MUSIC THREAD

I like Miles Davis a lot..."Sketches of Spain" is an amazing record...just real panoramic. That's the one album of his that blows me away. "On the Corner" came at a time in his career when he was really into rock and funk (he was a big Jimi Hendrix fan and he was in to Parliament/Funkadelic and Sly Stone). "On the Corner" is very funky in an early 70s sort of way. I like listening to the record while driving around the city at night. I haven't listened to it in a while, but your comments make me want to put it back on. But he released a lot of albums after that one..."On the Corner" came out in 1972 and Davis died in the mid 1980s.

 

I'm halfway through "Jupiter" and there are about one or two discards from the six or seven songs I've heard.

I found this mash-up of Dani California and Mary Jane's Last Dance that's pretty amusing. Lots of similarities there.

 

I'm big on Miles too. I loved the Cookin', Workin' and Relaxin' albums as well as Kind of Bue and Jack Johnson. Any live Miles is worth a listen. His bands were always incredible.

His autobiography is one of best music books I've ever read.

 

Agreed.

 

Damn, do I feel out of sync.

Can't warm up to the Chili Peppers.

Or Death Cab.

Or, sigh, Pearl Jam.

I've tried.

And I'm not knocking them. Their stuff doesn't work for me.

Thanks to this board, though, I've discovered the wonders of Wilco, and I'm crazy for Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, and I love the Crooked Fingers song touted on here.

Having undermined my board cred, some of the stuff I'm listening to at the moment: KT Tunstall (yeah, I'm a sucker for Black Horse and a Cherry Tree), Eels (In the Yard Behind the Church and I'm Going to Stop Pretending I Didn't Break Your Heart), Fastball (The Way and Fire Escape), Marc Cohn (IMO, Walking in Memphis is a truly great vocal), Goo Goo Dolls, Garbage, Jeff Buckley, Howie Day and Snow Patrol. Oh, and Driveby Truckers' Never Gonna Change is heavy in the rotation.

Now I'll duck for cover.

 

Black Horse and a Cherry Tree really won me over when I saw the video for the first time a few weeks ago.

As for Fastball ... man, they got screwed out of the Grammy a long time ago, when "The Way" was, IMHO, the best rock-n-roll song in a few years. Just a great classic song to drive to. Great beat. Great lyrics. Great everything. It's one of my favorite songs of all time. I can't believe it got shafted.

You know what song has won me over, and some of y'all might laugh, is Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away." I love that video. Old-school video. And the song is cool. I never would've thought I'd write that, because I'd only heard the name Kelly Clarkson without really knowing what she sang.

 

interesting read about dani california:

http://music.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1168968.php/Chili_Peppers_accused_of_Petty_theft

someone posted earlier about great big sea. ive got a couple of their cds. their folk stuff is pretty good. my favourite is "the night that pat murphy died". other canadians i love: holly cole (beautiful voice, does a terrific "i can see clearly now"), spirit of the west, and -- of course -- the tragically hip.

thanks for the gnarls barkley and raconteurs recommendations.

id recommend probot for any metalheads; its one of dave grohls incarnations.

 

Two words for Mr. Tom Petty: Bob Dylan

 

Someone at work thought it sounded like that "Mary Jane" too. I hear similarities, but that's not new to the music scene. That said, I'm going to listen again. Off the top of my head, I just don't hear it.

 

if I was forced to listen to Gnarls Barkley, I think I'd hang myself first. They're god awful; nothing original at all.

 

Bottle Rockets - 24 Hours A Day. Solid No Depression-genre alt-country from an underappreciated band. Plus "Indianapolis" is the best bad road trip song ever.

Chris Whitley - Weed. Solo dobro and guitar from the late, great Southern bluesman. May be too intense for beginners.

Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men - Out in California. Fabulous live album from ex-Blasters co-founder/lead guitarist. Hilarious take on "Freebird."

Tulare Dust - Merle Haggard tribute album. Great songs, depressing as hell.

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year. Lots of great hooks from the ex-Pixies frontman.

Gin Blossoms -- New Miserable Experience. Jangly guitars, monster hooks and sad, sad lyrics from a writer who commited suicide.

Graham Parker - The Mona Lisa's Smile. The best album from one of England's smartest and angriest writers.

Howard Tate - Reaction. One of the great lost soul singers of the 1960s. Amazing voice.

James Carr - The Complete Goldwax Singles. See Howard Tate. Plus "Dark End of the Street" was an amazing metaphor for both adultery and racial segregation in the 1960s.

The Silos - Susan Across the Water. Very listenable pop/folk featuring the classic "Let's Take Some Drugs and Driver Around."

 

Great call. How this one always gets ignored is beyond me. (Slight quibble - it's "The Mona Lisa's Sister.") It's an absolutely great album. GP is frustrating, bacause for every "Mona Lisa's Sister" or "Squeezing Out Sparks" he's got 5 or 6 albums that just aren't good at all.