# ask the guy who wants to help you listen to better music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240 "2004-08-10T18:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/201 "2004-08-16T10:53:46Z")
Ani Difranco. That’s my list, recommendations and opinions **FreeJooky**?? ---
**Author:** ![dry\_gear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@dry\_gear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dry_gear)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/202 "2004-08-16T23:23:31Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > Hmm. I’ve only recently (well, in the past four years or so) really started getting into music. Lemme give you my typically preferred stuff, see if I can get other recommendations: > > -Yello > -David Byrne/Talking Heads > -Air > -Thievery Corporation > -Tom Waits > -Pink Floyd > -Beck > -George Acosta > -Momus > -Franz Ferdinand > -Curtis Mayfield > -Creedence Clearwater Revival > -Earth, Wind, and Fire > > What say the music gurus, here? What else should I delve into? Have you heard of Interpol? You might like them. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/203 "2004-08-17T02:38:45Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > George Acosta Armin van Buuren Tiësto Ferry Corsten ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/204 "2004-08-17T03:33:48Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > You should check out Lacuna Coil. A buddy of mine who heard them for the first time last night said they sound like Evanescence, but more pensive. Nightwish is another band that sounds similar to (but better than) Evanescence. Faster, crunchier guitars, more of a sense of melodrama with fantasy-based lyrics, and beautiful vocals by the lovely Tarja, a classically-trained opera singer. They’re a metal band, no doubt about it, from Finland. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/205 "2004-08-17T03:39:22Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Nightwish is another band that sounds similar to (but better than) Evanescence. Faster, crunchier guitars, more of a sense of melodrama with fantasy-based lyrics, and beautiful vocals by the lovely Tarja, a classically-trained opera singer. They’re a metal band, no doubt about it, from Finland. The only similarity I hear between Nightwish and Evanescence is that they’re both female-fronted metal bands. Other than that, they sound very different to me. The Gathering might be more appropriate for fans of Evanescence or Lacuna Coil. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/206 "2004-08-17T03:42:23Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > The only similarity I hear between Nightwish and Evanescence is that they’re both female-fronted metal bands. Other than that, they sound very different to me. > > The Gathering might be more appropriate for fans of Evanescence or Lacuna Coil. Agreed. Nightwish has a unique sound all their own, and IMHO don’t sound a thing like Lacuna Coil. A truly excellent band in their own right. BTW, heed **ultrafilter’s** on that Porcupine Tree album, _In Absentia_. I couldn’t stop listening to that album for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/207 "2004-08-18T07:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Armin van Buuren > Tiësto > Ferry Corsten More electronica, I presume? Good, good… electronica’s one genre where it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, 'cuz any dolt with a synthesizer can put out bad '80s beats… ::shudder:: Few things are better than excellent electronica, but few things are worse than bad electronica. ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/208 "2004-08-18T17:56:02Z")
I love listening to Nightwish, but I can’t help but feel that most of their music is so cheesy and repetitive. Are there any better groups with the same general idea as them out there? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/209 "2004-08-18T17:59:10Z")
> [@klockwerk](#): > > I love listening to Nightwish, but I can’t help but feel that most of their music is so cheesy and repetitive. Are there any better groups with the same general idea as them out there? After Forever, Epica, Lullacry, Sinergy, Gathering, Lacuna Coil, etc. Cheesiness and repetitiveness are kind of embedded in the genre, though, so don’t be expecting wonders here. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/210 "2004-08-23T21:54:32Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > **koeeoaddi** , I’ve gotta recommend [Cheryl Wheeler](http://www.cherylwheeler.com) to you. One of my favorite folky singer/songwriters. Check out the songs “75 Septembers” and “Gandhi/Buddha”. ::gush:: I had to bump this thread to say thank you, **stpauler** , for recommending Cheryl Wheeler. I am listening to “Different Stripe” for the first time and she is just wonderful! I’ve found so much good music from threads like these. ---
**Author:** ![Marsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Marsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marsie)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/211 "2004-08-23T23:58:40Z")
Freejokey, I have always loved Russ Ballard’s music. Do you know of any similar artists? Secondly, why didn’t Russ ever “make it” as a performer in his own right? ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/212 "2004-08-24T03:56:22Z")
Based largely on inspiration from this thread, I went over to Amazon and went a bit nuts. True, I hadn’t bought a CD in probably 7 years, so it’s not so bad. Here’s what I got: Jackson C. Frank - Blues Run The Game Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand Wilco - A Ghost Is Born Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Tricky - Maxinquaye Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs All in all quite a decent mix. I still haven’t really digested it all yet but so far it’s a lot of fun checking out all this new music at once. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/213 "2004-08-24T16:22:30Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > ::gush:: > > I had to bump this thread to say thank you, **stpauler** , for recommending Cheryl Wheeler. I am listening to “Different Stripe” for the first time and she is just wonderful! > > I’ve found so much good music from threads like these. Woohoo! I’m glad you like it! Make sure to catch her live or see her video [“What Do I Care-I Don’t Have Any Kids Construction Company, Inc”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000007SN4/qid=1093364325/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-4891540-4987015?v=glance&s=video), she’s got a fun sense of humor as well. I’ve got some great stuff from this thread too, thanks to: **Freejooky** for Blossom Dearie and Devendra Banhart’s “Rejoicing in the Hands” (was that recorded in a bathroom?!?!) **Big Bad Voodoo Lou** for The Shins **Nightime** for Orange Juice 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/214 "2004-08-25T00:03:17Z")
