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Quite simply, I need to expand my musical library. Since I actually started taking an active interest in it several years ago, my explorations have been rather... limited. I'm quite the aficionado of orchestral film soundtracks and classical music. I'm a fan of both the Beatles and Queen, largely due to the influence of my mother. Beyond that, however, my experience is quite limited. Certainly, I listen to other stuff, but I rarely attempt to seek any of it out, and I've almost never bought a CD outside of my little bubble of interest. I'm rather fond of Celtic music, and I've found specific songs that have struck my fancy in virtually every genre, but I'm not really sure where to start.

So, I'm looking for suggestions. Bands, composers, solo musicians/ singers, specific pieces, whatever; I'm looking for anything contemporary (and by contemporary, I mean the last thirty years or so). I'm not that interested in Country or Rap, but beyond that, I'm completely open. Free, online samples of suggested music would be appreciated, if they are available.

If you like Celtic music, try Clannad. They're easy on the ears and have mostly English lyrics. The lady's voice is lovely. Nightwish is a constant to have recommended. Within Temptation has some nice stuff.

Rhapsody is fun if you like orchestral music, though their lyrics are TERRIBLY hokey when it comes to the songs that have them.

Lesium is nice. So's Arcana. Nice background music.

Jazz? Chick Corea has quite an interesting mix of music, and he's quite a chameleon. His music evolved from plain Jazz to some modernist stuff. But if you like Jazz tunes, he will be one I would recommend. He's largely piano + a band. You could also try John Coltrane, who's a trumpet player and is quite famous for "A Love Supreme."

Quite a lot of interesting Jazz around.

One of my favorite composers is definitely Maurice Ravel. His most recognizable piece is by far Bolero.

PM me if you want a sample. (warning though, I recorded it long ago: it's WMA and -- depending on your standards -- "only" 192kbps)

Loreena McKennitt is the first name to come to mind when Celtic music is mentioned, though quite a few of her songs meld Middle Eastern & Celtic themes & styles. I'd suggest starting out with either The Book of Secrets or The Mask and the Mirror, her website contains samples from all her albums.

If you're in the mood for some bluesy folk music, there's the hauntingly beautiful Trinity Sessions album by the Cowboy Junkies. Very understated yet smouldering with emotion.

Staying with the folk theme, try to get your hands on Simon & Garfunkel's classic Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. My parents nearly wore out their record when I was young, they played it that much and I still love it.

Black Sabbath. Simple as that. One of the greatest and most influential bands of all time. Note, not necessarily the greatest, or the most influential. Putting that in just so people won't get fussy about it , if you just want my opinion, they are. As for Celtic music, I would suggest The Clancy Brothers, or The Green Fields of America.

If you're into folk, I'd recommend Leadbelly and Elizabeth Cotten. It's all acoustic guitar, except for a few artists who use Harmonicas as well. Anyway, both artists are very good. Leadbelly's a fairly prolific musician who plays the 12-string and (sometimes) the accordion. Elizabeth Cotten is a self-taught musician who plays fingerlpluck style. The benefit of her music is that she never learned any of the more traditional guitar chords, but invented her own. Very original and very creative.

I'd also recomend some Blues artists like Robert Johnson, Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters. Johnson is one of the most influential musicians of all time, even though he only produced two albums. Son House is an old blues man who plays Resonator, which is a nice change from electric. Mississippi John Hurt is a more mellow guitarist who is rather soft-spoken in nature. Howlin' Wolf is the exact opposite. His voice has been described as broken glass on gravel. Muddy Waters is a similar singer, but with a more gentle voice. All of these old bluesmen are excellent guitarists, and I would highly reccomend them.

When I made a rec. thread, Bounty suggested a pop artist named Mika and so I do here. I love three of his songs, Grace Kelly, Love Today, and Lollipop, all of which can be found on YouTube.

If you like Celtic and folk music, I'd recommend Leahy. They're a family/band from Ontario that plays really fun Celtic/folk music, spotlighting the fiddle but also including piano and light percussion and, in their later albums, vocals. I don't have the albums with vocals, but given your tastes you might want to stick with the instrumentals. I hear the vocals aren't as good as the instrumental songs anyway, so yes. You need to buy Leahy's first (self-titled) album. Do it now.

