Please recommend some Music to me
Seeing as I spend 90% of my waking hours in my studio drawing, writing, designing and/or ActionScripting all by my little self, music plays a big part in keeping me company.
My problem is that my taste in music falls somewhere in between "Lame" and "Quirky" and I ran out of quirky music months ago. So, I need your help to keep me from drawing a face on an old volleyball, setting it on my desk and talking to it until my wife comes home every day. Here are the factors you need to consider before replying:
1. No rap or hip-hop. I'm whiter than a loaf of Wonder Bread, and I'll be 35 this summer. White guys with guitars, please.
2. I'm not really all that hip, so beware! The only 2 CDs I bought in college were Pearl Jam's Ten and STP's Core. Both were bought a few years after they came out.
3. Country music is fine, but please no Corporate country music. In other words, no one who wears a Cowboy hat, has a beard and sells a lot of CDs at Wal-Mart. Think Neko Case and Johnny Cash, for example.
4. New age and Orchestral/Instrumental music is cool, too.
5. Available through iTunes a huge plus.
Ok, that's it.
66 Comments:
"Talking Book" - Stevie Wonder. Has "You are the Sunshine of My Life," which is a better song than I ever thought, and "Superstition," and a bunch of other really good songs.
"In Spite of Ourselves" - John Prine. A set of duets between hi and female country (real country) singers covering classic country songs. All really good, except his one original song, which is only okay.
"Everybody Knows this is Nowhere" - Neil Young. Okay, a little depressing and long, slow jams. But good ones. Your mileage may vary.
"One with Everything" by Styx. It is live and includes the Contemporary Youth Orchestra and it is an amazing piece of work.
Howling Bells. Might not be on Itunes, but available on Ebay.. They are Australian, but based in England. Their web site streams some of their songs so you can try before you buy.
www.howlingbells.com
Oh... Tori Amos. Chicks with Piano's. Little Earthquakes is her best IMO.
In Extremo,
Flogging Molly,
They'll bring out the Celtic Warrior in ya, even if you dont have one.
Mazzy Star is real good, and the 3 albums they put out are on iTunes.
The Eels are good too, I really like Electro Shock Blues.
When I think Orchestral I think Stravinsky, so...
I could go on, but I won't.
Zucchero (yes that spelling - try "Baila" or "Cuba Libre" you'll like him)
U2
Faithless
Sigur Ros
Nickelback (only their latest album is good)
Coldplay
Velvet Revolver if you like more traditional rock
Bare Naked Ladies (it's a Band really!) All thier CDs are good and sorta countryish, but not really.
Muse
Nirvana
Foo Fighters
Stabbing Westward
Atreyu (Metal type Music)
Powerman 5000
Jimmy Eatworld
Static X
INME
Tool
what about old rap/hip-hop. e.g., sugarhill gang?
As for choice
Zero 7
Ainjel Emme
Sinatra
anthea (don't explain)
GrooveSalad et al (somafm.com)
I highly recommend Empire by Queensryche. It's a mix of pop, rock and heavy/progressive metal.
Quick: Barenaked Ladies, Nickel Creek, Jimmy Eat World, Old 97s and Lucinda Williams. Long:
"Fake Palindromes," "Tables and Chairs" and "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" by Andrew Bird.
For an introduction to Barenaked Ladies (as someone else mentioned above), try "Too Little Too Late," "Light Up My Room," the live versions of "Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank" and "Brian Wilson," "Blame It on Me," "War on Drugs," "Falling for the First Time" and "Maybe You're Right."
If you decide you like white guys with pianos instead of guitars, then everything by Ben Folds and Ben Folds Five, forever. "Where's Summer B.?," "Mess," "Smoke," "Still Fighting It" and his cover of "In Between Days."
"Burning in the Sun" and "Boxcar Racer" by Blue Merle.
"Cannonball" by Damien Rice.
"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1" or "Race for the Prize" by the Flaming Lips.
"Valley Winter Song" or "Bright Future in Sales" by Fountains of Wayne.
"Numbers" by G. Love and Special Sauce.
"Ramona" or "Barrel of a Gun" by Guster.
"You Can Make Him Like You" and "Citrus" by The Hold Steady.
"Rick James" by Jude.
"Love and Some Verses" by Iron & Wine.
"If you Don't, Don't" by Jimmy Eat World. That whole (self-titled) album holds up pretty well, despite the weakest song having been a monster single.
"Winter in the Hamptons" or "Rise" by Josh Rouse.
