Help me broaden my musical horizons
 

I'm going to be going to the record store in the next couple days to pick up a few new albums and while my usual strategy of wandering around and just grabbing whatever looks okay works, I was looking for a more focused approach this time. So here's the deal :

Anyone interested recommend an album. It needs to be not too obscure because my indie dealer closed up shop recently and I've yet to find another one I like. At the same time, the more mainstream it is the greater the chances I already have it.

Any genre is acceptable, as I'll listen to nearly anything. Favourite genres tend to be blues, ska, punk and rock, while least favourite are country or bluegrass, although I won't exclude anything.

Is it creative? Is it good? I'm not interested in cookie cutter stuff like New Found Glory or Slipknot. No offense to anyone who likes these bands, but I prefer music with a distinct sound over anything else. Good mainstream examples would be Barenaked Ladies, The Tragically Hip or Cake; all three of these bands have experienced mainstream success, all three of them are from different genres and all three of them have a prominent place on my playlist.

While I'm not opposed to box sets or double albums and indeed own quite a few, I prefer regular single disc albums as they tend to be cheaper, which means I can buy more music. A box set would just about exhaust my spending money, whereas I could pick up three or four albums for the same price of different artists.

So, that all said, go to it! I want to hear what TFP likes and see if I can find something new in the process.

Gary Wilson-Mary Has Brown Hair

It's New Wave with a touch of funk (and insanity). And it was made in 2003. Might be a bit hard to find, though. But it's definately different.

I seriously recommend trying Dave Douglas. He is one of the leading avant-garde jazz trumpeters/composers working today. Don't let the avant-garde description scare you off though.

Stores are most likely to have his album "Strange Liberation," but if they also have them, I recommend either "The Infinite," or "Freak In."

As for the blues, Johnny Winter's 'Still Alive & Well' is one of the most underappreciated blues albums of all time. The vocals are dirtier than a skid row bum and it matches perfectly with the guitar's note-for-note perfection. A truly inspired album.

Then there is 'Ass Pocket of Whiskey' by R.L. Burnside. I had gotten a bit jaded with the blues for a few years, didn't think it could go anywhere else. R.L. changed that for a whole lotta people. When that ablum first came out, if you called the phone number on the back, say, hoping there was something else out there that good, you got to talk to him more often than not. He listed his home number. If the name sounds familiar you may have seen his obituary in last month's Rolling Stone. This shit will make you wanna quit your job and go ridin' the rails, or move to Kentucky and take up moonshinin'.

Last is Chuck E. Weiss, 'Extremely Cool'. You could teach a course in 'blues styles' at Juliard with this disc alone. This is no overdub, one microphone, bar-band perfection. If you went deaf listening to this ablum, you'd still be grinnin' & tapping your foot to the day you died. I'd sell my soul to Satan just to hang out with this guy for a coupla weeks...

What's with everyone trying to sound cool by recommending obscure underground nobodys???? Make sure the man has the essentials first.

Martian, I will suggest a few. If you already have them, good on ya. I won't recommend shit you've never heard of.

1. Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
2. American Beauty - Grateful Dead
3. Greatest Hits - Allman Bros.
4. Fight For Your Mind - Ben Harper
5. Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
6. Automatic For The People - REM
7. Back Home Again - John Denver
8. You Were Here - Sarah Harmer
9. Day For Night - Tragically Hip
10. Greatest Hits - Gordon Lightfoot

Start with these.

As a point of interest, I'd like to know how many of these you have, brother.

Aimee Mann - Lost in Space.

Sarah Harmer - You Were Here or All of Our Names (both are good)


They aren't brand new but they are good...

Nice tone. Well, Martian is obviously a music lover, and when I read this...
(emphasis is mine) I thought I'd go just slightly out of the mainstream, because I thought he might already have an album like "Kind of Blue" for example.

I was motivated to recommend Dave Douglas, who is really not that obscure, and is certainly not a nobody. If I wanted to sound cool by recommending something you've never heard of, believe me I could. In this case I was just helping Martian broaden his musical horizons, while keeping within his request that it be something they probably had at the store.

Besides...don't assume that just because you've never heard of someone that they are an obscure nobody. Everyone has their musical blindspots.

Hmmm. I'm a little torn between obscure and mainstream, so I'll go with both.

The former, I recently mentioned in the <i>What are you listening to right now</i> thread. She's a French pop artist called Camille and her album is <u>"Le Fil"</u>. Her sound falls somewhere around Feist and Sarah Slean, with a touch of Bjork. A sublime voice with sophisticated arrangements. A friend had it playing on her stereo in the background at a party last weekend, and I was immediately hooked.

Seeing as you're in Toronto, you've probably heard of Hawksely Workman, but I'd like to put his name out there anyways. My favourite album of his is <u>(Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves</u> Also check out his very creative Christmas album <u>Almost A Full Moon</u> Not a traditional carol on it! ;) All his songs are catchy, yet clever and he plays all the instruments on the album. A friend of mine once compared him to Elvis Costello, but Hawksely is more theatrical.

