I Need Musical Help
 

I don't know why but for some reason I get really uninterested in what I listen to after a short period of time.
I don't have ADD or anything and I take great consideration when I listen to music, but for some reason, I just get uninterested after a while, and I just completely switch to something else.

I went from Rap; mostly A Tribe Called Quest, Deltron 3030, Jedi Mind Tricks
got bored.
Switched to Techno and Trip Hop sorta stuff such as: Mezzanine, Massive Attack, BT, DJ Tiesto, Bjork, etc.
got bored.
Got into Rock
Nirvana, Audioslave, Tool, Rage Against The Machine, etc.
got bored........
Ska
Catch 22 and Streetlight Manifesto
Then just random singles.
Big & Rich- Rollin' and Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy
Nirvana - Dumb
The Servant- Cell & Liquefy
Daft Punk- Aerodynamic

I've learned to come to terms with this :)

and I must continue.

I've come to a roadblock in music that I have found to be good.

I wanted to know if any of you knew of songs that you loved for either their lyrical beauty or the magnificence of the the sound itself.
Songs that will forever seem to stick in your mind for their beauty.

Not just love songs or anything.
sort of an All Time Top 10 for you.
it can be any kind of music, from classical to punk rock

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold
Grandpa's Violin - Xenosaga (or gear (?)) OST (Classical)
Indochine - J'ai Demande a la Lune (folksy french song)
Matthew Lien - Bressanone (Just plain folksy)
Jamelia - Stop
Bon Jovi - Bed of Roses (and many, many others)
SONICFLOOd - Open the Eyes of My Heart (christian rock.) Get the live version, fantastic.
Edvin Marton - Romeo and Juliet (Classical)

For some reason, 'beauty' when used to describing a song translates to sadness for me, but I'm not sure you think that way as well.

Not sure how well you'll like my recs, since our song choices seem to be pretty different, but I've tried to include the ones I think everyone will enjoy.

It seems you've experimented with just about every rock-based genre out there. I think it's time for you to check out metal. I would recommend getting started with Opeth. The degree of musicality going on with them is absolutely insane. They are easily the most dynamic music I've ever heard. One minute there's pounding double bass and crushing guitar riffs with deep growled vocals (which will grow on you if you don't like them at first), the next there's some jazzy drumming and delicate acoustic (or clean electric) guitar playing and beautiful singing.

A few songs that are good to get a good picture of Opeth's sound:

The Drapery Falls
Harvest
Godhead's Lament
Moonlapse Vertigo

Those are the songs that converted me (although the all melodic album Damnation was what got me interested).

If you like Opeth, or just want to try some other metal, I recommend:

Ulver. Their first three albums were an experiment in black metal, although their second album Kveldssanger has no metal elements at all and is basically folk music (and it's excellent). After those albums they've been doing mostly electronic music.

Songs: Chapter I from the Bergtatt album, Halling and Utriese from Kveldssanger

Agalloch. If you like Opeth's vibe, then you might like Agalloch. The vocals aren't so great, but most of the music is instrumental anyway. It's very atmospheric and some of the most depressing music I've ever heard.

Songs: A celebration for the death of man, Wolves of the Timberline, She Painted Fire Across the Skyline (Part III), Odal.


A few others to investigate: Arcturus, Borknagar, Death, Finntroll (which is polka-metal, very cool), Savatage, Novembre, Nevermore, and anything Dan Swano has been involved with.

I hope you take the time to listen to some of this.

Wow, these all sound amazing, I will definitely take a look at all of it.

and to fallsauce:
your right lol, beauty to me wouldn't translate into sadness, I've listened to so much music that many things sound beautiful in their own way, such as Delousing of the Comatorium; I believe that it is an amazing creation of art in the album, and I don't see it as sad, as well as Vivaldi, which isn't unhappy and absolutely amazing.
Beauty comes in the artist's reflection of the word, and thats how they would choose to show it, whether it be in a painting or a song.

