[Braver]

I'm heavily into Aimee Mann ever since it got a lot of mentions in the best-of-2002 thread, and the Uncut a couple of months back with the free singer/songwriter CD only made me more interested in the genre. but there's just too much, and too much good stuff out there for me to make any sense of it.

what attracts me to Aimee's music, is the honesty and overall quality of the lyrics, and I guess the slightly depressed nature of most of the music, and the great production.

so what else is good? I bet there are Head-Fiers who are knowlegable on this matter. I think I prefer the female voiced ones better, but as little a fan of Jewel as I am of Leonard Cohen.

opinions, recommendations or even sites dedicated to the subject-matter, are all highly welcome!

 

[markl]

Lucinda Williams-- Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Country tinged rock chick or rockin' country chick take your pick. Either way killer songs, a soon-to-be considered classic.

Joni Mitchell-- start with Blue, then Court and Spark, look for the remastered HDCD editions. This will blow your mind.

American Music Club-- San Francisco or Mercury. Very depressing boozy stuff, well produced.

Bob Dyaln-- Blonde on Blonde SACD, or Blood on the Tracks

Beth Orton-- Central Reservation. Very sad longing female vocals with some elements of trip hop in the background.

Nick Drake-- pick up the newly remastered Way to Blue collection. This stuff will change your life.

Van Morrison-- Best of re-mastered. Profound Irish singer-songwriter, proves white people can have soul.

Tom Waits-- Beautiful Maladies collection. An acquired taste, but once you're in, you're IN.

Indigo Girls-- Retrospective. Folk harmonies to die for, great production on their records.

Elliot Smith-- Figure 8. Very sad contemporary singer/songwriter.

Elvis Costello-- start with 2Cd best of recently remastered. Big influence on Mann, he wrote a song for her.

Tom McRae-- self-titled debut. Chilling spooky haunted stuff, great atmosphere.

Damien Jurado-- Ghost of David. Unbearably sad stuff, maintains an almost oppressive downbeat mood throughout. Takes a dozen listens to get through the whole thing, but very rewarding.

Sam Phillips-- Omnipop. Very similar sound to Mann same production style. She has a great voice that sounds so defeated and yet wicked at the same time. Very caustic lyrics, if you like Mann, you should like this too.

That ought ta get you strated. If you can elaborate on what you're looking for, I can make more suggestions.

Mark

Mark

 

[blessingx]

Cesaria Evora- The Very Best, Self-Titled
Everything But The Girl (well a band)- Amplified Heart
Gillian Welch- Time (The Revelator), Soul Journey
Hem- Rabbit Songs
Kate Rusby- Ten, Little Lights
Lucinda Williams- Carwheels On A Gravel Road, Essence
Norah Jones- You Know
Shelby Lynn- I Am
Sinead O'Connor- I Do Not Want...

Start with Kate.

Double the Tom Waits. My suggestion Mule Variations, then work backwards. Or markl's suggestion, then work forward.

And opening it up to men/other groups-
Ass Ponies- Some Stupid With A Flare Gun
Billy Bragg and Wilco- Mermaid Avenue 1
Clem Snide- Ghost of Fashion
Jack Logan & Bob Kimbell- Woodshedding
Jayhawks- Hollywood Town Hall (recommended with reservations)
John Lennon- Plastic Ono Band
Paul Simon- 1964/1993 Boxed Set Sampler or "The Graduate" soundtrack
Ryan Adams- Heartbreaker
Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band- The Mountain
Whiskeytown- Pneumonia

 

[carlo]

Braver,

To second some of Mark's recomendations:

Lucinda Williams - If you like Mann during moments of sorrow with a twist (ie Frankenstein, te entire Magnolia Soundtrack, etc) Lucinda Williams is right up your alley. Imagine Aimee Mann singing about drunk boyfriends. Also, you know your system is bad when she sounds like Sheryl Crow

Tom Waits - I suggest you start with Closing Time. If you don't like Cohen's voice you'll hate Waits' late stuff. The booze and cigarettes haven't caught up on this debut. Greatest Songwriter Ever.

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks. His biggest heart break album, also his most accessible.

Elvis Costello - I suggest My Aim is True. I think "Imagination Is a Powerful Deceiver" sounds like the first half of the song he cowrote with Mann, "Fall of the World's Own Optimist."

Joni makes Aimee sound broken.

And one big one to add (the first person I would recommend):

Jonathan Richman - The Rounder Collection/Best Of is the best place to start since much of his stuff is hard to find. Clever, atypical songwriting. Hell of a voice. If you want to trip out pick up Modern Lovers - Live if you can find it, this is a much younger Richman at lead with his too often overlooked Punk/Rock and Roll band.

