If I like these......who else who is there?

[Wild Frank]

Hi guys. I'm looking for a bit of inspiration with regards good bands/artists to start exploring. On the basis of the below list of my favourites, what records do you think I should pick up next? Any recommendations (artist and specific records) are much appreciated.

 

* M. Ward

* Lambchop

* Wilco

* Decemberists

* Sparklehorse

* Micah P. Hinson

* My Morning Jacket

[lizish]

Trying for some off beat suggestions:

 

Sparklehorse -----> 13ghosts from Mississippi (or alabama - I forget). Love this band and is a fantastic album. In fact I'm loving everything on Fat Possum records - especially 13ghosts and Vulture Whale.

 

for Lampchop ----> The Heroes are Horses. Another southern band and old board member Gato's brother is the main guy. Gato's brother was actually in one of the Lampchop incarnations at some point. Their last album Red Baton is incredible.

 

 

M Ward - That's kinda tough. I have to think back to like Leon Redbone or Richard Thompson, but Ward is so unique, those two don't really fit.

 

 

Sorry, hate the Decemberists. They whine and don't sing.

[Wild Frank]

Trying for some off beat suggestions:

 

Sparklehorse -----> Colour Revolt from Mississippi (or alabama - I forget). Love this band and Plunder Beg and Curse is a fantastic album. In fact I'm loving everything on Fat Possum records - especially Colour Revolt and Vulture Whale.

 

for Lampchop ----> The Heroes are Horses. Another southern band and old board member Gato's brother is the main guy. Gato's brother was actually in one of the Lampchop incarnations at some point. Their last album Red Baton is incredible.

 

 

M Ward - That's kinda tough. I have to think back to like Leon Redbone or Richard Thompson, but Ward is so unique, those two don't really fit.

 

 

Sorry, hate the Decemberists. They whine and don't sing.

 

Thanks for that. I'll try to check some of those out. Whilst I disagree, I respect your hatred of the Decemberists. They do seem to spilt opinion sonewhat!

[lizish]

Thanks for that. I'll try to check some of those out. Whilst I disagree, I respect your hatred of the Decemberists. They do seem to spilt opinion sonewhat!

 

Yeah - they really do don't they? If it's not Pirates, it's Prog rock, which further turned me away. But I understand that people do love them.

[PopTodd]

I'll assume that you're already heard

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea?

A stone-cold classic that should fall smack-dab into the middle of your tastes, as defined by the bands, above. If not, remedy that NOW!

 

Let's see...

The Format - Dog Problems

A perfect pop record with one impeccable pop song after the next. All are bittersweet, though, so the cavities shouldn't be that deep.

 

And, my standard recommendation:

Joe Pisapia - Daydreams

The sometime member of Guster released the best album of the '00s. And this is it.

 

Another one...

Pugwash - Earworm

A few pedal steel guitars decorate yet more sweet, minor-key pop songs, drenched in reverb.

 

And,

Bob Elliott - Simple Machines

Listen to the samples at the CD Baby page that's linked, above and tell me if that's the kind of think you're looking for. I think that it might be.

[Wild Frank]

I'll assume that you're already heard

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea?

A stone-cold classic that should fall smack-dab into the middle of your tastes, as defined by the bands, above. If not, remedy that NOW!

 

Let's see...

The Format - Dog Problems

A perfect pop record with one impeccable pop song after the next. All are bittersweet, though, so the cavities shouldn't be that deep.

 

And, my standard recommendation:

Joe Pisapia - Daydreams

The sometime member of Guster released the best album of the '00s. And this is it.

 

Another one...

Pugwash - Earworm

A few pedal steel guitars decorate yet more sweet, minor-key pop songs, drenched in reverb.

 

And,

Bob Elliott - Simple Machines

Listen to the samples at the CD Baby page that's linked, above and tell me if that's the kind of think you're looking for. I think that it might be.

Thanks for that. I have 'Aeroplane' and love it (If somewhat intense!!) but have never ventured any further with NMH. Is their other album worth picking up?

[PopTodd]

Thanks for that. I have 'Aeroplane' and love it (If somewhat intense!!) but have never ventured any further with NMH. Is their other album worth picking up?

 

YES!

I actually owned On Avery Island first... before they released Aeroplane, and had to grow into the second one, because Ioved the first one so much. Now I like Aeroplane better, but the first album is still outstanding. If you love their sound, you'll love both albums.

