I didn't really twig that QOTSA albums were this century so I'll add both Rated R and Songs for the Deaf to my earlier list. Amazing live band too.
KoL - Youth and young manhood - steadily getting worse after this
+1
The duller they got the more success they seemed to have. The first half of Aha.. was good but I gave up after the disappointment of Because of the Times.
[i]The duller they got the more success they seemed to have[/i]
Well, that's jolly unusual in the music world!! (classic eg: RHCP)
KoL are far from one of the best artists of the last decade though.
Given the accusations being levelled against all of us for both excessive obscuritanism and excessive populism I thought I'd check what I originally posted. It would seem that I tend to evaluate how obscure a band that I like are by how large the live venues that they play are:
The Notwist - Neon Golden
I heard about this album from a review in the Metro, but the only time I've seen them live it was in King Tut's in Glasgow (which is not much bigger than a matchbox) so I'd admit they probably have a niche appeal.
Wilco - A Ghost is Born
While Wilco are probably one of those bands that is more critically acclaimed than generally popular, they've played at the Barrowlands (large club/dancehall) and the Queens Hall (posh concert hall), so they do attract reasonably large audiences.
The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
I've seen them at the Garage (a not large club) and the O2 ABC (large club/dancehall), so once again they're in the not obscure but not huge category.
Jim White - Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See
I'm not aware of him ever touring Scotland and he rarely tours in general. 🙁 I've heard that he can't make a full time living as a recording artist so I guess he's pretty obscure.
Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
I saw them lots of times, and judging by the amount of responses on the STW thread after Mark Linkous killed himself, there's a fair number of fans on here, but they never played anything larger than the Liquid Room (club venue) and on several occasions played at King Tut's.
I've seen Pearl Jam live and they drew a crowd of over 10,000 (Hard Rock Calling 2010), but my favourite albums by them pre-date 2000. After that Muse is the next biggest band that I listen to much, I've seen them at the SECC, which I'd guess is an arena-sized sort of venue.
A lot of the other stuff I see (e.g. Alabama 3, Suzanne Vega, TV on the Radio) generally appears at dancehall or club-sized venues, so comes into the not obscure but not massive grey area. The Flaming Lips are a bit odd, though. Whenever I've seen them it's been at dancehall type places but they've also played at the SECC and the Jodrell Bank festival last year, so they can draw in larger crowds if they want to.
It's been a good decade for new stuff that sounds as good as old stuff...
Paulio - The first QOTSA album was 98 and is very good (recently re-issued with bonus tracks) but obviously can't be in this list.
[i]Given the accusations being levelled against all of us for both excessive obscuritanism and excessive populism[/i]
Really - who gives a flying one what the musically ignorant say?
alanf - Member
Paulio - The first QOTSA album was 98 and is very good (recently re-issued with bonus tracks) but obviously can't be in this list.
That's got one of my favourite openings to any album with Regular John as track 1, haven't heard the bonus stuff though. On a QOTSA vibe, the first few Desert Sessions albums are great too.
Anyway, back to the 2000s!
2) I am sad for you. I can't live without it.
I'll quantify that. I said I don't listen to [i]enough [/i]music, not that I don't listen to any. And I think what I really meant was albums.
I used to buy a lot of CDs. I enjoy, really enjoy, listening to an album as a collected work. These days though, with the advent of things like Spotify and with having a DAB radio in the car, the vast majority of what I listen to is either old albums or new singles. I rarely listen to modern albums any more, and I think that's an oversight I need to correct.
3) a) That's utter bollocks. Have you heard of the Internet?
and
Sorry Cougar but you couldn't be more wrong - just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean they are particularly obscure - most of the stuff people have listed is played on 6 music , posted about on widely read music blogs etc.
You both may well be right. My comment was in no way meant to be a sweeping generalisation, I just skim-read the suggestions and often either thought "who?" or "god, really?"
I don't think I've ever listened to 6 Music. Maybe that's something else I need to do something about.
Why don't you listen to some of the albums people have listed above and see what you think?
Difficult to know where to start, but that's probably a very good idea. Might be a topic for another thread.
Faxed Head - [url=
Brake-neck.
I've never been a great fan of Neil Morse. I much preferred Spocks Beard after he left. Probably because of the pop sensibilities direction. This explains my choice of It Bites and PTs Deadwing. More commercial I suppose.
The reason I mentioned Flying Colors was because of the Portnoy connection with A7F.
Saw a band called Threshold, at the Summers End Festival a few years ago. very much in the vain of Pain of Salvation / A7F.
