With the rise of legal song-by-song music distribution services (PressPlay Apple Music Store, etc.), I am thrilled by the potential to discover new music. But where to begin?
I think that the people who love a particular artist’s music the most – those people who consider themselves and authority on the artist would be the best equipped to reccommend a solid cross-section of music by an artist.
If you consider yourself an authority on a particular band, I want to hear from you. What artist do you love? Describe their music. What songs represent a complete cross-section of the music they make? I would ask that you limit yourself to 20 songs at the most – think “introduction,” not “career retrospective.” Also, though an artist’s “hits” would be natural inclusions, I don’t think that an introductory playlist should be limited to chart-toppers.
Let me get the ball rolling with a personal favorite (though I may be back with more later if this thread is popular):
Southern Culture on the Skids
They defy easy categorization. They play very toungue-in-cheek with an attitude that seems kind of on par with the B-52’s. They mainly play southern-fried rockabilly boogie, but they draw on a number of unrelated influences, including Bo Diddley beats, Dick Dale surf guitar and add in a little country and Mexican flavors.
Daddy Was a Preacher but Momma Was a Go-Go Girl
Nashville Toupee
Run Chicken Run
The Little Things
My House Has Wheels
Put Your Teeth up on the Window Sill
Too Much Pork for Just One Fork
8 Piece Box
Camel Walk
Firefly
Soul City
Whole Lotta Things
Viva del Santo!
Banana Puddin’
Earthmover
House of Bamboo
Shotgun
Cheap Motels
Liquored Up and Lacquered Down
Pass the Hatchet
Yesterday
Eleanor Rigby
In My LIfe
The Fool On The Hill
Strawberry Fields Forever
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
A Little Help From My Friends
A Day In The Life
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Here Comes The Sun
A Hard Day’s Night
Penny Lane
Blackbird
Nowhere Man
I’ll Follow The Sun
For No One
The Long and Winding Road
Get Back
Norwegian Wood
Down to the Waterline
Sultans of Swing
Water of Love
Lady Writer
Telegraph Road
Romeo and Juliet
Skate Away
Expresso Love
Solid Rock
Ride Across the River
Why Worry?
Brothers in Arms
On Every Street
The Bug
When It Comes to You
King Crimson:
21st Century Schizoid Man
Epitaph
In the Court of the Crimson King
Cat Food
In the Wake of Poseidon
A Sailor’s Tale
Easy Money
The Great Deceiver
The Night Watch
Lament
Starless
Elephant Talk
The Sheltering Sky
Satori in Tangiers
Waiting Man
So Tired
Aimee
No More Tears
Diary of a Madman
Old L.A. Tonight
I Just Want You
Gets Me Through
Crazy Train
Road To Nowhere
Thunder Underground
Flying High Again
Desire
I Don’t Want To Change The World
Time After Time
The Liar
Tattooed Dancer
See You On The Other Side
Buried Alive
Ghost Behind My Eyes
Walk On Water
Describe his music–hrm. Well, he’s called the Godfather of Metal, but don’t let that color your impression. He’s as far from death metal/nu metal/thrash as Johnny Cash is in a lot of ways. The adjectives I come up with when I think of his lyrics and vocals–beautiful, haunting, resonant, emotional, moving, and sad, but beautifully sad. By no means is Ozzy one of the best vocalists in music technically, but IMO, no one can beat him emotionally.
Hmm-- they’re a cross between a Mexican wedding band & a garage band, came out of LA’s seminal punk/cowpunk/rockabilly scene in the late '70s-early 80’s, then did some “experimental” stuff that was more grounded than most pop bands. They can take damn near any genre and turn it into something special and amazing. Not a flat album in their collection.
Sabor a Mi
El Chuchupe
Anselma
Will the Wolf Survive
One Time One Night
La Pistola y la Corazon
Dream in Blue
Wake up Dolores
Kiko and the Lavendar Moon
Saint Behind Glass
When the Circus Comes to Town
Everybody Loves a Train
Whiskey Trail
Mas y Mas
Luz mi Vida
Tony and Maria
Viking
Cumbia Raza
Manifold de Amor (as The Latin Playboys)
Lemon 'n Ice (as The Latin Playboys)
Got their start as a ‘Christian Metal’ Band, but abandoned the Christian label so that they could be free of the constraints. They essentially have two lead singers: Doug Pinnick (the screamer) and Ty Tabor (more mellow vocals) Music is characterized by their smooth harmonies, positive lyrics and energetic guitars.
