Entertainment For Lively Minds
Favourite Artists
Posted by Kay Lester on 14 February 2010 - 6:28pm.
I’m curious about the Massive’s favourite artists - in particular any artists that I have yet to discover . I have a top 5 and I’m going to throw in another fifteen (see first comment for full list)
Also - if you had to pick just one artist as your absolute favourite, who would it be?
The Jam
The Clash (today, the answer is The Clash)
The Beatles
David Bowie
The Smiths
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....continued
The rest (in no particular order):
The Who
The Fall
Madness
Soft Cell / Almond
The Stranglers
Eno
Talking Heads
Can
Pixies
U2
Dexys Midnight Runners
Magazine
New Order
Orange Juice
Elvis Costello and the Attractions
There’s a few more, but I’ll leave it at that, where do you stop…etc etc
David Bowie
Led Zeppelin
Bob Dylan
Joni Mitchell
Radiohead
Crowded House
...I could go on...
Nice idea for a thread, Kay. Simple, but potentially endless,
Cheers (background sound: Iain opening bottle of Chateau Neuf Du Pape, saved from last night!)
Bruce Springsteen
David Bowie
The Smiths
Paul Weller (all three stages)
The Stone Roses
Manic Street Preachers
Very white, very indie, I know.....
My favourite artists are reasonably run of the mill...
but if I was going to suggest five artists that aren't necessarily household names and are worth investigating I would include:
Jóhann Jóhannsson ('neo classical')
Ólafur Arnalds
Arvo Pärt (beautiful classical composer)
Esbjörn Svensson Trio
Tord Gustavsen Trio
The final two are modern jazz, but very listenable. All five have given me a great deal of pleasure over the past couple of years.
cheers, handsome
i have some est and arvo part, but haven't heard the others and will definitely check them out, thanks for that
Jóhann Jóhannsson
...Name rings a bell, I was reading about him a few weeks ago. What do you reckon as a good starting point?
I would recommend either...
Fordlândia or IBM 1401, A User's Manual (surprisingly beautiful given the title). Both are on Spotify.
I Like Lists!
Top 5 (remains pretty much constant)
Stiff Little Fingers
Jam
Beatles
Clash
Who
Others of Note:
Sex Pistols
Damned
Buzzcocks
Paul Weller
Blur
Oasis
Marc Bolan/T.Rex
Iron Maiden
Ozzy Osbourne
Marillion
and at the moment, a rennaisance for Carter USM, Big Country & The Alarm
Yes!
Another Iron Maiden person. One day we´ll take over!
The Damned!
Good call! Always too easily written off by the cloth eared hordes - and anyone who's never heard Machine Gun Etiquette.
The Damned...
Have got a superb back-catalogue of excellent albums, Machine Gun Etiquette is rightly lauded but don't neglect Strawberries!
Listomania
Randy Newman
Johnny Cash
Christy Moore
Broooce
Bob Dylan
and new today, Midlake
Weller
The Jam, The Style Council and quite a lot of his solo stuff. The Style Council in particular were my band, because I was a little young to be nuts about The Jam when they were going.
Dexys
Soft Cell
Human League
Madness
The Associates
The Who
The Clash
The Ruts
Aztec Camera
ABC
The Action
The Small Faces
Al Green
Aretha Franklin
Lee Perry
Saint Etienne
Miles Davis
Andy Weatherall
Orbital
Underworld
Prince
Bowie
Eno
Roxy Music
Patti Smith
Blondie
The Police (I've recently been enjoying their albums. I've always loved them, but hadn't listened properly to them for a long while. Good stuff!!)
Oh god there's so much more....
It changes over time .....
... but in recent times as follows:
Alabama 3
John Hiatt
Old Crow Medicine Show
Eliza Carthy
Lau
They're the ones who are still alive. If we take in the deceased Johnny Cash would give any of them a run.
Hmmmmm
It's probably a really common set of choices if I think about it:
Neil Young
David Bowie
Radiohead
Pixes
Super Furry Animals
Nick Cave
but at the moment I mainly listen too:
The Fruits Bats
Grizzly Bear
Spoon
Future of the Left
The Joy Formidable
... will they be a future top 5 for me?
80's much?
