Photo and Feature Photo: Yuliya Libkina
Bored with your music collection? Feeling out of the musical loop? Matador Editor-At-Large and globetrotting music journalist Paul Sullivan offers us fifty music sites that offer some of the best and most up-to-date sounds on the planet.
Whether you dig the Spice Girls, The Strokes or Stockhausen, you’re bound to find something here. If not, just try one of the streaming / aggregate sites like Spotify or We7 for even more suggestions.
20 Jazz Funk Greats
Psychedelic disco, progressive, general freaky stuff.
http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/
Absolute Punk
Former Blink 182 fansite now ground zero for emo, punk and indie.
http://www.absolutepunk.net
Aquarium Drunkard
Justin Gage bridges the gap between contemporary indie, vintage garage, psych, folk, country – and a bit of New Orleans funk, r&b and soul.
http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/
BBC
Every genre imaginable covered by the UK’s “Auntie Beeb”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music
Beat Electric
Specialising in boogie, rare disco, laser soul and proto house
http://beatelectric.blogspot.com/
Black Cab Sessions
A new “gig” each week – all performed in the back of a London black cab.
www.blackcabsessions.com
Black Classical
Jazz, funk and soul rarities with occasional great playlists/mixes.
http://blackclassical.wordpress.com/
Blackdown
Grime and dubstep covered in a consistently reliable fashion.
http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com
Brooklyn Vegan
This NYC blog is international in scope, with news, show reviews, tour dates and MP3s.
http://www.brooklynvegan.com
City sounds
A mash-up of Flickr and SoundCloud and a device that lets users post their own songs makes for truly global listening.
www.citysounds.fm
Classical Archives
Browse by composer, performer, period, even instrument plus download MP3s and create online playlists.
http://www.classicalarchives.com
Closet Curios
Three writers covering modern composers and early electronic music.
http://closetcurios2.blogspot.com/
Cocaine Blunts
All things hip hop, from Roc Raida to Lil Wayne.
http://cocaineblunts.com
Cyclic Defrost
Electronic music, avant-rock, experimental sound art and leftfield hip hop.
http://www.cyclicdefrost.com
Daytrotter
No songs from recorded works here, but exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by bands.
http://www.daytrotter.com
Dereks Daily 45
Think rare American and Northern Soul. Lots of it.
http://dereksdaily45.blogspot.com/
Donna Slut
Totally random, always fun. Click on some artwork and see what happens!
http://donnaslut.com/
Drowned In Sound
A revered British resource for all things indie-rock related and beyond.
http://drownedinsound.com/
FACT
Going since 2003, FACT is bursting at the seams with incredible dance music. Their free mixes are some of the best out there.
http://www.factmagazine.co.uk
Fluxblog
Matthew Perpetua has been posting MP3s nearly every day since 2002. He knows his onions.
http://www.fluxblog.org/
Freshly Served Hip Hop
Old skool, new skool, true skool. Plus mixtapes.
http://freshlyservedhiphop.com/
Good Bad Music
Interesting and obscure early punk tracks ripped from the original vinyl.
http://www.goodbadmusic.com/
Gorilla vs. Bear
Once described as “the New Yorker of hipster blogs,” these guys blog about relevant artists of the day, with no particular genre-specific focus.
http://gorillavsbear.blogspot.com/
Heatwave
Dedicated coverage of dancehall reggae, bashment and Caribbean rave.
http://www.theheatwave.co.uk
Hype Machine
The Hype Machine is an aggregator that keeps track of what music bloggers are writing about and handpicking the best.
www.hypem.com
I Guess I’m Floating
Highly lauded site for under-the-radar bands.
http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/
Last.fm
Type in your fave artist and Last.fm will stream free music by that act and others like it.
http://www.last.fm
The Love Unlimited
A collective-run site covering all things disco and house related.
http://www.theloveunlimited.com
Mapsadaisical
Experimental, electronic, avant-garde sounds.
http://mapsadaisical.wordpress.com/
MBV
Comprised of various renowned bloggers, this is the blog equivalent of a supergroup.
http://www.mbvmusic.com/
Melophobe
Boston-based site that runs great concert reviews from all over the world.
