So I was wondering which musical artists/bands FE was most fond of. Also to maybe see if there are any similarities and stuff, it seems like this a topic that doesn't get spoken about as much as it should.
I'll start off. I'm mainly a fan of electronic/ambient/synth/indie/rock music. I'm not to big of a fan of mainstream-pop/rap/country, so you won't be seeing much of those on here.
Also; try to list artists/bands that you KNOW you are a fan of, so not just a simple liking. Like for example, if you only heard a couple songs you kind of liked, don't list them. A few full-album listens from that particular artists with a well known knowledge of parts of their discography is mainly considered a 'fan' in my eyes - yes, I'm a high-maintenance bitch in this field.
But anyways, here's the list of artists I have continued to be fond of over the years:
M83 - A French Electronic group, possibly my most favorite band. They usually don't get much attention on the mainstream stage (Which is good), their discography is very distinctive and they don't blend in with eachother despite M83 staying true to their electronic sound throughout. Their ST debut album was a bit one-dimensional, but they learned from it, and made possibly my most favorite album of all time; 'Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts', with many epic tracks. 'Gone' from that album is regularly used on Mr Robot, which is pretty cool. They went a bit more grand with their 'Before The Dawn Heals Us' album, which was a huge success, though a bit overwhelming at times. They dimmed it down a bit with their ambient album, titled 'Digital Shades Vol 1', which is supposed to become a series of ambient work, though he hasn't made a part 2 yet. Their 2008 album returned back to BTDHU sounds, titled; 'Saturdays = Youth'. They had a 3 year gap inbetween their biggest and most successful (double)album (my favorite album of all time), titled 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming', with classics like; 'Outro', 'Wait' and 'Midnight City'. Then after a 5-year gap, they released their 7th album this year, titled 'Junk', it was in an attempt to distance himself from the fame that got caught on after their last album. So it's very different, but it was inspired by the cheesiness of 80's sit-coms, so it feels a bit random. But they make it work. It's mainly Anthony Gonzales, so it could be argued that this is a solo project, but he gets help with a lot of stuff, which is why I continue to say; 'they'.
Snow Patrol - Ah, Gary Lightbody (my avatar) is quite an amazing guy that I'm a huge fan of. A lot of people compare Coldplay to the current day 'U2', though I'll go as far as saying that Snow Patrol deserves that title (when comparing it to 'Joshua Tree' and 'Achtung Baby' ofcourse - U2's latter work sucks ass). They also made quite a big shift from their beginnings (luckily they never touched pop). You could surely feel the shift between their first album, titled 'Songs for Polar Bears' having a very alt-rock and shoegaze vibe, whereas their most well known albums; 'Final Straw', 'Eyes Open' and 'A Hundred Million Suns' is more Alternative with singles like 'Chasing Cars', 'Just Say Yes' and 'Run', and then lastly their latest album titled; 'Fallen Empires' pulling influence from their 'secret love of techno', though it sounded quite awkward in the album as a whole. They haven't made an album since 2011 though, back in 2015 they mentioned they came up with mind-boggling material, so hopefully their seventh album will come out in 2017!
Radiohead - OK Computer and Kid A are ofcourse staples in musical history and get rightfully praised. Their 2016 album: 'A Moon Shaped Pool' was also quite stellar, they are one of the few bands that haven't dimisihed in quality as their musical career went on. I honestly can never get enough of them. I'll have to make an album ranking soon!
Adam Young - yeah, I don't need to explain myself with this one again.
The Naked and Famous - A New-Zealand indie-synth group. They struck big with their debut album 'Passive Me, Aggressive You', which was arguably 2010's most creative and innovative album. They died down afterwards though, their follow-up album 3 years later, titled; 'In Rolling Waves' was a bit more calm and reserved, but it didn't gain the same traction. Their third (and newest album - which was released this week), is by far their worst though. It's mainly pop-garbage, with 'Backslide' being the only good track on their. But for sure give their early material a listen - it's quite amazing!
Bon Iver - Pretty much a perfect discography. A folk-legend for sure. His latest album was a bit more electronic-influenced, which was controversial, but it is generally considered ahead of our time and is quite the trip. For sure check him out!
The Postal Service - possibly the most innovative indie band of all time. No explanation needed.
I'm tired of the write-ups now though, so I'll just list the rest:
David Bowie
This Will Destroy You
The Cinema
The Killers
Foster the People
The Who
Deathcab for Cutie
Mikky Ekko
flatsound
Broken Social Scene
My Bloody Valentine
Slowdive
Mogwai
But yeah, those are just some of my favorite bamds/artists. I'm curious to hear from you guys! :)
Hate to be that guy, but I love all sorts. There aren't many genres I don't enjoy at least some songs from, other than maybe the extreme styles of metal.
Off the top of my head, these are some of my favourite artists of all time:
Beatles (surprising nobody, ayyy)
Rolling Stones
Bowie
Pink Floyd
Led Zep
REM
Nirvana
Bob Dylan
Simon & Garfunkel
Ray Charles
Black Sabbath
More recent artists I've listened to that I like include Lorde, Mac DeMarco, Courtney Barnett and NIN. I did not expect to like the latter at all, but the first two albums are really good stuff.
