What music are you currently listening to?

A while ago, there was a topic The bestest band ever

That introduced me to, and got me listening to stuff that would otherwise have passed me by.

We have threads for books, films. games - so why not one for music?

Tell us what's top of your playlist right now - and a little bit of a description of the type of music etc. Spread the joy!

I'll start. One of the above mentioned recommendations which is getting a lot of listening time still is Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois" I'm not smart enough with words to review it, but check out the reviews and lsiten to the sample clips on Amazon.com. I'm certainly glad that whoever it was (sorry to
\o lazy to read through!!) recommended it to me.

[edit to add a missing space]

There are a couple of cds topping my playlist. A lot of board-recommended stuff and funnily enough also Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois." I think Toaf recommended Questionable Content a few months ago, which is where I got it from. "John Wayne Gacy Jr." is one of my favourite songs on this one.

Other than that:

Pearl Jam - Ten. Ba recommended this a long time ago, but I never really tried it out before.

Opeth - Damnation. An album filled with beautiful melancholic ballads by a Swedish heavy metal band. Don't try any of their other cds unless you like growled vocals, but this cd is worth it. Amazing guitar work.

Bands like Nine Inch Nails and Orgy are also popping up in my playlists more and more, for some reason.

It's been bright eyes, cursive, funeral for a friend and lawnmower deth that've been dominating my playlists latley.

I did have to search through my music for a load of happy songs yesterday. in almost a thousand hours of music i found 20 suitable songs!

A friend recommended bright eyes to me after i found Cursive, other than that I've been finding new bands through the questionable content site or www.pandora.com

Bright eyes are emo, not the repetative one riff on an acoustic stuff though. these guys have got quite a lot of music to their name. The lead singer has broken vocals which works really well. Theres a variety of songs, theres a few feel shit songs and a few love songs which are actually qute nice. If your looking for songs to make you feel tingely I'd have to recomend no lie, just love and the first day of my life by bright eyes.

Pretty sure everyones heard of funer for a friend so i wont go into any great detail. Their emo-core which is just sad songs with screamy vocals.

Cursive are a pretty interesting band. Their a little indie with all the synths they use but they have punky undertones. Its a great band, in quite a few songs theres an annoying guitar mashing but the majorty of the songs are great.

Edited when i actually read the thread :roll:

My playlists for when I am at school are as varied as ever:

Radiohead: Pablo Honey

Pink Floyd: The Wall

Spoon: Gimme Fiction

Deerhoof: Apple O'

Queen: A Night at the Opera

Aerosmith: Greatest Hits

When at home studying, I listen to my local eighties channel. Lots of Twisted Sister, Heart and U2. Among other things.

But yeah, I gotta say I get a lot of band recommendations from the Questionable Content Site, same as Dane. Otherwise I just talk to my music geek friends who listen to local bands.

Other than that its oldies and weirdies all the way.

Yay music!

have you been on their email? they setup a Gmail account so that everyone can send in and download music. I've only gotten a few songs from there but they've all been great!

I found out about Mogwai, easy world and a band called shellac of north america. Pretty good bands. After frineing mogwai and friend recommended godspeed you black empror! now thats an instrumental band to check out

A great verity in my taste. On my playlist right now is:

Megadeth, their albums Countdown To Extinction and Greatest Hits; Back To The Start (Barring the song 'Mechanix') Megadeth is a rockmetal band. An offspring of Metallica and The Sex Pistols. They have some wonderful guitar work, with some great drumming. Some love songs, though mostly of the angsty-breakup-that-has-left-me-angry variety. Lots of anger songs, some that have to do with religion and/or the government. And suicide songs. You can't forget them. They have a very pretty one called 'A Tout Le Monde'. The chorus is
“A Tout Le Monde
A tout mes amis
Je vous aime
Je dois partir”
Roughly translated it means "To all the world, to all my friends, I love you, I must leave." They do sing in English, though sometimes the sing in Spanish. I think this is their only song with French in it, and that's just the chorus. They do have utterly meaningless songs, though the only one I can think of on those two albums is 'Mechanix' Which is... a song from the point of view of a horney mechanic. Enough said.

