The Great Music Swap

[Krakalakachkn]

So, I'm always on the lookout for new and awesome music. So I thought to myself, why not make a music swap thread where SGers can post their favorite bands, songs, whatever and others can see and check them out. Also, I figure if you're going to post a band, try to describe their sound (or genre) and maybe another band they remind you of, that way if you suggest say, a rap band, and Austicles doesn't like rap, he knows not to try that band.

 

Anyways, I'll go ahead and post some of my favorites:

 

Punch Brothers - Led by former Nickel Creek lead singer and mandolinist Chris Thile, Punch Brothers is a quintet of extremely talented young men whose style is best described (in my opinion) as a fusion of bluegrass, classical, and jazz. Their songs can be very diverse, but all work together to form an overall cohesive experience. One of the best live shows I've ever seen and undoubtedly one of the most musically gifted bands I've ever heard - they're earning critical acclaim all over the world for their unique sound. Similar to Nickel Creek and Edgar Meyer.

 

Swell Season - This band probably isn't familiar to most of you unless you've seen the movie Once. This band consists of a guitarist, Glen Hansard, and a pianist, Marketa Irglova, both of whom are vocalists. Hansard's easily one of my favorite male vocalists; his raw power and passion blew me away when I saw them live. Irglova is a talented musician and singer in her own right, and she harmonizes with Hansard like an angel. Their music is hard to classify, their songs are very lyrical and diverse, but I haven't heard a song I haven't liked. Hansard is also known from his former band, The Frames, which is hugely popular in Ireland (and very good too). Similar to Iron & Wine, Ray LaMontagne, and The Frames.

 

Old Crow Medicine Show - Easily one of the best Bluegrass bands I've ever heard. I would describe their sounds as a more raw and old fashioned bluegrass style (think more mountain music) as opposed to the new wave bluegrass that we're currently experiencing. You may have heard their song "Wagon Wheel" especially if you're attending college in America. I've seen them live as well, and they put on a great show. Similar to Soggy Bottom Boys, Avett Brothers, Allison Krauss & Union Station.

 

Avett Brothers - Another bluegrass band, although they are more newgrass to be realistic. Bluegrass definitely plays a large part in their sound, but they're also influenced by rock n roll. They're one of my favorite bands and consists of two brothers (duh) and their backing band. Similar to Mumford & Sons, The Wood Brothers, Iron & Wine.

[ineedfourberfs]

Damn your rules and damn you with them!

 

Chilli Gonzalez

 

You probably know this guy thanks to the boppy little piano riff heard on the iPhone or iPad tv spot, but it goes much deeper than that when it comes to albums. A lot of nice, clean piano work, usually with either a lite beat behind it, or a full blown electronic track. Also features quite a few raps too, which can be off-putting if unexpected, but awesome once appreciated. See: Never Stop (iP* song), I am Europe, Knight Moves.

 

Sounds Like? If you got a hot jazz pianist, added some beats, added some raps, and wrapped it all up in poppish production values that really make it clean and easy to listen to. I don't really have a comparison.

 

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

 

Probably not an album that could be called rare or anything, especially in this forum, but this double album from NiN is as close as Trent came to perfecting his sound. From angry, angry machines and lyrics, with deep and soul searching themes, to sweeping, lifting instrumentals of undenyable beauty, this double album is a journey. The industrial sound is mellowed a touch (turned down to 9, as opposed to 11) in favour of easier listening hard rock tones, but when it turns brutal, it turns brutal. It's further highlighted by the beauty of such tracks as La Mer, however, a piano riff track that just takes you somewhere else. Highlights: We're in this together now, Into the Void, La Mer.

 

Comparisons? Uhhh... not having listened to much industrial, I can't really say. You could almost say this is industrial lite. Certainly not hardcore. Very awesome.

[Moon Sedai]

It's gonna sound weird, but I primarily listen to 60s rock. {I'll admit that I am in love with the Beatles.

There isn't too much out there I won't listen to at least once.

Artists in my CD Collection {stuff I actually went and bought a hard cd for} include:

 

the entire Beatles collection

Garth Brooks

Eminem

Blue Man Group {though I think they are better in concert than recorded. Like Jazz- it's just better live}

TLC

Random Cirque du Soliel soundtracks

Will Smith

Metallica

Vanilla Ice [Don't judge me- I was 12 in the 3 months he was "cool"]

Aerosmith

Rolling Stones

Elton John

Pink

Beach Boys

Barenaked Ladies [Stunt is awesome].

 

I also buy a lot of compilation CDs, so I end up with individual songs by several artists.

