Respect the classics, man!

[ewok20t3]

Wikipedia says it was Rufus Wainwright's.

He did the version on the soundtrack, but the one in the actual movie was John Cale, I'm pretty sure.

[ewok20t3]

I just found this on wikianswers:

"For the actual movie soundtrack (the one heard while watching the movie), "Hallelujah" is performed by John Cale. When later released on CD, the soundtrack album includes a performance by Rufus Wainwright."


But yeah, my main problem with the "Hallelujah" covers is that teeny-bopper singers and X-Factor winners are recording it and butchering it.

[murlough23]

But yeah, my main problem with the "Hallelujah" covers is that teeny-bopper singers and X-Factor winners are recording it and butchering it.

Ugh. This is why American Idol and its ilk are destroying our country.

I'm fine with singing the song to win a contest. It's a good vocal test. But we don't need endless recordings of it.

[ewok20t3]

Ugh. This is why American Idol and its ilk are destroying our country.

I'm fine with singing the song to win a contest. It's a good vocal test. But we don't need endless recordings of it.

Amen to that!

[bloop]

OK, Zappa's work with the Mothers of Invention is interesting to say the least, in the sort of way that I like and murlough generally doesn't I think.  I got through We're Only In It for the Money so far.

murlough, how was Grace?

[murlough23]

murlough, how was Grace?

Interesting. Went in some directions I didn't expect. It will take a few listens to digest because it's mostly a slow-burner, but that ain't a bad thing. I definitely wouldn't have known what to do with it when it was brand new, but that was the year I first got into any music at all, so I figure I could forgive my old self for the oversight.

[Wildcatblue7]

So I know this thread originally started as murlough trying to respect (respecK) the classics, but I wondered if perhaps someone could offer me some suggestions as well.  I listen to a pretty broad spectrum of stuff, but I'm in the mood to explore.  Here's my Last FM as a reference point, if somebody feels like taking the time...

Now Playing..."Closer" by NIN, for approximately the bazillionth time

[bloop]

I'm pretty overwhelmed. You have Lady Gaga listed alongside Rebecca St. James, Nine Inch Nails and Fleetwood Mac.  So...just try everything?

A few things I think you might like (but I could be dead wrong, or hitting stuff you already know well)

Dinosaurs:
The Guess Who
Cream
The Animals
Rod Stewart
The Cars
join me with Frank Zappa (the guy is playful, and I think you might like that)

more recent:
Celldweller (you may remember someone who loved this guy)
Therion
Massive Attack
Goldfrapp
Annie
TV on the Radio
Yeasayer

Just doing a bit of goofy free association, really.

[Wildcatblue7]

Yeah, I spiderweb a little bit.   

I'm pretty familiar with most of the dinosaurs, minus Zappa.  I hear Cream all. the. time. where i work (bbq place based on the blues...you might have one or two near you in No. Va, actually) so while I like them I can only listen to them once in a blue moon outside of work.  Do you have a good place to start with Zappa and/or Mothers of Invention?  That's a MASSIVE catalogue.  I would have no clue where to begin.

I have a whole gob of Celldweller.  I wish he would hurry up and release a full-length and quit screwing around with partial releases.  I would rather he try the NIN route (5 years between good albums) than release tidbits that aren't that great every few months.

I'll look into the rest of the more recent ones you listed.  I do know a little Massive Attack, but haven't really gotten into anything other than Mezzanine.

Thanks for the tips!

[bloop]

Hmm.  Famous Dave's is probably our biggest BBQ franchise in the area.

Do you have a good place to start with Zappa and/or Mothers of Invention?  That's a MASSIVE catalogue.  I would have no clue where to begin.

I had very much the same conundrum, so I started at the beginning.  I only had the opportunity to listen to Freak Out!, Absolutely Free and We're Only In It For Money (I'd rather go through it slowly anyway than to just take a quick once-over on his rather extensive discog), and all are eccentric, but quite good and humorous.  He mocks hippies and corporatists alike.

Oh, and you might like The Replacements (my favorite of theirs is Tim) and The Misfits/Danzig (not that they're at all like each other).

I'll look into the rest of the more recent ones you listed.  I do know a little Massive Attack, but haven't really gotten into anything other than Mezzanine.

Their debut is a marvel, and not as oppressive as Mezzanine.  Check out "Unfinished Sympathy" from that album, if nothing else. Their latest was ok, but has nothing on Mezzanine (which is my favorite) or Blue Lines.

[murlough23]

Apparently when you're that avant-garde, your kids rebel by getting into middle-of-the-road popular music. Case in point: Moon Unit Zappa is married to Paul Doucette, a founding member of Matchbox Twenty.

