Music recs
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
So! I somehow ended up with a $25 gift card to iTunes. I have not bought music in forever because I never know what to get.
Clearly, I need advice!
I go for both singles and albums, although right now, I'm leaning a little more toward albums, as I get lots of singles and never really get a chance to know artists better.
I generally like obnoxiously bouncy and peppy music and loud rock/alt country/rock-pop, since I usually listen to music while driving. Current favorites are the White Stripes' "Hotel Yorba," pretty much everything
vonnie_k has recced ever, "30/90" from Tick, Tick, Boom, and Thea Gilmore's "This Girl Is Taking Bets," among many.
Or! Something sexy and gravelly like Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man" or something slow and deep and bittersweet and still singable like the cover of "The Queen and the Soldier."
Clearly, I need advice!
I go for both singles and albums, although right now, I'm leaning a little more toward albums, as I get lots of singles and never really get a chance to know artists better.
I generally like obnoxiously bouncy and peppy music and loud rock/alt country/rock-pop, since I usually listen to music while driving. Current favorites are the White Stripes' "Hotel Yorba," pretty much everything
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Or! Something sexy and gravelly like Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man" or something slow and deep and bittersweet and still singable like the cover of "The Queen and the Soldier."
Tags:
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 07:51 pm (UTC)My favorite Thea Gilmore albums are Avalache and Rules for Jokers. Oh, and Songs in the Gutter, but it's odder and stranger and more for the intense fan. Not where I'd recommend starting.
The Kate Rusby & Katheryn Roberts cover of The Queen and the Soldier is from their self-titled album, but there's only one other song on it I like as much.
Right now my favorite energetic active album is The Fratellis (self-titled debut).
Right now I'm listening to a lot of Heather Nova again (rich and seductive and different), mostly Siren and Oyster.
PS
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 07:51 pm (UTC)Re: PS
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:30 pm (UTC)Thea Gilmore! I should check to see what songs of hers I have and which albums they map to.
Also, I am listening to some Hole songs now and trying to see what I think!
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 07:59 pm (UTC)I played the whole album on the way here and it was just right for noisy in the car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSdE9x5bvjU
(no subject)
Fri, Aug. 24th, 2007 12:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 28th, 2007 07:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:15 pm (UTC)The Proclaimers' "500 Miles."
Green Day's Dookie
Sexy and gravelly:
Tom Waits' Rain Dogs-- the whole album is great and funny, but if you want to try out a single, get "Downtown Train." Also Mule Variations-- try "Come On Up to the House."
Leonard Cohen's Various Positions"-- try "Dance Me to the End of Love" or "More Best Of."
Steve Earle's Copperhead Road; Transcendental Blues; I Feel Alright.
Johnny Cash: Any of the "American" albums (there are five). Try "Rusty Cage."
Bruce Springsteen: Anything, really, but you might start with Born in the USA. The title song is actually a protest against the Vietnam war as pointless and racist, and the lousy treatment of veterans, not the mindless patriotic anthem that some people who apparently only listened to the chorus thought it was. Also get "Thunder Road" and "Born to Run."
For female sexy and gravelly, you cannot go wrong with Lucinda Williams. Try Car Wheels on a Gravel Road or Essence.
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:33 pm (UTC)Oh, Tom Waits! I think I may try that; I have a few of his songs and love his voice. Ditto with Lucinda Williams -- I've got Essence but not her others.
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:59 pm (UTC)I also like the original Waits version of "Downtown Train", even though most people probably think of it as a Rod Stewart song. My favorite version is the Everything But The Girl version off of Acoustic; annoyingly, the iTunes Store has exactly one track off that album, and that's not the one.
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:22 pm (UTC)"Pon De Replay," Rihanna
"Fa-Fa-Fa," Datarock
A couple favorite Thea Gilmore you might already have: "Mainstream" and "The Resurrection Man."
Generally bouncy: Spoon. Pink Martini. Smashmouth. Pink. Ozomatli. Michelle Shocked. Queen. En Vogue.
Rich, deep voices: Jubilant Sykes. Madeleine Peyroux. Fiona Apple. Johnny Cash.
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:22 pm (UTC)[1] The one from Suzanne Vega, the live version on Retrospective, and another live version from Live at the Stephen Talkhouse.
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Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:44 pm (UTC)Rusby and Roberts
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 09:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:48 pm (UTC)I will not buy that one since, uh, I already have all of theirs ;). But will look up the Kennedys when I get home!
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:51 pm (UTC)http://download.yousendit.com/E00F38EC1F6683C9 "Wade in the Water"
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Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 08:59 pm (UTC)Bouncy: The Go! Team literally sounds like a cheerleading squad that's formed a band. Ohbijou is sweet and perky and not afraid to soar.
