I go out of my way to find the latest band or artist to experiment with aural symphonies, lyrical structures, and chord arrangements. I’m not just a hip hop fan; I listen to indie rock, blues, classic rock, metal, and even Indian classical music as much.

So obviously, I need to be able to find some great music at all times. A few resources I use regularly are:

1. Last.fm

Last.fm is an online radio. If you enter the name of a band/artist or genre, it will play songs that are similar in structure or tonal arrangement.

For instance, I plugged in “Death Cab for Cutie” (a great Indie band) in their search field. Last.fm then proceeded to play music from bands as diverse as Imogen Heap (‘Hide and Seek’), to Fun Loving Criminals.

Often, you will come across well known bands. But sometimes, Last.fm will play some great piece of music by some completely unknown artist that will just blow your mind away.

The service is free to try, but I recommend getting their premium membership which costs $3/month. You can download a player that will sit on your desktop and play music. It will also gather information from your plays in iTunes to figure out the kind of songs you like.

2. iTunes With Genius Bar

I was less than impresssed with the ‘Genius’ feature in the latest iTunes. I considered it a breach of my privacy; no computer AI should know the kind of music I was listening to.

But as I started using it more and more, I realized that the Genius bar would often pull out some amazing music from the database. I’ve discovered more than my share of good music through this feature, so if you haev iTunes (you really should), be sure to enable the Genius feature.

3. Billboard

This is nothing new to most music lovers. The Billboard tracks the sale of music across the United States. Most of the stuff here is mainstream crap, but it sure helps to know what kind of music is actually topping the charts these days.

4. FIQL.com

FIQL.com calls itself the best source for music and video playlists, and this is one claim I cannot argue with. FIQL is simply a platform for people to share their favorite playlists. You can find all sorts of playlists, from the ultimate party mix, to a great workout track, to some really depressive stuff. The playlists are created by users so there can be some inconsistency in quality, but overall, a great place to find new songs and playlists.

5. MySpace Music

I hate to say it, but MySpace Music is actually has the best amateur and indie music scene on the internet. MySpace, the social networking site may have long been dead and dominated by bots and attention starved teenagers, but MySpace Music is still the go to place for bands and amateur artists.

6. Spotify

Spotify has long been touted as the ‘music label killer’. Right now, the site is active only in certain European countries, but its only a matter of time before the service arrives in the US too.

Spotify allows you to stream virtually any song ever made, directly from the site itself. No downloads, no 30 second sound demos, just full songs, streamed anytime, anywhere. The possibilities with this are endless. Imagine having this on your iPhone – just search for that 80′s rap song kicking about in your head since the morning, and presto – it’ll start streaming.

If you guys have any more resources to share, or any sites you think would make a worthy addition to this list, just let me know in the comments section.

1. Last.fm – The Best Way to Discover New Music
2. Featured Artist: Urban Rock Band
3. Hip Hop Artists Are the Best Businessmen in the World
4. Hip Hop Beat Production Software – Rappers.org Weighs Your Options
5. How Mobile Carriers Are Ripping Off Their Customers

A couple of weeks back, I finally got onto Last.fm and got myself a premium membership.

Now their software sits on my desktop, and whenever I launch my iTunes, it pops open. I can just type the name of an artist – say, Mos Def – and it’ll play songs either by the artist, or by artists that sound like him.

Last.fm Software/Client

Over time, Last.fm learns of my music tastes and plays music that I like. So if I play a lot of Eminem in my iTunes, very little of Asher Roth, then it’ll detect that I like the Eminem sound more and play me more music like that.

The monthly membership costs $3 – a pittance, honestly.

The best part? I’ve discovered more new music in the past one month than I did in the past two years. Bands and artists I’d never heard of are now my iTunes staples. I’m discovering entirely new genres of music – Lounge and House music, for instance – as well as new artists. There is a definite heavy emphasis on independent and new artists in the suggestions by Last.fm, which is a great thing for people like me.

If you are a serious music lover – and I bet you are since you read Rappers.org – then definitely get a Last.fm subscription. You won’t regret it.

1. New Hip Hop Music: Resources For Discovering the Best Hip Hop From Around the World
2. Featured Artist: Urban Rock Band
3. Hip Hop Beat Production Software – Sonic Producer
4. Hip Hop Beat Production Software – Rappers.org Weighs Your Options
5. Rappers – How to Hone Your Voice to Become a Great MC

Urban Rock Band was founded by Sdaerd (pronounced Sa‐dear’d) and “Lucky” Logan P. McCoy. “Lucky” is the group’s main producer and arranger, while Sdaerd is the lead vocalist. Sdaerd and Lucky are the two main, full time and official members of the group, though they enlist other performers during the recording process.

The Founders: "Lucky" Logan

The Founders: Sdaerd

Since 1999, the group has been selling their own music on the streets of New York, and have sold over 50,000 copies of their 14 (yes, fourteen) albums.

Check out their website for a complete bio

The Music

Urban Rock Band, as the name implies, has a definite rock tilt to their sound, with heavy bass guitars, drums, and liberal guitars. There is a certain Tupac twang to their vocal sound, as well as their lyrics, which are mature, grown-up.

I would be tempted to classify Urban Rock Band as a Indie Rap band, with elements of Indie Rock thrown in. I believe that the Independent Rap scene is the home of the most exciting music right now as most mainstream artists struggle with staleness. Urban Rock Band certainly confirms this little belief of mine.

On their latest album, Hip Hop 3.0, my favorite song has to be “Black Morning” – a dark, atmospheric meditation on the nature of death and personal fallibilities. They also have a really *killer* video with some amazing production values for this song:

Lyrics for “Black Morning” can be found here: Black Morning Lyrics

The group also offers all songs from their previous fourteen albums for free download at their website.

You can get in touch with the band here

Please check out their music at their website. You can also check out their music at the iTunes store and at Amazon.

For their atmospheric, rock centric music, deep, meditative lyrics, and amazing video(s), Urban Rock Band is our Featured Artist of the Week.

——————-

1. Cool Kids Rap
2. Urban Jam – Hip Hop Dance with Laya Barak (2007)
3. Last.fm – The Best Way to Discover New Music
4. New Hip Hop Music: Resources For Discovering the Best Hip Hop From Around the World
5. How To Be Lame: A Collection of Horrendous Hip Hop Stock Pics