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Where to begin with Neko Case? Listening to what's available on last.fm but most of the full tracks that are available are from The Tigers Have Spoken and I'm not big on live albums generally so I'd like to start elsewhere. I understand some of her work is more easily classified as alt-country and other parts are less so. I'm a fan of alt- and classic country (digging her take on "Wayfaring Stranger", though as far as recent versions go, I'd probably take Blanche's off If We Can't Trust the Doctors). Also, she's part of the New Pornographers, right? Didn't really care for what I heard of their stuff, though I haven't heard much. So based on those preferences, what should I start with?
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Mar 4, 2009 11:51
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Bulk Vanderhuge posted:Super old post but more Neko is always a good thing. Her early stuff is a bit honky tonk and pretty traditional in terms of song structure, instrumentals, and vocal style. With subsequent albums things get more interesting as she started pushing the boundaries of those aspects. I'd start with Blacklisted, then Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Canadian Amp EP. After that go older or newer depending on what you like. Haha, thanks. After getting no response I just went chronological and that worked for me, but I imagine somebody less into traditional/alt-country that I am would want to start where you suggest. a few people posted:talking about the Beastie Boys
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May 20, 2009 23:36
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Technetium posted:Where do I start with Leonard Cohen? I really dug his tracks on the Natural Born Killers OST (The Future especially) and I've been listening to Pain of Salvation's cover of Hallelujah repeatedly and I have no idea where to start with his discography or what would appeal to me out of it if I like those. He's gone through a few different phases, but Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs of Love and Hate are the entry point for his acoustic lit-folk stuff. I'm Your Man represents his more modern sound.
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May 31, 2009 22:10
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Fail-Bot posted:Steely Dan I'd recommend Countdown to Ecstacy, maybe Katy Lied to start. If you like it, you shouldn't have trouble finding something to like about any of the rest. (Aja might be a little less accessible and Gaucho doesn't quite live up to the others in my opinion, but they were a pretty consistent band throughout the main phase of their career.)
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Jun 2, 2009 09:04
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Some Alf DVDs posted:I love me some southern rock. How about The Band ? Music from Big Pink and The Band are the undisputed classics. If you like those, there's some stuff to like on Stage Fright and Cahoots but they're not on the same level.
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Jun 23, 2009 04:04
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The second two Bloc Party albums did absolutely nothing for me while I liked the first a good deal. This is a pretty common position. Why's everybody leaving Physical Graffiti off the list of good Zeppelin albums? It may be a little bloated but it definitely belongs with I-IV and Houses of the Holy rather than Presence and In through the Out Door.
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Jul 8, 2009 02:18
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Drive-By Truckers' cover of "Play It All Night Long" on their new rarities compilation The Fine Print (excellent, highly recommended for fans) reminds me that I never gave Warren Zevon a fair shot. I love Randy Newman's '70s work so Zevon's been recommended to me often but I gave his self-titled a cursory listen a while ago and it didn't immediately click for me. Back to that or should I start somewhere else?
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Sep 6, 2009 04:23
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Waroduce posted:Anyone know some good country tracks? I heard rodeo by Garth brooks and Friends in low places. I am intrigued. He was basically the most popular American entertainer of the 1990s. If you like Garth Brooks, any compilation of his many hits should work for you. Contemporary pop country is not a form that emphasizes albums as a whole, and there really aren't any "difficult" works that require context to appreciate. It's all designed to be accessible and radio-ready. If you're looking for more like that just start with other huge stars of that time, like Alan Jackson or Tim McGraw. A lot of people who consider themselves fans of traditional country music don't care much for modern mainstream stuff like this, though, so if you want a broader perspective on a huge genre that encompasses a lot of stuff beyond more than the kind of music listed above, feel free to ask for more details later. KICK BAMA KICK fucked around with this message at 06:24 on Jan 25, 2010 |
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Jan 25, 2010 06:05
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Frog Strips posted:Also, where would you guys recommend I start out with Ghostface Killah. Probably Fishscale or Supreme Clientele but his stuff is pretty consistent throughout.
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Jan 29, 2010 03:04
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Waroduce posted:Details please. I'd like real country. Not pop country. I'm a fan of rap and there's a huge difference between rap and the poo poo artists put out to stay rich. Hip-hop is a good parallel in a lot of ways for what's happened to country music. A lot of it is just trends in popular music in general, but specifically the way mainstream rap and country artists are obsessed with presenting themselves as "authentic" practitioners of a lifestyle that never actually existed. But anyway... Not claiming to be any kind of expert but I'll throw some names out to start with. Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, George Jones and Billy Joe Shaver are some of the most influential artists who make for a decent introduction to some of the classic styles. As for where to start with them, I'd say just start searching and check out the most popular tracks on Youtube or Last.fm or wherever you find music. Compilation "greatest hits" or whatever albums are also fine; I know they're looked down on by a lot of rock fans but especially for the older artists, the album just wasn't nearly as important as the single in being the primary unit of music in country. For contemporary stuff that's good, look into "alt-country"; despite the name, it's generally much more faithful to the heritage of the genre than the Eagles/Jimmy Buffett pastiche that gets called "country" today. Lots of artists who blended country with elements of punk or hard rock in interesting ways. Some names to start with would be Uncle Tupelo (and its descendants Son Volt and Wilco), Drive-By Truckers, the early works of Neko Case.