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Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 01:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 03:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 09:07 pm (UTC)This is my favourite song from the album Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying (http://www.box.net/shared/rr1mdxeuzy)
Vienna Teng: Waking Hour
Gravity (http://www.box.net/shared/fgmgd1uxhj)
MC solaar: Mach 6
La vie est belle (http://www.box.net/shared/4dlm4a2ac4)
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 09:26 pm (UTC)http://cdbaby.com/cd/esposthumus
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Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 09:46 pm (UTC)Sometimes when I have to do our radio show by myself and I'm feeling lazy, I just put one of those on and I always get people calling to say "Great show!" And I never tell them that I didn't do any work. *g*
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 10:25 pm (UTC)On the somewhat gravelly-voiced, all-about-the-words vein of Leonard Cohen, how about Richard Thompson? He's not great shakes as a singer, although he's grown more relaxed with his limited vocal range over the years, but he's a brilliant songwriter and amazing guitarist, somewhere in unclassifiable folk-rock territory that's none too surprising given his start with the earliest incarnation of Fairport Convention. His songs tend to be perfect little character studies, microscopic short stories set to music, sometimes quite dark, sometimes quite funny, sometimes both. You might be better off going with either a greatest-hits compilation or just cherry-picking individual tracks here, as his albums can be a little uneven IMO; even my favorites tend to have one or two "what were you THINKING?" misfires. Beeswing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K18xQgDS3U) and 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxKTzwaEa2o) are a couple of my faves in his more folky-acoustic mode.
For a wee bit less gravel and more on the alt-country side of things, I utterly adore James McMurtry. I'd pretty much recommend any and all of his albums, but if I had to pick one to start with it would probably be his first, "Too Long In The Wasteland". (Alas, Youtube's only got a handful of his songs (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=james+mcmurtry&search=Search)...)
For deep haunting altos, I'm having trouble finding much in the way of online samples but Christine Collister (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvUF-0_n2os) is amazing, and I've recently fallen utterly head over heels for the (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAYhVJ0z6XI) October (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMBEk4RNXpQ) Project (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOazQQj2Nqo). (They are ALL OVER the Saiyuki FST I'm working on...this is what happens when two new obsessions feed on each other!)
Finally, if you want upbeat-bounciness, it is hard to beat South African pop, it's just incredibly infectious. I'd particularly recommend Johnny Clegg's (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=johnny+clegg&search=Search) work with Juluka and Savuka -- I think you'd find him interesting on the Third Culture Kid (http://www.johnnyclegg.com/johnnybiog.htm) side of things as well as for the fabulous music. Again I'd have to say it's all good really, but his solo albums, work with Savuka, or the later Juluka albums might be a bit more accessible as they're mixing languages and musical styles a lot more, the first few Juluka albums are more strictly hewing to Zulu musical genres; one of the compilation albums would be a good choice as you'd get a broader sampling of their diverse styles.
Richard Thompson!
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 12:30 am (UTC)His albums can be a little uneven. Several have songs I love to pieces and also songs I skip every time. His range is enormous: there are funny songs, beautiful songs, extremely sad songs, little short stories; and he uses many different musical styles.
The albums I would rec to Oyce are Mirror Blue; Shoot Out the Lights; Across a Crowded Room; Hand of Kindness; You? Me? Us?.
Of individual songs, try these:
Short stories:
1954 Vincent Black Lightning ("Red hair and black leather, my favorite color scheme")
Pavanne (woman assassin; unfortunately I do not rec the rest of the album, "First Light," which is otherwise a misfire)
Al Bowlly's in Heaven (heartbreak and social protest circa WWII)
Happy:
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Wall of Death
Funny:
Hard Luck Stories ("I run a steam ship, I don't run a mission."
Oops! I Did It Again (no, really)
Beautiful:
Beeswing
Keep Your Distance
When the Spell is Broken
Burns Supper
Re: Richard Thompson!
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 12:52 am (UTC)I'm a wee bit more inclined towards Mock Tudor, Rumour and Sigh or even Amnesia more than You? Me? Us? or Across A Crowded Room, but that's probably just a function of what I've been listening to more this month than overall quality. And! Christine Collister is all over the background of so many of his albums, too!
And as for the voice, I do love Thompson's singing, but given all the shelf space I've got devoted to the likes of Johnny Cash and Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave and James McMurtry, well, it's fair to say I have a weakness for voices that aren't entirely conventionally pretty. And he really has come a long way since the days of Fairport Convention or his first solo album -- put on Henry the Human Fly and then one of his recent discs, and he just sounds worlds more comfortable with himself...
Oh! And for a bit of gravelly tone with biting wit, how could I neglect to mention the late, great Warren Zevon? If all you've ever heard of him are the predictable novelty hits Lawyers, Guns and Money and Werewolves of London, you're missing out on some fabulous stuff.
