I thought that Monstercat was just the random music that they played before esports matches because it wouldn't get the stream taken down

A lot of Monstercat's popularity comes from their policy on online video and streaming, since most mainstream record labels would rather have people watch their Vevo videos... and pass up on a lot of free publicity. But then again, Monstercat isn't the only label that allows its music to be used in videos and streams, it's just the most popular one. Which may have something to do with the large volume of excellent music they release.

I really like Dvořák's Romance for Piano and Violin, op. 11. I don't know how exactly to describe it, but it's really nice.

I've been listening to a lot of Ozric Tentacles lately. Categorically, they're an English psychedelic instrumental rock band, but in reality their music incorporates psych rock, jazz, ambient, jazz fusion, new age, drum n' bass, electronica, and more. Sometimes they sound like Pink Floyd, sometimes they sound like the Super Monkey Ball soundtrack. Also they're super consistent, they've put out more than 20 albums in over 30 years; I haven't gotten to every album in their discography, but I've listened to at least a couple from every decade. They peaked in popularity in the 90's, but everything I've listened to by them has been pretty great.

Their 2011 album Paper Monkeys

I recently found this steampunk-folk rock (?) band called "Steam Powered Giraffe" so I've been listening to them a bit lately. I think they have like four albums. Sounds like something you'd hear in the weather on the Welcome to Nightvale podcast, if anyone here listens to that.

One of their songs

Their songs can be more cheery or sometimes more wistful and melancholy. Pretty generic description on my part, but I don't really know how to explain them any better haha. They have a good sense of humor and their music videos are pretty neat. Sorta reminds me of They Might be Giants. Something like that.  

Hey, a couple of my college friends were big Steam Powered Giraffe fans. I've heard a lot of their songs. They're pretty good.

Here are a couple of my recent favorites:

Feint - Words feat. Laura Brehm released today and I've always loved Feint songs. Maybe because I'm a sucker for DnB lol. I've also been listening to Feint - Vagrant feat. Veela quite a bit recently.

Aero Chord's Love & Hate EP dropped recently, and pretty much everything on it is awesome. Especially Until the End.

The title track on Varien's My Prayers Have Become Ghosts EP (dropping on Halloween) is awesome as well.

Monday's Monstercat release was the once-in-a-blue-moon release from Going Quantum (one of Monstercat's managers). You might say that GQ releases are Rare. (No really, in over 5 years since joining Monstercat he's made a grand total of 4 tracks)

And Klaypex also released a track recently (which is also pretty rare): I Remember

I would like to share the genre that I like. It's Baroque pop and here are my favorite tracks.
Zola Jesus - Nail
Lana del Rey - Bel Air
Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love
As you can see, I have a bias to female singers in the genre.  

Recently I've been listening to the Devil's Trill Sonata by Giuseppe Tartini. Tartini wrote the following of it:

https://open.spotify.com/album/45TJXx5bBZpLnffynCeNsf
Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle - The Olivia Tremor Control

Weird 90s neo-psychadelia with ten tracks in a row all named Green Typewriters.

excellent I will listen to it immediately

>Listens to Nail and Bel Air
Well, those are two of the most melancholy songs I've ever heard. Not bad, but kinda depressing. Like the sad part of a movie soundtrack. Which reminds me of an awesome soundtrack song I've been listening to recently. Kinda sad and intense at the same time, and thoroughly electronic (as most of my favorite songs tend to be): CUTS - Bunsen Burner

>Listens to Cosmic Love
I'm getting Bastille - Pompeii vibes for some reason. Some combination of the rhythm and vocals I guess. Pompeii is definitely one of my favorite pop songs though, so that's a good thing. And this one is significantly less depressing.

>Starts listening to Devil's Trill Sonata
16 minutes? Aint nobody got time for that. Ok, I'll finish listening to it later. It doesn't seem particularly demonic or supernatural to me, at least not yet. In fact it sounds like a pretty typical sonata.

>Listens to Dusk at a Cubist Castle
Uh, yeah. It's pretty good. A nice mix of conventional and edgy.

Hey, if your interested, O have a Spotify playlist filled with my toones right here

Os Mutantes | Os Mutantes

Brazilian psychedelia at its absolute finest IMO.