I don't listen to new music as much as I should, really! I will check out M83 at some point
I would say my top favorite spot is a tossup between New Order and The Smiths. The Smiths have become the cliche 80s indie band now but they meant a lot to me in high school and I think they still hold up, especially the guitar playing. Johnny Marr is in my view, one of the most talented guitarists ever and as a guitarist myself I can't even say I'm influenced by him because he's so far ahead of what I'm capable of that all my attempts are futile in comparison. New Order's early material from 1981-1983 or so (but I like most of their work) is the only band to seriously challenge The Smiths as my favorite band. I've put on their music in the car with other people and they were surprised to learn that it was a 30-year old band because their early work hasn't aged at all. Peter Hook is a bassist whose playing I admire very much and can't get enough of. New Order's Ceremony is likely my favorite song of all-time.
Radiohead has always been a favorite of mine since 2007 when I became a fan just before In Rainbows came out. Since then every album release has been a major event for me preceded by insane amounts of hype. I don't think they've been quite as good as they were when In Rainbows dropped, but their albums since then have still had something I dug, and I still find them to be an exciting band to follow. They're probably my favorite band who is still active in putting out new music that isn't just as a nostalgia act. Motion Picture Soundtrack is likely my second-favorite song of all-time.
Sufjan Stevens is my favorite solo artist putting out music currently. His sounds range from the stripped-down acoustic Carrie & Lowell to the lush, orchestrated Illinois to the electro-freakout Age of Adz, with themes ranging from Jesus to John Wayne Gacy. I had the pleasure of not only seeing him on his most recent tour but also bumping into him walking around on the street outside, which was the most nervous I'd ever been talking to someone.
David Bowie made a huge impact in forming my musical taste when I was a young lad, and he remains one of those musicians I still listen to all these years later. He went through a zillion stylistic transformations but I particularly love his Station to Station album which is sort of a weird transition from soul to experimental music.
So that's my top five which has been solidified for a few years now. Some other artists I like include:
Interpol, especially their first album.
Pacific UV, my favorite band I like to pull out for obscurity points. Think dreamy atmospheric guitar music.
Smashing Pumpkins, even if they only recorded Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, they would still make the list.
Dead Man's Bones, a one-off musical project by Ryan Gosling and some other dude where they got together and wrote songs inspired by ghosts and werewolves and stuff.
Weezer's first two albums.
Portishead, especially their first album.
Tegan & Sara, pre-2013. Not a huge fan of the direction their music took since then.
Black Sabbath.
Then generally the genre labeled as post-punk which has bands like Joy Division/The Cure/Gang of Four/The Chameleons.
I don't listen to new music as much as I should, really! I will check out M83 at some point
Yay! You won't regret it!
I like the rest of your list! I just recently got into listening to some older stuff, I was the exact opposite of you - my teenage years were mainly filled with obsessing over bands from the 00's and sometimes the 90's, not really any earlier than that though. Which kind of sucks looking back, as I now listen to bands like Coldplay with a lot of nostalgic value put behind it whereas I listen to Pink Floyd hearing everything for the first time. Which just isn't right. But I learn to appreciate stuff quickly though, but I'm surely playing catchup on a lot of the standout classics.
I also tend to always listen to the album as a whole right away - and not just the hits. It helps create a bigger picture which is nice.
Also; what's your favorite David Bowie album?
Another question; are you excited for the new Stones album in December? Quite surreal they still make music actually, it's going to be titled 'Blue and Lonesome', all 4 regular long-term band members. It's going to be entirely blues-based (As the title suggests), and it will have 2 tracks featuring Eric Clapton.
Ecto; I got introduced to The Smiths thanks to the film 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', the song being 'Asleep', it left a big impression on me, but I have yet to really delve in deeper. I'll surely add them to my list (I'll actually get all their albums on my list as soon I finish typing this).
And yeah, Radiohead continues to be one of my favorites. It sucks I got into them so late though, but I found their music to be one of the more enjoyable bands to binge-listen to.
Tegan & Sara - I loved their old stuff, but similarly to Ellie Goulding, I don't like their current direction. It feels a bit too panderish to mainstream audiences, which really sucks as a lot of bands and artists go down that path. Ellie went from full on Folk(tronica), Synth Pop and Indie in her first album, to just flat-out boring mainstream pop with her latest one. Tegan & Sara haven't got that far down though, which is good. They atleast stay true to their initial indie-synth sound. Ellie's first 2 albums are just absolutely amazing though - I'd suggest giving them a listen if you are a fan of T&S's material.
Another reason why Radiohead continues to be so good - they never turned to pandering the masses, which was nice.
A lot of my favorite artists lost a lot of my respect once they went that direction (Owl City, The Naked & Famous and Coldplay being the main examples). It's very important that they stay authentic.
I was also a somewhat fan of Maroon 5's early stuff, but they are just the worst type of pretentious nowadays and I can't stand them (Same goes for OneRepublic).
