Recommend me some cool music

Cafe Society
1

All right. I’m getting a wee bit tired of my music collection and am looking forward to spending a couple dollars over at CDNow or whatnot. I’m looking simply for interesting music, and preferably some up-and-coming bands that I haven’t heard much about. Living here in techno-saturated Hungary, finding good rock music or just good music in general, is striking gold for me. You can also recommend essential classics from the 80s and 90s. All genres welcome, and that includes rap and country.

To give you an idea of the bands in my collection:

The Church
XTC
Throwing Muses
Sonic Youth
Liz Phair
The Pixies
Frank Black and the Catholics
Massive Attack
Stereolab
The Flaming Lips
Portishead
Wyclef Jean
The Soft Boys
Black Rebel Motorcyle Club
The Strokes
The White Stripes
The Vines
The Ramones
You get the picture. The last five bands I only know through friends. They get no play on the radio here. So I may be missing some obvious ones. Oh, and Sigur Ros I’m kinda interested in. Give me some sonic suggestions. What are all the record shop guys listening to these days?

2

Umm…wait a sec… That line should be “the last four bands before The Ramones…” Obviously, I had heard of the Ramones before. :slight_smile:

3

If you like Massive Attack and Portishead, try Tricky. Maxinquaye is probably the best one to start with.
If you like Wyclef Jean you should definitely check out The Fugees, The Score and if you enjoy that try The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Of course everyone should listen to The Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen and/or 1965.
As a follow up to Sonic Youth, I’ll suggest something a little less mainstream: Jim O’Rourke ( get either Insignificance or the Gastr Del Sol album Camofleur) and Rhys Chatham, the god of avant-garde guitar music, who has a sampler CD out now.

4

I’m pretty out of the loop on “up and coming” bands - my CD collection looks very similar to yours. Some oldies but goodies that I’d recommend are:

The Breeders “Last Splash”
Matthew Sweet “100% Fun” or “Girlfriend”
Golden Palominos “Pure”
Smithereens “Best of the Smithereens”
Soundtracks: Grosse Point Blank 1 and 2, Pump up the Volume

The only new band I really like that you haven’t listed yet is “Jimmy Eat World”. Their newest CD (Originally “Bleed American” but now self-titled) has some solid songwriting and cool pop hooks. Their previous album, “Clarity” reminds me more of Portishead - sort of dreamy, atmospheric/trance southern rock, if you can imagine such a thing.

5

I’m into most of the bands you mention, so you might enjoy the following.

Bands that still exist:

Modest Mouse
Built to Spill
Wilco
Spiritualized
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Sleater-Kinney
Rainer Maria
Fugazi
Apples In Stereo
Mogwai
Beta Band
Radiohead
Rocket From The Crypt
Bjork
Magnetic Fields
Supergrass
Godspeed You Black Emperor
Pedro The Lion
Yo La Tengo
Modern (post 1985 or so) Defunct Bands:

Pavement
My Bloody Valentine
Jane’s Addiction
Firehose
Classic Rock:

Talking Heads
Velvet Underground
The Clash
Gang of Four
The Smiths
Television

Since you mentioned Wyclef and Massive attack, I’d second the Tricky nomination and add these:

Jurassic 5
Blackalicious
DJ Shadow
Latyrx
Mos Def
A Tribe Called Quest
De La Soul

And I’m of the opinion that everyone, everywhere should be required to own a copy of the Beastie Boy’s Paul’s Boutique , which I think may be the best album of all time.

6

Three words: The Dandy Warhols

Start with “Bohemian Like You” and “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” if you like the mainstream stuff, or maybe “Be In” and “Nietzsche” if you like more of an indie sound. Oh, and check out “Solid” on their latest CD. Just plain awesome. :slight_smile:

7

May I humbly suggest Weezer, specifically Pinkerton and their first self-titled album?

If you want to go ‘back in the day’, you may want to give Digable Planets and The Score, by the Fugees a whirl.

8

Hey guys! Very very good suggestions thus far. You’re certainly picking up on my tastes. Some of the bands mentioned I’m really into, like De La Soul, Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, Jane’s Addiction, Wilco, Bjork, The Smiths and the such.

Sleater-Kinney is a band I’ve always meant to give a whirl, but never got around to it. I’ll give it a shot. Any suggestions where to start? The Dandy Warhols seems cool. It’s just that damned “Bohemian Like You Song” is so overplayed (mostly on Vodaphone commercials) out here. But I’ve a feeling I might like them.

Tricky I don’t know, but I’m aware of. So I’ll give it a shot. DJ Shadow has been recommended to me before. I’m really curious about this Jim O’Rourke. Never heard of him/them, but sounds up my alley. Other bands I like also include Shellac and Black Flag, FYI.

So much to check out! Thanks for the suggestions, and keep ‘em comin’ if y’all got any!

9

buddha bar

10

I won’t give you a list because it would look too much like chorizo’s. All I’ll say is that nearly every band he mentions are magnificent, and someone with your tastes will undoubtedly find some new friends there. Particularly Fugazi - they’re up there with Sonic Youth in terms of respect afforded amongst Indie circles.

OK, I suppose I should give you something else… If you like the new rock stuff, try New Zealand band the D4 or Australia’s The Datsuns. That’s the latest next big thing from this corner of the world. Also, for something a bit dreamier, check out Bluebottle Kiss or The Devoted Few. And if you’re interested in Sigur Ros, also try Radiohead (a bit more accesable) and Godspeed, You Black Emperor (a bit less).