The Blue Nile
XTC
King Crimson
Throbbing Gristle
Whitehouse
American Music Club
Pere Ubu
Peter Hammill / VdGG
The Fall
Neu
Killing Joke
Eno
Little Feat
There are more...so many more..
Top five from Last.fm are...
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen
Elvis Costello
The Fall
Which, although they are all favourites, really reflects the volume of material I own by the above as much as anything else.
All a bit 'obvious' I guess.
So looking at less 'household' names that I love more than most, I give you...
Amsterdam
Modest Mouse
Half Man Half Biscuit
Death Cab For Cutie
The John Butler Trio
...all of which are more than worthy of your (or anyone's) attention.
last fm
yeah, paul i get a high score for costello in last fm too, it's all those demos i think, and dylan too, tho he's not even in my top 20, but i certainly "get" dylan and put him on quite often. will check out amsterdam, hadn't heard of them, thanks
Amsterdam are great
Led by Ian Prowse, formerly main man of Pele (cult '80s Liverpool band you may have come across). Guitar rock with a few celtic flourishes here and there.
Website is http://www.amsterdam-music.com/
Enjoy!
List without Prejudice
Hurrah for lists!
The 'No Brainer' Top 5
Radiohead
Low
Stereolab
The Beatles
James Yorkston
The 'Not Forgetting' Next 5
Elliott Smith
Caribou (aka Manitoba)
Super Furry Animals
Jolie Holland
M Ward
The 5 'I can't currently live without and recommend you check out post-haste'.
Four Tet
Yeasayer
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
The Phantom Band
Chris Wood
Lot of common ground here
Main 5
Steely Dan
Incognito
Rolling Stones
Dexys Midnight Runners
XTC
Fab Fifteen
TIndersticks
Scott Walker
David Bowie
Randy Newman
Average White Band
The Beatles
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Earth Wind and Fire
Aztec Camera
The Smiths
Big Audio Dynamite
Kraftwerk
Scritti Politti
The Undertones
Magazine
I'd listen to a lot of jazz, soul and funk as well, but the ones above would be the main pop/rock preferences - Steely Dan are at the top of the tree, but that's not unusual 'round here, right?
intrigued
by Incognito, hadn't heard of them and must check out Randy Newman properly, he's always cropped up, only recently investigated steely dan had year zero hangup about them...silly me......shit, i forgot the undertones, ah well..
Incognito
is a floating coterie of players and singers coalescing around Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maulnick* and has been in business for about 30 years...spans the period from Britfunk through to Boogie, Acid Jazz etc. Comparisons are usually odious, but sometimes inescapable. My guess is that if you like Donny Hathaway, AWB, EWF, Leon Ware, Rufus, Stevie Wonder etc. you may well enjoy Incognito. For me, their indispensable record is probably 1995's '100 and Rising', but 2008's 'Tales from the Beach' is even more accessible. Fantastic live band, too, rarely numbering less than a dozen on stage.
*Bluey would have produced Ed Motta and George Benson and is kind of tied in with a lot of Japanese nu-jazz heads like Monday Michiru.
great
...yeah, I like all the above - will give them a spin..thanks for the info Neilo - much better than Wikipedia!
Damn, I forgot
The Roots!!!
I'm Loving it !
It seems to be a Paul Weller fest !!
My selection in order ..
Paul Weller (in all 3 incarnations)
Booker T & Mgs
Jackie Mittoo
Small Faces
George Harrison
followed by
Dave Mason
New Order
Beatles
Neil Young
Big Audio Dynamite
Imelda May
May I recommend to the Massive, if so far she has passed them by:
Imelda May.
What a singer, rocks and has Jazz and Blues chops.
Great album - Mainly self written. Somple direct no frills music and Jeff Beck rates her enough to have her accompany him in his tribute to Les Paul at the Grammy's.
Only the second mention for The Stones..
Rolling Stones
Aerosmith (Debut album to Pump only, hate what they have become)
Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
Oasis
Guns n Roses
Six I know but I cant separate one from the pack. And at least three of these are a variation of the same band, early seventies Stones equals mid seventies Aerosmith equals late eighties GNR. Its what does it for me clearly.