Another band on my playlist is Kansas. A rock band from around the same time period as Queen, but their lyrics are a thousand times more meaningful than 'Fat Bottomed Girls'. Some great guitar solos in that one too, though of a much different type than Megadeth. Their radio hits were 'Dust In The Wind' Which I have had pizza crusts thrown at me for singing because it's "sad and creepy" and 'Carry On My Wayward Son' which also earned me pizza crusts for he same reason, minus the sad part.

And, not lastly, but this is the only other major one, the RENT soundtrack. Great play/movie. Angel is adorable. Even if my friends have dubbed her as creepy. (She's a transvestite. A crossdresser.) Keh. They think everything is creepy. Well... everything I like, that is...

Other things include Pearl Jam, The Beatles, David Bowie, ect. Though mostly through invasion of my father. But I do like their music. I might be looking into Fall Out Boy and Evenescence soon, through recomendation of some mates at school.

And a band I think I can guarantee none of you have heard of. Girlyman. Nice tunes. It's a three member band. A boy and two girls, though you think one of the girls might be a very pretty boy if you’re not up close. Her name is Ty, and she's very nice. She let me hold her Guitar. (We're friends of the person who organized the concert I saw them at. We were allowed backstage, which was actually not backstage but an old house with Revolutionary War history. All the good food was in there, so we took our friend Ender there too. Which wasn't allowed but... I'm rambling.)

This is them: Ty is the one in the middle. Their website is G I R L Y M A N . C O M just in case anyone's interested.

I know, I can go on forever about music....

I've currently got The Red Paintings - Walls EP on repeat, because its absolutely awesome. Hints of Hawkwind, and lots of amazingness.

Also in my school bag at the moment:

Hawkwind - Space Ritual. Awesome band, awesome album. The way heavy metal should be. Even though the synth player sounds like he's playing for a different band.

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. Not whiny or melodramatic enough to be proper Emo. I'd class it as Emo Folk more than anything.

End Of Fashion - End Of Fashion. Nothing like a bit of harmless Aussie pop-rock.

Deftones - Around The Fur

Pink Floyd - A Saucerful Of Secrets

Wolfmother - Wolfmother. Great Aussie heavy metal, also how metal should be.

My current playlist is very old, and since I've stopped downloading stuff, it's not going to get much better. but thank the Gods for Podcasts ! I got hooked on the Pete & Geoff show on Virgin radio a couple of years ago, so now I get the Geoff show via podcast (it starts à 10pm GMT, too late for me to be online) and it really rocks. I particularly enjoy the shitting forecast... :shock: :lol: The only shame is that you don't get the music on the podcast version...

Have been listening to Al di Meola - Mediterranean Sundance. Rather good stuff ..

Grr, the music reviews on amazon. Can't believe the retards who claim that Matt Bellamy sounds like Thom Yorke - and these are supposed to be fans of both Muse and Radiohead. Fools.

I'm not currently listening to any music, as I'm at work.

Al di Meola - Mediterranean Sundance

Esp. since you are in the midst of a jazz attack

Edit: the album is: Friday Night in San Francisco

Everyone! Gather around, gather around! Little children in the front! Come see the worlds fastest guitar player play the fastest he can! ;-)

In other words, in my opinion Meola is a little bit circus. It's more novelty than art. On the other hand, I've only listened to the album when he plays with Paco Delucia and John MacLaughlin, so I might not have heard it all.

Even so, if you'd like to hear some tasteful jazz (with a big spoon of folk) where it's more about quality notes than quantity notes, I strongly recommend the album Jazz På Svenska (Jazz in Swedish) recorded 1963 by Jan Johansson, a Swedish pianist. This album is Jan's jazz interpretations of old Swedish folk songs. Very melancholic and beautiful, it has happened that I've wept listening to this. Fully instrumental, this album seems to communicate the contradictional Swedish patriotism, how hard it is to express your love for your country when patriotism has become a very negative word here, and pride and bragging has always been tabu. The most popular song on the album would be Visa från Utanmyra (Song from Utanmyra), still frequently heard on tv and radio in Sweden.

