Trying to branch out musically

[blendermassacre]

So I feel like I'm in a big rut musically. As a kid, I grew up on classic rock, etc. and then progressed to punk, then hardcore (newish), then late 70's early 80's hardcore, into metal, then sort of back down to post punk, indie rock, etc. Along the way I picked up a love of psychobilly / modern rockabilly, Johnny Cash, and some other random stuff. Today I find myself listening to NPR more often than listening to music. I'm not really into radio rock, or pop at all. Every once in a while I'll turn on classic rock, just to hear a familiar song.

So, I'm looking for more challenging music. I was thumbing through the Jazz / Blues section of half priced books this evening (as well as picking up some Hemingway, Joyce, and Vonnegut), and I thought "Hmm, where to start". I didn't end up buying anything, but I figured that the awesome folks at talkbass could point me in a direction. Also, if there's some twangy indie rock / alt country (a la Lucero, or Murder by death (one of my favorite bands of all time. If you like Johnny Cash, and have ever wondered what it would be like if he was born 30 years ago, give them a listen) I'd take that info too.

Thanks in advance.

[MalcolmAmos]

http://www.aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

http://www.ralphpatt.com/Song.html

http://www.ralphpatt.com/Backing.html

[shrigg]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

http://www.ralphpatt.com/Backing.html

Wow those backing tracks are cool!

[blendermassacre]

I was talking more about listening to music, not playing it, in this case.

[VinKreepo]

Ska-punk music.... bands such as

The Might Might Bosstones

Streetlight Manifesto

Five Iron Frenzy

(some) Smash Mouth

Goldfinger

etc.

[blendermassacre]

I do like streetlight manifesto quite a bit.

[El Raro]

What about some progressive rock/metal? There's been a bit of a comeback in the prog scene in the last couple years. But it seems a lot of bands are mixing prog with another genre. You'll see a lot of progressive metal bands and, surprsingly, some progressive punk/emo bands like Coheed & Cambria and The Sound of Animals Fighting (the latter having members of RX Bandits...another brilliant experimental/prog rock band).

[blendermassacre]

I started listening to coheed right after their first album came out. They've kind of lost me in their last albums, although i m planning to hear their new one soon. Never heard of sounds of animals fighting, but I will give it a listen

[Deluge Of Sound]

Mahavishnu Orchestra's first album. Its like fusion jazz, but good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!videos...&v=HRM8N1987qA

Also worth checking out is Uncle Tupelo (for the alt-country fix)

[blendermassacre]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

Mahavishnu Orchestra's first album. Its like fusion jazz, but good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!videos...&v=HRM8N1987qA

Also worth checking out is Uncle Tupelo (for the alt-country fix)

You sir get a beer whenever we meet. Both of those are great.

[El Raro]

Originally Posted by blendermassacre

I started listening to coheed right after their first album came out. They've kind of lost me in their last albums, although i m planning to hear their new one soon. Never heard of sounds of animals fighting, but I will give it a listen

They seem like more of a visual band than anything. Their DVD (the name escapes me atm) shows some of the most intense and artistic elements I've seen thrown in a live show. From video backgroups, visual artists in the foreground painting to the music and contemporary dancers doing their thing while the band plays....really good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QmW5HjDhU8

[Araillac]

I'd suggest maybe switching the nationality of music you're listening to. Try listening to japanese rock and metal. It's what I did and I fell in love with it and now I listen to american and japanese music and I try to blend the 2 together. There's a different feel to both, not just in the vocals.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by blendermassacre

You sir get a beer whenever we meet. Both of those are great.

Fantastic. Glad you dig the suggestions.

[5StringBlues]

Jazz - Charles Mingus,Ah Um.A monster jazz record,full of structured tunes.

Blues - Hard to go wrong with some old Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters.T-Bone Walker is great for a jazzier side of blues.


Southern Culture on the Skids is fun,twangy groove,tho not alt/country.

[blendermassacre]

today I got mahavishnu orchestra's "birds of fire" cd, as well as Charles Mingus's Ah Um. Both were beyond extraordinary. Any more things along those lines?

[geeza]

Check out some of Jeff Beck's late 70's stuff, like There And Back, Wired, Blow By Blow.
One of my favorite listens is "Friday Night in San Francisco" by John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, and Paco DeLucia.

[blendermassacre]

I'll get on it. I spent like $40 bucks at CD warehouse today (also got the newest Jello Biafara CD, and the newest Psyopus CD).

[aarono]

Do you like ELO? Whenever I get bored with music I fire up a few of their tunes and I'm just amazed at how creative they were.