http://www.melophobe.com
Mondomix
Browse what’s happening in every corner of the planet via continent, or genre.
www.mondomix.com
Music For Robots
Minimal techno, indie rock, post-punk and hip-hop covered by a handful of contributors.
http://music.for-robots.com/
National Geographic Music
The musical branch of the lauded magazine. As global as you’d expect.
http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com
The Needle Drop
Rock, pop, electronic and experimental, with daily Youtube updates, podcasts, radio and blog posts.
http://theneedledrop.blogspot.com/
NYCTaper
Bootleg recordings of shows by the likes of Yo La Tengo and more, all posted with the artist’s permission.
http://www.nyctaper.com/
Orgy In Rhythm
Multiple bloggers writing about old and rare jazz, afro and Latin albums.
http://orgyinrhythm.blogspot.com/
Pitchfork Media
What to say? Increasingly dissed, Pitchfork still delivers on many levels.
http://www.pitchfork.com
Pretty Much Amazing
Daily mp3 updates, podcasts, mixtapes covering everything from LCD Soundsystem to Vampire Weekend.
http://prettymuchamazing.com/
Popjustice
Mostly mainstream pop, but famously tongue in cheek.
www.popjustice.com
The Quietus
Rock, pop and so much more. One of the UK’s best new music blogs.
http://www.thequietus.com
Resident Advisor
Alongside FACT, RA is one of the most reliable sources for electronic grooves.
http://www.residentadvisor.net/
Said The Gramophone
One of the world’s very first MP3blogs. Posts “really good songs” daily.
http://www.saidthegramophone.com
Slutty Fringe
Lots of hot electronic music of the dancefloor variety as well as the odd yacht rock tune.
http://sluttyfringe.wordpress.com/
Smithsonian Global Sound
A treasure trove of ethnological recordings and an incredible resource for world-music fans. Everything from Indian ragas to throat singing bands (plus or Alan Lomax’s field recordings of American folk artists).
http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/
Soul-Sides.com
Scads of soulful rarities and hip hop from professor and journalist Oliver Wang.
http://soul-sides.com
Spotify
Streaming access to a mindblowing amount of music, all legal and all without charge (though with ads).
http://www.spotify.com
Stereogum
Lots of news and MP3s on music of all kinds, from Phoenix to Devendra Banhart.
www.stereogum.com
We7
Nearly four million tracks. Allows you to stream, compile playlists and send recs to friends. Plus no registration!
www.we7.com
You And Me On Jamboree
Old School Jamaican Music: Ska, Rocksteady, Early Reggae, Calypso, Dub, Soul and some Roots Reggae.
http://youandmeonajamboree.blogspot.com/
Community Connection
Interested in the connection between music and travel? Hop on over to BraveNewTraveler and have a look at 8 Reasons We Love Music on the Journey.
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39 Comments... join the discussion!
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One I would add to the list is aurgasm.us
I am amazed by practically all the music they post. They post some good “world” music too.
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nice.
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Wow- I’m headed to check out Smithsonian’s Global Sounds site ASAP.
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This is absolutely amazing!! I am constantly looking for new (and old I suppose) music to rock it to.
I love Aquarium Drunkard and Pretty Much Amazing.
Thank you so so much man!
Any suggestions for Spanish music? Flamenco perhaps?
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50 direct links! this is dope!!!!
Thank you so much for doing the dirty work for us, now it’s time to BOOGIE!
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Thanks for comments all.
Kate, check out Rodrigo y Gabriela if you haven’t yet, they’re amazing live and on wax: http://www.rodgab.com/. As for trad Flamenco, the Rough Guide to Flamenco is good. And this site seems to cover good Latin sounds in general but sadly looks like they stopped. http://laondatropical.blogspot.com/
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I matter? I had no idea!?
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Stumble has over 9 Milloin followers and only 10,000 of them have come here today. Whats wrong with people !?