The rest fluctuate
The Who
OCS
Bowie
Muse
Radiohead
AC/DC
Maiden
Band
Dylan
and on and on and on...
erm
Top 5
Cathal Coughlan in various guises (Fatima Mansions/Microdisney etc)
James Yorkston
Will Oldham in various guises (Bonnie Prince Billy/Palace etc)
Pixies/ Breeders etc etc
PJ Harvey
other biggies
Nick Cave
British Sea Power
McLusky/Future of the Left
John Cale/Velvets
American Music Club/Eitzel
Half Man Half Biscuit
Gillian Welch
Butthole Surfers
Killdozer
Girls vs Boys
The National
Kristin Hersh in various guises (not least 50 Foot Wave)
Motorhead
Handsome Family
Tom Waits
Mekons
Richard Hawley
Tindersticks
Beth Gibbons
Mudhoney
Godspeed You Black Emperor
Mogwai
Arab Strap/Malcolm Middleton/Aiden Moffatt
Mark Lanegan etc
Go-Betweens
Recent less celebrated/uncelebrated faves:
Flipron
Hellset Orchestra
Slow Down Tallahassee
Smokers Die Younger
Katsen
Piney Gir
Nat Johnson/Monkey Swallows the Universe
Standard Fare
Very Traditional
Dylan
Richard Thompson
Howlin' Wolf
Van Morrison
Gene Clark
Lucinda Williams
Leonard Cohen
mine:
Coughlan here too
Luke Haines - Auteurs and solo
The Jam
The Clash
The Decemberists
Afghan Whigs
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Belly
Shena Ringo
Pixies
REM
Sparklehorse
Buzzcocks
The Supremes
Isley Bros
New York Dolls
Shangri Las
Amanda Palmer
Siouxsie & the Banshees
P J Harvey
that's 20 and I've missed Dexy's and The Fall and Magazine and Roxy Music and the Sweet and the Skids and Bolan and Subway Sect and
Can I have a go?
The Beatles
Richard Thompson
REM
Elvis Costello
Kirsty MacColl
Various Tamla Motown artists
or...
Velvet Underground
Julian Cope
The Blue Aeroplanes
Edwyn Collins
Tanya Donelly
Booker T and the MGs
To name but a very few. I tried to narrow it down & be truthful. I know the Fabs are over exposed round here, but the really are my favourite group. Only The Funk Brothers get close.
This week, its..
Matthew Sweet
Steely Dan
Midlake
Big Star
Turin Brakes
With Mr Sweet at the top of the pile.
The sublime and the slightly ridiculous
The Beatles
David Bowie
Joni Mitchell
Stevie Wonder
Madness
The Specials
OMD
Julain Cope
Nick Drake
Suede
Kate Bush
Talk Talk
Marvin Gaye
Dexys
The Smiths
New Order
Stone Roses
Pixies
The Byrds
The Las
The Coral
Soft Cell
The Human League
Take Five
1) Hello Philip, It's Maureen - top Belfast band, circa March 1990-April 1990.
2) The Hills Have Fingernails - spin-off band from the above. April 1990-April 1990. Lasted one day. But the most amazing racket you've ever heard.
3) Mike Leigh's Breakdown - jazz-funk outfit, once supported Calliper.
4) Gonk - psychedelic noise-bastards, committed suicide by individually going up to Klaus Kinski and poking him in the chest.
5) Wildy Overpraised Puppets - still owe me a tenner.
for your delectation
Lowell George
Todd Rundgren
Van Morrison
Gene Clark
Ryan Adams
Ssssss
Too hard to pick just five, so here is a top 5 just beginning with the letter S.
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - the greatest bar band in the world, no doubt at all.
Steely Dan. Mmm.
Squeeze.
Springsteen, Bruce.
Streetwalkers. Swagger, funk and groove personified.
Another Todd fan
Todd Rundgren
Phoenix
Steely Dan
AC/DC
Funkadelic/Parliament
Very sad to see that...
Wilco have fallen off the popularity wagon - and even sadder to see that Paul Weller hasn't.
Five?
Er...ok. Let's keep it to, um, people still going.
Clutch
The Handsome Family
Keith Jarrett (especially the Standards Trio)
Radiohead
Sieben
That was quite traumatic, but in a good way.
