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I want to get into .... But I don't know where to start

Started by Al Tha Funkee Homosapien, June 15, 2007, 04:59:28 PM

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Al Tha Funkee Homosapien

This will probably sink like a stone. Just an idea, people mention a band, genre or style of music that they would like to get into and someone who knows stuff about said band/genre then can write a short guide and recommend key albums and singles to check out. Fire away.

buttgammon

Scott Walker. Sounds interesting, but I don't know where to start, really. Isn't Scott 4 meant to be good? And what's his later, more experimental stuff like? Self-indulgent tripe of work of genius?

CaledonianGonzo

OK - I'd love to get more familiar with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.  I've got (and love) Barafundle and the Spanish Dance Troupe single, but that's about as far as it goes.  I get the feeling they're better appreciated by listening to highlights than full albums, and I've been waiting for years for a decent best of compilation, but in the meantime I'd happily take some advice on how best to approach them.

Anon

Quote from: buttgammon on June 15, 2007, 05:03:32 PM
Scott Walker. Sounds interesting, but I don't know where to start, really. Isn't Scott 4 meant to be good? And what's his later, more experimental stuff like? Self-indulgent tripe of work of genius?

The only Scott Walker I've heard is Scott 4, Tilt and The Drift - out of those, I'd go for either Scott 4 or Tilt depending on which side you want to check out.  Scott 4 has some moments of real beauty, The Seventh Seal (Bergman + marachi horns = a very good thing indeed) and Boy Child bein my personal favourites.  The second half isn't quite as good as the first, but as a whole it's definetly worth a listen.  For the experimental stuff, I've gone for Tilt because it has some very atmospheric and avant-garde sections (the semi-industrial The Cockfighter and Bouncer See Bouncer come to mind here), but there's still some great moments of really epic orchestrated loveliness which makes it a more pleasant listening experience than The Drift, which despite containing many stunning sections, is bloody hard to listen to the whole way through.


Now, a request from myself: I'm quite fond of Can, but I really have no idea where to go next in checking out the whole Krautrock genre (if it helps, my favourite Can album's Future Day - the second half of Tago Mago has some interesting ideas, but there is no reason at all for Aumgn going on for 20 minutes), so one or two tips here would be appriciated.

chand

Quote from: Anon on June 15, 2007, 10:34:20 PMNow, a request from myself: I'm quite fond of Can, but I really have no idea where to go next in checking out the whole Krautrock genre (if it helps, my favourite Can album's Future Day - the second half of Tago Mago has some interesting ideas, but there is no reason at all for Aumgn going on for 20 minutes), so one or two tips here would be appriciated.

Heh, coincidentally I bought my first Can album ('Tago Mago') today, seems like my bag.

buttgammon

Scott 4 is worth checking out, then, but Tilt also does sound intriguing.

Neu! were very good, especially on Neu! 1, which has what is in my opinion one of the best motorik rhythms in the brilliant opener 'Hallogallo'. I personally think Can were the best Krautrock band around, so you probably have already heard the best anyway, but that's not to say there wasn't any other good music made in the genre.

I would normally instantly recommend 'E2-E4' by Manuel Gottsching if anyone mentioned Krautrock, but judging by the comment about the length of Aumugn then you probably wouldn't appreciate an hour long album consisting of one track which is meant to be the soundtrack to a game of chess (it's very anticlimactic - it ends in a draw). I can't really be of much more help though, because Can and Neu!, Faust and a few others are just about as far as I've explored in Krautrock myself.

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on June 15, 2007, 05:05:44 PM
OK - I'd love to get more familiar with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.  I've got (and love) Barafundle and the Spanish Dance Troupe single, but that's about as far as it goes.  I get the feeling they're better appreciated by listening to highlights than full albums, and I've been waiting for years for a decent best of compilation, but in the meantime I'd happily take some advice on how best to approach them.

