What new bands/artists have you discovered recently that you would like to recommend to other Hydrogenaudio members?
Personally I cannot hype enough these two bands: AFI and The Ataris. Both I heard for the first time during Warped Tour 2001 and was absolutely blown away by them.
AFI has a new album out called "Sing The Sorrow." They have a video on MTV for a song called "Girls Not Grey" but their entire album is a gem. Lots of glowing reviews of this band, which mixes rock, punk, and gothic styles all together. One of the most popular underground bands during the past few years, they have a very loyal and devot fan base. Check out songs like "Silver and Cold", "The Leaving Song Part 2", and "Bleed Black."
The Ataris is a pop-punk bank from California with a new album out called "So, Long Astoria" and is also probably the most successful underground band in the past few years. They also have a video on MTV for a song called "In This Diary" which has the unbelievably catchy line "being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up, these are the best days of our lives." Some will dismiss this band as being the "latest Blink 182" but they are hardly that. The Ataris has sold over 100,000 of their past albums. The lyrics are incredible to read and no one cares more for their fans but The Ataris (case point: a dying girl who was a fan wrote a letter to the band's lead singer and he wrote a very emotional song called "My Reply" that appears on the new album about her. Going to be a HUGE hit). Check out "My Reply," "In This Diary," "So Long, Astoria," and the incredible cover of "The Boys of Summer."
I'll bite!
McLusky are a fantastic Welsh punk band that are equal parts Pixies, Sex Pistols, Clash, Nirvana and the Stooges. One of the few bands out there that's equally smart, hardcore, and hilariously funny (some of their lyrics are sidesplitting, especially if you're British). I can't recommend them highly enough to anyone who likes any of the bands listed above)
Check out some glowing Amazon reviews here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005UD03/qid=1052363193/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-1955970-8020066) and here (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005UD03/qid=1052363226/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_3_1/202-2845018-2599846).
Manitoba is a guy from Canada mixing electronica and acoustic instruments. It's quite impossible to describe his music other than some of the influences that you can pick out: Mercury Rev, My Bloody Valentine, Flaming Lips, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin and Brian Eno. Yes... exactly
Reviews here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008OM39/qid=1052364247/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-5433684-8620942) and here (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/music/B00008CGUS/reviews/202-2845018-2599846).
Takeshi Muto - experimental techno with some glitch influences. Moody, emotional, yet complex. "Expect More From A Past Life" is the name of the CD.
Mikael Stavostrand - previously known for his work in the industrial outfit Inanna, he strikes out on his own with a melancholic dose of minimal glitch techno on his album "Reduce". Minimalistic stuff that quickly gets under your skin.
Burning Witch "Crippled Lucifer" - oldie but goodie. Hell on earth in aural form. One of the ugliest pieces of music since 1980s Swans recordings. The ultimate in extreme doom metal.
Luis Salinas, he's a sensitive guitar man who plays smooth jazz, funk, and some latin melodies, he plays acoustic and electrics guitars and he's born in my country, Argentina.
The last band I discovered is Gothica (http://gothicahomepage.cjb.net), for Dead Can Dance fans. Their first release was not very good, but the new one, "The Cliff of Suicide", is exellent.
I lately discovered some 90's artists that I missed when their CDs were released. Delerium, electronic pop, female voices, with a lot of research on sounds. And Pete Namlook collaborations with Richie Hawtin (From Within series) or Klaus Schulze (Dark Side of the Moog series), early volumes might be the best. Pure electronic ambient. These CDs are discontinued, but available on emusic.com in MP3. The most beautuful is "Air 2", by Pete Namlook alone.
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For The Death
Muse - Showbiz
Turin Brakes - Ether Song
i bought this cds yesterday
Venetian Snares. The opening track on "Higgins Ultra Low Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006" is er... Tom & Jerry cartoon music, mixed with the most hardcore of Aphex's output, with a little junglist opera in the background That one track is among the best 'drill-n-bass' I've ever had the chance to roll on the floor laughing with
I've taking note os some of your suggestions too...
