I recommend..., Force your taste on others Options

[maian]

This is a general thread for recommending albums that you like and think others may like as well.

I often find that the albums I enjoy the most and which stay with me for quite a while are those I have bought on a whim after hearing one song and find to be pretty damn smashing, it happened with Interpol, Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens, all of which I love now as much as I did when I first heard them. An album I bought recently which really surprised me and which I have found to be very enjoyable is James Dean Bradfield's debut album ''The Great Western''.

I'm not a Manic Street Preachers fan by any means; my interest in them lies solely with The Holy Bible and a few of their singles but apart from that they have never really impressed me. As such I was not fussed when they said James Dean Bradfield would release his own album but after hearing the sumptuous and rather upbeat single ''That's No Way To Tell A Lie'' I thought I'd check it out. It was far better than I was expecting. The musical side of things is quite lovely, featuring many of the better aspects of the Manics that have made them so successful; an epic sound, gorgeous string arrangements (though mostly made on synths) and strong guitar work that, whilst anthemic is not cloying or hamfisted.the album also benefits from being quite but shorn of the things which I feel really hindered the Manics since about 1995; Nicky Wire's lyrics and a workmanlike attitude to making albums.

No offense to Manics fans but I find that their lyrics can be really pretensious at times. Nothing wrong with that when the songs work, but a lot of the time they tend to drag down the songs with empty sloganeering and wordy exploration of not particularly interesting subjects. The lyrics on the Great Western, having been written solely by Bradfield, are more down to earth and enjoyable and the whole album is genuinely very fun to listen to and you get the feeling that Bradfield had fun making it seeing as there is little if any of the occasionally suffocating sombreness found on the last few MSP albums.

A really enjoyable album that doesn't really push back any boundaries or do much that hasn't been heard before but is still fun.

This post has been edited by maian: Aug 29 2006, 06:44 PM

[SkipToTheEnd]

Interpol, Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens

those are three fantastic albums, arcade fire was stunning, definately my album of last year, interpol i thought a bit boring at first but uts really grown in me an now i love 'em, and sufjan stevens is just beautiful, i hope he gets his act together and manages to get out an album for every state, three in five years or whatever aint lookin promising though...

[kill_the_queen!]

panic! at the disco - a fever u can't sweat out

people may be pleasently suprised!! i was!!

[Ade]

An album I bought recently which really surprised me and which I have found to be very enjoyable is James Dean Bradfield's debut album ''The Great Western''.

No offense to Manics fans but I find that their lyrics can be really pretensious at times. Nothing wrong with that when the songs work, but a lot of the time they tend to drag down the songs with empty sloganeering and wordy exploration of not particularly interesting subjects. The lyrics on the Great Western, having been written solely by Bradfield, are more down to earth and enjoyable and the whole album is genuinely very fun to listen to and you get the feeling that Bradfield had fun making it seeing as there is little if any of the occasionally suffocating sombreness found on the last few MSP albums.

A really enjoyable album that doesn't really push back any boundaries or do much that hasn't been heard before but is still fun.

I love the JDB solo album. And being a Manics I've said before about my dislike for The Holy Bible, so I won't belabour the point any further. I've never really been overly bothered by the pretensiousness of their lyrics, even if they can be rather depressing at times, but I will probably to view them in a slightly different light now, in the wake of Bradfield's solo effort. Overall the tone is somewhat less melancholic than Manics at their miserable best, and while some of the melodies do still have that minor key element, they are as gorgeous (if not more so) than much of the Manics' best work, not least the beautiful closer, 'Which Way To Kyffin' - there is a general sense of joyous euphoria about the album that you just can't miss, and like Maian rightly said, there is a bit more 'fun' involved.

I've long felt that Bradfield's breaking-out as a solo artist has been overdue for some time. Whether this signals an eventual breaking-up of the Manics (as I understand Nicky Wire's solo album isn't far off completion) or not, who knows. I had hoped this would be worth the wait, and although I was a little worried it may not be as good as it deserved to be, it has easily exceeded my expectations. Certainly one of the better albums I've acquired this year. I'm going to put it on now, actually.

This post has been edited by Ade: Sep 13 2006, 09:23 AM

[Jessopjessopjess...]

Can someone tell me if it's naff to like Captain? I'm sure it is, but their single Glorious reminds me of Deacon Blue in their heyday. Which is nice.

[maian]

Can someone tell me if it's naff to like Captain? I'm sure it is, but their single Glorious reminds me of Deacon Blue in their heyday. Which is nice.

Not really ''naff''. They're getting some positive things said about them, they haven't been overplayed or over-hyped just yet and have just got down to making nice pop music. They fit nicely into the category of ''hotly tipped new band'' and so are okay to like.

This post has been edited by maian: Sep 14 2006, 10:57 AM

[Jessopjessopjess...]

They fit nicely into the category of ''hotly tipped new band'' and so are okay to like.

Thank you Ed, I will take your opinion and have it as my own.

[maian]

Thank you Ed, I will take your opinion and have it as my own.

*Has thoughts sucked from head by Jessop's mind-sucker''

That was weird. Who are Captain, then?

[Hobbes]

I like what i've heard of Captain also.

Other than my well-documented recommendation of Guillemots, a band I strongly recommend at the moment are an American group called Midlake, who produce interesting tracks with touches of electro, pop, rock and 'emo' to form and original, innovative sound.

The only band I can think of that are similar to them in terms of sound would be The Eels.

[Jessopjessopjess...]

I like what i've heard of Captain also.

Well if a young panther like yourself likes them, I am happy.

[maian]

Well if a young panther like yourself likes them, I am happy.

I read that as ''young partner'' and conjured up some disturbing mental imagery....





*pictures Hobbes as a lawyer closing down an orphanage*

*Shudders* You evil bastard, Luke! Where will they go now?

This post has been edited by maian: Sep 15 2006, 11:52 AM

[Ade]

I've already mentioned this seperately to a couple of people here, so for all fans of Daft Punk/Basement Jaxx I would like to recommend Chromeo - a New York electrofunkpop duo whose album She's In Control is damnably catchy.

It plays like a hybrid of Daft Punk's album Discovery, and Les Rhythmes Digitales' Darkdancer - if you liked either (or both), you will surely love this. Plenty of vocodery vocals, all seasoned with a nice mid-80's retro funky house flavour.

This post has been edited by Ade: Sep 15 2006, 01:07 PM

[maian]

I've already mentioned this seperately to a couple of people here, so for all fans of Daft Punk/Basement Jaxx I would like to recommend Chromeo - a New York electrofunkpop duo whose album She's In Control is damnably catchy.

It plays like a hybrid of Daft Punk's album Discovery, and Les Rhythmes Digitales' Darkdancer - if you liked either (or both), you will surely love this. Plenty of vocodery vocals, all seasoned with a nice mid-80's retro funky house flavour.

I love those guys! I got to interview them (well, I was one of the people interviewing them) in my first year and they were some of the funniest guys I've ever met. We played their stuff to death. One of my co-hosts on a radio show even made up dance routines to a few of their songs and performed them in public whenever we were doing outside broadcasts.

This post has been edited by maian: Sep 15 2006, 02:46 PM

[Ade]

I love those guys! I got to interview them (well, I was one of the people interviewing them) in my first year and they were some of the funniest guys I've ever met. We played their stuff to death. One of my co-hosts on a radio show even made up dance routines to a few of their songs and performed them in public whenever we were doing outside broadcasts.

That's fantastic! Nice work, sir.

[maian]

That's fantastic! Nice work, sir.

I've got to dig out their album now. I haven't listened to it in aaaaaages.