Looking for New Tunes (or good old ones)
Posted By Kathleen David on August 10, 2006
I have been trying to find some new artists that I might like. I have picked up some sound tracks and compilations and found a few but I thought I would throw it out to the group for ideas.
Groups and Stuff I like (in an order that only makes sense to me)
Beatles
Simon and Garfunkle
Rolling Stones
ELO
BTO
Styx
Depeche Mode
Pet Shop Boys
Duran Duran
Fine Young Cannibals
The Cure
U2
David Bowie
Peter Gabriel
They Might be Giants
Weird Al
Broadway show tunes
Dead Can Dance
Enya
Emerald Rose
The Chieftains
Tom Petty
80s skinny tie music
Most Celtic music
So given that any suggestions?
I am grateful for any suggestions I get.
Give the following a try, based on your love for the iconic ’80s bands:
The Killers
Interpol
Bloc Party
She Wants Revenge
Radio 4
The Bravery
Arctic Monkeys
Kaiser Chiefs
Off-hand, I’d add The Sounds, Wheatus, The Lovemakers, and The Presidents of the United States of America to that list.
Also, I’ve found a lot of neat stuff playing around with Pandora.com, you might want to set up a few stations by bunches some of the groups you listed (although not as effective with musicians like Weird Al and They Might Be Giants, deals more with musical similarities than lyrical ones)
Mercy Me
Rush (mostly newer releases)(based on Styx, U2, Petty, Bowie)
Charlotte Church (know that I spelled first name wrong)
This isn’t quite in the same style as most of the people you mentioned, but I’d certainly recommend Dar Williams — great songwriter, fabulous voice, and a quirky sense of humor I think you’d appreciate.
For Celtic stuff … if you’ve never tried Loreena McKennitt, do.
And given that you like Styx and ELO, I’d say overblown theatrical styles are good (and I do mean that in a positive way) — ever tried Emerson, Lake and Palmer? The song “Pirates”, IMO, is absolutely stunning.
TWL
I urge The Pixies on everyone I know, though some of their tunes are very much an acquired taste.
Big Star
Bjork
The Magnetic Fields
Mazzy Star
Journey
the best song I’ve listened to in the last few months would be the remake of Gram Parsons “Hickory Wind” by Bob Mould and Vic Chestnutt. It made me go and dig up more of Parson’s stuff (“Love Hurts” with Emmylou Harris will make a grown man weep).
If you can find it, there’s also a great tribute album of artists doing versions of the aforementioned Vic Chestnutt (Sweet Relief 2)
Squeeze. (Argy Bargy and Cool For Cats–great, great albums)
One last suggestion– go to http://www.pandora.com/ The idea here is you tell them your favorite band and they generate a playlist of songs that you can listen to and rate. Supposedly, after a while it gets better and better at finding artists that you are likely to enjoy. So far it’s done a pretty good job of keeping me entertained.
Try; ‘Nouvelle Vague’ covers of 80’s punk bands by laid back parisians. Also Madeleine Peyroux.
The Cruxshadows sound kind of like a crossbreeding of Depeche Mode and some Celtic music. A friend introduced them to me recently, and I like them.
Phil Roy has a solid contempory folksy style and solid imagery and storytelling ability.
Two Skinny Dorks are virtually unknown but travel the small venue circuit. They don’t take themselves too seriously, but have a way with words, have a few tunes about love and attempting to impress others, but go for self deprecation and the absurdity of taking things too seriously. The duo are just plain fun.
The Good Will Hunting soundtrack remains one of my favorite discs. A nice combination of music and artists, introspective, and a nice beginner’s collection of Elliot Smith.
Hmmm. I second the group Squeeze. They have some great pop songs. Sort of McCartneyesque at times.
If you are a Weird Al fan, then you should try out Neil Innes. Neil was a member of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band in the late 60’s. He later wrote all of the songs for THE RUTLES. There are two RUTLES cds out there that are a blast to hear. Neil did a new album last year called WORKS IN PROGRESS that is less humourous, but is amazing.
Ones that spring to mind:
Kirsty MacColl
The Divine Comedy
Voice of the Beehive
XTC
I second Mark’s rec of Kirsty MacColl. Get the album KITE. How “What do pretty girls do” mangaed NOT to be a hit single is a mystery to me.