One of the goals on my list was to discover 20 artists. This wasn’t hard since I spend most of my time trying to find new talent and add new songs to my iPod. It took longer than expected because I only counted it if I found the artist and listened to their albums from start to finish. Then I could count it as a new discovery. Thanks to The Voice I managed to cross the last three spots off on the list and this is who, in the last year, I’ve discovered:
Discover 20 Artists:
1. fun. I saw these guys in concert awhile ago but I never really listened to their stuff. Then one day I just decided to get their album and they became one of my top 10 favorite bands almost instantly. Their album is so unique and fun to listen to.
2.Band of Horses. To anyone who has never listened to this band…YOU ARE MISSING OUT BIG TIME. They’re unbelievable. I don’t even have the right words for how breathtaking their album is. I heard about them for the first time when I saw a preview for 127 hours and their song “The Funeral” was being played in the background. Since then I’ve listened to their album numerous times and have a special place in my heart for “No one’s Gonna Love You”
3. 3OH!3. I knew about these guys because they collaborate with so many artists but I had an interview set up with them back in November of 2010 and I wanted to research their stuff a little more. So I gave their music a listen and realized it wasn’t as stupid as I had originally thought. I saw this after having heard “Don’t Trust Me”. Their stuff is actually super catchy and fun to dance to and they even have one ballad type song in there that gave me goosebumps. I didn’t think their stuff could do that to me…
4. 2AM Club. This was another band I discovered because of an interview for CONFRONT Magazine. They were the opening act and the magazine set up an interview and I was the one who ended up doing it. Again, I wanted to see what their stuff was like so I listened in advance and they were another band that I’ve had on repeat ever since. Not to mention Marc & Dave, the two members I interviewed, were such sweethearts and genuinely seemed to love what they were doing.
5. Sweet Thing. These guys were introduced to me by one of my best friends. I had heard “Lazy Susan” on the TV many times but I had never bothered to actually get their album. Then they came to Montreal and I hate going to a show without having done research so I listened straight through to their first record and found myself enjoying quite a few songs on it. Except “Spider”. Ick. Creepy track.
6. Amos Lee. I came across his music on a website. I don’t usually like the sultry type of music but he has a pretty awesome voice and his song “Sweet Pea” is cute. I only listened to his album once and I probably wont’ listen again but at least I feel informed if anyone ever mentions his name.
7. The Kooks. There’s something about British bands that warm my heart. These guys are absolutely adorable. Not to mention you can hear their accent on all the tracks which makes their music EVEN better.
8. Adele. How does someone not hear about her? Working at Chapters I saw her CD flying off the shelves and then I saw that she was number one across the world. So I decided to give her album a listen. Now I would never see her in concert but she is absolutely outstanding. Her voice is so powerful and most of the album gave me goosebumps when I listened to it with the volume turned up.
9. The Wombats. Another adorable British group. I just had to. I couldn’t help it.
10. The Morning Of. Probably one of my FAVORITE bands that I discovered during my time making this list. It’s a girl and guy duo and the guy reminds me so much of The Rocket Summer it’s frightening. I’m pretty sure I sent this album to everyone I could think of once I had bought it. Their music is just cute and uplifting. It’s perfect beach music.
11. Hollywood Undead. Jason was flicking channels once on the radio and he came across their single “Hear Me Now”. This is another type of music I don’t generally listen to but the chorus caught my ear. Then my teacher had a representative come in from Universal and I got a free copy of the CD. So I gave it a listen. Surprisingly it was very good.
12. The Fratellis. Anyone who is a Chicago Blackhawks fan knows this band. Their hit single is the goal song. I found myself addicted to it so I decided to give the rest of the album a listen. Not disappointed at all. Although I’m still loving the single more than anything else.
13. Foster The People. This was another band I researched because of my work for CONFRONT Magazine. I offered to interview them and then saw their single blowing up all over the radio. It’s not exactly my particular style of music but I can see why it works so well. It’s catchy.
14. Razorlight. This is probably the band I remember the least. I listened to their album once and they didn’t really stick with me.
15. Mae. I picked up all the albums by this band and I listened to each and every one of them and loved all of them. I’m pretty sure my friend referred me to them a long time ago but I was too lazy. I’m happy I remembered to check them out.
16. Cage The Elephant. These guys were brought up A LOT in my class by one of the students and they’re coming to Montreal soon so I wanted to research their stuff. Their music is pretty impressive. It’s got a very unique sound to it. It’s not something I would usually listen to on repeat but if a song comes on my iPod I’ll listen to it because it’s different.
17. Hey Rosetta! These guys were referred to me by a best friend of mine and I had originally wanted to listen to their stuff because I was planning on going to Osheaga. Their album was pretty good and Seeds is an amazing track.
18. Mother Mother. Freaking AWESOME band. Really there’s not much else I can say about them. We need more music like this in North America and we need it to be played on the radio. PLEASE.
19. Javier Colon. THANK YOU THE VOICE. This guys is absolutely unbelievable. Obviously he doesn’t have an album out so it doesn’t count completely but I listened to him religiously on The Voice so it has to count to some degree. Plus when his album does come out I know I’ll have it on repeat for weeks on end. His voice is kind of..angelic.
20. Dia Frampton. Yet another contestant on The Voice whose album I can’t listen to but she was originally in a band with her sister Meg so I picked up Meg & Dia and listened to those straight through. Both of them have haunting voices and remind me of a better version of the Veronicas. More soul. More passion in their voices.
Swim for the music that saves you. 
Blair Canon Said:
on July 5, 2011 at 1:40 am
so glad you posted this! i love ALL of the music gonna go download it now 🙂 check out our blog and leave us feedback xx blair