I am going to go on a minor iTunes spending spree.
What music should I get?
Caveat: this is input for the output range of the Mighty iPod Oracle, so be careful what you recommend.
My tastes are not as limited as the current iTunes list might indicate - a large fraction of our music collection is on "cassette" and "LP" Gramophone Record... (including, sadly, much of my classic Icelandic rock collection) - I need to get digital copies of these, but have moral resistance to paying for the same music again - what I really need is a handy ADC gadget for Macs (hm, google time? oh, yes. Interesting...).
I will of course feel free to laugh incredulously, sneer, or giggle at any suggestions - but since I am old, out of touch and generally unhip, I can also anxiously seize upon actual helpful suggestions...
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Me personally, I'm pretty sure you need some Calexico. I only have Garden Ruin, which everyone says is a significant change from their earlier stuff, so maybe it's the best. Took me a few listenings to the first cut (I know, they don't "cut" anything any more), "Cruel", to convince myself that yes, it is indeed a protest song. The music is also... well, just listen to the clips on iTunes.
The 2 Tone Collection: A Checkered Past - might want to pick and choose. You already have some of the songs, but I really like that one.
And for something totally different, Carl Hancock Rux - Rux Review. Just plain awesome.
Try the Mediaeval Babes. Mirabilis is quite good.
About a year ago I discovered "Electro-Shock Blues" by the Eels, which is amazing, but you might also try "An Evening at Town Hall" by the same. The Mustard Plug "Masterpieces" collection would be choice, as well. Or maybe something by Neil Hamburger.
Head over to head-fi.org and check out their music forum. Or, use pandora.com to discover a few artists. perhaps a visit to last.fm may also give you some ideas.
Hey Steinn, I got my wife this for her birthday ... all the vinyl she accumulated in the 80s is now in her iTunes. Works very well!
scott h.
These guys,
http://www.davestruestory.com/
Jane Birkin's "Arabesque"
Bill Cosby/Quincy Jones, "Original Jam Sessions: 1969"
Gil Evans "Out of the Cool".
At least, thats whats on my iTunes right now...
Modest Mouse is nicely dark and brooding--plus the last time I was in Iceland they played the "Float On" video every 5 minutes in the dorm room I stayed in and I still liked it!
Dar Williams, if you don't have already, politi-folk/pop, depending on her mood (and the time period) the "Mortal City" album is her best. Added bonus is that it would provide interesting lyrics for the iChing.
Arcade Fire--kick ass canuk indie band
And recently downloaded the iTunes free single of the band Office which I am listening too now
If you're looking for something different....
Lately I've been on a big 60s/70s Italian film soundtrack kick. It's about the only thing I can listen to uncritically lately. Classic Italian soundtracks veer back and forth among pop, jazz, classical, and experimental styles -- often all within a single track. There's a compilation out there somewhere called "Beat at Cinecitta" that provides a nice introduction to the more poppish stuff. I'm particularly fond of the tracks from Fumo de Londres by Piero Piccione.
Ennio Morricone -- the score from Danger: Diabolik is one of the greatest things that has ever existed. There's no "official" soundtrack release (the original studio tapes were lost), but if you poke around the sharity blogs you can sometimes find this ripped and edited from the DVD soundtrack. (Arrr, me hearties, 'tis worth the risk, it is.)
Also, Morricone's score from Bird with the Crystal Plumage is fantastic. There's much more to Morricone than spaghetti westerns (although Once Upon a Time in the West is gorgeous). Morricone's cheap throwaway scores for forgettable gialli are often better than most composers' major works -- he's a genius.
Riz Ortolani (Mondo Kane) is fun and kitsch. Bruno Nicolai is uneven, but Lord knows there's lots of it. Piero Piccione's stuff is especially jazzy -- he's like the Italian Quincy Jones.
If you're in a more high-brow frame of mind, of course, there's those wonderful Nino Rota scores for Fellini.
Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies by Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic. If it's not on iTunes, get it anyway on CD. Amazing: best classical recording ever, strap yourself into a chair for the first movement of the 5th.