Wait, I mentioned Sarah Slean and Feist; both excellent as well.

Ooh wait again. Check out the website for <a href="http://www.mergerecords.com" target="_blank">Merge Records. </a>.

They have streaming audio of all their artists and there are plenty of interesting cuts there.

Wow, great stuff everyone!

Daoust - Since you asked, the only two in your list that I don't have are the Allman Brothers and Gordon Lightfoot. I'm not a big fan of either and I tend to steer clear of compilations, since it's been my experience that the released singles are rarely the best tracks on the album. The rest is already in my collection.

EDIT - And Alansmithee, thanks for the mention of Gary Wilson. I kept meaning to pick up something by him, but I always forget when I get in the store (so many cd's, I get distracted easily...). I'll be sure to make a note of it this time, on my forehead with permanent marker if I have to.

Pelican.

Just flat out an outstanding band! No vocals, and I guess the music could be considered "stoner rock", but it's a bit sludgier than, say, Clutch or Monster Magnet. Most of the songs are pretty long, but well worth listening to. I'd recommend "Untitled", or "Self Titled" (they're the same CD), and "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw"... "Austrailasia" is very good as well, but these two are my favorites.

If the CDs are too difficult to find (I had to order them) I'm sure something can be arranged if you're interested.

Since you list bluegrass as a genre that tends to be low on your list AND you want to expand your listening, I'm going to suggest bluegrass.

Before the "O Brother" soundtrack blew up and was being played everywhere, Allison Krauss made her own music with Union Station. My favorite CD of hers is "I've Got That Old Feeling" (1990). This is not your typical a pickin' and a grinnin' bluegrass. More like BLUESgrass.

Also, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. She has a similar sound, but has a band that adds harmony. My favorite song of hers is, "I've Forgotten You". Again, bluegrass with an aura of blues. She has one CD that was produced from a concert. For a concert CD, the sound quality is amazing.

"Fantastic Planet" - Failure's swan song...influenced quite a few well-known musicians (including Tool!), and it was only released in the mid-90's.

If you manage to find Devin Townsend's Terria album somewhere, pick it up immediately and listen to it about 500 times. It's changed my life.

If you're looking to expand your tastes, I'd also suggest Greg Garing. He is a New York goth who spent some years in Nashville under the tutelage of Bill Monroe. What came from that was a very interesting mix of alternative and bluegrass.

Before you spend your money, though, try a bit of his music here first.

I'd like to recommend Zox. You can listen to some of their stuff here.

If you can find it, pick up GRP All Star Big Band: All Blues. Really good stuff on there.

gonna throw in some stoner rock
monster magnet - dopes to infinity - hard rock with a spaced out vibe, has acoustic and 2 instrumentals .

nebula - charged - bluesy rock with a mellowed out vibe

kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley - the perfect hard rock driving cd 10 tracks condensed into 3 long songs that just flow into eachother.

black nasa - deuce - grooved out melodys of hard rock.

I gotta chime in on the stoner rock here:
Kyuss - Blues for a Red Sun (Sorry, but I like it a lot better than Sky Valley)
The Atomic Bitchwax - these guys jam and jam and jam. It is possible to actually get fucked up simply by listening to them.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Deftones - Adrenaline
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde

If you can find it, try Toxic Penguin. Great little ska band.

i like them both a whole lot, i actually got blues first, and listen to it at home all the time, but for just straight cruisin' music i think sky valley is better (which i think it was intended for, although seattle is a bit different climate than sky valley).
either way you cant go wrong.

So the update. Took time out of my schedule to head over to the record store. Allow me to rant a bit and say that I was *severely* disappointed with the selection at the box store. I didn't have high expectations to begin with, so the fact that they managed to let me down is saying something.

Moving on..

I ended up picking up a new Death Cab for Cutie, because I don't think I have enough of them (it was Transatlanticism), Gary Wilson's Mary Has Brown Hair on alansmithee's recommendation, Devin Townsend on Jack Ruby's very strong recommendation, Greg Garing (who I was surprised that had) on Jumpin Jesus' recommendation and Freak In as recommended by Aberkok (because I like contemp jazz, I like trumpeteers and I like Aberkok's tastes). The rest get filed for a later run.

Reviews to follow tonight.

Final tally of the records suggested that I already own - 14. As an audiophile my collection might be deemed prodigious - I lost count of the albums I've bought at 200, which was surpassed a while ago and that doesn't include the ones in soft copy that I no longer have the hard copies of (my car was broken into about 6 months ago and I lost approximately 15 cd's). Due to my.. ahem.. broad musical tastes, I have quite a bit of the mainstream covered.

willravel - I've actually heard Toxic Penguin and would love to get my hands on their music. Unfortunately my indie dealer who recently folded wasn't able to get a hold of them; I hold out no hope that the big box store who shall remain nameless could actually get it to me.