[Wildcatblue7]

Hmm.  Famous Dave's is probably our biggest BBQ franchise in the area.

nope, but good guess.  we joke about how much we hate them since they're our main competitor (they do have better brisket though...i'll give 'em that)

I had very much the same conundrum, so I started at the beginning.  I only had the opportunity to listen to Freak Out!, Absolutely Free and We're Only In It For Money (I'd rather go through it slowly anyway than to just take a quick once-over on his rather extensive discog), and all are eccentric, but quite good and humorous.  He mocks hippies and corporatists alike.

Oh, and you might like The Replacements (my favorite of theirs is Tim) and The Misfits/Danzig (not that they're at all like each other).

Their debut is a marvel, and not as oppressive as Mezzanine.  Check out "Unfinished Sympathy" from that album, if nothing else. Their latest was ok, but has nothing on Mezzanine (which is my favorite) or Blue Lines.

and i will get right on checking out massive attack.  i wanted to like them more than I did the first go round.  maybe this will do the trick.

[ewok20t3]

So I know this thread originally started as murlough trying to respect (respecK) the classics, but I wondered if perhaps someone could offer me some suggestions as well.  I listen to a pretty broad spectrum of stuff, but I'm in the mood to explore.  Here's my Last FM as a reference point, if somebody feels like taking the time...

Now Playing..."Closer" by NIN, for approximately the bazillionth time

I noticed you seem to listen to a good amount of darker pop and rock (A Perfect Circle, NIN, Tool, AFI, Depeche Mode, etc.), and then I noticed The Cure only have 10 plays. I'm not sure what all you have heard by The Cure, but I think you would enjoy their album Disintegration. It's easily my favorite "dark" album.

P.S. Your picture of Boogie makes me sad. I grew way too attached to him this year. He's one of my favorite Wildcats ever.

[Wildcatblue7]

I noticed you seem to listen to a good amount of darker pop and rock (A Perfect Circle, NIN, Tool, AFI, Depeche Mode, etc.), and then I noticed The Cure only have 10 plays. I'm not sure what all you have heard by The Cure, but I think you would enjoy their album Disintegration. It's easily my favorite "dark" album.

P.S. Your picture of Boogie makes me sad. I grew way too attached to him this year. He's one of my favorite Wildcats ever.

Yeah, I really only have heard "Friday I'm In Love" and "Love Song."  I'll check 'em out.

No lie, I teared up a little bit when I read that Cuz signed with an agent.  I'm with you, one of my all time favorite Wildcats.

PS, University of Kentucky Law class of 2013...(me, not Boogie)

[ewok20t3]

PS, University of Kentucky Law class of 2013...(me, not Boogie)

Awesome! Congratulations! So I guess you'll be moving to Lexington? There's not a whole lot to do here, but it's not too bad.

[Wildcatblue7]

Awesome! Congratulations! So I guess you'll be moving to Lexington? There's not a whole lot to do here, but it's not too bad.

Yep.  I know it's an undergrad town but from my (brief) impression there's a heckuva lot more to do in Lex than there is in Johnson City, TN.  haha.  At least there's major D-1 sports in Lex!    (took my first trip to Rupp in February for the South Carolina beatdown...oh my word, that place is awesome.)

[ewok20t3]

Yep.  I know it's an undergrad town but from my (brief) impression there's a heckuva lot more to do in Lex than there is in Johnson City, TN.  haha.  At least there's major D-1 sports in Lex!    (took my first trip to Rupp in February for the South Carolina beatdown...oh my word, that place is awesome.)

Haha yeah, I'm sure you'll enjoy it here. With your obsession with UK basketball you'll fit in just fine. It's the common bond between everyone here, all you have to do to meet people is strike up a conversation about basketball.

[murlough23]

Aw. Our little Wildcat's all growed up.

[Wildcatblue7]

Aw. Our little Wildcat's all growed up.

Weird, isn't it?  Sometimes I think about the fact that I've been posting stupidity on the internet for almost a decade and I cringe a little bit.

Um, Chevelle randomly popped up on shuffle, and the beginning of "A New Momentum" is totally hitting the sweet spot.  haha.

[Aaron]

Haha yeah, I'm sure you'll enjoy it here. With your obsession with UK basketball you'll fit in just fine. It's the common bond between everyone here, all you have to do to meet people is strike up a conversation about basketball.

Because it's Kentucky and there's nothing else to do but drink!

[Wildcatblue7]

Because it's Kentucky and there's nothing else to do but drink!

...says the guy from upstate New York...

[Aaron]

...says the guy from upstate New York...