Tell us any reactions to any of the bands mentioned here or above, since there’s plenty to follow on with if you like them.

11

Jim O’rourke is kind of all over the place. Some of his Gastr del Sol stuff is really cool, but some of it bores me. I agree with the Camofluer (sp?) recommendation. I also like their “Crookt, Crackt, or Fly” record but a lot of people don’t.

Also check out Pinback – They have 2 records, a s/t one and “Blue Screen Life”. Both are yummy.
Since this thread seems to be attracting the right sort of music crowd: Has anyone heard Quruli? They’re from Japan, and apparently O’rourke has done some recording with them. They (Quruli) were in town opening for the dismemberment plan and they were AMAZING – It’s not very often I am into opening bands whose work I am not familiar with…but they were the highlight of the night for me. I tried to by their CDs but the booth had sold out by the time I go tback there. Now I can get one for $40 as an import from amazon.com :rolleyes: but I’d rather not do that. They look like they are starting to get an english website together … check it here www.quruli.net – Has anyone heard/heard of them? Check them out if you can.

12

If you like The Strokes and The White Stripes, there’s a lot of recent music that is leaning in that direction. You might want to check some of these out:

[ul]
[li]The Hives[/li][li]Interpol[/li][li]Cato Salsa Experience[/li][li]Hot Hot Heat[/li][li]Division of Laura Lee[/li][/ul]

You might also want to check out some Canadian indie-pop bands like Sloan, The Flashing Lights or By Divine Right. I don’t believe there’s anything on your list quite like these three, but I still think you’d like them.

Oh, and two other general suggestions: Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown and Ron Sexsmith. Especially if you like Wilco and the whole alt-country scene.

13

Chorizo you have impeccable taste in music (by that I mean almost identical to my own :wink: ).

I just wanted to add Sparklehorse, Spoon, Cowboy Mouth, The Oranges Band, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

14

I’ll add to the list:

Common
The Roots
Kid Loco
Kruder & Dorfmeister
Nightmares on Wax
RJD2
The Bobby Hughes Experience
Badly Drawn Boy
Tortoise

15

Two words: **Joe Satriani/b]

Especially Surfing with the Alien, Crystal Planet and Strange, Beautiful Music.
Enjoy.

16

Some rock and roll coming your way

The Soundtrack of Our Lives, I’m telling you these guys know their classic 70s rock and roll. Excellent musicians, excellent tunes… Go for their CD called Welcome to Infant Freebase or possibly it’s called Instant Repeater 99.

Punkish rock? Well The Plan and The Flaming Sideburns comes to mind.

Feeling like you’re up for some risk taking? How about the Swedish rock icon Joakim Thåström. He has released his most brilliant record recently. It’s called ** Mannen Som Blev En Gris**. Yup, it’s in Swedish but it’s truly awesome even if you don’t understand the lyrics. He produced it together with the producer for Entombed and the music is like a runaway freight train. The Scandinavian Danzig as someone said…

17

Sloooo-oooaaannn!!!

Sloan rocks. “I Can Feel It” was our last-dance song at my wedding. :smiley:

18

If you really like rock, I suggest you also try some grunge music. Obvious choices include Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ and Soundgarden’s ‘Superunknown’ . I think Nirvana just released a best of album as well.
But the best grunge album to date, IMO, is Pearl Jam’s ‘Ten’.

There’s also this great band silverchair that you may or may not have heard of.

19

OK, had a chance to check out some of the selections. Actually, only the earlier ones so far, but I’ll get to them all. Sleater Kinney has definitely made the short list. For some reason, I’ve been in an angry chicks with guitars mood lately, and Sleater are perfectly fulfilling that need. And The Breeders.

Rainer Maria is an unexpected surprise and Apples in Stereo are quite interesting, if not a little overdoing the Beatles psychedelia bit. (From the little samples I’ve heard so far.) …Trail of Dead and Fugazi definitely get thumbs up. Modest Mouse… tepid from what I’ve heard. I see comparisons to the Pixies. Can’t quite hear it. Bjork is awesome, of course. Rocket from the Crypt is promising and shortlisted. Yo La Tengo, too. Actually, chorizo, pretty much everything on your list I enjoyed. I think I want your record collection. :slight_smile:

And thanks for the Pinback suggestion, mouthbreather. You’re write. Does sound yummy.

That’s as far as I got. Of the remaining suggestions, well, sorry spooje, Joe Satriani just doesn’t do it for me. Even went to a live show of his in Chicago with some guitarist friends. When it comes to soloing guitarists (which I’m not really into anyhow) I’m more of the Steve Vai camp. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I’m of the Jimi Hendrix camp when it comes to that.

I’m intrigued by Sloan now, with two recommendations. I’ll check them out next.

“Grunge” is, eh, OK. Nirvana rocks. I love the Screaming Trees. Mudhoney was awesome. I actually prefer some of the other music that was/is going on in Seattle at the time. Bands like Pure Joy, Flop, the Squirrels, the Fastbacks, etc. Silverchair I’ve heard of (they were fairly popular in the US.) Not quite my thing.

Sorry I can’t respond to each of you individually, but thanks, thanks, thanks.

20

Looking at your list I think you’d enjoy the first few LPs by Killing Joke