Hell, if you're not ready to spend good money on this album, I'll buy it for you and send it to you, it's a must hear. You can smell the pine of Dalarna and see the sun set over a forest cottage.

I'm currently listening to Faith No More. A good band, something between metal and alternative rock. Their best song, and one of the most played songs on my playlist at the moment, is "Last Cup of Sorrow".

I went and bought some CD's a couple of weeks ago..
Lena Horne, Billie Holiday,Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Cash. I decided to broden my ownership of music.

I like all four artists but have never owned anything by any of them. and I have to say I'm getting a lot of enjoyment out of them

Matter of opinion, surely .. with just a hint of bias Besides, you can't compare a guitar and a piano.

Oh, true. When it comes to music I don't think it's possible to be more biased than me, especially since my musical education makes me think I know better than everyone else. ;-)

ahhh Fall Out Boy. Everyone seems to be shouting about these guys but to me theres nothing particulaly special about them, The vocals aren't your average which makes for a nice contrast but I just can't seem to like them. I've got the from under the cork tree album but it doesn't seem so good. The only songs i like enough to listen to again are nobody puts baby in the corner, our lawyers made us change the title of this song so we wouldn't be sued and 2nd emo.

I much prefer panic! at the disco. A similar band and I'm sure the lead singers the same or at least sound very similar. They just seem to have what it takes, they're much more energetic and have much better lyrics. Thing is they do like their synths, they don't over use them like the postal service or anything but it just annoys me after a wile. Anyway if you want to try fall out boy try p!atd first, I recomend lying is the most fun a girl can have without takeing her cloths off and the only difference between martydom and sucicide is press coverage

This week I've been listening mostly to Erykah Badu (Baduism), some Jill Scott, and a bit of Die Soehne Mannheims (I dig Xavier Naidoo). Erykah seems to fit my 'in love' mood

I've not heard them in years! They were fun live, back in the late eighties!

Yeah i heard my step-dad talking about them. he did a few searches for anything by them on Kazza but couldn't find anything. A few months later Someone i added started talking about them. He sent me all of their first and third albums and the only good song from the second.

Their an awsome band, I'm slowly blackmailing my step-dad for things with their songs :badgrin:

OK - I need a challenge. This trip is too long and boring. I'll be the retard who selects and reviews an item from each person's playlist that I haven't heard until now. (I have unlimited legal downloading ability at the moment!)

Cynical Youth (from Ba's recommendation). Pearl Jam "Ten"

I chose this because I had a fair idea I would like it, having heard PJ in collaboration with Neil Young on "Mirrorball". I wasn't disappointed.

You could make comparisons with other bands and influences, but that wouldn't be right. They do have a sound of their own

Glorious, grungey, heavy riffs, a thumping, driving, rhythm section and exquisite vocals. Only quibble for me was over use of echo-ey type effects in the mix. All in all though, excellent and will be added to my playlist.

This sounds like a great idea. I'm going to join in. I have Spoon - Gimme Fiction (off Hex's list) lying around anyway and I think this might be a lot of fun.

Review coming up.

If I may make a suggestion? Hey Rose or The Shape I Found You In by Girlyman, or Countdown to Extinction by Megadeth.

Yay!

Ok Now, courtesy of Dane and Andalusian we have....
Bright Eyes "I'm wide awake, it's morning"

Pretty much as described by both of them. It's country-emo! It features Emmylou Harris which is a plus for me. Shades of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Neil Young here.

The lyrics veer from the inspired to the banal - but perhaps that's a reflection of my age rather than anything else. The music however is very well crafted.

It's richly produced, - a lovely lush acoustical sound.

I'm on my second time through now, and it seems to be growing on me, so perhaps I will keep it all for now. I can see a few tracks ( Old Soul Song, Poison Oak and a couple of others) surviving. Definitely worth a listen!

Glad you enjoyed Bright Eyes. I played a song to my mum today, that didn't go down to well. She ended in tears

anywho I'll get a few suggested songs and write a few reviews (Whether the reviews will be any good is another matter)

Spoon - Gimme Fiction.