Amount to do in upstate NY > amount to do in KY!

[murlough23]

Amount to do in a college town > amount to do most other places.

[murlough23]

I added Muse to my list, since you guys used their current stuff to get me hooked and then I went backward. I've stated elsewhere that I've really gotten into the band. I've liked every album I've heard so far, with Resistance and Black Holes and Revelations more or less tied as my favorites, Origin of Symmetry a sprawling but intriguing listen (I like it all except for "Micro Cuts" - yowch!), and Absolution being the weakest of the lot, but still with an overall positive balance (lots of songs I like with just a handful that either drag or grate). Given this, I should probably go back and try Showbiz just to have a complete discography.

[bloop]

RS's Exile on Main St. is a great album now that Pitchfork said so.  heh

(I find it funny when they state the obvious.  "Hey guys!  There was this band called 'The Beatles' and they weren't bad.  Try 'em out!")

This is also sort of what I like about the dinosaurs.  The unite the mainstream establishment and the music snobs.

[bloop]

At another board, someone polled people to choose the most overrated album of all time from this list:
VU&Nico
 Love Forever Changes
 Stooges Fun House
 Joy Division Unknown Pleasures
 Talking Heads Remain In Life (sic)
 R.E.M. Murmur
 Jesus And Mary Chain Psychocandy
 Tom Waits Rain Dogs
 Talk Talk Spirit of Eden
 Sonic Youth Daydream Nation
 Pixies Doolittle
 Pavement Slanted And Enchanted
 Neutral Milk Hotel In The Aeroplane Over the Sea
 Modest Mouse The Moon And Antarctica
 Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

My response was that I know all of those albums to be great, except for the Love album, which I don't know at all, and I thanked the OP for the suggestion.  Perhaps that's what they mean by saying I'm passive-aggressive.

Long story short, np:  Love.

[ewok20t3]

I'm currently exploring Zao's older albums. I picked up Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest a few weeks ago and it's amazing. I figured this album was gonna be fantastic since it was named by Alternative Press as one of the albums that has "shaped the punk of today", but for some reason I was in no hurry to get it. Now I'm in love with it. I've been a fan of Zao for years, but never a big enough fan to really check out their back catalog. I have 6 of their 10 albums, so I've been listening to those a lot. So far...

1. Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest (1998) A
2. The Funeral of God (concept album, 2004) A-
3. Liberate Te Ex Inferis (1999) B+ to A- range
4. The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here (2006) C+

Still need more time with All Else Failed (2003) and (Self-Titled) (Yes, that's the actual title, 2001). Still need to hear All Else Failed (Original 1995 Version), The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation (1997), Parade of Chaos (2002), and Awake? (2009).

[olivertsu]

I'm enamored lately with The Dismemberment Plan and Built to Spill.  Particularly the album Perfect From Now On.  Every morning it's on repeat.

[ewok20t3]

I'm enamored lately with The Dismemberment Plan and Built to Spill.  Particularly the album Perfect From Now On.  Every morning it's on repeat.

I have Ancient Melodies of The Future by Built to Spill but haven't gotten around to giving it a good listen yet. Do you know if it's any good?

[olivertsu]

I have Ancient Melodies of The Future by Built to Spill but haven't gotten around to giving it a good listen yet. Do you know if it's any good?

I haven't gotten into any of their post-90's material yet. 

[bloop]

I've been checking out some of the earlier Devo albums. Don't judge me.

[bloop]

Early Devo is quite good, and it gets a bit forgettable from there. I had fun with it, though. Next up: do something about my music snob bona fides with Wire.

[bloop]

The problem with this project is that most of what I'm getting into is far more compelling than anything in my digesting pile of current music.

I haven't gotten into much Built to Spill yet. I should give that a go, too.

[bloop]

Listening to Grant Lee Buffalo for the first time. I don't know what took me so long, as I absolutely love it. Maybe I'll pub something from it.

[bloop]

I checked out George Michael's Faith for the first time. It's all good fun, if a bit front-loaded and dated.

[bloop]

Pod by The Breeders. A very lean (and not even all original material), rough-edged early 90s alt-rock album, but a great one! Kim Deal + Steve Albini FTW!

[RedcoatJones]

I had forgotten about the Breeders. I still remember that off-kilter guitar line that kicks off "Cannonball." Instantly recognizable.

[bloop]

I love their sound, but it must be torture to be a fan of theirs from the beginning. How many years between their debut and the follow-up?!

I'm listening to X-Ray Spex in memory of Poly Styrene, and also because I need to start compiling some music for Iris (her school wants me to - says she responds well to it).

(hmm...perhaps I should put "Iris" by The Breeders on it)