It's funny how I got started into liking artists like the Chemical Brothers, Orbital, and Underworld. I had heard Southside by Moby with the Gwen Stefani re-mix one night on the radio. I really liked it and I went to Amazon the next day and read the reviews for Play. The majority gave this CD 5 stars, so I went out and bought it shortly thereafter. The rest as they say is history. Dig Your Own Hole was one of the first electronica CDs I got after Play. I like anything with a big beat, bass, rhythm, or guitars. Elvis: what do you think of the following albums: Fatboy Slim - Better Living Through Chemistry Propellerheads - Decksanddrumsandrockandroll Prodigy - The Fat of the Land Massive Attack - Mezzanine I know that the last CD is trip-hop instead of big beat, but it is still an awesome CD, imo. Also, what do you think of Moby's Play?
Just pitching in my 2 cents... I like all 4 of these, but Prodigy has to be my favorite of that batch.
Yea, Prodigy is a great band. I got Experience a couple of weeks ago and it's really good. You may already know this but it's nothing like The Fat of the Land. It's more zany and crazy with layered sounds and not as dark. I keep hearing rumors that Prodigy is going to release a new album, but it's still not out. I'm not counting Experience: Expanded because that's just a remix album of Experience.
Are there any specific African songs you would recommend? I'm trying to get a feel for what that type of music is like. Thanks.
Some of the bands/artists I really like: Massive Attack Hooverphonic Tricky Big Star Bad Brains Radiohead Jane's Addiction Miles Davis (especially his 70s electric bands) John Coltrane Ornette Coleman Bob Marley and the Wailers Pink Floyd Debussy Godspeed You Black Emperor U2 Bill Laswell's endless side projects (Praxis, Arcana, etc.) If the music connects with me on a gut level and keeps my interest after 6 months, then I consider it worth purchasing (I'm not a pompous f%!#, really).
NO cRAP NO COUNTRY A little classical, some rock, some pop, throw in a little raggae, a pinch of electronica, shuffle, repeat. Some favorites: DMB, Sarah McLachlan, Madonna, KMFDM, Hootie and the Blowfish, Counting Crows, No Doubt, Korn, Garbage, Marley, UB40, ...
I actually prefer Fatboy Slim's latest album, but "Better Living Through Chemistry" is typically fun. He is not afraid to use the obvious beat. The Propellerheads are ok..my finacee likes this one better than I do. She likes Shirley Bassey, who is featured on the record, better than I do. I think it is fine, but nothing revolutionary. "The Fat of the Land" kicks ass. Strong record with a really textured sound, as well as a huge beat and rythmn. The dj behind everything, Liam Howlett, put out a really cool mix album that you should check out called "The dirtchamber sessions," or something like that. I looove Massive Attack and "Mezzanine" is perhaps their best. It is really brooding and intense and I more than a little bummed that the major people in the group have had a falling out. I am sounding like a broken record, but I like "Play" a lot, as well. When I first heard the cd when it was released I thought it was a teriffic idea to mix those old blues and gospel recordings with modern beats. I wish he wouldn't have placed them in so many commercials, but the album is great, nontheless. Here is an electronica artist to check that you may not have heard of: Tim "Love" Lee. His cd "The Selector" has the '70's groove on in full force..awesome stuff.
Sub: I'm going to be buying real soon the following albums and I was wondering what your thoughts were on them: Tricky - Maxinquaye Lamb - Lamb Big Calm - Morcheeba A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular - Hooverphonic I'm also going to get these and these go without saying that they are awesome, but I would like to hear what you think about these as well: Protection - Massive Attack Portishead - Portishead Dummy - Portishead I'll admit it...I have a sickness and I can't stop when it comes to buying and collecting CDs!!
Elvis: you were right about Exit Planet Dust. I'm listening to it right now and it's just as good or even better than Dig Your Own Hole. It's not as franctic as DYOH as it seems to have some more ambient and chill stuff in it. You probably already know this and you may have them, but if you like Play then you'll like Everything Is Wrong and I Like to Score. EIW is a very eclectic CD as Moby has ambient, techno, dance, and even punk/hard rock on this one. ILTS is a CD of all his music that has appeared in movies. It has a killer version of the James Bond theme. I'll tell you a CD that I listened to last night for the first time that totally kicked a**: Underworld - Second Toughest in the Infants. They have joined Moby, Orbital, and Massive Attack as my favorite four techno/electronica/trip-hop artists. I was pretty bummed when I heard the news about Massive Attack. However, it would be pretty hard to top Mezzanine but I know these guys would have done it. Do you know when the next Prodigy album is going to be released? I know about the Dirtchamber Sessions, but I thought that I read somewhere on the Internet that they were going to release a new album with new material. What do you think of their other 2 CDs: Experience and Music for the Jilted Generation? I don't have (yet) MFTJG, but Experience is awesome !
