Bands you've never heard

ghost club otm.

morris- don't sleep on the style council for paul weller stuff. it's his r+b band. this is a good one.

ha, my fave No New York act by far is The Contortions tracks, although I do appreciate the TJ&TJ tracks in their original mixes. I much prefer later DNA and Dark Day stuff,and never got Mars at all

add me to the "never heard Wu-Tang" list, I do plan on hearing the debut before I die, someday, and I do have a couple of related items (Cuban Linx, Bulletproof Wallets) that I have barely listened to

Just to muddy the waters – Mars is my favorite of the NNY bands, and the one that I ended up exploring deeper. (I really like the John Gavanti album, if you know what that is)

omg you've never heard Wu-Tang drop everything and listen to them right now.

Ditto Cecil Taylor and Eric Dolphy.

Fuck Paul Weller.

enh, wu-tang is kind of a 'you had to be there'* kind of thing at this point. definitely some classic songs in there, but even wu-tang forever is non-essential by now.

i was there and wasn't totally enamoured by the whole thing. more xpost to controp thread?

The bulk of the Melvins discography is eminently skippable.

The best Melvins album isn't a Melvins album - it's the Crystal Fairy s/t with Buzz & Dale + Omar from Mars Volta + Teri Gender-Bender from Le Butcherettes.

I listened to Arctic monkeys for the first time tonight, because of this thread. I listened to all of the songs that have over 500M streams. I feel horrible

I feel completely alienated

What are we even doing here, all together? What is the fucking point

lol arctic monkeys suck

How did they get so huge? I remember when I first heard of them I thought they were some edgy guitar band?? Am I mixing them up with the libertines

karl you should listen to their song with dizzee rascal.

libertines also quite terrible.

Honestly the first 5-6 of their songs I heard were so horrible that I’m no longer in a neutral place to listen to them. The dizzee part of that, I could see listening to more of that, maybe without the Arctic Monkeys playing along

Arctic Monkeys do not suck and like fine wine are getting even better with age. This is there brand new song and one of the most beautiful songs from 2022, absolutely stunning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY5CAz6S9kE

many xp but love me a good "Dark End of the Street"

I do like that quite a bit more! Maybe there’s something to these Arctic Monkeys

No! Don't say that Karl, please stay in the Arctic Monkeys suck crew!

Van Der Graaf (sp?) Generator
Faust
Gentle Giant

so many bands I haven’t listened to and will
probably never get to!

Throbbing Gristle, been holding out on that one for years and intend to go to my grave never having heard them
Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams etc, pretty much any doe-eyed singer-songwriter crap with a subtext of sexual harassment
Drake
Any drill artists

enh, wu-tang is kind of a 'you had to be there'* kind of thing at this point. definitely some classic songs in there, but even wu-tang forever is non-essential by now.

― ミ💙🅟 🅛 🅤 🅡 🅜 🅑💙彡 (Austin), Sunday, September 18, 2022 10:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

ok now I feel old

but I don't know anyone who considers Wu-Tang Forever their most essential album fwiw

yeah, would think the first run of Wu tang and solo lps by the members were all pretty great. Forever was the first one I got hold of and i haven't listened to in a couple of decades. But still enjoy that first wave of releases.

90s alt-rock was/is very much my bag and I have also managed to never hear a Melvins album. I have always had a hunch they were overrated and the comments above bolster that suspicion.

I have also never knowingly heard Bad Bunny, or most hip-hop that your average teenager would like (artists like Kendrick are probably already considered "old").

There's some classic/legendary hip-hop I've never heard, outside of clips in documentaries (Eric B. & Rakim come to mind)... I should rectify that.

All those British 90s/00s(?) bands that ilxors used to complain about like the Stereophonics, Toploader, Dodgy, Travis.

I vaguely think of solo Paul Weller as having some connection to those and haven't heard that either. I like the Jam, though.

bands that ilxors used to complain about

thread titles you thought were real

hahaha, yeah, that does seem very much like an ilx thread

many xps, this warmed my heart, i love that record so much

Ok, that Burritos version of “Dark End” is flat out gorgeous, thanks for the tip!

― mike t-diva, Sunday, September 18, 2022 9:46 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

glad you liked it! :)

― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Sunday, September 18, 2022 9:58 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

me too. i heard burritos version of the song first -- it's hard not to hear the others as the cover versions

I keep a spreadsheet of stuff I want to check out. These are the most famous acts in the list that I am relatively sure I have never heard; maybe there's a single I know from the radio/grocery store, but I've never intentionally listened to their music. Would appreciate snide comments on which of these is most egregious.

13th Floor Elevators
Beat Happening
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Butthole Surfers
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
Cecil Taylor
Cream
David Allan Coe
David Axelrod
EPMD
Gang Starr
Howlin' Wolf
Joan Baez
Meat Puppets
Misfits
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Carpenters
The Mothers of Invention
Todd Rundgren

xpost Also this---turning out a bit different from any other version I've heard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZsupVSWAjM

My dad had a Captain Beefheart LP, so have known him as long as I can remember.

