Songs that are important to me
More information about the man in general here. Musically, he is a role model to me of an artist avoiding being pigeonholed, a productive perfectionist. He can write beautiful, simple melodies and at the same time complex harmonies that always fit. For starters, I recommend la de da de da de da de day oh, this song has been with me for years.
Chronologically the first music I consciously liked and listened to, largely inherited from my parents' taste. 80s classics, among them the most important trinity:
The first one was one of the main inspirations to pick up drums, Phil was also the first gig i went to. Besides these, one could list a whole bunch of other songs that probably everyone knows.
When my own, independent music taste started slowly emerging, It begun with electronic dance music. The first song I had on loop was Kygo - Firestone
Young Krzak was just in time for the Future Bass wave, which back then was my favorite music and the reason I started playing around in FL Studio. I also listened to numerous other EDM genres to varying degrees.
I haven't been listening to this music for years now, however, because of the influence it had on me, it will always have a place in Krzak's heart.
Important songs from that period that I still consider good:
Songs I wouldn't listen to now, but were listened to back then and capture the vibe of those times:
Jetta - I'd Love to Change the World (Matsdubs Remix)
Rogue - Rattlesnake (kitchenstep ftw)
Snails - Frogbass (vomitstep ftw)
Diabarha - Uranoid - /this and the 2 above are funny, but it might be my first contact with truly unconventional, weird music/
One of the genres I stumbled upon while listening to electronic music is synthwave. It started with Home - Resonance. After discovering this song I started browsing different synthwave playlists and there I found Moon - Dust.
From that moment on it became my favorite genre, because of my previous listening to Old Men, this whole aesthetic really appealed to me. In this style, I started making my first music. My interest in synthwave has largely passed a long time ago, but there is a whole bunch of songs that will probably stay with me forever.
Check out:
A long time ago in some public place there was a busker with a guitar playing and singing I shot the sheriff. Thanks to this I discovered Marley's original version, although at the time I didn't really know what to think of it. Sometime later, when I was a devteam member for a Polish hoi4 mod, I was shown the video "Śląskie Reggae". I showed this video to my friends at the time, which started a very long-running joke where everyone hates reggae and I am an enthusiast. Looking back, all my later life plotlines and relationships can be traced back to this exact moment. Although it started as a joke, after a while I started appreciating this genre completely seriously, delving into the culture and history behind it. Today, reggae (real, not Polish), is very important music to me, which I love playing and I find its influences in many distant genres.
For a start, there is no better introduction than the king of reggae Bob Marley
Other classic albums that I really like are Peter Tosh - Equal Rights or John Holt - Police in Helicopter
To bigger connoisseurs I recommend Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey
From more contemporary albums I highly recommend Steel Pulse - Earth Crisis
Those less familiar might appreciate versions of popular albums performed by Easy Star All-Stars
Also worth noting in this category is The Police, obviously not a reggae band but to me they are an example of musicians drawing heavily from Jamaica without cultural appropriation, you can hear a deep respect for this music in them.
At the beginning of ancient times, through drum lessons I discovered Muse, which gradually became my favorite band, pushing electronics out of my life, this coincided in time with the start of playing in a band and playing bass, which started pulling me even more towards guitar music. With the exception of Bill Wurtz, this was the first time you could say I was actually a fan of a specific band, to this day I know their entire discography by heart. They are the perfect stadium band, while constantly changing their sound. I'm no longer as obsessed with them, but the first 3 albums (especially Showbiz) remain strong candidates for my favorite albums overall.
Influenced by the above-mentioned, I started listening to more rock, starting with contemporary alt-rock bands that clearly drew from Muse. While Muse itself dug into my brain very deeply, other bands lost their significance to me much faster. Despite this, due to the events of antiquity, many songs have sentimental meaning to me and I sometimes return to them.
We're talking about albums and artists such as:
Royal Blood - Royal Blood (as well as Royal Blood in general)
Arctic Monkeys, and especially AM
Around this time I also started listening to Radiohead, mostly OK Computer
This kind of music really appealed to early-medieval Krzak, soon it started replacing the more energetic music mentioned above. This is a quite broad category, which is why my current attitude towards these bands is also varied.
I still often reach for Slowdive, including the underrated Just for a Day
The absolute classic My Bloody Valentine - Loveless is just a must-know
Zachwyt was probably the most important band for me back then, and hasn't aged at all
Weezer - Pinkerton and Blue Album were on loop for a while and I still like to listen to them
American Football was and is very influential
4th of July by Soundgarden is peak grunge to me
Jeff Buckley literally invented the concept of breaking up so he was listened to, but now much less so
Korova Milky Bar and Myslovitz in general were on loop for a very short period but also quickly got boring.
Have a Nice Life - Deathconciousness is a unique masterpiece
After all these indie alternative bands, I eventually returned to appreciating the classics. This is largely the influence of Rodent, and earlier Echoes.
It started with Pink Floyd, besides, the band name Echoes obliges.
King Crimson - In The Court of The Crimson King was an instant favourite from the first listen
During this time I also appreciated Led Zeppelin, especially One
However, undeniably the most important band from those times is the Beatles, I liked Rubber Soul the most
Abbey Road and Revolver are also awesome
I've always had huge respect for well-made pop. I appreciate the production quality, the ability to write catchy melodies, and how surprisingly intricate it can get.
One of my favorite pop songs, which I've been listening to for many years, is Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat - I can't express exactly what draws me to it so much, maybe I just found it at the right moment and it stayed with me like that
Among Polish performers I really like Daria Zawiałow
Katy Perry is an obvious classic in the category of light-hearted fun songs
From more indie pop I really like Elise Trouw - How to Get What you Want
Magdalena Bay is in my opinion a masterclass in pop production
When Chappel Roan - Good Luck Babe was playing every day on the radio I was doing my driving lessons and was exposed to this song all the time, despite this it didn't wear me out. A really good song
I REALLY like ballads in 6/8, they are the perfect platform to build pretty melodies and play with dynamics
For example I like:
Donny Hathaway - I'll Love You More Than You'll Ever Know (The best ballad ever)
Aretha Franklin - You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Do support the local scene, there are plenty of great Polish bands currently that are worth listening to:
Szlugazer - Essential Polish shoegaze
Nanga - A very interesting mix of styles, vocals full of character and nice lyrics
Strangers in My House - dreampop a'la Polish slowdive
Morye - Slavic folk playing!
Benek i Bimbronauci - Rzeszów's The Beatles
Little Man, Figurine - they'd like to be Rzeszów's The Beatles but see above
gspot boys - junglist massive
There are very many songs that are important to me and I couldn't fit them into nice little drawers like above, here are some of them:
The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful (piętrocore)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Echo
Caroline Polachek - Starburned and Unkissed
Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence
Vylet Pony - Flair for The Dramatic
Bands that are important but don't fit anywhere else