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Feb 3, 2010 03:04
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Citizen Rat posted:Where do I start with Mos Def and where do I go from him? Boy is crazy prolific. Not sure how best to proceed from there but Black on Both Sides is definitely the place to start with his solo work. Assuming you're already familiar with Black Star.
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Feb 15, 2010 03:05
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tranceMD posted:Elton John - I love pretty much everything on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road but have never gotten around to digging through more of his work, and there is quite a bit of it. Honky Chateau and Madman Across the Water.
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May 5, 2010 10:12
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Return to Sender posted:Where do I start with: I don't think there's one obvious entry point. Their first five albums are all strong, each with its own minor variations. I would recommend sampling some of each. Since you have to start somewhere, I'd say Countdown to Ecstacy but I think Katy Lied or The Royal Scam would also do fine.
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Jun 6, 2010 03:42
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Monkeytime posted:Stay away from the '80s, and start with The Basement Tapes (if you're into rock) or Highway 61 Revisited (if you're into folk). I think Bringing It All Back Home or The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan would be much better examples of Dylan's folkier work. I mean they're all fantastic so not a complaint about the quality of Highway 61 Revisited but that's not the first one I'd single out as an entry point for fans of folk.
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Jun 9, 2010 09:12
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Return to Sender posted:Alright, next up. What about Lou Reed? Transformer. (Assuming you mean post-Velvet Underground, otherwise start with them.)
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Jun 11, 2010 04:35
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Burb posted:I know they don't have a large number of albums, but where do I start with the Wu-Tang Clan? Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), no doubt. From there the members' "solo" records, which usually include others from the clan liberally, are often more worthwhile than subsequent proper Wu-Tang albums. Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, GZA's Liquid Swords and Ghostface's Supreme Clientele would be great places to go next.
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Jul 3, 2010 01:57
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Started exploring David Bowie's catalog. Loved Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars; to a lesser extent The Man Who Sold the World. Didn't really care for "Heroes", Aladdin Sane or Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). The stuff I liked reminds me a lot of the best songwriting of Paul McCartney, Elton John or Ray Davies -- innovative, but that never gets in the way of crafting fantastic rock/pop melodies. Nothing I've read suggests an obvious place to go next based on those preferences. Any other Bowie I should check out or are those albums the only ones that sound like what appeals to me?
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Aug 7, 2010 08:44
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rockamiclikeavandal posted:Where do I start with The Drive-by Truckers? Decoration Day and/or The Dirty South. Those two, along with the somewhat lesser A Blessing and a Curse featured the group's best lineup, with third guitarist/singer/songwriter Jason Isbell joining the core of Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. Isbell divorced bassist/backup vocalist Shonna Tucker and left the group after Blessing.
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Oct 11, 2010 00:40
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Voodoofly posted:I'm looking for some advice on Neil Young. I like Neil Young, but I don't know him well enough to know his different periods/styles/etc more than just that I've heard them over the years. The first steps would be Rust Never Sleeps and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, they're both a little but not too different from Harvest and After the Gold Rush. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere features some of his tightest straightforward rock songs like the title track and "Cinnamon Girl" as well as some of his jammier stuff, like "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand". Rust Never Sleeps contains excellent songs on both the acoustic and electric side, the latter of which delves into some stuff that could be described as proto-grunge. But ultimately I think his best, if less accessible, are the three works following Harvest: the never officially released but obtainable live album Time Fades Away, On the Beach and Tonight's the Night. Young sounds like he's actively trying to shake off the success he found with the relatively mellow (but excellent) country-rock of Harvest. These might take longer to grab you but I think they're the most rewarding of his extensive catalog.
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Oct 25, 2010 19:19
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AboveAndBeyond posted:The Beatles Their history is so well-documented and their evolution so readily apparent in each work that I'd recommend sticking to some kind of chronological order. Kick it off with 1, a collection of 27 chart-topping singles arranged in chronological order. That's a great overview of the breadth of their career. While many people have an aversion to "greatest hits" albums, the album didn't really become the paradigmatic unit of rock music until the Beatles themselves popularized it as such -- there are many Beatles tracks that were only released as singles, so 1 is a good way to sample those. 1965's Rubber Soul is widely considered the point at which their songwriting matured dramatically due to the influence of Bob Dylan and the members' exploration of spirituality and psychedelics. When you're ready for the albums, start there and just go forward.
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Dec 21, 2010 09:12
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Only thing I'd add to that is New Morning, which I think is in the same ballpark as Desire -- take care of the classics first but once you've got those it's well worth checking out. "Day of the Locusts" is among my favorite Dylan songs.
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Jun 1, 2011 00:09
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A Sober Irishman posted:Where do I start with George Harrison's solo work? I've only heard a couple of his solo songs, i.e When We Was Fab and Got My Mind Set On You and I liked them. I've downloaded Cloud 9 but I haven't listened to it yet. What else should I check out? All Things Must Pass, without a doubt.
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Jul 16, 2011 01:26
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