Recomend some alternate music.

[the_hessian]

three trapped tigers
vessels
battles
maybeshewill
tall ships
the jackpot golden boys
the cardiacs
juffage
castrovalva
65daysofstatic
oceansize
porcupine tree
sigur ros
mogwai
explosions in the sky
god speed you black emperor
and so i watch you from afar
desert sessions
whisky cats
hello bamboo

i think 20 bands is enough

 

[AugustFall]

Recomend some alternate music. I'm really sick of generic clones and mainstream music. I like rock and metal mostly but i will listen to almost anything. Just recomend somthing completely different. It can be A-tonal, experimental or instrumental or anything.

You don't want atonal music, no one does. That's like asking for aleatoric music. It's an exercise for the composer, that's it. That aside check out Protest the Hero's new album Scurrilous:

<youtube=vKZ-eKBJ9dw>

 

[Gregg Lonsdale]

Trocadero, they did the soundtrack to red vs blue. speaking of which, there's the soundtrack to portal 2 available to dl free. Im sure video game music doesnt exactly count as alternative on this website, but shut up it's nice and ambient.

 

[uc.asc]

Man, youtube has terrible sound. Even so, you can never have too much german metal.

Spoiler: eisbrecher

Spoiler: megahertz

(especially if it has bagpipes)

Spoiler: tanzwut

Also dubstep.

Spoiler: pendulum

Could find some actual ~different~ stuff on my other machine, but lazy.

 

[GrimSheeper]

You know what you can't go wrong with? KMFDM. They're different enough alright.
Industrial Rock at it's finest.
I wouldn't exactly call Frank Klepacki mainstream either, even if he's the soundtrack producer of the C&C series and Earth Assault.
Maybe a bit of Grendel can tickle your fancy. Or perhaps you're into Combichrist/Icon of Coil.

Sci-fi themed metal? Powerman 5000.

Modern classics that make everything you do seem like the trailer to a kickass epic trilogy?
Rob Dougan.

Prodigy is maybe too mainstream for you so you could ahve a listen to Nitzer Ebb.
SOiL isn'T a bad pick for heavy metal either.

If it's cold, nordic electronica and EBM, Covenant is your pick.
Aggressive EBM with a 'German industrial' undertone to it, then you might like Eisenfunk. Or Das Ich.

 

[Blank Kold]

Uhh, I got out of alternative a little while ago, but i can still recommend some bands.

Spoiler: Placebo

<youtube=R-fJ9ROrW08>
<youtube=Ty2DShPcKx0>

Spoiler: Anberlin

<youtube=R4sqFmSqrSc>

Spoiler: Angels and Airwaves

<youtube=JMl8cQjBfqk>

Only really listen to the first one, but the other two are at the very least ok.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

These guys are pretty good.

Spoiler: The Joy Formidable

 

[HandsomeZer0]

Grendel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmMDzu8cMJU

Studio-X

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNfAmgKVmYM

Angels On Acid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5OfeL2W6zI

Dawn Of Ashes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK2idp98bo4

 

[RepeatAfterMe]

There are many different interpretations of "Alternative".
I recommend Alice In Chains

 

[The_Echo]

I'm in the same place as you. I tend to like a band more if they have a distinctive sound, so most of my music collection reflects that.

This next one is a favorite band of mine, and I honestly cannot recommend music without mentioning them because I love them so much.

 

[The Floating Nose]

I am going to recommend to you 2 different kind of rap:

1: Necro which is Death rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p62qGDT4Syg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX0fVsCE92w

2: Madvillain ! Who makes his beats by using old radio spots and tv sounds. Really cool stuff ! Sometimes his rhymes are a little bit weak and the words don't follow the tempo of the beat but just listening to the beats makes it worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewc1hixzYPY

http://youtu.be/Gcg0JDItRHA

NOW, something completely different...BEHOLD MIKE OLDFIELD !!!

