The Next Best Book Club discussion

I think there was conversation about music we listen to while reading but along the same lines as "Movies we are Watching" I am interested in "Music We Are Listening To"
I like Pandora. Right now I'm listening to Sade. I love her. Her music is so soothing...
What is you favorite type of music and what artist are you focused on listening to lately?

I love ALL types.
Lately I've been listening to Marvin Gaye, Madonna and Jewel...
How 'bout y'all?

I love music and it's playing from the moment I get up to the moment that I go to sleep at night (and for about 20 minutes thereafter thanks to the Sleep setting). I tend to listen to just about anything.

Today I listened to:

Little Jackie- The Stoop- a fun new R&B singer with decent beats and amazing lyrics.

Hercules & Love Affair- Hercules & Love Affair- amazingly crafted disco music that takes a turn for the surreal when guest vocalist Antony Hegarty (of Antony & The Johnsons fame) chimes in. Paradoxical music that leaves you crying in your beer at the same time as you are shaking your ass off.

Conor Oberst- Conor Oberst- a new self-titled solo album from the ever-popular face of Bright Eyes. This new effort allows Oberst to sing wistful songs about the freedom of the open road and stretch his legs from the confines of life in Bright Eyes.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson- Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson- High in the running for album of the year from me. This gravelly-voiced singer's debut album is produced by David Sitek of TV On The Radio and it tells. Intricately layered sonic soundscapes as textured as the Sonoran desert. This album should be on everyone's lips.

Beck- Modern Guilt- Sure, he's gotten a bad rap for following Scientology, but Beck Hansen is a musician that few can touch. This newest album, produced by Danger Mouse, sounds eerily similar to the lush harmonies of last year's Caribou album. But once Beck starts bemoaning the state of humankind, you remember who you're listening to and enjoy the ride.

At the moment I'm going through a bluegrass and folk phase. I got my hands on some Blind Boy Fuller & Sonny Terry and The Art of Field Recording. Lovely!

abba...Always, abba.

I'm VERY into Morcheeba at the moment... (Thankyou Charity and Logan!!) I'm loving the chilled out vibe... am on the search for similar stuff. Also on the search for instrumental stuff that I can listen to whilst I'm reading. I've taken a few suggestions from the other thread, and so far been very successful. Thanks again Logan! I especially like Thievery Corporation.

Logan and Emma.
I have not heard of any of the music you are listening too.
I love to hear anything new.
I definately need to check it out.

I LOVE ABBA. Great group. Reminds me of when I was a kid!

Some of my FAVORITES are:
Dido
Steely Dan
Heart
Gary Allen
Kelly Clarkson
Daughtry
Alice in Chains
Michael Buble
Layla Hathaway
Blueman Group

Emma - If you're having a bluegrass phase check out Trampled By Turtles. They're based out of Duluth MN and are awesome!

I just bought Amy MacDonald on iTunes. She's out of Scotland. It's a bit poppy, but right now it's all I'm listening to.

My iPod has a little of everything on it so I'm always open to new stuff!

Yes, music is essential to life. At the moment, I'm listening to a mix cd of Stevie Wonder. Coldplay's X+Y has been in my cd player a lot too.

Right now my CD player has The Decemberists, The Frames, the Once soundtrack, and Ben Folds. (Ben Folds is a CONSTANT with me!). My husband has a very derogatory word for this type of music, which I will not print here. If you're dying to know (and are not easily offended) let me know and I'll message it to you.

The Killers, the wonderful Bob, Love Song, and everything else I hear on Youtube..

My mp3 player has lots of Bare Naked Ladies and Matchbox Twenty loaded onto it. I just rediscovered Blind Melon and Spacehog from my stack of cds and am loving them right now. I think rediscovering music is like finding money in your pocket that you did not know was there.

I listen to all manner of music. I've been a musician since I was a kid so music has always been a major part of my life. I love classical, jazz, r&b, hip-hop, pop, Broadway, country, you name it.

Lately, I have been on a SERIOUS Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald kick.

If I had a million dollars.....
Love that song!
My pandora has been playing some Frank and Ella
great stuff!

Today I Listened To:

David Bowie- Station to Station- I haven't listened to this as much as Bowie's Ziggy-era persona or his later Berlin trilogy, but this short seven song record is quality music. A lot of extended prog-rock breakdowns. Favorite track is "TVC15".

Panda Bear- Person Pitch- One of the best releases of 2007, this is the solo album from one of the quartet that makes up Animal Collective. Lushly layered sounds that pull back on AC's customary yelps and make up a surrealistic lullaby. Favorite track is "Take Pills".

Takka Takka- Migration- This is the fifth album from this group of Brooklyn indie popsters, but the first that I've ever listened to. They have a really restrained sound that doesn't really cut loose the way I would like them to. Plus the singer reminds me of Phil Collins and not in a good way. Favorite track is "Fall Down Where You Stand".

