General Discussion : Music

[Hopscotch]

Thought I'd try this out as I figure people who've spent so much effort on film, and in some cases literature, have also taken the time to hone their musical tastes. I'm an infant when it comes to music, which could probably be argued about my film knowledge as well (and literature), and have only just recently decided to take a blind dive into the world of it. Fortunately to a lot of pleasant discoveries.

I'll open things. So, just three weeks ago I decided to really start listening to music; previously I only had REO Speedwagon, Yellowcard, Sanctus Real, Dave Matthew's "Busted Stuff" album, and a couple of burned CD's from my friend (The Band, Canned Heat) to play. Using my library system, and not knowing where to begin, I chose these bands, pretty randomly, as a start (the ones I'd heard of before are in bold): The Allman Brothers Band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bon Iver, Bukka White, Foghat, The Guess Who, Guided By Voices, Jimmie Rodgers, Joe Hill Louis, Leo Kottke, Little Feat, The Marshall Tucker Band, Nazareth, Nick Drake, Phoenix, Pure Prairie League, The Replacements, Taking Back Sunday, Thelonious Monk, and Vic Chesnutt. I also checked out three various artist CD's: one featuring the "Country Brother Teams of the 1930s", one with the "Creole Kings of New Orleans", and one with 60's Pyschedelic Music. Overall it was a pretty awesome experience though I couldn't stand Taking Back Sunday at all.

My Five Favorite New Groups From Those Above:
1. Bon Iver
2. Guided By Voices
3. Bukka White
4. The Guess Who
5. Nazareth

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN9x6zckn18[/youtube]

My Ten Favorite New Songs From those Above (One Per Artist):
1. I Am A Scientist - Guided By Voices
2. Waiting For a Train - Jimmie Rodgers
3. For Emma - Bon Iver
4. Lisztomania - Phoenix
5. Parchman Farm Blues - Bukka White
6. Melissa - The Allman Brothers Band
7. Laughing - The Guess Who
8. Hair of the Dog - Nazareth
9. Roll on Down The Highway - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
10. The Intoxicated Rat - The Dixon Brothers (Country Brother Teams of the 1930's)

Anyways, what does everybody else listen to? And how about we get some back and forth recs going.

[FitFortDanga]

This'll be easy, since I did it a year ago on another forum. My 25 favorite artists, with my favorite album by each:

*Pink Floyd (Animals)
*The Sea and Cake (no particular album that stands out)
*Built to Spill (There's Nothing Wrong With Love)
Funkadelic (Funkadelic)
Pet Shop Boys (Behavior)
*Thomas Dolby (The Flat Earth)
Cabaret Voltaire (The Crackdown)
*Elvis Costello (Blood & Chocolate)
Current 93 (Thunder Perfect Mind)
Foetus (Hole)
*Guided by Voices/various Robert Pollard solo projects (Bee Thousand)
New Order/Joy Division (Power Corruption and Lies)
Kraftwerk (The Man-Machine)
*Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon/Mark Kozelek (Songs for a Blue Guitar)
The Mountain Goats (The Hound Chronicles)
The Orb (Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld)
Pizzicato Five (no particular album that stands out)
Prince (Sign of the Times)
The Rolling Stones (Beggars Banquet)
Sly & the Family Stone (Fresh)
The Smiths (Louder Than Bombs)
Stereolab (Dots & Loops)
The Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground & Nico)
The Who (Quadrophenia)
The Beatles (Rubber Soul)

* = seen 'em live

[TheDenizen]

I mostly like classic rock/hard rock/metal but can enjoy just about anything (I also play drums and bass guitar).

Not many current bands worth listening to IMO, with a few exceptions: Clutch, Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (all of whom I've seen live).

Fave band has to be Black Sabbath (the Ozzy years, obviously)

Currently listening to: Satori by The Flower Travellin' Band, a Japanese psychedelic rock group from the early 70s. This album is actually the soundtrack the Takashi Miike's film "Deadly Outlaw Rekka".

Here's the first track, skip ahead about 30 seconds unless you want to hear the opening silence/high pitched tone followed by a guttural scream
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5SG8LlIqoY[/youtube]

[movieboy]

Bands in order of preference.
-----------------------------------------
1) Beatles
2) Judas Priest
3) Black Sabbath
4) Pink Floyd
5) Guns'n'Roses
6) Deep Purple
7) Scorpions
8) Iron Maiden
9) Wham
10) A-Ha


Albums in no particular order
----------------------------------------
Revolver, Sgnt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, Help, White Album,
Defenders of the Faith, Appetite for Destruction, Dark Side of the Moon

[TheDenizen]

wow, Wham and A-Ha TOTALLY do not fit with those other bands

I guess variety is the spice of life

[movieboy]

wow, Wham and A-Ha TOTALLY do not fit with those other bands

Yes, I know
But they were my favourites when I was 16-17 years old. So still have a soft corner for them.

