An much-appreciated Borders gift card from a friend means that I can buy at least one CD (plus this one book I’ve had my eye on). I haven’t bought music in over a year and I don’t listen to the radio. My musical taste is pretty broad, although anything really punk or heavy won’t get more than an occasional listen from me and Lucinda Williams is about as far as I venture into Country. I avoid youth bubblegum pop and R&B from the “let’s see how many notes I can sing in one song and how high and soulfully I can screech” family. Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand and Shania Twain give me the screaming heebie-jeebies.
So with those caveats, Rock, Jazz, Classical, Blues, Pop, Alternative, World Music - it’s all up for grabs.
So tell me about an album or an artist that knocks your socks off. A disc that you play over and over, that makes you wish you were a musician too, the one you put in when you are all alone in the house and want to sing along, the one that got you through that last nasty breakup, the one that was in the stereo when you fell in love with that girl in that coffee shop one time, the album that makes you say “these people are truly talented” whenever you hear it, the classic that you’ve worn out and replaced in your collection, the one that has the song that goes on all your mix tapes, the one that puts you “in the mood”, the one you pop in your car stereo before all road trips and major undertakings.
“A world out of time.” Henry Kaiser and David Lindley took a trip to Madagascar with a digital recording deck and brought home the goods. The record goes so many ways at once it’s hysterical. It’s pop, it’s folk, it’s almost classical at some points. Unless you need your lyrics in English, this is a real nice disk.
“The Bali Project.” A three-disk set of Balinesian gamelan music produced by Micky Hart of the Grateful Dead. You get a tweny-minute (+/-) reading of the Monkey Chant from the Vedic scriptures. It is one of the more hypnotic recordings you’ll ever hear. The set is a bit pricey and sort of uneven, but there you go.
“New Ancient Strings” by Toumani Diabate. An album of duets by two Kora players from Mali. This is the one I would most recommend. I frequently listen to this while copyediting.
Other recommendations:
something by James Cotton or Little Walter.
Desire of the Rhino King, by Adrian Belew. Compilation of his first three albums. Lots of strange guitar tones. Clever, arty music.
The Yellow Shark. Frank Zappa’s last project was a series of orchestral arrangements for the German group Ensemble Moderne. This is also a little uneven, but has more good moments than bad.
Frank Zappa: * The Yellow Shark, LSO Vol. 1 and 2, Orchestral Favorites, The Perfect Stranger
Maurice Ravel * Bolero*
Igor Stravinsky L’Hostore du Soldat, L’Oiseau de Feu Le Scare du Printemps*
Jazz/Rock
Frank Zappa * Hot Rats, Jazz From Hell, One Size Fits All, Apostrophe, Over-Nite Sensation* and Make A Jazz Noise Here
Yoko Ono * Plastic Ono Band, Fly, Approximately Infinate Universe, Starpeace, Rising, It’s Alright A Story,* and * Feeling The Space .*
John Lennon just about anything
There are more but these Are my favorites.
p.s. Yoko Ono’s records are not for everyone. Listen to Sound Samples before you buy. Plastic Ono Band and Fly are mostly free jazz improvations. Approximately Infinate Universe, A Story, and * Feeling The Space* all have a strong feminist point of view. Starpeace and It’s Alright both rely heavily on the synthesizer. Rising like hard rock/alternative.
“Much Afraid” by Jars of Clay…catchy progressive pop, with an alternative feel, and great lyrics about spirituality and life
“Satellite Rides” or “Fight Songs” by Old 97s…garage rock with a polished, and sometimes alt/country, type of mood
Anything by The Gin Blossoms is great driving music
“Kid A” or “Insomniac” by Radiohead…This is not for everyone. Their sound is difficult to describe. They don’t always use conventional song structures (i.e. verse, chorus, bridge, etc.) A swirling wash of sounds creates a mood
If you like indie rock with a solid dose of Classic Rock influence than i recommend anything by The White Stripes. they are an incredible band. I’m currently listening to a lot of Delta 9, Ron D. Core and DJ Tron, but you probably wouldn’t like that.
