What music are you listening to lately?

Originally Posted by Dedalus

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Hooray! I would assume that quite a few people like NMH here. It's just old so they might not listen to it as much as they used to.

Pavement is not at all similar to NMH. They were your standard 90s indie band. I think this is fairly representative of their work: .

I see that you are from Scotland. Hooray for Mogwai, Belle and Sebastian, Arab Strap, and Idlewild!

I only discovered them a couple of years ago but they're definitely one of my favourite bands ever. In the Aeroplane Over The Sea to me is the most perfect album ever recorded. I can't think of anything else in my collection that I've listened to or thought about as much. If only Jeff Mangum would make more music. It kills me to to think I'll probably never be able to see them live.

Belle & Sebastian rock my socks off too.

Originally Posted by SantosLHalper

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If you're a Neutral Milk Hotel fan, also try Olivia Tremor Control, Apples in Stereo, and Of Montreal. They are part of a group of bands with common band members called the Elephant 6 Collective.

Pavement is great too, but very "mainstream" in the indie world.

Cool, thanks for the tips. I do have a bunch of Of Montreal songs somewhere but I never really gave them a proper listen. I'll check out the others you mentioned though.



In other news, today I have been listening to lots of Regina Spektor and Peaches, which is a bit of an unusual mix...

SLAVE: Just Freak, Just a Touch of Love
Hall & Oates: Out of Touch, remix
Human League: Fascination, remix
Dionne Warwicke: Wives & Lovers
Jack Jones: Wives & Lovers
Julie London: Wives & Lovers
Sly and The Family Stone Live in Europe Summer '07: If You Want Me to Stay from youtube.

Originally Posted by gvibes

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Beta Band is very upset at being left out.

Whoa, I didn't know they were Scottish. Neat.

Picked up the Santana Abraxas 24kt gold CD today. Amazing mastering with really punchy percussion. What a talent Carlos is...

I think it's giving Pavement short shrift to dismiss them as "standard" and "mainstream"--sure, a lot of people like(d) them, but goddamn if they don't deserve it.

Last 10:

The Replacements--Unsatisfied
Pixies--Nimrod's Son
M. Ward--Let's Dance
The Beta Band--It's Not Too Beautiful
Pavement--You're Killing Me
Dino Jr--Budge
Bruuuuce--Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street
Led Zep--Immigrant Song (live)
Van Morrison--Glad Tidings
James Brown--Doing the Best I Can

Originally Posted by shoreman1782

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I think it's giving Pavement short shrift to dismiss them as "standard" and "mainstream"--sure, a lot of people like(d) them, but goddamn if they don't deserve it.
Amen. Pavement is probably the most-important non-Nirvana rock band of the 90s. It's hard to imagine anything more far-reaching than Slanted & Enchanted, although Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is my favorite (and the better record too, I might add).

Originally Posted by shoreman1782

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I think it's giving Pavement short shrift to dismiss them as "standard" and "mainstream"--sure, a lot of people like(d) them, but goddamn if they don't deserve it.

Originally Posted by landho

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Amen. Pavement is probably the most-important non-Nirvana rock band of the 90s. It's hard to imagine anything more far-reaching than Slanted & Enchanted, although Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is my favorite (and the better record too, I might add).

I don't know. They were quirky, but they didn't make next level ****, like Loveless or Spiderland. They were just great at rock music.

Originally Posted by Dedalus

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I don't know. They were quirky, but they didn't make next level ****, like Loveless or Spiderland. They were just great at rock music.

I think it's a misconception that you have to be constantly breaking new ground to be next level. Brian Eno, one of pop music's greatest innovators, said that the most innovative pop music was 94 percent derivative.

That said, Pavement and My Bloody Valentine actually have the same heritage, tracing their roots back to The Velvet Underground. MBV ended up where they were by way of Jesus and Mary Chain, while Pavement ended up by way of Sonic Youth. Pavement deconstructed pop songs while still making music that sounded poppy. They were literate and playful during a time when everyone was hellbent on making "serious" or "meaningful" music. The music on S + E basically laid out the blueprint for every indie album that's come out since. It is almost impossible to overstate Pavement's achievement and influence.

MBV, on the other hand, created a work of singular genius (Loveless and to a lesser degree the complementary EPs, Tremolo and Glider) and then disappeared, due mostly (as I understand it) to Kevin Shields's paralytic perfectionism. Loveless exists as a legendary touchstone in the pop-music world, maybe one of the few truly perfect albums in the entire canon, but it's so singular that any bands that try to use it as a stepping stone merely sounds like epigones. Loveless's shadow is long, but its reach is short.

Originally Posted by shoreman1782

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I think it's giving Pavement short shrift to dismiss them as "standard" and "mainstream"--sure, a lot of people like(d) them, but goddamn if they don't deserve it.


Totally not intended as a diss to Pavement (I'm a big fan), but I think it would be safe to say that if you like indie rock, you probably have a copy of Slanted and Enchanted or Wowee Zowee.

Also, props to LandHo for the dissertation level dissection of music.

Interesting to read the discussion on Pavement and MBV, as I've in the last week added Loveless and Slanted and Enchanted to my collection in order to fill in some gaps of major indie rock albums of the 90's. I look forward to going through them and discerning their significance after hearing all of the bands they've influenced.

Originally Posted by Brian278

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Interesting to read the discussion on Pavement and MBV, as I've in the last week added Loveless and Slanted and Enchanted to my collection in order to fill in some gaps of major indie rock albums of the 90's. I look forward to going through them and discerning their significance after hearing all of the bands they've influenced.

Also add Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain if you can. S + E is amazing, but Pavement tightened up their sound in CR and their songwriting became more polished. Part of this had to do with Gary Young's erratic drumming on S + E. He was replaced by Steve West, who was much more competent.

Originally Posted by landho

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Also add Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain if you can. S + E is amazing, but Pavement tightened up their sound in CR and their songwriting became more polished. Part of this had to do with Gary Young's erratic drumming on S + E. He was replaced by Steve West, who was much more competent.

Yeah, that's on deck as well. Pitchfork had both in the top 10 on their best of the 90's list. I'm sort of working my way back from #1, skipping around here and there.

Originally Posted by Brian278

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Yeah, that's on deck as well. Pitchfork had both in the top 10 on their best of the 90's list. I'm sort of working my way back from #1, skipping around here and there.

Hate Pitchfork, but I can't disagree with their judgment here.

Originally Posted by landho

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Hate Pitchfork, but I can't disagree with their judgment here.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...-1990s/page_10