Got a New Job; Need Music to Occupy Me

[Volk9]

I just got a 2nd job delivering flyers door to door in the mornings, so I'm in the mood to listen to some new music. Today was my first day and I listened to:

Massive Attack- Heligoland
Michael Jackson- Thriller and Off the Wall
Nonpoint- To the Pain
Digable Planets- A New Refutation

I prefer no metal or prog (unless you think its THAT good). Anything else goes.

Heres my RYM if it helps: https://rateyourmusic.com/~Sonata216

[zxlkho]

Definitely check out The Dear Hunter. Either Act I or Act II is a good place to start.

[Ravenheart]

Everyone's going to be jerking off to The Dear Hunter in this thread. Here are a few albums that might deviate from the norm that I recommend:

VAST - Nude. Alternative rock with electronic and ambient influences thrown in, with unique acoustic and ambient passages, introspective lyrics, and lovely piano fillings.

Emilie Simon - Vegetal. Female pop and electronica, with various other influences thrown in and unconventional structures. Still very accessible.

Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself. Yet more pop and electronica by a female artist. Really pretty stuff.

Sarah Fimm - Nexus. Gorgeous downer trip-hop with deep melodies that you can get immersed in. Absolutely incredible and highly recommended.

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile. Dense soundscapes that incorporate industrial, ambient, classical, atmospheric, and electronic elements. Good, self-loathing lyrics (if you're into the sort of thing) that tell a subtle story through the 23-song album.

[TheMadgician]

I've found myself pimping this band a few times when people've asked for new music. And I think I will again. I really like them, and they really deserve to be spread around.

Get Acoustic by The Megas. When you look into them, they'll probably seem like "just another video game band" But they're really not. The album is pretty much a concept album on Mega Man 2. They give each stage and piece of music its own lyrics. They give each robot master his own personality and story. I'd definitely recommend Get Acoustic over Get Equipped. The melodies are better, some great multipart harmonies, better arrangement and production, in general more powerful. That's not to say Get Equipped is bad, but Get Acoustic is easily better.

[Portrucci]

I think you'd like Amon Tobin - Foley Room

[skydivingninja]

Alex Mauer isn't as upbeat as a lot of other chiptune artists are.  His stuff is usually pretty calm and actually sounds like a game soundtrack.  Dead Mother Goose and Antarctica, while incredibly short, are both very good.

The Prize Fighter Inferno, Claudio Sanchez's solo project, is the greatest mix of folk and electronica I've ever heard.  I've checked out other artists labelled under "folktronica" but Claudio just really captured something great here.  Catchy melodies are everywhere on this album.

I know you said "no metal," but Russian Circles is great whenever I'm working or studying.  Station or Enter should be your first purchase.  Its post-metal, so there are no vocals, but the music is very grand, heavy, but still has some subtlety to it.

I second Ravenheart's Sarah Fimm recommendation. 

And lastly, Vanden Plas is a band of unfiltered genius and you should listen to everything they touch.

EDIT: TheMadgician, what do you think of The Protomen?  They have original albums that are Mega Man concept albums as well, and I think they precede the Megas by some time. 

[Jamesman42]

Cloudkicker - Beacons (it's metal, but it's really like ambient metal in a weird sense, and is really cool instrumental stuff)

Future of Forestry - Travel II is a great little EP. Six songs, lots of different feels to each song but you can sense the cohesiveness of the band, and the music is just wonderful.

[Iarwain]

Ektoise's self-titled album, it's got a bit of everything (including metal, but not much).

Great album and it's free.

https://ektoise.bandcamp.com/album/ektoise

[TheMadgician]

TheMadgician, what do you think of The Protomen?  They have original albums that are Mega Man concept albums as well, and I think they precede the Megas by some time. 

I was actually shown The Protomen first. And at first, I didn't care for them all that much. I seem to remember thinking it all sounded sloppy, poorly produced, and low quality recordings. When I was introduced to The Megas, my friend actually said "They're like The Protomen but they know how to play their instruments." I thought it was a pretty fair assessment at first.

And then, one day on Last.FM, one of their songs came on. The title had something about The Hound. I was stunned this was the same band I'd been knocking for months.The song just had such a grandiose, epic, badass feel. It was spectacular. I've intended on getting some of their stuff since them. But I procrastinate just about everything. In fact, I should be getting breakfast right now instead of browsing DTF.

[PixelDream]

Heligoland is fantastic, definately made my top 10 last year. But hell, it's Massive Attack, ofcourse it's great.

I'm gonna do some electronic recommendations:

Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
Trentemoller - The Last Resort
Shpongle - Tales of the Inexpressable
Bonobo - Days to Come

[Marvellous G]

Cunninlynguists - Oneirology seems like your kind of thing based on your top 50 albums.