take it to Katrina!
Bah! I have a 56k modem and I've been mowing through indie MP3s for the last 6-8 months. I'd recommend checking out pitchforkmedia.com and first looking through their features > best of lists, reading about them and downloading some tracks. It all started from there for me, and now I've got about 50 new CDs.Originally posted by arjue
I've heard very little of this side of credible music, though I've always wanted to get into it. However, a mixture of being on 56k and artist obscurity has really slowed me down.
Reality for Dummies
I like feederHey, I notice no one mentioned an Indie Rock band I really like, called Feeder. They're Welsh I guess, and I dunno if any of you guys have heard of em or like em or anything, but check out their latest album Comfort In Sound, it came out last month over in the US, just went platinum here in the UK. Oh, and they're just finishing up a tour with Am Radio and Rooney in the States too.they are a good band. Comfort in Sound is such a sad album when you know what it is about...
I like my women like I like my coffee. Covered in bees!
Hurr
Wow! So much Shoegaze talk! It is so amazingly nice to see other people interested in this music, I only personally know of about 4 other people who like Shoegaze, but keep I do live in bum fuck Egypt.
Bluskied, man, I know I haven't been here for most of this discussion, but I would honestly kill to trade some CDR's with you, if I actually have anything you want. It is physically impossible for me to buy good music here in Lake Charles & I generally don't order online too often(I tend to go crazy when I do, so I restrict myself.) So it can be pretty hard for me to get some of this stuff.
Shoegaze has been my favorite style of music since I was introduced to MBV in 1994. To this day, no other music captivates me the way good shoegaze does. The only band that can compete with MBV for my "All time Favorite Artist" is Swervedriver. Mezcal Head is too good.
I actually started a Shoegaze thread here a long time ago, but It was lost. Come to think of it, Ichabod actually made another one a while back that should still be archived.
On a slightly different note, I'm sure you Canadians have heard of Broken Social Scene. I got "You Forgot It In People" last Friday & it has been in my CD player ever since. It really deserves every ounce of praise it has received thus far. Probably the best album I have heard this year.
JM
wakka wakka
Yeah Atlas, it was sad, really unexpected too. They got a great replacement in Mark Richardson from Skunk Anansie though, he's a quality drummer. My girlfriend met him while they toured the US, she now has a crush on him
I'm a stupidly big fan of their music, I have all 110 songs they've released on various albums and singles. Got a bunch of their video's on my computer and so on, I dunno why I like 'em so much. I also have possibly the rarest bit of Feeder merchandise, a 12" Vinyl, white label version of Buck Rogers. Apparently only 6 exist, as they were given as promos to a few DJ's. Worth a cool £60+
So uh, now that I'm done boasting, glad someone else likes 'em on TNL!
I try to listen to indie rock to find new things and I think its a good scene, but I'm not that deep into. I just try to listen to alot of everything and a small portion of it takes. I do love Modest Mouse, and lately I've been listening to Spoon alot. And Guitar Vader (who, while japanese, really are very much an indie rock band) is always a staple (one of the few I've been lisenting to for years and not burnt out on). Lessee... Listen to some Fugazi... I dunno, I do tend to get tired of many of them after a few albums without enough change.
take it to Katrina!
Bumping this back up.
JM, I don't know if you recall recommending them, but Mezcal Head, Eccsame the Photon Band, and Horsedrawn Wishes are all fantastic and I'm on the lookout for them. Got any other recommendations you could dispense for me? I've been particularly interested in getting some new music from the 80s and 90s recently, since new releases seem to have been a little flat for the past few months.
Updated collection. Hasn't changed much.
fashionable fall headwear
Er, on the Pitchfork front, I like that Broken Social Scene album. "I'm still your fag..."
pwned by Ivan
*chirp*
I saw Broken Social Scene a few nights ago. Fucking incredible. If the band is playing near any of you, going and seeing them is a good idea.
Hurr
Argh, they are coming nowhere near me.
Rob - Lets see, everything Swervedriver ever produced is pretty damn good, so take that & run with it.
I also see a disturbing lack of dinosaur jr. in your collection. They really were a huge influence for the whole indie scene. Go get the albums "Bug"(1988) & "Your living all over me"(1987), with emphasis on Bug. They are just blistering guitar albums with a psychedilic side that can be easily missed due to the sheer volume & tempo of the music. Check out the song "Yeah We Know" for an example of what I'm talking about.
You also need some Sonic Youth in your life. Go for Sister(the subject of my avatar/sig theme) & Daydream Nation for the best classic stuff & grab Murray St. for more recent stuff, easily their best album since Dirty.
The rest of this list is playing off of what you already have. You have a lot of good stuff, but for a lot of bands, you don't have their best stuff. So if you like what you have now, you should definately check out these reccomendations.