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Anthony, you matter a great deal. And so does your needle
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Wot no NME.COM? I guess no room for the biggest music site in Europe
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Hi Bruce. This list wasn’t about size, it’s about style of coverage and personal connection.It’s a subjective, not a definitive list and there’s always going to be stuff left out. I personally don’t think they’re an essential resource given the superior coverage of similar music from sites like Drowned In Sound and The Quietus, although I am glad you mentioned them so other folk have a chance check them out…
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Wow! Thanks Paul. Way to give the new year a new sound!
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I’m always looking for something to listen to online while I work- I won’t run out of choices for a long time. Thanks
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Thanks for keeping us in the loop on where to find the freshest beats. I’ve already e-mailed the link to my music-devoted friends.
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Ohno! You’ve left of LaLa.com! It’s a good way of previewing songs (and I think they sell them for cheap, too). Also, Google now lets you preview songs when you search for them. It’s a really cool feature that I’ve noticed on Google only recently.
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Hi
Nice list wow, i would like to add some…
http://www.jamendo.com No mainstream tunes but really fresh stuff.
http://www.reggaedubwise.com All reggae, dub, dubstep etc. etc.Thanks and enjoy!!
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I can’t believe everyone is ignoring rcrdlbl.com. Great site from NYC with loads of free downloads. I visit it everyday…
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Rob, Johnny – good calls, thanks for adding these. RCRDLBL is great and should have been on there. If we get enough we’ll do a Part 2 a bit later on
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Great list! Wer’e honoured to be included in such company.
People who want to check us out though should probably head to http://www.sluttyfringe.com rather than the old wordpress site as otherwise you’ll miss out on about 6 months worth of new music.
Thanks Paul
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TheMusicNinja.com!
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wow, great list but some major omissions
PopMatters – intelligent, excellently written criticism that explores each subject within a wider cultural context
http://www.popmatters.com/NME – top of the game for news
http://www.nme.comSpotify – revolutionary, simple to use, addictive
http://www.spotify.comMissingToof – THE best site for free electro mp3s, mixes, mix-tapes and mash-ups
http://missingtoof.com/↵ -
thanks for the shout, was just going to mention that SoundCloud was missed but saw you linked to them on your Twitter page. They may be one of the single best sharing sites I’ve ever seen/used. Hell, they’re previewing the new Four Tet before it’s released, how cool is that.
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no beatport.com ?
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He, what about http://www.tokafi.com ? Should be on the list in my opinion!
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He! I think http://www.tokafi.com should be on the list as well! It’s a great resource for experimental and contemporary music!
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Thanks for the additions guys – all great sites (I love Tokafi – in fact I work for them!) – there just wasn’t room to include everything and we wanted to get a decent spread of sounds and styles, hence there are inevitable omissions (the list was never meant to be definitive). But I already see a Part 2 coming up so please keep listing your faves and let’s keep sharing and spreading this wonderful thang called MUSIC.
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I am a big fan of Largehearted Boy for its free and legal mp3 downloads,as well as the way it marries music & books with features and interviews.
I also love Hype Machine…
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Been meaning to update by Google Reader with some fresh faces. Thanks Matador for this collective.
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Delicious Scopitone. Bleeding edge indy, weirdo-folk, noise-and-space-pop. Interesting mix-tapes. Beeyoutifull eye-candy. Commentary half in French, the rest in gently-fractured English.
http://www.deliciouscopitone.com/
After I discovered them I spent most of a Saturday going through their archives.
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http://www.blogotheque.net/ …and the treat
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I can’t believe you guys missed Indie Rock Cafe at http://www.indierockcafe.com – I’ve been following that blog for almost two years
They consistently out-match over hyped blogs like I Guess I’m Floating and definitely Gorilla vs. Bear (which just throws stuff on a page without much thought and has ugly design). Indie Rock Cafe is the best blog for under the radar bands and more “mainstream” indie blog and they put plenty of prep and thought into they posts (obvious if u follow them).
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Love these sites! Needle drop also has an awesome podcast that you should check out. I write and create a lot of content for http://www.musicvagabond.com
cheers!
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You forgot the pirate bay LOL
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Consequenceofsound.net?
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Honored to be on this list. Thanks for the recognition Paul.
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what about http://www.8tracks.com !!! About 2 years old so fairly new, great site check it out!!!
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