The quest: recent/current good music

[flexagon]

A recent xkcd comic kicked off a spirited music discussion. People are recommending the following as good, recent picks:

EBM
psytrance (e.g, Infected Mushroom)
Dr. Dog
The Tiny
Regina Spektor (+1)
Broken Social Scene (and affiliates)

Neutral Milk Hotel (+2)

Dispatch
Black Keys
Great Big Sea (+1)
Flogging Molly

Some By Sea

PJ Harvey. Her latest album's phenomenal.
The Spores (+2)
Sigur Ros
Godspeed You Black Emperor
Aimee Mann
Explosions in the Sky
System of a Down
Mindless Self Indulgence (an acquired taste, but I think they're brilliant)
Ugly Casanova
Gogol Bordello
Ghostigital
Aesop Rock
Matthew Good (solo stuff, his MGB stuff is kind of generic)
The Hidden Cameras
Muse

The Knife - Silent Shout

Also maybe of interest: obscuresound.com's Best Albums of 2006 (Top 10, none of whom I've heard of)

When I answered my own query for recommendations I listed Tweaker, VAST, Final Fantasy, Lisa Germano's latest album... and today I bought some Tool, based on a video linked in the same discussion. So what do you think of the other things people recommended? Without spending a long time on either Amazon or Pandora I'm not sure where to start with a list this long.

Comments

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

I loved that xkcd comic and I tend to agree with him on that. There are some musical influences from that era that loom very large indeed. I would put U2 and REM up there from recent times, but they aren't really our generation at all.

From that list, the only one I know is PJ Harvey, and she's quite good. She has a unique style. But I couldn't just sit down and listen and absorb her like I can a Led Zeppelin album...

[silentq.livejournal.com]

Will come back and answer this when I've got a bit more time. :) To start with though, Sigur Ros is one of my favourite bands, but they may not be to everyone's taste. Godspeed and Explosions in the Sky are in the same genre: lush guitar heavy instrumentals that are sort of dreamy at the same time. One of the guys in Sigur Ros tends to play his guitar with a violin bow. :)

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm pretty surprised by a couple that you aren't familiar with - especially broken social scene and gogol bordello. BSS has a song that is one of my all-time faves, along with HB, and we went on and on about it a while back. Gogol Bordello is one of J's faves, he used to babble on about their song "start wearing purple" All. The. Time. I don't love Gogol, but it's ok. They often do shows with Dresden Dolls, Humanwine and Balkan Beatbox. Ugly Casanova is fave of mine.

I'd throw Feist, Lily Allen, and Koop on the list off-hand.

[niralth.livejournal.com]

Our taste doesn't seem to overlap much, so I can't really recommend anything. Many in your "recommended to you" list are quite good.