Be wary! They fall about themselves in praise over the Rapture and the Walkmen--two really bad bands as I see it. Also, they inexplicably give Interpol a pass on lyrics (something they usually weigh pretty heavily), and so here I am left with some pretty good music I can't listen to because the lyrics are so bad. Anyway, overall, it's the best commercial site for new music. Check out http://www.prefixmag.com/ (good news links) and http://www.splendidezine.com/ . The best amateur indie review site is http://www.disclaimerband.com/dmra.html .
I just can't stand the guy's voice. I'm usually pretty lenient about male vocalists (I love Dylan's voice), but, man, that guy is really grating for me.
at least when i first started listening to him i thought he sounded like Robert Smith. but now it just sounds like him. next time i listen to the rapture ill listen closely maybe i will hear what you mean.
I picked up Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights on account of this thread and damn if it doesn't kick ass. I especially like NYC, PDA, Obstacle 1, and a few others (there isn't a single "filler" track in there). So then I started getting into a few other bands in the similiar genre (indie-rock/pop I think is what's it'd be called). Picked up Yo La Tengo, the Postal Service, and the Shins. The few tracks I have listened to did not disappoint. Anyone want to throw in a few other albums to fit into this indie starter's kit?
Holy Lord, yes I do! Well, I can't really recommend a "starter's kit" as in late 80s/early 90s stuff, but the best indie nonsense of the past few years, IMO is: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes (very heavy, yet very melodic, borderline emo rock) Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast (one of my top five albums all time, just below Abbey Road!) Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister (light chamber pop, very delicate stuff...songs about reading books and being an outcast) Beulah - The Coast is Never Clear (about as good as pop gets) Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People (one of the best bands out there right now, what a show they put on) Decemberists - everything (my favorite American band right now; sea shanties, songs about prostitutes and pirates, accordians, great sing-a-long stuff) Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands (just a voice that sounds like Dave Matthews over guitar--great stuff) Flaming Lips (I guess they're indie in spirit--Yoshimi is great) Godspeed You Black Emperor! (huge, pretentious instrumentals) Guided by Voices (posterboys for indie rockers; I'm not a fan, but everyone else is) Iron & Wine (my God; Southern folk, poet) Mogwai (see GYBE!) Mytwilightpilot (local band with terrible lyrics but great, epic music) Neko Case (best female alt country singer out there) Neutral Milk Hotel (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea has more than a cult following--it's a religious denouement for many, the most important album ever) New Pornographers (best pop out there, makes the Shins look like children) Sigur Ros (best band in the world) Sleater-Kinney (best rock band in the world) Sondre Lerche (very good folksy/60sish pop) Stars (very good 80sish pop from Montreal) Sufjan Stevens - Greetings From Michigan! (beautiful concept album about his home state, on which he plays 20 instruments) Super Furry Animals (very good pop, immaculate production) The Books (incredible laptop production, found sounds, cellos, great stuff...) The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (great, countryish rock) The Notwist (absolutely amazing electronica/pop with great vocals--one of my favorite bands) The Unicorns (unconventional song structures, great arrangements, brilliant stuff--from Canada, like most good indie stuff!) Wilco (if they count, get some...)
rudager: Badly Drawn Boy: hour of the ...... You are so right with that record. Just excellent. some pearls I recommend for "starter kit" or whatever: Pavement: crooked rain and wowee zowee (both classics) Dinosaur Jr.: Where you bean (über classic) Deus: Ideal Crash Mazzy Star: So tonight that I might see Jesus and Mary Chain: psychocandy Yo la Tengo: and then nothing turned itself insideout just a few.
El Toro, I would listen to rudager and Palm about this - they are the gods of indie rock!! Oh, and Pitchfork Media gave "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" by Wilco a 10.0 rating (the maximum you can give an album).
Great list guys. What do you think of Grandaddy? I liked the Under the Western Freeway album, but then I don't have anything else by them. I was in the record store the other day and heard something playing off one of their other albums that sounded good.
The Sophtware Slump is very good. Really, really mellow stuff. I've found it works best as background music--it doesn't really hold up to close listening for me. A good driving around album.
