What are some creative ways you’ve discovered things (music, movies etc) outside of the algorithm?

Question

Amy · Answer

Browse staff picks of independent bookstores: I like to browse the staff picks online of my favorite indie bookstores. It’s great way to learn about new books!

S.A.V. · Answer

Create a playlist group chat: My friends and I formed a “Playlist Appreciation Society” during the pandemic and will give each other random prompts (e.g. “Your five-song movie montage,” or “Top 5 covers,” or “Mystery theme,” etc.). There’s no pressure but also it’s a fun little project where we learn more about each other’s tastes and hear new music too.

Lulu Lefferts · Answer

Follow the deep link: If you are interested in learning new things, follow every deep link you can find. If there’s no deep link but you don’t know what something is, look it up! Is this a time suck? Yes, of course. But it also leads to some pretty great stuff.

Chad Nelson · Answer

Intentional lightweight friend recs: I have several friends with whom I have a sort of scheduled recommendation each week. Each week we both send a song we’re really digging. Some weeks I get four songs, Some months I get one song. No need for a description, No expectation of a timely response, just the link to a song.

Hallie · Answer

The Sounds In My Head: I’ve been listening for >10yrs (he’s been around for longer!) and have discovered many favorites thanks to TSIMY. Excellent medley of old and new indie bands peppered with earnest and clever commentary.

lauren o · Answer

FIP radio: (France Inter Paris, not feline infectious peritonitis!) Broadcasting (and streaming) commercial-free music and irrationally sexy station IDs since ‘71, all human-curated and 85% from indie labels. Fair warning, they also go hard on novelty Christmas music for like four months at a stretch - but that’s part of their charm. If you’re on the east coast of the US, early evening = the witching hour on FIP. Have probably purchased two dozen records I first heard there.

Evan McAvenia · Answer

calisphere: my holy grail for ca archival imagery. it leans academic, but you can find so many amazing things and such a range of historic images. it will also link out to finding aids and archives if you need in person access!

Karen Fischer · Answer

Reading recommendations in an author's acknowledgements page: And/or looking into books referenced in other books. Sometimes, for example, writers will write in their acknowledgements various titles that inspired them, or music, movies, etc. I love taking note of those things, and then seeking them out. The ultimate rec!

Jules · Answer

fucking around on Libby app: it’s fun to just poke around and flip through a few pages of anything. could do it all day

Jules · Answer

your college radio station: either where you live (KALX for my bay people.. it’s awesome) or stream your alma mater. the kids are alright

Jules · Answer

Term search on spotify: spotify don’t want you to do this because they want to push their shitty stupid playlists that don’t understand you/me. but if you look up something like “live laugh lobotomy” or really anything — coffee and excel, reading jazz…  you will find a random persons take on something and it’s honestly the best way to discover music, and the most random.

Erica · Answer

NTS Radio for music!

Soph · Answer

How Authors Pick Their Next Read: So many good gems in here…

Soph · Answer

NTS: Free, rotating DJS 24/7, the music is usually something I’ve never heard before and I enjoy listening to whole sets to fight the impatient urge to skip. Rewires my brain. and I’m not in control. Yay!

Soph · Answer

Youtube DJ's: One of my favorite little rituals lately: throwing a DJ set onto the projector while I work or craft on the living room floor. In a world of infinite AI-generated everything, it feels so refreshing to spend time with another human's taste. I've found so much incredible music this way.

Erin · Answer

When looking for new music etc. thinking of how things are curated and who curates them, so maybe instead of following the creator, director, author, artist, or musician, look at what other projects the label, producer, gallery, or publisher are doing.: discover random things

Vickie · Answer

Feed Me by Emily Sundberg: I feel like I get a lot of discoveries from my Substack newsletters in general, but the most from Feed Me. Earlier this summer, Emily sourced a Feed Me summer reading list from her readers which I still consult when I'm looking for a new novel to read + Teddy Kim writes a weekly column for her on movies/film screenings that prompted me to get my Film Forum membership. I also like the city and wellness guides that she's sourced from her readers + her reporting generally!!

B. A. Griffin · Answer

Battle of the Bands: Seek out a Battle of the Bands near you - and go! New and original music that you’ve never ever heard before, played by passionate, up-and-coming artists! When they blow up one day, you can say you! were! there! and prove it with the t-shirt you’ll (most definitely, right?) buy off their merch table.

Willa · Answer

KEXP! aka 90.3 FM Seattle: Entirely, fiercely, human and a mainstay of both the PNW and the global community. Their back catalog of live session bands is even better than Tiny Desk, and the musicians are often bucket-list excited to be at KEXP. All the DJs are great, and every music loving Seattlite will have a fight-me opinion as to who is actually the best. KEXP is where I turn when there's a long drive, a flight, a room that needs painting, or a human that needs a splash of creative joy.

Iris Anais · Answer

are.na: I almost feel like I'm exposing a secret but are.na is the coolest site to exist even if it's nearly impossible to explain. If you like to collect internet artifacts like websites, photos, documents, resources, articles, digital gardens, and cool-ass homepages, and don't want things to be presented to you via an algorithm then you are (unfortunately) missing out! it does cost $$ to have more than 100 blocks, but by the time I got there, it became very clear the value of the tool, and that the money is going towards a good cause (the folks making the website, directly back into the website). There is something SO cool about the internet / html / digital garden / are.na / neocities community which is - so many people have created so many cool resources for you FOR FREE out of the goodness of their heart. Like are.na was fundamental in reminding me that the internet is actually Good! that so many people genuinely like sharing their knowledge with others because they love the thing they're doing, and want more folks to fall in love with it all too.

