Reccomend me some Important music.

[Joeythetapeworm]

I decided to make this thread beacuse of the greatest american band thread, but my question doesn't fit there. i'm trying to be more knowledgeable about music in general, and would love for people to recommend me some truly GREAT artists and albums, especially ones I may not have heard of. I've seen Rolling Stone's top 500 of all time, but I'd love to hear about groups/artsits/albums that are important/intelligent/enjoyable that I may not already know about. For the record I'm especially into folk, older blues-based rock, REAL country(think Hank Sr, not the stuff they play on the radio). Also listen to some blues and jazz(especially Django-esque stuff, but am open to all jazz.

I'll throw out a few to start, I know that some of these are well-known:

The Beatles
Miles Davis' Kind of blue album
John Prine and Loudon Wainwright III are both terribly underrated songwriters
Leonard Cohen is another songwriting Great

So Let's hear it: Not just the stuff that you personally love but also some stuff that you truly think is important.

[dreamingwolf]

theres a jazz group, I think there name is lambert, hendrix and hicks

Im probably wrong about the group name, maybe got a couple right but that cd is burried in a box right now ready to be moved. So Im not gonna go find it.

Anyways, I like the vocals from it. Voices like instruments type of thing, they sing like horns. I would think they are important not cause everyone is gonna like them, but cause they are different in their approach to music.

[Joeythetapeworm]

theres a jazz group, I think there name is lambert, hendrix and hicks

Im probably wrong about the group name, maybe got a couple right but that cd is burried in a box right now ready to be moved. So Im not gonna go find it.

Anyways, I like the vocals from it. Voices like instruments type of thing, they sing like horns. I would think they are important not cause everyone is gonna like them, but cause they are different in their approach to music.

Have you heard of Maria Joao? She's another Jazz Vocalist. To be totally honest, what I've heard from her is unlistenable for me, but she does the same kind of thing. What I've heard is Avant Garde, noisy jazz, but she does some really interesting stuff. The only way I can describe it is that it's like she doesn't sing, but that she plays her voice like an instrument. If you're curious, I'd recommend finding the version of "My Favorite Things" that she did with Aki Takase, a Japanese Pianist.

Someone else I should have mentioned in my first post is Bireli Lagrene. He's a french Gypsy-jazz style guitar player and I swear he sounds like what Django would have if he'd had full use of his fretting fingers. Absolutely incredible, beautiful picking

[No_Pressure]

I dont know how widely mentioned CCR is but they are pretty damn enjoyable.

I would say get some Otis Redding, Fats Domino, John Lee Hooker, Sam & Dave...again I dont know what you consider mainstream but thats some classic rythmn and blues there.

[Kosher Ham]

Do some research buddy.

Sting, Prince, MJ, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan (even though I dont personally like him), etc.

Would be a very long list for me.

[Temple]

The album that changed the way I listen to music more than any other is: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Aeroplane_Over_the_Sea

I can't explain it. Just listen to it.

[SkinnedAussie]

If you are truly after a musical experience of WTF proportions, you should listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon whilst watching The Wizard Of Oz.

The soundtrack will play through about 2.5 times for the duration of the movie.

[TODD]

Joe-- (good to see you on here, BTW)

Two artists I discovered 19 years too late: John McLaughlin (jazz fusion) and John Lee Hooker (the blues)

McLaughlin's list of recordings and the varieties within are, in a word, exhausting. He's has done and continues to work with the best of the best (Hendrix, Santana, Miles Davis, Billy Cobham, etc. etc.). His work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra is the trippiest and most visceral, and if you're looking for a historical importance, it really helps define the Hare Krishna movement and many other Hindu influences of the early-1970s. Check out "Inner Mounting Flame" and "Birds of Fire." McLaughlin's succeeding solo stuff is great and goes in every conceivable direction, but I highly recommend listening to Mahavishnu first. I promise you'll like this stuff if you are in to Miles Davis. Totally cool jazz and jazz fusion, and it definitely makes you think.

For the blues, John Lee Hooker has been my sole interest for like a month now. In comparison to the biggest blues players, I would liken him most to Buddy Guy, but he is very different. His most interesting stuff includes just John, his guitar, and his foot... his work he did with a band was never as good as his simplest boogies. He has been recording since 1948 so his influence has stretched far. If you like the blues, I'm just trying to warn you that you can't check out this guy soon enough. He puts a lot of the big blues artists to shame.

[DeanCollins]

steely dan- Asia
little feat- Waiting for Columbus, last record album, feets don't fail me now
muddy waters- I'm ready
johnny winter- Johnny winter, second winter, nuthin' but the blues
seldom scene- Act II
robin trower-Bridge of sighs
dwight yokham- This time
zztop-zztop, tres hombres
srv-soul to soul

[rincewind]

If you like John Prine, check out my personal favorite - Todd Snider. He is a Prine protege, and his last few albums are simply amazing. I would suggest East Nashville Skyline.


If you're talking Miles - for my money it's Kind of Blue. I don't really like his drug induced avant garde stuff. Kind of Blue is pure Bee Bop and is absolutely beautiful.





steely dan- Asia
little feat- Waiting for Columbus, last record album, feets don't fail me now
muddy waters- I'm ready
johnny winter- Johnny winter, second winter, nuthin' but the blues
seldom scene- Act II
robin trower-Bridge of sighs
dwight yokham- This time
zztop-zztop, tres hombres
srv-soul to soul



Nice to seen the Seldom Scene mentioned. :applause:

[codeorama]

Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon and Animals
Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers
ZZ Top- Tres Hombres
Tool-Aenima
Iron Maiden-The Number of the Beast
Jethro Tull-Aqualung
Led Zeppelin- Houses of the Holy
Black Sabbath- Volume Iv
GnR-Appetite for Destruction
James Gang-Rides Again
Alice In Chains- Dirt
Rush- Moving Pictures
Motley Crue- Shout at the Devil
Pearl Jam- Vs.
Van Halen- Fair Warning

[G-Prime]

Any music that thinks it's important, should never be considered listenable.

[headexplode]

If you like Miles Davis you might enjoy John Coltrane (they played together for a while). I'd start with "A Love Supreme," then maybe "Giant Steps" and "My Favourite Things." Also, Dizzy Gillespie, especially the Afro-cuban jazz, is beast.
For some good early rock you might try Velvet Underground and/or Lou Reed. My favorite VU is their self-titled album.
You can check out Fugazi, a major "post-punk" band from DC. They really changed my ideas about music.
Another band that really speaks to me is Modest Mouse, whose songs about alienation and the great unknown have always struck a chord with me (pardon the pun). I would start with Lonesome Crowded West and then get The Moon and Antarctica.

Liberty just reminded me---definitely get some Radiohead. Start with OK Computer, go to Kid A, then get everything else they've done. Can't believe I forgot Radiohead.

[Prosperity]

Here is some important music that I also happen to like, I mean 4'33'' by John Cage is important but you wouldn't want to listen to it.

You probably won't like any of this but listen to them anyway. I know they have Kid A at JMU's music library, they probably have Black Angels, and some Pink Floyd albums too.

George Crumb- Black Angels

Radiohead- OK Computer, Amnesiac+Kid A (I kind of consider Amnesiac and Kid A to be part of one bigger album)

Tool- Lateralus

Pink Floyd- Animals, Dark Side of the Moon

[Kilmer17]

Beach Boys- Pet Sounds
Jane's Addiction- Nothings Shocking