[Hopscotch]

*Guided by Voices/various Robert Pollard solo projects (Bee Thousand)
The Who (Quadrophenia)

* = seen 'em live

Hey, Bee Thousand is the album I checked out! Loved it. You also reminded me that I owned Quadrophenia and the Who's Next album. Quadrophenia is amazing! Have you seen the movie?

How does Guided By Voices sound live anyways. My musical friend, who I mentioned in my first post, had a lo-fi show at the follies last year; not by choice. His band did a cover of Canned Heat's "On the Road Again". It was the coolest thing ever. This year they sang "Hickory Wind", I think that's the Flying Burrito Brothers. It wasn't the same with nice equipment, lol.

[paulofilmo]

One of the best recommendation methods I've found is to google two disparate things you really, really like. So, it could be a novel and a movie; personal, long lasting things. It's like googlewhacking yourself. The results for me have been uncanny and, at times, frightening.

Doing this will get you to blog profiles, myspace pages, etc. where similar people will have shared their favourite music, film, literature, etc. Remember to try a couple of different search engines.

Mine: "Billie Holiday" "Spirit of the Beehive"

First result is a black female version of me. Second result is a really cool japanese girl and video artist who sadly died of breast cancer last year.

Looking for people was a strange and emotional and perhaps mentally unhealthy experience. Warned.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u4bFMr28Js[/youtube]
Video art by yuko sueta.
OK clicking on that vid from her profile page spells out paul in the url, and it's freaking me the fuck out.

Code: Select all

http://www.youtube.com/user/yukosueta#p/a/u/1/_u4bFMr28Js

I like torch songs, unsettling soundscapes/avant-garde/musique concrète, acoustic ecology, baroque, romantic, folk/traditional throughout the world, Hindustani classical, chillout, minimalism, tango, most jazz genres (without electric bass), roots blues.

I enjoy singing jazz, playing curious Satie/baroque counterpoint infused piano music ('though things get a little Charles Ives at times), and nothing more than making dissociative music with found objects.

[KGB]

Here's my last.fm account, although it's not really representative of my taste (for example, I haven't listened to Queen in years). Other than particular artists I completely adore Jazz and Tango music, but I really listen to very diverse musical styles, it would be a shame to just stick with one when the world has so much to offer.

A few favorite artists (I'll just check my last.fm account for this one):

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Charly García (Argentinian, and a genius)
Pink Floyd
Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota (argentinian as well)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Manu Chao
Sumo (Argentina again)
Bersuit Vergarabat (and again)
Dead Kennedys
B.B. King
Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra
Carlos Gardel
The Idan Raichel Project (an israeli fellow, pretty awesome stuff)
Reagan Youth
Louis Armstrong
Todos Tus Muertos (argentinian reggae-punk)
Los Gardelitos (best of Argentina's shanytown rock)
Onda Vaga (argentinian indie)
Parliament/Funkadelic

and the list goes on and on.

Stuff I've seen live (that's worth mentioning):
Bob Dylan, Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra (twice!), Parliament Funkadelic (best concert ever), Charly García, Living Colour, The Idan Raichel Project, B.B. King, Rush

Stuff I've been listening to (a lot) in the past few days:
Onda Vaga - Fuerte y Caliente (their soft-rock cover of Havana Affair is insanely good)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Freaky Styley (their most raw album, neat stuff)
Manu Chao - Radio Bemba Sound System (best live album ever)
The Stooges - The Stooges
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Charly García - Parte de la Religión
Parliament - Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (this shit is seriously turning me insane)

[twincinema]

I have been the opposite; I have been fostering my musical taste since I was a child, while not doing much about film taste. I do find your current taste hilarious, Hopscotch. It's so eclectic; Nazareth and Guided by Voices? The Guess Who and Bon Iver? This is not a bad thing.

For me, I have three favourite artists -- Dylan, Propagandhi, and Elliott Smith. These are the only three artists that have stayed in rotation since high school. Nowadays, I don't put as much emphasis in trying to find new music, so I am stuck listening to the same things over and over. Like, this year, I have only been listening to a few releases on repeat. What are those releases? I am glad you asked:

Broken Bells - Broken Bells (Mongrel Heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkmW1m9lIPI)
Caribou - Swim (Bowls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRTzuutL6mA)
Fang Island - Fang Island (Sideswiper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y55NVGZ3ibY)
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Cold War: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqmORiHNtN4&ob=av2e)
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening (Dance Yourself Clean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoA0cTC228M)
Liars - Sisterworld (Scarecrows on a Killer Slant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf7ZUaZ1b7s)
Owen Pallett - Heartland (Oh Heartland, Up Yours!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UaiQFSf3yU)
Surfer Blood - Astrocoast (Take it Easy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSeAwowu8GE)

I have heard great things about the Big Boi album, but I haven't really listened to it. Same goes for the new Arcade Fire.