The best music you may have never heard of

I love music. I always have. And I'm always on the hunt for something interesting, moving, soul-feeding and mind-enriching. In case there's anyone out there like me, I thought I'd share some gems from my own collection.

I listen to a lot of stuff, but here's what generally dominates iTunes on my laptop while I work away at school:

1. Ray LaMontagne

I first heard him on the soundtrack for The Last Kiss (which I've never actually seen, but I saw that Zach Braff picked the music for it, and the Garden State soundtrack is one my favorites). Anyway, his song "Hold You in My Arms" is on that soundtrack and I loved it the first time I heard it so I went out and bought the two albums he had out at the time.

LaMontagne has released three albums: Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, and Gossip in the Grain, which just came out last month. Like all good artists, he's evolved and changed over time. Gossip in the Grain is probably the most ambitious and the most varied in style and instrumentation. If I had to use one word to describe him, I'd say "soul." His music and his raspy, passionate voice just radiate soul. I guess he'd be considered a folk artist. But you get bits of blues, country, jazz - a bit of everything. Bottom line is that if you want your soul to sing, let it sing with Ray. I think his first and third albums are the strongest, but the second's not too shabby, either.

2. Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine is the stage and recording name of folk singer-songwriter Sam Beam. I found him via that Garden State soundtrack, too. Beam has definitely developed and evolved a lot, too. His earlier stuff is really reminiscent of Nick Drake, if that means anything to you. Kind of bedroom folk, I guess. Really soft and acoustic. But his most recent album, The Shepherd's Dog, definitely surprised me when I got it. There's a lot going on that I didn't expect. It's pretty creative and there's a lot more instrumentation (a lot of slide guitar, too). But everytime I listen to it I like it more.

I had the pleasure of seeing him in concert near Pittsburgh earlier this year. Very cool.

3. Flogging Molly

Celtic punk. Need I say more? Seriously, though, these guys are great. It's just hard Irish music, complete with plenty of fiddle, bagpipes, electric and acoustic guitar, and drinking songs.

While I'm on the subject of Celtic music, let me put in a few more plugs. The Tannahill Weavers are an incredible, more traditional Scottish folk group. Very classy, very awesome. The Chieftains are great, too. A couple fun groups that I've actually seen in concert are Gaelic Storm and the Canadian group Tartan Terrors.

4. Punch Brothers

I'd throw in Nickle Creek here, too. The Punch Brothers grew out of a solo album recorded by mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, who also played for the now defunct Nickle Creek. Anyway, I guess the collaboration for Thile's solo album went so well that they decided to form a group. My wife and I saw them in concert last week and it was incredible. I guess you could consider them progressive bluegrass. Think of it like this - it's like bluegrass meets Bach. I'm not kidding. It's musically rich and complex, and often experimental. Thile composed a four-part suite called "The Blind Leaving the Blind" that they debuted at Carnegie Hall. Again, I'm not kidding. And you get to hear Chris Thile sing, which is always great. Some of their stuff is more straight-up fun bluegrass, too. These guys rock. And lucky for us, they have plans for another album.

5. Johnny Flynn

Flynn is a folk rock singer-songwriter from London. He recently released an album called A Larum. It's kind of hard to describe. Mostly, it's just fun and interesting. You can hear a lot of American influence, but it definitely sounds British somehow. It's kind of twangy even sometimes.

6. The Shins and Coldplay

This two groups are obviously quite well-known, but still quite fabulous. Good stuff. If you haven't heard Coldplay's new album (Viva La Vida) yet, do yourself a favor and go buy it. It's much less cautious and predictable than the classic A Rush of Blood to the Head.

Well, that's it. Now go ye forth and listen.