songs like velvet underground "oh! sweet nuthin"

open to all recommendations for acoustic-y vaguely stonery and morose epics, guitar solos much appreciated

lol -- wow

Chicago - "Hard to Say I'm Sorry"

hm I'm not sure what happened to my brain, hope you will accept Funkadelic - "Maggot Brain" and Love - "Signed D.C." instead

Led Zep - Ten Years Gone

i've got loads of acoustic-y vaguely stonery and morose tunes to recommend but not many "epics" come to mind

I know what Sarge has in mind: contemplating the beloved over guitars while lovestoned. So:

Luna -- Lovedust
New Order - Dream Attack
Spoon - WhisperI'lllistentohearit
R.E.M. - Half a World Away
Pavement - Type Slowly
Justin Timberlake - I Think That She Knows/LoveStoned
Liz Phair - Divorce Song
Waxahatchee - Hell
Bryan Ferry - Slave to Love

i've got loads of acoustic-y vaguely stonery and morose tunes to recommend but not many "epics" come to mind

― budo jeru, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 9:31 PM (three minutes ago)

im looking for something i can vibe to

thank you alfred :)

Sleater Kinney - Leave You Behind
Yo La Tengo (my god) - (Straight Down to the) Bitter End
Neil Young - Ambulance Blues

https://youtu.be/Wlykn_KSQ3o

alfred gave j0rdan weed

Doesn't get better than this imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDXBPZoV2jw

My go-to YLT mood-psych

https://youtu.be/vw2nqCfxvNA

(And its 60s ancestor)

https://youtu.be/Hd4iEtpRjQQ

xxp I woulda chosen "Run" from Technique actually

Faust - Jennifer

Last one I can think of

https://youtu.be/bnCkiNi_ssY

Gene Clark - Strength of Strings
Pavement - We are Underused
Parquet Courts - Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth
Steve Gunn - Wildwood
Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio

(Ok I promise I'm out now; lol I'm p sure J0rdan didn't need me to tell him abt Exile :/)

https://youtu.be/MEFPOqEmxHU

Paul Simon: "Duncan"
Van Morrison: "Listen To The Lion"
Kinks: "Strangers"
Sir Douglas Quintet: "I Don't Want To Go Home"
Fleetwood Mac: "Future Games"

French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson - Drowned Dog Black Night and Tir-Nan-Darag
tons of solo Thompson, "Calvary Cross" and beyond

jordan do you use spotify ?

made this for you

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZkT45lBW6JVYTbcOrQHVw?si=t3g7XZicQqepwU0yu-9IRQ

Marshall Tucker Band - Can't You See

kinda cheating, maybe, but: baxter dury 'oscar brown'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfQd3oHp3eY

"let it loose" and "jennifer" both good picks imo, if "obvious" (who cares)

Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna

(I ain’t afraid of “obvious”)

Ofege - "It Ain't Easy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huryMOQhptk

This record was released in 1973 (3 years after Loaded) by a group of teenaagers in Lagos, Nigeria.

Traffic - Dear Mr Fantasy

Some more

Faces - Debris
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday’s Gone
The Band - It Makes No Difference
Built To Spill - Kicked It In The Sun
Dinosaur Jr - Said The People
The Hold Steady - Lord, I’m Discouraged
The Rolling Stones - No Expectations
Songs: Ohio - Farewell Transmission (the granddaddy of em all)

Built to Spill - Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup (actually sort of a cover version)

Morning Dew
https://youtu.be/NDuZfdf4hFQ

Maddy Star - Look On Down From the Bridge

silly phone lol *mazzy

Mojave 3 - Love Songs On The Radio
Big Thief - Paul
Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything
Spiritualized - Soul On Fire

this might be my fav kinda song

Roxy Music - Psalm

Skip Spence - Grey/Afro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6uRbGVkL4

Last one, I promise:

Lucero - Drink Til We’re Gone

Not enturely sure I get the criteria, but here’s a few favourites:

REM - Country Feedback
Thin White Rope - Take It Home (not much acoustic)
Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonaise
Rain Parade - Broken Horse
Idaho - Skyscrape
Patti Smith - Free Money

Ah shit, didn’t see ref to «vibe». I might be some way off then...

