| Author | Message | ||
     Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1351 Registered: 01-2005 |
I know we stopped doing the Best of lists months ago, was it because 1995-1999 was the worse 5 year span for new music? It was preety thin for me save for some great alt-country releases by Lucinda, Son Volt and Wilco, and the odd indie album like In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. I started getting into jazz around 1998 as the pickings were so slim in the rock world. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1511 Registered: 10-2004 |
I'd nominate 2004-2008 for being an even worse span of time for music. Things are pretty bleak right now, in my view. There were some pretty interesting developments in the late 90s as far as 'international' indie pop is concerned. Lots of promising stuff from Sweden, Japan, Spain, etc. in that time. Also, bands like Stereolab, Saint Etienne, High Llamas, and Divine Comedy were doing exceptional work around then. XTC released their great Apple Venus vol. 1. Lots of other stuff... For what it's worth, I'd be interested in continuing the 'best-of' lists up to the present year, but I think everyone got a bit listed-out. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 408 Registered: 01-2007 |
2008 was a vintage year! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1352 Registered: 01-2005 |
I gave up on XTC a long time ago, as Apples and Oranges was the last album I bought when it first came out. I'll check out Apple Venus for sure. There are no Llamas in my collection either, unless you consider the various Llama credits at the end of my Holy Grail DVD!!! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 64 Registered: 10-2008 |
This decade has been pretty good imo(2007 apart),far better than the impotent 90s and the latter years of the 80s - unless you are into singer/songwriter,guit/bass/dr,standard rocknroll where it seems there is no new territory to be covered. The exceptions to this are Sonic Youth, Nick Cave and Robert Wyatt who made some of the best albums of their careers this decade. The majority of "mainstream" music is stagnant apart from a few bands trying to push the envelope - Wilco, Radiohead and Flaming Lips. TVOTR,Burial,The Bug, LCD,Panda Bear/Animal Collective have all made landmark albums in the last year or so, the futures bright!! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1512 Registered: 10-2004 |
Michael - XTC got pretty inconsistent after Skylarking. Oranges and Lemons was a crap album, IMHO. Apple Venus is quite good, but it's very much a chamber-baroque album - lots of strings and slightly complex arrangements. Very beautiful but pretty different to their earlier stuff. Approach with caution. It's sister album "Wasp Star," was the more "rock" counterpoint, but I didn't care for that one at all. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2559 Registered: 05-2005 |
1483-1488 was shocking with all that "Hey nonny no, the king says hello" type stuff. The one good thing to come out of that period was "Hey nonny no, the queen is a ho" by Pádraig O'Coileáin & The Maguesiders. But they were hanged from an oak tree for their cheek. No yellow ribbons for them. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1900 Registered: 03-2005 |
When Brian Eno made his best records everybody else was busily crafting their worst. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 67 Registered: 10-2008 |
.........apart from bowie,iggy,john cale,the class of 77-78,scores and scores of reggae artists,kraftwerk,neil young and television | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 49 Registered: 05-2005 |
right on kev and not forgetting giorgio moroder/donna summer | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1901 Registered: 03-2005 |
Paris 1919 was very fine. Ditto Television. The rest of that stuff? You folks are welcome to it. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1902 Registered: 03-2005 |
Actually, let me amend that a little further. Reggae was the chief means of my musical survival through those dark years, even though I am of the opinion that its best years were 1969-1972. But in general, once people brought out that flabby pseudo-50s "Happy Days" saxophone (and Cale was as guilty of that as the next guy) or the disco thump it was all dreck. I know you all love Neil Young but as far as I'm concerned he was finished by his second album. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1519 Registered: 10-2004 |
I have to say, I agree with the pro-70s sentiment here. If you scratch beneath the surface, the 70s are a goldmine, and they were infinitely better than the dreck we've got today (or for the last 19 years). I have to agree, the following artists were creating awesome music in the 70s: John Cale (Paris 1919 *is* brilliant, but so are the Island albums, especially the utterly amazing Helen of Troy), Kraftwerk, Bowie's "Berlin" period (esp. Low), Stooges/Iggy, Roxy Music, Nick Drake, Big Star, T-Rex, Sparks, Colin Blunstone's early solo albums, Jonathan Richman, and let's not forget Neu, Faust, etc... Plus, some great stuff going on with soul at the time, like Shuggie Otis, Curtis Mayfield, the Chi-Lites, etc... A lot of good reggae, too, as has been mentioned. And all this without even delving into the "class of '76-'77" or the cheesy metal/hard rock stuff I like, such as Sabbath or Blue Oyster Cult. Brazilian music went down a bad downward spiral (of bad funk and disco) in the 70s, but at least in the earlier part of the decade, people like Jorge Ben, Jobim, and Chico Buraque were still making great music. Yeah, the 70s were vile on the surface, but beneath that I have discovered a lot of amazing stuff. No, the 70s weren't quite as good as the 60s or 80s, in my view, but far, far superior to the 90s or 00s. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 1522 Registered: 10-2004 |
As for Neil Young, I've recently come to the realization that I'm kind of ambivalent about him. I like him, I own several of his records, like Zuma, On the Beach, etc.. They're good records. I even saw him once in the early 90s with Crazy Horse. It was a good show... But I find that I rarely want to actually listen to him. It's like, I can appreciate his work, but never feel the urge to reach for his LPs. I'm not totally sure why that is. I will say that I think his most brilliant moment is his oft-hated early 80s rockabilly/doo-wop record. I'm not being daft! That song "Wonderin" is genius, has a wonderful sound, and its perfect video (which got a lot of play on MTV back then) is even better. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1362 Registered: 01-2005 |
All hail Neu for motorik. What a pioneering band they were and my favorite kratrock group which is saying a lot becauce I think the world of Can and Faust. Great list of some of my favorite 70's acts by Jeff. I would add Richard and Linda Thompson, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Gram Parsons, Gene Clark, Emmylou Harris. The great dual lead guitar acts of the early 70's like the Allman Brothers Band, Wishbone Ash and the Layla album of course. I think the 70's get a bad rap because of disco, the lame singer-songwriter albums of lesser talents, and the plastic dry-f**K Eagles (Gram's term for them) and the other hopeless country-rockers who had no soul in their music. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1341 Registered: 08-2006 |
I dunno about that 1995-1999 span, Michael. A lot of my favorite bands were making great music then - Sleater-Kinney, Pavement, Archers of Loaf, PJ Harvey, etc. I can't say every year was a gem, but a period that delivered "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" and "69 Love Songs" can't be all bad. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 2585 Registered: 05-2005 |
There is always good music, every year. Some years you just have to dig a lot deeper. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 69 Registered: 10-2008 |
Wise words Mr Collins, couldnt have put it better myself. Although sometimes I think music was proscribed in 1990 when I check in here :-) |