First 3 easy - gets harder
Pink Floyd
Radiohead
AC/DC
Beatles
Pale Fountains/Shack
Last one looks a bit lightweight in that company but hey, it works for me.
New stuff would be-
Years
Death Cab for Cutie
and thanks to Danny Bakers recommendation in the new copy of 'our mag' Charles Spearing - The Happiness Project. Have hardly stopped playing it for 2 days. Sorry for deviating from thread but it's that good.
THE top 5
Jethro Tull
Kate Bush
Gentle Giant
The Beatles
Fleet Foxes (have they got staying power, though?)
Always changing
but the list that stays is;
Meil Young
Bruce Springsyeen
Jackson Browme
Randy Newman
Warren Zevon
John Hiatt
Rodney Crowell
Todd Snider
Chris Knight
James McMurty
Jesse Winchester
Nick Lowe
james
mc
m
Always changing
but the list that stays is;
Neil Young
Bruce Springsteen
Jackson Browme
Randy Newman
Warren Zevon
John Hiatt
Rodney Crowell
Todd Snider
Chris Knight
James McMurty
Jesse Winchester
Nick Lowe
Hooray!! Another 50 year old American!
My favourites are much the same as yours and I'd add
Steve Earle
Tom Waits
Lyle Lovett
BB King
SRV
George Thorogood
Gillian Welsh
Steve Forbert
Mary Gauthier
Fred Eaglesmith
Loudon Wainwright III
Ry Cooder
Richard Thompson
Brain has melted...
... sorry folks. Too many options!
Impossible....but I'll have a go!
The Soundtrack of Our Lives
The Who
Sparks
R.E.M.
The Clash
Pixies
Talking Heads
Guided By Voices
Ramones
Roxy Music
Julian Cope
The Kinks
Iggy Pop/The Stooges
The Stranglers
Union Carbide Productions
Gun Club
Teenage Fanclub
Blondie
Shack
XTC
I couldn't live without those...but hang on, there's no Small Faces, Blue Aeroplanes, Fleshtones, Godfathers, Prisoners, Fatima Mansions, Go-Betweens, Damned, New York Dollszzzzz....
Almost the same as mine
Retro,
That is (bar one or two) almost all my favourite bands. Bloody scary that!!!
As well as those i'd add American Music Club, Depeche Mode, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, Warren Zevon, Nick Cave, Squeeze etc etc
Glad to hear that Steve!
Although I missed off Kate Bush, aswell as The Cramps, Dead Kennedys, Beach Boys, Screaming Blue Messiahs, B-52s, Killing Joke...ha ha...how many more can I shoehorn in?!
double eeep
The Cramps!
eeep
REM, Sparks and Ramones should probably be on my list. Go-Betweens definitely should have been.
Blondie is more difficult. Most excellent, but my eldest (who's still only 3) got completely obsessed for a while and still rather considers them "her" band. Which sort of means I can't claim them...
Yes, I kind of regret
putting in the Go-Betweens almost as an afterthought but I only really got into them quite late in the day (when they released "Friends Of Rachel Worth").
They were, however, the only live band I've seen to provoke a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat so I do hold them quite dear.
Oh, it was at the Shepherds Bush Empire when they played "Finding You" and Grant sang it so beautifully, I had to pretend to the FPO that I had dust in my contact lenses, but she reminded me I don't wear contact lenses...
Still find it difficult, even more so since Grant passed away, to listen to that song without blubbing!
I won a Local Radio competition
as the only entrant - I'd never even heard of them before then- prize was :
a vinyl copy of 16 Lovers Lane,
the 12", 7" and 3"CD versions of Streets of Your Town (I immediately sold the latter as back in 1988 I never envisaged owning a CD player. It was in special pack where the CD was the orange light in some traffic lights. Doh, doh and thrice DOH!)
And two tickets to see them at Trent Poly. Where they were magnificent (my friend who went with me was nearly brained by a piece of falling chipboard I remember, and they had a support act who sang a song called "Frances, Your Dog is Dead" - never did discover who that was). It's difficult to overplay how unlikely it was for me to fall for them - I listened almost exclusively to Goth and thrash metal at the time (though i'd stretch to the Cure/New Order). They started me down a slippery, if welcome, slope.
