I like the new Rilo Kiley an unreasonable amount, maybe because I was really turned off by More Adventurous. I suppose I've gotten over the fact that they're not going to make another Execution, which I thought was genius. Silver Lining is also my favorite on the disc.
I also love "Silver Lining". I'm fairly baffled by the choice of "Moneymaker" as the single as I think it's terribly uninteresting. I habitually skip that and "Smoke Detector", but other than that I really like the album.
We share a lot of musical likes. Neko Case, and The New Pornographers as well, are new interests of mine. i only "discovered" them about a 2 years or so ago. there's a lot of talent and innovation there. Lucinda is too wonderful for words, she's a natural. Patti Smith of course is the poet-laureate of punk rock. 13th Floor Elevators are/were brilliant. Easter Everywhere is the best psychedelic record ever, although i think Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a close second. I sadly haven't delved in to Roky's solo stuff yet.
now for the "if you like....then you'd like..." file. Regarding The Replacements: Have you heard Big Star?
Cat Stevens' (or now Yusuf Islam's) new record is much better than i thought it would be after an absence from the pop world for so long. perhaps that's why it's so good. he still has the chops, that's for sure.
I, too, love the 70's (i turned teenager near the end of the decade) and singer-songwriters. Joni Mitchell, Al Stewart, Elton John, Cat Stevens, Richard Thompson, Bruce Cockburn, Roy Harper, Richie Havens, Van Morrison....to name a few.
now the shameless promotion: my band The Meat Joy was often compared favorably to X, mostly because we were high energy punk, a little quirky at times, and it helped that our singer sounded a bit like Exene.
Thanks for the tip on Cat Stevens' new album... I have a long-standing fondness for Cat Stevens, but hadn't planned to look into the new disc. Now I will. =)
Yeah Cat is so cool. What a wonderfully rich and textured voice. his ballads are so soothing and he had world beat sensibilities years before the craze hit. Oddly enough it was Peter gabriel who helped popularize the world music thing in the early 80's, and he also kind of helped bring Yusuf back to the music world too. random fact: in 1970, a very young Peter Gabriel played flute on one track of an early Cat Stevens album called Mona Bone Jakon.
I'm into those 70s singer-songwriters as well. James Taylor! I was influenced by my dad's taste in music when I was growing up. He listened to other bands like Styx and ABBA. Have you heard of Gary Jules? His music has a Cat Stevens type sound you might enjoy.
It always takes such a long time to answer this question. My Rate Your Music and Last.fm profiles can probably give you more accurate and detailed information, but the short version: I grew up on Simon & Garfunkel, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bruce Hornsby, the Indigo Girls, and the like. When the radio was on, I turned to mix or classic rock stations. As an adult I find myself listening to a lot of indie rock. These days you'll find me listening to the Decemberists, the Whitlams, the Dresden Dolls, Belle & Sebastian, Modest Mouse, John Vanderslice, and of course numerous others. I'm still very fond of folk music and will never turn down a chance to see Arlo Guthrie or the Woods Tea Company. I admittedly have no idea what's going on with popular music these days.
You guys ahve to check out www.nizlopi.com. Honestly, these guys totally rock and of you can get to see them live then you won't regret it. I promise. See that? P-rom-ise.
Hmmm...my favorite is Pearl Jam. They're not always great albums but consistently good. However, for 2007, my favorite album so far is by The National called Boxer. I'm also really enjoying the Silversun Pickup's 2006 album Carnavas. I'm also looking to find an album by a band called Yeasayer (mp3s found on daytrotter.com) which sounds pretty cool. Oh the list goes on and on. I'm constantly getting new music, rediscovering old favorites, and rotating them all on various playlists. I've been really enjoying songs from MGMT or Management.
I'm a music obsessive, and find relatively few areas of music I don't enjoy from time to time. However, the majority of my attention is with experimental music, the avant-garde, sound art, etc... John Cage, Joan La Barbara, Robert Ashley, any number of noise artists (Z'ev, Merzbow, KK Null, John Wiese), Crank Sturgeon, Mystified, Sabrina Siegel... free improvisation, you name it.. Lots of great stuff out there!
I've got four songs in my playlist if you want to check them out.
i'm a fellow experimental music fan. some of my faves include Henry Cow/Art Bears/Fred Frith et al, Henry Kaiser, Eno, Faust, Can, Cluster....i haven't listened to a lot of other experimental stuff in years. those are the less difficult listening ones.
Pretty sure Skeleton Key fits in the Henry Cow/Frith stuff somehow... might want to dig them up. I have some good Henry Kaiser stuff, he's wonderful-- and Brian Eno is definitely among my all-time favorites. For anyone else reading this reply, check out his album KITE STORIES, which is simply amazing.
have you ever listened to Lennon/Ono's Two Virgins, or Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music. I love the idea of records being made that are challenging people to listen to them. i mean it's totally artistically indulgent, but not everyone can be satisfied with playing it safe. Thank the maker for fringe artists.