Since you didn't really specify any other genres, I'll just give you some of my favorite artists. One of my perennial favorites is Thea Gilmore, who's sort of folk-rockish. I don't have enough of her albums to recommend one above all the others, but Avalanche is an excellent one. A number of her songs sound a bit similar to each other, but my God, the lyrics are unbelievable. They're sort of a barrage of vivid images which are by turns funny, sad, bitter, cynical and poignant, but they are always thoughtful and usually a little poetic. (My personal favorite Thea image is "We are under the guillotine trying to fix our hair".)

Tom Lehrer isn't really contemporary in your definition - he's from the 50s and 60s - but he's funny enough that you should know about him anyway. Everyone should know about Tom Lehrer. Musically, it's just Lehrer and his piano - no frills at all. But lyrically, he'll make you suffocate from laughing. Lots of the political lyrics (and some of the others - see "New Math") are a bit anachronistic, but they're still hilarious. Others sound outdated at first, until you realize they get into deeper themes like hate, prejudice and hypocrisy. (But he's anything but sanctimonious about these sorts of issues. He's just cynical and funny.) Lehrer reminds me vividly of the movie Dr. Strangelove. If you liked the movie, you'll probably like his music. You can't go wrong with Lehrer.

Lately I've been getting into a band called Firewater. Their music is sort of hit-or-miss, but when they're good, they're really good. They sort of start with a raspy, gritty rock sound and add completely different musical elements like circus music, klezmer, or gypsy stylings. If a weird rock group like that is your style, I recommend their second album, The Ponzi Scheme.

I also want to second a couple of the suggestions made so far. I agree with Pick that Nightwish is a pretty fun (if overly dramatic) symphonic/power metal group. If you like classical music, the vocals would probably appeal to you much more than most metal vocals (their lead singer was a trained soprano). Also, J's right: you simply have to get some Simon and Garfunkel. They're absolutely unparalleled lyrically.

You could always start with some of the symphonic therion stuff, from Lepaca Kliffoth onwards, it's very melodic in comparison to the other stuff I listen to, but still full of talent and solid songwriting for the most part. Vovin is a pleasant listen all around with lots of female operatic vocals and symphonic instruments, as is Theli and Deggial, they're probably the best places to start, Deggial even has a cover of O Fortuna, and it's the best version of it I have.

You should really buy Fat of The Land by prodigy, that's the first album I ever bought for myself and it's an absolute tour de force of an album. Just get it, it'll introduce you to the awesomeness that can occur when you fuse rock and dance music. After you get that, get Music for the jilted generation, too, again, it's chock full of important and awesome songs.

I noticed you said you liked the Beatles, so I would hope you have Lennon's solo stuff, but if you don't, get that, it's some good shit.

Speaking of Lennon, for my money, Trent Reznor is his modern day equivalent, only he's a lot more depressed and a lot more fond of distortion. Everyone should get some Nine Inch Nails at some point in their lives, I would suggest starting with With Teeth (listen to Sunspots, Every Day is Exactly The Same and the title track to begin with, first), then getting The Downward Spiral if you liked that, then Pretty Hate Machine.

Get Hellbilly Deluxe by Rob Zombie, by FUCK is that a good album. Likewise, get Tonight The Stars Revolt by Powerman 5000, both these albums are full of excellent party songs that are awesome in their own right.

Rage Against The Machine's album "The Battle of Los Angeles" is one of those albums everyone should have, or at least listened to once.

The Deftones' best album is called Around The Fur. Seriously, you cannot go wrong with that album, it has melodic parts, it has excellent riffs and rhythm throughout.

Hold Your Colour by Pendulum is an awesome album to check out some well done Drum and Bass, too.

Interstella 5555 is a dvd that has an AMV for a whole album by Daft Punk. I've not met anyone that didn't like it. I think the whole thing is on youtube, but don't tell anyone I told you.

I'll second Black Sabbath and by extension Ozzy Osbourne. I know you don't want country but you should give Johnny Cash a try. His influence on modern music is not to be down played and he has several fun songs including A Boy Named Sue and One Piece At A Time.