 

One of my favorite bands is The Cruxshadows. They are gothic/dark wave music. There recent stuff hasn't been great, but the earliest songs, Marilyn my Bitterness, Winterborn and Deception are amazing.

 

Here's a link to a video of Winterborn:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-cruxshadows-winterborn/9f441db255e7d816e4749f441db255e7d816e474-426205316213?q=cruxshadows+video&FROM=LKVR5&GT1=LKVR5&FORM=LKVR11

 

I've had the pleasure to see them in concert twice- the lead singer is a really nice guy!

 

The only musicians I have real negative tastes for are Eric Clapton and Bono.

I can't explain it- I just can't friggin stand the two guys.

I actually told the DJ at my wedding that if he played any CLapton or U2 during the ceremony he'd lose his day job {My father was his boss.}

[Krakalakachkn]

It's gonna sound weird, but I primarily listen to 60s rock. {I'll admit that I am in love with the Beatles.

 

Sad that I don't see Jethro Tull on that list then! If you've never listened, check them out!

 

 

The only musicians I have real negative tastes for are Eric Clapton and Bono.

 

Didn't you know, Bono is the biggest turd in the world.

[Moon Sedai]

It's gonna sound weird, but I primarily listen to 60s rock. {I'll admit that I am in love with the Beatles.

 

Sad that I don't see Jethro Tull on that list then! If you've never listened, check them out!

 

 

The only musicians I have real negative tastes for are Eric Clapton and Bono.

 

Didn't you know, Bono is the biggest turd in the world.

 

I have some Jethro Tull in my compliations, I think. Jethro Tull is awesome.

 

And bono is the biggest turd in the world. Which is why I hate him.

It's like the man can't pick a cause and stick with it.

I think it weakens his position as a celebrity causeist that he seems to support darn near every cause.

Like he's telling all of us who can't endorse every cause that we're worthless.

 

The only eric clapton I can stand is the piece he did with the Beatles, and that's because it's primarily the Beatles.

 

I threatened the DJ only after someone dedicated Wonderful Tonight to my hubby and I at the rehersal dinner. And we were forced to dance to it. Seriously, it's a song about a dude who can't handle his liquor.

[Verbal32]

My favorite band?

 

Korn.

 

That is all.

[Kivam]

Can't do full writeups on the phone, but I'm currently loving Manchester Orchestra, Last Royals, Black Keys, and Fleet Foxes.

 

All alternative; Manchester Orchestra and Fleet Foxes are more towards the melodic end of the spectrum - Mykanos and Simple Math are good places to start. The others are more rhythm based. I think the black keys may be the best rock band playing. Go watch their video for Tighten Up if you haven't seen it yet.

[ineedfourberfs]

Heartily agree with Fleet Foxes! White Winter Hymnal something something is a gorgeous track.

 

And Black Keys are also awesome, I've had the priveledge of seeing them play live a few times and they never fail to get you moving. And the work they did as Blackrok? Something else entirely. Picture rap/hip-hop without the electronic toys...just guitars drums and keyboards. OK keyboards are electronic, but you get the point. If you like rap, and you like rock, listen to Blakrock. (Blackrok? I've confused myself now)

[Krakalakachkn]

I was disappointed with Blakrok. i thought it was going to be amazing, but it was mediocre rap overall.

 

I checked out Chilli Gonzalez and while I enjoyed I Am Europe quite a bit, I'm not much of an electronic fan (at least not in that particular vein)

 

Now, if you like Electronic music that's heavier, less dance focused, and with a bigger emphasis on dub, then you should check out Big Gigantic and Pretty Lights.

 

[Edielin]

@ Kivam and ineedfourberfs

 

Fleet Foxes are my favourite, modern music wise. Haven't got the second album, though - have you two? What's it like?

[Krakalakachkn]

I just heard the new song from their upcoming album and it's incredible.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mR8Z-gmK1g

[Alaksuleiel]

I am currently in love with all things Amanda Palmer :)

 

And Marilyn Manson. bring on Antichrist :D

[ineedfourberfs]

You can safely bet than any fleet foxes song/album is going to be worthwhile.

 

 

I'm currently loving Tom Vek, who you might know from the GTAIV soundtrack (Radio Broker, One Horse Race), or you might just know him.

 

The album We Have Sound is pretty unique to these ears, it's sort of poppy, alternative-ey, a lot of different beats and keyboard arrangements from what you'd expect to hear. The songs are all pretty different, but follow the same themes of keys and drums, and just about all will have you nodding your head with one hand on the steering wheel, cruising into the sunset. Some songs are slightly jarring, but generally they are of excellent quality. Some may find his vocal stylings offputting however.

