welcome to the music page!
forever a work in progress :>


📁 ~/interests/music/artists/
x
my favorite artists and favorite albums by them!

american football emo indie rock
the first time i heard LP1 i honestly could not believe i went through my whole life up until that point without knowing this band existed
american football
1999
black sabbath heavy metal
the greatest metal band of all time. their influence is literally immesurable and ozzy osbourne was an absolutely legendary vocalist. their music was so ahead of its time and it still holds up today
paranoid
1970
car bomb hxc prog metal
it really was love at first note with these guys, they have some of the most ridiculous music i have ever heard. all 4 members also have STEM backgrounds and day jobs which is just the coolest thing ever to me
w^w^^w^w
2012
meta
2016
mordial
2019
death death metal
they probably have one of my favorite evolutions of any band, they started out with a more traditional death metal sound before going into tech/prog death. that is my favorite era of theirs but i love all their work!
symbolic
1995
the sound of perseverance
1998
drumcorps dnb hxc
discovered him by looking up "music similar to ultrakill ost". i am really glad i did that because he is one of my favorite artists now. it was unlike anything i'd ever heard before and i love it so much
grist
2006
judas priest heavy metal
rob halford is THE metal god and honestly one of the best vocalists to ever grace a mic, and they have such a powerful and operatic sound that i really love!
screaming for vengeance
1982
kessoku band j-rock
bocchi the rock is my favorite anime and the music is definitely the main reason for that. of course they're technically fictional but they genuinely have no skips
kessoku band
2022
knocked loose hxc
the first time i heard knocked loose was live. i was ABSOLUTELY blown away, they are insane and their music is so cathartic
you won't go before you're supposed to
2024
lamb of god groove metal
probably my #1 favorite band. randy blythe's vocals are awesome, their earlier stuff (especially as burn the priest) is BRUTAL, and their later albums are so clean you could eat off them. i love their whole discography so much!
new american gospel
2000
ashes of the wake
2004
sacrament
2006
lamb of god
2020
metallica heavy metal thrash metal
they have explored a lot of styles and i really do love (mostly) everything they have done, but their earlier work is definitely my favorite!
kill 'em all
1983
ride the lightning
1984
master of puppets
1986
...and justice for all
1988
morbid angel death metal
the band that got me into death metal. they have such an EVIL sound (especially on their early albums) and their drumming in particular is absolutely ridiculous
altars of madness
1989
opeth prog metal prog rock
they combine prog and death metal so perfectly and it just leads to such a unique and interesting sound. i also love their more prog rock oriented stuff
blackwater park
2001
pantera groove metal
their 90s groove metal stuff is so insanely good (and of course i also love glamtera). dimebag has to be my favorite metal guitarist ever, they will always be one of my all time favorite bands!
cowboys from hell
1990
far beyond driven
1994
the great southern trendkill
1996
slayer thrash metal
funny story, i first heard them when vinesauce joel played the raining blood midi during his windows xp destruction stream. god hates us all also released on 9/11/2001 which is crazy
reign in blood
1986
south of heaven
1988
tool prog metal
the first prog metal band i ever listened to and i fell in love instantly, their songs just feel so meticulously crafted
ænima
1996
lateralus
2001
10,000 days
2005
📁 ~/interests/music/classical/
my favorite pieces organized by composer!

📁 johann sebastian bach
fantasia in g major ~1705
the first time i heard this piece i immediately pictured myself walking down the aisle at my wedding to it. the entire middle (gravement) section is some of my favorite counterpoint ever written with FIVE(!!!) independent lines perfectly fitting together

fav recording: peter hurford (1978)
fantasia & fugue in g minor ~1720
anyone who thinks the toccata and fugue in d minor is bach's "scariest" has clearly never heard the fantasia from this one

fav recording: michel chapuis (1988)
fugue in g minor ~1705
known as the "little" fugue, this is such an expertly crafted piece and is the perfect introduction to the fugue as a compositional technique!

