I buy at least two CDs every week. I like getting into bands I’ve never heard before, but I like to get the earliest stuff of theirs I can, so a lot of the stuff I’ve bought recently is at least a couple of years old. That said, in my 6-disc changer in my car are currently:
Death Cab for Cutie: You Can Play These Songs With Chords
The Killers: Hot Fuss (one of the brand-spanking-new releases)
The Walkmen: Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Dead (check 'em out; I think they’re quite similar to Death Cab, just not quite as good)
Radiohead: OK Computer (see what I mean?)
Blur: self-titled
And one older one that was a Christmas present from my GF: All My Life: The Best of Karla Bonoff.
Recently I got:
Modest Mouse - Good News… (really good album, not as good as some earlier stuff)
Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak (they’re awesome, this album’s awesome)
Grant Lee Buffalo - Gems from the Vault of… (I recommend this 2-disc collection to everyone!)
Salvation is a little more electronica than I care for, but the Danzig track is outstanding and Kid Rock’s “Warm Winter” is beautiful. Sehnsucht is so good, it’s barely left my CD player. “Spiel Mit Mier” is my personal favorite. KoRn is another excellent one, it’s so different from their later albums. Jonathan’s singing has really changed over the years, but he was so emotive with this album. “Daddy” is just legendary, and “Faget” is amazing, I love to scream along with it.
I love that album! Is that an original Columbia pressing? I know Sundazed recently reissued it on CD, and also issued a vinyl single of non-LP tracks, but I don’t see a vinyl reissue of the album on their site.
Your tastes sound similar to mine. I also have The Walkmen but just a short one with four songs on it, including “We’ve been had.”
I also have The Best of Blur.
I was thinking of getting some Foo Fighters. I would especially like to have the stripped down version of “Times like these.” Got a little research to do…
This week I finally picked up The Von Bondies’ Pawn Shoppe Heart and I think I am in love. Also filled a few holes in my collection with a some well-spotted bargains, Elliot Smith’s Figure 8 and Tori Amos’ Little Earthquakes for ten bucks each (I’m in Australia, where the standard price for a CD is $30) and both of which are now on high rotation. Also bought Together We’re Heavy by The Polyphonic Spree, which is like the Brady Kids on acid with an orchestral backing. I’ve had the chorus to “Hold Me Now” stuck in my head for days.
After some time off from buying music, I’ve gotten back into the swing of things lately. I just pulled the Hell Yes EP by Beck off iTunes and it’s really awesome. If it’s an indicator of what his forthcoming album will be like, it sounds like he’s definitely doing a lot of electronic experimentation, but he’s using 1980s video game sounds as the foundation. It works really well, at least in the four songs on the EP.
But the band I’ve been full-on obsessed with since October is The Arcade Fire. I have both their first LP, “Funeral” and I recently acquired their eponymous 7-song EP that’s pretty hard to get ahold of these days. The EP is pretty lo-fi, but like “Funeral” has its very lush moments. The EP also has a more playful tone to it. “Funeral” itself is a masterpiece – the best album I’ve heard in a very, very long time. I listen to it literally every day and it still sounds fresh to my ears. Lavish production and epic, dramatic sweep, and a lot of the songs are just amazing rock anthems. That’s the great thing… it’s totally “indie” but it never fails to bring the rock, even in the “slow” songs. The album just keeps building… building… building… and you get goosebumps throughout.
I’ve bought a few.
Bright Eyes, “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” and “Digital Ash in a Digital Urn”
Keane “Hopes and Fears”
Death Cab for Cutie “Transatlanticism” and “The Photo Album”
The Killers “Hot Fuss”
Franz Ferdinand
Modest Mouse “The Moon and Antartica” and “This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing To Talk About”
The Libertines
And I learned from this thread that Kings of Leon have a new one, so there’s another $15 out of my pocket soon.
The last three CDs I’ve bought: Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Like Bad News - I’ve liked several Modest Mouse songs for the past few years, but I’d never gotten around to getting any of their albums. I actually only picked this one up because I had won a $15 gift card to Best Buy. I was pleasantly surprised at how thoroughly terrifc it is, especially as I had heard mixed things about it. Of the three listed here, it’s my most recent purchase but the one I’ve listened to most. Gang of Four - Entertainment! - I’ve been looking for a reasonably-priced copy of this for years - any place it’s listed, it’s over $20. I found it on half.com brand new for around $14. Good album, although “I Found That Essence Rare” and “At Home He’s a Tourist,” the two songs I knew before I purchased the album, are the definite standouts. Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth - Such a distinctive sound that the songs sort of start to sound the same after a while, especially the instrumentals. Some gorgeous songs though, and obviously influential.
I picked it up used, so didn’t mention it here, but it definitely grows on you. Although that won’t stop me from just putting “Float On” on repeat ad infinitum rather than playing the whole album, it’s that good of a song.
Chevelle - This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In Killswitch Engage - The End of Heartache The Exies - Head for the Door
are the most recent three CDs I’ve bought. I’ve been listening to Chevelle and The Exies a lot, but Killswitch Engage is a little harder and sort of requires a mood. They’re all really great CDs, in three pretty distinct stylistic areas of rock. Chevelle is deep and melodic (almost in the vein of A Perfect Circle, though with their own sound), Killswitch Engage is pretty typical rock/metal with a good rhythm and decent lyrics, and The Exies are a little more playful, with a wide range of sounds that varies pretty drastically sometimes from song to song. Good stuff.
I’ve been on a CD-buying binge. Highlights include:
Vladimir Horowitz playing a lot of Robert Schumann. 2 CD set of Schumann goodness.
Robert Shaw Corale, Men’s Chorus, singing Sea Shanties. I remember this from my childhood—a favorite album. I am happy to have it again.
Beethoven Piano Sonatas performed by Robert Taub. Another 2 CD set.
Piano Favorites. Various Classical piano pieces.
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone, Spaghetti Western: The Ennio Morricone Collection, Very Best of Ennio Morricone, Giu La Testa, Queimada (aka Burn), In the Line of Fire. All composed by (you guessed it) Ennio Morricone. I’ve been long overdue in updating my Ennio Morricone collection.
So basically it’s been Morricone and Classical piano for me.
yosemite, I have some classical as well. Do you like soundtracks? Yo Yo Ma does a wonderful rendering of Bach’s Prelude from Cello suite #1 in G major is on the Master and Commander soundtrack, which also features Boccherini and Corelli.
Other soundtracks I enjoy: Trainspotting, English Patient, Fight Club, Wedding Singer, to name a few. (I like my music eclectic.)