Just to let you all know, I have no musical preferences, in my opinion, if i like it and it sounds good, then its good :)

I go in all directions, country, classical, R&B, Celtic, Rock.........just about everything, there isn't anything i won't listen to once :)

Keep the posts comin!!!!

Well it's good to know I'm not the only one who suffers from music ADD. I go from nu-maetal (wtf was I thinking), to classic rock, to metal, to alternative, now I'm into pnuk/ska. For a band that you can always listen to, I would go with Dredg. Catch Without Arms ( have to download it somewhere,getting released in June), and El Cielo are there best albums. Pink Floyd is another band like that. You have to listen to their whole albums to really appreciate Pink Floyd. That's my $0.02

-- edit --
I was thinking about it, and I don't think I get bored of music. The thing is my mood changes, so my music changes. I guess it all depends on what is going on with your life.

Yes, dredg are excellent. I do prefer El Cielo over Catch Without Arms (although I haven't heard it in its entirety yet), but they're definitly a solid band.

Two bands that you would probably enjoy if you like dredg are Porcupine Tree and Riverside. Both very, very good bands, especially Porcupine Tree.

There can indeed be great beauty in sadness, especially with music. However, I don't think sadness has a monopoly on beauty. I love music that gives a sense of "epicness" or grandeur. That's probably why I like Opeth so much -- the music is so epic.


Edit: I need to stop replying to this thread for a while.

I recommend listening to some Blue Öyster Cult, because not only should it break your musical ennui, but it will also make you cool. Try the album "Secret Treaties", hich I find to be solid all the way through.

Another good place to go would be to They Might Be Giants. their music is quite varied in style, but has a uniform cheerful dourness to it that I find irresistable. Get the emponymous first album for sheer quirkiness, or "Factory Showroom" or "Flood" for something a bit more straightforward.

For highbrow jazz rock, you really can't go far wrong with King Crimson, particularly if you also indulge in psychoactive chemicals. (And, if you don't, well, I can't recommend that you do, but it would give you a fresh perspective on all the music that has bored you to this point.) Crimson is really several different bands in a core around Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford. I recommend "Starless and Bible Black" and "Larks Tongues in Aspic" from their early incarnation (with James Wetton on bass and vocals, late of Asia), and "Discipline" and "Three of a Perfect Pair" from their middle period (with the astounding Tony Levin on Bass and Chapman Stick and Adrian Belew on Guitar and vocals.)

For a bit more lowbrow, try some Zappa. You owe it to yourself to hear "Joe's Garage", "Sheik Yerbouti", and "You Are What You Is" at least once each. "Live at the Fillmore in 1971" is pretty raucous too.

Other than that, let me recommend without comment some more of my favorite bands:
Camper Van Beethoven, Rush, Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson, Tom Lehrer, CKY, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Alice Cooper, Yes, Jethro Tull, and the Bloodhound Gang.

I second this entire post, especially the prog (King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Yes, and Zappa to an extent)

Starless and Bible Black (by King Crimson) is one of the best songs ever, especially the riff at the end.


Oh, and They Might Be Giants, while not the most musically great group ever, have some pretty cool, funny stuff. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is an awesome song.

Since Frank Zappa was mentioned by Tophat665, I felt it appropriate to recommend "Overnight Sensation"

If only for the classic "Dinah Moe Hum" and the haunting "I'm The Slime" :cool:

How about some Eels? There sound is quite unique...for a starting place get Novacaine For the Soul, Beautiful Freak, Trees...oh so more...snoop around

Also try the 28 Days Later soundtrack

or Nine Inch Nails' "A Warm Place" and "Right Where it Belongs"

All of those, to me, are quite beautiful.

