I guess I'll start this thread for the new year. This is a special category to me, as I love unearthing lost gems that have been reissued, and because I spent December -- which traditionally has few quality new releases -- exploring old stuff with my eMusic downloads. Still, most of what I've found is similar to the "New To Me" music I mentioned in my last post on this topic in the 2006 thread. With that in mind, here's what I said then:

Lately, I've begun listening to more-and-more turn-of-the century blues, gospel music, and "Old Weird America." I already had American Primitive, Vol. II: Pre-War Revenants (1897 – 1939), on the Revenant Records label, which I love for its eerie sounds and the desperate intensity of the performances. Recently, I picked up Vol. I of the series, which is just as good, as well as Blind Willie Johnson’s Praise God I’m Satisfied (on the Yazoo label), and Old-Time Music of West Virginia, Volume One: Ballads, Blues & Breakdowns (on the County Records label), which are both brilliant.

So, if anyone is a fan of this genre of music, I'd very much like to hear what you like, and why. Thanks in advance.

I got Randy Newman's Faust recently, and I'm really digging it, especially the bonus disk with Randy Newman's demos.

I picked up a great release called "Bahamut" by Hazmat Modine. It sounds like a mixture of old style blues and Balken folk music. It is very cool and has some great harmonica. If you like Beirut or Bela Fleck and the Flecktones then you will like this...

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Originally posted by keylimetrev:
I got Randy Newman's Faust recently, and I'm really digging it, especially the bonus disk with Randy Newman's demos.

I'm really going to have to pick that up, klt. I've loved Faust since it came out. Much of what I love about it was Newman's "casting," so to speak, so hearing many of those songs as demos will be interesting indeed.

Now Playing: "Playhouses" TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain <-- not, at this point, in danger of become "Best 'New to Me' Music" in 2007...I don't seem to be getting it any more than I did in 2006...

Madlib - Shades of Blue; Madlib Invades Blue Note Records.

A 2003 release I just picked up. There's only one or two of the 16 tracks that have lyrical flow on them, it's mostly instrumental hip hop and it's really enjoyable. Half of the songs use samples of old Blue Note Label jazz songs, the other half are songs inspired by the music. Madlibs' Father (aka DADlib, ha! I kill me) used to be a session musician for Blue Note.

Anyway, it's a very good album, and most of the artists whom he samples give him a "shout out" before the track starts; "Hey Madlib, it's Galt McDermott, I like what you're doing, man, keep it up"...stuff like that. Recommended for everybody.

I actually just picked up the new Scott Walker, and that's blowing my mind. Creepy stuff.

Koop - "Koop Islands". Quite fun and good.

Just discovered an amazing folk album by a guy named Matt Bauer called Nandina. It came out in 2004. He's got a 2006 record, but I haven't heard it.

Anyways, he's got a fantastic, gruff voice, and he plays banjo on almost every song. A few songs employ strings to great effect. Can't recommend this album enough. It's really great.

I heard this album called OK Computer, has anyone heard of it?

I bought it Monday on sale, and after a few listens, I can see why everyone likes it so much.

Since I didn't start listening to indie music until the summer of '05, I have a lot of catching up to do. So now that I'm done with my 2006 list, I'm going to buy Pavement, Guided by Voices, Radiohead, and earlier stuff like Wire and Can. I'm hoping to at least have a decent collection of pre-2000s music by the end of this year.

I was in a pretty similar situation to you, Stereo. I only seriously started listening to music around Spring of '03. In some ways, it's kind of an advantage to start late because there's so much awesome (and easy) stuff to discover.

I'm in about the same position you are, stereo, since I started listening to music seriously right around Spring 2005 as well. The learning curve is incredibly steep, but it's exciting because I don't think I could ever possibly get bored with it - there's just so much stuff good stuff that I haven't even heard!

I listened to OK Computer and Funeral at around the same time and, although they're quite different, they both got me interested in exploring music that didn't happen to be Top 40 at that given moment. I've listened to a few of the artists you've listed (Wire, Can, Guided By Voices) maybe once, so it's definitely something I need to do, in addition to the million other artists that I should listen to!

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I was in a pretty similar situation to you, Stereo. I only seriously started listening to music around Spring of '03. In some ways, it's kind of an advantage to start late because there's so much awesome (and easy) stuff to discover.

That's probably true for anyone that gets into music in any year. I didn't really start my own collection until 1996, and there was plenty of "awesome" and "easy" stuff to discover from 1995 and prior.

Have you made it to 1999 yet or are ya still stuck on 2000?

Sorry, I had to—house rules.

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Originally posted by m.leland:
Have you made it to 1999 yet or are ya still stuck on 2000?

Sorry, I had to—house rules.

Heh. Just listened to 69 Love Songs in its entirety in the last 2 days, so I think I can say I've reached 1999.

Guess what you said is pretty much true though.

quote:

Originally posted by m.leland:
That's probably true for anyone that gets into music in any year. I didn't really start my own collection until 1996, and there was plenty of "awesome" and "easy" stuff to discover from 1995 and prior.

You beat me to the punch. I don't think there's more or better music coming out in the 2000s than there was at any other given time. When I was a teenager in the early 90s I thought everything that came out was the best thing ever too. Looking back 15 years later, I realize only a handful of it was truly great.

I hope everybody checks out Prince's 1999, Purple Rain and Sign 'o' the Times since those are all 9 or 10/10s in my book.

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Originally posted by stereo:
I heard this album called OK Computer, has anyone heard of it?

WTF? Is that Bill Gates' autobiography?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

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That's probably true for anyone that gets into music in any year. I didn't really start my own collection until 1996, and there was plenty of "awesome" and "easy" stuff to discover from 1995 and prior.

I think that's true to a certain extent, but I'd say that it's probably easier to get recommendations on what you'd like (hence this website) and to have access to these artists right now. That's not to say, though, that the music wasn't as good at that point, or at any other point in time. The music made at the time period is a product of the time period - to say that music 'used to be better' is just a matter of personal preference (or bias). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I would guess that at any point in time, getting into music is probably overwhelming, exciting, awesome, etc.

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Heh. Just listened to 69 Love Songs in its entirety in the last 2 days, so I think I can say I've reached 1999.

Guess what you said is pretty much true though.

Tsk tsk.

If you—especially you—don't already own Tindersticks' Tindersticks [II] (1995) and Curtains (1997), then you've done yourself a disservice.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
I hope everybody checks out Prince's 1999, Purple Rain and Sign 'o' the Times since those are all 9 or 10/10s in my book.

Seconded. Especially Purple Rain. I dunno how Michael Jackson got the tag, because Prince was the true king of pop in the 80s.

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Originally posted by ericg75:

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
I hope everybody checks out Prince's 1999, Purple Rain and Sign 'o' the Times since those are all 9 or 10/10s in my book.

Seconded. Especially Purple Rain. I dunno how Michael Jackson got the tag, because Prince was the true king of pop in the 80s.

I never dug Purple Rain but Sign 'o the Times is outstanding.

I agree that the 2000s aren't better than any other decade, that everyone has a time like this, and that it's easier to find out about new artists now.

This site has provided me with a lot of recommendations, and so my music collection is mostly limited (with the exception of some Aphex Twin and NMH) to 2000-present. A lot of older albums just aren't talked about, aren't available online, or aren't available in stores around where I live, (Iowa has to be one of the worst places to live for an indie fan. Not THE worst, but it's bad.) so it's harder to find them.

But now that I think I have a reasonable idea of what kinds of music I like, I think it will be easier to go back through influences of the bands I like now and find some things I like. I hope so, anyway.

It's overwhelming.