Funny you should say that...
but the "young me" would have been horrified at the thought of growing up and blubbing to Go-Betweens songs! I was far too busy leaping about at Black Flag and Discharge gigs!
ha ha
are all Go-Betweens fans sharp-elbowed veterans of the mosh-pit?
Hmmm, I've been the victim of a few
sharp elbows in my time...bottles, chair legs and Dr. Martens too, so I guess there comes a time when you've just got to, well, grow up and listen to something a bit more delicate!
Snap
Your list has a lot of similarity to mine:
Sparks
Elvis Costello
Squeeze
Pixies
Buzzcocks
Fountains Of Wayne
Talking Heads
Joe Ely
The Clash
Gram Parsons
Nick Lowe
EmmyLou Harris
XTC
The Jam
Edwyn Collins/Orange Juice
Johnny Cash
Hank Williams
Ben Vaughn
Amy Rigby
Chris Mills
Eels
Brendan Benson
Sid Griffin/Long Ryders/Coal Porters
The Jam..!!
How the hell could I have missed them off...!? They should have been in my top 5 definitely, what have I done!?
Good call on Fountains of Wayne and Long Ryders John, I think my list is fast approaching oh, at least 100 bands by now!
Top 5 plus 15
Top 5 would be:
The Beatles (number one)
Bob Dylan (very close number two)
Stephen Duffy/The Lilac Time
Joe Pernice/Pernice Brothers/Scud Mountain Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Followed by (in no particular order):
Prefab Sprout
New Order
Rick Nelson
The KLF
The Charlatans
The Dream Academy
Bruce Springsteen
Pink Floyd (mainly Roger Waters years)
Kraftwerk
Frazier Chorus
The Byrds
David Bowie
The Cure
Danny Wilson (80's Scottish version)
R.E.M. (although I'm beginning to hope they stop releasing any more albums that are watering down their back catalogue!)
Just a few among many.
The Who
Zeppelin
Joni Mitchell
Dylan
The Specials
Bowie
The Smiths
The Kinks
Burning Spear
Otis Reading
Janis Joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Al Green
Muddy Waters
Radiohead
Bjork
John Martyn
Elbow
James Blunt....just kidding!
Following on......The anti-list.
James Blunt
The Spice Girls
Westlife
Boyzone
Take That
Bananarama
Mud
U2
The Alarm
The Levellers
Robbie Williams
Hole
All Poodle Rawk bands
Ect.....
Impossible!
But here's 5 off the top of my head :
Miles Davis (if I could only keep one, it's him)
The Ramones
Alice Coltrane
Elvis Presley
Link Wray
and then another fifteen which I will doubtless re-read and howl as I realise I have missed someone essential, but if I waited for a consolidated list that I fully believe in then we''l be waiting a long long time :
The Fleshtones
John Coltrane
Sun Ra
The Cramps
Otis Redding
Muddy Waters
Louis Armstrong
Howlin Wolf
Dick Dale
Jerry Lee Lewis
The Coasters
Tom Waits
Thelonious Monk
MC5
Captain Beefheart
(love and apologies to Aretha Franklin, The Stooges, Duke Ellington, James Brown, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Frank Sinatra, The Byrds, The Skeletons, Nick Cave, The Gun Club, SAHB, Teenage Fan Club, Steely Dan, Dan Baird, and many others)
tricky......
My music tastes have changed so much over the last 15 years & I have had some major obsessions in that time! To pick just 5 is pretty impossible but here goes.....
1: The National
2: Joanna Newsom
3: The Pogues
4: The Divine Comedy
5: James
These are the ones that immediately came to me when I read this. However, life without any of the below would be dull;
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Fall
Yann Tiersen
Spiritualized
The Smiths
Leonard Cohen
Adem
Beirut
Bedouin Soundclash
Duke Special
K'Naan
Depeche Mode
Sam Cooke
I'll try to stick to five....
Van der Graaf Generator
Henry Cow
National Health
Robert Wyatt
Gong
(failed to stick to it....)
Gentle Giant
Man
Thelonius Monk
Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Roxy Music (first five albums)
Brian Eno
Husker Du
The two Kevins (Coyne & Ayers)
Soft Machine
Yes
King Crimson (up to and including Red)
R.E.M. are kings .....