A Boy Named Sue

One Piece At A Time

Ramones, man, Ramones. Oh & a hefty does of Astro Creep 2000.

I second Loreena McKennitt, her music is something special.

Suggestions...start off with some Cat Stevens, it's really timeless music and still amazing decades later. Then take a Blues trip with Albert King and SRV with their live In Session album. They played this live, that's talent you rarely see anymore. Continue the Blues road with the Cowboy Junkies' One Soul Now album, it's only a couple years old, but yet it still has a timeless sound. I don't think anyone does slow smouldering blues quite like they do. Then mix it up with The Nylons and their cool harmonized a capella singing. You need to hear "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", it's that good. Then go for some ABBA, Super Trouper is a nice one to start off with, has a couple of the classics plus some little known gems.

Rye wrote: Speaking of Lennon, for my money, Trent Reznor is his modern day equivalent, only he's a lot more depressed and a lot more fond of distortion. Everyone should get some Nine Inch Nails at some point in their lives, I would suggest starting with With Teeth (listen to Sunspots, Every Day is Exactly The Same and the title track to begin with, first), then getting The Downward Spiral if you liked that, then Pretty Hate Machine.

And in that note there is a new Nine Inchs Album out this Monday.

Also gonna have to give a mention to Duke Special, as i got free tickets to see him next month. I saw him at Vital 06 and fell in love with his music, which can be best described as bitter sweet yet mellon collie. In perticular Wake Up Scarlet, Portrait and Freewheel are my favourites.

I'll give the suggestion of Runrig.

Geeze... No one's mentioned Elvis yet?! Mom did the housework listening to his records.

I'll also add Boston or Toto, two big names in early 80s sound.

I've heard a lot of blues mentioned, so I'm going to put in ZZ Top who do some really fun blues/rock. Sharp Dressed Man, one of their defining songs.

No idea if you're at all into electronic music (not dance or techno, mind you), but the best is Boards of Canada. They focus on ambiance, and have a very warm, nostalgic sound.

Mein Gott, I had this huge post and now I lost it. Oh well, gonna have to go with a shorter version with less comments. Also, I can't arse myself to dress the links again, they're not long enough to break the format anyway.

Irish/Celtic music
Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance, you can get the video or the soundtrack (I got the latter).
Cry of the Celts http://youtube.com/watch?v=mW7Sog37lAo
Warriors and Gypsy http://youtube.com/watch?v=dYwqaY7CHG8
(the above has two songs, one with a bunch of guys tap-dancing, and the second with a hot chick prancing around in a red dress)


Gregorian Chant-like things
E Nomine
Schwarze Sonne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chzkNu9YhRY
Vater Unser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrb329nxx_4

Era
The Mass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2iO4ycfKOA
Ameno http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es79Bfr4BsQ

Rammstein (more toward the industrial rock side of things)
Moscou http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCrvLMaDfu8
Spiel mit mir http://youtube.com/watch?v=H6xUVzYlvoA


Cool guitar work
Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Black Sabbath - Iron Man

I'm extremely fond of A Perfect Circle and am really looking for other bands that capture the sound of Mer De Noms, which isn't going to well. They're a mellower version of Tool, sorta. Very chill music, something to put on while you do other things around the house.

I also like dream evil. Very epic, medieval metal. They had an entire album dedicated to Dragonslaying for christ's sake. Similar to them is Blind Guardian, Dragonforce(I like their slower stuff. Heh.), Sinergy in a way, although they're more speed metal, Rhapsody in Flames (used to be Rhapsody), Night Wish, Symphony X is another one, and Iced Earth. Horror Show and Dark Saga are the only IE albums I own, but they're probably the best ones. Oh, and Opeth for a fusion of Black Metal and melodic guitar playing. For them, shoot for Still Life. Oh, and not to forget 3 Inches of Blood. Heavy guitar playing, fast drumming, and songs about slaying orcs and other various heavy metal related events. Plus Pirates.

