Modern Rock - what do you like???

[Jazz Kat]

There is a difference between recognizing what you dont like and dismissing music which you know nothing about.

If you like music, and I imagine that all of us do, you are doing yourself a terrible disservice to avoid entire genres based on limited exposure.

Additionally, it serves no purpose to say that the music makes you "nauseous." Thats fine if it does, but there is no reason to post in this thread then.

There's a reason I dont buy all the albums and find out all the information. I heard it. And do not like it.

[Jazzmoose]

Personally, I don't see that listening to anything and everything that comes down the pike is either admirable or wise. There's being openminded, and there's being vacant. From a distance, they seem pretty close.

Mind you, I'm not saying that whatever music I don't like is "bad"; I only like circular logic in political discussions. But I don't feel any need to listen to every 'mini-genre' to the point of familiarity before deciding whether or not I'm interested. It's a good thing, too; there's just not that much time in life.

[Chrome]

For me, it's a question of both limited time and limited $$ ... one of the few non-jazz musicians I still consistently spend money on is PJ Harvey.

[tonym]

Hey Chrome, is your new avatar a PJ Harvey disc?

[BFrank]

Hey Chrome, is your new avatar a PJ Harvey disc?

That's the cover of "Dry", isn't it?

[AfricaBrass]

Hey Chrome, is your new avatar a PJ Harvey disc?

That's the cover of "Dry", isn't it?

I haven't heard that album in years, but I really liked it at the time.

[Brandon Burke]

So you cant name any bands and you dont see any creativity there (which clearly means you havent listened to enough of the music) but you still feel the need to say this music makes you feel nauseous?

There are no bad genres of music and it always quite dangerous for any music fan to simply dismiss that which they clearly know very little about.

Go buy some Wilco or some Radiohead. It might do you some good.

Yes and no.

Clearly, it is foolish to write off an entire genre of music (or film, or style of food, etc) without even giving it a try. At the same time, though, there's only so much effort one can put into that familiarization before the process becomes tedious and, frankly, a waste of time.

For example, it doesn't matter how many times I hear your examples, Wilco and Radiohead, I simply don't think there's anything that special abouyt them. I'm sure they're nice guys and all. And I by no means think they're terrible or anything. But I just don't find anything particularly groundbreaking or innovative about either of them. Normally that wouldn't be a legitimate criticism -- of anyone. I mean, as I see it, it's not everyone's job to push boundaries. But that seems to be the only thing anyone ever talks about when either of those bands is the topic of discussion.

Radiohead and Wilco both sound like re-hashed Gastr del Sol to me; albeit with echoes of their former selves. Brit Rock in the case of Radiohead and Roots Amerciana in the case of Wilco. This would be all well and good if Gast del Sol themselves weren't re-hashed Morton Feldman, Derek Bailey, Luc Ferarri, John Fahey, etc....

[Chrome]

Hey Chrome, is your new avatar a PJ Harvey disc?

Yep, yep ... as BFrank mentions, it's the cover of Dry!

[.:.impossible]

I never thought of Gastr Del Sol when listening to either of THOSE bands.

Wilco has continued to grow on me, whereas Radiohead's most recent releases have not.

Sam Prekop has a new album coming out under his name this year. Highly anticipated in my household for sure. His s/t is so great to me. I've also been enjoying O'Rourke's Drag City stuff lately. And Califone is always playing on a stereo nearby.

I got a copy of a Tortoise show from 2003 recently. Never saw them live, but this disc just reminded me of how cool their music was. Not too heavy, not too serious, and usually in some sort of a pocket. Gastr was usually out of pocket, which can also be good, but only when I'm in that mood. Usually that mood is devoted to albums like Too Beautiful to Burn, or New York Art Quartet. I never think of Gastr anymore, for some reason. Any recommedations to get me back on the wagon?

[John B]

off topic just a bit, but Drag City just reissued Bastro's Sing the Troubled Beast and Diablo Guapo as a twofer cd. Blue Cathedral (a subsidiary of Drag City) just issued Antlers:Live 1991, a collection of live recordings of Bastro.

Bastro was David Grubbs' band prior to Gastr del Sol.

Edited March 14, 2005 by John B

[Sundog]

[Brandon Burke]

I never thought of Gastr Del Sol when listening to either of THOSE bands.

Don't get me wrong.

I'm not saying it's enough to slap you in the face or anything. But when you think about it, no one really gave other than a passing damn about either of those bands until they started to employ jagged, cut-and-paste, "blip-bloop" post-production. And -- at the expense of generalzing, of course -- you can pretty much thank Gastr del Sol for turning anyone under the age of 35 (who wasn't already a music threory major) onto that stuff.

Which is to say nothing for the fact that most people under the age of 35 probably "discovered" John Fahey in the mid-90's as a direct result of O'Rourke...

[wolff]

Listenining to my new The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow LP.

Edited March 20, 2005 by wolff

[AfricaBrass]

Listenining to my new The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow LP.

I love that album. I haven't listened to it in a while, but I played it non-stop for a couple of weeks when it was released.

[wolff]

Listenining to my new The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow LP. 

I love that album. I haven't listened to it in a while, but I played it non-stop for a couple of weeks when it was released.