They come first on my list followed by
American music club
the blue nile
A house (the great 'lost' irish band)
neil young
the pogues
townes van zandt
joni mitchell
wilco
patti smith
jeff buckley
Goodnight y'all.
This week but most weeks it's
The Who (Absolute favourite always)
The Beatles
The Doors
The Style Council
The Smiths
Subject to change...
...and in no particular order.
Low
The Smiths
Mogwai
Mono
Teenage Fanclub
The Afghan Whigs
The Byrds
Crosby Stills and Nash
Sonic Youth
John Coltrane
Public Enemy
The Delgardos
Sennen
Slowdive
The Fall
Spiritualized
.
Wilco
Bruce Springsteen
The Smiths
Electronic
Dexy's
The Cardigans
Talk Talk
Ryan Adams
Shack
My Morning Jacket
ABC
Icicle Works/Ian Mcnabb
Waterboys
The Coral
Saint Etienne
Dot Allison
Bright Eyes
..Good list...
...nice to see I'm not the only one to look beyond the standard Mojo endorsed classic rock brigade..
Shack!
Nice to see another Shack fan too...I thought they would be a band loved by Word Bloggers but they rarely get a mention.
Hmmmm, extremely difficult but....
...if push came to shove and I had to cull down to 5 artists, my desert island iPod would look like this
Odds - everything
AC/DC - early, up to and including Back In Black
Del Amitri - all bar the first album
The Badloves - everything/both
Chris Whitley - only the first album Living With The Law, a stone cold classic
Lots bubbling under - Thin Lizzy, Talk Talk, David Baerwald, Damned, Finns/Crowded House, Grant Lee Buffalo, John Butler Trio, Lloyd Cole, Paul Westerberg, Rockpile, The The, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Wallflowers, XTC....
Here's a list...
Peter Hammill/ VdGG
The Fall
King Crimson/ Robert Fripp
Wilco
The Beatles
Plus:
Solo McCartney
Steve Reich
Kate Bush
Red Crayola
Richard Thompson
Charles Mingus
David Sylvian
Bowie
Eno
Duke Ellington
Joni Mitchell
Jesus
Do you lot read Q magazine or something? Some of those lists are moribund tripe
"I love The Beatles, Dylan, Bowie, Weller etc la la la" - bring something to the party will you? Sheesh, every man and their dog will rehash that generic list of their faves
Kudos to spt and fitter stoke for some inspired choices
Perhaps...
those are people's faves. Just a thought.
Well show us yours
then.
Ok then
I like to think of it as threads to see how my taste has progressed through the ages
ie Steve Reich to Kraftwerk to Cornelius to Plastikman
or Fairports to Shirley Collins to Vashti to James Yorskton to Cate le Bon
Television to Patti Smith to Joanna Newsom
Lee Hazelwood to Mazzy Star to JAMC to the Tindersticks
William Blake to David Axelrod to De La Soul to MF Doom
See everything doesnt start with the Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppzzzzzz
Ok then
I like to think of it as threads to see how my taste has progressed through the ages
ie Steve Reich to Kraftwerk to Cornelius to Plastikman
or Fairports to Shirley Collins to Vashti to James Yorskton to Cate le Bon
Television to Patti Smith to Joanna Newsom
Lee Hazelwood to Mazzy Star to JAMC to the Tindersticks
William Blake to David Axelrod to De La Soul to MF Doom
See everything doesnt start with the Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppzzzzzz
But surely
mentioning Fairports, Vashti & Patti Smith is hardly blowing us all out the water is it?
Anyway, I'm one of the few resident old punk rockers here so I hardly qualify as the usual Word demographic either!
But I'd rather read about why I should like Tindersticks than just moaning about people who like the Beatles.
Wasn't meant
to blow you out of the water, my friend
I was just tracing their influence from past to present, to whom I like now.
I was going to put Crass in there along with black flag, wire and gang of four.
Having seen Wire a number of times in the last 10 years, they are still as relevant and cutting edge today as they ever were, so they should be on my list too
You see, the problem with this thread
is that people keep on mentioning bloody bands that I left off my list by mistake (mind you I think I've mentioned about 35 so far at last count)!
