Music: Thread o' "All Other Music"

[samsonlonghair]

I'm into classic Rock and Alternative. I guess my two favorite bands are the Doors and Pearl Jam. They let me work out my nihilism.

Terra, I must say that there are few bands I hate to hear more than Savage Garden. This isn't because of any fault of theirs'; the band itself is alright. The reason that I hate to hear them is because I work at a radio station, and every idiot trying to get laid asks me to play "Truly, Madly, Deeply" (or K.C. and Jojo's "All My Life") for their girlfriend/wife. These morons think they can cheat on a woman a dozen times then request a romantic song to make everything better. When that doesn't work they'll call me back in twenty minutes wanting me to play "I'll be" by Edwin McCain. Retards.

[Terracosmo]

lmao.. yeah those two songs are typical for moments like that.

But it sounds pretty cool to work at a radio station.

[masamuneehs]

Today's three areeath Cab for Cutie, The Mars Volta, and Michael Jackson :eek
Death Cab for Cutie
Indie alternative rock at its finest. Carefully crafted compositions, mellow guitar solos, deep and emotional (though often angsty) lyrics, this band has gotten huge in the past 3 years or so in the U.S.

I especially love the fact that this Death Cab (named after a segment in the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour) defies the stereotype that all popular bands must contain beautiful people. Ben Gibbard, the vocalist (as well as sometimes lead guitar and drums) has a voice that makes most women swoon, almost like a Sinatra for the new generation. But the man is UGLY! Hell, the whole band isn't much to look at! I love when a group sticks it to the 'we sell albums based on our looks, not music' genre.

'Transatlanticism' is their most well recieved album, with the most recent one 'Plans' being more of an acoustic, simple and clean style. I also love their earlier stuff from 'Something about Airplanes' which features tracks noticeably more upbeat than the recent album.

Ben Gibbard also sings for 'The Postal Service', a group with much more elctronic sound. His voice is reason enough to try both these groups! This band is one of my 'chill out, calm down, collect your spirits' band

Masa's recommended tracks: Title and Registration, Photobooth, Tiny Vessels, Marching Bands of Manhattan, Passenger Seat, I Was a Kaleidoscope and (from the Postal Service) Bend to Squares, Sleeping In

The Mars Volta
If I ever decided to do exctasy and stay out all night, it'd be at a Mars Volta concert. I first heard this band at Bonaroo '05, and I nearly shat my pants. This music has been called 'progressive rock metal', as it blends the eclectic, almost insane nature of most prog rock with a harder metal sound. Honestly, though I don't quite think of this band as either.

Mars Volta lead singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, has this voice that is hard to grasp. He uses a melismatic style (changing the pitch in your voice multiple times during a syllable) and can manipulate his voice to make it sound distorted. He also occasionaly uses distortion devices, making it sound like he's singing from underwater or through a voice box.

They can be sloppy in concert, but this band's CDs are flawless compisitions of incredibly difficult songs, most of them averaging 5-7 minutes long.

'Deloused in the Comatorium' was the band's first big album, and was followed up in 05 with 'Francis the Mute'. The first is roughly based on a first-person narrative of a drug-induced coma, while the second is known for actually only consisting of 5 tracks, 2 of which are split up into 5 and 7 'mini-tracks'. You must hear 'Deloused'.

Masa's recommended tracks: Cicatraz E.S.P, Interiactic ESP, This Apparatus must be Unearthed, Cassandra Gemini I, Cygnus...Vismond Cygnus and L'Via L'Viaquez

Michael Jackson
And now for something totally different.
I love this guy's music, and his life entertains me to no end, although I feel somewhat bad for him occasionally because it's fairly obvious to me that he's not OK in the head. However, this man had a huge effect on music as we know it today (not all for the best), and deserves more praise than criticism.

MJ is attributed with making the Music Video what we know it today. Before they were often just liek recordings of live performances, but without actually being live... Sometimes they'd throw in some random effects/attempts at telling a storyline.

then came 'Thriller', and the world has never been the same.

MJ also has a strong record of being a philanthropist, most widely documented when he co-wrote and performed a major part of 'We are the World', a collective effort by artists to promote attention to and money for poverty in Africa.

MJ was also the first black artist to get substantial playing time on MTV.

It's just sad that such a great artist (and shrewd business man, he currently owns huge shares of everything made by both Elvis Prestly and the Beatles) should mostly be remembered and talked about for his personal life, but Jacko is Whacko, and I won't deny that. Still, his songs continue to be a 'guilty' pleasure of mine.

Masa's recommendations: Smooth Criminal, Beat it, Billie Jean, Black or White, Blood on the Dancefloor

[Nai]

I just have to mention Vanessa Mae here. I absolutely adore her work and the violin is without a doubt my favorite instrument. Yes, it even ranks above the would-be omnipotent piano!

Others I really enjoy would be Modern Talking, Russel Watson ( huge bonus points for True to your Dreams ), Agent Provocateur and pretty much everything classical.

[XanBcoo]

@Masamuneehs: Funny, I just randomly decided listened to Smooth Criminal and Billie Jean earlier today, and I must agree they are pretty good songs. The bass line in Billie Jean is just awesome.

Another favorite band of mine is The Who. These guys practically invented the destructive rockstar lifestyle. It became customary at the end of their performances for Pete Townshend (the lead guitarist and writer of most of their songs) to smash his guitar to smithereens. The drummer, Keith Moon, was even worse. He's regarded by many as one of the best drummers ever (to my knowledge) and led such an amazingly hectic life. That joke on the Simpsons "trash the hotel room!"...that was Keith Moon. Stories about cars being driven into swimming pools...that was Keith Moon.

The band's music reflects their personality imo: Moons' wild man-style drumming, Entwistle's solid bass lines, Townshend's creative music, and Roger Daltry's powerful voice. My two favorite tracks by them are "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley" both of which are guided by awesome synthesizer tracks. I love this band.

[complich8]

If other people are pimping their favorite groups ... I might as well chime in.

Chris Cornell (in the scope of Soundgarden, in his solo work, and in Audioslave) is... well ... awesome. Complex lyrics, incredible vocals, and a wide variety of sounds ... pretty much everything he's done just reeks of talent. Musically, the man can do no wrong.

Speaking of components of Audioslave, don't overlook Rage Against the Machine. Lyrics are a bit overly-political for some, but man, the band's guitar work is just stunning.

And, speaking of side-project bands, A Perfect Circle (a side-project of Tool lead Maynard) is another great choice. Check out their Thirteenth Step album, which is just a beautiful soundscape and a lyrical masterpiece.

Oh, and let's not forget the ever-interesting Radiohead. That group deserves a lot more exposure and success than they've had, for sheer innovation factor.