Anything that fits under the following genres:

synthpop (Beborn Beton, Covenant, Apoptygma Berzerk before 2000)
futurepop (VNV Nation, Assemblage 23)
industrial (:wumpscut:, Rotersand, Combichrist)
trance (ATB, BT, Colony 5)

E Nomine I prefer to call "operatic industrial," among which some of the better songs are Vater Unser, Wolfen (Das Tier in Mir) and Mitternacht.

Beborn Beton are kind of their own category, more of a synthesis between synthpop and futurepop, but good all around.

I definitely have to second Loreena McKennitt, though. Beautiful voice, astounding music - look up Dante's Prayer.

But to name some songs from each...
Beborn Beton - Newborn King, Angel One, Another World
Covenant - Call the Ships to Port, Like Tears in Rain, We Want Revolution
Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy's Song, Eclipse, Love Never Dies (comes in three parts)
VNV Nation - Beloved, Epicentre, Electronaut
Assemblage 23 - Lullaby, Document, Let the Wind Erase Me
:wumpscut: - Wreath of Barbs, Christfuck, Dr. Thodt (watch Turistas and this song is hilarious)
Rotersand - Exterminate Annihilate Destroy (Dr. Who fan pleaser)
Combichrist - This Shit Will Fuck You Up, This Is My Rifle
ATB - Killer, Summer
BT - Never Gonna Come Back Down, Mercury and Solace
Colony 5 - Falling Leaves (still haven't heard much of them, but I liked them)

Try Eva Cassidy. She's got an awesome voice, and does a huge range of styles. She's best known for her blues and ballads though. Youtube has some good samples.

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:You could also try John Coltrane, who's a trumpet player and is quite famous for "A Love Supreme."

The fuck? Trane is a sax player. A little flute and bass clarinet in there, but a sax and woodwind player.

Anyway, I'm a huge parrothead, and I have to reccomend Jimmy Buffet. He does a lot of beach-boy, carribean rock/jazz/pop/country/no real genre. His most recent album, Take the Weather With You, is one of my favorite of all time, and a lot of his older stuff is damned good too.

For rock stuff, look into Bob Seeger and Bruce Springsteen.

Jazz, a few names you might look up are Maynard Ferguson, Glenn Miller, Stan Getz, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gilespie. STAY AWAY FROM KENNY G, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

Other names I'd reccomend (with an example song you may have heard in parenthesis), are Kenny Loggins (Your Mama Don't Dance), Supertramp (The Logical Song), The Alan Parsons Project (Eye in the Sky), Gordon Lightfoot (Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald), Simon and Garfunkel (Mrs. Robinson), and Rockapella, who do a lot of covers a capella and are really quite amazing at what they do (Carmen Sandiago Theme Song).

Oh, and for some hilarious satire, try the Capitol Steps.

Creedence Clearwater Revival
-Fortunate Son (Among Others)

Buffalo Springfield
-For What It's Worth (and Others)

Steppenwolf
-Born To Be Wild
-Magic Carpet Ride

The Pogues

New Battlestar Galactica Season 1 and 2 soundtracks
(Dor Celtic-y music look at: A Good Lighter, Wander My Friends, (Sung in Gaelic) and Reuniting The Fleet. (S2)

Also, anything by Tom Leher. He is Very VERY VERY funny.
-Poisoning Pigeons in the Park
-In Old Mexico
-Who's Next
-The Elements
-Pollution

For a mix of Classical and Rock I reccomend Apocalptica, 3 (used to be 4) piece cello group that started off playing Metallica and then moved onto their own music.

Nothing Else Matters (metallica cover)
Seeman (with Nina Hagen, cover of Rammstein)
Bittersweet (with singers from The Rasmus and HIM)

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For Orcehstral/Operatic rock i reccomend Meatloaf, rock legend:
It's all coming back to me now
Rock and Roll dreams come through
I would do anything for love

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My favourite band right now are Muse, rock with some classical tones, but mainly rock:
Bliss
Hysteria
Time is Running Out
Super Massive Blackhole
Knights of Cydonia
Stockholm Syndrome

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The Bravery are ok, but nothing special, I love An honest Mistake though:

An Honest Mistake
Unconditional

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Keane are a nice change as they're a piano based band rather than guitar:

SOmewhere Only we Know
Bedshaped
Everybody's Changing
Bend and Break