Oh shit, forgot one of my favorites -- Julian Cope, "Gimme Back My Flag"

my mind goes to "ain't that nothin'" - maybe it's superficial. i get the two conflated in my head. last songs on the last (not really) albums by the respective bands - and yeah "ain't that nothin'" is the penultimate track, but train round the bend->oh sweet nuthin' occupies the same space in my head as ain't that nothin'->the dream's dream. i also think of "ain't that nothin'" as the ten minute instrumental run-through on the '03 cd reissue, my first encounter with the album.

ofege track reminds me of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWkLS058QBc
wendell stuart & the downbeaters - jude

Mick Ronson - I'd Give Anything To See You

Stereolab - Golden Ball

Ofege - "It Ain't Easy"
This is the correct answer. Although, I believe the name of the song is actually "It's Not Easy."

also nigerian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs4bMuCYPAo
P.R.O. (People Rock Outfit) - Blacky Joe

Ofege - "It Ain't Easy"
This is the correct answer. Although, I believe the name of the song is actually "It's Not Easy."

― TO BE A JAZZ SINGER YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SCAT (Jazzbo), Wednesday, May 13, 2020 8:05 AM (twelve minutes ago)

hah, whoops... that's what I get for searching youtube for: ofege+easy

oh god, i have another one

Kevin Morby - Parade

jordan do you use spotify ?

― budo jeru, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 10:11 PM (yesterday)bookmarkflaglink

made this for you

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZkT45lBW6JVYTbcOrQHVw?si=t3g7XZicQqepwU0yu-9IRQ

― budo jeru, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 10:14 PM (yesterday)

i use apple music but i'll cross reference thank u

someone already said "Farewell Transmission" but also "John Henry Split This Heart" imo is more epic.

b.b. king - hummingbird

bernie leadon - glass off

yr welcome xp

Berry Sakharov - Sparks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BD7pi77S8w

The Posies - Flood of Sunshine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK1My1turMY

Some pretty epic guitar soloing from a band not particularly known for it.

I don't get the connecting line between any of these. How about Fearless, Pink Floyd?

everything by Swell?

al green - georgia boy

van morrison - madame george

13th floor elevators - it's all over now baby blue

"dust" too

gene clark - polly

damn 'dust' sounds a lot like j0hn d

crosby, stills & nash - dark star

tom petty - you don't know how it feels

I was gonna post that Ofege

dillard & clark - out on the side
gene clark - some misunderstanding

gene clark for sure.. there's this overstuffed 80s version of 'mr tambourine man' he does on the 'flying high' compilation that kills me

I don't get the connecting line between any of these. How about Fearless, Pink Floyd?

― akm, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 8:17 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is a great one

gene clark otm too

threads like this remind me that we all hear music in very different way

to me, the defining trait of Oh! Sweet Nuthin' is repetition. it's the same phrase, over and over again, at varying volumes and intensity. the chorus is the same as the verse, with different vocal melodies. everyone else repeats their parts for the entire song.

so i'm the really harsh judge ott that is like "the chorus is slightly different than the verse? no. disqualified."

in a long overdue fulfillment of my missouri upbringing, now i am soviet russia

Well you could also say that none of those are asking for prayers for anyone..

How about "Save a prayer" Duran Duran?

Karl, your definition leaves no allowances for musical similarities, and would eliminate something like “Can’t You See,” which has the same chord progression, the same structure (quiet opening slow burning into rock city before coming down again at the end) and is even a similar length

I assume I don't get the criteria since no one has posted Donovan's "Atlantis" yet? I suppose it isn't morose. Not so much epic but the Relatively Clean Rivers album might be worth a listen

p'haps excepting morose oh sweet nuthin sounds like approx two dozen grateful dead songs imo

like the tempo is a lil different but row jimmy sounds just like oh! 2 me, repetition included

other possible criteria: major key, but sad; clean guitar sound; vamping chord progression; loose, but not quite jammy feel; intangible sense of "soulfulness"

Ofege - "It Ain't Easy"

This record was released in 1973 (3 years after Loaded) by a group of teenaagers in Lagos, Nigeria.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, May 13, 2020 5:24 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I think the lead guitar on taht record was actually overdubbed by the guy from Blo!.
Have heard tehre are later lps taht are all by the band who were school age when they recorded taht first one apparentl;y.
Got it on cd a few years ago but not the later stuff.
Wish somebody would write a book on the psycedelic rock created i sub saharan Africa by indigenous groups and how the various influences washed over the continent. I thgink the first major wave was actually Latin stuff .

