No Stupid Questions

There is the Eurovision Song Contest, buuuuuuuut, this year's season has been such an incredible shitshow that I can't recommend it anymore. Seriously, I wish it never got this way.

So... spend some time listening to the entries from 2013 to 2022. Those are the ones that I liked the most, especially from 2021 (spoiler: Måneskin is in there somewhere, and so is Duncan Lawrence, and Rosa Linn, and the Sunstroke Project... the ones with the Epic Sax Guy, you might have heard of all of these guys before, oh, and Flo Rida too)

2012 and earlier (down to 1997 I guess) do have some cool stuff, but most of it is kinda kitschy and unserious. There are some strong entries, but it's being overshadowed by what is basically garbage and political voting. But at least we got a taste of Loreen out of that. You've heard of that Nightcore remix of a song called Rockefeller Street? Yep, that's from Eurovision.

As for 2023 specifically... well, there's a certain green Finnish guy that you might love, and has almost won if it wasn't for- oh God, Loreen again? And there's some other cool stuff I guess.

The 90s, 80s, and 70s all have some fantastic entries, some of then are even from super famous people such as ABBA, Celine Dion, Olivia Newton John, Johnny Logan, Julio Iglesias, Samira Bensaid, in addition to lots of incredibly interesting folks. There's a live orchestra in there too, so you know things are authentic.

And then there's the 60s and 50s. I can't remember anything about them.

So, enjoy my recommendation of the songs, and please for God's sake, avoid watching the contest live at all costs, and especially stay away from its political influence. There's a particular country in there that everybody wants out, and I'm pretty sure you know who it is. They've basically ruined 2024.

You got to ride the youtube algo musical rabbit hole down to the bottom, otherwise it just feeds you the same 10 playlist. Find a song/band outside your norm that is tolerable, then you can choose a direction based off recommended. You can upvote what you like/the right direction to tune the algo. You should get mostly top songs from that artist or similar bubbles, although if your adventurous check smaller artist and explore. There's hidden diamonds.

Eventually you find some random anon artist with a weird cult following and what seems to be a sub-sub-sub-sub genera with artist with the same vibe. There will be bubbles of artist remixing each-other, working together, starting fights and drama, and making good shit. Follow what catches your attention and youtube will eventually lead you to the good shit of a niche. I assume most services would do the same.

Apart from usuals like spotify or bandcamp, I'd also like to introduce gnod here: https://www.gnod.com/

I do not use it very often, but it's quite nice to browse the recommendations based on what you were recently listening once in a while.

Hang out with hip musicians.

Switch to Classical music.