If you can get it, Having a Party with Jonathan Richman and Jonathan Richman Sings are both great albums. But the Rounder collection is can't miss in my opinion.

 

[Braver]

Quote:

Originally posted by carlo Also, you know your system is bad when she sounds like Sheryl Crow

well, now that you mention it ...

Quote:

Joni makes Aimee sound broken.

that a good or a bad thing? anyway, yeah, I like Joni. especially River, from Blue. I guess I'm justa sucker for melancholy, what with Wise Up and It's Not being my favourites of Aimee (have yet to pick a favourite from Bachelor #2).

so far, thanks for the recommendations! listening to some dowloaded tracks now, gonna see if I can pick one or two CDs up later today. keep em coming if you got more!

 

[Newbiez]

Jeff Buckley
Tim Buckley
Bright Eyes

 

[Braver]

bought:

Lucinda Williams - Essence. only one they had, but the one I wanted anyway. I guess it's bleaker and less country than her other stuff, but it's just straight up my alley.

Nick Drake - Pink Moon. wow, only three albums....well, I guess that's one way to become legendary

.

both we're cheap, so I'll calculate my finances and perhaps make a trip to some more serious recordshops later this week.

 

[FalconP]

You may as well give Laura Nyro a try. While some of her lyrics may be a bit opaque, she nevertheless bares her soul in some of her songs (e.g When I Die where she talks about her impending mortality). I recommend her double live set, The Loom's Desire,released posthumously.

Not exactly a song writer, but I'm very impressed by how June Tabor interprets songs -- with her dramatic way of carrying a song, the turbulent emotions and the irony in the lyrics are mercilessly brought to the fore. Some of her albums suffer from bad song selection, but Angel Tiger is simply stunning.

 

[markl]

Quote:

Nick Drake - Pink Moon. wow, only three albums....well, I guess that's one way to become legendary

Braver, this is special special stuff. Just Nick and his amazing guitar playing. Skeletal, dark, harrowing stuff. Play it infrequently as a special treat, you won't want to burn out on this, it's too good. He died (probably took his own life), a year after these recordings. His other albums are more melancholy and wistful, often with strings in the background. Go to "Bryter Layter" next. Hope you got the 24-bit re-mastered version, its breathtaking. Cheers.

Mark

 

[Braver]

yep, 24 bit.

I'll be carefull with it

 

[MaxHeifetz]

How about trying Jim Crochie on for size? Time in a Bottle, Cats in the Cradle, and Bad, Bad Leroy Brown are all classics.

Oh yeah, I scrolled up and down and saw that nobody recommended Billy Joel.

 

[arnett]

i'll recommend something out of left field. it seems you may not really want a 'traditional' singer/songwriter type based on the fact that you mentioned jewel (she's a pop star, IMO).

you mention you like the depressing nature of lost in space (i'm there with you, brother). perhaps you're looking for a writer with some 'self-esteem' issues.

if that's the case, then i recommend juliana hatfield. but keep in mind she is an alternative rock chick and not a 'folkie.' actually, juliana sang back-up on several aimee mann albums.

most of juliana's stuff is up-tempo. unlike aimee, juliana really rocks. but she's always doubting herself.
for example, take the lyric on "ugly:"
Quote:

i'm ugly / with a capital U and i don't need a mirror / to see that it's true

but not everyone likes her voice. it’s similar to aimee's but a bit higher pitched. and her early stuff is on mammoth records and may be hard to find.

i like her hey babe (1992) album best, but become what you are (1993) is great as well. i haven't heard her newer stuff.

and 'everybody loves me but you' (the first single from 'hey babe') has the distinction of being THE song from my college daze. i worked at WIUS, the student-run radio station at Indiana University , in the spring of 1992 when 'hey babe' came out. i played that song to death on the air. man, that was a best time period of my life.

 

[fractus2]

The Best of Cold Blood is a great album. I like Lydia Pense's vocals and seeing them in concert years back helps in the music appreciation.

Also would recommend Seawind or Pauline Wilson's Intuition (lead singer to Seawind).

 

[Braver]

Quote:

Originally posted by arnett it seems you may not really want a 'traditional' singer/songwriter type based on the fact that you mentioned jewel (she's a pop star, IMO).

the first part may very well be true, since Aimee Mann isn't kisted on AMG as a typical s/s artists. I'm definately no fan of Jewel tho (sorry if that was unclear)..

I'll check your recommendation out, sounds good

 

[arnett]

Braver,

wasn't it you who bought 'jazz samba' on my recommendation?