But that hasn't much to do with The VU.

"Wakin on a Pretty Day" by Kurt Vile is rambly, epicish, guitar solos stretching out to space, mumbly and stoney and it has that line about suicide, that's pretty morose I guess

The Walkabouts Train to Mercy seems like a good fit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr5EHyGBsgg

Headful by King Black Acid - all 18 blissful 18 minutes of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjKCcLDHKtk

Rain on Tin, off Murray Street.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev4n7Bkn5QA

threads like this remind me that we all hear music in very different way
haha yeah ... no idea which "oh! sweet nuthin'" most of you are listening to ...

yeah, my first thought on reading the OP was the BBC version of Smog's "I Break Horses" which can't possibly be what j0rdan is after

smog @ bbc is a good call !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-Zb4djwwoM

this was my spotify playlist btw

amanaz - khala my friend
dion - your own back yard
moby grape - what's to choose (prev. unreleased)
f.j. mcmahon - sister, brother
the contents are - no chance to choose (1969 version)
rainbow ffolly - sun sing (demo)
skip spence - all come to meet her now
pink floyd - fearless
mazhar ve fuat -adimiz miskindir bizim
rolling stones - winter
ron elliott - all time
amon düül ii - sleepwalker's timeless bridge
fleetwood mac - jewel eyed judy

i'm sure there are songs in the world that sound more identical to OSN and maybe are closer thematically

i just kind of went by a vague feeling. i was also very drunk

relatively clean rivers LP is a good call xp

stones' "winter" is a good call.
you can pretty much sing the end of Hey Jude along to the chorus of Sweet Nuthin.

check the wendell stuart track i linked !

Mick Ronson - I'd Give Anything To See You

― Joey Corona (Euler), Wednesday, May 13, 2020 9:46 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

i love this. i didn't realize there was a whole disc of unreleased 1976 material by this guy !

xp to tylerw

yeah, that's the I-bVII-IV, big classic rock progression. let it loose (mostly), can't you see, it's not easy, dear mr fantasy, they all have that goin on too

people get really excited about posting something and get loose with the criteria. I did it too

The song that actually sounds just like "Oh Sweet Nuthin'" is "Lonesome Surprise" by Refrigerator

https://youtu.be/CsLEg0rL_kA

also notably covered by the Mountain Goats

I see what people above mean by their Pavement choices, but to me the obvious Pavement track for this is "Summer Babe"

And finally, the song that really hits this vibe for me is Beta Band, "Dry The Rain," but I'm not sure if everyone will agree.

dry the rain works imo, not just the vibe but the second half (the "i will be your light" bit) uses that I-bVII-IV chord progression

Good pick, yes.

The Clientele - Lamplight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBG11b-nyCs

if the Pooh Sticks' I'm In You isn't what your looking for then I don't understand anything any more...

https://youtu.be/G73QcThB5_o

sweet jane

So, J0rdan S., which suggestions hit the mark?

the Kurt Vile versions of “Baby’s Arms” with the Sadies would fit, although my first thought when seeing the thread was KV.

Also the new Stephen Malkmus “Traditional Techniques”album

Michael Chapman - “Aviator”

fleetwood mac - wish you were here

swervedriver - good ships

Any number of Neil Young songs.

Link Wray, the Rise and Fall of Jimmy Stokes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNadDwAxpX0

Any number of Neil Young songs.

― Duncan Disorderly (Tom D.), Monday, April 12, 2021 4:19 PM (one hour ago)

post them

maybe “on the beach”?