6 Music
6 Music is brilliant.
Since my kids came along, the amount of music I buy has fallen off a cliff, mainly because I don't have the hours I used to have for spending in record shops and even when I do buy records, I don't get to wallow in them when I get home. If it wasn't for 6 Music (and Vic Galloway on Radio Scotland) I doubt I'd hear any new music at all. So much good stuff on it. Our fridge is covered in post it notes with scribbled names of records to follow up I've heard on the radio while making the dinner. Sometimes I even do go and buy them, rather than just find them on Spotify.
Self-imposed limit of ten:
Gillian Welch [i]Time (The Revelator)[/i]
Cat Power (either) [i]The Covers Record[/i] or [i]You are free[/i]
Max Richter [i]Memory House[/i]
Stars of the Lid [i]And Their Refinement of the Decline[/i]
Madvillain [i]Madvillainy[/i]
Bon Ivor [i]For Emma Forever Ago[/i]
Arve Henriksen [i]Chiaroscuro[/i]
Sufjan Stevens [i]Greetings From Michigan, The Great Lake State[/i]
Susumu Yokota [i]Sakura[/i]
Cath & Phil Tyler [i]Dumb Supper[/i]
Cougar, you [i]really, really[/i] ought to find 6Music on your car DAB. I recently had one fitted in mine, and it only has one station set on a preset, and that's 6! Since I started listening back in 2004/5 the amount of new music I've discovered is staggering, it's cost me a fortune, both in albums and concert tickets.
It's worth picking up Uncut magazine now that The Word is defunct, they review lots of interesting stuff, and you get a free CD with sample tracks on, which is a good way of filling up an iPod. I have every sample CD that The Word gave away, around 140, with 15 tracks on each, so there's lots of interesting stuff there.
Metric, Stars, Arcade Fire, Black Mountain, The New Pornographers, Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Postal Service, and The Dears are all bands who I discovered through 6Music, and I've seen most of them. The Paper Aeroplanes, who I saw earlier this year gave an enormously warm and enjoyable concert, and I only discovered them through 6. If you have Shazam on a smartphone it'll be getting a lot of use, as will scraps of paper with band and track names scribbled on them. 😀
The duller they got the more success they seemed to haveWell, that's jolly unusual in the music world!! (classic eg: RHCP)
KoL are far from one of the best artists of the last decade though.
They normally get really successful and then get duller though, KoL seemed to do it the other way round. I do like Youth and Young Manhood a lot but agreed it probably wouldn't be on any 'best of' lists.
I quite like KOL's first album, then they went a bit boring, then I read [url= http://www.prefixmag.com/news/this-just-in-kings-of-leon-are-sort-of-jerks-to-ot/44234/ ]this[/url] - & I really went off them & haven't listened to them since.
DezB - MemberGiven the accusations being levelled against all of us for both excessive obscuritanism and excessive populism
Really - who gives a flying one what the musically ignorant say?
🙂
I assume this is ironic?
If not, you really, really need to chill out. 😀
There is NO good or bad in music.
Your taste is no better or worse than anyone elses.
Music is just noise. We all like different noises.
It all sounds good to someone.
Musical snobbery, however, is one of the surest ways to identify an idiot yet invented. 8)
+1 in rainbows - radiohead
+1 turn on the bright lights - Interpol
Also
Ian brown - music of the spheres
Sneaker pimps - bloodsport (excellent album)
Another very fine album Is The Pond, the eponymous album by Kathryn Williams, Ginny Clee and Simon Edwards.
Kathryn had a number of albums as a solo singer/songwriter, Ginny released three with Barbara Marsh as The Dear Janes, who I saw four or five times, and Simon used to be with Fairground Attraction, and is Ginny's husband. Adrian Utley from Portishead was involved as well. It's a very fine piece of work, and I'm going to see them at the Louisiana in Bristol next month. Looking forward to that very much indeed. 😀
[i]There is NO good or bad in music.
Your taste is no better or worse than anyone elses.[/i]
No mate, you misunderstand - you need to read the post I'm responding to to get it. (I'm talking about people who don't particularly [i]care[/i] about music using the "oh, you only like [i]obscure[/i] stuff" (attempted) critism).
My favorite album of any period keeps changing but just now this is my choice of best of the 2000s
If only for the memories of being there 🙂
Another vote for:
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Hell is For Heroes - The Neon Handshake
Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People
Also:
Oceansize - Frames
ISIS - Panopticon
And So I Watch You From Afar - Eponymous
Oh, and Aereogramme - Sleep and Release
There is NO good or bad in music.
Your taste is no better or worse than anyone elses.
lies
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+1 the National - Boxer
Wintersleep - new inheritors
Interpol - turn on the bright lights
+1 for QOTSA and Songs For the Deaf.
+1 for Biffy Clyro and Only Revolutuions
Has anyone said Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Just by the album I have played the most during the last 12 years; Cornershop - Handcream for a Generation