Where’s the Music @?.............................Harrison

Duh! But is it though? Too often, we forget that our peers’ iPods and souls are chock full of good music. It’s rare, though, that we sit down with them with the explicit purpose of sharing music, and that sickens me. Sure, every so often, you find yourself saying, “What is this? I like this,” provoking a nice discussion about what happens to be playing at that moment. But less often do you say, “You know, I notice you’ve been yapping it up about modern classical music recently. Can you, like, show me the one song that won’t make me writhe in horror?” These are the kinds of conversations that spur true musical growth. As I have been known to say, everyone’s a musical authority on something. As a dutiful listener, you must always look to broaden your scope, to bring into the equation music you previously dismissed as boring, noisy, or “is this even… music?” Each of your friends listens to the music they do for a reason. Even if the reason is that their parents raised them exclusively on ’80s thrash metal, their preferences are still worth your time.

RATEYOURMUSIC.COM

I cannot stress how seminal this site is in the development of music tastes worldwide. I could spend this time discussing other such sites with similar aims, but there would be no point. This one is the crème de la crème. With its simple and unassuming design, RYM is truly the everyman’s music site. It is a comprehensive catalog of all artist discographies under the sun, featuring all release types since the dawn of recorded music. On top of that, it allows for reviews/ratings, genre tags (crucial if not controversial), list-making, and has an active forum for any type of musical discussion. A few tips I would recommend for navigating the site: Think about what genres you’d like to explore, or browse their massive list of genres to find one. Click on that genre, and before your very eyes is the entire collection of releases tagged with that genre, which you may browse by rating (highest, lowest, or “esoteric”). If you ever wondered what the hundred most acclaimed vaporwave records are, now’s your time to find out. (Hint: don’t find out.) Another goody is to click “Charts” and browse releases by year, decade, or the entirety of music history. Viewing this list may inspire within you a potent mixture of wonder and contempt. Use it! Learn and grow from it!

TRUSTED MUSICAL AUTHORITIES

While certain friends may fall under this umbrella — e.g. the NoFi and KRLX staff — this category covers the likes of record store clerks, prolific RYM reviewers, your friend’s cool dad, or popular music bloggers — the gurus, if you will. Individuals of this kind are your best and most direct route for connecting you with the sicknasty jams you so desperately crave. These men and women have taken it upon themselves to bring to you, their readers and admirers, the best there is, and they’ve put in the thousands of hours of attentive listening to back it up. With gurus, it’s best to fully extend your trust with the knowledge that, even though you may not like what you’re about to hear, you’ll still learn something in the process. You know, maybe it’s in 13/8, contains a six-minute clarinet solo, and features sound bytes from a nursing home orgy, but how the fuck do you know these guys aren’t the next Beatles, huh? While it may take some time to locate your personal gurus, your efforts will always be rewarded.

Well, there you have it: a small selection of resources to expand your realm of music-listening. As a word of caution, be wary of developing acute hysterical torrent syndrome (HTS), leaving you with hundreds of gigs of music never to be heard. It is always best to listen to what you got before moving on to the next thing. Be mindful, too, of the converse condition. Then again, if you feel complacent with the music you already know, why the hell are you reading this magazine?