The Great Water Cooler Music Thread

[UofMLaxGoalie11]

Ive been kicking around the idea for this thread for a little while and I finally found a great band to start it off with. Firstly though, the thought behind this thread is to allow people to share mostly unknown bands/songs with people, encourage people to revisit bands that might have been overlooked previously or even spark memories of old favorites everyone has heard of. Ill start this with one off with one of each.

1. Unknown - Sigur Ros. Icelandic band that I just found out about today. I will be buying their CD very soon (I looked for it today, but to no avail). Almost like a softer, more inspiring version of Pink Floyd. Their songs have a slow, soothing ethereal sound to them, guaranteed to relax you. Just plain beautiful. They even made up their own language that they sing in. They picked some of their favorite syllables and used those as the basis for their language apparently. Very cool in my opinion.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDxMQaMqsig&feature=related[/youtube]

2. Second Look - The Beach Boys. In particular, their album "Pet Sounds." This album is regarded by many music scholars as the greatest American album ever made. They got away from their surfer style for this album, as it was made to compete with The Beatles. While the rest of the band was out touring, lead singer and genius behind the band spent time stateside writing exactly what he wanted to. The album flopped in sales, but many industry people knew it was great. This album was also the inspiration for the legendary "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Paul McCartney says that one of the albums tracks, "God Only Knows," is the greatest song ever written. It blew me away when I first heard this album in it's entirety, as I had grown up hearing the surfer sound Beach Boys for all my years. This was music that mattered.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC_UILNwWrc[/youtube]

3. Favorite - Pink Floyd. "Dark Side Of The Moon" was the first CD I bought once my tastes had improved. I had several Metallica albums, Green Day, Offspring and a few other random ones that I liked, but Pink Floyd opened the doors of real music to me. This ushered in my growing collection of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Radiohead, Hendrix, Rage Against The Machine and several other things that I would not have looked into before. Off that album, my favorite would have to be "Time."
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V71MQEUJKY&feature=related[/youtube]
(About 0:17 before anything starts)

I hope this catches on and we get several different names thrown around and are able to expand our listening experiences.

Edit: added youtube clips

[GrayBear]

3. Favorite - Pink Floyd. "Dark Side Of The Moon" was the first CD I bought once my tastes had improved. I had several Metallica albums, Green Day, Offspring and a few other random ones that I liked, but Pink Floyd opened the doors of real music to me. This ushered in my growing collection of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Radiohead, Hendrix, Rage Against The Machine and several other things that I would not have looked into before. Off that album, my favorite would have to be "Time."

Plus, it's the secret soundtrack for the Wizard of Oz.



http://www.everwonder.com/david/wizardofoz/

[Dan Wishengrad]

Great topic! I'll weigh in with mine:

Unknown -- Kelly Joe Phelps, Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind. I love almost all genres of music but am a bluesman at heart. Tough to pick only one of KJP's CDs, because they are all tremendous, including his latest (Tunesmith Retrofit). His first two albums were all exclusively slide guitar, while the later ones have backing bands and have Phelps playing slide and regular acoustic, and even banjo. But for the sheer virtuosity of maybe the world's best acoustic blues guitarist, listen to the live album I list above. No studio tricks or overdubs, just one man and one guitar. The ten-minute cover of Skip James' "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues" is simply phenomenal musicianship. The tepid audience applause after it ends suggests to me that the patrons were all too drunk to listen or were just too stunned to even remember to clap after this one LOL.

Second Look -- The Rolling Stones, Exile on Mainstreet. Unbelievably, this album was panned by the rock critics when it came out. But it is simply the best Stones' recording ever with great songs, Jagger and Richards at their inspired best and the grossly underrated Mick Taylor's signature lead guitar defining almost every song with a bluesy feel -- something which is conspiculously absent from anything recorded during either the Brian Jones or Ron Wood eras which came before and after. Listen to Taylor's acoustic magnificence, Richards lovely rhythm work, Jagger's tasty blues harp and that soulful saxophone on "Sweet Virginia" for a real treat. For a great complement to this CD, buy Exile on Blues Street , a tribute album by other blues greats covering these same Stones' songs. The Stones and other white rockers have always been largely dismissed by the great black Delta Blues artists as untalented rip-offs, but rock-n-roll owes everything to it's blues roots, and this Stones CD is no cheap imitiation. To trace rock's roots to their source you have to go way back to the legendary Robert Johnson, and a CD like this one shows the progression of modern music that Johnson made possible. The best song on the album gives testament to the sentiment "that there's fever in the funkhouse now".

