Which musicians make great music today - Page 2

Also add

Agalloch
&
Be'lakor

to the list of awesome bands.

Dave Alvin and the "Guilty Men" or "Guilty Women".

The Catholic Girls. They eschew the usual "girl-group" cliches (cutsey vocals, same old riffs, etc) with their diversity. While some of their previous albums were spotty, the current album (EXPOSED) is their best and showcases one of the most unique voices in rock that I've ever come across. (Might be an alto, but not certain.) A song called "Sleep" kicks things off, with a great finale at the end. The multi-tracked vocals during the last two minutes of "Manderlay" (inspired, I assume, by Hitchcock's "Rebecca" )and "Sleepwalker" (Love the singer's "Whoa-oooh-ooohs) were incredible. The group started out back in the 80s "new-wave" days and it's good that they're still around. A couple tunes do still have that "wave" vibe..."Grounded" and "No One Like You." "Broken Record" would be a hit single, if such a thing still existed. Love the arrangement of
"Heartbreak 101". And "Airplay" is positively smokin'! If you listen to it in your car, you might find yourself way over the speed limit. My favorite album of the year so far. Much better than we get from many other, more-well known bands.(Yeah, I'm looking at you, Blondie.) Heck, even the name of the label they're on (Cinema) appeals to me! In a time when so many groups sound alike (and all their songs sound the same), this album is water in the desert.

Paul Weller

I stumbled onto Ray LaMontagne a couple years ago and really enjoy him. You've probably heard "Trouble" on that Bank commercial where the little dog is looking for a place to hide his bone. Very soulful and different music from most of what comes out of the industry these days.

rboster:
FWIW, the new Jack White CD arrived today and will give it a spin over the weekend and post my impressions later...

Then you should really check out Melody Gardot.

I listened to the entire CD over a period of a couple of days and am VERY impressed.

He seems more polished, but even more inventive.
His ability to take various genres and stand them on their head is a rare ability.
He might be the most original and creative guy out there right now....

IMO, this CD may be his best yet.

+1. I really like her and her music. I bought her CDs based on recommendations from Amazon, and then, after liking the music, I looked into her life story. It's pretty remarkable and inspirational. She makes a great case for the potential power of music therapy for brain-injured and other patients.

And even if you ignore her life story, she makes great music.

Mike

I'm an old fart also and I have a hard time with defining "Good" music anymore. A lot of artists write lyrics that might be good, but few can write melodies or riffs that pull you in. I'm not saying there are no songs that mate both lyrics and tune, but I'm often changing the channel on Sat Radio because there is nothing special in a monotone presentation of a lyric. Jam bands on Sat Radio are more than likely to keep me entertained due to the quality of the musicians that show a great deal of versatility and some musical training. Just $.02 from someone who still has a foot stuck in 70s and 80s rock.

Some of my favorite reasonably modern (and mostly unknown) artists, some of whom are already defunct:


Cocorosie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51K4cUTuvc0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDb7dAnm79I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBWxjAiO_KQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6bInhOhUYs


Lisa Germano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpSLbQcphr8


Vienna Teng

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14P72nLQmRI


Nastyona

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwbe01UaBLk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wceip5MHto4


3rd Line Butterfly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRMaNqbJoEM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUGzSg8U8MY

Melody is, unfortunately, becoming a thing of the past....



I think you may be surprised just how many wheezing "old farts" are on this forum.

The first 3 are really beautiful, though I would have to be in a rare mood to fully enjoy them.

Especially appreciate the Nastyona - nice to know there is more than K-pop coming out of Korea. That song kicks ass! I will definitely check them out further. Funny to see the stunned looks on the faces of the kids in the audience, clearly they have no idea what to think or do in the face of some truly great music. Classic!

I will investigate the 3rd Line Butterfly further as well.

Thanks again!

Oh, don't be such an old fart Oink!
People have been saying this since cavemen would bang two sticks together around the campfire and call it "melody".

"Pfft! Kids nowadays and their modern 'stick on stone' cacophony"



PS I dare you to "endure" 12 minutes of Between the Buried and Me's "Specular Reflection" or "White Walls"

old fart here too.

one band i like that is still creating new music is green day because most of their recent songs do have a melody. american idiot and 21st century breakdown are full of melodic ballads and tuneful power rock.

Imelda May is amazing





Horrorbilly is good too, love me some Creepshow

"White walls" is sublime...I wish more people didn't just immediately turn off as soon as they hear a vocalist screaming..it is near musical perfection....I nearly always tear up near the finale where Giles screams "white walls" and the guitar just plays perfectly. I would argue "Disease, Injury, Madness" and "Fossil Genera" are also outstanding songs.

(for full disclosure for those "old farts": I like classical music as well.. (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Bizet)...in fact I only really listen to metal and classical)

+1

It's that massical or cletal?

Cletal sounds like some happy female music...

Seriously though, Wagner, Brahms, Vivaldi, Bach, Mahler, Schoenberg and Tchaikovsky (to name a few) were the "metalheads" of their era.

Paganini? He was the Vai/Satriani of his era!

Thank you! I was just about to mention Paganini and Mahler!

Mmmmm...Mahler's 1st, Abbado BPO live, DG...

So true.
After almost 30 years of listening to non pop/commercial music, I discovered a ~30 second window in "White Walls" (starting at around the 09:27 mark) where all perfection of music has culminated together. I can listen to that piece 24/7.

PS: A funny observation. To those who've seen the excellent TV show "Homeland", really brutally powerful music can also be used as an, ahem, enhanced interrogation technique... If I was the interrogated subject, I'd be headbanging my @$$ off!

As far as live music, Phish IMO is still one of the top acts from a pure musical perspective.

Tommy Emmanuel is a mind blower.

Ween still puts on a hell of a show.

Rush still kicks ass live.

Lots more, but those all come to mind from my perspective.

Being in the bay area we still have lots of the old guard playing good music (significantly older than Green Day).

I recently went to Dan Hicks' 70th birthday bash, with guests like Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Maria Muldaur, Rickie Lee Jones, Jim Kweskin, Tuck & Patti, David Grisman, Van Dyke Parks, John Hammond, Roy Rogers, and more.

Then there's old stalwarts in the area like Boz Scaggs, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, and many more...

yeah i read about that.

must have been a blast. bay area has such a great musical tradition.
proud to call it home.

Been in the radio biz for 35+ years now. Pretty much seen it all. There was one study I came across years ago that said people adhere to that music that represented the happiest time of their lives. For many, that period was high school. Didn't surprise me. Many of my former high school alumni haven't gone past Woodstock in their musical ventures.

I think anymore there is a distinction between great music and music that will be widely known in 20 years. Music genres and tastes have become fragmented. There is no longer a single music of a generation. The breadth of music that is being now produced means that you can get lost in one small subset without ever realizing what else is out there.

It was a lot of fun and being at Davies Hall was a nice touch of class...even felt at age 55 like a youngster in the audience Perhaps they're not at the top of their game compared to times I've seen many of them earlier in their careers but they still make damn good music.

We are indeed lucky here in the bay area. I remember when I was in high school and college and could go to several venues (bars really) in the city and see outstanding musicians just sittin' in a corner playing away...and a wide breadth of music...blues, rock, jazz all within a few blocks of each other. We had the happening comedy scene at one point, too.