the most literal representation of the term, "tickling the ivories."
  11. Relient K - Ok, listen. Do I listen to them much anymore? No. If I do, it's basically just Forget and Not Slow Down (their best album by far). BUT, they were an important part of my childhood and growing up. It's only fair to at least acknowledge them here, even if I'm not religious anymore.