Some of them sound very interesting...
Mi suggestions:
Coldplay. A Rush of Blood to the Head. Finest british pop album with great melodies... (POP)
Audioslave. A band formed by exmembers from RATM and SoundGarden, with a very personal sound (ROCK)
Autechre[B/] and Boards of Canada. Heaven throught electronic abstrabtion. I recomend you "Tri-repetae" from Autechre and "Geoggadi" from Boards of Canada.
If I remenber more I'll post it here.
Hope you'll like it!
Best regards.
b:.
Steve Stevens - Flamenco à go-go.
(Thanks, CompactDick )
... or Klaus Schulze (Dark Side of the Moog series), early volumes might be the best. ...
it seems the series is available at amazon, but for most of the cds there is no prehear nor track listing. what i gathered is that this series is full of floydian cites. example:
The Evolution of the Dark Side
1.Intro
2.Wish you were there (Excerpt)
3.A saucerful of ambience (Excerpt)
4.III / 3 Phantom heart brother
5.III / 4 Phantom heart brother
6.IV / 7Three pipers at the gates of dawn
7.IV / 8Three pipers at the gates of dawn
8.Psychedelic brunch
9.The final DAT
10.Obscured by Klaus
11.VIII / 2 Careful with the AKS, Peter
12.VIII / 6 Careful with the AKS, Peter
if you like Klaus Schulze, you may be interested in Michael Rother too.
I've taking note os some of your suggestions too...
Some of them sound very interesting...
Mi suggestions:
Coldplay. A Rush of Blood to the Head. Finest british pop album with great melodies... (POP)
Audioslave. A band formed by exmembers from RATM and SoundGarden, with a very personal sound (ROCK)
Autechre[B/] and Boards of Canada. Heaven throught electronic abstrabtion. I recomend you "Tri-repetae" from Autechre and "Geoggadi" from Boards of Canada.
If I remenber more I'll post it here.
Hope you'll like it!
Best regards.
b:.
Coldplay is god
i love them
The last band I discovered is Gothica, for Dead Can Dance fans. Their first release was not very good, but the new one, "The Cliff of Suicide", is exellent.
I was aware of those Italians...I did like their first album myself (not extremely excited, but I enjoyed it), and I've liked I've listened to from their new cd so far. If you are into Dead Can Dance alike bands, check out
Rajna and
Stellamara (also
Stoa, but these are mostly into classically orchestrated compositions and don't use ethnic elements).
I'll contribute a few songs from albums that got released throughout 2002...try them out yourself (some are well known bands):
The White Birch: Breathe, Silly Malone, Beauty King, Star, Love Is So Real
Alpinestars: New Ice Cage, Carbon Kid (ft Brian Molko), Crystalnight
Calla: Pete The Killer, Televised
Eridu Arcane: Embitterment
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Motherfucker=Redeemer
Supergrass: Electric Cowboy
Zoar: Winter Wind (with Brendan Perry)
The Bright Eyes: Lover I Don't Have To Love
Pornorama: Sexy Girls, Bon Voyage
In Gowan Ring: Morning's Waking Dream, Wind That Cracks The Leaves
The Music Lovers: This World Vs the Next World
Scarboro Aquarium Club: The Hemlock Girls
Noonday Underground: Closing Time
Madrugada: Songs Of Majesty
Chasing Dorotea: Tuva Song
Raining Pleasure: Song Of The Wolf, Capricorn, Another Song
Damon & Naomi (With Kurihara): Song To The Siren
Blaine L. Reininger & Gianluca Lo Presti: Mistic Dream
Stoa: Ariels Song, I Held The Moon, Nubibus Atris
Collection D'Arnell-Andrea: Aux Glycines Defuntes, La Ici Ou Ailleurs, Les Chants De Peine
The Flaming Lips: Do You Realize?, All We Have Is Now, In The Morning Of The Magicians
Archive: Again, Finding It So Hard, Numb, Meon, Goodbye
Sigur Ros: Track 5, Track 6, Track 7 (they are untitled originally)
Madredeus: A Andorinha Da Primavera (Dusted Remix)
Mike Johnson: You're Still Around, Dirty Hands, Remember
Claire Voyant: He Is Here
Paul Weller: Who Brings Joy, Illumination