Clutchy Hopkins- Walking Backwards- The fact that no one knows who Clutchy Hopkins is lends an aura of mystery to this beatsmith. Some claim that he's DJ Shadow working under a pseudonym, but whoever he is has created some of the chillest beats in years. Solid bass, great jazz interludes and only occasional vocals. Favorite track is "Horny Tickle".

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings- 100 Days, 100 Nights- Backed by Amy Winehouse's recording band Sharon Jones shows all of these upstarts what real soul music is supposed to sound like. Recommended Tracks: "Something's Changed" and "100 Days, 100 Nights".

The Arcade Fire- Funeral- My favorite record for four years running now. Haunting lyrics melded to virtuoso musicianship. I dare you not to smile at the climax of "Crown of Love". Recommended Tracks: All of them

Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- For a record that Sony didn't want to release, this has certainly turned into a must-have for music-lovers. I still end up listening to it once a month. Recommended Tracks: "Poor Places", "Kamera", "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", "Radio Cure".

I need quiet when I actually read print books, but my favorite music is folk, new age, movie soundtracks.

Oh, and I love Il Divo. And Chris Daughtry. My husband is as crazy about music as I am about books, so I showed him this thread about the music. He was very embarrassed about my Abba post. He got some cool ideas from you Logan. So he told me to tell you thanks.

Love ABBA- it reminds me of my childhood.

Usually, I tend to listen to music by Greenday, U2, Coldplay (love the new CD), and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. However, I'm a big fan of Big Band music from the 1930s and 1940s because I always associate it with vacations, holidays, and special occasions with my grandparents. By the way, for those of you who live in the Philadelphia area, Sunday with Sinatra with Sid Mark on 1210 AM has kept me company on many a Sunday mornings.

As Nikki mentioned, the "Once" soundtrack is awesome. I live near a movie theater that often shows British, Irish, French, and other assorted foreign films as well as mainstream American films. After I saw the movie, I had to go out and buy the soundtrack at B & N the next day.

Lately (as in the past months or so) I've been listening a lot to African music, such as Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, Youssou N'Dour and Amadou & Mariam. I love the languages, the rythms and the music as a whole. But then again, Africa fascinates me. :)

Kristina,
Have you heard of Deep Forest? I have a couple of their CD's. Great Stuff.
Adiemus is great too!

I haven't Kellie. But I looked them up, and I might try to listen to them sometime. :) Thanks for the tips!

Kristina, I've been listening to a lot of Amadou & Mariam as well lately. You should also try Vieux Farka Toure. He's the son of Nigerian musician Ali Farka Toure and his album from a couple years back was great. Do you listen to any Afrobeat music like Fela Kuti?

I am currently obsessed with French artist YELLE, and always with AIR. I love MIRAH's The Garden and Mercy by DUFFY.

There is also a song called Hip Hip Chin Chin by somebody DE BELUGAS. I re-watched the 3rd season of SO You Think You Can Dance and it seems that show always inspires my current favorite music.

Peace!

Courtney, I've been listening to Yelle's "Je Veux Te Voir" on repeat all week. It's like an ear worm infesting my brain.

I hope that's a good thing! LOL. I have that on my myspace page and so I hear it everytime I log in!

Peace!

I have been listening to:


Mirah-The Garden
P!nk- So What

I always have Paramore, State Radio and Shinedown on my iPod. I am also loving Flyleaf's new album and Sugarland as well.

I have a varied musical liking and go thru phases. Right now I am in an alternative/rock phase.

Everyone...
So, tell me what is in your CD Player or IPOD?

Right now, my CD player at home as
GO!-Pat Benatar
Court and Spark-Joni Mitchell
Adiemus
A Bobby Darin CD
And A CD that was the favor at my neice's wedding. A bunch of love songs that include Buble, Sinatra, Barry White, Al Green, Nora Jones etc.

Jeremy - That's too funny that you mentioned Spacehog. I just listened to them on my iPod last week for the first time in AGES! I've never even known anyone who knew who they were. (Maybe I just have a narrow group of music buddies!)

Are you listening to Resident Alien? I have a deep love of that record but, like Macy, very rarely find anyone who has heard of them, let alone likes them. The songs "Zeroes" is one my favorites. "In The Meantime" is great too.

Cool Macy (& Logan). I actually bought it way back when for "In The Meantime" and then I never really gave the rest of the album much of a shot. When I bought by el cheapo MP3 player I digitilized the cd and I haven't been disappointed. I like a lot of the songs. I can't recall which one is "Zeroes" off the top of my head but I like "To Be A Millionaire" and really most of the album.

Yeah, I was a big Spacehog fan for a while, went to see them in Oklahoma City many years ago. Now I have so much on my iPod that sometimes I get overwhelmed and I was just scanning through and saw Resident Alien. It was still very good! A lot of times when I go back to something I have to wonder how I ever liked it.

I can only hope that Hum turns out to be the same way. They are much next barely listened to album that I plan to digitilize.