G. Love and Special Sauce--Best of... cause it just kicks funky ass. I've got sauce. This was before he sold out in Coke commercials.

older Jack Johnson--Brushfire Fairytales or On and On... mellow perfection. I like the Hawiian influence.

old, old Seven Nations--Big Dog or The Factory... NOT the new stuff. Celtic rock... I've seen them 20 something times and the speed at which the fiddle and bagpipes play will blow your mind. Ashley MacIsaac used to play with them a bit. But it's not Bluegrass by any means.

Bjork's live DVD stuff... I see colors when I listen with my eyes closed.

Afro-Celt Sound System--Volume III... the newer album, Seed, is just not that good. Amazing beats, eerie vocals at times...collaborations with Sinead and Peter Gabriel, which sound hilarious as I write them, but give me goosebumps.

I second the O' Brother Soundtrack... I didn't like bluegrass at all, but it always gets me tapping.

Greg Garing! Til today I would have sworn the only ones to own material from Greg Garing were me and his mother! Found him in my mailbox at a radio station I used to work at, loved it! Played him on my show fairly regularly for six months or more but he never seemed to generate interest, at least not that anyone called about it or requested it. Oh well! Their loss!

We only made a few thousand CDs. Your best bet is to find someone and copy it (you have my permission).

Woops, I meant to have this up sooner.

Short version is, a big thank you to TFP. I love all of my new additions and it gives me some excellent options to expand towards for my next cd binge.

Aberkok - As you were eager to hear my impression of Freak In, I'll put that one first. Three words : I love it. Over recent years I've been listen to instrumental jazz less and moving more towards blues and rock. I think if this album is representative of Dave Douglas' work, I'll be heading back the other way again. I'm trying to find a point of comparison; he's not Wynton by any means, but that's part of his charm, since a lot of modern trumpet players (IMO) seem to try tlo emulate either Wynton, Dizzy or Miles and none of them quite can. Douglas has his own style of play and I enjoy it muchly.

Transatlanticism - Very depressing, really, but Death Cab tends to be that. I've liked them since I first heard of them and Transatlanticism, while not outstanding, is a very solid album.

Greg Garing - Umm.. very unique sound. I very much enjoy it, I just don't know what to make of it, exactly. I like the hint of travelling blues that's in there and he crosses genres quite effectively.

Devin Townsend I haven't had a chance to listen to yet, so that review comes later.

Any Coheed and Cambria CD

Funny you should mention that, he did that album with the very fine Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, which would have been my recommendation for this fine young man, with their excellent album Orange. Marvellous.

Try "KINKS Kronikles" or the KINKS' last original studio "PHOBIA".....

Try Dave Davies' "BUG"

Try some Sinatra "GOLD"

Finally, give a listen to some Bo Diddley/LeadBelly/Blind Lemon Jefferson/Little Richard/Chuck Berry to see where Rock and Roll really came from.

If you ever get a chance you have to see the 1976 movie "Leadbelly".

Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter's life story. It shows how he met Blind Lemon and the Lomax's. Great kick ass movie with great music. :thumbsup:

Stars Roger E. Mosley, better known as TC on Magnum PI.

Personally, whenever I'm craving new music, I will tune in to Radio Paradise and listen for a few hours. Almost every time I will discover a new artist that I have to get more of.

http://www.radioparadise.com/

You can't go wrong.

For easier listening, I would recommend the Dresden Dolls-self titled album (i think) if you haven't heard of them yet.

A female vocalist+keyboardist (majorly pianist actually) with a male drummer.
Simple but decent music they make, in my opinion.

Then again, if you can stand a little bit of metal growls, there's an album that I would really like you to check out: Velvet Darkness they Fear by Theatre of Tragedy.

They are a metal band, blending a gorgeous female classical-style voice and a black/death metal-like growling voice. But their songs have nothing to do with black/deah metal, instead the lyrics are usually written in old English verses forms, I think, which reminds me some of Shakespeare-style writing (all you Shakespeare lovers, please forgive my ignorance. That's the closest description I can think of at the moment). So nothing about glorifying cannibalism or satanism (not like I have anything against death/black metal).
Also a heavy influence of classical music can be heard- the use of various instruments besides the band-essential guitars, bass, keys and drums.

Sorry for the maybe confusing desriptions- still in the process of improving my English :-\

If you haven't listened to post-rock, try out Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

If you haven't listened to much metal, try out Dream Theater and work up to Opeth. If you're used to harsh vocals, try out Atheist and Psycroptic.

I thought Dream Theater is pretty well-known by now.
Not saying they're bad- I'm a big fan of them myself :thumbsup:

I care not about left-handed people. I like boobs.