So tough, by Saint Etienne. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Listen to the first track and you’ll be hooked - the whole album is this good. I love falling asleep with this album on.
If you’re looking for vocal music why not start with some good, solid American composers interpreted by the greatest jazz vocalist to ever come down the pike (yeah, I know - let’s not bring back the Sarah Vaughan vs. Billie Holiday vs. Ella thread)?
My recommendation: The Best of the Songbooks by Ella Fitzgerald. Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers and Hart, et al all sung with style, wit, and grace. You can’t go wrong and everything else will pale by comparison.
This thread is so much fun! Thank you!
Milo - there, there. Don’t cry! I already know that your recommendation is “The Tragically Hip.”
Well, now that you mention it, you would probably love TTH’s “Live Between Us,” or “Road Apples.”
Others I would recommend include:
Tool “AEnema”
Sinatra at The Sands with Count Basie and the Orchestra
Anything Ana Carolina (I’m still in “Brazil-mode”).
I’ll just mention what I’ve been listening to lately. 
Chatham Baroque: Music of the French Court
J.S. Bach: Complete Sonatas and Partitas
Prokofiev: Symphonies 2 and 3
Marc Almond and the Mambas: Torment and Toreros
Foetus: Gash
Android Lust: Resolution
Confidential to Moe: How is school? You sound happy!
Action Figure Party- self titled
Asher Kahn Band- Content
Black Crowes- Shake Your Money Maker
John Scofield- A gogo
The Slip- Does
Blues-[list=1]
[li]Drinking TNT & Smokin’ Dynamite[/li]Buddy Guy & Junior Wells- Live, with Pinetop perkins, and Bill Wyman of all people. Incredible stuff.
[li]Sonny & Brownie at Sugar Hill [LIVE][/li]Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
Great acuostic blues
[li]Hard Again[/li]Muddy Waters-With Johnny Winter on Guitar and Pintop Perkins on piano. It doesnt geat any better.
[li]Anthology[/li]Johhny Winter
[li] Any of the Rhino blues masters collection[/li][li] Blues Masters, Vol. 6: Blues Originals[/li]
The original blues songs that a lot of later pop songs were ripped off from, including[list=1]
[li] Bring It on Home - Williamson, Sonny B[/li][li] You Need Love - Muddy Waters[/li][li] Texas Flood - Davis, Larry & His[/li][li] Got My Mo-Jo Working (But It Just Won’t Work on You) - Cole, Ann[/li][li] I Ain’t Superstitious - Howlin’ Wolf[/li][li] Love In Vain - Johnson, Robert[/li][li] I Can’t Quit You Baby - Rush, Otis[/li][li] Bull Doze Blues (A.K.A. A Goin’ up the Country) - Thomas, Henry[/li][li] Madison Blues - James, Elmore[/li][li] Someone to Love Me - Pryor, Snooky[/li][li] I Ain’t Got You - Reed, Jimmy[/li][li] That’s All Right - Crudrup, Arthur "Bi[/li][li] I’m a Man - Diddley, Bo[/li][li] Boom, Boom Out Goes the Lights - Little Walter[/li][li] Pack Fair and Square - Big Walter & His Th[/li][li]I’m a King Bee - Slim Harpo[/li][li] It’s a Man Down There - Crockett, G.L.[/li][li] Back Door Man - Howlin’ Wolf[/li][/list=1]
[li]The Very Best of Sam & Dave[/li]The rhino version. Need no explanation
[/list=1]
Other Stuff
[list=1]
[li]** Planets**[/li]Isao Tomita-Incredable electronic version of Holst’s “Planets”
[li]** Imaginary Voyage **[/li]Jean Luc Ponty-I cant get enough of this album. Some jazz is just musical masturbation, but this stuff really takes you places.
[li]**Stray Cat Strut **[/li]The Stray Cats
[li]Fishbone[/li]Fishbone. Thier first album. Every one should own a copy of this album
[/list=1]
One of the albums that I go back to time after time is Bonnie Raitt’s Luck of the Draw. She has such an incredible voice, and her arrangements are usually simple enough to showcase it beautifully. I really think you would like it.
And I totally agree with John Carter of Mars – A1A by Buffett is fantastic.
The Spooks have been in my CD player a lot lately. Mellow, melodic, vocal-driven hip-hop.
The new De La Soul album, Art Official Intelligence is also very very good.
In acoustic rock, a friend just introduced me to Cowboy Mouth and I haven’t been disappointed.
There is a band called Gran Torino that plays mostly on the east coast. If you can find one of their cds, buy! buy! buy! it. It’s kind of funky, kind of bluesy, with a little pop. Great music for either a rainy Saturday afternoon, or dancing around your apartment like a maniac.
Also recommended:
The Black Crowes: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion Probably their best album, IMHO.