Bwyd Time is a pretty good album. Other than that I only have the Young Girls and Happy Endings CD single (which is good also) so not sure about their other stuff

Egyptian Feast

Quote from: Anon on June 15, 2007, 10:34:20 PM
Now, a request from myself: I'm quite fond of Can, but I really have no idea where to go next in checking out the whole Krautrock genre (if it helps, my favourite Can album's Future Day - the second half of Tago Mago has some interesting ideas, but there is no reason at all for Aumgn going on for 20 minutes), so one or two tips here would be appriciated.


I'd second that. I've only really heard Can and Faust, who I'd recommend if you haven't heard. Their second and third LPs So Far and The Faust Tapes are probably their best albums and a good starting point. Faust is a fine album, but if you're not a fan of 'Aumgn', I wouldn't start there. Faust IV is worth hearing for the classics 'Krautrock' and 'The Sad Skinhead' at the very least.

Backstage With Slowdive

If you ever wonder about The Fall, just get 458489A-Sides. That's the most accessible stuff, but still has plenty of rough edges and weird stuff in it, so if you don't like it there's no chance you'll prefer anything else - unless you're a determined follower of late 70s post-punk things, in which case there are the early albums like Dragnet and Grotesque, but you'll already have those because Wire magazine told you to get them.

For shoegazing, the mighty Slowdive were actually Cocteaus-ish, whilst Chapterhouse actually had a nice collection of rockier material and weren't all semi-ambient soundscapes that you might imagine. Not much of the actual 1991 scene sounded too much like the MBV albums. But all those bands have been compiled up on their own comprehensive Best Of albums. Try to get Rownderbowt, a really good Chapterhouse compendium that includes demos from the unfinished 3rd album. It really is superior to some of the toss that gets lauded in NME nowadays.

IE. what i meant to say was: get the compilations, and if you like them then go search for the hard-to-get individual albums.

buttgammon

I really, really hate Dragnet (the album and the TV show). I personally think Hex Enduction Hour is the best album by The Fall, but I would agree that 458489A-Sides is a much better introduction. As for recent stuff, Mark E. Smith collaborated with Mouse on Mars under the name Von Sudenfed and they've got an album out, 'Tromatic Reflexxions'. As much as I love The Fall, I think that surpasses all of their recent stuff which has been patchy (as with much of their output). The last album they had out was good, though. And I like Fall Heads Roll, especially Blindness back when they had that guy who played bass as though he was in a metal band.

Goldentony

Quote from: buttgammon on June 15, 2007, 10:50:00 PM
I really, really hate Dragnet (the album and the TV show). I personally think Hex Enduction Hour is the best album by The Fall, but I would agree that 458489A-Sides is a much better introduction. As for recent stuff, Mark E. Smith collaborated with Mouse on Mars under the name Von Sudenfed and they've got an album out, 'Tromatic Reflexxions'. As much as I love The Fall, I think that surpasses all of their recent stuff which has been patchy (as with much of their output). The last album they had out was good, though. And I like Fall Heads Roll, especially Blindness back when they had that guy who played bass as though he was in a metal band.

They've still got the metal guy haven't they? Dave 'the eagle' Spurr, who plays that 5 string bass with the guitar strap hoisting the bass up to his chin.

Anon

Hmm, looks like Neu! and Faust are the two to check out then - cheers and so on.

Just adding to Backstage With Slowdive's comments on The Fall - I started off with the 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong compilation and This Nation's Saving Grace, and that's probably as good a starting point as any.  Get to hear a bit of (almost) all of their different sounds, and one of their most consistent and accessible albums y'see.  Hex Enduction is probably the best, but that can probably wait a little until you're used to that more abrasive early-80's style (and, of course, so you don't get immediately put off by that line in The Classical) if you're a beginner.

buttgammon

Quote from: Goldentony on June 15, 2007, 10:54:17 PM
They've still got the metal guy haven't they? Dave 'the eagle' Spurr, who plays that 5 string bass with the guitar strap hoisting the bass up to his chin.

Have they? Their sound has changed, though. Unless it's because of the 'squad rotation' system MES now has, using different personnel at different gigs and on different releases.

And I'm certainly glad Hex was the first album of theirs I heard, too. I love it now and it's my favourite, but I would have thrown it in the bin at hearing that, probably. Didn't it supposedly cost them a record deal with Motown?