If you like Johnny Cash, you will probably like everything Lucinda Williams has ever done, but "Essence" and "Fruits of My Labor" are good starting points.
"I Hear the Bells" by Mike Doughty.
If you like Neko Case, presumably you know about The New Pornographers? But in case you don't, "Sing Me Spanish Techno" or "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism."
Nickel Creek are pretty much THE not-Nashville country-bluegrass band. They didn't really make any bad songs. "Helena," "The Fox" and "Green and Gray."
"Buick City Complex" and "Designs On You" by Old 97s.
"Me and Mia" or "La Costa Brava" by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
"I Met A Girl" by Wheat.
Wonderful but maybe a little weird for you: Bjork, Regina Spektor, Electric President.
All of the above are on iTunes.
2 Irish bands you probably won't have heard of - Turn, The Blizzards.
White guys with guitars, as ordered! The Blizzards "A Public Display of Affection" is an absolute blast, rocks AND has a sense of humour - if there's any justice, they'll make it big. Turn have 3 albums, a self-titled effort, "Anti-social" and "Forward" - the first 2 being the pick of the crop. Looking like they're not going to make it, unfortunately, but as good a live act as I've seen.
If you like humor with your music, I can suggest anything by Moxy Früvous, The Arrogant Worms, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie, and Da Vinci's Notebook. They all do mostly acoustic and/or a capella stuff, but well worth the listen if the white guys' guitars don't have to be electric.
Great Big Sea is also excellent, if you're into "traditional" music (they do a lot of Newfoundland/maritime music, though not exclusively).
But they're all definitely "quirky". Unfortunately, I don't know whether or not any of them are available through iTunes.
For interesting lyrics along with original music from white guys with guitars, my suggestion would be CAKE.
You must have listened to some THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS at some point - that would be Quirky.
On a jazzier, but still rock-like vein, try listening to some Morphine. That might get a bit depressing, but it isn't as depressing as the Eels.
Frou Frou. Lovely stuff. Featured on the Garden State soundtrack, and the lovely Imogen Heap is the singer (her solo stuff is good too).
The Interzone Mantras by Tea Party, Heck any album they have is great
For imagination-stirring music, you need to either step out of anything Clear Channel currently plays into seriously indie stuff, or back in time to when music meant something other than paying for the RIAA's black helicopters and champagne.
The entire "Beware of Darkness" album by Spock's Beard is inspiring. Anything early by them is excellent, but that's their best work. Anything without BOTH Morse brothers is suspect until we get back to "Octane" Don't waste your time with "Feel Euphoria", they were still feeling their way along without Neal.
Speaking of Neal Morse, I'm of two minds about his solo albums. They're just not the same. It's like a ghost at the party, or inviting your ex to your wedding. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
For what I call "imagination music":
The Flower Kings
Pendragon
Jethro Tull
OSI (a bit weirder)
Pink Floyd
Steely Dan
Supertramp
Traffic
For variety, something to give it spice,
Clannad
Fleetwood Mac
Frank Zappa
Steven Brust (yes, the fantasy author who write the Vlad the Assassin series)
Some unusual stuff
when I want slammin' metal, I like Yngwie Malmsteen. No one can shred a guitar neck like Yngwie, even if he can't behave himself on an airplane worth a damn.
Todd Rundgren is deep and weird. My partner loves his stuff, but I can't listen to a lot of it all at once. Trouble is, a lot of his stuff is 29 minute long songs. That's too much at once for me. That's why I never got to be a big fan of the Grateful Dead.
And for a touch of the best bluegrass in the world, John Hartford is the master.
One last word...I heard the song "Code Monkey" by Jonathan Coulton of "Thing a Week" fame. Damn if that little Creative Commons song didn't make me laugh and get a little misty, all while dancing a little in my chair. It was delightful, imaginative, sweet, and rife with new, fresh power. The man is a true bard. Worth a listen.
Try the streams at woxy.com - quite possibly the best Indie / Modern Rock station on the internet. The main stream have live DJs - guys who know their stuff and play what they want - and no commercials. They also have a Vintage stream with older stuff, but that only has DJs during the annual Modern Rock 500 countdown on Memorial Day weekend.
It's all free, high quality stuff. Worth a try.
(Incidentally, I don't work for them, I've just been a fan since they had a regular FM station. They used to be 97-X "BAM - The future of Rock 'n' Roll" out of Cincinnati / Oxford. (Yes, that's also the station ID they used in "Rain Man."))
John, if you look in 'my' CD section you'll see that we have not an insignificant portion of this stuff. We've actually seen a couple of the above artists live, too... What's mine is yours, etc. etc. etc.
