All the recent talk about music (whether, folk, bluegrass, or the Beatles) has got me thinking along more modern lines now. In an effort to update my library of current music, I'm interested in what everyone/anyone would recommend. My teenage kids have gotten me into some current artists, including:
Ben Folds (Rockin The Suburbs, Songs For Silverman)
Sister Hazel (Fortress)
The Shins
Radiohead
Death Cab For Cutie
Sigur Ros (from Iceland...very interesting, moody stuff)
Elliot Smith (I know he died, but he's still fairly current)
Grizzly Bear
others?
Modern Musical Artists
Modern Musical Artists
"...the Sindar had the fairer voices and were more skilled in music...and loved the woods and riversides, and some still would wander far and wide without settled abode, and they sang as they went" - JRRT
You've been enjoying all those artists? If so, I can definitely give you some recommendations later! 
(Radiohead and Sigur Ros in particular are two of my favorite bands. 
)
eta - for some reason, this made me want to point you towards this old thread:
viewtopic.php?t=837
(Radiohead and Sigur Ros in particular are two of my favorite bands. )eta - for some reason, this made me want to point you towards this old thread:
viewtopic.php?t=837
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
Yovargas, thanks for the thread link. Interesting discussion there! Everytime I come to this site I learn something, and I laugh too (and that's a pretty good combo!)
Yes, I have been enjoying all those artists. My tastes tend to be pretty eclectic. My son and I went to see Ben Folds last fall. I just love his stuff! Elliot Smith makes me want to cry, but there's no denying his exceptional talent (or his Beatles influence).
I have the CDs I mention specifically (except I forgot that the Shins CD I have is Wincing The Night Away..which I really like). For the other artists I've mostly listened to individual songs that my son and daughter have put on compilations for me (I return the favor by loaning them CDs of all my classic rock stuff...and bluegrass ). My son has a wonderful DVD of Sigur Ros on tour in Iceland. I found the music really intriguing. To me they are the Sibelius of rock. There's some band from Montreal that my son is really into right now, but I can't remember their name (female lead singer with a terrific voice - my son is in love with her!)
Anyway, I'd really like to have some recommendations from you!
Yes, I have been enjoying all those artists. My tastes tend to be pretty eclectic. My son and I went to see Ben Folds last fall. I just love his stuff! Elliot Smith makes me want to cry, but there's no denying his exceptional talent (or his Beatles influence).
I have the CDs I mention specifically (except I forgot that the Shins CD I have is Wincing The Night Away..which I really like). For the other artists I've mostly listened to individual songs that my son and daughter have put on compilations for me (I return the favor by loaning them CDs of all my classic rock stuff...and bluegrass
). My son has a wonderful DVD of Sigur Ros on tour in Iceland. I found the music really intriguing. To me they are the Sibelius of rock. There's some band from Montreal that my son is really into right now, but I can't remember their name (female lead singer with a terrific voice - my son is in love with her!) Anyway, I'd really like to have some recommendations from you!
"...the Sindar had the fairer voices and were more skilled in music...and loved the woods and riversides, and some still would wander far and wide without settled abode, and they sang as they went" - JRRT
-
axordil
- Pleasantly Twisted
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I really, really liked the last Ben Folds Five album (The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner) before they broke up. Ben by himself is great--he reminds me of McCartney as a musical polyglot--but the piano/base/drums with the backing arrangements by John Mark Painter are better.
The cool thing about that album in particular is that it's easy to point to influences, but it also sounds like, well, itself.
The cool thing about that album in particular is that it's easy to point to influences, but it also sounds like, well, itself.
The last six the musical acts you named fall squarely within the "indie" spectrum. I haven't found anybody has been able to define what indie really means (it definitely does not mean independent anymore) though over time, at least for me, it's become a "you know it when you hear it" sort of thing. Anyways, this indie music stuff is practically all I listen to most days and I listen to quite a bit of music so I have lots of stuff I could share with you if you're enjoying that stuff!
First off, in case you hadn't seen or heard it, here's Sigur Ros with one of my favorite music videos ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr_MJAOyOeU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3vIv1EwO5A
And here's Metric:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf6VxRENc1o
Feist and Metric are both part of something of on indie super group, if you will, called Broken Social Scene who a few years ago came out with one of my all time favorite albums. Here's a couple of songs off of that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uev2J_cBHjQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl3PyTqsc5c
Elsewhere - I bet you would like Iron & Wine. This act, primarily a project of Sam Beam, came out earlier this decade was an album of stripped down, baseman recordings of his brand of American roots-inflected music. With each successive release, the arrangements have gotten a bit larger and the production a bit more professional while remarkably and never losing a bit of the intimate, elegant earthiness of their sound. Compare this beautiful song off the first album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1HY8KUkA4c
(not an official video)
... with the single from their last album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLNyVLbq ... re=related
Next up, Joanna Newsom. This one is an...oddity. First off, she's a classically trained harpist. And second, oh boy, there's her voice, an eccentric instrument that I've seen instantly turn off many people. Her first album was primarily a collection of simple, charming folkie tunes, most of them sung with just her and her harp. Here is one of that albums highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYl0uLrXP7U
Then Joanna Newsom did an enormous musical left turn - for her follow-up album, she wrote a suite of massive, lushly orchestrated song epics. The album has five songs and is about an hour long - the shortest song is over 7 minutes long. At first I hated this album. It was utterly weird, unlike anything I've ever heard before, and I just couldn't wrapped my head around it. But after spending some time with it, it slowly grew on me and eventually became one of my very favorite albums. I now think of it as an absolute masterpiece and an astonishingly grand achievement. If you enjoyed the song above I would highly recommend you try and hear the song Emily off of this album (but don't bother with live versions). I'd love to hear reactions to it!
A couple more songs for me and then I'm done...