Goldentony

Quote from: buttgammon on June 15, 2007, 10:57:14 PM
Have they? Their sound has changed, though. Unless it's because of the 'squad rotation' system MES now has, using different personnel at different gigs and on different releases.


They've got two bassists now, the american guy and 'The Eagle' which i think they got after the american guys had to go back abroad so he brought in a load of substitutes in case it happens again. I think they sometimes have two drummers aswell because of this but the only time recently i've heard of them doing that is at some Manchester show in a brewery earleir in the year.

Go With The Flow

I would like to get into Drum and Bass music, but most websites take me to videos of D'n'B parties. I'd just like the names of some decent artists for me to start off on.

Toad in the Hole

I actually think with Scott Walker it's probably a good idea to work through in chronological order.  The early stuff is very accessible - Scott, for example, has the wonderful Montague Terrace in Blue on it; Scott 2 has his brilliant cover of Brel's Au Suivant (as Next).  I've not got on to Climate of Hunter or Tilt yet, but will report back!

Also interested in Gorky's, would like to hear from anyone who has a few of the albums as to what to go for.  I love the song Hush the Warmth.

Not a big D&B fan but Roni Size's New Forms is pretty seminal.

Quote from: Go With The Flow on June 15, 2007, 11:05:09 PM
I would like to get into Drum and Bass music, but most websites take me to videos of D'n'B parties. I'd just like the names of some decent artists for me to start off on.

Hopefully you can still download the Garden Eccentrics mix by Vancouver's DJ Eve here

QuoteEve is a junglist from Vancouver via ATL, who also dabbles in downtempo, house, and broken beat. Maybe it's just the plant life allusions of the title, but rarely has drum'n'bass (which often sounds architectonic to the point of sterility) seemed so full of wriggly life. DNB often makes a virtue, especially post-1998, of it's ahuman qualities: the detached, mechanical grind of its riddim, as well as the booming riffs designed to smash up the big raves.

But Eve isolates a strain of modern leftfield dnb that favors micro-incidents, percussive fragments, and an overall...not daintiness of sound (I don't know if it's possible for dnb to sound "dainty") but subdued and abstract vibe, the opposite of so much modern dnb's flailing anthemicness. Sileni's classic, s*****c "Twitchy Droid Leg" meets Amit's half-stepping Middle Eastern ethno-dnb, while Deep Blue makes like tech-house at 170bpm. Fanu's widescreen breaks skip across tempos with little regard for dancefloor rules. This is what "ambient" drum'n'bass should have been. The best modern dnb is getting ever closer to a breakbeat version of Perlon-style microhouse, and this is one of the most micro-examples yet.

I love this mix as it shows everything that is brilliant about dnb, at least for me. She has a new mix called Splash which I'm currently downloading from here.

Backstage With Slowdive

Quote from: buttgammon on June 15, 2007, 10:57:14 PMAnd I'm certainly glad Hex was the first album of theirs I heard, too. I love it now and it's my favourite, but I would have thrown it in the bin at hearing that, probably. Didn't it supposedly cost them a record deal with Motown?

That's the legend, but the reality is there was never a chance that any big label was going to sign the 1982 Fall.

Quote from: MES& Kay Carroll talking to Distant Violins fanzine in Australia, 1982
D: Do you stay on independents on purpose, or is it... ?

M: Not out of idealism... it's just that the big record companies have had nothing to offer us.

D: In Australia you're through Gap, which is done by EMI.

M: Yeah.

D: So you're on a big label here.

M: Yeah. We haven't seen fucking anything of fucking anybody from EMI yet. For distribution it's fucking great. Can't beat a big label, that's one thing we lose out on, being independent. Where I live, in Manchester, you can't get any of our records. Then again if people want them they'll hunt 'em down, won't they...



klaatu!

Quote from: Goldentony on June 15, 2007, 10:54:17 PM
They've still got the metal guy haven't they? Dave 'the eagle' Spurr, who plays that 5 string bass with the guitar strap hoisting the bass up to his chin.