Ben Harper: Welcome to the Cruel World His first album, I believe it’s out of print, but it’s one of the best. (Although any BH will suffice for a great album.)
Weezer: The Green Album Ok, so it’s not the title but the color of the album cover. I recently bought this, and have not taken it out of my cd player yet.
Oh, and I highly recommend Cowboy Mouth. They are just a fun band, really talented, and they can always get me to get up and dance. (They’ve been playing here for years, and they sell out every time they do.)
Good luck! I hope some of this will help.
Kirsty MacColl, Galore. A best-of compilation that ranges from the early Stiff Records sides through Titanic Days, plus two tracks that hadn’t been released before Galore (“Caroline” and a cover of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” with Evan Dando of the Lemonheads). Also includes covers of Billy Bragg’s “A New England”, The Kinks’ “Days”, The Smiths’ “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby”, Cole Porter’s “Miss Otis Regrets” (with the Pogues), as well as her duet with Shane MacGowan on the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York”. Also includes my favorite Kirsty MacColl number, “My Affair” from Electric Landlady, as well as ten other MacColl originals. Wide range of musical styles, from the girl-group pop of “They Don’t Know” to the Smiths-influenced material from Kite (including Johnny Marr’s guitar playing) to the salsa-tinged “My Affair” and the country flavor of “Don’t Come The Cowboy With Me, Sunny Jim” and “There’s a Guy Works Down at the Chip Shop (Swears He’s Elvis)”.
Through it all, two things stand out: the unique timbre of MacColl’s amazing voice – the voice that everyone from the Rolling Stones to Jane Aire and the Belvederes to David Byrne to Robert Plant to Simple Minds to the Smiths to Alison Moyet to (of course) Tracey Ullman called on for backing vocals – and the wicked intelligence and independence of the singer. The Kirsty MacColl that comes through in the songs is a strong woman who isn’t afraid to look at things as they are, who hopes the men around her are better than she expects them to be, who is disappointed but not surprised when they’re not, and who declines to accept any shit from anyone, without becoming hard or cold. “My Affair” and “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby” are the quintessential Kirsty MacColl songs in my opinion (even if she didn’t write the latter) because they each capture a different facet of the keystone of her personality.
rackensack, you type a hard sell, she sounds amazing! I’ll listen to some sound clips.
I will of course tell everyone what CD I end up buying, but I’ll be printing this thread as a reference for future record store visits and Christmas lists.
I will only make one recommendation, that is how strongly I feel about this album.
Jets to Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary
I got it right around when it came out (a little over two years ago I believe) and it has not left my car since. I listen to it at LEAST once every week. The lyrics are beautiful and the music is incredibly passionate. I cannot recoment this album enough!
Mag, you sex goddess:
The Divine Comedy - A Secret History: The Best Of… - Just good, moving, catchy, occasionally sarcastic British Pop (not to be confused with Britpop). Great arrangements, great singing, just really cool.
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap - Wistful folk-pop with bitter and or/sarcastic lyrics. What can I say? I’m a fan of sarcasm.
Cinerama - Va Va Voom - More British pop, with lush sound and relationship-gone-bad lyrics. Trust me, it’s good.
ok, here’s whats playing on my desk
Los Lobos Colossal Head
Annie Lenox Diva
Soundtrack from the first season of The Sopranos
Soundtrack from the movie Traveller
Natalie Merchant Tigerlily
Jellyfish Bellybutton
Jellyfish Spilt Milk
Aerosmith Greatest Hits
Soundtrack from the movie Me Myself and Irene
Bonnie Rait Luck of the Draw
Stevie Ray Vaughn The Sky is Crying, Texas Flood
Mighty Blue Kings Meet Me in Uptown
Aretha Franklin Aretha’s Gold
Jeff Lynne(from ELO) Armchair Theater
Beatles Revolver, Abbey Road, The White Album
Soundtrack from the movie Mr. Wrong
Soundtrack from the movie ** Boys on the Side**
Sheryl Crow Tuesday Night Music Club
ELO Strange Magic: The Best of ELO
Thats all I got.
2 Albums i’ve bought recently that I really like:
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
Stephen Malkmus - self titled solo album
both are pure gold…
woodstockbirdybird, you flatterer - are you by any chance a fan of the Beautiful South?
Are you kidding me? How could I not be a fan of a band that starts a song with “I love you from the bottom of my pencil case” and writes an anti-big breasts anthem? I was a big fan of the Housemartins, Paul Heaton’s former band, also. It’s funny, I almost picked The Beautiful South in this thread, but thought they might be too sing-songy for you. Great band.
:o Is it that obvious?
I’m happier than I’ve ever been. Thanks for asking.
Maeglin
Prokofiev’s piano concertos 2 & 3 might be 2 of my top 10 favorite pieces of music in any genre of all time. Just thought I’d mention it.