Seriously - who are the Jethro Tull, Yes, Floyd, Genesis, Fripp, Belews, Zappas of today?

Is anyone doing music any more that rocks AND is intelligent and creative?

Or has the music industry such a chokehold on the whole thing that only American-Idol-style demographic-designed formulaic shit makes to radio, leaving musicians to to fend grassroots-style for fans and pray to God that lowpower and college stations might actually play the stuff that has integrity?

Three recordings of Locomotive Breath by Tull:

From 1977:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JminCiuh3t0&mode=related&search=

To 1985, with a little of Thick as a Brick thrown in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfdLSaXd62Q&mode=related&search=

To 2005? maybe - orchestral version, with what appears to be a 12 year old guitarist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVQOylm7QIo&mode=related&search=

To two months ago, April 18, 2007, with a HOT and GOOD violinist (listen to the end for her solo - you might be surprised!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1dswpoAac0&mode=related&search=

Is our only hope, for those of us who like creativity and musicianship in our music, to hold on to the albums of yesteryear because we'll never have another golden period of record companies promoting musicians?

Or are there bands today that are carrying on the tradition? If so, please let me know what they are so I can go seek them out.

I mean, the old guys are still touring, so clearly there's a market out there for music - why don't the radio stations and record companies realize it?

It's so sad. Make me not sad, please. Tell me there is still good music like this being made!

there will NEVER be an equal
to any of them.....
:hi: :shrug:
millions will try...... none will compare


are you drinking????
LOL




lost

He is the consummate performer! Lucia Micarelli (the violinist) was with him when I saw him at Wolf Trap last year. I don't think there are many artists performing nowadays that put out the quality of music like the bands you mentioned. However, I think Tool and A Perfect Circle put out some high quality and creative stuff.

He has more energy on stage at his age than I do, and he's 10 years older.

4 times were in their prime, once at Westbury Music Fair, once at Nassau Coliseum, and twice at the Garden. I think it was between 68-73 ?

And three years back at the Palace theater in Albany.

Have most of their DVDs and CDs.

Simply one of the best rock and roll bands of all time.

What a great show Ian and the gang puts on!

Does anyone really think any of the music of today will stand the test of time? I haven't heard anything that comes close to sounding as good as some of the "garage bands" I personally knew as a young adult.

Definitely NOT formulaic American Idol crap.

Very literary lyrics, plus they start their live shows with the Soviet National Anthem. The singer's voice may not be your cup of tea, but they are unique.

:hi:

Good musicians!

Not quite my cup of tea musically - I can't imagine sitting through an entire album in one shot. But they are quite good! I'll give 'em props for knowing what they're doing with their instruments, and for putting a song together. And I like the guy's voice.

I'm listening to a song by Shpongle, ...And the Day Turned to Night, which features some dazzling flute work over an elaborate downtempo electronic trance soundscape.

I don't know if there are still immortals working in the traditional rock field, but there are still people breaking new ground with music, and Simon Posford (of the aforementioned Shpongle and his other recording name of Hallucinogen) has done some wonderful stuff at the intersection of trippy electronica and carnatic melodies. I'd post a video, but his live stuff is more dance-oriented: the studio albums are where it's at in his case.

And Dolo Amber would probably add Paul Oakenfold to the above, though again, he's more dance-oriented. But still interesting.

I think it's very difficult for people to mine what's left of the progressive rock vein without taking it into different realms, like jazz fusion and whatnot. There's a band called OHN that released an album called In The End a couple of years back, and the title track just freaking rocks like few things I have ever heard. They, too, are more electronic than straight rock, but that one song seems to me like the progenitor of a whole new style of music based on rock.

Sorry, I don't have the answers. I listen to internet radio a lot, and I'm always finding little gems of this or that type of music. All I can say is that if rock gets stale, move on to other things for a while. There are still dynamic, innovative musicians and composers coming along all the time, but not so much in the field of rock. I haven't heard much new rock in the last few years that was worth bothering with, though admittedly I don't go seeking it out anymore.

Oh, and I seem to recall you raving about Portishead not too long ago.

and Orb and Ott.

A dub-tronica act that is new to me, at any rate is Rhythm and sound. More roots-based, but very deep textures.

I'm off to check on OHN. Thanks for the tip.

And The Egg! My god, I love The Egg. Venice Beach and Lost at Sea (Vocal Mix) are just beautiful songs. And Ott is amazing. His production work just astounds me.

Rhythm and Sound? I'm off to check it out. Thanks :)

when I say that, in terms of pure production, Ott's Hallucinogen Remixed is one of the top production and mixing jobs I've ever heard.

I play the hell out of it. I need to get the rest of his stuff, but none of it's easy to find.

While we're talking music:
Caia
Tosca
The Dining Rooms
Ralph Myerz & the Jack Herren Band
Laika
Rae & Christian
Nightmares On Wax
Dj Krush

Just to name a few

I still haven't gotten any of their CDs.

I need to move on that!

