Some gaps in my musical knowledge (and what to do about it.)

For those looking for recommendations, I’ll throw in Lullabies to Paralyze (2005) by Queens of the Stone Age. Their style shifts from album to album and, honestly, none of the others have particularly hooked me (apart from the previous one Songs For The Deaf) but LtP is one of my top five favorite albums.

Lately I’ve been exploring Swift and Rodrigo’s oeuvres because my daughter is into them. Solid work, although I’m not sure I’ll ever be a full-on fan.

I have to say I’m puzzled by this reaction. I can see not liking the song “Aja”, but the album has “Black Cow,” “Deacon Blues,” “Peg,” and “Josie” on it. Some excellent songs and terrific performances.

For the record: I like the song “Aja”. That is all.

Is it representative of their vocals? Because I can’t take a whole song of that, never mind an album.

Yeah, if you can’t stand Geddy Lee’s voice, no sense in putting yourself through more of that.

No one opens their mouth on “YYZ” IIRC

If anyone is looking for recommendations of recent(ish) music:
Aurora
Sigrid
Caroline Polachek
Wet Leg
Phoebe Bridgers
Skating Polly
Beabadobee
Benee

and (last, but definitely not least - I can’t recommend them highly enough)

The Beths.

OK, I gave that a quick squizz, just to be fair.

Just… no. That was 4 minutes of fretwankery I’m not getting back.

It’s not like I’m averse to all prog. I love the Tull, for instance.

This might be a good place to once again recommend Andrew Hickey’s epic project, A History of Rock in 500 Songs.

He’s up to 1968 and starting to really get deep into the Classic Rock that this board’s demographic seems to pin at the the center of their musical universe.

That’s the spirit! (And a big reason why I started this thread - please do report back.)

That’s not a million miles from what I’ve been doing, but way more ambitious - I like it. Any big surprises?

I know (and like) Wet Leg from TV Glastonbury coverage. Must follow up.

j

I saw Aurora live in San Francisco a couple years ago. She’s fantastic (IMO).

I’m in two minds. Rush stuff was always immaculately played, produced, and recorded.
I can see the appeal. But the songs… just didn’t grab me…?

So is Soft Jazz, and that leaves me just as cold.

Rock should … rock.

Yeah, their album is just one indie banger after another. They were my first post-Covid concert in 2021. Fantastic live. I haven’t felt that much joy in music in awhile. To be honest, though, I’ve gotten a bit tired of the album itself, for some reason. I’m itching for a follow up.

If it’s to be called rock… I rather agree. Needs to have a driving force and not be too ‘clever’.

On the other hand, you can simplify too much… like a lot of second rate ‘punk’…? Duuuuh…

I’ve been tempted for a while to start a “share some new music” thread but always slack off before I do. I make an attempt to find new music, but I know I’m missing a ton of good stuff out there.

Maybe this will finally inspire me.

Day 1 of checking out some artists that were recommended.
I had four that didn’t do anything for me.
Belle And Sebastian: I like them. About 5 years ago I checked out the albums on a list of 1001 albums to listen to before you die. One of them was The Zombies. That is one of my list to listen to occasionally. For Belle And Sebastian I was reminded of The Zombies. I found an interview with the lead singer and he mentioned three albums that influenced him and one was The Zombies. I will add them to the “listen to occasionally list”.
More to check out later.

I’m not a huge Taylor Swift fan, but her last album ‘Midnights’ I did mostly enjoy from start to finish.

I think most people can be forgiven for not listening to entire albums released in the past few decades. Thanks to streaming and MP3s before that, I don’t think more recent albums are produced with the intent to be listened to in their entirety the way they were in prior decades.

I often wonder what “rap music” people listen to that turns them off to the entire genre. Yes, there is a lot of crap out there. But Run DMC, NWA, Tribe Called Quest, Lil Kim, Wu-Tang Clan, Lauren Hill, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Jay Z, Eminem, Drake, and Nicki Minaj all released songs that are considered “rap classics” over the past 50 years and all have very different styles.

But to each their own I guess. Someone posted 'My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ as their favorite album. To me, it is just a “wall of ‘proto-grunge’ noise”. I don’t hate it. It just sounds like 49 minutes of “buzzing” to me.

That is absolutely a fair impression, and part of why I love it so. First few times I heard it, I just thought I got a bad Napster rip. It was borderline unlistenable to me. Now turning the lights off and turning it up (and it has to ve fairly loud for me), it’s like … a drug. I have to be in the right mood, but it just transports me elsewhere.

Hehe, I’ve loved that record since I heard the first four snare hits of “Only Shallow” in '91 or so, and understand why following it up was a herculean task.

And on the other hand, I can’t really finish a song by Taylor Swift, I make it to the chorus and think “This is like listening to Radio Disney. Oh well, I tried.” I figure they didn’t make it for me.