I like his music it's very relaxing and it's just the kind of music where you kinda feel like you're somewhere else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqm9o7q2pNo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFGB9HJaVXA&feature=related


Also, another kind of punk: The Wildhearts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2DxA6aqt6w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc_QdRvsTrA

I hope you enjoyed it !

Other recommendations:

-The Smashing Pumpkins
-Gorillaz (The album "Demon Days" and "Plastic Beach" are just incredible)
-Daft Punk
-Dinosaur JR.
-Coldplay
-RATATAT

 

[Diligent]

Every time one of these threads come up (which is awesome, always new music to discover), I post these guys. And I will continue to do so until I see somebody else recommend them, because they're awesome as hell.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Some of my favs.

Okkervil River
Band of Horse
Datarock
Fleet Foxes
Wolf Parade
TV on the Radio
the National
McLusky
Furture of the Left
Weezer
the Darkness
Cut City
Jay Reatard

If u like rock you might like to try McLusky

 

[Small Waves]

Many people have already recommended what I was going to, but I'm going to second Battles, Autechre, Boredoms, and Boris, and I'll contribute WHY?, Zazen Boys, Super Furry Animals, Cannibal Ox, and Faust.

 

[FinalHeart95]

Gorillaz, that is all.

This man. I don't even know what to put it under. I want to say alternative hip-hop, but I feel that's simply not doing them justice.

EDIT: Oh, and this;

You don't want atonal music, no one does. That's like asking for aleatoric music. It's an exercise for the composer, that's it. That aside check out Protest the Hero's new album Scurrilous:

<youtube=vKZ-eKBJ9dw>

All of their albums are good (barring the first, perhaps), but Scurrilous is the most "alternative" of the ones they have.

 

[Hollock]

try some alternative hip hop like Mos Def, and also try the roots. Surprisingly enough, not all rappers rap about 'bitches and hos'[sub]tm[/sub].

 

[octafish]

Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra (Jazz from outer space)


Suicide (one of the most influential bands in modern music)


Throbbing Gristle (The originators of industrial music)


Einstürzende Neubauten (Blixa Bargeld, need I say more?)

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

This is Richard Blackmore's current band, Blackmore's Night. You might know him as the guitarist from Deep Purple and Rainbow -- you know, the guitarist who played Smoke on the Water.

<youtube=ArOS_WsT1tw>

<youtube=fFiYTeLxVHo>
<youtube=fomtue_jLNI>

If reimagined renaissance folk songs aren't your style, I have some goth rock (real goth rock, not hardcore) courtesy of Voltaire:

<youtube=bcON9ZmGDBc>

If that's not your style, have some Jethro Tull:

<youtube=u1xY7Heaqg8>

<youtube=qZxaH8SQgs8>

And if you're still not interested, try some prog, courtesy of Kaipa:

<youtube=sppVd4sRgRo>

And some neoprog courtesy of Arena:

<youtube=ii3Srrre1Aw>

And finally, some folk metal, courtesy of Elvenking:

<youtube=GGg9GkDdTgM>


This stuff non-mainstream enough for you?

 

[WouldYouKindly]

try some alternative hip hop like Mos Def, and also try the roots. Surprisingly enough, not all rappers rap about 'bitches and hos'[sub]tm[/sub].

There's actually quite a bit of that. Though I recommend Atmosphere, Sage Francis, and Flobots, if you like your hip hop politically aware.

Folk metal has been an interesting genre for me. You may have heard of Falconer, but I like them because the singer avoids the growls and shrieks that are too prevalent in metal these days. I'm not much of a metal fan though to be honest.

Just about the strangest thing I've ever heard is called the Oreskaband(all one word for some reason) which is an all female japanese ska band. You don't really get more different from mainstream than ska.

For sheer variety in a single band go for Authority Zero. Punk, surf, reggae, ska, a little hip hop all mixed with a mexican influence. They remind me of a more punky Sublime.