Return of the F:AT Music Thread

Hey, we haven't had a good music thread lately...what's everybody listening to these days?

Right now, I've been listening to nothing but Bowie, almost nonstop, for about the past month. I haven't done this in a long time and in fact that Bowie discs had to be pulled out of storage but once again I find myself wondering why I ever bother to listen to anything but Bowie. Seriously, pretty much everything I want out of music is there in one way or another in the catalog.

In particular, I've been listening a lot to the 1974-1979 records- DIAMOND DOGS, YOUNG AMERICANS, STATION TO STATION, and the Eno trio. Krautrock, art-funk, plastic soul, Armageddon glam rock, proto-New Wave, ambient soundscapes...amazing stuff. What's interesting was that in the past STATION TO STATION was one of my least favorites...now, some 15 years after I bought the record, I think it's very close to being my favorite Bowie record.

Took a break for a while and dug up the Iggy Pop stuff I have (what a crazy tangent that is)...I'm pretty sure that if "Rebel Rebel" isn't the greatest Rock n' Roll song ever recorded then "1970" is. Really digging on "The Idiot" too. And "Kill City".

Anybody else?

Bowie can do that to people. Bowie / Reed / Velvet Underground, that's about I'll I listened to summer - junior year of high school. Suffragette City is still my favorite Bowie. I think today Beck comes closest to that sound.

Track dump, last 8 hours:

Maschinenzimmer 412 – Kreuzigung (Live)
Shemsu Hor – Breath Of Life
Bathory – Of Doom
Scar Tissue – Cascade (cevin key mix)
Inade – divine hybrid
Stereolab – Contronatura
Rapoon – Blue Sanctions
Amon – Fire Hollow
Immolation – Despondent Souls
Burning Witch – The Bleeder
Organ – IV
razor noise – Negative Thought Process
Ildjarn – Untitled
Stereolab – Three-Dee Melodie
Godflesh – Slavestate (Radio Slave)
Esplendor Geométrico – Francotirador
Malformed Earthborn – Suicide Lair
Arecibo – M87 The Four Second Timing Discrepancy
Q.R. Ghazala – Untitled in Remembrance of Hiroshima's Unnamed Dead
Nordvargr – Seeds of Blood (Acts 1 - 4)
Kraftwerk – Die Stimme der Energie
Ordo Equilibrio – The Perplexity of Hybris. I Glorify Myself
Dead Can Dance – Sloth [Radio Edit][#]
Techno Animal – Bass Concussion
Artefactum – Astrofobia (From Fhetys to Rhea)
Strafe Fur Rebellion – Ochsle
Solstice – Transmogrified
A Challenge of Honour – Weakness
Neu! – After Eight
Scar Tissue – The Devices (3)
At the Gates – City of Screaming Statues
Mayhem – Ghoul
Gary Numan – Complex
Carpathian Forest – Lunar Nights
Burzum – Inn i slottet fra droemmen
Merzbow – My Station Rock
Skinny Puppy – Ice Breaker
Axiomata – womb with a view
Chris Carter – Electrodub 1
Imminent Starvation – Parle
Death in June – Because of Him
Radium – Porncore
Simulacrum – IV
Rapoon – Mess Up Your Spooks
Melvins – Vile
MZ.412 – NBS ACT I: Begravning
Lille Roger – Undead
Werkraum – Nocturne
Steel Hook Prostheses – Burning Out Their Eyes
Aghast – The Darkest Desire

I went on a local music binge recently. I wanted to make a best-of local music mix for some friends who are coming to town for a visit next month, in response to the usual "Why did you move to Minnesota?" teasing.

So I've been listening to Trip Shakespeare, The Replacements, Husker Du, Lifter Puller, Atmosphere, Semisonic, the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Babes in Toyland, and Kid Dakota. I also went back to some older music by Prince, Morris Day, and one-hit wonder "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc. And of course Bob Dylan, though a little Dylan is almost more than I can stand these days.

It's been fun. Toolmaster of Brainerd is a fun song from Trip Shakespeare, with lyrics like "He played guitar like a natural disaster... Toolmaster of Brainerd." There was a great little punk number, "God Shagged the Queen" by Jonas, and some pretty recent weirdness by Tapes 'n Tapes. I wasn't ready for Husker Du when I first encountered their music in the '80s, but now I find it challenging and interesting. Local legend act Lifter Puller was a disappointment due to the crappy lead singer, but I can't stop raving about the hip-hop from Atmosphere.

Atmosphere are awesome. I got into them because of a track on The Kleptones' "A Night at the Hip-Hopera" (triple-plus get it right fucking now recommendation, btw). Hip-hop vocals, Queen music, pop-culture samples. Totally epic.

I've been going through the old catalogue of Buck Owens, mostly because of some more modern alt-country stuff I was listening to.

Barnes, have you ever listened to Spiritualized? That's my go-to band, where I always wonder "why do I bother listening to anything else?". After a big Bowie kick, I think you might enjoy them.

Bowie for the absolute win. My first concert was to David Bowie when I was six years old. Still love him now, and always will.

Currently on my MP3 player/other high rotation play are:

Arkona (the folk/metal band, not the black metal band)
Blind Guardian
Bolt Thrower (Warhammer 40,000 Metal!!!)
Burzum
Crimfall
Demons and Wizards (a side project of Blind Guardian and Iced Earth)
Lustmord
Nightwish
Turisas
White Zombie

Of course, Michael has now gotten me in the mood for some Bowie, so that'll be on there next time you ask. Can't go wrong with a bit of Bowie.