Sir Douglas Quintet: "If She'd Only Come To Me"

ZZ Top: "Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell" & "Asleep In The Desert"

I'm guessing Jonathan Richman's has loads of songs that do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9CkvAQkQLs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuwBy6Hc_l8

not an acoustic-y vaguely stonery and morose epic, but i always hear the intro to this and think he's gonna come in singing "say a word for jimmy brown"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yviz-lae26Q

Nice.

mary chapin carpenter - “between the dirt and the stars”

justus köhncke/andreas doran - “abermorgen”

(samples/based on opening of csny’s “helpless”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJOqwH0q2kE

Few tracks hit the mark for me in this thread. People do hear music in different ways I guess. For me Sweet Nuthin’ has a very chill - almost slacker rock - vibe. These haven’t been mentioned yet… so here’s my playlist which might only hit the mark for me too:

JJ Cale - Cherry
Faces - Debris
Bonnie Rait - Thank You
David Bowie - space oddity
Kurt Vile - Bassackwards
Tim Buckley - buzzin fly
The Byrds - what’s happening
Pink Floyd - fat old sun
Crosby, Stills & Nash - wooden ships
Rolling Stones - can’t always get what you want
The Kinks - Strangers
Courtney Barnett - avant gardener

good list

i posted “debris” upthread, one of my fav songs ever

Ah sorry voodoo I didn’t see it! Wholeheartedly agree that they share the same sort of dna.

fantastic playlist. yeah i always heard "nuthin" in the same way, not somorose but more like stoned in the backyard on a sunny day

al green - georgia boy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJFaRO-Mwa0

highest concentration of what i look for in this thread in that post there, thanks!

word. the asmr breathy stuff he does at the beginning is sooo good and always makes me feel stoned in the happiest, most relaxed way.

Confused the "it's not easy" song by Ofege with one by Extra Golden which isn't really similar to Ofege or VU but it's a very laidback song that could fit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdElyG2ot84

'can't you see' is so good

Extra Golden are interesting was it Washington Dc based postrock band players met some people from my dad's tribe who played Benga and united I think including combining names.
I have an earlier set by them called Thankyou Very Quickly from about 10 years ago.

'i shall be released'

The entirety of Pavement’s first Peel Session sort of has this melancholy, rockin’-out-through-wistful-tears vibe in my mind.

idk if “watch me” by labi siffre sounds like “oh sweet nuthin,” but it does sound like “debris”

Junior Byles - A Matter of Time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSmRgzlvkbw

nice.

wow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKznsR6ABlA

not perfect match, but aligns with the acoustic/stoned feel of oh sweet nuthin. been hooked on this the last few days

This could almost be an If Only I Could Remember My Name outtake.

one of the fellows in this group went on to found the knack, oddly

was “The House Always Wins” by The Clientele mentioned?

no, but 'lamplight' was

Dear Mr. Fantasy, already mentioned, might best fit the criteria. Some other suggestions, though they may be more psychedelic than morose:

The Move: The Last Thing On My Mind
Link Wray: The Sky is Falling
Elf Power: Leopard's Teeth
Apples in Stereo: Strawberryfire
Wolf People: Become the Ground
Deerhunter: No One's Sleeping
Patrick Watson: The Storm
King Tuff: Staircase of Diamonds

chris bell - there was a light

Eric Clapton “Tears in Heaven”

Ok, go and sit on the stairs!

*mutters*

Paul Slade - Life of a Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbcTYVuOpCg

wilco - "impossible germany"

One of the few Wilco songs I enjoy.

cheers

Yeah that’s the best Wilco song by a long shot imho

one more sir douglas quintet tune for the thread - "at the crossroads":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594XG32OGvI

This compilation hits that sweet nuthin’ spot for me

https://efficientspace.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-riders

A North American road trip of coming of age garage soul mapped by Ivan Liechti, Ghost Riders is Efficient Space’s latest narrative compilation, hovering in a liminal emotional ravine between moonlight melancholy, teenage heartache and unchecked, unrealised ambition. Across 17 open hearted ballads recorded 1965-1974, the 2LP collects and connects dots between British Invasion fanatics, child prodigies, the loners and the luckless, in a kind of trans-continental survey of those swept up in rock’n’roll mania and buoyed by local newspaper ads promising fame and gold records.

Al Stewart - “year of the cat” (obviously) and “in Brooklyn”

the new ratboys single fits the bill. it would fit even better if there was a thread called "songs that sound like 'debris' by the faces"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G16z77UxFyE

Mojave 3 - Love Songs On The Radio

see also 'after all'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv04On4rtcs

enjoyed that vibe

singer sounds like al stewart

cory hanson 'another story from the center of the earth'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CE6YHiFqf4

oh! sweet nuttin'

Dream Syndicate "Halloween"

Lots More Neil

"Dangerbird"
"Cortez"
"Safeway Cart"
"Crime in the City"
"Like a Hurricane"
"Cowgirl in the Sand"
"Down by the River"

fwiw: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7GzTzoGJlJgR5wpWcehvNh

should make for a good listen!