Shot of Love
Summerland
The Difference
It’s Love
Moanjam (Incredible instrumental)
Lost in Germany
Black Flag
Dream in my Life
Life Going By
That should get you started
(I know, you’d expect a TMBG list from my username, but all you really need to hear is ‘Birdhouse in Your Soul’ After that, just start collecting like the rest of us - I really enjoy about 90% of all of their songs.)
Walk On the Ocean
Hold Her Down
All I Want
Woodburning
Crowing
Fall Down
Janitor
Whatever I Fear
Little Buddha
Fly From Heaven
Hobbit on the Rocks
Dam Would Break
Something’s always wrong
Butterflies
Whatever I Fear
Come Down
Throw It All Away
They’re a…they’re an alternative band, somewhat on the softer side (at least compared to a lot of my music) who have deep things to say in their songs. Most of them sound pretty, but if you really listen to what some of them- “Hold her down” as a glaring example- are about, it gives you chills. From rape to theology, they cover it all.
Taste of India
Uncle Salty/Sweet Emotion
The Farm
Love In An Elevator
Just Push Play
Janie’s Got a Gun
Pink
Dream On (live)
Train Kept A Rolin’
Draw The Line
Toys In The Attic
Mama Kin
Mother Popcorn/Walk This Way
Same Old Song and Dance
Here’s No Doubt:
Get On The Ball
Doormat
Trapped In A Box
A Little Something Refreshing
Paulina
Open The Gate
Stricken
Snakes
Squeal
Spiderwebs
Just A Girl
Don’t Speak
Sixteen
Tragic Kingdom
Ex-Girlfriend
Bathwater
Comforting Lie
Staring Problem
Making Out
Detective
Start The Fire
In My Head
As a Kingston boy, I am obliged to introduce you to the magic, the wonder, that is The Tragically Hip, via the following playlist:
New Orleans is Sinking
Courage
Boots or Hearts
Cordelia
Thompson Girl
Nautical Disaster
It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
Every Time You Go
Three Pistols
Locked In The Trunk Of A Car
Little Bones
Wheat Kings
Fire In The Hole
Long Time Running
Grace, Too
I’ll stop at 15. Listen to these 15 songs, and you’ll understand why Canadians makes such a big deal out of them. You will buy the CDs, and you will say, “Holy crap, why didn’t he include At The Hundredth Meridian' or The Luxury’? These guys are unbelievable.” A tighter, harder rocking band you will not find anywhere, says I.
Hush
Black Night
Speed King
Strange Kind of Woman
Highway Star
Lazy
Space Truckin’
Woman from Tokyo
Burn
Perfect Strangers
Nobody’s Home
I’m Not Lover Now
Hey Cisco
Almost Human
Don’t Make Me Happy
'69
This is the greatest band you’ve ever heard. They have great lyrics, great melodies, are a little bit emo, a little bit indie rock and are aboslutely flawless. You should fall in love with them after hearing the following tracks:
Photobooth
These tracks should confirm their greatness:
Why You’d Want To Live Here
Styrofoam Plates
Song for Kelly Huckaby
Champagne From A Paper Cup
Company Calls Epilogue
Title Track
The District Sleeps Tonight (Singer Ben Gibbard’s side project The Postal Service) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Singer Ben Gibbard performing with Dntel)**
I’ll also tell you how to get into R.E.M., in case you don’t know:
Fall on Me - This is essential. It bridges the gap between early indie R.E.M., and later successful R.E.M. It has all of the instant catchiness of Man on the Moon, but sounds similar enough to their earlier stuff to act as a bridge Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)
Radio Free Europe
Little America
Maps and Legends
Wendell Gee
Begin The Begin
It’s The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
You Are The Everything
Near Wild Heaven
Country Feedback
Nightswimming
E-bow The Letter
Let Me In
At My Most Beautiful
Since one of my favorite bands Bob Hund are pretty much unknown outside of Sweden (possibly because the singer sings in heavily dialected Swedish, which does sound pretty ugly), here’s a handy introduction list of songs:
Det allseende ögat
Raketmaskinen
Düsseldorf
Papperspåse
Rundgång, gräslök, fågelsång
Ett fall och en lösning (brilliant cover of Pere Ubu’s song “Final solution”)
Ett ja som låter som ett nej
Allt på ett kort
Jag rear ut min själ
Våffeljärnet
Nånting måste göras
Nu är det väl revolution på gång?