Arcade Fire made one of the decade's best albums with their emotional powerhouse debut Funeral. In an era where rock still sold albums and radio still played good music this album would have made these guys U2 big. Here's the exhilarating first track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-L-aXKG5vE
And finally - LCD Soundsystem is a project primarily known for fun, witty dance tunes. With their second album they expanded their emotional range some and in the process created All My Friends, in my opinion high on the list of great songs of the decade. Here's the somewhat shortened single edit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL79-7oo9Xc
And I can recommend plenty more if you want more!!
First off, in case you hadn't seen or heard it, here's Sigur Ros with one of my favorite music videos ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr_MJAOyOeU
Montreal has become known for being a major center of activity for indie music. I'm going to guess you're thinking of Feist or Metric. Feist hit it big in 07 with this wonderful song (and another great video):There's some band from Montreal that my son is really into right now, but I can't remember their name (female lead singer with a terrific voice - my son is in love with her!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3vIv1EwO5A
And here's Metric:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf6VxRENc1o
Feist and Metric are both part of something of on indie super group, if you will, called Broken Social Scene who a few years ago came out with one of my all time favorite albums. Here's a couple of songs off of that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uev2J_cBHjQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl3PyTqsc5c
Elsewhere - I bet you would like Iron & Wine. This act, primarily a project of Sam Beam, came out earlier this decade was an album of stripped down, baseman recordings of his brand of American roots-inflected music. With each successive release, the arrangements have gotten a bit larger and the production a bit more professional while remarkably and never losing a bit of the intimate, elegant earthiness of their sound. Compare this beautiful song off the first album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1HY8KUkA4c
(not an official video)
... with the single from their last album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLNyVLbq ... re=related
Next up, Joanna Newsom. This one is an...oddity.
First off, she's a classically trained harpist. And second, oh boy, there's her voice, an eccentric instrument that I've seen instantly turn off many people. Her first album was primarily a collection of simple, charming folkie tunes, most of them sung with just her and her harp. Here is one of that albums highlights:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYl0uLrXP7U
Then Joanna Newsom did an enormous musical left turn - for her follow-up album, she wrote a suite of massive, lushly orchestrated song epics. The album has five songs and is about an hour long - the shortest song is over 7 minutes long. At first I hated this album. It was utterly weird, unlike anything I've ever heard before, and I just couldn't wrapped my head around it. But after spending some time with it, it slowly grew on me and eventually became one of my very favorite albums. I now think of it as an absolute masterpiece and an astonishingly grand achievement. If you enjoyed the song above I would highly recommend you try and hear the song Emily off of this album (but don't bother with live versions). I'd love to hear reactions to it!
A couple more songs for me and then I'm done...
Arcade Fire made one of the decade's best albums with their emotional powerhouse debut Funeral. In an era where rock still sold albums and radio still played good music this album would have made these guys U2 big. Here's the exhilarating first track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-L-aXKG5vE
And finally - LCD Soundsystem is a project primarily known for fun, witty dance tunes. With their second album they expanded their emotional range some and in the process created All My Friends, in my opinion high on the list of great songs of the decade. Here's the somewhat shortened single edit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL79-7oo9Xc
And I can recommend plenty more if you want more!!
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
Wow! 
Thanks a bunch Yov!
My favorite way to find great music is by asking folks what they like. I will def. check these all out and let you know what I think.
I'm familiar with Feist and Broken Social Scene, but not Metric. The Montreal group I couldn't think of before is Land Of Talk. Heard of them? Particular songs: "Give Me Back My Heart Attack", "It's Ok", "Troubled".
We live less than two hours from Montreal, so I really should start checking out the concert listings there.
Thanks a bunch Yov!
My favorite way to find great music is by asking folks what they like. I will def. check these all out and let you know what I think.
I'm familiar with Feist and Broken Social Scene, but not Metric. The Montreal group I couldn't think of before is Land Of Talk. Heard of them? Particular songs: "Give Me Back My Heart Attack", "It's Ok", "Troubled".
We live less than two hours from Montreal, so I really should start checking out the concert listings there.
"...the Sindar had the fairer voices and were more skilled in music...and loved the woods and riversides, and some still would wander far and wide without settled abode, and they sang as they went" - JRRT
Have you heard the Ben Folds' new CD Way To Normal ?axordil wrote:I really, really liked the last Ben Folds Five album (The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner) before they broke up.
It's a bit more like the older BFF material in terms of attitude and energy.
"...the Sindar had the fairer voices and were more skilled in music...and loved the woods and riversides, and some still would wander far and wide without settled abode, and they sang as they went" - JRRT
I had not heard of Land Of Talk (boy, no matter how much you listen there's always more music to check out!) but I'll give em a listen...
eta - wait a sec! It turns out the singer from Land Of Talk is yet another member of the Broken Social Scene conglomarate - and I saw them open for BSS last fall! they were good! (BSS is just about the best live band I've ever seen.)
eta - wait a sec! It turns out the singer from Land Of Talk is yet another member of the Broken Social Scene conglomarate - and I saw them open for BSS last fall! they were good! (BSS is just about the best live band I've ever seen.)
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
-
axordil
- Pleasantly Twisted
- Posts: 8999
- Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:35 pm
- Location: Black Creek Bottoms
- Contact:
I will definitely give it a try.Lindréd wrote:Have you heard the Ben Folds' new CD Way To Normal ?axordil wrote:I really, really liked the last Ben Folds Five album (The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner) before they broke up.
It's a bit more like the older BFF material in terms of attitude and energy.
BFF was one of the early dates I went on with my wife, before we were married. I had never seen them live and knew them mostly from song excerpts attached to an NPR story, but that was enough. Great live show--Ben went all Jerry Lee Lewis on his pianos.
Loved Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee too.