Pleasant and eclectic rock 'n roll. Wide range of influences that seems to encompass everything rock 'n roll.

The production is very neatly done. Scratchy distorted guitar riffs and a myriad of noises have been added carefully which make for songs were everything seems to be in place.

The vocals and lyrics are good, but they occasionally limit each other. On "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine" the rough rock 'n roll vocals clash with the more grand approach of the lyrics which fails to enhance it.

Other than that, the album occasionally suffers from a lack of deviation. The song are built up around set riffs (can be bass, guitar, drum) from which they don't break free often enough.

All in all, a good rock 'n roll record. Only a few songs will make it onto my playlists, but that's largely due to it being a big step away from what I am accustomed to listening to.

Not much to do with reviews, I'm just downloading I'm wide awake, it's morning by bright eyes at the moment. However i just wanted to to clarify a few points.

I was talking to a few friends today about bands. When I mentioned a list of fairly well known emo bands (including Something Corperate, Death Cab For Cutie, Bright Eyes, The Movie Life, Foogazi and Cursive) All i got was blank looks. One of them asked why all emo's seem to be obssesed with the underground emo music at the moment.

Does anyone else think that those bands are underground emo? and for that matter can someone tell me what underground emo means? and one final question, since when was I emo? I just listen to what i want, I didn't really think I was labbled as an emo and does anyone think it's a bad thing to be labbeld as an emo?

To be continued via clacks.

This week I have been mostly listening to: Placebo. Doors has finally got me into them. I can't believe it took so long. They rock!

I wear mostly black, studded dog collars, chains, am saving up for baggy pants with chains on, and am getting my hair cut short in the back, long in the front sometime soon. Does that answer your question? :lol:

But seriously, it depends on weither you mean the fashion of emo, or the emotional state. Because if it's the emotional state, it's not a good thing. If it's the fashion, I quite like the fashion.

Thank you, Hsing.

No, they are pretty mainstream emo. Underground is music that never charts, basically.
Emos are the scum of the Earth. Horrible hair, horrible fashions, horrible music for the most part and overly melodramatic whining about stuff no one cares about. But thats just the Goth in me talking.

I am listening to The Sisters of Mercy's First and Last and Always album.

Oh dear... What is a cheerful person whos taste ranges between goth and emo to do?

Forget fashion, hairstyles, labels, conventions and mindsets. Listen to what you like, wear what you like, be who you like.

As for myself, I wear the timeless stamp of inconspicuousness.

If only Emo and Goth were to set aside their differences, united they have the strength to fight the common enemy!

Dane, you're only emo if you want to be emo. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

A fantastic indie rock album that has made it to the top of my playlist, recommended by Andalusian:
Eisley - Room Noises
Depressingly beautiful music.

I'll pick a new cd to review tomorrow. I think I'll go for something far removed from what I would normally listen to.

How the heck can Death Cab For Cutie be considered underground when a 46 yearold factory worker in North Central Minnesota knows who they are. I heard them this morning on the Fargo classic rock/contemporary station.

Meh, I'm what i am. I listen to a VERY wide range of music. Granted i listen to more emo than any other but the emo still only comprises roughly 40% of my libary. I listen to a lot of metal, deth metal and thrash which doesn't exactly go hand in hand with emo. I just listen to whatever I like, i even found myself listening to Mr. Scruff the otherday!

I dress in what i want, at the moment thats mainly scene kid stuff but always dark blues or blacks. So I fit in with a lot of labels there, townies leave me alone, emo's leave me alone, goths leave me alone and so do the scene kids. It's only really the chavs that will dare to give me any hassel. That said not many do. My hair's shoulder length, darkish brown with a few blond highlights that havn't grown through yet.

I'm intending on getting plenty of goth/rocker cloths when i go down to leicester in march, theres some pretty good rocker shops down there and none up here.

As for mind set, well I don't fit any steriotypical mind set. I'm not a suicidal emo, I'm not an apocoliptical goth, I'm not an anti-social chav and I'm not as care free as some Indie guys i know. I'm just me.