How's their first?

Any comments on the following?

COLDPLAY/PARACHUTES

ELLIOTT SMITH/EITHER

OF MONTREAL/CHERRY PEEL

IRON & WINE/THE CREEK DRANK THE CRADLE

UNWRITTEN LAW/ELVA

[AfricaBrass]

Listenining to my new The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow LP.  

I love that album. I haven't listened to it in a while, but I played it non-stop for a couple of weeks when it was released.

How's their first?

Any comments on the following?

COLDPLAY/PARACHUTES

ELLIOTT SMITH/EITHER

OF MONTREAL/CHERRY PEEL

IRON & WINE/THE CREEK DRANK THE CRADLE

UNWRITTEN LAW/ELVA

Elliott Smith was a real surprise for me. I didn't listen to him until there was a thread on this board about him. Wow! I was missing out. In the year I was listening to him before his passing, I had purchased almost all his work.

I like parts of the first Shins album, but I think Chutes Too Narrow is much better. The first album sounds like there is two different songwriters and the songs reflect that, but I did like the Syd Barrett-ism's that I heard in it.

Speaking of Sub Pop, I was a big fan of the Beachwood Sparks first album that came out around 2000. They lost their way IMO on the subsequent releases, but there was a side project that came out last year called All Night Radio which had the steel guitarist and the drummer from the band. It's a really weird record and I didn't like it at first, but I have really come to love it. I love to listen to it on my headphones in the middle of the night. I can't really tell you why, but it seems to be best heard around 3 am.

I purchased that Iron & Wine album last year, but haven't gotten into it yet. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.

:rsmile:

Jeff / formerly AfricaBrass

[Rooster_Ties]

FWIW, I'm gonna get to hear the band Muse here in Kansas City early in May. My wife's a bigger fan than I am, but for only $20 - I wouldn't miss them either. (I mentioned them farther up in this thread, a lot like Radiohead, only with a very "Jeff Buckley"-esque sounding frontman.)

Heard Interpol a few weeks ago too. Great show, but the sound sucked. Loudest bass I've ever heard, at ANY concert. WAY TOO FUCKING LOUD!!!! (And I have custom "musician" earplugs too, the kind that go fairly deep into your ear canal, so they cut the bass as well as the high-end stuff. THE BASS WAS STILL WAY TOO FUCKING LOUD!!!!! -- even with the 25dB filters in the pro-quality earplugs.) Good show, otherwise.

Death Cab For Cutie was here back in Novemeber too. Can't remember the last time in KC that there were as many bands that I wanted to hear, all within a couple months time.

Edited March 26, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[wolff]

Enjoying a few fairly recent releases from bands I'd never heard before.

Rilo Kiley: More Adventurous

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter: Oh, My Girl

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter: Reckless Burning

John Vanderslice: Cellar Door

[Big Al]

Someone mentioned them once earlier in the thread, but I'll brnig them up again:

SONIC YOUTH!!!

Their last couple of albums (Murray Street & Nurse) made me go back and check out some of their stuff from the late 80's/early 90's. Now I know why everyone calls Daydream Nation a masterpiece: it's that GOOD!!!! I like most of Washing Machine, and I just happened to pick up the Deluxe Edition of Dirty, which is much better than I expected! (Hopefully, DN will get the same treatment soon!) They've gotten to the point now where I eagerly anticipate their next album, something that hasn't happened with me and a band for YEARS!!!

And another vote for Weezer. Saw them in concert a couple of summers back with my daughter and her friends. It was like going to a KISS concert (without the makeup and the leather!). Sure wish they'd put another album out, since their previous two came, like, within a year of each other!

[AfricaBrass]

I really enjoyed Brendan Benson's Lapalco cd from a couple years back. I picked up his newest album today (The Alternative To Love) and it's pretty good, but it really sounds just like Lapalco and I'm not too blown away by the lyrics...

Maybe I'll like it more later.

[Eric]

Listenining to my new The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow LP. 

Yes, very nice! I saw them in Lawrence KS when they were touring behind this lp. The Rapture opened for the Shins ... pretty tough act to follow. Those guys are crazed ...

Edited April 8, 2005 by Eric

[wolff]

Some new to me that stand out:

Bright Eyes: I'm Wide Awake It's Morning...Alernative folk? Pretty good stuff.

Jack Johnson's 1st and last are great mellow albums, with catchy tunes out of the G Love school.

[GregK]

The new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals is pretty spectacular. More of a country-ish sound than his previous couple albums, almost like early 70s Neil Young

[wolff]

The new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals is pretty spectacular. More of a country-ish sound than his previous couple albums, almost like early 70s Neil Young

Wierd!! I have been enjoying Ryan Adams: Cold Roses today and came here to post how good it was, and I see your post. LMAO

[GregK]

new Son Volt compilation out with 5 unreleased tunes, including their interpretations of Tulsa County (not too different from the Byrds version), Aint no More Cane and Open All Night (very different than the original). I've always liked Son Volt more than Wilco, particularly once Wilco decided to first become the BeachBoys with all their poppiness around the Summerteeth album.

Edited May 25, 2005 by GregK