Don't start your Beefheart journey with Trout Mask Replica, that is the "final boss" - I would suggest Safe As Milk as the perfect entry point.

xxp That's an interesting list as it has various acts that I've tried to get into but couldn't, but nothing that I love and would personally say "You're missing out!"

(among those I haven't heard – EPMD is another example of a famous hip-hop act I feel I should at least get familiar with)

Jesus Christ. There must be some underlying reason that you've never checked out any of those artists, and maybe you shouldn't. But if you feel ready, start with these:

13th Floor Elevators
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
Cecil Taylor
David Allan Coe
Howlin' Wolf
Meat Puppets

If that's too many to start with, the first three at least.

I am listening to all of music* chronologically for my thing, so far have reached 1954, acts I had never heard before but now love include

Cecil Gant
Mary Lou Williams
Jerry Byrd
Chet Atkins

David Axelrod

oh friend, you have some very happy moments to look forward to!

Does BB&THC / Janis Joplin get played on US radio much? Would imagine Piece of My Heart and Mercedes Benz were in some sort of circulation.

@dow, excellent snide! Thanks!

@Austin, suggestions on where to start?

Was not being snide!

songs of innocence is usually a good place. if you like the jazzier aspects, go backwards into his production work. if you like the cinematic "big picture" vibes, keep going with the capitol albums. if you don't like anything about it, he's probably not your flavor.

Up on the Sun is a good place to start w/Meat Puppets (and gauge whether they'll be to your taste).

xxp Was truly shook that you hadn't heard ANY of those artists, not that they are in our faces all the time, but still, for someone such as yourself, a thoughtful music commentator, would assume you would have found your way to at least one of those---maybe it's true that there are no accidents, no random, no chance---(???)

Cecil Taylor's discography can be daunting, to put it mildly. Either Conquistador! or Unit Structures would be an ideal entry point (the former is my personal fave, but ymmv).

Indexed, if you've never heard The 13th Floor Elevators I assume you've never heard solo Roky Erickson. Don't sleep on that, especially his album The Evil One.

Was thinking xp Unit Structures---also: this track was my gateway---don't think about it jump in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT4mDhyLqyA

BHS I'd go for the earlier stuff first. NOt as great after Hairway To Steven and possibly at their best on Rembrandt pussyhorse, Psychic, Powerless, Another Man's Sac & I think LOcust Abortion technician was what really popularised them. If Hairway didn't.

BBHC I'd seriously recommend the 2 1968 live sets which came out 10 or so years ago. Loads of lovely James Gurley guitar burn.

BUffy Sainte Marie I love the electronic lp Illuminations but think her elliptical voice is pretty great anyway.
I remember her from when she was a Sesame Street regular too. & various covers of Codine.

Meat Pupets I love teh early stuff but probably should have teh rest. 1st 3 lps are something else as are live sets from then. From bluegrass hardcore to something more grounded in rock, Which might be a lot less interesting. The idea that they were playijng Up On The Sun to hardcore audiences interspersed with weird covers including things from South Pacific and the Sons of The Pioneers.

I think I was really discovering Siouxsie and teh Banshees at the time of teh cd remasters. had been semi aware of them, saw tehm in 85 too. & had early stuff 1st lp & the 1st singles set.
But heavily recommend teh lps with John mcgeoch on.

I'm just discovering Liz Phair who I somehow bypassed

Cecil Taylor Unit is quite good too. Found it on Dodax who've since folded

As someone who is currently writing a book on Cecil Taylor, I would argue that maybe you should start with solo recordings. I recommend Air Above Mountains and Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! - the former is long but sounds like romantic classical a lot of the time; the latter is a bunch of shorter pieces.

After that, try his early stuff on albums like Looking Ahead, Love For Sale, and The World Of Cecil Taylor - you'll be able to hear the links to conventional jazz, particularly Thelonious Monk.

One album that's not super well known but great is Winged Serpent - Sliding Quadrants; it almost sounds like Ellington at times. Unit Structures and Conquistador are also excellent mid-sized ensemble records.

I really, really love the six-piece band (trumpet, sax, violin, piano, bass, drums) he had in 1978, which can be heard on the albums The Cecil Taylor Unit, 3 Phasis, Live In The Black Forest, and One Too Many Salty Swift And Not Goodbye.

@dow, no worries, I was jk. There's a lot of music -- nearly everyone has blindspots. I am probably on the younger side on the board in my mid-30s and didn't start listening to music seriously until I was in college. For most of my music listening life, I over-indexed toward keeping up with new music vs. educating myself about the past. Now I am getting to that age where my music tastes are solidifying and it's harder and harder to do either vs. listening to an album I know I already love. But that's why I keep my spreadsheet, and when the time is right, I pluck a name or album from it and give it a go. A lot of my listening now is done while working, which presents a different challenge: I know I have put on Cecil Taylor and Captain Beefheart before and immediately turned them off because I knew I wouldn't be able to multi-task.

@Chris L, I'm not sure -- don't think so...I appreciate the recommendation.