I need suggestions on new music

[Poldarn]

I recently realised that I have completely stopped engaging with new music. At best I download an individual song here and there. I remember that I used to get into entire albums rather than just having a playlist of random songs on shuffle.

What I would like to know is what albums people have recently discovered that they have had religious experiences with. I'm more interested in relatively new music but it is interesting to hear what people are discovering in the way of older music.

At the moment my playlist has everything from Nine Inch Nails to Bjork. Things like Mr Bungle, Tori Amos, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Tool even some Neil Diamond and Sarah McLachlan.

A bit random. So what are some albums that I should be downloading?

[Japan]

The favorite songs thread is full of Breaking Benjamin and Creed. This forum is not the place for this question.

[Taxi]

Trans am
Steroid Maximus
Shinjuku Thief
Sixteens
MIA
Kitbuilders
Hooverphonic
Hotchip
Global Goon
Plaid
Crystal Castles
Bonobo
Blockhead
Amon Tobin

Check last.fm to find similar artists to what you like

Edit: Hmm albums right... oh well

[Harrison]

last.fm is a great way to find music you like that is similar to your tastes.

I am a huge metalhead. I can't really suggest much to you given your tastes. Though, an album that I have been listening to nonstop since its release is Shogun, by Trivium.

[internalprime8]

I think the quintessential religious experience album is F♯A♯∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor but I'd guess you've already heard it.

Here's some others that come close (for me anyway).
Sleep - Dopesmoker (stoner/doom metal)
Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor (prog metal)
Can - Tago Mago (experimental/psychedelic rock)
Colour Haze - Colour Haze (stoner/psychedelic rock)
Isis - Panopticon (atmospheric sludge metal)
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic (experimental/prog rock)
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (shoegaze)
My Morning Jacket - Okonokos (indie/alt rock)
The Strokes - Is This It (garage rock)
The Tragically Hip - Fully Completely (canadian blues/alt rock)
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico (art rock)

If you enjoy any of those albums, we'll be good friends.

Edit: Just noting, I chose them based on their strength as ALBUMS.

[Japan]

I think the quintessential religious experience album is F♯A♯∞ by Godspeed You! Black Emperor but I'd guess you've already heard it.

Here's some others that come close (for me anyway).
Sleep - Dopesmoker (stoner/doom metal)
Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor (prog metal)
Can - Tago Mago (experimental/psychedelic rock)
Colour Haze - Colour Haze (stoner/psychedelic rock)
Isis - Panopticon (atmospheric sludge metal)
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic (experimental/prog rock)
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (shoegaze)
My Morning Jacket - Okonokos (indie/alt rock)
The Strokes - Is This It (garage rock)
The Tragically Hip - Fully Completely (canadian blues/alt rock)
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico (art rock)

If you enjoy any of those albums, we'll be good friends.

Edit: Just noting, I chose them based on their strength as ALBUMS.

OP: ignore trivium guy, read this

[Cogwell]

There's a lot of good artsy music out of New York again these days, of all different varieties. If you like NIN and Bjork both I'm guessing you're into that more than mainstream.
ex.: Vampire Weekend - A Punk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XC2mqcMMGQ)

or bands like MGMT and Interpol, who have been around for a few years. Its frequently hit or miss, but you can often finds really cool bands beneath the radar that you'll enjoy.

[Hasbinbad]

If you enjoy any of those albums, we'll be good friends.
..what a bitch lol.

[VictoryARC]

Bonobo -black sands
Gorrillaz. Demon days
Gorrilaz vs space monkeys

[fugazi]

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fpxq95ldte)

Prog rock/jazz from 1960. You either like it or you don't. I do. 21st Century Schizoid Man is a great song from this album, but listen to the whole thing as each song is radically different.

Bob James & David Sanborn - Double Vision (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dcfuxqugldke)

Jazz? This album is the best. Whether you're working, studying, gaming, reading or talking to a friend - this is the album to play. After the first listen-through, it grows on you and everytime you keep hearing more details in every song. A must have for true music lovers.

Links are to AllMusic, the guide to music. Browse that site for artists you like, follow the recommendations and you'll soon find new great stuff to listen to.

