Random music discoveries - what have you found that's good?

BRISTOL86

Not exactly obscure but about 10 years ago I loved The Fratellis debut album. A short while later a second album came that I wasn't that fussed about before the singer pursued a solo project. 

I only discovered a few days ago that they later released another two albums, and bloody love this song 

frank1985

Great psych album 

koneguitarist

In the Country side of things, loads, my fave albums of 2016 are
Jamie Lin Wilson with Holidays and wedding rings, not a duff track on the album. 
Also Dori Freeman produced by Teddy Thompson. 
Caleb Caudle with his album Carolina Ghost is also superb. 

BloodEagle

TTBZ said:

Probably posted this a thousand times before but I fucking love this band, Whores. If you like proper music with massive fuzzed out riffs, no pretense, that gives zero fucks and isnt afraid to use feedback as part of a riff then you need to listen to them. 



The new album Gold is awesome as well. I don't think they have a bad song over the two EPs and the full length. There's not one guitar solo and it's a breath of fresh air. They sound a lot like Unsane but better imo. 

I like that - Got a bit of a TAD vibe as well, also (obivously) a bit Melvinsesque

Grunfeld

In a stretch of insomnia a good couple of months ago I pressed the wrong button on the wireless and came across
"The Lucid Dream"
Next day, paypal'd for an album and, to be honest forgot all about them.
Till I got an email weeks later apologising for the delay and offering to bung me on the guest list for a gig and the CD was on it's way...

The Lucid Dream, "Compulsion Songs"  -- just a brilliant album of modern psychedelia

Moss

koneguitarist said:

In the Country side of things, loads, my fave albums of 2016 are
Jamie Lin Wilson with Holidays and wedding rings, not a duff track on the album. 
Also Dori Freeman produced by Teddy Thompson. 
Caleb Caudle with his album Carolina Ghost is also superb. 

Not straight country, but I can see you liking Whitney

strumjoughlamps

this about 5 weeks ago, from 1972 and only had one album, but boy is it chuffing awesome..

Iamnobody

english_bob said:

Had a trawl round some charity shops while on holiday last week and came away with some CDs- all artists I'd heard of but not really listened to. First impressions:

Interpol - Antics: As one of the bands that appear to have outlived that whole new-wave-of-new-wave thing from the early '00s I thought they might have something interesting. So far they sound like an American version of Editors with all the memorable bits taken out. First impression: meh

The National - High Velvet: Don't know why I know about these guys, just aware that they've been around a while and seem to be well regarded. I was expecting something a bit more rockin' than I got- I think I might have been thinking of the Hold Steady. They souind sort of like the cowboy version of Interpol, or maybe a less interesting TV on the Radio. Didn't help that my laptop didn't want to rip the CD properly so a couple of tracks are glitching and skipping. First impression: hmm...

I like Interpol and The Editors in equal measures. Although I always say Editors sound like Interpol as they formed last. Try Our Love to Admire one of Interpol's later albums. No I in Threesome is brilliant...



The singer Paul Banks also has solo material under his real name and the alias Julian Plenty.

This is a good starter:



Sampletastic: NSFW lyrics



Re. The National - High Violet is a good  introduction so if you weren't especially keen on that then I don't think they are the band for you.

That said, and have a listen to Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers and you might be surprised.

english_bob

Charity shop, a pound:




Took a punt, having heard that it was well reviewed when it came out (2011). Brilliant mix of traditional folk tunes and covers of Dylan, PJ Harvey and others- folk instruments mixed with standard rock band instrumentation. Their version of Love Will Tear Us Apart is gorgeous.

rlw

Rhiannon Giddens

pmbomb

Jeff Beck Loud Hailer album, came up random on a playlist. Cor.

BigLicks67

Best random discovery for me was browsing the sale section of a shop in Exeter and picked out Wilco's Being There, because I liked the cover. Spent the next 2 weeks riding around Devon with it in the cd player. It was also the first and only time a shop assistant has turned round to me and said that is a great album.

english_bob

BigLicks67 said:

Best random discovery for me was browsing the sale section of a shop in Exeter and picked out Wilco's Being There, because I liked the cover. Spent the next 2 weeks riding around Devon with it in the cd player. It was also the first and only time a shop assistant has turned round to me and said that is a great album.

It is a great album. That was the first Wilco album I heard too- bought on a whim because I'd heard good things. 

