Conference mr1pst::music

>                           -< Whats New in Music ? >-

    Well, your description sure cries out "Butthole Surfers" to me...
    
    From my perspective, you're asking 2 questions -- what's new in music,
    and what's new in studio wizard followons to the Beatles.  (Studio
    wizard followons to the Beatles, first of all, can't shine the Beatles'
    shoes IMO, at least for by-the-bootstraps songwriting/ arranging/
    studiocraft, and second, are largely responsible for that S-O-S feeling.)

    I'd prescribe sampling some Sonny Sharrock (guitar-fueled jazz/funk),
    some George Clinton bedrock funk, Buddy Guy "Damn Right I've Got the
    Blues", Lyle Lovett "Pontiac", Uptown String Quartet or the Kronos set
    with "Purple Haze"...
    
    The studio superband stuff you're seeking will find you, believe me,
    it's everywhere, I occasionally check the latest myself -- meanwhile,
    time to branch out!    Just my $.02,   Jay

	For your specific questions, how about trying Nine Inch
	Nails? Pretty Hate Machine is an excellent album...

	As for the more general question:

>     Ever go into the CD store, look around and think "Same old Sh*t"?

	A good solution to that is to go to a cheap used CD place
	like Planet Records in Boston or the place in Davis Square
	in Somerville and grab a couple of CD's by bands you've
	never heard of before in your life (preferably the ones
	with the strangest song titles:-). If you don't like them,
	you're out $10 at most. And you probably won't be bored:-).

	Mike

    I have the exact same problem.  I shop my cd's pretty much all of the
    time at Lechmere's in Salem, NH.  Not the largest selection, but not
    bad either.  And, I find myself going in there lately with just enough
    money to buy a cd or 2 (on sale, of course), and I wind up literally
    going around in circles not knowing what I want, and especially, not
    knowing if a particular cd totally unknown to me is going to be great,
    or a complete bust.  Having had a few disappointing busts, I'm very
    very hesitant to try unknowns, even if I've really liked the "hit" the
    radio is pushing.  Then again, I've had some unknowns turn into
    pleasant surprises, and even favorite albums.  
    
    Disoriented at Lechmere's,
    John

    The only *new* group (of those I have heard) that I find interesting
    is Fishbone. They blend alot of the stuff. "Reality of my surroundings"
    is interesting. They even have the penny lane trumpet at the end of one
    song. There are probably better and more interesting groups out there,
    but in my limited sphere, this is the most interesting.
    
    Jay
    

    
    	RE: -1
    
    	That's probably one of the sadest things regarding "new" music,
    	the fact that many bands are around for years before being recognized.  
    	In this case 10 or so years!
    
    	- Jim

One way around the problem of finding new music is shopping at Disc Diggers
in Somerville. They have a whole bin of CDs for $.99, from a slew of bands
you've never heard of. Also, they have a lot of CDs in the $1.99-$3.99 range.
I like going in there once a month or so and buying a dozen CDs for udner $20, 
and give them a (totally unbiased) listeen. Sure, you gets lots of crap in
the bunch, but sometimes you find some really cool things! (And the rest,
well you can throw away the CD and keep the jewel box for your $.99 
investment!)

On a more direct note - one of the reasons I wrote my Top Ten of the year
was to inform people of some good alternatives to the current chart stuff
(although its still pretty commercial music, as that's what I tend to like).
The Chris Whitley record has been making a lot of critic's Top Ten lists
this year, and I'd recommend it to *ANYONE* and *EVERYONE*! The multi-racial 
band The Dan Reed Network is just as good, but for people who really don't 
like mainstream music, it might be a little too pop for them (ie. best 
described as a rocking Prince meets a funky Bon Jovi).

alan

    Bela Fleck and the Flecktones do intergalactic banjo jazz funk.
    
    For production and okay songs, just can't beat old ELO.
    
    For great songs with okay production, try OMD's "the Pacific Age".
    I don't recommend any later OR earlier albums by them.
    
    karl

    Re: .6
    
    I agree with Alan.  Your best bet is to just experiment...and
    alternative music is the best to sample in my opinion.  There are 
    alot of good groups out there, that just because their not Top 40
    doesn't mean they aren't any good - it's usally just the opposite.
    
    By sampling various groups I discovered neat CDs like "Evan Lurie"
    which more than more music critic highly recommended last year BUT
    not many people have heard of him. Also discovered Chris Rea's 
    AUBERGE this year...in my opinion one of the best CD's of the year
    and definitely Chris Rea's finest..but again you won't hear this one
    mentioned much.
    
    I would have never known about CDs/Music like this if I hadn't 
    been experimenting.
    
    SO yes, try out Disc Diggers for really cheap CDs OR you could try
    the CD Exchange in Belmont, whose prices are  not as good as Disc
    Diggers but you can listen to any CD in their store before buying it.
    
    

    1.  Try turning your radio dial, and making it a point to remember the
    artist/title/album if you hear something you like (or remember the call
    letters and city and call them if they didn't announce the song). 
    Listen to community-sponsored, public, and college stations, or
    alternative programming on commercial stations.
    
    2.  I have been waiting for the "new music" since the last time the
    music died in about 1973.  I have gotten by on contemporary folk, New
    Age, acoustic and electric blues, and some alternative rock, along with
    some undefinable things like Bela Fleck's work.  You have to keep
    looking and keep an open mind.  Much of what I hear is just a rehash of
    what has gone before, or is commercial, or "I just don't get".  ;7)
    
    \Gary

    
    If you find the stores selection to be anemic, try one of the mail
    order catalogs like Noteworthy music.  They have cds categorized 
    (including New Releases). 

re: .0

> A band with the Studio wizardry of Beatles/YES, that can get funky. A band 
> that can go from a wisper to a scream and back. That knows how to 
> manipulate/create music to space out to. I guess Queensryche or Metallica ? 