Frances · Answer

Books about something totally different: I love picking up a random life hack or inspiration from a book where that thing is only tangentially related, at best. An example off the top of my head: I learned how to high five properly from the Fug Girls’ romance novel,The Royal We.

Emilie Bienvenew · Answer

Radio Classique Easy de France Musique: When I want background music, it’s always this one—a mix of classical and film scores.

It’s a great way to discover composers or pieces.

Vanessa · Answer

Criterion Closet visits: There was a time I went through so many of these Criterion Closet videos making notes of movies I thought sounded interesting or just whatever some cool person recommended. So many people picked out “Being There” with Peter Sellers. I watched it and before it was even over I had ordered a DVD copy to my Dad because I knew he’d love it, too.

Sara Quinn · Answer

The Charis Books and More Newsletter: Subscribe to your favorite bookstore’s weekly newsletter. Charis has an incredible one. Pick your favorites and run to your Libby app and add them so you get notified when your library gets it and you can be one of the first to put it on hold.

Sara Quinn · Answer

Playlist of your trip: Last summer on a trip to nyc I made a playlist of the trip, so random songs I heard on the street, songs my friends put on, songs from a concert I went to, the song the Lyft driver played at 3am, all went on a playlist. I was looking for music everywhere I went and it made such a great playlist and memento.

Elena · Answer

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib: Brilliant human, brilliant poet, brilliant writer, brilliant music appreciator, brilliant mind, brilliant heart of brilliance, there is no one like Hanif!!

An ode to the music that gets us and gets us through life. He made me cry reading an essay on Fall Out Boy.

Gave this to my partners dad who hogs the aux and he LOVED it.

Coco Quizon · Answer

Radio Al Hara: A relic from the pandemic that’s stayed with me six years on. Radio Al Hara broadcasts from the most beautiful creative space in Bethlehem called Wonder Cabinet. I would be left with much worse taste in music had I not stumbled upon this during the lockdowns. Ran by brothers Elias and Yousef Anastas, who are architects by day (I think also furniture designers) and radio programmers at every other time, keep it running in the background and relish in the delight of discovery.

molly · Answer

wxpn: incredibly diverse music interspersed with new local faves. a wonderful community of listeners.

Marygrace · Answer

Asking what music is playing when you're in a store/coffee shop and something cool is on: You can just ask the shopkeeper or barista! I've discovered some great music this way and it often sparks an interesting conversation that leads to an exchange of more recs.

Roger · Answer

WXNA: For music discovery outside the algorithm, I’d suggest exploring Internet radio. This station, WXNA, is an indie eclectic gem from Nashville. This radio show is a great Sunday morning habit. The Continental (Sundays, 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM & 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM): An eclectic musical cocktail spanning all space and time.

Dylan · Answer

Hung Up (Hunter Harris): newsletter on movies, tv, pop culture. from the co-host of lemme say this (with @Peyton Dix) + the pitt podcast.

Dylan · Answer

Derrick Gee: One of my favourite music nerds!

"A self-described ‘professional music fan’, the Sydney/Eora-based DJ and tastemaker has built a devoted global following through an instinct for uncovering the emotional worlds inside music."

~ blurb excerpt from Now or Never

JaperMoon · Answer

Film History Text Books: Film Art is a good one to start with.

And A History of Narrative Film (much bigger).

MIT has a film history class thats free, you can download the syllabus and watch the lectures on youtube (this was my 2020).

Eric F · Answer

The Filmcast  🎞️: My favorite film and tv podcast. “David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Jeff Cannata debate, pontificate, and delve into the latest films, TV shows, and other entertainment-related items from the past week.”

Dylan · Answer

Triple R Community Radion Station - Melbourne: For 50 years Triple R has shaped and inspired the culture of Melbourne. Since its inception as an educational broadcaster in 1976, Triple R has become Australia's most influential community radio station with 17,000 paid subscribers and broadcasting live to over 1,000,000 listeners per month across FM and digital (DAB+ digital radio, podcasts and online).

Broadcasting on 102.7FM and 3RRR Digital, the Triple R grid houses over 60 diverse programs. Music shows cover every genre imaginable from pop to punk rock, from R&B and electro to jazz, hip hop, country and metal. Specialist talks programs delve into topics as varied as the environment, human rights, politics, medical issues, gardening, cultural ventures and local interests.

With the exception of Breakfasters, all of Triple R’s programs are presented by volunteers. Broadcasters who are drawn to the station because of its unique, independent ethos and its commitment to quality public radio. All Triple R’s broadcasters have a passion for what they present and are genuine music fanatics or devoted experts in their fields.

The voices heard on Triple R are as varied as its listeners. And, it’s many of these listeners who keep the station on-air year in, year out. Triple R is a fully independent non-profit community radio station which relies on sponsorship and listener subscriptions to keep running – listener funded radio. We’re not beholden to shareholders or advertisers; we’re here to serve our community of listeners and offer them a genuine, intelligent and considered alternative.

This unique relationship with listeners also connects with people in more ways than just on-air. The Triple R Performance Space officially opened its doors in 2009 and has played host, so far, to gigs highlighting unsigned Australian acts, comedy shows, independent theatre and literary events. Our relationship with Factory Sound and some of Australia's finest Front of House Engineers means we have one of the best sounding rooms in Melbourne.

Triple R plays a vital role as an independent community voice in Melbourne.

~(blurb from Triple R)

102.7FM, 3RRR Digital in Melbourne & worldwide via RRR Apps

Dylan · Answer

NTS Radio: A global radio platform broadcasting music from over 50 cities around the globe, live 24/7