Built to Spill - There's nothing wrong with love - Perfect from now on - Ultimate Alternative Wavers
Elliot Smith - Self titled album - X/O
Modest Mouse - Long Drive - Interstate 8 ep (or get the building something out of nothing collection)
My Bloody Valentine - Isn't anything - try to track down all the eps from Isn't anything & loveless, they all have badass songs that can't be found elsewhere. Get that album & those eps & you will have 99% of the MBV that is worth hearing.
Pavement - Slanted & enchanted - Wowie Zowie - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. These are all great & totally destroy any of SM's post pavement work.
Sebadoh - Bakesale
Tortoise - Millions now living will never die - TNT. These are so much better than Standards it isn't even funny.
That is it for now, I hope this helps. I'm going to be out of town for a few days, so I'll see you guys around.
JM
cunning linguist
Pitchfork is redoing their top 100 of the 90s. You could start there, or go to allmusic.com and find similar artists to ones you already like.Originally Posted by Rob
Hurr
Man, I REALLY don't like the updated list. The first one was so much better it isn't even funny.
JM
B Student
Pitchforkmedia gave Reggie and the Full Effect's newest album a 3.7. Bah on them for that.
Just Like Honey
* BARF!!!!*
you literally made me ill with that remark! I would give up one kidney & probably a couple of fingers on my left hand to see that show! MBV twice! Lucky Fucker!
I also agree on dinosaur, I saw them in 97 I think & I was also deaffend for at least 3 days with ear pain for a two weeks too.
So you are from Illinois? I guess you have seen Hum about a million times huh? Poor guys, evey time I see them the opening band blows them out of the water. 1st time with Mercury Rev & 2nd time with Swervedriver!
Do/did you dig Aspera Ad Astra? They came to the town next to me about a year before they put out their first album. They played in Westlake Louisiana at this shitty punk venue, & none of the punks knew what the fuck was going on. (not that it was new to see slack looks on their faces, but I enjoyed it just the same)
Well, list your favorite shoegaze albums & maybe we can expose each other to some new stuff!
JM
Nothing like responding a year later to a post...I guess I missed this the first time around.
Anyways, yeah I've seen Hum many times. They're from Champaign so I've actually met the guys in the band. Actually, the band I was in while in Champaign put out a record on the same label (Mud records) as Honcho Overload, which was basically half of Hum's lineup back in the day. Some other Champaign stuff from that era that people might have actually heard of would include Sarge, Braid, Wolfie, and Menthol.
Don't know Aspera Ad Astra at all, but I'll have to do some digging and check them out.
Most of the stuff in blueskied's list from earlier in the thread is what I listened to in college and still somewhat today, but my tastes lean more towards the pop side of things these days. Shins, Elephant 6, Death Cab for Cutie/Postal Service, B & S, Elliott Smith, Quasi, that kind of stuff. I'm also not nearly as "in the loop" as I used to be, so I'm not as up on current stuff.
Have you heard Sing-Sing? You'd probably dig it. It's Emma Anderson from Lush's new band. Kind of a cross between Lush and Hooverphonic. If you ever had a bit of gothic leaning, the singer sounds a bit like Caroline Crawley from Shelleyan Orphan and This Mortal Coil fame.
I didn't see anyone mention Boo Radleys. 'Everything's All Right Forever' and 'Giant Steps' should be staples of any shoegazer diet. Pale Saints' first 2 albums and early EP's as well.
Let's see...some other stuff that hasn't been mentioned yet...
Ida - very folk-influenced but with a pinch of emo mixed in. Really beautiful guy/girl/girl harmonies. 'I Know About You' is one of my favorite albums.
Broadcast - GREAT band from England. Kind of sound like a 60's girl group on acid. Lots of reverb and weird noises layered on top of sweet pop songs. Highly recommended.
Decemberists - my girlfriend just started getting into them and I'm coming around now. They remind me a lot of Neutral Milk Hotel - the singer's voice and their lyrical themes are similar.
Hurr
Hey
I actually have a Honcho Overload 7", how weird. Braid & Sarge used to come to Lake Charles LA all the time. I've seen Braid twice & Sarge three times. What ever happened to that chick from Sarge?
I have been meaning to pick up Sing Sing, but just Haven't gotten around to it. I do dig the Boo Radleys, & Everything is my favorite album of theirs. I haven't checked out Ida or the Decemberist, so I'll have to do so some time. I do dig Broadcast, the new album is very nice.
How do you like the new Shins record? I just got it this week, & I like it more & more everytime I listen to it. Great stuff.
JM
Just Like Honey
Elizabeth from Sarge is in a band called The Reputation now. They play in and around Chicago fairly often. They sound pretty similar to Sarge. Good pop/punk songs with catchy hooks.
I actually just found the Sing-Sing CD used about 2 months ago and I'm liking it quite a bit. It's more experimental than Lush but you can definitely hear echoes of Lush's songwriting throughout.
For Ida, I'd recommend 'I Know About You' as a starting point. Their older stuff is not as consistent. 'Will You Find Me' is also very good, but much less "rockin", if you can say that about Ida.