(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 01:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 10:06 pm (UTC)Chris Collister is love, I just wish her solo stuff weren't so hard to find. Along with all the years of working with Richard Thompson, she and fellow Thompson-collaborator Clive Gregson have a bunch of albums out as a duo, and then she's done a few purely solo efforts. She's got a lovely rich resonant velvety alto, reminds me a bit of June Tabor or Mary Fahl from the October Project. (She's also got FABULOUS taste in songwriters; on The Dark Gift of Time, she covers stuff by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Bruce Cockburn, and Billie Holiday.)
(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 29th, 2007 05:47 pm (UTC)Your mention of Thompson and Fairport Convention makes me think also of Pentangle - one of the most irrepressible songs I know, one that I can never listen to without moving my feet, waving my arms, drumming with my fingers, etc., is "A Maid That's Deep in Love" off the Cruel Sister album.
It's got good gender politics, too. ;-)
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 11:35 pm (UTC)Since I'm at work, you get youtube links!
KT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0j_VEs3kXA
Pink: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgtOHjc2MGo
Gwen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzfb3_3gDGc
For full albums, Imogen Heap is a favorite. Not usually so perky, but definitely beautiful listening.
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cpSv2mNhhc
(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 02:04 am (UTC)What else? Hmmm.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Baby 81. Loud indie rock and I love them. I'd uploaded a couple of songs off their album before -- "Berlin" and possibly "Weapon of Choice", but the whole album is great.
For alt country: Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Summerteeth
I've pimped Arcade Fire enough already right? Both their albums are terrific driving music, Neon Bible in particular.
Oh! Oh! The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots! My love for that album cannot be textually rendered.
The Arctic Monkeys's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not
Doves' The Last Broadcast is *excellent* for driving
My Chemical Romance's Welcome To The Black Parade, which I'm about 20 years too old to listen to but it is FABULOUS. It's an ultra-catchy, ferociously cheerful album that's all about death.
Pulp! I think I've uploaded pretty much every pulp song I have though. *g* AWESOME driving music.
Kanye West's Late Registration and College Dropout
If you like Thea Gilmore, you'll probably like Kirsty MacColl and KT Tunstall. Oh, and you have Poe's Haunted, yes? If not, OMG GET IT NOW.
Obnoxiously loud emo-tastic waily rock: Muse. Your best bet is probably their latest, Black Holes And Revelations. I love them without shame.
Old '97's: good indie rock band, cheerful and fun.
Ryan Adams -- any of his stuff, really, but Gold is proabably the most accessible.
If you want more White Stripes, I'd get either Elephant or White Blood Cells. Their latest, Icky Thump, is... err, a bit weird.
Slower but bittersweet? Hmmm. You might like Joseph Arthur. Start with Redemption's Son.
Feel free to ask me to upload samplers off any of these. *g*
(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 01:11 pm (UTC)Poe's HAUNTED is one of my favorite albums EVER.
(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 05:12 pm (UTC)Samplers would be AWESOME! I haven't had enough time to go through all the music recs yet, but I am setting tomorrow aside for music listening.
I love Ryan Adams!
Songs for Oyce!
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 06:54 pm (UTC)Some random selection from the albums mentioned above (http://www.sendspace.com/file/tl2642) (sendspace zip file: 147 MB) If the size is too big or if you have trouble downloading, give me a holler and I'll be happy to upload the individual songs to box.net.
List of songs:
Ryan Adams: Meadowlake Street
Joseph Arthur: Honey and the Moon, Redemption's Son
The White Stripes: Seven Nations Army, Fell In Love With A Girl
Poe: Haunted, Hey, Pretty
BRMC: Berlin, Lien In Your Dreams
Kanye West: Heard'Em Say, Slow Jamz
Flaming Lips: Are You A Hypnotist, Yoshimi Battles Pink Robots
Muse: Supermassive Black Hole, Time Is Running Out
Arctic Monkeys: A Certain Romance, Mardy Bum
Arcade Fire: Keep The Car Running, No Cars Go
KT Tunstall: Black Horse And The Cherry Tree, I Want You Back
Wilco: Summerteeth, Jesus, Etc.
Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Floor
Doves: Pounding, Last Broadcast
MCR: Welcome To The Black Parade, Teenagers
Enjoy!
Re: Songs for Oyce!
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 06:56 pm (UTC)Re: Songs for Oyce!
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 09:16 pm (UTC)Re: Songs for Oyce!
Thu, Aug. 23rd, 2007 12:49 am (UTC)Flathead (http://www.box.net/shared/nmif0zdcey)
Chelsea Dagger (http://www.box.net/shared/s7px7xtjhp)
Scissor Sisters:
I Don't Feel Like Dancin' (http://www.box.net/shared/ye351xl2cs)
I Can't Decide (http://www.box.net/shared/a7fay2yzif)
Re: Songs for Oyce!
Thu, Aug. 23rd, 2007 01:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 22nd, 2007 09:57 pm (UTC)And if not...want some? *grin*
(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 28th, 2007 04:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Aug. 28th, 2007 11:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Aug. 29th, 2007 05:57 pm (UTC)