fav recording: michel chapuis (1986)
📁 antonín dvořák
symphony no. 9 1893
the famous "new world symphony" inspired by dvořák's time in the US. very brass-heavy which is ALWAYS a good thing. i also got to play parts of this symphony with a community orchestra in high school!

fav recording: alsop + baltimore symphony (2008)
📁 george gershwin
an american in paris 1928
depicts the experience of an american tourist in paris and is such a fun listen! the middle section is especially memorable for me, representing homesickness with a slow and bluesy trumpet solo

fav recording: levine + chicago symphony (1981)
rhapsody in blue 1924
probably gershwin's most famous work, it is a jazz-influenced piece that depicts early-20th-century new york city. the opening clarinet glissando is one of THE most famous moments in all of music

fav recording: levine + chicago symphony (1981)
📁 samuel hazo
arabesque 2008
can you tell i was a band kid? this piece has so many awesome moments for every section of the ensemble. i never had the chance to perform it with a group but that has never stopped me from playing along with the recording!

fav recording: hazo + midwest wind ensemble (2012)
📁 wolfgang amadeus mozart
requiem 1791
mozart was commissioned to write a requiem mass by a 'mysterious stranger' and he died before he could finish it. that initially made this stick with me but it would have done that anyway because it is SO beautiful. every movement is gorgeous but my favorite has to be the confutatis just from that scene in 'amadeus' (one of my all time favorite movies!)

fav recording: von karajan + vienna philharmonic (1987)
📁 alfred reed
el camino real 1985
subtitled "a latin fantasy" which i find very appropriate! another one i had the opportunity to play myself and it is so much fun

fav recording: kim + siena wind (2006)
📁 ottorino respighi
church windows 1926
inspired by italian stained-glass windows, each movement tells a different story. i was first introduced to the second movement through hebron high school's 2021 marching band show and it ended up sticking with me. i listened to the full piece afterward and loved the entire thing but that movement will always be my favorite!

fav recording: lópez cobos + cincinnati symphony (1994)
📁 dmitri shostakovich
string quartet no. 8 1960
one of the most terrifying pieces i have ever heard, it was shostakovich's suicide note. it certainly is not an easy listen but it is so incredible and emotional

fav recording: st. lawrence string quartet (2006)
symphony no. 5 1937
this being one of my favorite pieces is a little ironic since it was basically written to please. the finale sounds triumphant but if you know the background, it feels like someone is beating you with a stick demanding you to be happy (especially in the recording below, the ending is played agonizingly slowly)

fav recording: sanderling + berlin symphony (1977)
📁 igor stravinsky
the rite of spring 1913
the rite of spring is EASILY my all-time favorite piece! depicts an ancient pagan ritual culminating in a sacrificial dance to the death to please the gods of spring. i have listened to it so many times and have memorized the entire thing from start to finish. as a bassoonist i was initially drawn to it because of the opening solo but one full listen showed me there is so much more to it than just that. every movement is a masterpiece on its own and there is never a boring moment, i seem to hear something new every time i listen. it is so brutal and terrifying and beautiful all at once

if you have never heard it, PLEASE do yourself a favor. i even wrote a sort-of listening guide for it that points out all of my favorite moments which you can follow along with here! <3

fav recording: bernstein + new york philharmonic (1958)
petrushka 1911
another one of my all-time favorites! depicts the russian shrovetide fair and tells the story of a love triangle between three puppets. the introduction is one of the best examples of tone painting i have ever heard and the rest of the piece has so many contrasting sections and themes representing different characters or groups

fav recording: muti + philadelphia orchestra (1982)
the firebird 1910
more traditional than stravinsky's other famous ballets but still an amazing listen. tells the story of a prince who allies with the titular firebird to defeat an evil sorcerer, and it has some of his best melodies especially in the berceuse and finale. i actually got to play both of those movements with a community orchestra in high school too!

fav recording: dudamel + los angeles philharmonic (2026)