I have Novacaine for the Soul; thats an awesome song
also got the NIN-A Warm Place (Gonna go buy the Downward Spiral CD Now)

I'm not just looking for new songs of rock, I wanted to know of everyone's different preferences in music, such as classical, jazz, blue, etc.
Just about anything you liked.
I've been looking into some jazz, but haven't found anything I liked.
If someone has any good info on jazz music, that would be much appreciated :)

i change pretty quickly too. i end up listening to about 2 or 3 new (to me) albums every week. usually i'll be into something for a few weeks and move on, reserving the right to return later.

so here's some stuff that i've liked lately

cornelius - fantasma (great japanese electronica/rock auteur)
brian jonestown massacre (saw dig!, realized these guys were on a different level than than dandies)
mf doom in various incarnations, including kmd
mellow (french hipster band, perhaps more 60s inspired than air)
sunset valley (i kinda know the singer)
steven malkmus - face the truth (ex pavement leader gets down with the synth)
album leaf and dabrye (heard on commercials)

a general musical category that i haven't seen discussed on here is library music. companies manufacture tunes and sell usage to film studios. particulatly, i enjoy the funky background music from 60s and 70s movies. artists/bandleaders include keith mansfield, syd dale, j cameron, others. the labels include kpm, telemusic, dewolfe, amphonic, others. i guess if you're really interested i can give you more info; sometimes the albums can be hit or miss.

If you happen to like the 28 Days Later soundtrack, you will probably like a band called Godspeed You! Black Emperor, who were featured in some parts of the film, but I do not believe they appear on the soundtrack.

Their songs are usually 20-30 minutes long, are completely instrumental (LOTS of instruments going on though) except for occasional spoken word samples. They have a very bleak sound, which fit with the atmosphere of 28 days... perfectly.

I'm no expert on jazz, but I really enjoy:

John Coltrane (no explanation necessary)
Keiko Matsui (jazz piano)
Andy Summers (jazz guitar)

I know at least some of the stuff on that soundtrack is by Explosions in the Sky. Amazing band, also check out Mogwai and (my favorite) Godspeed You Black Emperor. A couple members of GBE also made the band A Silver Mt. Zion which I think is equally amazing. There's also the side project Shalabi Effect which I didn't like all that much...

You might also want to check out some folk inspired stuff along the lines of Iron and Wine, The Decemberists or Elliot Smith (those 3 are very different sounding, but I'm confident in calling them kind of folky)

Yes, definitly check out all those post-rock bands as well. Godspeed is my favorite, but the rest are damn good as well.

In addition to the three artists he mentioned, Nick Drake, Death in June, Current 93, and Sol Invictus also make some badass folk music. If you like folk with a darker sound (like I do) then definitly check out Agalloch and Ulver (from my first post).


Definitly check out Death in June. I've only heard one release from them (it was with Boyd Rice, but I'm not sure of the title) and it's very different and very good. The best song to get a feel for them is probably Black Sun Rising. Each song has a little spoken word story told over it, which gives the music a very unique feel.

though I can't really tell from your post, it seems that you share a similar problem as myself - though you enjoy a wide range of music, you only find a small group of artists within a particular genre, and get stuck listening to those particular artists over and over until you feel burnt out. here are a few new artists in the genres you've "gotten bored" of.

hip-hop - there's a whole world of hip hop out there, though it sounds like you're leaning toward early-mid 90s west coast stuff. Del, Heiro & Tribe are tight, but there's so much more you could listen to. Check out any of the following:

Biggie - Ready to Die
Nas - Illmatic
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek (Reflection Eternal) - Train of Thought
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
Mos Def & Talib Kweli are... - Blackstar
Atmosphere - Overcast!, Lucy Ford LP, God Loves Ugly
Sage Francis - Personal Journals, "Still Sick...Urine Trouble," "Sick of Waiting Tables," "Sickly Business"
Eyedea & Abilites - E&A
Living Legends - Almost Famous, Angels Wit Dirty Faces, Creative Differences, 101
Aesop Rock - Float, Labor Days, Bazooka Tooth, "Fast Cars, Danger, Fire & Knives"

...just a few. there are dozens more. I'll do another genre in a while.

ironchef, you explain my problem perfectly.
I listen to a few good groups in my opinion and then i stick to them.
like for example, I've been listening to the Gangs of NewYork Soundtrack for the past week, and I can't get Peter Gabriel's, Signal to Noise out of my head; such an awesome song.