[Good Old Neon]

 

[people are leaving]

I love that Joe Pisapia record. (Dancing Partner kills me every time) The NMH record has grown somewhat thin over the last 10 years or so.

 

Wild Frank - if you're interested I have an 80 minute Best-of Comp of both M.Ward & Sparklehorse.

[jakobnicholas]

I could list many, but here's 10 I'm glad are in my cd collection:

 

 

The Sadies - "Tremendous Efforts" (A great American-sounding cd)

 

OP8 (Lisa Germano, Howe Gelb, Joey Burns, John Convertino) - "Slush" (This would be a great start to delving into solo works by Lisa Germano and Burns/Convertino....i.e. Calexico)

 

Split Lip Rayfield - "In the Mud" (This is a rock/punk band from Lawrence that plays acoustic instruments in an almost bluegrass fashion. This is arguably their best...."Never Make it Home a very close 2nd.)

 

Richard Buckner - "Devotion and Doubt" (One of many great discs he's made. This one is more acoustic and dark. "Impasse" is another of his...it's more pop-sounding.)

 

Honeydogs - "Seen a Ghost" (A very easy-to-digest "alt-country" and/or pop record.)

 

Freedy Johnston - "This Perfect World" (a solid album...a couple songs were in the movie 'Kingpin')

 

Mercury Rev - "Deserter's Songs" (an all-time classic cd)

 

Okkervil River - "Don't Fall in Love With Everything You See" (another band with many good albums...this is more "alt-countryish" than thier more recent pop/rock-sounding discs)

 

Victoria Williams - "Loose" (One of my all-time favorite discs. She gets help from many on the disc, including Dave Pirner, the Jayhawks and Peter Buck)

 

Vic Chesnutt - "West of Rome" (His voice is an acquired taste, but this is first record, and maybe his best.)

[people are leaving]

 

The Sadies - "Tremendous Efforts" (A great American-sounding cd)

 

....so good !

 

 

Richard Buckner - "Devotion and Doubt" (One of many great discs he's made. This one is more acoustic and dark. "Impasse" is another of his...it's more pop-sounding.)

 

....classic rick buckner. I would put this one baby step behind Since.

 

 

Vic Chesnutt - "West of Rome" (His voice is an acquired taste, but this is first record, and maybe his best.)

 

 

...another good choice. I toggle between this and The Salesman & Bernadette as his best.

[Lodestar]

I love this thread... Probably going to pick up 4-5 of the albums mentioned if I can find them.

 

I second (or third?) what's been said about Richard Buckner. I listened to his first record, Bloomed, on the way to work today for the first time in a while, and remembered exactly why he took over my life last winter. It's a much more country-sounding affair than his later work, but still extremely dark and brooding. I'd rank it right up there with Devotion and Doubt, which is also an incredibly moving record. My next favourites are probably Since, which has a bit more rock and roll on it, and his latest, Meadow. One of my fave songwriters for sure.

 

I'd also give Richmond Fontaine a shot if you haven't already. Like Lambchop, it's pretty minimal in terms of arrangements and melodies, but songwriter Willy Vlautin has a real knack for telling stories in song. It's maybe how you'd imagine Raymond Carver or Ernest Hemingway would sound if they recorded a folk album. Vlautin is actually a very good (and pretty well-published) fiction writer himself. Anyway, my faves are The Fitzgerald and Thirteen Cities.

[people are leaving]

I'd also give Richmond Fontaine a shot if you haven't already. Willy Vlautin has a real knack for telling stories in song. It's maybe how you'd imagine Raymond Carver or Ernest Hemingway would sound if they recorded a folk album. Vlautin is actually a very good (and pretty well-published) fiction writer himself. Anyway, my faves are The Fitzgerald and Thirteen Cities.

Nice to see some Richmond Fontaine love round these parts. The Raymond Carver comparison is dead-on. I'd like to add John Fante to the mix as well. I recently read both of Willy's novels, Northline (which comes with an instrumental soundtrack of acoustic guitar & pedal steel) & The Motel Life. His first, The Motel Life was a great read, and apparently is being made into a movie.

[Lodestar]

The Motel Life was a great read, and apparently is being made into a movie.

 

Wow, I didn't know that. I read that book in about a couple days and loved it. Just lent it to one of my old writing teachers, actually. I ordered Northline a couple weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived yet.

