Not to be confused with Lucero, the Mexican Soap Actress/Singer.
Posted on 01/07/2014 7:02:12 AM PST by Notary Sojac
This thread had its genesis in this one -
Millenial's Music Taste (vanity). Whats wrong with your generation?
- where a few of us made the case for really good music being made in the 21st century by artists who aren't retreads from the boomer era or earlier. It's a mission of mine to try to get my fellow boomers to break that fixation with the "oldies station" and listen to some new stuff.
I plan to make the case for a few artists here, and hope that more Freepers will chime in.
Please do so!! Give us a little info about the contemporary artists you like, with an album or track recommendation.
My tastes run to bluegrass, blues, swing, and what's now called "Americana", but any genre is welcome here. Except techno. Post any dance/techno recommends and you'll earn the Sojac raspberry!
To kick off:
Eleni Mandell is, like many of my favorite artists, not easily slotted into a genre. She has done country, pop, straight ahead rock, and classic '40s style lounge singing. But in every style her hooks are memorable and her lyrics witty.
Recommended album to start with: Miracle of Five, tracks "Moonglow, Lamp Low" and "Somebody Else".
Chatham County Line is a bluegrass outfit out of North Carolina. Straight up, tight bluegrass harmonies with a minimum of twang.
Recommended album to start with: Speed of the Whippoorwill, title track and "Coming Home".
Dave Alvin was, with his brother Phil, a founding member of The Blasters, the greatest roots rock group you've never heard of. Although his career with that group goes back to the eighties, most of his good solo material is post-2000. Dave perfectly rides the boundary between garage rock and country, a real sweet spot for me.
Recommended album to start with: Blackjack David, tracks "Abilene" and "New Highway".
That warms my heart and my old calluses!
Beautifully stated friend.
They are a kind of 70’s funk. Loads of fun too!
To me that's almost like saying we should open our minds to being more like Pajama Boy. Of course if this is the kind of music you grew up on, I can understand it a little more. Then again, I'm a big 50s oldies fan, but was barely born when it began.
I will check them out... thanks.
The Drive By Truckers are outstanding. I saw a Patterson Hood solo show (though with two band members backing him) in a club last year, and despite the small crowd he gave it his all. Also saw club shows by Alejandro Escovedo, the Old 97s, and Lucero that really rocked the roots music.
Sort of yes and and sort of no. Part of it is a matter of timing because I put a couple of years wallowing in fastfood inbetween high school and college so I’ve got two “last year”s. My musical taste is very broad, but I can trace everything I listen to really to Jr High, I can make that chain of: listening to this band left me open to this band, to this band, to this band, to desperately hoping Nick Cave swings into Arizona on his west coast tour this year.
Part of it is because I’ve always been very referential in my entertainment. If I hear the director of a movie I like was heavily influenced by this other movie I MUST watch the other movie, and then if I get a list of other movies influenced by it I’ll watch them too. I’m that way in music and books too. Which is part of why I’m always listening to new stuff, what I grew up on is influencing artists today, and I want to hear what they’re doing with it. This of course is why I can always draw that chain. It helps that I’ve always had (and tried to be) friends that say “well if you like that you should check this out”. That was the great part about exchanging tapes back in the day, we’d record the requested album but then we’d fill the empty space with something else, conceptually related by not tightly tied. I also get a lot of musical taste from soundtrack albums, I get it for one or two songs and then other bands on there draw my interest, The Sopranos soundtracks gave me a LOT of music.
Kind of how I feel about Radiohead.....Just shut up and sing, Thom.
Ping
The ChristianHardRock site also has other channels of Classic and Praise.
Buena Vista Social Club “Buena Vista Social Club”
Kronos Quartet “Caravan”
Seu Jorge “The Life Aquatic” (studio sessions)
“The Tango Project”
Gipsy Kings “Amor”
All good stuff.
Speaking for myself, a child of the ‘80s, thanks to the net, I’ve discovered a lot of Alan Parsons stuff I didn’t know existed back then. Especially “The Time Machine”. I’ve also tried to keep up with Rush, Saga, Kansas, Boston (until Scholz went leftie insane), Yes, King Crimson, and the other usual prog suspects.
This in addition to Christian acts such as Kerry Livgren (who I hope is doing well), etc.
Things I’ve found myself enjoying in recent years (in no particular order or genre)
Dream Theater (Progressive, often heavy)
Kamelot (Poetry for the Poisoned)
Anberlin
Neal Morse/Transatlantic (christian prog, as recommended by another freeper, found myself liking it a great deal)
Work of Art/Lionville (Euro 80’s style melodic rock)
Ayreon (Euro prog/sci-fi/metal/???)
Sarah Brightman (classical/’pop’era)
Andrea Bocelli (more classical/etc)
Anyway, I’m sure most/all of that it outside most listener’s interest areas, but you asked...
By the way, I’ve often thought it might be fun to have a weekly ‘what are you listening to this week’ thread, or maybe a music ping list, I dunno, just thinking. I should know better than that.
Regards,
Lucero is the best live band around, IMO.
Coming of age in the 80s when there was a lot of music I didn’t like (and good stuff too) I back tracked to classic rock, and still have my roots there. But a lot of what I wound up listening to was classic rock era but not classic rock popularity, I got very heavily into prog and metal and went off into the obscurata of the era.
I think the fact that I separated myself from my era so young set me up to continue to explore. I’m not tied to the era that was popular when I was in high school because I didn’t like it, when I was listening to new music then it was new wave and punk, if I was listening to something popular it had probably been popular when I was 6. Which feeds into my ability to find good music in any era, it might have only sold 100 copies when it was new but that doesn’t mean I won’t find it eventually. Also helps I work in software and get to listen to music all day long, and work with odd people that will bring thumb drives over for no good reason.
Good grief! Yet you consider this thing you linked to good music?? It sounds like cheap video game music. But then "to each his own" as they say.
Babylon Of The Occident - The Shanghai Restoration Project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSHTEH1kT1A
Not to be confused with Lucero, the Mexican Soap Actress/Singer.
Two blues recommendations: Popa Chubby (electric) and Kelly Joe Phelps (acoustic)
You are comparing apples to rocks and you come off as a clown.
Saying people who listen to new music or try new music ( again - the subject is MUSIC ) are just like political liberals or progressives is total BS.
Do you even read what you write on this thread?
No one on this new ping list dedicated to new music gives a sh-t about your head in the sand attitude to music.
Robbie Fulks is pretty darn good too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vVJ2Om-QVg
Well, you just came off like a complete j-off who doesn’t know the first thing about good music by recommending that bizarre crap you just did.
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