I'll take a look into all those hip-hop groups/artist that you suggested
I have listened to a few of them, such as Mos Def, Atmosphere, Jay-Z, Nas (damn good I might add); all of which i enjoyed for their music, all different in their own way.

good stuff :)

I also checked out Opeth, they are one hellofa hardcore band, they got some interesting stuff, I'll definitely look into more music from them, their Drapery Falls song was pretty kickass too.

Ya know what soundtrack I always wanted?
the I, Robot soundtrack, I loved the songs in that movie, not to mention the movie was pretty good :)

**Edit**
Ok, I said that Opeth seemed to be a sort of hardcore group to me, but I was wrong, they F&*KING ROCK!!!!, god their music is awesome, they mix the sounds of all their instruments sooo well, I love it!!!!

Hah, your edit put a huge smile on my face. I'm glad you enjoy Opeth. What song(s) have you listened to, aside from The Drapery Falls? I think that when I was first trying to get into Opeth, I had the exact same reaction. Godhead's Lament was the song that converted me. The heavy parts are freaking brutal and the soft parts are perfect. The folk section about 3 minutes into the song is one of my all time favorite pieces of music ever. It's so simple in comparison to everything else that's usually going on in the average Opeth song, but everything just works so perfectly. Every time that part comes up, I find myself wishing that it wouldn't end.

Jesus. The fact that I can go on and on about one tiny part of one of their songs is a testament to how great of a band they are.

well so far
Harvest has become my most favorite song
I'm addicted to it!!!
....its like crack
......very much like crack :)

Excellent! Harvest has always been a favorite of mine too. The first time I heard it, I was in awe of how awesome the melody was. I still am, actually, and sometimes I'll start thinking about the song out of nowhere and I'll have to go listen to it as soon as possible. And according to my Audioscrobbler stats: http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/sonofatruckload/ , it's my most listened to song (on my computer at least).

If you like Harvest so much, you'll love the folk bit that starts about 3:00 into Godhead's Lament.

well, im gonna look for Godhead's Lament so that I can listen to it
but unfortunately :P
My musical ADD has kicked and I'm im slowing moving into a different direction, so far i've been listening to some Jazz and Blues music, and I'm likin what I hear, If anyone has any good Jazz musicians/groups or some good Blues musicians/groups I would greatly appreciate knowing of them :)

These came to mind...Ottmar Liebert’s cd VIVA, especially "Morning Arrival at Goa" and Lush"; and Lucinda Williams singing her song "Blue".

Belle & Sebastian - Beautiful, Get Me Away From Here I'm Dyin'
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Crane Takes Flight, St. John the Divine
The Shins - Pink Bullets, Saint Simon
Super Furry Animals - Receptacle For the Respectable, Demons
The Flaming Lips - A Spoonful Weighs a Ton, Suddenly Everything Has Changed
Stew - The Instrument of Pain, The Statue Song
Brian Vander Ark - Mileage, 1229 Sheffield
The Dismemberment Plan - The City, The Other Side
The Fiery Furnaces - Quay Cur, Mason City
The Go! Team - Get It Together, Everyone's a VIP to Someone

I don't know much about Opeth, Saut, but do they actually have double bass in their music? Double bass refers (as far as I know) exclusively to a string bass, the 6-foot kind that is used in jazz and classical music. On the other hand, I do remember seeing a heavy-metal band with a double-bassist...let me know!

Double Bass pedals is what you're referring to, I believe, though I have heard of a few bands who do have two bass players, dunno why, but whatever works haha.

Well, I was actually referring to the bass drums, but now that you mention it, Opeth used acoustic bass in some places on their first two albums. So yeah.

i've been listening to a lotta different music
I got Gorillaz-Demon Days and loved it, listened to a bit of Sleater-Kinney as well and thought it was good, heard a bit of music from Oasis and thought they are a great group to just chill to.
and been looking for some jazz fusion type music but didn't come up anywhere.