I got one for you: Utah Saints. I'm listening to their self-titled CD right now and I'll tell you something: this CD is the BOMB!!
Maxinquaye is probably Tricky's best album (although I personally prefer Pre-Millenial Tension because it's very intense). Good range and variety of mixes (I've never heard anything like the second track, Ponderossa) and of course the girl he has singing is awesome. Highly recommended. ANSSS is good too, especially if you like Portishead. Hooverphonic's female singer is less emotive than the singer of Portishead and the music is way less movie-like. There's definitely an early U2/Edge influence in the guitars. There is some filler stuff but I still enjoy the album (of course I downloaded the entire thing before Napster went under) and I'd buy it if I wasn't spending all my money on a new guitar amp. Big Calm is not an album that I've listened to in entirety. I will say the first track is awesome (By the Sea? - another Napster file). I used to own Who Do You Trust (you gotta love a band that name logo design similar to Marshall amplifier's) and it kinda bored me. Although I think the singer has an amazing voice, the fact that she's always so low key makes the music drag sometimes. If she pushed her voice just a little here and there, it would make all the difference. Go ahead and check it out though. Lamb - haven't heard it and nobody had it on Napster. If you do hear it, go ahead and start a post on it so that the rest of us can know about it. Protection should be in every person's CD collection. With the exception of the throwaway cover of "Light My Fire," every song is beautiful and (god I sound like my Romantic Lit professor) sublime. This CD garners the highest praise I can give - that is, I discover something new every time I listen to it. If you do not own this CD, buy it now. Dummy is great too, although it lacks the soulfulness of Protection. Definitely more theatrical but that's okay. Good music for the last hour of a party. This is an album I associate with my first year out of school, so it's hard for me to be fully objective about it. Portishead did nothing for me. I thought the songs lacked the hooks of the first album and that the band's formula already sounded tired. Now one album that I would suggest is the soundtrack to the movie Run Lola Run. Really cool techno stuff and although the entire album is 2-3 songs with various mixes (although if you saw the movie you'd understand why), it always keeps my interest. Finally, if you have not heard Bill Laswell's Panthalassa, definitely check this out. These are his remixes of 6-7 Miles Davis songs from the electric era. Although purists may scream HERESY, I like this album because it massively improves the sound. The old albums are great but somewhat weak sounding (although the b****es Brew box set sounds A+). And in one case, Laswell took one of Miles' great melodies, removed the hideous rushed-sounding backup tracks, and replaced them with a slow, reggae-like groove. If you're a stoner (I'm not but live and let live), you will love this album.
Man, I'll be honest. I used to just get big compilations of stuff from a friend of African pop music. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/63720/ref=br_bx_c_1_4/104-0018299-6770376">Here's a page on Amazon</a> of African stuff. People like Taj Mahal's stuff he did in Africa or King Sonny Ade are both great. I like the stuff from Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa in particular, but it is all pretty cool. Of course, don't forget that Egypt is in northern Africa.
I'm going to see King Sunny Ade this weekend!!! Part of Seattle Bumbershoot festival! It's just great.. Over 200 performers over 4 days! Taj Mahal is also performing in addition to other acts I'm going to check out: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Rusted Root, G Love & Special Sauce, Jurassic 5, Critters Buggin', Black Crowes, DJ Logic, Galactic, Low... I'm spacing on the rest, but there is plenty of awesome music! The best part is wandering around and discovering new music that I might not otherwise be exposed to.. For under $40 for all 4 days, you cannot beat this Festival!
I've got about 200 CDs myself. I'm mostly a metal head, but I have very broad tastes. When I'm in my car, I'm usually blasting anything from Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Sepultura, Pantera, White (and Rob) Zombie. Some of my other regular speaker-blowers are Motley Crue, Metallica, Lynrd Skynrd, Guns 'n Roses, AC/DC, SRV, and Jimi Hendrix. I also really like metal bands whose singers have had classical training like Queensryche and Dream Theatre. My all-time favorite metal artist is the Mad Man himself: Ozzy Osbourne. I've never been into country very much, but going to college in west Texas sort of gave me a new appreciation for it. I like Garth Brooks, George Strait and the "Outlaws" like David Allan Coe and Hank Williams Jr. (and Senior). I come from a family with a rich musical tradition. I've always loved Beethoven and Mozart and most classical artists. Manzoni and Carl Orff are favs, to name a couple. I go to the opera, the ballet, and the symphony at least 2-3 times a year. Being a saxophone player, I can't help but love jazz. Coltrane, Parker, Miles Davis, and Dizzie Gillespe to name a few. I'm not too into rap, but I listen to Dre and Snoop and most of the mainstream guys. I really like Eminem. I also listen to a lot of non-mainstream stuff. I like a lot of Celtic music like the Chieftans, Enya, etc. I also have a great CD of Gregorian Chant by the Benedictine Monks of St. Michaels. I can't stand most alt rock. I listen to bands like Wheezer and all I can think of is "How the hell did these guys get famous?" Like Jeff said, if I were to list all of my favorites, the server would run out of memory.
i listen to electronica too. i got orbitals insides, moby play, aphex twins selected ambient works volume 2, and mu-ziq lunatic harness. i like mu-ziq the most right now.