Favorite -- Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan. Okay, I cheated by picking a "best of" CD, but it's too difficult to single out only one SRV album as a fave among all the others, and this two-disc set is almost beyond description. There are too many great guitarists alive and dead to truly single out a "best", but Stevie Ray was one-of-a- kind. For "turn it up full blast and stay awake on a long drive", there's just nobody else who comes even close.

[Adam G]

Unknown - Ryan Montbleau Band, One Fine Day. I generally don't listen to the singer/songwriter stuff, or venture too far from anything without a fiddle, but I got a chance to catch this guy at the 7th St Entry in Minneapolis a few weeks ago... all I can say is wow. Check out the Myspace page, and listen to "Stretch".

Second Look - O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack. I still think this is one of the best soundtracks ever made.

Favorite - Soulja Boy. Wait, no, I'd rather have a shotgun blast to the face than hear that song one more time. Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South or Old Crow Medicine Show, O.C.M.S. have not left my car in months. DBT have a new album coming out in May, I believe, and am counting the days until it's release. They're my favorite band to see live. Old Crow earned favorite status when I saw them at Bonnaroo a while back.

Good thread, Dan!

[bste_lax]

Unknown - New Atlantic - "The Streets, The Sounds, and The Love"



I saw them open up for someone about a year ago or so. They are an alternative/indie band fomr New Jersey. Here is a video for their single of their last album which is a little more "pop-rock" than their normal stuff. It also features Will Pugh from Cartel.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTh2P9EZwyA[/youtube]

Second Look - Third Eye Blind - "Blue"



I was never a huge Third Eye Blind fan but I always liked this album for some reason. Sort of brings back memories I guess. Anyways, this somehow found its way into my car this past month.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwJJjQ9fBko[/youtube]

Favorite - Beastie Boy - "Paul's Boutique"



Greatness. I also highly recommend their DVD that came out last year, "Awesome; I F**kin' Shot That!". They gave 50 fans cameras to video tape the concert than they went back and edited it all together. This was also from their tour from 2004 which was the best tour out of the couple times I have seen them.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS0Ew3qKql8[/youtube]

[jessexy]

Before you get too far into this thread.....RIP Pimp C and long live UGK.

[Timbalaned]

unknown - Explosions in the Sky - all the music from Friday Night Lights. Hella good

[bste_lax]

unknown - Explosions in the Sky - all the music from Friday Night Lights. Hella good

Good stuff.

[GrayBear]

[never mind]

[UofMLaxGoalie11]

If any of you are into heavier rock stuff, check out Five Finger Death Punch. They are very up and coming. I believe they are originally from L.A. and started gaining traction here in Minnesota when one of the program managers from our local rock station (Pablo from 93X) started plugging them a lot. My brother is a manager at the only venue they have been playing at here and last time they came they had the place busier than the times when Seether and Chevelle came. Also, they are apparently some of the nicest guys you will meet. Thats the opinion of everyone who works behind the scenes with them. Sound techs, managers, bartenders, security, owners, everyone. I would expect them to be a big name in a few years.

[UofMLaxGoalie11]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNfWC4Sgkcs[/youtube]
Arcade Fire-Rebellion(lies)

Ive got 2 of their albums and they rock. for Canadians...

But I think its time for bed. Having under 8 total hours of sleep over the last 85 hours is catching up. I hate finals week.

[OldPoly75]

Unknown - Rhodes - Half a Mind to Stay Besides playing LAX with the bass player many years ago these guys rock. Guitar driven rock, from guys who grew up listening to Van Halen. The opened a show for Aerosmith over the summer.

Second Look - Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska He recorded this whole album with a guitar and a harmonica in his bedroom in Colts Neck NJ. The "low-fi" sound fits in perfect with the depressingly haunting lyrics on most of the tracks. They tried recording it with the E-Street Band but decided the original was better. Every track is a keeper on Springsteen's lowest selling album of the 1980's.

Favorite - Damn this is tough, but Pump -- Aerosmith. Theis first sober album showed they can still get it done. I still listen to it once a week or so. The album flows so well, it's like magic. I know there are better Aerosmith albums out there, Toys is probably the best, but this is my favorite.