Keep 'em coming, the rest of you!
Innovators by Kurt Bestor and Sam Cardon.
This is some of my favorite programming music. It set's the mood without being intrusive.
YAY! Britney is back!!!
I been listening to The Decemberists - The Crane Wife, Picaresque, and The Tain. Excellent stuff, and I usually spit on newer "indie" music.
I second the Flogging Molly suggestion. Anything from Swagger or Drunken Lullabyes.
The White Stripes: White Moon, I'm Lonely, My Doorbell, Blue Orchid, The Nurse, Hotel Yorba, etc.
Older Stuff:
Buena Vista Social Club OST
The Jam
The Stranglers
Tom Waits (Even though you once said "Isn't he the guy who sounds like he had a stroke?")
Theivery Corporation.
Mike Ness - Cheating at Solitare.
Anything by The Young Dubliners
especially
"Absolute" and
"With all due respect the Irish sessions."
Paul Oakenfold - Bunkka
Kirsty Hawkshaw - In Memory
The Crystal Method - Legion of Boom
Goldfrapp - Supernature
:-)
I get a lot of music from NPR's All Songs Considered podcast.
The host Bob Boilen has guest dj's on occasionally and covers a huge range of music new and classic. ASC also webcasts live concerts which you can listen to in the show archives.
http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/
BTW, I saw the last panel before reading the comic and was like, "Aw snap!" Britney is one of my favorite characters and I really dislike her as a person. But she's part of some of my favorite gags from the strip.
COUNTRY: Don Williams, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Patti Griffin, and if you can find him, Ed Bruce.
NEW AGE: Enya, Liquid Mind, John Serrie, Loreena McKennitt, Wil Ackerman, 2002, Aeoliah.
If you want funny, nobody beats Wierd Al Yankovic and Ray Stevens.
At least, these are my all time favs. :-)
I'm not sure if you're into semi-electronic stuff but you might want to check out Portishead. They are an acid jazz type band with a very good female vocalist.
If you want progressive rock, I recommend Dream Theater. I find them to be not as obnoxious as some other progressive bands, who I feel sometimes just play weird crap to show off.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGH!
((**huff, huff**))
((**cringe**))
"Oh, hello, Britney."
Damn, I thought the walking papers had been permanent!
Augh! Why do comedic foils need to be so IRRITATING?
Hmm? No, I am not particularly pleased to see Britney back. How did you guess?
You oughta check out Flogging Molly. Irish Rock and Blues band, they are gods to me. great poetry, and every member of the band obviously knows their instrument like a lover. Not only that, but they sing about the genuine Irish-American experience... when they aren't singing about pirates anyway.
If you aren't down with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, then we can't be pals.
Flogging Molly Trivia: Lead singer Dave King was the lead singer for 80's Metal band Fastway. What? You never heard of Fastway? They did the soundtrack for the movie Trick or Treat. What? You never heard of Trick or Treat? It starred Marc "Skippy" Price of TV's Family Ties and Gene Simmons of Kiss and Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath. What? You never heard of Family Ties, Kiss or Black Sabbath?
I think I may be getting old...
Definitely Nick Cave. Try "Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus" (fairly recent double album). Lots of different musical styles in that set with his usual awesomely intertextual and often funny lyrics. (like a reworking of the Orpheus myth with lines like "God was a major player in Heaven").
Tom Waits is also good, especially his first album, "Swordfishtrombone".
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Tom Waits put out about half a dozen albums before Swordfishtrombones, for what it's worth. It's one of his best, though, as are the albums that came right before and right after, Small Change and Rain Dogs (arguably the most solid, consistent, and listenable record he's ever released).
The suggestions above definitely illustrate the diversity of your audience ... that's some pretty serious variety! I could ramble on for hours about specific artists, but my primary recommendation is for eMusic.com. The hell with iTunes, eMusic offers better product (no DRM) at a MUCH lower price. The only "disadvantage" is that the music tends to be on independent or international labels, and there isn't all that much "mainstream" or recent major label music on it at all. Even so, it's a KICKASS source for alt.country, indie pop and rock, folk, jazz, and international music. Join up there, and I'll have hundreds of things to recommend.
I second Bare Naked Ladies, Nick Cave, and The Decemberists.
Off the top of my head I highly recommend Better Than Ezra, Filter, Tool, Primus, Elvis Costello, and DJ Shadow. J-Pop--Suneohair, Yuki Isoya, and Yoko Kanno for starters.
