When I was growing up, I would regularly check out the music collections of friends and family. The one common trait that all of the collections had was that someone hit the pause button at some point.

It was always as if someone drew a lineinthe sandandsimplystopped growing their music collection. It may have been they had found their niche, or were simply tired with the direction that the industry was headed and ejected themselves. Regardless, the collections were always frozen at some point in time.I’ve always wondered at what point my collection will fall into that deep freeze. It’s something I’ve found myself thinking about more and more, especially when I’d rather go back and listen to the earlier work of my favorite artists as opposed to some of the newer artists and bands breaking onto the scene.Whether it has been the collapse of the major label hierarchy and the shift towards a digital distribution network, or the simple lack of quality releases, I wonder if the frost is setting in.Does anyone have any suggestions on new artists I should check out? Right now, the announcement of a new Jack White solo album may alleviate my concerns at the moment, but what else is catching your ears?