I have both Play and In-Sides. I was able to get a bonus CD with In-Sides that is awesome. It includes 2 versions of Satan which first appeared on Orbital 1 and an unbelievable version of one techno's greatest songs, Halcyon + On + On. Orbital is one of my favorite techno/electronica groups along with Underworld. Aphex Twin is a little harder to get used to. I have The Richard D. James Album and I Care Because You Do. I Care Because You Do is a little easier to listen to than TRDJA. I'll be getting sometime in the future Selected Ambient Works Vol 2 and SAW '85-'92. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to one of the greatest tracks ever, God Is a DJ by Faithless. This track is from their Sunday 8pm album. If you like downtempo stuff like Massive Attack and Portishead plus Dido then you'll love this stuff. The keyboards plus the bass to God Is a DJ is amazing.
Okay, I thought about starting a new thread, but I decided that I'm going to take a risk and try to revive a thread that's almost dead. Here's my new question: Who are your top 10 artists that you would never buy an album from? My list would be this: 1) Garth Brooks 2) LeAnn Rimes 3) Billy Gilman 4) Eminem 5) Jennifer Lopez 6) Marilyn Manson 7) Slipknot 8) Aaron Carter 9) Spice Girls 10) Michael Bolton
Sub, I just got this CD the other day. Have you ever heard of Goldie? If you haven't, he's one of the top Drum 'N Bass artists out there. His double CD, Timeless, is considered by many to be the top DNB CD out there. Now, why do I tell you this? I tell you this because Lamb by Lamb sounds like Dummy by Portishead meets Goldie. Very soulful and almost jazzy like with big bass on almost every song. Not as good as Maxinquaye, Dummy, or any of the Massive Attack CDs, it still is good and I would recommend it, especially if you know who Goldie is and like him. At the same time that I got Lamb, I got several other CDs that I found interesting: Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins - this is a great CD...it blows Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness out of the water as it so much heavier than the Mellon Collie. I'm actually listening to it right now. Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (import version) - Aphex Twin - also known as SAW Volume I, this is a lot shorter compared to the Volume II which is 2 hours and 30 minutes long! I don't know if you have any of Richard James' stuff, but this CD, which I don't understand why you have to get it as an import, is completely different from his drill and bass sound. It actually sounds house and ambient. Tweekend - The Crystal Method - No, it's not Vegas, but it is amazing how many people hate this record! It has more guitars in it than probably all of NIN's CDs except for Broken, but I like heavy guitar (that explains why I like Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, etc.) and having this mixed in with synthesizers and other electronic instruments makes this a good album to listen to, IMO. You might want to borrow somebody's copy or listen to it off the Internet before you buy, though. However, I think it is a very good and underrated electronica album.
Manny, I will check out the Lamb CD if I have the opportunity. I actually saw Goldie in concert when he opened for Jane's Addiction back in 1997. In all honesty, I don't remember his performance too well, probably because I spent most of his set telling a drunk, redneck heckler to shut the **** up. I do remember he had a really good female singer and that I couldn't hear the bass player at all. That's typical of most concerts - why do sound men always turn up the damn bass drum so loud. CDs aren't that imbalanced. Of course I'm a bass player so maybe I'm biased. I used to like Smashing Pumpkins, but Billy Corgan's lyrics and whiny vocals just turned me off after a certain point. I still like Gish but I stopped listening after that. If I'm going to listen to guitar/alt-rock, I'd rather listen to Radiohead, Medicine, or My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. Just my humble opinion. I heard a couple of Aphex Twin's stuff when Napster was still going. Interesting but a little too abstract. If you're into that, however, I would suggest DJ Spooky's File Under Futurism. On that album, he collaborated with this avant-garde string section called the Kronos Quartet. Very interesting music, but not something you can chill to. You have to be in the right mood. The Crystal Method CD sounds cool. I will check it out. While we're talking music, do you (or anyone) know of some decent musicians who are not bass players and are into ambient music. I've been trying to get a band together, but most of the musicians I want to be the next Matchbox 20 or Limp Bizkit (which, BTW, are two bands whose CDs I'd NEVER buy).
