[virometal]

Deleted

 

[jonnyhambone]

A big Yes to Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane, Over the Sea"

Akron/Family - self-titled

Alice Coltrane - "Journey to Sasket...___" (not in heavy rotation, I can't even remember the real title, but I just heard it through phones the other night and...Wow. She, btw, is/was John's wife, played with him at times and is a harpist)

 

[Ttvetjanu]

After a massive change in taste, I'll repost, with newer (better?) opinions:

Shpongle - Are you shpongled?
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

And a few albums that deserved to be in the top 3:
Radiohead - Ok computer
Nightwish - Once
Dj Shadow - Entroducing
Muse - Absolution
Bjork - Homogenic
Tool - Latelralus

In my opinion, all are must buy albums.

 

[twc5964]

Echo & The Bunneymen Heaven Up Here
The Doors Soundtrack
The Fall Live at the Witchtrials (Expanded)

 

[stefan]

Tom Waits: Small Change
The Smiths: Strangeways, Here We Come
The Clean: Vehicle

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stefan The Clean: Vehicle

I love the Clean. Remember their first single "Tally Ho"? One of the lost gems of rock n roll. Not sure they ever really quite matched that level of fun and charm again as they moved more into jangle-rock, but Merge put out a 2-disc anthology that collects all those early songs and it's a great listen. And the second disc has most of Vehicle, and quite a bit from the mid 90s reunion albums too. All the early stuff is pretty lo-fi, but essential nonetheless for any jangle & drone rock fan. Lots of the sound that Yo La Tengo later became (listen to "Point That Thing Somewhere Else"). And blueprints for many other bands, including more recent faves of mine like Life Without Buildings (just listen to the song "Side On"). Highly influential.

A few years ago a buddy from New Zealand sent me a copy of the 1997 solo album from David Kilgour titled David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights (not released in the US) and I loved it so picked up his latest at the time A Feather In The Engine, which is released in the US on Merge. It's one of those albums that I've listened to many, many times over the last few years and it's something that I bet a lot of people would proibably like a lot too. The everpresent VU influence is always there, but not to the point of sounding like them. More like the Feelies and Chills type sound, along with some Eleventh Dream Day maybe. Great guitar work and kind of psychedelic sounding, mixed with that jangle sound of the other bands mentioned above. Kind of along the lines of vintage Steve Wynn, but little softer. Wonderful album. Not one that slaps you in the face and declares its greatness right away, but one that you keep playing long after those others have been forgotten. Similar in some ways to Yo La Tengo (whom they coincidentally thank in the liner notes), which means that much of the influence comes from the quieter side of the Velvet Underground. Very nice recording too.

And then last year he released a new one that's very nice too, Frozen Orange. With the help of my NZ connection I've now managed to get my hands on all his solo work, and this latest one has some of his best music yet....solo, or with the Clean. Top notch all the way through. But so are all of his last few, so it's kind of pointless to rate them against each other. Simply put, if you love the best of bands like Yo La Tengo and Luna and REM and the Feelies and all the other descendants of the softer jangle rock sound of the Velvet Underground, you'll love these records too. His last two are on Merge in the US so are very easy to come by, as opposed to the excellent one before that with the Heavy Eights I mentioned above, which is a NZ import. All have very nice sound as a bonus, especially this latest one, although it is a little too compressed. Lots of cool guitar and dreamy melodies. Only 35 minutes long so I have to play it at least twice. Even has the guys from Lambchop backing him on along with the Heavy Eights crew, and they recorded it down in Nashville.

But if you haven't heard the solo work of Davd Kilgour, look first for a copy of David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights. And if you can't find that then try one of the latest on Merge in the US, although I just checked and the import of that 1997 release does appear to be available from amazon now for regular price. Hmm, that's good news!

 

[stefan]

Hi Davey,
Good to hear of another Clean fan. I also have the early stuff (on "compilation" and "anthology"), but "vehicle" is a just such a gem. The later Clean stuff gets quite quirky, but would recommend "Modern Rock" and "Unknown Country". Still missing "Getaway".
If you like the Clean, try The Bats (led by the Clean's bassist Robert Scott). Can Recommend "Fear of God" and "The Law of Things".
You're right -- the Kilgour solo stuff is great too. I love "Here come the cars" -- which has alot of stuff that was performed live the the Clean when they toured "Vehicle".
I don't have "frozen orange" yet -- I'll order it.... thanks for the tip. "A feather in the engine" is great.

It's amazing how much great music has come out of NZ -- and at how hard it is to find. I use smokecds a lot.
I also like the Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, Verlaines and Tall Dwarfs -- but sadly have most of it on Vinyl and locked away in storage....

Never heard of Yo La Tengo -- am googling now....

Another recommendation -- "Old Enough to Know Better: 15 Years of Merge Records", three CDs of great tunes.

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stefan Hi Davey, Good to hear of another Clean fan. I also have the early stuff (on "compilation" and "anthology"), but "vehicle" is a just such a gem. The later Clean stuff gets quite quirky, but would recommend "Modern Rock" and "Unknown Country". Still missing "Getaway".

Hey, thanks for all the cool info stefan. Modern Rock was actually my first Clean full length. I had an early vinyl collection that I'd nabbed somewhere along the line but never saw anything else in my US shopping until that one. I think David Kilgour and Yo La Tengo have been playing together a lot in recent times. I haven't heard that last "Getaway" either, but I do know that Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley play guitar on a couple of the tracks. Lot's of sympatico in their sound. If you want a rec either go with "Electr-o-pura" or "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One", both big all time favorites of mine that seem like shoe-ins for you. And Luna's "Bewitched" or "Penthouse" have a lot of that same droney and dreamy sound. And Dean Wareham's seminal college band Galaxie 500. "On Fire" is a minor classic. And recently American Analog Set with "Know by Heart" or "Promise of Love". And Electrelane's "The Power Out" from a couple years ago has a lot of that Feelies feel to it, but from the view of four Brighton ladies under the guidance of producer Steve Albini. Very cool. The new one this year is a little more experimental and doesn't have quite that immediacy of the last one. Better stop now, but guess we could both probably go on all day, huh?

But yeah, tons of great stuff out there right now and in the recent past for lovers of that sound. Thanks for the recs. I was just recently looking into the Tall Dwarfs but didn't come away with anything yet. Any favorites?

 

[Shoewreck]

Einsturzende neubauten - Silence is sexy
Jaco Pastorius - Word of mouth
Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong - Porgy and Bess

 

[Squeek]

It lives!!

Buena Vista Social Club
Jem - Finally Woken
Nick Drake - Pink Moon

 

[BillC]

Not necessarily my three favorite albums, but they need to be heard:

King Crimson: Court of the Crimson King
Joy Division: Substance
David Sylvian: The Good Son versus the Only Daughter

 

[stefan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davey But yeah, tons of great stuff out there right now and in the recent past for lovers of that sound. Thanks for the recs. I was just recently looking into the Tall Dwarfs but didn't come away with anything yet. Any favorites?

Davey,
For Tall Dwarfs, try "Weeville". I confess - it's the only one of their's that I have, but I love it. VERY quirky in parts, but there are some parts of it where they break into fine folk/pop. I only have it on vinyl, and am hunting it on CD.
One day I'll get around to doing a big order on smokecds.com, an NZ site.

Thanks for the Yo La Tengo recommendations... they have been Amazon'd!!
regards, stefan