It's amazing how Bowie's best songs have this fresh, timeless quality. He was years ahead of his time. Has anybody here tried his Tin Machine side project? I really enjoyed the eponymous first Tin Machine album. Bowie was in a savage mood when he penned the lyrics, and the music is somehow edgy, dignified and messy, all at once.

BradH wrote:

Bowie for the absolute win. My first concert was to David Bowie when I was six years old. Still love him now, and always will.

Currently on my MP3 player/other high rotation play are:

Arkona (the folk/metal band, not the black metal band)
Blind Guardian
Bolt Thrower (Warhammer 40,000 Metal!!!)
Burzum
Crimfall
Demons and Wizards (a side project of Blind Guardian and Iced Earth)
Lustmord
Nightwish
Turisas
White Zombie

Of course, Michael has now gotten me in the mood for some Bowie, so that'll be on there next time you ask. Can't go wrong with a bit of Bowie.

Love Burzum, "Filosofem". Been on a Doom Metal kick, finding bands that skirt different metal sub-genres. Burning Witch, Ahab, and the almighty Esoteric.

Jesus, I feel pedestrian for saying Tom Waits, and Tool...

<edit: Even more so when I just realized that by my count I only have ever _heard_ of 14 of the bands named in all the previous posts above.... >

And, I'm not going to pass up a chance to promote Anchorhead

That's not my band, so it's not a cheap plug.

This is my band.

Every genre I can think of but lately

Jacob do Bandolim (he plays mandolin and his name is Jacob... obviously a cool guy!)
Chris Thile w/ Edgar Meyer (mandolin and double bass duets)
Mastodon (Blood Mountain)
Sage Francis (Healthy Distrust)
Dan Reeder (my new favorite folk singer)
Leonard Cohen (to get ready for the show in April)
The Tishomingo String Band (shameless plug)
All the looney tunes stuff
Enino Moricione (the guy that did the soundtracks for all the spaghetti westerns)
and the new Guns n' Roses (they got Buckethead now so why not, wicked solos on that disc!).

We always listen to shit while we play... just two days ago it was Arkham Horror while listening to Jonas Hellborg and Glenn Velez, spooky instrumental stuff just perfect for Arkham!!

I've been gearing up for SXSW, so my main rotation features some bands I picked out of the many showcases to go see...

Late of the Pier
The Hot Melts
Janelle Monae
Dead Confederate
The Lemurs
Horse Feathers
Peelander Z <-- Hilarious and awesome
Transfer <-- Has been in regular rotation for about a year.

Other than that I keep some regular goodies- Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Bob Marley, Louis Armstrong (Hot 5 and 7 years are my latest pickup) and a bunch of 80's and 90's alternative/indie rock I can't seem to ever get off my Zune.

A great source of new music is the SXSW torrent that's put up each year showcasing artists, this year with over 5 gigs of music.

Aint heard much Bowie but he is one of those guys I always wanted to sit down and listen to. Recommendations on what to download please.

Shellhead wrote:

It's amazing how Bowie's best songs have this fresh, timeless quality. He was years ahead of his time. Has anybody here tried his Tin Machine side project? I really enjoyed the eponymous first Tin Machine album. Bowie was in a savage mood when he penned the lyrics, and the music is somehow edgy, dignified and messy, all at once.

Yeah, Tin Machine were pretty cool. I saw them (oh shit, it was fifteen years ago) in San Francisco. Reeves Gabrels is a guitar badass, and the show had a lot of energy to it. It was all Tin Machine, no classic Bowie songs at all. He was in that "I'm just the singer for this band" period. I think it was the tour for the second album.

JonJacob- screw you and your "Leonard Cohen is coming to my town"! NO ATLANTA DATE. At least we get the Pogues monday!

Malthus- that's a pretty mighty list you've got there, some awesome "difficult" music on there. I actually got to see Death In June many years ago, it was incredible. The opener was Boyd Rice. Chris Carter...that just reminds me that I won't be seeing Throbbing Gristle (or Leonard Cohen) at Coachella...

It's good to see folks on here who appreciate both Bowie and Burzum, BTW. I haven't listened to much BM lately, but that last Nachtmystium record was fucking great. And I'm still kind of hung up on the last Peste Noire album, "Fuckfolk Folie". I thought the Alcest full-length was a bust though, they dropped all traces of BM to redo a Cocteau Twins album. New Lifelover is pretty great though.

Barnes, have you ever listened to Spiritualized? That's my go-to band, where I always wonder "why do I bother listening to anything else?". After a big Bowie kick, I think you might enjoy them.

I've seen them twice, once with Curve and the Jesus and Mary Chain and once with Siouxsie and the Banshees. Great stuff, particularly "Ladies and Gentlemen..."

It's amazing how Bowie's best songs have this fresh, timeless quality. He was years ahead of his time. Has anybody here tried his Tin Machine side project?

Absolutely. Even his most dated material (like some of the stuff on "The Man Who Sold the World") has a prescience that is still almost futuristic today.

As for Tin Machine, it's fun. It's good to hear Bowie in a looser mode than usual, just playing rock music and enjoying it. The band is killer- Reeves Gabrels along with Hunt and Tony Sales, whom you may remember as Iggy Pop's band on "Lust for Life". And yes, they are the sons of TV's Soupy Sales.