So, I have a pretty interesting collection of music that I listen to when I’m partaking in things that are currently illegal under US law. The problem is, I’m itching for new stuff. I prefer things that have lyrics, but are long and epic. I love good guitar, but I prefer my guitar music to be absurdly long and crazy solos more than simply loud and bombastic. I like electronica, but I have a particular disdain for really thumpy , bass-heavy dance music. I like things with a darker edge as well.
I thought I would supply a cross-section of the music I enjoy and see if you folks can suggest anything that help elevate the experience. Thanks a bunch.
Panda BearBros
Smashing PumpkinsStarla
BorisFarewell
TV On The RadioWolf Like Me
MIABamboo Banga (ok I know I said no boom-boom, but I like this)
I also like Boards of Canada, Radiohead, Animal Collective and well the list goes on. If anyone has any suggestions, preferably with a link or two, I would be forever grateful.
Please, anything but stupid repetitive boring-ass musical-masturbation by “jam bands” like Phish. WHY DO PEOPLE LISTEN TO THAT STUFF WHEN THEY’RE STONED?! The weed doesn’t make it good music!
My own tastes are pretty wildly varying, but it’s hard to go wrong with Abbey Road (by the way - the transition from “you never give me your money” to “sun king” sounds like you’re exiting a very crowded, noisy party, and walking out into the backyard, with crickets chirping.)
Also prog rock like YES especially their mind-blowing epic songs, like the cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s America.
Todd Rundgren: A Wizard, A True Star. One of the most psychedelic albums of all time.
Going back a little further - the sublime harmonies of the Beach Boys are even more sublime when you’re…you know.
The Sea and Cake takes on a hypnotic quality - especially everything from The Biz.
Steely Dan - if you focus on the music and don’t try too hard to analyze the lyrics.
Oh yeah, I agree. I’m not much into jam band music. The Dead, Phish bands like that do nothing for me.
And The Sea and Cake is a new one to me…they might have potential. Just listened to Weekend, it has the right idea…perhaps a little too happy. But I’m going to dive into them. Thanks for the suggestions!
Highly (har) recommend the new Animal Collective album. Specifically the song In the Flowers. My… um… friend just had a wonderful sunday in part because of this.
An old standby for this genre is Jimi Hendrix. 3rd Stone from the Sun and 1983… and a Merman I Shall Be always get the job done. Unfortunately I can’t find any decent youtube versions, they are all crappy covers and live versions.
Oops you already said AC. OK I can add to the list: Grandaddy, Apples in Stereo, and Mouse on Mars. I got a million of em, just need to track em all down =D
Stereolab w/ Nurse With Wound “Simple Headphone Mind” …dude…
Also…
Amon Tobin - Permutations
Black Mountain - Black Mountain
Buckethead - Giant Robot
Dose-One w/Boom-Bip - Circle
Dungen - Ta Det Lugnt
Electrelane - Rocket To The Moon
Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
The Mars Volta - Francis The Mute
Murder By Death - Who Will Survive And What Will Become Of Them
Sole and the Skyrider Band - *Sole and the Skyriderband *(hip-hop meets post-rock)
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of Natural History
ETA: I’ll dig up some youtube links when I get home.
Besides the usual green leafy substances…I was more thinking music that would go with being sweaty, dancing around the house and drinking lots of water.
Have you listened to “Danse Manatee” or “Here Comes the Indian” (both are Animal Collective records) on decent-to-great headphones? That’s a pretty religious experience, sober or not, if you already like them. Songs like Too Soon, Ahh Good Country, Infant Dressing Table, and The Living Toys are incredible. Other bands that might work for you are Earth, Fu(k Buttons (both are noise/drone rock), Neu!, and The Orb (The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld is one of the greatest things ever created).
Some great suggestions, already! Thanks. I’m going to pop on some headphones and go spelunking into some of the things suggested already. I let you guys know tomorrow what I think.
I generally dig high-energy power pop, which isn’t really mood music, but there are times when it’s good to push the envelope…
KraftwerkRadioactivity They laid off the fey Eurodisco and got weird on this one. I don’t know from Industrial music, but this album *must *be an influence. This album will give you a headrush.
Split EnzMental Notes not the original, but the re-recorded version with Phil Manzanera producing…it was also called Second Thoughts on some releases. I might be biased here, because I had a real experience getting into this album on acid.
R.E.M.Murmur When I was in college, and this came out, many of my friends who didn’t know alternative from alliteration were mindblown when I put this on the turntable. Very organic-sounding and a natural for the herb.
The first bands I thought of would be bands from the Krautrock genre or extensions of it, particularly Neu!, Stereolab, and Can. Neu! is mostly lyricless (side 2 of Neu! 75 has vocals on it), but each song is an epic, trancelike journey through a musical sound space. Stereolab works French and English anti-establishment lyrics into a similar trance-like space, and weaves layers and layers of melody and counter melody over it. Can is a bit more diverse, stylistically, but still maintains the pulsating elements of Krautrock.
Neu! - Hallogallo (the opening to Smashing Pumpkins “Cherub Rock” is reminiscent of the rhythmic riff in this song, a song which stays on that “E” pedal riff for the entire song, nearly 10 minutes.)
You might also like to have a look into My Bloody Valentine, particularly Loveless (although Isn’t Anything would work well if you want a bit more pop songwriting). That album is just a massively dense wall of sound with guitars ebbing in and out of tune, topped off with ethereal, enigmatic, and melodic vocals. It’s lush, heavily orchestrated, and just rocks. Beyond that, the album is impossible for me to describe, you just have to hear it. I’ve never heard anything like it before or since.