Broadcast and The Shins both played in Chicago recently
I'm finding it pretty impossible to get the new Shins album out of my head. It's like 'Oh, Inverted World' all over again where you listen to it multiple times in a day and it's still seems to be playing in the background all the time. My head --->pwned by The Shins.
take some kah!
I just bought the album a second ago!! I can't wait to hear it.
Slicin' up eyeballs.
Anyone like Quasi? And yah, My Bloody Valentine rules...Feed Me With Your Kiss has one of my favorite basslines of all time.
EDIT: I was right, no one mentioned Quasi (well from the third page on), seriously that band is so fucking good. Get anything of Featuring "Birds", there are ten unenjoyable seconds on that album (where it sounds way to Emo for me) the rest is pure gold. I listen to it all the time.
And your sig rules JM, thats my favorite SY song right there. Oh soooo catchy.
I knew he was a commie, cause he didn't drink [duff] beer.
Hurr
Yeah, I dig Quasi, I got into them when their second album came out, the one with the ripped up dollar bills on the front. I also have Featuring Birds, but only on vinyl & my record player is broken right now.
JM
An intruder!
Got a bunch of music from the library.
Most relevantly, I listened to Featuring "Birds." Everything about it sounds fantastic, but I have to try not to pay attention to the lyrics. Pretentious stuff like 'we rock, you're all sad sacks with your workaday lives...you machines!!!!'
I also have Sleater-Kinney's One Beat, because I like the main singer's voice, but I didn't like her punctuated singing style on The Hot Rock. One Beat's about the same, but I can deal with it. I put a few songs on a tape but I probably won't end up buying the CD. Incidentially, Janet Weiss is in both Quasi and Sleater-Kinney. Feisty drums. I think I'm smitten.
I listened to Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism, which is making the rounds on The O.C. I had to listen to it about three times in a row to judge an opinion, which could be either good or bad. I guess half of it rocks, and the other half is fair.
I got Wowee Zowee, since Pavement was mentioned in my results of that indie rock quiz Green posted. I have to admit I never really heard of them until that quiz, but yeah, I think I like them. None of the songs on the CD have any catchy hooks, but I think that also makes it something I can listen to for a very long time.
A bunch of other I've been listening to that I'll just list before I go to sleep:
Gallowsbird's Bark (The Fiery Furnaces)
Pink Flag (Wire)
Chairs Missing (Wire)
Phantom Planet (Phantom Planet)
Ode to Joy (The Deadly Snakes)
Electric Version (The New Pornographers)
Wood/Water (The Promise Ring...getting too emo?)
Entertainment!/Yellow EP (Gang of Four)
Those have all been enjoyable but Sparklehorse's Good Morning Spider, some Idlewild CD, and Wire's Read and Burn #1 EP have been misses. Not good.
can't wake up
Pavement's alright... Slanted and Enchanted is one of the most overrated albums of all time, though. It's really not very good at all. Their later stuff is much better.
fashionable fall headwear
Guess you'd have to be into the whole "lo-fi" thing to really like Slanted (I do). Wowie Zowie (the name of a Frank Zappa song) is ok, I'd rank Slanted, Crooked Rain and Brighten the Corners higher.
pwned by Ivan
metal = rude
I hope you already own thier whole back catalog. Wood/Water is good, but it's nothing compared to 30 Degrees Everywhere, The Horse Latitudes, or Nothing Feels Good. Those are all must haves.
Slicin' up eyeballs.
I fucking love Slanted and Enchanted.
I knew he was a commie, cause he didn't drink [duff] beer.
An intruder!
I was watching Anderson Cooper 360 and in one instance, before a commercial break, they played a portion of that gnarly guitar solo of Marquee Moon. Cool beans.
Slicin' up eyeballs.
Television right?Marquee Moon
I knew he was a commie, cause he didn't drink [duff] beer.
B Student
Yes.
As for me, lately I've been listening to these albums a lot.
Bright Eyes - Lifted
Dismemberment Plan - Emergency and I
The Black Keys - thickfreakness
The Rapture - Echoes
The Good Life - Black Out
and....... that's about it.
I'm starting a radio show on my schools station (which is webcast) and it'll mostly concentrate on indie and older stuff (Dylan, Stones, Beatles etc etc). It starts next Thursday, I can post the link if you guys are interested at all.
Hurr
Yeah, do that.
JM
Please look forward to it!
you're right. we all suck ^.^
i wound up seeing quasi around the time their first record was released. they opened for elliott smith. or was it guided by voices? anyway, i bought their record right after the show. i love that keyboard.
Hurr
The rocksichord! That thing has such a great sound.
Too bad it made the first song on the last Built to Spill album sound like a quasi song. One of the many things that made it the first dissapointing BTS album ever for me.
JM
I like indie rock, but I find it to be a hard scene to get into unless you want to be really into it. I love Modest Mouse and Spoon. I like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Built to Spill. But I usually just don't know where to look.
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