 

I've ordered all my Richmond Fontaine CDs from the band's website (10 bucks a pop, including shipping) and the last one came with a personalized Oregon postcard from Willy Vlautin, where he reminisced about a Vancouver writers festival and said it was great to hear from me again and "hope you like this one." And the funniest part of that is the fact that so many of his songs are written kind of (or directly) postcard-style, and I could imagine exactly what he'd sound like reading the letter... Anyway, I thought it was cool that he recognized me as a repeat buyer. Hope they tour around here sometime.

[Wild Frank]

Wow, I didn't know that. I read that book in about a couple days and loved it. Just lent it to one of my old writing teachers, actually. I ordered Northline a couple weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived yet.

 

I've ordered all my Richmond Fontaine CDs from the band's website (10 bucks a pop, including shipping) and the last one came with a personalized Oregon postcard from Willy Vlautin, where he reminisced about a Vancouver writers festival and said it was great to hear from me again and "hope you like this one." And the funniest part of that is the fact that so many of his songs are written kind of (or directly) postcard-style, and I could imagine exactly what he'd sound like reading the letter... Anyway, I thought it was cool that he recognized me as a repeat buyer. Hope they tour around here sometime.

Northline is a great read aswell. The copy I read (from my local library in Shrewsbury!) has a CD with it of music Willy had written inspired by the book.

 

I'm interested to find out more about Vic Chestnutt. He did a song on the Sparklehorse/Dangermouse album which I loved. I'll Check out that recommendation.

[Wild Frank]

I love that Joe Pisapia record. (Dancing Partner kills me every time) The NMH record has grown somewhat thin over the last 10 years or so.

 

Wild Frank - if you're interested I have an 80 minute Best-of Comp of both M.Ward & Sparklehorse.

Sounds interesting. Do you have anything on those comps that not readily available? Both M.Ward and Sparklehorse are genius.

[people are leaving]

the last one came with a personalized Oregon postcard from Willy Vlautin, where he reminisced about a Vancouver writers festival and said it was great to hear from me again and "hope you like this one."

.....very nice

 

And the funniest part of that is the fact that so many of his songs are written kind of (or directly) postcard-style, and I could imagine exactly what he'd sound like reading the letter...

...couldn't agree more

[people are leaving]

Sounds interesting. Do you have anything on those comps that not readily available? Both M.Ward and Sparklehorse are genius.

 

Agreed

 

To answer your question, no.

The songs were culled from 4-5 proper releases of each artist.

[lizish]

Agreed

 

To answer your question, no.

The songs were culled from 4-5 proper releases of each artist.

 

I'd be interested in the Sparklehorse one. I don't have all the cds.

[Wild Frank]

I'd be interested in the Sparklehorse one. I don't have all the cds.

In terms of Sparklehorse I would definatly check out 'Vivadixiesubmarinetranmissionplot'. Its a classic album. 'Good Morning Spider' and 'Its a wonderful life' are also worth looking for.

[PopTodd]

Taking another risk that you may have heard this classic...

To scratch your MMJ psychedelic itch:

The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators

[Wild Frank]

You guys are gonna cost me some money!! Some great recommendations. I'm gonna pick up that 'Mile Benjamin Anothony Robinson' record on the basis of that album cover alone!!. Another band people are always recommending to me are 'The National'. Any views of them out there?

[people are leaving]

In terms of Sparklehorse I would definatly check out 'Vivadixiesubmarinetranmissionplot'. Its a classic album.

If I had to pick just one, it would be that. I remember hearing it for the first time years ago and being blown away. What a great listening experience.

 

 

'Good Morning Spider' and 'Its a wonderful life' are also worth looking for.

Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain is another worth checking out

[people are leaving]

If anyone would like a Sparklehorse comp, or anything else for that matter, please shoot me a PM and I'll get it out later this evening, or most likely tomorrow in the a.m.

[lizish]

You guys are gonna cost me some money!! Some great recommendations. I'm gonna pick up that 'Mile Benjamin Anothony Robinson' record on the basis of that album cover alone!!. Another band people are always recommending to me are 'The National'. Any views of them out there?

 

Excellent band - probably the best indie out there at the moment. There is a lot of both Nick Cave and Tindersticks in the sound and they have have 2 sets of Twins (or a least brothers) backing up Matt Berringer. It makes for a rhythm section that is extremely tight and very unconventional. Youtubes of 'So Far around the bend' on Jimmy Fallon and the song 'Daughter of the Sojo Riots' will blow you away.