I have been listening to brainwave-pulse music a lot lately. It's really soothing. I also listen to Lorena Mckennit alot. And when I need to feel more upbeat, I listen to Bjork, techno or the Katamari Domacy soundtracks.

Abigail, well I can't fault you for your taste in music. I've been rediscovering my electronic roots quite a bit lately. Dug out a lot of my old Shpongle, Infected Mushroom and Hallucinogen records for the heady evenings of pouring over code and have been digging on mid-nineties trip-hop like it's going out of style (which I guess it has). Today had me listening to the new Portishead record, the Sneaker Pimps' Becoming X record and Massive Attack's indomitable Mezzanine. It's definitely been a week for dark electronic beats.

Oh yea, it certainly has! Love the Portishead. I haven't heard the new one yet, but when I uploaded the others a few weeks go, that was all I listened to for days. Been trying to switch it up a bit the last couple days. Got some groove Armada and Prodigy in there now too. Also spent a day listening to Midnight Syndicate last week, but we'll not speak of that...
^^

Funny that some have mentioned Spacehog. I got out their CD a couple months ago and had a grand time re-listening to it! Same with Meat Puppets!

Ah, the Meat Puppets. Another band I need to digitilize. I think that one of the songs that Nirvana did on the Unplugged album was originally by the Meat Puppets.

Jeremy, you're absolutely right. Nirvana performed the Meat Puppets' "Lake Of Fire" on the Unplugged set. Have you seen the new DVD version that MTV released last year? I'd forgotten how great that concert was.

I've been listening to the newly remastered version of Meat Puppets II that came out late last year. It's so easy for me to forget that there was tons of great music that came out in the eighties.

Funny story...My husband and I were eating at a restaurant in Annapolis, MD a few years ago and a band was playing in the bar area. We heard Lake of Fire, and thought it was the Meat Puppets. We asked our server, but no. It was a band called O'Malley's March. Lead by Martin O'Malley. Current governor of Maryland, and at the time the Mayor of Baltimore. How many other big cities can boast a Mayor with rock star aspirations?? Once he became Governor though, he hung up the guitar and wife-beater t-shirts. Ah well....

That's a great story. I'm sure he was far better than John Ashcroft's group, The Singing Senators.

That is a sweet story Nikki. Sweet as in wicked awesome. I thought only Minnesota and California were so liberal in their selection of governer.

Logan, I haven't seen the new release but you are right about how great a concert that was. Right now I'm listening to Alice In Chains unplugged. I'm not sure how they appeared live but they sound great. Funny that Cantrell wrote all of the songs minus one but all I ever heard about until they broke up was Layne Stanley for his drug problems.

Jeremy, you're totally right that Layne Stanley received far more attention than he merited. Cantrell was the brain behind that band, Stanley was just the drug-addled lead. I love the Unplugged album. It was such a surprise, especially after the prolonged hiatus the band had been on. The full concert is available on YouTube somewhere, I thought I had it favorited but you can find with a bit of looking.

Jeremy and Logan - Did you ever listen to Mad Season? It was one of those offshoot bands in the 90s with Layne Staley. I haven't listened to them in ages, but I remember they were sort of a more mellow version of AIC.

I'll have to check out the new Unplugged DVD - that's one of my favorite Nirvana CDs.

Did I ever listen to Mad Season?! I would've been a very bad student of 90s grunge had I not! :) Yeah, that was a great, great album and I think Pearl Jam's Mike McCready was the brains behind it.

I tried to follow all offshoots of Pearl Jam band members. There is a lot of stuff out there and I don't have it all, but quite a bit. I love their history from Mother Love Bone (& Green River for that matter) on. I heard Eddie Vedder is coming out with a solo album?

Macy, I've never heard of them before but am going to have to go see if I can track them down now. I have a huge soft spot for Stanley's voice.

Oh, how could I not bring this up? What do you guys think about Candlebox and Seven Mary Three coming out with new albums? I haven't heard much of them. The songs sound just like they could have come from an old album. The SMT song that I've heard is good.

I'm still in my Great American Songbook mode with Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Natalie Cole, etc. I think it's because of the Can't Help Singin' book I'm reading, but I find myself just immersing myself in these songs lately. Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, etc. were just master songwriters.

Wow - I didn't know Candlebox had a new one coming out!

Jeremy- Not sure about Vedder's solo album but he did do the soundtrack to Into The Wild. (Also a good movie.) Did you like Temple of the Dog?

I never listened to Temple of the Dog enough to get a feel for it...other than Hungerstrike. I have this master plan of putting all of this music on my MP3 player at the same time so I can get to know it better.

I enjoy most music genres. I also volunteer at a local indie radio station WXPN. Music is as important to me as breathing! : )

I just bought the following music -

19 - Adele
Greatest Hits - Tears For Fears
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Songs For Tibet - various artists
Fire Songs - The Watson Twins
Nine Objects of Desire - Suzanne Vega
Viva La Vida - Coldplay