None of their other stuff is quite like it- A.M., the album before, is similar, but more squarely in the country-rock mould. Summerteeth, the one after, has less of the rootsy Americana thing going on, and from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot onwards they become a very different band, both in terms of music and personnel- only two of the original members left now(!)

If you're in to that sort of thing and you can get hold of it, the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart is well worth watching- shot while Wilco were working on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it captures- by happenstance- the band being dropped by their label, the "did he jump or was he pushed?" departure of a key band member, and the beginnings of Jeff Tweedy's prescription drug addiction- and the way the band dealt with all of those things. It's not nearly so bleak as it sounds in summary.

Blueingreen

Recently stumbled on a recommendation for Bernie Maupin's 1974 album The Jewel in the Lotus.  Atmospheric, abstract, moody jazz with a heavy electric Miles/Herbie Hancock influence.  No Headhunter's type funk here.  Not for everybody, then, but if that description sounds like your thing I think it's a masterpiece.  5 stars from AMG, so it's not just me.

BigLicks67

english_bob said:

BigLicks67 said:

Best random discovery for me was browsing the sale section of a shop in Exeter and picked out Wilco's Being There, because I liked the cover. Spent the next 2 weeks riding around Devon with it in the cd player. It was also the first and only time a shop assistant has turned round to me and said that is a great album.

It is a great album. That was the first Wilco album I heard too- bought on a whim because I'd heard good things. 

None of their other stuff is quite like it- A.M., the album before, is similar, but more squarely in the country-rock mould. Summerteeth, the one after, has less of the rootsy Americana thing going on, and from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot onwards they become a very different band, both in terms of music and personnel- only two of the original members left now(!)

If you're in to that sort of thing and you can get hold of it, the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart is well worth watching- shot while Wilco were working on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it captures- by happenstance- the band being dropped by their label, the "did he jump or was he pushed?" departure of a key band member, and the beginnings of Jeff Tweedy's prescription drug addiction- and the way the band dealt with all of those things. It's not nearly so bleak as it sounds in summary.

Yep, that got me into Wilco and I've got all their stuff across CD, Vinyl & DVD, so I have seen the documentary, it's obviously a transitional period where various band members get the axe. It's a shame that Bennett died not long after he left Wilco.

I saw Jeff Tweedy at the Albert Hall in Manchester a couple of weeks ago as it happens doing a solo set.

english_bob

^^ Oh, OK. I got the impression you'd bought Being There recently! 

Skipped

I have a habit of telling random people that they should get hold of the re-recorded (acoustic) version of Jagged Little Pill. And the reaction is always.....Yeah OK.
(Translation....."Why the hell would I want to do that?")

What can I do? I can't make them listen to it.
You can lead a horse to water........

I just think it is a great album. I think it is almost inevitable that a re-recorded album will be under-rated.
One more thing. If you are a hi-fi retailer, this album sounds incredible on modest gear and decent gear.....

Bucket

I've got a Spotify playlist of random unrelated music that I like, and when I leave it running, it's followed by other similar random suggestions, many of which I didn't previously know - here are some of the best songs I've found via that method alone:

- Ain't Too Cool by LunchMoney Lewis - a nice simple modern pop/R&B tune in the Bruno Mars/Cee-Lo Green vein.

- Valerie by Steve Winwood - had heard the Eric Prydz dance sample of it but not the original, strangely enough. Like it a lot.

- In the Shape of a Heart by Jackson Browne - I imagine lots of people know this already. Nice guitar...

- Various things by Gino Vannelli - had never heard of him before. He's good.

- Color Wheel by Arch Echo - really cool modern prog-metal/djent instrumental band. Some great guitar/keys playing.

- I Don't Want Control of You by Teenage Fanclub - so far up my street I've no idea how I hadn't heard them before.

- Baby... Please by Dave Mason - a guitarist I'd heard of but never checked out. Like his playing and tone, will investigate further.

english_bob

Bucket said:

- Baby... Please by Dave Mason - a guitarist I'd heard of but never checked out. Like his playing and tone, will investigate further.

You've almost certainly heard him before- that's him playing twelve string acoustic on Hendrix's All Along The Watchtower

BigLicks67

english_bob said:

^^ Oh, OK. I got the impression you'd bought Being There recently! 

No, probably 15 plus years ago, cannot remember exactly, that's old age for you : >