I know what I’ll play as my Sunday bbq playlist next time

i want that patch

thanks mookie! :)

man mary chapin carpenter goes so hard on "between the dirt and the stars"

i may be stretching the aesthetic parameters of this thread a bit but

atlanta rhythm section - so into you (live) (1979)

https://open.spotify.com/track/6lPj1rmGFRb8tQn2LGlSoO?si=8d7787034b8f4333

I love that song, one of my favs

it always made me think of paul simon - oh marion for some reason

Glad this thread was revived because said VU song (and indeed Loaded but specifically said song) was featured prominently and diagetically in last week's Loki episode. Bit an an amazing moment!

man mary chapin carpenter goes so hard on "between the dirt and the stars"

otm

lmao was thor all like “I prefer the alt version on the fully loaded cd set”

Imagine if.

okkervil river - blue tulip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaNtRRxpReY

Uncle Michael on Hinky Dinky Time/WFMU just played and eulogised "Oh! Sweet Nuthin", and called it "the most Lou Reed song that Lou Reed never wrote". Not sure I agree with that, but okay. He also mentioned Loki as Ned said above. I was waiting for him to mention the Spotify playlist, but sadly, no. Btw the track should be on the playlist, shouldn't it?? I want to recommend it to ppl and refer to the track, so I've had to duplicate it and add the song..

“that Lou Reed never wrote"? I don’t get it…

I guess assuming incorrectly that Doug Yule wrote it because he sang it?

I am pretty sure I am not misremembering that that is what he said, he said Yule wrote it. Anyway, there's your answer Uncle Michel, that's why it sounds so Lou Reedish

It’s credited to Lou Reed

And always has been. Nowhere does it say “this song was written by my brother Doug.”

If he'd said "Friends" I might have agreed with him.

Didn't early copies of Loaded say "all songs by the Velvet Underground", a Steve Sesnick gesture?

Yes. I think Lou got the lawyers involved.

would add 'til it gets dark' by the dwindling party, which is a user tylerw joint, but it doesn't seem to be online

it's not wholly unlike 'doug martsch sings oh! sweet nuthin' but i'm sure tyler has heard that before

there are v. good guitars but i (sappily, admittedly) wanted a jam fadeout

haha, i'm flattered / amazed anyone remembers the dwindling party! thanks, mookie, high praise indeed.

Just updated the link for the whole album over here ... I have not revisited this stuff in a long time ... https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/26650006390/the-dwindling-party-a-re-up-of-my-very-own-album

apologies for dropping this here, but recently have been listening again to Brian McMahon's (ex-Electric Eels) 17 Volts, which is very Lou sounding (though not OSN specifically) to my ear and doesn't seem to have every been mentioned on ILM. love this (and the whole record):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5lZv8BCZgQ

I see Hozac published a memoir from McMahon in 2017, but no copies about for less than collector scum pricing.

Haven't seen that episode of Loki but I'm slowly working my way through Fringe and Oh Sweet Nuthin' showed up in one of the episodes I watched this week! Who knew there were so many VU deep cut fans out there in TV land!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCfuILDAKio

mercromina 'evolution'

John Cale - "Big White Cloud"

the comas - centipedes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXpbUPXYeBo

wednesday - chosen to deserve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTi7e9gEpN4

the new ratboys single fits the bill. it would fit even better if there was a thread called "songs that sound like 'debris' by the faces"

📹

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn4M0HvuxGs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooXb_Ck2ZZ0

yeah that ratboys song turned into one of my very favs of the year

Been trying to remember this for days. But this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLUD75vITwU

And while we’re here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vUcg6Mo_aA

saints song is perfect! thx

A little laid back perhaps, but:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99k6hYq_0s4

(Nikki Sudden - Broken Door)

well this is the wrong answer but enjoyable all the same
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKlZeE2Haac

prefab sprout - "doo wop in harlem" live versions i.e. beginning at the 4:50 mark of this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtisWO16aTQ

✓

mint mile, halocline

2000 version
2024 version

https://nowagainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pale-shades-of-grey-heavy-psychedelic-ballads-and-dirges-1969-1976