Used to be a huge Snow Patrol fan in the past, but I prefer their first 3 albums and not really into the recent albums.
I've been a Weezer fan since I can remember. I lost interest after Ratitude/Red but The White Album got me hooked again. I missed their concert earlier this year ugh.
Two lesser known singer songwriters that I'm a fan of are Andy Shauf and Besides Daniel (guy in my avatar). I also love Sufjan Steven's Carrie & Lowell, don't know any of his other albums though.
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, is one of my favorite albums. I'm not a Bright Eyes fan per se but some of his albums are brilliant.
My fav Bowie album is Hunky Dory. I also really like Low due to how different it was.
Regarding the upcoming Stones album, I'm interested and will be checking it out. I had no idea Clapton was playing on it, that's cool! I love the old blues players, and I think it is a good idea to do a covers album. The Stones started with an album of blues covers, so they will be coming full circle with this release.
In terms of genres, I'm primarily an old 70s-80s person, focusing on punk, goth, industrial, synthpop/techno pop, and other 80s New Romo crap and "older shit". I'll break down some of my favorites in each genre, though I'll probably put a separate post for each, since I'm, dropping in sample songs. Let's start with the extremely broad category of:
punk
This genre is flexible, since some of my other bands roll into this category as well, so I'll focus on a few that are either pure punk or in a punky subgenre that isn't big enough to get it's own category (like geek rock, ska, and all that shit)
The Clash- The world's most dangerous band! Being highly political, many of their songs still resonate a frighteningly 40 years later. And who doesn't want to groove out to "The Magnificent Seven"?
Primus- Les Claypool is hands down the most awesome bassist ever; he plays the bass like it is a lead guitar. He's also one of the strangest people ever (I grew up in the Bay Area and have got to see him and meet a few times). Again, a highly political band as well, but with a humorous side (look no further than lyrics like "I've been to hell I call it, I call it DMV.")
DEVO- The original geek punks, their music was political but catchy, with the idea than mankind is devolving into the sewer being their basic motif. For those who never get past "Whip It", their backcatalog is fantastic. While my personal favorite is "Beautiful World", I instead give you a catchy guitar driven "Gates of Steel" below:
They Might Be Giants- More geek punk; I like intellectual lyrics and stuff that makes me think over a lot of pop crap (though I have a few that are too catchy to avoid). TMBG have double entendres, songs that teach you about subjects, a single song that is twenty tracks long, etc. And their songs are always so damn catchy it is hard to hate them, since they get stuck in your head. Submitted for your approval is their song about dead guys from the Fertile Crescent:
I have a few more for this category, but I want to get to other genres...
How can you have any pudding if you won't eat your meat?
Stuff like Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, Joy Division, and Bauhaus are all well-known enough that they probably don't even need mentioning (but I am more than happy to throw out recommendations there if interested.)
Alien Sex Fiend- Manic poetry that veers from the beautiful to the psychotic, Nik Fiend and co. have a punk sensibility, great sense of humor, and Nik throws out a giant inflatable banana each show. How could you go wrong? Their original music was like beach blanket bingo music on acid, and his styles since then have gone heavy, electronic, and thrash punk.
Fields of the Nephilim -They did their goth cowboy look, two dueling lead guitars, and went down the magickal rabbit hole into some fantastic music:
Virgin Prunes- As mentioned in the SIRLT thread, this band is made up of guys who hung out in Dublin with the guys from U2. Maniacal, artistic, and feral.
Clan of Xymox- Dutch goth/industrial band. Their music is fantastic and they are waaaay underrated and underappreciated. Their songs also make great driving music.
Southern Death Cult/Death Cult/The Cult- Before there was The Cult, they were known as Death Cult (they ditched the "Death" for a few reasons, including not getting
people hyped up on the goth side). Prior to Death Cult, lead singer Ian Astbury was in another post-punk goth band SDC.
The Swans- They are harder edged, showing the more hardcore punk side of goth. They have more accessible tracks, like "Celebrity Lifestyle", but much of their early stuff goes from guitar rage to angry ballads. This is their send up of Evangelical Xians:
Faith and the Muse- Showing the more slow, ambient side of goth, Monica Richards (of Strange Boutique fame) and William Faith (of Xian Death fame) came together to bring faerie classics. This is one of their more "guitary" songs:
I have plenty more I can throw on.
How can you have any pudding if you won't eat your meat?
Ah sweet - I'm not too big of a fan of punk, never really have been. Goth has always been okay to me, it's interesting though seeing more sides to a fandom.
I'm really interested in seeing your synthpop list, I'm usually quite into that.
A band I'd think you like is The Naked and Famous (Especially their first album), it has a mixture of punk-rock, indie, new wave, sound pop and synth. It's quite a trip - they are a bit more modern though, but that shouldn't matter. Their third studio album came out last week (their first one in 3 years), but it sucked it though. Mainly generic pop (but the use of synthesizers throughout was amazing).
Some songs I'd think you'd like from therm are:
My personal favorite from them being: (though it may be too slow for your liking)
#1 GOAT
