Saves the Day, Shpongle, Silver Jews, Slayer, Sleater-Kinney, Slint, Sly & the Family Stone, Softies, Sonic Youth, Sparks, Streets, Super Furry Animals, Supremes, Swing Kids. And other Stuff.
Originally posted by eggtweedyegg: W is for Wilco...oh and the white stripes...and that Whiskeytown album that is awesome
And Weezer, Wolf Parade, The Walkmen, The Wrens. I think I could last a while even on a limited letter like "W".
Plus Ween and Wu-Tang Clan. I think W would probably be my letter of choice, even though I would be tempted to pick M for Modest Mouse alone (though there would be some tasty other bands like The Mountain Goats and My Morning Jacket).
Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Ramones, Rage Against the Machine, Robert Randolph, RUN DMC, Roxy Music, The Roots, REM, Lou Reed, and Rascal Flats...ummm scratch that.
Or, if I'm not cheating, I agree with W. The White Stripes and The Wrens are a killer combination. Wire and all those Wolf bands would be a plus too.
A would be my next choice, because I have 10 1/2 hours of Aphex Twin. Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, Ellen Allien, Aloha, The Avalanches, Andrew Bird (Windows Media Player counts it...) are all winners too. I have more bands I like that start with A, but I don't think I could leave out the White Stripes.
^ Secret Machines, Simon and Garfunkel, Stars, Soul Coughing, The Stooges, The Strokes, Sunny Day Real Estate.. Snoop Dogg!
To add something new, P:
Panacea, Pantera, Paul McCartney, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Pedro the Lion, A Perfect Circle (?), Peter Murphy, Phil Collins (word), Pink Floyd, PJ Harvey, The Police, Portishead, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Prince, Public Enemy, Pulp... Pussycat Dolls.
I feel like I've left off an important one .
Really though, Pavement, Pearl Jam, and that which goes forgotten alone make up almost 4% of my library (~450 songs), more than the 3.8% per letter if the songs were distributed equally. There was a period in my life (late 90s to early 2000s) when those three were the staple pillars of my music listening.
==== What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
i think my official pick would have to be R for these three acts alone:
Radiohead, The Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams
there's plenty of other great R's, but I don't even need to consider them in this contest. R already has the win.
Edit: oh shit, Ryan Adams counts as an A doesn't it... now I'm completely uncertain. everything I believed in has failed me! A is looking pretty good now with animal collective and arcade fire...
I would live with B as well The Band, Band Of Horses, Beirut, The Beta Band, Bat For Lashes, Broken Social Scene, Bright Eyes, The Besnard Lakes, Beulah, Bloc Party, Brtiish Sea Power, Built To Spill, and Bob Dylan those would last me a good long time