Albums

[earthcapricorn]

I was wondering if the "music critics" out there have any fantastic albums they'd recommend me getting/listening too? I've sadly fallen off of the music wagon at the moment and fear I may be missing out on something good. :) Any help would be appreciated.

[matt]

Guided by Voices - Earthquake Glue
Neil Young - Greendale

[aboutagrrl]

the new dandy warhols ('welcome to the monkey house') is amazing. i only sorta dug it before but now after a few listens i'm really into it.
i've also been pleased alllll summer long by goldfrapp's 'black cherry'.

[alternachild]

These are absolutely stellar albums--masterpieces even--that have come out in the past year or so.

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Pig Lib
Supergrass - Life on Other Planets
Karate - Some Boots
The Anniversary - Your Majesty

[Fork]

Well it really depends on what kind of music you like.

I posted this in another forum for someone asking the same question. It is a list I made off the top of my head.

INDEPENDENT ROCK/POP:
Grandaddy(some compare them to Radiohead, but I really dont hear it. maybe you will. I like all three of their LP's)

Hot Hot Heat (upbeat, very catchy, but may annoy others with lead singers voice)

Dismemberment Plan-Emergency and I(catchy and interesting spaz rock. A classic. )

The New Pornographers(just good rock/pop music.)

The Decemberists-Castaways and Cutouts(interesting pop music. song subjects are interesting.)

The Notwist-Neon Gloden(excellent glitch pop)

Super Furry Animals(I like Rings around the World better than Phantom Power. smooth pop music. harmony is the word that comes to mind)

Enon(both albums are interesting)

Interpol (moody strokes meets new order)

Sparklehorse (quite intimate, strange lyrics, with some fuzz bombs)

Spoon(catchy simple rock/pop)

ART/PUNK/FUNK
Liars(catchy punk funk. hand claps and mayhem)

Giddy Motors(deep punk funk, some saxophone in there for good measure)

Mclusky(all out mayhem based around melody. the first song on Do Dallas is called lightsabre cocksucking blues. A band with a sense of humor)

BLUES/PUNK
The Black Keys(first album better than the second, but I like both)

The Kills(guy and a girl blues rock band. sound familiar? Surprisingly good. simple and great guitar riffs)

SOME OTHERS(great bands in Indie rock that everyone should give a try)
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot(I dont like anything before this album by Wilco)

Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Olivia Tremor Control- Black Foliage

Circulatory System- Circulatory System

Mercury Rev

Magnetic Fields

Microphones-Glow Part 2

NOISE ROCK
Lightning Bolt(A dude on bass and one on drums. Amazingly loud. Instrumental)

Black Eyes(funky noise rock)

OTHERS
Trans Am(Cool instrumental rock with bits of electronica to spice it up)

Manitoba(cant really describe this. reminds me of Moby, but way better)

Hella(great instrumental rock. one dude on drums another on guitar. fast with a lot of tempo changes)

[peedub]

i feel safe recommending any prince record with the exception of the batman soundtrack.

beyond that, without knowing your taste, i will second the black keys (for a bit of local flavor), and give honorable mentions to any ween, the the, zappa, and led zeppelin record.

[Fork]

earthcapricorn,

I am curious if you have checked any suggestions out. Let us know if you have and what you think.

fork

[earthcapricorn]

I've copied down most of the records and will be heading to Kent Public Libraries and see what I can scrounge up after the holidays. :) But now that I have a new job I might be able to pass up the library and go back to buying some cds!

[Ol-One-Eye]

For your classic rock pleasures that will never die . . .

The Rolling Stones
The Who
The Hollies
Billy Joel
Elton John
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
John Melloncamp

And also for your punk pleasures . . .

The Ramones
Rancid
The Swingin' Utters
The Teen Idols
The Descendents/All

And for the hillbilly in you that wants to come out . . .

Alan Jackson
Dwight Yoakam
BR-549
Hank Williams Sr.
John Cash
Ricky Scaggs (bluegrass)

[earthcapricorn]

Originally posted by Ol-One-Eye
And for the hillbilly in you that wants to come out . . .

*Falls over twitching in pain...*

[earthcapricorn]

Okay okay okay...

So I actually went out and on my very own and purchased some albums. Lucky for me it was the buy two get one free sell at CD Warehouse and I ended up getting an extra $10 on my gold advantage car. Far out. ;) My purchases/free CDs were:

The Anniversary:Designing A Nervous Breakdown: This was my disapointing buy. I mark this as the free CD I got from CD Warehouse so I don't feel like I wasted any money. The first song on it, "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" was pretty good but very decieving because I felt the entire album just went downhill after that. Maybe I should listen to it a few more times but I don't know if I want to go through the agony.

The Dandy Warhols:Welcome To The Monkey House: I really enjoy this album and have been listening to it quite a lot lately. I'm always very excited when I like the songs from an album that I've not yet heard more than the ones I have. It was also a positive buy because a friend of mine who is a Tool fan (a band I tend to abhor) actually enjoyed it and now we have something mutual to listen to.

Grandaddy:Sumday: Another great purchase I feel. And same with the Dandy's album there was a lot on the album I really liked that I had never heard before. One of my personal favorites being "Lost On Yer Merry Way".

The Lawrence Arms:Apathy And Exhaustion: Not near as painful a buy as The Anniversary because I did end up enjoying about half the album. But I felt it was a "smoothy" album where quite a bit of the album was blended together so about half the songs ran into one prolonged mediocre mess.

The Constantines:Shine A Light: Another "free" album I got for subscribing to MAGNET Magazine. Well worth it too I felt. There are a couple songs on it that tend to be a little "harder" than my usual music but there was plenty that I enjoyed like "Young Lions" and "Insectivora" to name a few.

The Tyde:Twice: I heart this album . It was a guilty buy because I really enjoyed the song "Blood Brothers" and that was mainly why I bought it and while it still remains one of my favorite songs on the album I also greatly enjoyed: "Takes A Lot Of Tryin'", "A Loner", "Crystal Canyons", and "Go Ask Yer Dad".

[alternachild]

Your Majesty from The Anniversary is FAR superior to their first album. I did not dig Designing a Nervous Breakdown as much until months after I developed my Your Majesty addiction. Now I realise what wonder both albums deliver is very different ways.

[earthcapricorn]

Maybe I'll have to check it out then. ;) But only if I can get it for really cheap/free because I was really disapointed by this album.

[florence_yall]

TV on the Radio - Young Liars EP - only five songs, but wow! Incredibly diverse: you've got some shoegaze, some glitch-pop, a genuine rock n roll anthem, and to top it all off a jaw-dropping a capella cover or "Mr. Grieves."

Nada Surf - Let Go - The American label really botched the track order, and Fountains of Wayne has eclipsed it by marrying its heart with brains, but still a top-flight pop record. Matthew Caws learned a hell of a lot more from Ric Ocasek than Rivers Cuomo.

I second most of Fork's recommendations, esp. McLusky, New Pornographers, and everything Elephant 6. And of course you're going to get the new Outkast the day it comes out (assuming you're not completely broke)? Right.

[alternachild]

Originally posted by earthcapricorn
Maybe I'll have to check it out then. ;) But only if I can get it for really cheap/free because I was really disapointed by this album.

Heh, it's like a different band. Really. They really changed things around for their second LP. Even their split EP with Superdrag sounds different than anything on either LP. :)

[Makeshift]

i wish i had lots of money to actually buy all these cds... damn being poor