Desperately seeking new music

[jules]

I'm so tired of my latest cd's, and would love to know about some new bands from others with good taste in music. To make it harder and hopefully find more obscure bands let's do an A - Z of bands, so someone posts a band which starts with A, B and so on.

[jules]

Oh and if you can suggest a specific song or album that would make it easier to track down some of the bands better stuff!

[iwonderwhyiquestioneverything?]

ok, im skipping right to the M, i saw a clip on rage last weekend at 3am that made me wake up and take notice. Music vs. Physics- Love is a 256 colour word.
i'd never heard of them before then but apparently they are australian, i was so impressed i went and found their album the next day "oblong data". really excellent ecclectic mismashing album, some almost portishead moments mixed in with pop and hip hop.
excellent stuff.

[equalheights]

A: The Arcade Fire. I was going to suggest this one anyway, just coincidence they start with A. Probably the only cd released in the past year ive really got into. Their debut album, "Funeral" is a pretty incredible piece of work. Its very powerful and loud, without being heavy or distorted or rock-opera-ey. Apparently they play as a 6-piece on stage and swap instruments etc. They dont seem to be that well known here, but theyve really hit it big in the US and Canada...and possibly the UK aswell. Favourite song: "Wake Up".

another band, Architecture in Helsinki. Ive heard various reports about this lot. Theyre apparently just as well known in the U.S. as Aus, which is unusual for an Australian band. Im really into it, but if you get easily annoyed by excitable overdone poppy type music, which can be mistaken for childish, its probably best to give it a miss. In fact I think, these two bands (Architecture and the Arcade Fire) made up half my triple j voting list this year, but only one song got in between them.

[Troy Dann]

WOO! ARCADE FIRE = awesome!

S: Sufjan Stevens - Illinois It's a fantastic indie rock/folk sorta style with heaps of piano mixed in with a wonderful voice and lovely songs. Very awesomely.

M: The Magic Numbers - Self Titled I saw them at Big Day Out on sunday and they are by far one of the most musically talented bands I have seen. Ok, the songs are cheesy but unashamedly so and my god he's got a wonderful voice. The vocal harmonies provided by the two women in the band are delightful (an understatement) and the guitar lines are just sooo catchy. They were up as one of the best at BDO.

M: Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News The indie rock album of 2004. Ok so I'm two years late but it's still a good album ey? You might have heard the single Float On (which is fantastic) but the rest of the album is nothing like it, and is still fan-fucking tastic.

R: Radiohead - OK Computer Officially the album of 1997, this is by far the best rock album I have ever heard. I mean seriously, once you get into Paranoid Android... The whole thing is just a rollercoaster ride of awesomeness. I would tell you to listen to which songs to listen to first, but the entire album is just fantastic. BUY THIS NOW!

[Jurds]

Unfortunately there isn't a lot of new stuff that I have come across that I have enjoyed and unfortunately radio is really waning in its ability to put great bands into my path. However I highly recommend the following new and old bands:

Todd Sparrow: Sydney indie rock group with great melodies, fantastic intertwining guitars and fantastic song structures that keep you guessing. Featuring the drummer and bassist from Big Heavy Stuff, Aussie engineer Dave Trump and Singer/songwriter Rob Gibson. If you like BHS, early SFK and Fugazi there's a good chance this record will find a good home in your collection. One of my faves for 2005. Their album is titles "here's to the start of Something Beautiful"

Fauves, The. While not a new band, these guys are one of my faves of all time. It is such a shame that they have been overlooked for so long (some believe rightly so) but I reckon they are the most underrated band in the country. There is nothing they don’t do-great stoner rock riffs, pop melodies, dance numbers, even country influenced ballads. Their songs are interesting and lyrics are brilliantly witty. They had a pretty big hit with "Dog's are the best people" but unfortunately have dropped progressively out of the limelight since then. If you like stuff that you don’t have to take too seriously and will put a smile on your face then please check them out. I would recommend their albums "Future Spa" and "Lazy Highways" for a good mix of tunes.

Pollyanna. Another older band who called it quits a couple of years ago. They released 4 albums and all I would recommend. My faves however are the first two and if you were to test them out I would recommend “hello Halo”. This album was their biggest commercial success and probably their finest work. However, I prefer their earlier album “longplayer” as it is a bit more intense and rawer. Loud guitars, lovely melodies and interesting thought out lyrics…….cant go wrong.

Art of Fighting: I dare say I am preaching to the converted but please go buy “wires” and “Second Story” now. No explanation necessary, just do it.

[sassymarvin]

I can't be bothered with descriptions, so here's three names.

Oneironaut

Jeff Lang

Dirty Three

Check em out if you don't already love them.

[sassymarvin]

Oh, and if you've somehow missed Bluebottle Kiss and Big Heavy Stuff... I implore you to check them out aswell.

[Delirium]

5 bands that every sfk fan should check out, the most cool are at the top and least cool at the bottom:

Augie March

Art of Fighting

Not From There

The Devoted Few

Deloris


I am sure most people here have heard of most of these bands, but if anyone hasn't it should be your top priority atm. They are all from australia btw.

[yabba_dabba_drew]

oh man, pollyanna and the fauves in one post, best thread ever

Matt Handleys solo album is also quite good

more stuff:

The Guild League
Ammonia
Andy Clockwise
My Scarlet Darling
Peabody (best act at sydney bdo methinks)

Is anyone keen on starting up a music share? its pretty easy, you just need to get a g-mail account (for the huge storage space and 10mg sending limit), email an mp3 to that and everyone else logs in, downloads, listens, and then goes 'this is awesome' and buys it

[Troy Dann]

That actually sounds like a really really good idea. The search function would actually be of some use as well!

If anyone's keen, I have 99 "invites" (so much for exclusive) and will start one. I think the condition is that a particular artist should have a maximum of 2 or 3 mp3s on the thing, or else we will start up a napster style service - which is not what we want.

[yabba_dabba_drew]

Ah good, someone has invites, i dont have to ask around

And i say keep it to a maximum of 2 songs off any album

[iwonderwhyiquestioneverything?]

yabbadabbadrew said:

Matt Handleys solo album is also quite good

thats also quite an understatement.
that album makes me feel funny in all the right places

[equalheights]

i just bought an Art of Fighting album (wires) due to the raving on this forum ive seen over the past year. its good. thankyou.

[jules]

Thanks for all the great recommendations!

yabba_dabba_drew - I think a music share would be a great idea as long as we didn't swap singles. That way we can try and if we like buy!