 

Here is the lead track from the album, called "CC (You set the fire in me)"

 

 

Highlights: Cover, Green Lights, CC

 

 

 

Also digging Audioslave - self titled album.

 

It's just straight up hard rock to shout to, with the occasional mourning croon thrown in. Picture RATM without all the hate and politics, and an added blast of hooky-as-hell riffs and straight up walls of noise.

 

This could be Rock at it's very essence, in my view.

 

Highlights: Show me how to live, What you are, Shadow on the sun, Light my way... I could go on.

[Krakalakachkn]

I do enjoy Audioslave

[ineedfourberfs]

For some reason I have this notion in my head that everyone hates the band, but most people I talk to about it agree that they are rockin.

 

The first is clearly superior however. Not to say there are no good tracks on the other albums, but the first is 100% Killer, 1% Filler. There's a 1% margin in there too btw. It could actually be 101% killer.

[Alaksuleiel]

I am trying to find a Hard Rock song of theirs, wikipedia promised....

 

Have they got anything that is not easy listening?

[ineedfourberfs]

Yep. The secret track actually has the band come and hurl a brick through your window at your ear. NME hailed it as a "Masterpeice of reinvented industrial sound... it affects the listener in ways never before seen".

[Alaksuleiel]

or felt apparently...

[ineedfourberfs]

I can't beleive I didn't mention Them Crooked Vultures yet.

 

Josh Homme - Guitars, Vocals

Dave Grohl - Drums

John Paul Jones - Bass

 

 

(Nirvana + Foo Fighters) + (QOTSA/Kyuss+Desert Sessions) / Led Zepelin

 

 

 

Audioslave do the hard rock thing?

 

TCV just do the freakin AWESOME ROCK thing. Stand out tracks: No One Loves me and neither do I, Elephants, Gunman, ...actually the whole album. Every bit of it.

[Roxinos]

Let's see:

 

To start, here's my last.fm page: http://www.last.fm/user/Roxinos

 

If you're not on last.fm, you should join. And feel free to add me. :)

 

Gorillaz

The brainchild of Damon Albarn (of Blur fame) and Jamie Hewlett (creator of "Tank Girl" et al.), Gorillaz is a real-world collection of musical influences amalgamated into the ridiculous, but strangely awesome, figures of four cartoon band members. The satanic Murdoc (bass and some vocals), the blind 2D (vocals), the Japanese superchild Noodle (guitar and some vocals), and once-demonically possessed Russel (drums).

 

While these characters aren't real, their personalities come out in the music. From their self-titled debut album, Gorillaz, with its eclectic mix of sounds ranging from incredibly chill but upbeat 19-2000 to the odd

they evolved as each character slowly evolved and their story took shape both on the Internet and in their book Rise of the Ogre. With their most recent album (and their final studio album), Plastic Beach, the band members all reunite and Albarn once again takes the stage with countless additional musicians to add their own unique flavor to the music.

 

They are a great listen if only to experience the group's evolution. Wikipedia describes 'em as alt hip-hop and alt rock.

 

P.S. I mention Plastic Beach as their last studio album because Albarn and Hewlett have both grown tired of Gorillaz and have stated that Plastic Beach almost didn't happen and they don't intend to do anything with the group again. But, Albarn self-produced an album done on his iPad for free under the Gorillaz name last Christmas called The Fall.

 

El Guincho

I'm just going to copy-paste the Wikipedia page here: "El Guincho is the recording alias of Spanish musician Pablo Díaz-Reixa. Also a member of Coconot, Díaz-Reixa rose to prominence with his 2008 album, Alegranza! His musical style, influenced by a broad range of artists like Animal Collective and Os Mutantes, relies heavily on the use of sampling and incorporates elements of Afrobeat, dub, Tropicália and rock and roll as Díaz-Reixa achieves what he's described as a kind of "space-age exotica". He utilizes a Roland SP-404."

 

El Guincho's another artist whose evolution, even between the two albums Alegranza! and Pop Negro, is amazing to hear. Take a listen to the first song, "Bombay," on his most recent album, Pop Negro,

. I would post the official music video of it, because it's amazing...but it's also incredibly NSFW. So I'm not going to post it here. But if you want to, check it out on Vimeo.

 

The Protomen

I should mention that this band is created and influenced by the Mega Man video game series. However, to limit them to calling them "video game music" would be unfortunate. While they draw influences from the music of the games, they produce entirely original works. It is merely the story of the songs that is drawn from the games. You see, The Protomen are a rock opera band. So far they have released two albums, The Protomen and Act II: The Father of Death. They both tell the continuing story of the Mega Man universe, but they add so much to the characters of the games.