[Loke]

I do a lot of things to find new music - here are some ideas:

Websites (reviews): There are A LOT of music websites out there that do reviews. I try to download 3 or 4 new albums every week based on reviews from websites. I read Pitchfork every other day or so to accomplish this.

Websites (radio): Both Pandora and Last.fm are great for discovering new artists - simply type in something you like and listen for new bands you haven't heard of. Then rock the torrent sites or youtube and see if you like the rest of their stuff. Also if you're into indie / alternative music, check out KEXP's free live stream... they play a lot of really sweet music.

Torrents: I am a what.cd member and they have two tools I really like for finding new music. First is the top 10, I check that a lot and download recently uploaded music that has tags for genres and styles I like. Secondly, they have a tool that shows like a web of similar artists; if I find an artist I like I'll click on other artists similar to them and download their stuff too.

Live music: I have found a ton of cool bands by going to music festivals and what not. Sure, I buy tickets to go see the headliners, but I don't think I've ever walked away from a music festival without at least 1 or 2 new bands I want to check out.

Friends: Probably the best method - I have some friends that have really similar tastes and we turn each other on to new bands. Almost every time I hang out with certain friends we spend a solid 20 or 30 minutes talking about music or new artists we've been listening to... generally gives me a few albums to download and check out.

Honestly, it's just about listening to new music and making a note of stuff you like. For awhile I was a lot like you, I had a huge music library so I just kept listening to the same stuff over and over again, which isn't really a BAD thing, but I wouldn't say it is a good thing. I'd say just take and hour or so out of the time you'd normally spend listening to your library and listen to new music. An hour is about one album, so if you can do that a few times a week you should be finding yourself exposed to quite a lot of new music.

[Killua]

Here's what I'm currently listening to the most (artist - album - genre):

The Golden Filter - "Voluspa" - Electropop (My favorite album of 2010 so far)
Phantogram - "Eyelid Movies" - Big Beat
The Young Veins - "Take A Vacation" - Retro/Rock
The Vaselines - "Sex With An X" - Alternative
The Hundred In the Hands - "This Desert" - Electronic
Devo - "Something For Everybody" - New Wave
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Up From Below" - Indie Folk
Atmosphere - "When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold" - Rap/Hip-Hop
Megafaun - "Gather, Form & Fly" - Folk
She & Him - "Volume Two" - Indie

I saw Crystal Castles mentioned, they're awesome. Also another Indie/Alternative radio station stream to check out is 89.3 The Current out of Minneapolis.

And I agree with the Pandora/Last.fm suggestions, although I haven't used either for quite a while to find stuff, they do work well.

[purist]

System of a Down's S-T CD.

[nickyboy1981]

try five leaves left, pink moon or bryter lyter by nick drake, my last 'religious' expirience albums, i almost jizzed first time i heard five leaves left.

or try neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea, love that album, i also second the vampire weekend, interpol (first album) suggestions. seen them both live and they are awesome.

[nickyboy1981]

reading my post back and reading the word love also made me think of.
love - forever changes, cant go wrong with that 1..

[Alawen Everywhere]

It's difficult for me to summarize my musical tastes. Here are some songs that particularly move me in one way or another:

"Brown Eyed Girl" by Everclear
"It's Been A While" by Staind
"The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
"Landslide" by The Dixie Chicks
"After The Gold Rush" by Trio
"Sassafras Roots" by Green Day
"Say Goodnight And Go" by Imogen Heap
"That's Not My Name" by The Ting Tings
"Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down
"Inside Out" by Eve 6
"Bluebeard" by The Cocteau Twins
"Free" by Sarah Brightman
"Fidelity" by Regina Spektor
"I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt
"Broken Home" by Papa Roach
"Dirty Boulevard" by Lou Reed
"By Your Side" by Sade
"Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor
"Flowers In The Window" by Travis

[Eccentricaa]

First off, im kinda interested in Ping, for just that reason. See what friends are listening to, etc.. I havent installed it yet, but ill get around to it eventually...

Now..

Being in mid 30s, I listen to little bit of everything, with exception of rap and contemporary country. (I do like some of the older stuff, but just basic Willie, Hank, Cash, etc.) Majority of it is the 80s alternative type.

