THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: Mikendher on 27 Aug 2006, 10:46
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I'm in a musical rut. I've been listening to LOTS of music, but finding very little new stuff that I like. So I'm begging for suggestions from you guys, because usually you are all pretty good at that :-)
I REALLY like:
the arcade fire
iron & wine
architecture in helsinki
I also like:
beirut
the boy least likely to
the unicorns
cat stevens
elliott smith
emilian torrini
feist
the shins
sufjan stevens
simon & garfunkel
spoon
the weepies
wolf parade
I even rummaged through the old recommendations thread with little success. That's how desparate I am!
(and pandora is really off, I finally buckeled down and tried it)
EDIT: the more obscure the better, as I may have heard it already otherwise
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My recommendations:
Band (Album)
-The New Pornographers (Twin Cinema)
-Magnolia Electric Co. (Fading Trails)
-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (S/T)
-Broken Social Scene (You Forgot It In People)
-Belle and Sebastian (If You're Feeling Sinister)
-Islands (Return to the Sea)
Those should appeal to your tastes.
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I guess an easy recommendation would be the Wolf Parade side project Sunset Rubdown.
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I should add that the more obscure the better, because I listen to a lot of music, and for instance have already heard everything skittish and alovesupreme recommended, and much music from both of those labels tommy mentioned. But keep the suggestions coming! :-)
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Also, try music that wasn't put out in the last ten years (May sound like a dig, but it is not meant to). There is about 80 years of other well recorded music that you are missing out on:
Some maybe based on what you like:
John Martyn (Solid Air especially)
Brian Eno (Another Green World, Here Come the Warm Jets)
David Bowie (Low, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust)
Kraftwerk
Laurie Anderson
Madness
The Specials
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I second Kraftwerk and Bowie. Others...
Newer stuff:
The Wrens (The Meadowlands
Blonde Redhead (Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons and Misery is a Butterfly)
be your own PET (S/t)
Enon (High Society)
Man Man (Six Demon Bag)
The Books (Lost and Safe
The Polysics (Polysics or Die is all that you'll be able to find.)
Older stuff:
I assume you've listened to them but if you haven't:
Nick Drake (Pink Moon)
The Talking Heads(Any of the early albums)
Possibly You haven't heard:
XTC (Go buy The Singles: 1978-85 you will love this band)
Repeating Kraftwerk again because they're crucial and you should broaden out from indie pop and alt-country.
Also, the Avalanches.
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Man Man (Six Demon Bag)
I second this. This album is just SO MUCH FUN.
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I'm telling you, its the album of the year.
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Polysics (Polysics or Die is all that you'll be able to find.)
I was actually able to find a copy of Neu on Amazon. Of course, Polysics or Die! is a good album, too, and easier to find.
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Current 93!
Only becuase you mentioned Simon and Garfunkel, so you can obviously deal with a bit of whine and folk, and also because 'All the Pretty Little Horses', 'Cats Drunk on Copper' and '...And The World Dissapears' are three of the most beautiful things in the history of twop legged organisms
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There's a chance you might like William Elliot Whitmore, or perhaps Regina Spektor?. I'm more of a punk rock and metal kid myself, so I don't have a lot of recommendations for you, I'm honestly just looking through my collection for stuff that doesn't sound all RRWWARGGARGGRRAWWRR
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I'm in a musical rut.
You do need to branch out. May I suggest some testosterone-laden party rock from Ratatat and Eagles of Death Metal, both of whom have released new albums this year?
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Thanks for all of the suggestions! I've listened to everything that I hadn't already heard. The only thing so far that piqued my interest was Regina Spektor ("Fidelity" in particular is very good).
There were other things that were certainly interesting (Man Man for instance), but nothing else I would want to listen to more than a couple of times. And a lot of it I had heard already (the consequences of spending more than 4 hours a day listening to music). I agree that the music I like falls into a very small section of music, but I do listen to all sorts of genres and wacky music. The problem is that what I end up liking and keeping falls into a very small collection of categories... not that it's really a problem. Whatever I like is what I like. I guess my point is that I don't feel the music rut is a result of my narrow musical liking, rather something else (not looking in the right places, or not as much music that I would like being produced, etc). I've had such periods of musical drought before. They always pass eventually.
Anyway, thanks for all of the suggestions and keep them coming! I promise to listen to everything suggested (assuming I can find it).
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Guys, I am disappointed. This far into a suggestion thread without the obligatory 'Anal Cunt'. Tsk tsk, kiddies.
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You should check out Get Him Eat Him (the Geography Cones album is a good one) if you haven't already.
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Galaxie 500 is probably my favorite band. Very melodic and aching stuff, more color than substance (which I love, but turns off others).
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Guys, I am disappointed. This far into a suggestion thread without the obligatory 'Anal Cunt'. Tsk tsk, kiddies.
We've also avoided Skyclad. What the hell gives?
Should I say Testament just to stay within my modus operandi, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with any of the music he likes?
