Stepping back to tolerate the future? *L*
Just kidding, y'all....between the 'one hit wonders' and the artists that had and have 'legs', it's good to hear something 'intelligent' (?) and not merely commercial racket...
Play on/play loud. *G* ;) I won't go into my prefs....
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No doubt! I think Pollard can cram more hooks into a 2 minute song than just about anyone and I love the 60's Stones jangly guitar vibe that Anton creates. There are some excellent BJM live shows on youtube by the way. In both cases, at least those bands are true originals. They would probably be better known if they would concentrate on quality rather than quantity. |
gbv/pollard is ridiculous--i just checked and in their various incarnations he's released over 110 unique lps and eps plus countless singles, scores etc. (over 2000 songs). what's surprising is that almost all of the (probably too many) i've heard have something worthwhile in there--the guy is a tunesmith.
bjm is, as you say, compelling at their best and at their worst indulgent or dull, tho like pollard the guy's too much a natural to sound really bad.
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You are probably right about Hitchcock. Unfortunately, a lot of the contemporary rock and roll artists I like could probably use a good editor. Guided By Voices and Brian Jonestown Massacre come to mind. At their best, both of those groups release compelling music. At their worst, they produce cacophonous vanity projects only memorable for how bad they are. |
I love Hitchcock too, but he's another guy that puts out too many records. His latest, BTW, is vg |
I agree with you that Squeezing Out Sparks is a classic. Two other artists of this era who have continued to release quality work are Robyn Hitchcock and Lloyd Cole. I think Cole in particular has been underappreciated. |
Bdp, I half agree with you on Graham Parker. His records declined significantly after his recognized masterpiece, squeezing out sparks, tho I felt it was less an issue of losing his songwriting muse and more his struggling to find a right musical setting--he went, unwisely, from tough bar band to glossy new wave. He continued to write classics (wake up, you can't take love for granted), but also alot of filler-- he really needed an editor. I did start to lose interest in the 90s--the records were more lackluster than bad, but the odd gem like long stem rose and she wants so many things are fantastic--check em out
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The Feelies were in the movie Something Wild, playing at Melanie Griffiths characters High School reunion. They have always reminded me of another artist associated with the 70's/80's---Jonathan Richman. Graham Parker really burst onto the scene in the late 70's, putting out great first two albums, with a good band including Brinsley Schwartz. His third had the hit "Local Girls", and it was all downhill from there. His 90's albums are terrible. Some people have only so many good songs in them |
Agree on Sarah Jarosz. Love her records, and finally got to see her perform a couple of weeks ago at Merlefest in Wilkes County, NC. Wonderful set.
As far as iconic 80s bands (in addition to those already named), what about the Replacements, Sonic Youth, X, and the Minutemen?
I agree that the new Feelies record is a delight!
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great nostalgic thread--you're hitting on a lot of the artist (feelies, twilley, etc.) that really got me obsessed with music. i'd throw in dumptruck, husker du, meat puppets and graham parker.
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Some more of my 80's faves were The Long Ryders, The Lyres, The dB's, Marshall Crenshaw, Dwight Twilley, The Smithereens, The Plimsouls, The Beat (Paul Collins, not the UK Ska band), and Squeeze. |
sfall, are you tellin' KGB indicted AC/DC in their Hall of Frame? |
The KGB put AC/DC on a list of things they considered to be the biggest threats to their way of life.
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Yes to all talents mentioned. Never enough of Dream Syndicate, The Smiths, Connells, Smithereens, Plazmatics, New Order, Yaz, Yello, Brian Ferry and other musicians of Roxy Music. BRING MY 80's joys back PLEASE! |
Recently, I have been enjoying Sarah Jarosz, David Crosby, Bryan Ferry, and the Steve Martin/Edie Brickell releases. Jarosz is incredibly talented, Ferry's voice isn't what it used to be, but his arrangements are still top notch, Crosby is better than he has been in a long time, and jokes aside, Martin can really play the banjo and Brickell has the voice of an angel. |