Biggest Discovery, that has become my favorite band of all time?
Dead Can Dance. Lisa Gerrard has such a wonderful voice. (solo stuff includes parts on soundtrack to gladiator if anyone remembers the slow singing during battle scenes.) Listen to her version of "Wind that shakes the Barley" for an example of her vocal talent. The male singer in the band, Brendan Perry has a voice that is well balanced against Lisa's (listen to "I am stretched on your grave" for his singing)

Some of their music is instrumental only, using unique international instruments, like the dulcimer, etc. They are multi lingual, (Lisa speaks 5 languages, dont know how many Brendan does) Some songs are in languages I dont speak, so am clueless to the lyrics, but still enjoyable to listen to.

Its hard to categorize the band as any one music form. Some songs are Celtic, others sound more middle eastern... Its just relaxing to have in background while you work/clean/etc.

[Seaweedpimp]

Mournful congregation

White cold wrath burnt frozen blood ??
Mother water the great sea wept (pt2)

[Troy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Machinery_(album)

Allan Holdsworth + 2 brothers more known for their metal chops playing some downright insane fusion. This album is not metal at all FYI. If you can handle interesting music, listen to it. If you only like pop rock or "indie" or "alt" or death metal, ignore this post.

[Reiker]

@OP: Since you didn't really narrow down any sort of type of music you're looking for I'll just list some bands / albums as they come to mind. Anyone who knows anything about music will be familiar with anything on this list, but I figured I'd start with the "must hears" before the obscure.

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
Not really a match to the bands you listed, but this is one of my all time favorite albums. Very self-indulgent and the majority of the songs are about pining about girls / past relationships. This album is absolutely beautiful though. The title track is one of my favorite songs of all time. It's described as a "heroin album," the reason for which will become apparent as you listen to it, even without the references to shooting up. An amazing album to just relax and chill out to while reflecting on your life.

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Kind of like the above, not based on anything you listed but one of those masterpiece albums that everyone should hear. If you haven't listened to it... just do it.

Boris - Any
One of my favorite rock bands of all time and the only I can really think of who have truly produced at least one song for every genre of rock conceived. Looking for post-rock? Give Flood a spin, which is essentially one song broken into 4 parts with a build up / climax / release that even GSYBE would be envious of (the band has even likened the album/song to sex in its structure). Or if you're looking for something a little sludge metalier/dronier throw on Feedbacker. Good ol' heavy stoner rock? Heavy Rocks has it. Shoegaze? You can find it on Pink. Grindcore? Download Vein (note there's two versions of Vein with completely different track lists). If you like rock music, you will find something by Boris to fall in love with. I also admire that their gigantic sound is produced by a tiny cute Japanese girl.

Flaming Lips - Embryonic (or any)
The Flaming Lips are known for their older work, however I fell in love with their most recent album that was released last summer. This band released "intelligent" stoner/acid rock classics such as Clouds Taste Metallic and Hit To Death In the Futurehead. They then shifted towards an electronic pop style of music with The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots with great success. Their next release, At War With the Mystics received unfavorable reviews, but set them up for Embryonic which I feel is one of their best works ever. In a way it is their magnum opus, the amalgamation of their previous styles in one cohesive masterpiece. Guitars are once again featured prominently, intertwined with electronic elements, producing an awesome modern psychedelic rock experience. Their career can really be summed up by a 1980s compilation album: Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid.

Portishead - Any
Because you mentioned Bjork. The band is almost synonymous with the genre trip hop, as My Bloody Valentine is with shoe gaze. Plodding beats and beautiful strings with Beth Gibbon's brooding voice equal some truly amazing music. You really can't go wrong with any of their four albums. The live album is in ways even better than the recorded material. Their newest release, Third, is my personal favorite and features more of a "rock" element.

I can post more if you wish, I gotta finish a paper.

[Reiker]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Machinery_(album)

Allan Holdsworth + 2 brothers more known for their metal chops playing some downright insane fusion. This album is not metal at all FYI. If you can handle interesting music, listen to it. If you only like pop rock or "indie" or "alt" or death metal, ignore this post.

Check out the Japanese death metal / jazz fusion band Midori.