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The Annuals? (album not out yet)
Bishop Allen?
Devin Davis?
The Harlem Shakes? (album not out yet)
Dr. Dog?
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The Handsome Family
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Guys, I am disappointed. This far into a suggestion thread without the obligatory 'Anal Cunt'. Tsk tsk, kiddies.
if you're gonna go that route, why not cheap sex or clit 45?
or fugazi. you reallly can't go wrong with fugazi.
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Polysics (Polysics or Die is all that you'll be able to find.)
I was actually able to find a copy of Neu on Amazon. Of course, Polysics or Die! is a good album, too, and easier to find.
Hey! Bob! My Friend! (as well as Neu) can be mailordered for $8 from Asian Man Records. and their most recent one, Now is the Time! got an American release, as well.
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The only thing so far that piqued my interest was Regina Spektor ("Fidelity" in particular is very good).
Make sure you check out the songs on her album Soviet Kitsch...in my opinion, they were better than her new songs.
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The Weird Weeds sound a little bit up your alley.
You can download an EP of theirs here:
http://soundsareactive.com/catalogue.php?album=saa1130
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If you like folky stuff, you could check out Kenny Klein. He's not extraordinary, but he's good, and generally writes good lyrics (often dealing with mythology). The only album of his that I own is High Grows the Barley.
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I've been told that the artists Anni Rossi and Joanna Newsom bear some similarity to Regina Spektor. I never got too into RS to know her style very well, though.
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Thanks for all of the suggestions! I've listened to everything that I hadn't already heard. The only thing so far that piqued my interest was Regina Spektor ("Fidelity" in particular is very good).
Ugh, she's exactly the same as everybody else on your list!
Like a couple of people have said, BRANCH OUT man!
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Ramona Cordova won't be breaking too much new ground for you, but I find his work to be profoundly inspiring. Find him on Myspace.
Get some Mark Lanegan, too.
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In the same vein hopefully:
Low(get I Could Live in Hope if you want it all quiet)
Ida(indie pop)
Montgolfier Brothers(indie pop)
Piano Magic(avant-pop)
Delorean(folky)
Jessie Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter(country)
Lana Hunter(prozac folk)
Songs: Ohia(folk)
Magnolia Electric Co.(folk rock)
Damien Jurado(folk)
Richmond Fontaine(country)
Juana Molina("folktronica", if you don't mind spanish vocals)
Teenage Fanclub(Indie rock)
Laura Veirs(indie rock)
Flake Music(The Shins' old band)
The Sugarplastic(indie pop)
Red House Painters(slowcore)
Oingo Boingo(jolly 80's pop with a dark side)
Figurines(indie rock)
The Lucksmiths(indie pop)
Darren Hanlon(indie pop)
and so on and forth...
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I'd be wanting to know if some of it retains your interest?
Most of the bands is from an indiepop connoisseur I know.
He has a top ten for indiepop which may interest you:
The Lucksmiths - Where Were We?
The Clientele - Suburban Light
The Montgolfier Brothers - All My Bad Thoughts
Harper Lee - Everything's Going To Be OK
Kings of Convenience - Quiet Is The New Loud
Field Mice - Skywriting
Television Personalities - And Don't The Kids Just Love It
Another Sunny Day - London Weekend
Razorcuts - R is for ...
BMX Bandits - Down at the Hop
Also in the vein of Beirut you might want some actual east european folk ala Kocani Orkestar or perhaps DeVotchKa.
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for what it's worth...
65daysofstatic
acoustic ladyland
azure ray
be your own pet
carla bruni
dead! dead! dead!
dresdon dolls
from monument to masses
help! she can't swim
jeffrey lewis
medeski, martin and wood
monkey swallows the universe
part chimp
quantic soul orchestra
sons and daughters
sounds like violence
squirrel nut zippers
swound!
the bad plus
two gallants
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The only other things that have been close so far were Carla Bruni (too bad she sings in French...which I don't know) and Be Your Own Pet. The Figurines are also pretty good, but I'd heard them before (and the guy's voice is a little grating).
Once again, thanks for all of the suggestions! I've listened to everything except Razorcuts, which I couldn't find anywhere.
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try the empty set.
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and out of interest, how do you get through bands so fast? 20 bands in 20 mins, 30 in 50 mins, that's some pretty quick listening.
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haha, yeah I have a fair amount of music ADD, so I'll usually just sample a couple songs from each band, and if it doesn't interest me by about halfway through I start skipping to see if there's anything worth it later on. If something does strike me though, I listen the whole way through, and usually scour their discography.
Also, bear in mind that I've previously heard about half of what's been listed on this thread so far.
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dude, totally rock panic! at the disco and green day. that's some high quality shit right there.
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I'll usually just sample a couple songs from each band, and if it doesn't interest me by about halfway through I start skipping to see if there's anything worth it later on.
I think we found the problem.
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Check out "Puking and Crying" by S.
(Just S. that's what she calls her project, S.)