@DroidFreak, 'melancholic' is the right term to describe my music taste. I listened to Bunsen Burner, I like the atmosphere it made but I prefer something with vocals. Well if you like electronic, try to listen to other songs by Zola Jesus specifically in the middle of Taiga.

Listening to things other people post in this thread??? What a novel concept

This "New Horizons in Music Appreciation" is absolutely hilarious. It's like a combination of a symphony and a football game, with announcers and commentary and all that. Although it doesn't start out too interestingly, once the music actually starts it is amazing.

I love P.D.Q. Bach so much. That one in particular is one of my favorites, but honestly all of them are so great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWf-eARnf6U

@buboy24 Yep, I love that breakbeat part of Taiga. (BTW if you want to make YouTube links display properly in the forum, remove the s in https)

So you like melancholy music with female vocals then? I also have a soft spot for melancholy melodies and most EDM vocals are female, but I tend to prefer music that's has an intense, driving rhythm (like that breakbeat part of Taiga ).

So maybe I'll suggest a few songs that have all 3 for you.

First up, some songs that are less electronic:

Hellberg - The Girl (feat. Cozi Zuehlsdorff) is a relatively soft house song that gives space for the piano and vocals to shine. It's a really unusual style for Hellberg, but a great song. Side note, Cozi Zuehlsdorff is, in fact, the girl from Dolphin Tale.

Lindsey Stirling - Brave Enough (feat. Christina Perri) (the title track of her new album) starts fairly quietly with an emphasis on Perri's vocals and a bit of background violin, then builds to an intense violin trap drop (Side note, I love the fact that violin trap is a thing now thanks to Lindsey. Even better is Prism which is Celtic violin trap).

Varien - Sacred Woods (feat. Skyelle) is a fairly minimalist and orchestral song that lacks the intense drops of the other two. Its drops are mostly melancholy. It does have a strong beat at times, but the melody stays muted and minimalist.

And then some songs that are more intense (As I tend to gravitate towards):

Feint - Snake Eyes (feat. CoMa) is a classic at 4 years old (In the fast-paced landscape of EDM, that is). Best listened to with your volume cranked up a bit since the buildups are quiet. The drums and bass hit like a truck if you turn the volume up to match the buildup, but that suits this song. These days Feint mixes his songs so that there's a bit less of a volume discrepancy, but I still come back to Snake Eyes fairly often. It's one of those older songs that's stood the test of time.

While we're on the topic of older songs, Tut Tut Child - Hummingbird (feat. Augustus Ghost) is another great one, and it's barely aged at all. This one is melodic dubstep song with awesome vocals and melodies.

PIXL - Here For You (feat. Q'AILA) is a driving future house song featuring great vocals from Q'AILA, who is quickly becoming my new favorite vocalist. And PIXL is a great artists too, with a solid combination of good melodies and good production.

Oh yeah, another song I've been listening to a lot recently is USS - Yin Yang since it was featured in this amazing Titanfall 2 trailer and it's right up my alley. I love me some some good breakbeat.

Also Titanfall 2 is awesome. I mean, Titanfall was awesome as well. But now they added a singleplayer campaign and even more mobility mechanics.

Crown Of Horns by Cryptopsy

Been loving me some Cryptopsy lately. I'm not too crazy about this kind of metal (ultra low, gurgly vocals), but the vocalist does one of the better takes on it, and the super tight and pummeling playing by everyone one else makes it a compelling listen. Good music to run to.

*You won't be able to make out the lyrics, but they are very inappropriate. And although the album cover is a Baroque painting, it is one featuring a severed head, so you have been warned.

@Droidfreak, you got me there. I liked all of them but the one that hooked me the most is the first one.

I recently discovered Nothing But Thieves, an alternative rock band. This is the first track I heard from them: If I Get High but if you want something that's more rock intense, try Ban All The Music. Know that I'm not a fan of this genre but the vocalist is awesome.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0eUUQ4rly8Q8PyJPWLgde2
Sweet Trip - velocity : design : comfort

Shoegaze meets glitch meets dreampop meets IDM.

I love that album. Sounds like THE FUTURE

yeah it's one of my favorite albums

i love the vocals on Sept and International, those are the highlights for me