Tom Waits: Watch Her Disappear, Poor Edward, I'm Still Here
The Delgados: Coming In From The Cold, The Drowning Years
Desormais: Ruin Her Slowly
Hey Bodhi I've been into Boards for a few years now, if you like Geodaggi, you would love "Music Has the Right to Children"... I feel that's the better of the two by a bit
I've been meaning to start getting some Autechre, but it's so damn expensive in the shops. I'll go for Tri-Repeate when I see it next, I believe it was on sale for £11 as a CD+DVD
Without a doubt the most interesting new artist I've heard recently has been Single Unit (http://www.singleunit.net/) (some mp3s at his webpage). Saw him at a concert that his label, Jester Records, arranged last year, I was so amazed that I actually left when the band I originally came to see came on stage - they paled completely in comparison
Not sure how to describe the music - noise I guess? Electronics, metal guitars and frantic beats, all chopped up, torn down, reassembled and rearranged.
Bought the 7" single at the concert, still looking for the full CD.
recent favorites...
Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf: rock from the SoCal desert
The Donnas - Spend The Night: KISS meets AC/DC, but with girls
Golden Boy with Miss Kittin - Or: electro-clash, I think they timewarped in from the 80s, sounds retro yet current at the same time
Rob
I'm enjoying Susan Tedeschi's debut album. Blues-rock type artist. Great voice, interesting presentation.
I've got less stressing stuff here.
A duo of post-modernists known as Messer fur Frau Mueller (http://fraumuller.spb.ru/) for instance (lots of their incarnations and side projects as well... Messer Chups, Mini Bikini and such). They're happily parasitizing on 50s-60s easy listining approach, lots of samples from old movies and so on. They might sound pretty artificious sometimes, but they've got quite a lot charming and funny tunes as well.
'Gentle It' is also of somewhat similar kind (name generated from 'snowy summer' by excluding first letters, pretty much the same way they handle music). They're from radio/advertising breed, it can clarify a lot after all.
Yeah, and not to forget two ukranian rastamans with acoustic guitars calling themselves 5'nizza. A nice combination of pretty unpretentious, yet extremely catchy stuff, plus sometimes pretty solid songwriting.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ...
These guys are in some ways similar to The Strokes or Vines, but actually (in addition to being WAY better) sound alot like The Jesus And Mary Chain from back when. Awsome band!
This may sound like a trite suggestion, but some of the best new music I've heard in a long time arrives every few months through the mail. Paste Magazine (http://pastemagazine.com) focuses on Americana... their bannerhead announces "signs of life in music and culture." While there is the requisite smattering of Jayhawks, Lucinda Williams, and the newly-formed Thorns (Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins & Pete Droge), it also boasts a good number of folks and folkies I've never encountered before. Each time a new issue arrives, my wife and I put it on for an afternoon and unwind.
For reference, Paste is published quarterly and each issue includes a sampler CD; the first three issues had 21 songs each and the fourth arrived today with 22 new songs. A 2 year subscription (8 issues) cost us all of $37.95 US, for eight issues with sampler discs. Overseas is slightly more, at $51.95 US for a two-year subscription.
Now if someone would only do a similar mag for early psychedelia! (Yes, I already get the U-SPACES (http://members.aol.com/VelvetFogg/HTML/U-SPACE2.html) compilations as soon as they are released... but if I had the option of getting more early psych, don't you think I'd subscribe? Of course I would.)
- M.