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Who are the bands whose new albums you will ALWAYS buy?


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Okay, so this is a Wilco board, so I know that we're gonna get a lot of folks saying "Wilco" in here, but other than them...

These are the bands who may be in a rut or past their peak or whatever, but something about them compels you to get their newest album because, even if they ARE in a rut or past their peak, somehow their albums are always satisfying to you. And it always makes you happy to hear something new from them.

 

Me:
Martin Newell/Cleaners From Venus

He's been putting out basically the same record for the last 20 years or so; longer if you don't count the changes to his sound made strictly through virtue in improvements in home recording technology. Still, it's like a great burger or pizza or something, even lesser Martin is satisfying. He's comfort food.

 

Tom Zé

He is the opposite of Martin Newell, not comfort food, but always challenging and stimulating. Even at his worst, Tom Zé is ALWAYS interesting at the very least. But, usually, he's far better than that. Even after 50 years of putting out records, and nearly 80 years on the planet, he finds new ways to surprise and delight me. A new Tom Zé record is always cause for rejoicing in my world.

 

Cate Le Bon

Hasn't been around long enough to hit a lull or be past her peak, but each time she has something new, I feel compelled to go out and get it. Even if she's only the producer and not the artist (like on the new H Hawkline) or if it's a collaborative side project (like with DRINKS). She hasn't disappointed me yet. Probably my favorite artist that has emerged since the turn of the millennium.

 

You got some?

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None. I have some that I bought faithfully over the years, but then they reached a point where there might be a couple of clunkers in a row. At that point I have generally stopped buying and don't buy the next until I hear something I want to listen to again.

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I'm including only active bands/artists (sorry GBV):

 

Yo La Tengo

Drive-By Truckers

Stephen Malkmus

The Mountain Goats

Richard Thompson

Spoon

Radiohead

Superchunk

and, of course, Wilco.

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And I was just reminded:

Although after only one album and a couple of singles (their second full album comes out in April), it's still too early to completely commit, but if Fumaça Preta keeps it up, I will absolutely be as devoted to them as to the other artists that I named in the first post of this thread.
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Come to think of it, there aren't as many as I thought (excluding Wilco):

 

 

Warren Haynes

 

An old friend of mine works for Warren's label and had VIP tix waiting for us in Denver last month for his show but it got cancelled due to some family emergency, I guess. Hope all is ironed out on his/his band's front....

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British Sea Power

Teenage Fanclub

Superchunk

Grandaddy

Stephen Malkmus/Pavement

Wilco

Spoon

Yo La Tengo

Fugazi

Sebadoh

Mudhoney

Bob Mould

Pearl Jam

Sloan

Cracker

Bonnie Prince Billy

New Pornographers

The Dears

Buzzcocks

Built To Spill

...Trail of Dead

Sleater-Kinney

The Walkmen (and solo projects)

The Constantines (and solo projects)

GBV (and most Robert Pollard related stuff)

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Not sure any. Will probably buy Wilco, Bowie, Isbell, Mould, Richard Thompson and a few more. I need some idea what I'm getting myself into though. For example, I will buy the new Bowie that came out today, but listened to it twice first.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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The list of bands that I regularly blind buy is very long. The sense of discovery is different and deeper when it carries the weight of purchase, and by extension, investment.

 

But the question is which bands will always be on that list. That's tougher, and those candidates are usually bands that are not just "great," but have some other personal connotation for me. (In fact, some of them aren't among the best bands in the world, but there are personal reasons for my forever interest. The Gaslight Anthem comes to mind--a good band, not a great band, but there's a profound link between me, the band, and my brother's death that gives them outsized importance in my life.)

 

Others:

Wilco

The Eels

The National

Neko Case

Bob Dylan

James

U2

Belle and Sebastian

The New Pornographers

Guster

Jack White (any project)

LCD Soundsystem

M. Ward

 

There are countless bands right now that I think are "better" than many of those I listed, but it's still easy to imagine interest flaming out at some point. I also can't list anyone like Courtney Barnett, a current favorite, who doesn't have a long enough track record that proves staying power in my psyche.

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Drive-By Truckers

The National

Wilco

Courtney Barnett

Ron Sexsmith

Belle and Sebastian

Jason Isbell

Paul Westerberg

The Magnetic Fields

The New Pornographers

Sleater-Kinney

Todd Snider

Loudon Wainwright III

Tom Waits

Radiohead

Bruce Springsteen

The Hold Steady/Craig Finn

The Weakerthans

Lucinda Williams

Neko Case

Father John Misty

Bob Dylan (well, almost always)

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