I'm going to recommend some music for you. This music will range from the well-known to the obscure, from thrash metal to new age, from the romantic period till (almost) today, but it will have one thing in common. I like the music. And I listen to the music.
I'll either recommend stuff that I'm particularly digging right now, or I will simply go through my last.fm profile and pick out the artists one by one.
I will start with the band I got my name from:
Shudder to Think
Shudder to Think is a post-hardcore band that was active in the mid 80s and 90s. They're loud and noisy, but also somewhat progressive in their melodies (like any good post-hardcore band, really). Their most distinctive feature is their lyrics. I seriously think they must have taken those word magnets that you can buy and just tried to piece them together into as coherent of sentences as possible, then piecing the sentences together into a somewhat logical thought. But apparently (inexplicably), they sing the lyrics right, word for word, live... It makes no sense. But, the moral of that story is, listen to the lyrics.
I think
50,000 BC and
Pony Express Record are the best albums.
I got my name from
Red House
Also listen to
Call of the Playground,
Gang of $, and
No RM 9, Kentucky