I wouldn't really recommmend Metallica based on the above qualifications.
But Queensryche seems to fit pretty well into your list. While they can be
called heavy metal, they are more progressive than most, and much more 
intelligent (musically and lyrically) than most bands in that genre. I'd
strongly recommend the 'Operation:MindCrime' album, a concept album that
most recalls Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'. 

alan

	I found myself in the same rutt about a year ago, and did a few things.

		1. Look through friends' CD collections and borrow something
		   I never heard before.  This turned me onto Living Colour's
		   release Times Up.  I highly recomend this to get you out of
		   the 'music is boring, nobody does anything new' mood.

		2. Try changing what kind of music you mostly listen to.  I 
		   switched from mostly straight forward rock (Petty, 
                   Smithereens type stuff) to some more bluesy and funky
		   stuff (L.C., Stevie Ray Vaughn).

		3. Get into a new band.  That's if you play in one now.  Getting
		   a new group of people to play with always helps.

		4. Get out some REAL OLD stuff and give that a listen too again.
		   I actually went back to a bunch of Beatles stuff and began
		   listening to that more.  This also coencided with my new
		   (at the time, now former) band which did Beatle covers.


good luck, and I hope you find the fire again,


kevin

    Re: .1 and .2
    
    Gee, anyone who recommends the B.H. Surfers and Nine Inch Nails to
    someone looking for music along the lines of the Beatles and Yes must
    have a good sense of humor!!!
    
    						Brian

    re: the suggestion to get out the real old music and listen to it...
    
    I've done just that, and found myself appreciating a lot of the stuff
    that I didn't seem to care for when it was new.  For instance, I passed
    by Stevie Ray Vaughan all these years until I took a chance on
    "Couldn't Stand The Weather" within the past year.  Became an instant
    SRV fan.  Another example is Yes.  While I've was pretty much luke-warm
    to their style back in the '70s, I'm very much enjoying them now.  Just
    last week, I bought Yesterdays, which I've never heard, and I can't
    keep it out of my player more than 24 hours.  Lately, my cd-buying
    interests are in the older stuff, and surprisingly, most of it is stuff
    that I didn't care to buy during my vinyl-buying days.  It's like "new"
    music to me...
    
    John
    

>    Gee, anyone who recommends the B.H. Surfers and Nine Inch Nails to
>    someone looking for music along the lines of the Beatles and Yes must
>    have a good sense of humor!!!

    Speaking for the 'Surfers -- well sure, I went for the snappy opener...
    
    But some phrases in .0 actually did make me think of a 'Surfers record I
    had heard that very morning during the commute ("Hairway").  To whit:

> Studio wizardry 
        [thinking of its "Third Stone From the Sun" cum "Pet Sounds"
        effects]
> A band that can go from a wisper to a scream and back.
        [Uh huh.]
> That knows how to manipulate/create music to space out to.
        [Check!]

    Works for me.  'Course not all their records are that *accessible*... 8)
    - Jay

               <<< TIMBRE::DKA300:[NOTES$LIBRARY]MUSIC.NOTE;1 >>>
                                 -< MUSIC V4 >-
================================================================================
    >...For instance, I passed by Stevie Ray Vaughan all these years until I 
    >took a chance on "Couldn't Stand The Weather" within the past year.  
    >Became an instant SRV fan.  
    
    Took you that long? ;-).   The release of 'Texas Flood' (1983 I believe)
    did it for me.  'Texas Flood' - an extraordinary tune, "Pride and Joy",
    etc....It's also amazing what one can do with Nursery Rhymes 
    (i.e. "Mary Had a Little Lamb").  8-) 8-)
    

    The Dan Reed Network is just what I needed, it's pop funk with metal
     overtones and great production values. I picked up the CD "The Heat"
    at Discdiggers in Sommerville ( Great place ! ) and also got 4-5 other
    CDs.

    Hi,
    
    I see and hear that an old crack named"Tony Joe White" has returned
    to the music scene.And pretty nice basic stuff too.
    Your comments please? ;^)
    
    Jan.

    How about trying Robbie Robertson's new one "Storyville".  It is a
    great album revolving around New Orleans and a particular section
    called Storyville.  
    
    It still amazes me how many people have never heard of him and he
    has been around for years.  I guess people know him best was when
    he was with The Band.  
    
    Try it - you might like it.
    
    The ultimate R.R. fan,
    
    Mo
    

    re. last
    
    
    Indeed.  His "broken arrow" is 1000% better than the Rod Stewart
    version slogging it out on MTV and various radio stations.
    
    

    TONY JOE WHITE??!!  You mean the guy who did "Poke Salad Annie"?
    
    That's an oldie but a goodie!  In fact, I have that
    album...somewhere...
    
    **Deb

    "Electric Blues" by the Soup Dragons. Really cool tune, whenzit coming
    out?
    
    Will it be on the new album "Hang Ten" due out soon?
    
    

    To anyone who still reads this note:
    
    My cheap method is to tape a specialty show off the air; i.e. a college
    station or public supported station, the non-commercial approach. I
    can then listen to the songs at my convenience, go back to find the
    artists I like, and only invest in albums that have something I already
    like on them. Sometimes it takes repeated play until I decide I like
    something really new or challenging.
    
    Besides, it gives me better music to listen to when I commute,
    
    -roger
    

    Try Crash Test Dummies' "The Ghosts That Haunt Me"
    
    Good music (sounds vaguely country-rockish) with really philosophical
    lyrics.
    
    						Jeff

    
    I love "The Ghosts That Haunt Me" album. But I am so dissappointed
    in Crash Test Dummies for not coming up with another excellent
    album. It has been two years.
    
    Lale