Invandraren
Det skulle vara lätt för mig att säga att jag inte hittar hem, men det gör jag; tror jag
They make skittish, jumpy indie with occasional quirky analog synth lines thrown in. It all sounds kind of like Pavement meets early DEVO, which is way in my book. They also have two awesome guitarists, and indie guitar gods J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr) and Graham Coxon (Blur) are both major Bob Hund fans. And you want to be cool like them, don’t you? Aha, then you should listen to these guys.
Another Aerosmith fan…a different list…
Seasons Of Wither
Back In The Saddle
Dream On
Lord Of The Thighs
Walk This Way
Adam’s Apple
No More, No More
Sweet Emotion
Rattlesnake Shake
Lick And A Promise
You See Me Crying
Sick As A Dog
Draw The Line
Movin’ Out
Chip Away The Stone
Last Child
Train Kept A Rollin’
Hangman Jury
Deuces Are Wild
F.I.N.E.
Crazy
Love In An Elevator
Young Lust
Cryin’
Aint That A Bitch
*God * I love these guys.
I Don’t Love Anyone
10)Me and the Major
11)Like Dylan in the Movies
12)The Wrong Girl
13)Beautiful
14)The Boy With the Arab Strap
15)Chickfactor
16)Sleep the Clock Around
17)Waiting for the Moon to Rise
18)Jonathan David
19)Expectations
20)I’m Waking Up to Us
Pizzicato Five
A Japanese pop group; for most of their lifespan they were a duet of a producer and singer. Campy, 60’s-inspired electronic pop music – they’re a new stereophonic sound spectacular! And I already have a playlist compiled, because I hated the selection of songs on the “Pizzicato Five R.I.P.” CD that was released when they broke up. I listened to this playlist over and over again on a flight to Japan (my first) I took last year.
We Love Pizzicato Five
Nonstop to Tokyo
Trailer Music
Rock & Roll
The Night Is Still Young
Mon Amour Tokyo
Domino
20th Century Girl
Such a Beautiful Girl Like You
Week-End
Groovy is My Name
Sophisticated Catchy
24 December
Roma
A Room With a View
Sweet Thursday
Happy Ending
Urg, I forgot my description of Belle and Sebastian…
Sweet, but often melancholy, indie pop. Often described as twee but not quite. Much of their stuff, particularly early songs, have a mid-60s chamber-pop sound. Strings are featured in almost every song (courtesy of violinist Sarah Martin and departed cellist Isobel Campbell), and a horn section is often employed. Influenced by bands like Love, Nick Drake, and even the Velvet Underground’s “quiet” album. Literate lyrics, gentle vocals, pastoral guitar.
Bigwig - A great band. They play hardcore punk rock with out the contemporary poppy sound. You could say they sound a lil metal, specially with their cover of slayer’s War Ensemble.
There lyrics are raw and fast mixed with some super fast guitar riffs and solos. If you are into any kind of punk/metal/rock/any fast kinda music: check em out.
Girl In the green jacket
sellout
moosh
alone in new jersey
jerk
cheers (the cover of the cheers song:)
sink or swim
friends
flavor ice
my so called friend
smile
if you want MORE of their songs, then:
sore loser
boardumb
dylans song
bad timing
stand up
hope
still
dent
thirteen
best of me
The Cure - A British band that’s been around as long as I have (if not longer). They started off pretty basic guitar/bass/drums, and have since gone all over the place - some songs are have jazzy horn arrangement, or lots of elaborate guitar parts, or synth… They did a remix album in the early nineties… The lyrics are always weird and elliptical, often fantastic, and they’re most often associated with the goth scene, though they’re not very goth in and of themselves.
Try:
Killing an Arab
Boys Don’t Cry
Play for Today (there’s also a killer live version of this on the album “Paris”)
Charlotte Sometimes
Shake Dog Shake
Kyoto Song
A Night Like This
Apart
The Figurehead
Lovesong
Fascination Street
Disintegration
A Letter to Elise
Just Like Heaven
Hot Hot Hot
Jupiter Crash
Gone!
Where the Birds Always Sing
There is No If…
Man Inside My Mouth
in my book. They also have two awesome guitarists, and indie guitar gods J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr) and Graham Coxon (Blur) are both major Bob Hund fans. And you want to be cool like them, don’t you? Aha, then you should listen to these guys.