Palmray, rudager, FranchiseBlade, peleincubus, El Toro and anyone else that has these, tell me what you think of the following albums: "Winning Days" - The Vines "Chutes Too Narrow" - The Shins "f#a#(infinity symbol)" - GYBE! (have a good idea that this will be good because I like "Lift Your Fists..." and "Slow Riot..." "Rock Action" - Mogwai (was disappointed with "Young Team") "Keep It Together" - Guster "Meadowlands" - The Wrens "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" - Neutral Milk Hotel Looking at getting all of those next month. Also, wanted to know thoughts on these: "Kill the Moonlight" - Spoon (I love the first 2 tracks so much on this one!) "Source Tags & Codes" - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead "Hearts of Oak" - Ted Leo & the Pharmacists "Electric Version" - New Pornographers "Finally We Are No One" - Mum "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Insideout" - Yo La Tengo "Keep It Like a Secret" - Built to Spill Best old band that I have gotten into has been Blondie - currently listening to the end of "Eat to the Beat". I only have that CD and "Parallel Lines" (their unquestioned best) but I will get the rest of their stuff. Great variety of stuff - if you like the Strokes, Interpol, new wave, and punk, I think you would like Blondie (especially the 2 albums that I named).
Manny, with the exception of the latest Vines album [it sort of sounds like they are not sure what kind of band (punky vs. Lennonesque) they want to be and it suffers for it] all of these are terrific albums, particularly the Shins, Neutral Milk Hotel and Ted Leo records. Ted Leo is one my favorite new discoveries...great literate lyrics with razor sharp melodies..."Tyranny of Distance" is another record of his I have obsessed over in recent weeks. I think the new record by the Shins is a winner, too. Every song is catchy and memorable. I would say that "Electric Version" is a good album, too, but not as transendently awesome as their first record. Rilo Kiley, from the New Pornographers, put out one of the best records of 2003 called "The Execution of All Things" that is worth checking out, too.
the only one of those i have is neutral milk hotel. it always puts me in a good mood for some reason. there are a couple in your list that i would like to get that some of my friends have.
has anyone mentioned my bloody valentine's loveless? the defining moment of the whole "shoegazer" movement and in my opinion the single greatest album in the history of music. most tracks feature 30 to 40 guitars at full volume and different tremolo speeds and 20 to 30 vocal overdubs. heavy rhythm section w/ bonham-powerful open beats. indistinguishable vocals that sound like a choir of angels on ecstacy. the overall sound is quite overwhelming and heavy, yet etherial, blissful, dreamy and beautifully mysterious. anyone interested in hearing guitar sonics pushed into other worlds should give it a listen.
"Chutes Too Narrow" - The Shins Buy it. Immediately. Trust me. "Meadowlands" - The Wrens Very, very emo--and I like it, a lot. So it must be good. If you can deal with a guy whining about girls, then you'll probably dig it because the music is great. Cathartic. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" - Neutral Milk Hotel I can think of no other record that means as much to people as this one does; it's a spiritual experience to listen to it for a lot of Mangum's followers. I hated it at first, because of his nasal, grating voice, but after coming back to it I've really learned to love it. There are a few bits that drag, but the highlights are wonderful and emotionally satisfying (title track in particular). And you'll never hear an acoustic guitar as loudly recorded as the one on this album. "Source Tags & Codes" - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Probably the most kick-a band out there right now, unless Sleater-Kinney is planning to get back to business on the next album. Huge riffs, semi-emo-poetic-over-the-top lyrics. Very loud. "Electric Version" - New Pornographers Up there with Chutes Too Narrow, even edging it out on my list of best albums of 2003. "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Insideout" - Yo La Tengo It's next on my list of YLT albums to get. Have you heard "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One"? That's the one to start with, they say. Autumn Sweater is one of the best songs I've ever heard. And Manny, that Explosions in the Sky album (The Earth...) is really great. Much better than those git Scotsmen.
I'll never understand you people who favor MR to EV. Insanity, I tell you! MR is too cutesy and annoying at times--EV is wall-to-wall brilliant hookery! The legal kind of hookery! The kind the Beatles bore into our brains! Fools!
That is an awesome album. I have read that it influenced so many other artists, most notably the Smashing Pumpkins (that was the reason why I bought it). Too bad that their only other album, "Isn't Anything" is nowhere close to being as good and focused as "Loveless". rudager, Thanks for the inputs; will pick up some of these in the next month.
The Shins album is a must have. I liked it the moment I heard it, and now I like it even more. It's not that often that things go that way. But this is a good album. I like the Hearts of Oak stuff too. Ted Leo and the pharmacists are pretty solid. I have heard about the Wrens, and the New Pornographers, but I haven't had a chance to hear them yet. I will have to check them out thanks to rudager's high praise. Yo La Tengo is where I probably differ from the rest of you guys. I can't put my finger on it, but I've never really been into those guys. I don't hate them or anything, and every once in a while when I hear one of their songs, I'll like it. On the whole thpough I've never been inspired enough to buy any of their albums, and the two times I saw them live wasn't enough for me to join the ranks of Yo La Tengo supporters. I guess it seems ok but not out of the ordinary enough, or special enough. I don't own any of their albums so I can't say anything specific about "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out." Anyway thanks for asking about those other albums, because now I have some new titles on my 'to get' list.