Wire! Now I have to agree with you, their latest album "Object 47" was brilliant but I didn't see it mentioned anywhere. They are way out there, from their early punk days to brilliant skewed pop, via electronica, confrontational art events, ambient, dance (well I can dance to Wire), full-on evil guitar blasts ("Send") - absolutely great band. It's a shame that, while I know a lot of people seem to like Wire for their early/mid-period stuff, they really don't get much credit for their more recent work.
Yep.
Seconded.
Read and Burn v1 & 2 aka Send
....was absolutely mind blowing, Agfers of Kodack is up there with their very best
They never fail to dissapoint live
I go through phases and am bang on with the latter stuff at the moment along with colin newmans GitHead
Top quality stuff
If you haven't already...
take a look here - four session tracks free of charge including a superb version of "Mekon Headman".
http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/wire-concert/20030350-8585.html
An apology
Sorry about that, rather than working out what might impress people I think most of us just typed out a list of the artists that we like.
Indeed
This thread is plain - a query into who your favourite artists are. It neither measures what is "out there" nor presumes unnecessarily that eclectic listening is our default setting. I indicated in the post that I would be interested in artists I hadn't heard yet in order to include everyone and not just listeners of my persuasion. It is hardly going to reflect everything in your collection and it is not a pissing contest. I don't understand why anyone would review another person's list disparagingly on a thread intended to find common ground and explore new musical horizons.
Oh c'mon
Every sodding person is going to write Beatles, Dylan et al, some originality please....
Stating the bleedin' obvious
Maybe the reason that 'everybody' writes the Beatles, Dylan etc is that they are so good, and have been around long enough to warrant such affection from Worders. Just a thought. I won't knock your taste though, that's not what this thread is about, although I easily could.
Knock away!
Interested to see what you say
And...
marmiteboy
Cheers
Thanks garspaceman
I have always been a bit pigheaded when it comes to following the normal. I know people go on about The Beatles and the Stones and Weller (each to there own would touch any of 'em with a barge pole) but there is so much more out there.
I left off noise terroists Melt Banana, Body Count and all of Steve Albini's bands.
Should have added 'em to my list.
What about
Heartless Screw - do you like them?
Melt Banana!
Ha, forgot all about those, remember seeing them in Bristol way back and blokes shouting rude things (far too rude to write on here) at the singer, all she kept saying back was 'thankyouverymuch'
bless
Steve Albini - his death disco at 12pm on a sunday at ATP caused my tinitus! Shellac rock though
Yet Another List
The Durutti Column - All time favourite
Magazine
Piano Magic
The Auteurs / BBR / Luke haines
Talk Talk
Some of the rest;
The Montgolfier brothers
Autechre
Boards Of Canada
Prefab Sprout
Eels
Labradford
The Smiths
Television
Velvet Underground
Eno
King Crimson
Joy Division
New Order
The National
State River Widening
Al Stewart
Yellow 6
Porcupine Tree
Tangerine Dream
Low
Good shouts
Some choice cuts there, Al Stewarts output can be fantastic, and what happened to Labradford?
This week I have mostly been listening to....
and pretty much every week really
The Beatles
XTC
Kate Bush
Todd Rundgren
Squeeze
Bubbling under are a number of newer, groovy bands, but these 5 are my constants.
Not far off my top 5
The Beatles
XTC
ELO
The Divine Comedy
Sufjan Stevens
at the moment
also love The Beach Boys
High Llamas
Supertramp
Crowded House
Elvis Costello
Squeeze
Bob Dylan
Prefab Sprout
Genesis
Blue Nile
Shack/Pale Fountains
The Smiths
The Jam
The Nines
Fountains Of Wayne
Pugwash
Kate Bush
Joni Mitchell
Stevie Wonder
Marvin Gaye
Radiohead
and Owen Palletts new album
Not far off my top 6 onwards
I pretty much agree with everything you have listed. I keep reading about Owen Pallett, and as we seem to have such similar musical taste, I'll give it a try.
Camel and Caravan, or is that taking it a little too far?