Soundtracks--Spawn, X-Files 1 and 2, Key the Metal Idol, Macross Plus 1 and 2, Cowboy Bebop, and Please Save My Earth... Okay, I'm a big Yoko Kanno fan.
-Zolodoco
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For some great jangly (and slightly quirky) guitar pop (they are the quintessential white guys with guitars :p), The Clean (New Zealand, '70s-'90s mainly) are really terrific.
Straitjacket Fits (another NZ band) are also awesome but they've got nothing on iTunes.
Oh Crap! Drive-by Truckers - Decoration Day! Best Alt-country I've heard since Hank III.
And I gotta side with Macho on the whole white guys and guitars/rap thing. Let's not get all Imus-ed up ;) Anthony Hamilton, Mos Def, Tribe Called Quest.
If you haven't already done so, check out the film Nick Cave wrote called The Proposition.
DREAM THEATER
My two favorite bands are The Presidents of the United States of America and Cake. Both are rock bands from the 90's (still making great music today) and they're not like the soft rock indie stuff that you get today.
I know you're suddenly inundated with music recommendations, but give them a listen.
I'll toss in my two cents and mention Smog. It is, as you require, a white guy with a guitar. And not much else really, but he's really good. For something a bit more... adventurous I also recommend anything by Gogol Bordello. Gypsy Punk Revolt!!
Death From Above 1979
Soundgarden
The Mars Volta (Tremulant EP & De-loused in the comatorium are the best)
Lacuna Coil
Rhapsody
Symphony X
Hey there! I know you're probably swamped with music recommendations, so rather than advise you to listen to a specific band or album, I'll just point you in the direction of a music recommendation site, thus getting you what you want while expending the least amount of effort. Score!
www.pandora.com is a handy (and, importantly, user friendly) site I stumbled on a while ago. You sign up for free, tell it what you like and it creates 'stations' based on that band or song, playing music it finds similar and asking you to rate songs so it knows how to evolve your stations.
You just type in Pearl Jam and off you go! :-p
Poets of the Fall:
Samples available at:
www.poetsofthefall.com
I am so ashamed!! I can't believe I forgot this artist until hearing him on Music Choice last night. Two words:
Lyle Lovett
Hey, I'd put myself in the same demographic as you, so here's some of my recent purchases --> Golden Smog - Another Fine Day, The Pink Spiders - Teenage Graffitti, Black Stone Cherry - Black Stone Cherry and then from the "classic" set --> Molly Hatchet - Best of and Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin Bob Dylan. Love the Dylan album, can't believe it took me this long to get it.
Guys with Guitars:
Dave Dobbyn
Cold Chisel
Girls with Guitars:
Karen Zoid
Henry Ate/Karma
Kasia Kowalska
Paola Turci
Carly Binding
Butterfly 9
Girls with Piano and Guitars:
Missy Higgins
Brooke Fraser
Louise Carver
Luna
Girls without instruments, but great voices:
Tina Arena
Laura Pausini
Lara Fabian
Natasha St.Pier
Nianel
Folk/pop/country/traditional hybrids:
Lucy Kaplansky
Sara Storer
Kate Rusby
Charlotte Yates
Kasey Chambers
Dunno if any of that stuff is on iTunes. I think Ms. Chambers is the only one who's achieved any mainstream commercial success in the US(Ms. Pausini has in the Latin community, but her songs sound better in Italian, imo), alot of their CDs have never even been released here at all, but thanks to the wonder of t3h int4rw3b lots of stuff is out there to purchase.
jesus uncle jhon, u never have had more than 40 comments on one post, have you?
sorry, i misspelled john
Britney? BRITNEY?
Okay, the time for simple stuff like firing her is over. It's time for ballistic weaponry.
I say nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.
I find any of below is generally good nose-to-the-grindstone music. This is considered industrial, but whatever - think of it as hard new age. The last 3 use dance beats that are especially nice for scripting.
The Birthday Massacre - Violet
Apoptgyma Berzerk - Black EP
VNV Nation - Matter + Form
Assemblage 23 - Storm
Funker Vogt - Navigator
Das Ich - Lava (Asche)
Or hell, Digitally Imported radiostreams are excellent work music, give a listen before SoundExchange torpedoes them.
You illustrate an intelligence-enhanced housecat, for crying out loud.
How can you be so timid as to run out of "quirky" music? Here, try these for starters. Tell me if you develop a taste for Mongolian death-metal so that I can start running.
