Pick one: who is your favorite artist of all time who is still releasing records that you care about?

So I'm supposed to pick one, but I'll add two alternates.

The Church - to be fair, there's a tremendous loyalty factor here probably just as strong as the Robyn Hitchcock fans have. Honestly though, I'd rather listen to the last five Church albums than the first five and as long as they're alive, obstinate, and spacing out I'm in.

Ed Kuepper & John Doe - both have been releasing solo albums steadily i(outside of the occasional shows by their more famous bands) but all have been dependably great. Kuepper's Jean Lee & The Yellow Dog may just be his best album of all.

Peter Gabriel, Josh Homme, Aimee Mann, Courtney Love

Mukai Shutoku (Number Girl, Zazen Boys, brilliant motherfucker whose disjointed rhythms will direct me toward an ideal future I am not even aware of yet), Henry Threadgill (breaks through the other side every goddamn time, the other side is a fucking sham, Henry Threadgill lets us know this)

thought about this for a few days and came up with Erykah Badu (yeah, surprising, I know)

xp you're the only other person I've ever heard mention number girl... great band. never heard zazen boys though - definitely have to check them out.

I've been checking out pretty much everything kevin drumm puts out since sheer hellish miasma. see no reason to stop.

Killing Joke

duh

De La Soul. Are You In? is beautiful.

Honorable mention: Madonna as recently as Confessions on a Dancefloor, Q-Tip, Ian MacKaye (Fugazi/the Evens), U2, Atmosphere, Mint Condition, Mary J. Blige (slowly emerging fave), MF Doom (though I'm no completist), Orchestra Baobab, with more cautious caring about Alan Sparhawk (Low/Black-Eyed Snakes/etc.), Mick Jones (Clash, B.A.D., Carbon/Silicon), KRS-One, Stereolab (though the live shows have stayed far more vital), Sonic Youth, Springsteen (whose latest made him an all-time fave), Al Green, Juliana Hatfield (another slow burner), D'Angelo (if you call that releasing), and Prince (whose latest I at least feel obliged to care about).

Re: Jonathan Richman, You Must Ask the Heart is one of my favorite albums of the '90s, and he's good for at least a couple great songs per release, so maybe him too. I've loved recent R.E.M. and AC/DC too, but that's pushing the limits of "favorite artist of all time." I can't rep for the Mission of Burma albums, but their live show is amazing.

They have broken up now, but Squeeze's 90s albums were all very good, even though few noticed other than their diehard fans.

Neil Hagerty. I never know what that guy is gonna do next. I guess Jennifer and RTX while I'm at it.

This thread made me realize that I still buy every Sonic Youth album about the week it comes out, though it's been years since I've considered them one of my favorite bands.

Honestly though, I'd rather listen to the last five Church albums than the first five

Agreed. (Except maybe for Heyday.) And I should have mentioned them earlier since I started getting into them at the same time as I did the Cure and Depeche. Pretty good trio, I think.

Watching the new No-Man documentary/DVD the other night made me realize how they count too, though there's so many bands I keep a general eye on that I got into around 91/92 that it's a little hard to distinguish. Still, I like the fact that they have a partnership that has not only steadily continued but keeps transforming.

i should also mention that i'm still a pretty big ned raggett fan after all this time. though there is definitely more filler in his recent work.

Sadly true. But the almanac is always there.

I'm a recent Ned fan working my way backward.

You may find it somewhat complex trying to work your way backwards with those Pi digits, tho.

perhaps sadly, i rather enjoyed grandpaboy.

some GREAT songs on that one (Mono?)

Well I already picked Sparks but I'd also say The Divine Comedy who haven't made a bad album since their debut, actually it's not bad it's just very dull. I'm as excited for the new album as much as I was for the last few.

They have broken up now, but Squeeze's 90s albums were all very good...

The last album, Domino, was mostly lame, but the other 90's albums are good-to-great, especially Play, which may be their best album. They toured last year and are supposedly working on an album for 2010.

The latest Glenn Tilbrook album is pretty enjoyable, except he lets his bandmates sing lead on a couple of songs.

Pick one?

Definitely Autechre

Dinosaur Jr

And Ween up until 1 album ago.

Sunn O)))

Oh yeah, Courtney Love of course! America's Sweetheart is one of the best of the decade

Portishead is a good one, although I'm not convinced they're ever going to record another album

― Huckabee Jesus lifeline (HI DERE), Tuesday, 1 December 2009 19:25 (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Portishead sign to Amnesty

Portishead are releasing a brand new track, - "Chase the tear" for Amnesty International.

It will be available as an exclusive download single from 7 digital http://www.7digital.com/porti sheadamnesty from December 10th with all earnings going towards Amnesty's human rights work and all rights given to the organisation indefinitely.

A video of Portishead performing ''Chase the Tear'' will also be available from 10 December at: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/portish ead and at http://www.portishead.co.uk

International human rights day (10 December) marks the anniversary of the United Nation's historic "Universal Declaration Of Human Rights" on 10 December 1948. The UDHR set out for the first time in a single document the fundamental rights to which everyone, everywhere is entitled - including the right to life, liberty, security, the freedoms of opinion, association and expression, and the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

For more information: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/udhr

oh fuck YES

Kate Bush, Morrissey, and Bjork for me. I'll pretty much enjoy whatever those 3 decide to put out, even if it's crap. Luckily they don't do that

Fred Cole

NoMeansNo

Sonic Youth and Negativland, close seconds.

dc talk

apparently, sade

dj quik is my obvious one

Throwing Muses are an easy one to start with - though, Im not sure if theyre still making albums? Theyre still touring!

Depeche kind of count, as do the Cure, but I've not kept up with their recent offernigs. Most other alltime bands I love are long split up: Cocteaus, Japan...

Ah! David Sylvian.

hard question. for me, the artist would have to have a 20+ year track record of music i've loved. i mean not only would they have had to be consistently active and good, but i'd have had to be a tuned-in fan for at least that long. and they've still gotta be putting out music that genuinely challenges, surprises and moves me. which narrows the field considerably.

first band i think of is the flaming lips, and i wouldn't have said that prior to embryonic. they were a favorite band of mine for the better part of a decade, but i've been steadily losing interest since 1995. nice at this stage in the game to be given something both great and totally unexpected.

and i'd like to say like michael hurley & sir richard bishop, but i came late to both, so they don't count (for me, anyway). and i'd like to say sonic youth, but they haven't put out a record i REALLY dug since washing machine.

billy childish (thee mighty caesars, headcoats, etc) & mick collins (gories, dirtbombs, etc) are long-time favorites, but i sometimes worry that both have their best years behind them. boredoms & tom waits? have liked recent stuff by both, but getting iffy...

The only band I can think of are Animal Collective, and I don't know if it's due to the backlash, but I'm surprised no one's mentioned them yet.

Plenty of artists and bands, but the award for longest running goes to Iron Maiden. Got to know the band in 1981 through their Killers album and have been hooked ever since. I lost some interest in them (and metal) around 1990 and completely lost them during the Blaze Bailey period (which, listening back, wasn't that bad a period, actually), but since the return of Dickinson and Smith I can safely pick up any new release again; they deliver. And they're still one of the best live bands out there. These old geezers, I don't know where they find the energy, but wow!