 

The first album tells the story of Protoman and Mega Man. The second album tells the story of the rise of Albert Wily and the fall of Thomas Light, a prologue to the first album. The two albums are more or less meant to be listened to as one work (the first song of the second album is called "Intermission").

 

In the first album, you'll feel the frustration and confusion of Mega Man. You'll feel the anger of Protoman. You'll feel the desperation of humanity.

 

In the second album, you'll feel the insanity and anger of Albert Wily. You'll feel the guilt and depression of Thomas Light. You'll feel the repressed frustration of Joe. You'll feel the sad hope of Emily.

 

Take a listen and experience humanity at its finest.

 

Team Teamwork

Now, this is a bit odd. Team Teamwork is not a traditional artist or musician. He is a mashup artist. In case you don't know, a mashup is the forced combination of two or more disparate musical works into one blended track creating something new entirely. Team Teamwork, however, mostly works on the blend of video game music with hip-hop/rap tracks. He has released four albums thus far: The Good-Ass Remixes, Vol. 1, Ocarina of Rhyme, Vinyl Fantasy 7, Super Nintendo Sega Genesis. All but the first involve video game music.

 

Ocarina of Rhyme is a collection of songs from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time mashed with various artists such as Clipse, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Pimp C, Lil' Keke, P.O.P., Common, Aesop Rock, Edan, MF Doom, Spank Rock, Slim Thug, Mike Jones, and Busta Rhymes.

 

Vinyl Fantasy 7 is a collection of songs from Final Fantasy 7 mashed with various artists such as Kool Keith, Tom Waits, Jay-Z, M.O.P., MF Doom, Outkast, Raekwon, Skyzoo, Wale, Gucci Mane, Clipse, Dorrough, Murs, Slum Village, and Ghostface Killah.

 

Super Nintendo Sega Genesis is a collection of songs from the following games from the 16-bit era: Street Fighter 2, Donkey Kong Country 2, Streets of Rage, Super Metroid, Sonic 3, Yoshi's Island, Ristar, Super Mario RPG, Mortal Kombat, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, X-Men 2: Clone Wars, and Earthbound. Mixed with the following artists: Ludacris, Biggie, Craig Mack, Rampage, LL Cool J, P. Daddy Combs, Childish Gambino, Big Boi, Cutty, Lupe Fiasco, Dr. Octagon, Ghostface Killah, Gang Starr, Kanye West, Bonecrusher, Killer Mike, T.I., E-40, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, and Mos Def.

 

Just check him out here.

 

Other artists I'd mention are "The Cat Empire," "Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros," and "Gotan Project." I might come back and fill out their descriptions, but I've kind of had my fill of writing descriptions.

[ineedfourberfs]

Reviving this.

 

The Mars Volta - Amputechture and Bedlam in Goliath

 

I am doing both these albums together as I generally listen to them back to back. What's to say?

 

If you have never heard Mars Volta before, this may not be an easy listen. Schizo drumming and guitar, shrieking vocals to beautiful crooning to stabbing at the mic with hatered vocal chords, some damn funky bass at times... This is like a bad acid trip listening to bad acid jazz, and somehow it works MAGICALLY. These albums are absolute journeys, and it's hard to just pick one track out, the whole thing is an experiance. Lots of very prog rock and hard rock and metal seqances, with some nice soundscape drifty parts between...

 

Just an out of this world experiance. I cannot convey how much I am loving these two albums at the moment.

 

For those wanting a slightly easier immersion into the Mars Volta experiance, check out the album De-Loused in the Commatorium. Less rambly, more coherant, same themes and rocking prog metal awesomeness.

[Krakalakachkn]

I was just about to do the same!

 

 

I've recently acquired two new albums that are blowing my mind

 

 

Sleep With One Eye Open by Chris Thile and Michael Daves

 

A cover album of early American music, it's classified as bluegrass, but I consider it more of a blend of bluegrass and americana - it sounds older and more mountainy than today's bluegrass. Chris Thile is considered one of the best mandolinists in the world (often called a virtuoso) and Michael Daves is a master of guitar. Together they move from slow, beautiful waltzes to blazing fast picking that combines into one absurdly good album. I literally can't get enough.

 

 

 

When You Left the Fire by The Wilderness of Manitoba

 

A relatively unknown band hailing from Toronto, Canada, these guys describe themselves as Chamber Folk (which I find awesome). Think Fleet Foxes but less slow and boring.