In no particular order
Beatles
Decemberists
Arctic Monkeys
Bob Dylan
David Bowie
Radiohead
PJ Harvey
Manic Street Preachers
Housemartins
Belle and Sebastian
Eels
Camera Obscura
Smiths
Coral
Hefner
How about
Husker Du
Gene Clark
The Beach Boys
Grant Hart
Sigur Ros
Then
REM
Elvis Costello
Drive-by Truckers
Aimee Mann
Josh Rouse
Brendan Benson
The Wrens
The Byrds
The Jayhawks
The Band
The Who
Sonic Youth
Be gentle - this is my first post!
Welcome...!
Jayhawks were great, I say were, they did split up didn't they?
"Tailspin" one of the best songs EVER!
Jayhawks are no more
but Gary Louris did put out a fantastic solo album the year before last called Vagabonds.
OK, thanks
I might check that out.
Something I thought of a few years back
Think of all the artists for whom you have (or would seriously listen to) a compilation of B sides or rarities. There's your list. A few minutes produced this for me, in no particular order:
the Who
the Jam
REM
Sugar
Chameleons
Crowded House
Beatles
Stiff Little Fingers
Small Faces
Oasis
Clash
Simon and Garfunkel
Fountains of Wayne
black box recorder
Blue Oyster Cult
elliott smith
del amitri
Sign of the times
That might have been a good method a few years back but one these days I don;t know what tracks are B-sides and which are album tracks, they just get downloaded and played.
...Del Amitri...
I really try not to be judgemental about other people's tastes... but please someone tell me the appeal.
Yes, but only if
you match it with an explanation of the appeal of Kate Bush (can't get past the voice) and the Human League (which I really don't get, early or late period).
For me, the Dels have great songs, beautiful structure and the sort of bass/chord progressions that I love, something that appears to be in common with most of what I like (eg Crowded House, Thin Lizzie, Toad The Wet Sprocket). And I'm guessing that the production/band members are a big part of this, because I'm not particularly struck by Justin Currie's solo album, so my assumption is it's not just down to him.
..with you on Crowded House...
..although I prefer Woodface and Together Alone and particularly the stand alone single Instinct (great bass line) to the earlier stuff.
Kate Bush - you would have to get past the voice though it mellows from Hounds of Love onward.
Human League - I think we can safely assume that people who get the League are not the same people who get Del Amitri..
Top 5, in no particular order
Tom Waits
Elvis Costello
Squeeze
Beatles
XTC
What I like and enjoy, not what I think I should like,
or what I would like others to think that I like, or what magazines or muso friends tell me I should like.
Top 5
Abba
Beatles
Beach Boys
Smiths
Stone Roses
Plus
Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitgerald
New Order
Electronic
Chic/Sister Sledge
Stevie Wonder
Daft Punk
Arctic Monkeys
Depeche Mode
Steely Dan
Air
Happy Mondays
Pet Shop Boys
Crowded House
Blue Nile (only Hats)
Massive Attack
Nat King Cole
Roxy Music
Ryan Adams
plus a splash of Bach, Prokofiev or Gershwin.
Human League - I think we can safely assume that people who get
Assume again, mon capitain, as I like both bands very much...why can't Oakey's robotic vocals and Currie's warmer stylings co-exist successfully in any music nerd's collection ;-)
Human League - I think we can safely assume that people who get
Assume again, mon capitain, as I like both bands very much...why can't Oakey's robotic vocals and Currie's warmer stylings co-exist successfully in any music nerd's collection ;-)
Such a blokey thing, lists!
So, from a 49 year-old bloke
Top 5
Beatles (without whom)
Who
Eels (finest songwriter of his generation)
Costello
Zepp
and honourable mentions go to:
Young Knives
Kings of Convenience
T Rex
Roxy Music
Arctics
Libertines
Kinks
Q-Tip
Al Green
Marvin Gaye
Supergrass
Microdisney
Strokes
among lots of others....
I always Remember
John peel saying that he never really made list's but had as his favourites what he was listening to at that moment , After seeing Hot Chip on Thursday i kind of know what he means and they would be my number 1 for the time being. But top 15 would be
Hot Chip
The Pet Shop Boys
Ballboy
New order
A Certain Ratio
The Fall
Belle and Sebastian
Pulp
Blur
The Jam
The Mighty Wah!
The Cocteau Twins
Dusty Springfield
Francoise Hardy
The White Stripes
With honourable mentions to current faves Imelda May and Midlake who would be just under that list