Currently listening to god forbid, cannible corpse and every time i die. Some assholes in rugby pisses me off. One gut buster and their crying like bitches :roll:

I think I'm even more non-conformist than that. I listen to rock, metal, and classical. I'm the kid in chains, spikes, and leather who people smile and nod at when they walk down the hall, who high-fives the three and four year olds. It may help that the school is so small everyone recognizes everyone else on sight. :roll:

I'm an undercover emo. I'm sure I'd be wearing all black with shiny spiky bits if I could be bothered to switch from my jeans and baggy T-shirts. As it is, I get brownie points from my mom because she spends almost no money on my clothing. And that's far better than fitting a stereotype.

Oh, and I'm listening to Shostakovich, performed by my friends in the best teenage string quartet ever heard on this earth. You can't argue. They sound amazing.

Todays playlist:

Bob Dylan
U2
Enya
Green Day
Twisted Sister
Billy Joel
Mozart

All in one sitting, thanks to the shuffle setting on my iPod.

If that isn't varied I don't know what is!

I hang out with 5 year olds occasionally but thats only because their my little sisters friends general thoughts on Emo's at my school (or at least the people in my year i could be arsed to ask) is that wile their hot their also whiney bitches. Personally I wouldn't know, I've never met one. Most people would find it hard to fine someone that meets any steriotype.

I don't like the tight jeans or the glasses but the hairs cool and the makeup's ok. I have some mascara a friend gave to me that i never wear but it looks funny on me so I don't think I'd do the makeup bit. I'd quite like to get my tongue peirced though

Could I be the advocate for the non-native-speakers-of-English here and ask for an official definition of what Emo is ? I kind of get the idea, but I guess this is one of the new trendy words that I have missed out on not bein a teenager in England...

I got the new Darkness album. It's better than I thought it would be. I reccomend it solely for 'Seemed like a good idea at the time.'

Listening to Hor Turetskovo ("The Turetsky's Choir") as I'm trying to make a VHS tape for my grandmother.

Basically ten guys ranging from basso-profundo to tenor altino, performing really cool arrangement of anything from pop to opera and back again.

Extremely listenable. One of the guys looks like a total house-burglar, but has a higher and clearer voice than Sarah Brightman. I find that awesome yet slightly disturbing

I've been listening to Recoil's Bloodline and Liquid. Best avant-garde band ever. Extremely dark, fascinating and very interesting. Everyone should at least give them a listen.

Bump because I also want a definition.

Also, looking forward to Hsing's verdict of Jan Johansson.

Well, I'm in England but I guess I'm not teenagerish enough to help. In fact, my quest at the moment is to get my finger back on the pulse where current music is concerned. I've been listening to Kelly Clarkson, Daniel Powter and Katie Melua, which we got for Christmas, and the rest of the time I've been glued to the radio.

Also, I have Starlight Express and Disney Medleys coming out of my ears, and an ethereal choir singing 6-part harmonies from Camelot floating round my head due to various projects I'm working on, but never mind about that!

It's basically a kind of more depressed, trendy goth. They think the world is against them, and they can often be seen crying.

Emo lyrics include:

'How could this happen to me, I've made my mistakes, I've got nowhere to run...'
and.
'I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare.'

I personally wouldn't become an emo if a very large man with a gun came up to me and told me that he was going to shoot me until I donned the black eyeliner.

Right, Emo music: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo_%28music%29

Emo culture: Emo (slang) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In short, they are a bunch of spoilt, middle-class rich twats who dress in stupid clothes, have stupid hair and think that fake depression is cool.

The fashions look alright on some guys, but mostly look awful on the girls.

Oh, and I'm not a teenager in England either

Wow, that is a very complete answer... Thanks, Andalusian, I now know exactly what you mean

I know a lot of you will laugh at me for this, but I'm listening to Robbie's latest album, Intensive Care... It's not bad, although "Tripping" annoys me like hell, the other songs are ok. I actually went out to buy Jack Johnson's "In between dreams", but they had sold out...

listening to everything at the moment. Currently have it all by the Foo Fighters.

I was on HMV.com today and was surprised to find that they didn't stock any godspeed you black emporor! I'd have thought that HMV would have, aww well