John Fleagle - I Have a Yong Suster
Tabargan - Tabargan
Kitka - Byla Cesta
Joglaresa - Psallat Immensas
Tenores di Bitti Remunnu e Locu - S' Annunziata
Tenores di Bitti Mialinu Pira - Ballu Seriu
Various Albanian choruses - Iso Polyphonies (Click Muzik Video, then Labe, then the Play button)
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Ummmm... let's see...
Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky are all good.
If you can find any Cowboy Bebop music, that'd be good too.
Tweaker is good to look for... got any Tom Waits? Maybe some of him.
They Might Be Giants is a must. Nickel Creek... Neil Young... Hawksley Workman... Bruce Cockburn... Blue October...
There's my list.
Cycle Sluts from Hell fall into the quirky catagory, I think.
If you like bands like the Scorpions, see if you can dig up some Lillian Axe. Buncha American boys that put out some sweet rockers & ballads. I also like Veruca Salt a lot, and thye might be easier to find on I-Tunes (and they have some great stuff up on one of their websites for free as well).
Alabama 3: despite the name they're actually from Brixton (london) and they did the theme song to the Sopranos. They do sort of an Acid house/country thing.
Lots of people seem to be very keen for you to like Flogging Molly: if you find you do then can I also recomend
Black 47
The Pogues
Shane MacGowen's solo stuff.
Also, I think Amy Winehouse is very good; she does modern vocal Jazz and Soul.
What the crap! I thought two Haley's was difficult to deal with. Dork Twin powers activate!
Carol is a really great character these days. Nice work.
How about Louis Taylor, "The Lost Album".
I heard a couple tracks on WFPK (another good listening bet) and have been meaning to pick it up at Ear Ecstasy since. The post-it is still stuck to my monitor.
PJS Louisville
Del Amitri, originally from Scotland, does folk/rock/pop. Can You Do Me Good? is an interesting album. Songs from older albums are also good in a different way.
Dead Can Dance
Johnny Clegg
Bjorn Lynne
BT
Adiemus
David Arkenstone
Era
Hooverphonic
Chris Franke (Tangerine Dream, but especially his Babylon 5 stuff)
Here are some suggestions::
1. Jack Ingram- Non-Corporate Country
2. Jack Johnson
3. Marillion
4. Delirium- New ages with great vocals
Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around. Has a great version of Personal Jesus on it as well as really cool The Man Comes Around.
Warren Zevon: Learning to Flinch. Best live concert album, eveh! Really love The French Inhaler on this one.
The Young Dubliners: Rocky Road and Breathe are both very good. Great Celtic Rock sound.
Jethro Tull: Roots to Branches and Catfish Rising. Both these albums are from the early 90's and really show how Ian Anderson had progressed as a song writer. This stuff is so far beyond Aqualung and Locomotive Breath, it's not funny. But still has Jethro Tull sound. Cool!
Postal Service is great for any mood you're in. It's Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie (another good, mellow, white-guys-with-guitars band) and Jimmy Tamborello from multiple projects. They're more electronica, but Ben's voice is great. He duets with Jen Woods on "Nothing Better" and it's one of my favorite songs. Their album "Give Up" should be on iTunes.
Schuyler (pronounced Skyler) Fisk is another great chill artist. Her voice is gorgeous.
John Mayer Trio (his bluegrass project) is one of my favorites too. A great intro for their music is "Who Did You Think I Was?"
I saw someone mention Nickel Creek. Two good songs of theirs are "The Lighthouse's Tale" and "Beauty and the Mess"
I find Counting Crows are fun to listen to also! "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Mr. Jones" are good ones that are more well-known. They're definitely available on iTunes.
Tremolo is good ol' West Coast chill music too. "Can You Feel It Now?" is a great intro to their style.
The Shins are great. They're featured on the Garden State soundtrack, and have a newer album out. Try "Phantom Limb" or "New Slang." Those are my favorites.
Nickel Creek is a definite must - I really enjoy their music; it just flows so well.
Personally, I'm in love with rich vocals, hence Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lacuna Coil, and of course, Aretha Franklin are my favorites.
For some "quirky" music, I'd recommend BR-549 and Southern Culture on the Skids.
Paul Weller - THE white guy with guitar - "Wild Wood" is my favorite of his albums. BUt all his stuff from The Jam, Style Council and solo is good.
I second Massive Attack - Blue Lines is an anthem album with two of Britain's best ever tracks (Unfinished Sympathy and Safe From Harm).
Try the Afro Celt Sound System. Instrumental high-energy "folk" music. Or for weird guys, Nightwish, a Finnish operatic rock band.
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