If you get into Lucinda Williams, have a listen to Wilco, Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, Rosanne Cash, Robbie Fulks, The Gourds and the Velvet Crush.
But if you aren’t feeling like twang, you’ll never go wrong with an album by Big Star, the Replacements, Jeff Buckley, Coldplay, The Smiths, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Verve or Supergrass. Good luck.
“Red” by The Young Dubliners, a Celtic rock group. The CD is a great mix of fast and slow songs, songs that you want to sing along to, and songs that you want to dance to in the style of Riverdance. Some are even instrumental only. I play it on repeat often.
I could wax nostalgic about classics and classical until the cows jump over the moon and come home again. Instead, let me recommend three bands you’ve probably never heard about:
Left Undone. It’s a band that formed up in Madison, WI 6 or so years ago. I have no idea if they’re still around but they were excellent. I hung out with the guitar player up on the dorm’s rooftop one evening and his acoustic is breathtaking.
OAR. Of A Revolution. They’re a fun band and you’ll find many of their songs floating through Napster and the like. The singing itself isn’t always “in tune” but it’s really not supposed to be. “Crazy Game of Poker” is a great song to kick up to good surround sound speakers and take yourself for a ride.
The Why Store. This one you may have heard. They had a hit single a few years back titled “lack of water,” which was the hidden track on their third album. The singer has a very deep voice and each song really has its own unique feel to it. They broke up a year ago and now are (mostly) back together as Shaffer Street. I think they hit local bars and are in Chicago now and then if you’re interested in checking them out. Lemmie go see…yeah. Hog Head McDunna’s on September 14. Their CDs are wonderful. I own three of them and there isn’t a bad song on them.
For me to be of help in any way, I’m gonna really need some more info on what you are looking for. Many people are quick to say something to the effect that they like “everything”, but if the truth were to be known, I’d bet most wouldn’t really dig more than 5% of the total body of music that exists to date.
Do you prefer music with text to instrumental music? Do you like music to be simple and easily accessible to the ears or do you prefer it to be complex or highly orchestrated? Do you prefer music to be very composed/studio oriented or do you like improvisational/live music? Do you prefer acoustic or more traditional instruments to electronica and/or synthesizers? Do you like repetitive, trance-like, meditative music or do you prefer it to change frequently to keep your interest up?
A few of my favs:
Steve Reich - minimal. My personal favorite music.
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Prog rock concept album.
Uncle BonsaiMyn Ynd Wymyn - humorous folk
Bobby McFerrinCircleSongs - a cappella. Minimalish, 9 vocalists.
Bela Fleck - any Flecktones album or my fav Bela solo album Tales From the Acoustic planet. Fusion of jazz with blugrass. Brilliant banjo player.
John ColtraneMy Favorite Things* - really awesome jazz.
For my money, you can never go wrong with Paul Simon.
For an obscure band, how about Clutch Grabwell? They are a horn(trombone, trumpet, etc) band and can really crank out the driving tunes.
How about The Rock Bottom Remainders? This is a goofy little band made up of Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan and many other prominent writers, not to mention Warren Zevon, who by himself is always good for a listen.
If you’re in a mellow kind of mood, Loreena Mckennitt is amazing. She does a celtic/indian(India) mix which is a superb mix of sounds. Very relaxing.
Have fun, I’ve seen some excellent suggestions in this thread.
OOH, I almost forgot Shannon Curfman, 15 year old Blues phenom… Quite good if you’re into blues. Also Johnny Lang is great and new to the blues charts.
Ok I’m done…
How about Elliott Smith’s “XO”? Nice melodic, intelligent, acoustic-guitar-driven pop.
**PJ Harvey{/b]'s “To Bring You My Love” is a classic – fierce but not heavy. A classic, I say! Everyone must listen to this album at least once in their lifetime.
Palace Music’s “Viva Lost Blues” - folky bluesy country-y. Good.
Loreena McKennitt’s “The Visit.” Sheer otherworldly beauty.