The bassist on 'Blindness' was Steve Trafford. Seen here.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We_mND4HpTg[/youtube]

That Fall line-up was ace. One of the best ones he's fired? The guitarist was very good too.

Incidentally, Steve Trafford's new band, Tycoons Follies, is here.

buttgammon

Quote from: Backstage With Slowdive on June 16, 2007, 12:08:42 AM
That's the legend, but the reality is there was never a chance that any big label was going to sign the 1982 Fall.

What I thought, really. I wonder how the rumour came about, though. MES making it up himself? An April Fools joke or something like that? I can't even remember where I heard that. I guess Motown wouldn't have really been that interested in a Mancuian band with a highly unconvential singer with an accent few can understand, two drummers playing at once who do really long songs with cheap electric organs in them. I think Just Step S'ways and Mere Pseud Mag Ed were actually quite accessible, though. So they released singles like I'm Into CB instead!

boki

Quote from: Go With The Flow on June 15, 2007, 11:05:09 PM
I would like to get into Drum and Bass music, but most websites take me to videos of D'n'B parties. I'd just like the names of some decent artists for me to start off on.

Don't really know much about the current d'n'b scene, but the first Metalheadz 'Platinum Breakz' compilation is still worth checking out, especially J Majik's 'Your Sound' - total classic.

Cack Hen

I'd like to get into soul. I've had Sam Cooke Live at Harlem Square Club on loop for days, it's so good. I haven't heard much else besides this.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

I'd recommend Goldie- Timeless for some d'n'b. Or was it called Jungle back then, I can't remember. </Hugh>

glitch

Quote from: Go With The Flow on June 15, 2007, 11:05:09 PM
I would like to get into Drum and Bass music, but most websites take me to videos of D'n'B parties. I'd just like the names of some decent artists for me to start off on.

Depends what kind of drum and bass you like - funky/jazzy or dark and nasty?

I prefer the dark and nasty stuff myself, so these should get you started:

Noisia
Panacea
Calyx
Gridlok
Dom and Roland

Oh and everyone's raving about Pendulum. I'm not sure why, they've only got 2 good tunes so far and one of those is a remix of The Prodigy's Voodoo People.

samadriel

So: To where should I turn, should I decide to delve into the catalogues of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music?

("'A therapist'  Ho ho ho!")

Egyptian Feast

Quote from: samadriel on June 16, 2007, 03:25:33 PM
So: To where should I turn, should I decide to delve into the catalogues of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music?

("'A therapist'  Ho ho ho!")

Any of the first four Roxy albums - but I'd do them in order: Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure, Stranded and Country Life. All are brilliant. If you still want more after that, Siren is worth a listen.

I can't really help you with Ferry's solo albums, though. Anyone else have some recommendations?

rudi

Quote from: glitch on June 16, 2007, 01:40:01 PM
Depends what kind of drum and bass you like - funky/jazzy or dark and nasty?

I prefer the dark and nasty stuff myself, so these should get you started:

Noisia
Panacea
Calyx
Gridlok
Dom and Roland

I like to play Panacea when I'm in an exceptionally bad mood. It seems to take the edge off my rage a little...

Yes, they're poppy/jazzy DnB, but E-Z Rollers have been consistently excellent to me.

Saygone

This is a great idea for a thread :)

I'd love to get into Townes Van Zandt (?).  I love his cover of Dead Flowers that winds up The Big Lebowski, but according to Wikipedia he has about fifty albums, and I'd hate to ruin it by picking a shite one.  So, any suggestions?

Egyptian Feast

I was at Madame JoJo's in Soho recently and the DJs were playing 50s rockabilly for most of the night, most of which sounded utterly fantastic. I know a few tracks here and there from the genre (mostly from John Waters soundtracks), but I'd love to get a couple of good compilations. Anyone have any recommendations?

Godzilla Bankrolls

Quote from: Egyptian Feast on June 16, 2007, 03:29:57 PMI can't really help you with Ferry's solo albums, though. Anyone else have some recommendations?

The one with all the tongue-in-cheek covers is great. You know, the one with A Hard Rain and It's My Party.