Can you recommend some good, modern prog rock? I love Queensryche and Rush, think Dream Theater and Blind Guardian are peachy, and am starting to get into Fates Warning. Also, do you know of a band that could fill the void left by Stabbing Westward? I need some depressing music for sitting alone in dark rooms 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/215 "2004-08-25T01:06:59Z")
Today, **Carnac the Magnificent** turns the tables and stumps **Freejooky** and all other dopers. My good man, I like the sophisticated background cocktail music I hear in the old movies of the William Holden era: sparkling piano, brushed drums, string bass, no vocalist. Blossom Dearie is about a million miles from my tastes. Ditto the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, Harry Connick Jr., Bing Crosby, etc. Please, none of that cheesy “martini” music that made the rounds 7-10 years ago here in the States. I’m talking sophisticated, not snoozy, cheesy, or kitschy. Music you can imagine David Niven might have listened to when the cameras stopped rolling. (Yes, I am a relic.) Mind you, **Freejooky** , I’ve challenged plenty of experts in the past. If you can hook me up, I will make you a very, very wealthy man. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/216 "2004-08-25T02:07:15Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > Today, **Carnac the Magnificent** turns the tables and stumps **Freejooky** and all other dopers. > My good man, I like the sophisticated background cocktail music I hear in the old movies of the William Holden era: sparkling piano, brushed drums, string bass, no vocalist. > > Blossom Dearie is about a million miles from my tastes. Ditto the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, Harry Connick Jr., Bing Crosby, etc. Please, none of that cheesy “martini” music that made the rounds 7-10 years ago here in the States. I’m talking sophisticated, not snoozy, cheesy, or kitschy. Music you can imagine David Niven might have listened to when the cameras stopped rolling. (Yes, I am a relic.) > > Mind you, **Freejooky** , I’ve challenged plenty of experts in the past. If you can hook me up, I will make you a very, very wealthy man. 😉 Check out [George Shearing](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00022FX3A/ref=br_music_nn_asin-coop-2_116711/103-9617307-8368657) and let me know what you think 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/217 "2004-08-25T02:35:45Z")
> [@Mithril](#): > > Can you recommend some good, modern prog rock? I love Queensryche and Rush, think Dream Theater and Blind Guardian are peachy, and am starting to get into Fates Warning. Sounds like you’re looking for more prog metal–which is good, cause I know fuck-all about prog rock. Still, you owe it to yourself to check out Radiohead’s _OK Computer_ if you haven’t heard it. Check out Porcupine Tree’s _In Absentia_, Katatonia’s _Viva Emptiness_, Ayreon’s _The Human Equation_, Evergrey’s _Recreation Day_, Opeth’s _Damnation_, Pain Of Salvation’s _The Perfect Element_, and Orphaned Land’s _Mabool_. > [@](#): > > Also, do you know of a band that could fill the void left by Stabbing Westward? I need some depressing music for sitting alone in dark rooms 😛 There’s nothing more depressing than Evoken’s _Quietus_. Evanescence might be more up your alley. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/218 "2004-08-25T03:06:17Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Check out [George Shearing](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00022FX3A/ref=br_music_nn_asin-coop-2_116711/103-9617307-8368657) and let me know what you think 😃 I commend you for your earnestness, my dear chap. Shearing is almost there. Not quite, but almost. Jolly good show. Keep it up and I’ll bequeath you a consolation Jaguar. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/219 "2004-08-25T06:01:03Z")
> [@Mithril](#): > > Can you recommend some good, modern prog rock? I love Queensryche and Rush, think Dream Theater and Blind Guardian are peachy, and am starting to get into Fates Warning. Try Mars Volta and Coheed & Cambria for starters. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240/220 "2004-08-25T06:08:12Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > Today, **Carnac the Magnificent** turns the tables and stumps **Freejooky** and all other dopers. > My good man, I like the sophisticated background cocktail music I hear in the old movies of the William Holden era: sparkling piano, brushed drums, string bass, no vocalist. > > Blossom Dearie is about a million miles from my tastes. Ditto the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, Harry Connick Jr., Bing Crosby, etc. Please, none of that cheesy “martini” music that made the rounds 7-10 years ago here in the States. I’m talking sophisticated, not snoozy, cheesy, or kitschy. Music you can imagine David Niven might have listened to when the cameras stopped rolling. (Yes, I am a relic.) > > Mind you, **Freejooky** , I’ve challenged plenty of experts in the past. If you can hook me up, I will make you a very, very wealthy man. 😉 Do you know [Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE4791FDE48A47F20D4823E53C0BA60F900FE4BF59A1321435992B63E4591037DAD4CFF9981B9E577B166ADFF2EA0160DD9CAEF5CF9D5764C40&searchlink=GONZALO%7CRUBALCABA&uid=SUB040408250201&samples=1&sql=11:difyxqy5ld0e~T2) work per chance? Try either _The Blessing_ or _Inner Voyage_. The music is absolutely sophisticated, not cheesy in the least. Gonzalo Rubalcaba is an amazing Afro-Cuban jazz pianist with the best chops of any piano player I’ve ever heard. Maybe you’re looking for something a little more straightforward, but people will bow to your awesome taste when they hear any of his records. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-wants-to-help-you-listen-to-better-music/259240.md?page=12)