Fucking awesome!!

Half Day Closing
http://youtube.com/watch?v=f2eJplBTjZE

Wait, maybe it's this one, Western Eyes
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9bFiyVi91Es

Don't you know that all good music was made before 1977?

;)

check out Porcupine Tree.

(btw- when i saw them in 2005, at their dvd-filming at the park west, robert fripp was the opening act)

See my praise of Mr. Wilson below. :)

You were at Park West, eh? Can one see you in the crowd on the DVD?

it ended up being filmed over two nights, and we went to both shows.

:rofl:

You forgot



YES &
ELO

and you call yourself a connisuer.....

ppffffttt


:hug: :hug:

lost

I left off ELO because... well, I don't own anything by them. They did some good music, though.

:shrug:

Perhaps after the RIAA implodes some real creativity will come back. But until then, there is nothing new under the sun.

NOTHING.

I am listening to THE greatest rock group ever right now- Molly Hatchet. It just doesn't get any better than "Dreams I'll Never See".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vucQFhePzg

Fully orchestrated. Completely wired. Tight as it gets. One might say "magnificent".

They're really fun.

And Molly Hatchet was one of my faves!


I got better. :evilgrin: (I still enjoy 'em if I hear 'em, but I haven't replaced my old vinyl albums of theirs.)

Porcupine Tree, to me, is really the leader of the "intelligent creative music that rocks" movement. (I don't know if there's actually a movement, but if there isn't, there should be.) Brilliant musicianship, songwriting that goes beyond 3 chords and a 4/4 beat, and a willingness to explore and combine genres into a unique synthesis. (Really, there are few groups that can effectively combine Beach Boys harmonies, progressive metal, acoustic singer/songwriter material, psychedelia and ambient soundscapes into a cohesive work.) In a way, their leader, Steven Wilson, reminds me of Robert Fripp. Fripp has stated that the "ProjeKcts" are the "research and development" departments for the "greater Crim." Steven Wilson is involved in a myriad of projects when he's not doing Porcupine Tree, and his work in these different areas influences his Porcupine Tree work. (Off the top of my head, I can think of these projects: Blackfield, a pop-ish collaboration with an Israeli gentleman; Bass Communion, his drone/soundscapes work; IEM, a spacey "Krautrock" kind of a thing; his solo electronic music works; No-Man, another pop-ish collaboration; then there's all the production and remixing projects.)

Mike Keneally was Zappa's last stunt guitarist. He's put out about a zillion albums, from "rock" (which are really pop/prog/singer-songwriter masterpieces) to acoustic to orchestral and everything in between. He's another gentleman who is not afraid to try or do anything, and therefore comes out with some of the most complex prog rock you've ever heard one second, and some of the goofiest (yet most well-written) bubblegum pop the next. I put him in a separate category from Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson because to me, he's really the next Zappa.

And a nice guy - I sent him an email back in '95 asking about some Zappa stuff and he responded!

Thanks for the info on the other stuff.

Fantastic song writing, and arranging. Might not be everybody's "cup of tea", but if you listen to the album more than once, you'll find something great.

Probably will have to contact labels directly to get the albums.
More of a challenge, but worth it.

:shrug:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tRXO9Q8LkY&mode=related&search=

That's not my favorite Flaming Lips song, but it's a good one, and one that was considered one of their best efforts when the album it was on (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) came out.

In 50 years, as a critic said in Fearless Freaks, the Lips documentary, people who are interested in creative and ambitious rock and roll music will still be listening to Flaming Lips records. They're not Jethro Tull--quite different sound, but their last few records (as well as their creativity in live performance) have been pretty Floydian.

Actually, there are a lot of other great bands out there these days, but the Flaming Lips jump to mind because I just watched Fearless Freaks a week or so ago. You don't hear the best bands on the radio because, ever since the '98 telecommunications act opened the gates for massive market consolidation on the FM airwaves, local control of the music airwaves has all but evaporated, meaning only the most easily-palatable musicians would ever find a home on the FM.

The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat): http://youtube.com/watch?v=eo41tLI3qGA

That album (At War with the Mystics) has some great songs on it, but those are the only two that I can find on youtube ...

I truly believe the Flaming Lips started because of David Johnsten. They basically took his quirkiness and songwriting style and put a full band behind it. I'm a fan of the Lips earlier stuff, but their later "commercial" stuff is a yawn-fest to me.

I can see comparison there in terms of the quirkiness of the songwriting and the juxtaposition of childhood interests/imagery with more serious themes. I could see where there might be some influence, although the Lips have been around about as Johnston has and Wayne Coyne is a certified quirk all on his own. :) The Flaming Lips of the 80s, though, was much more punk and noise oriented.

Personally, I like the earlier stuff and the later stuff both. :)

Daniel Johnston. I watched the documentary about him recently, "The Devil and Daniel Johnston". It was kinda sad, he's a pretty tortured person. I don't think the LSD helped him much either. If you like the Lips, are you a fan of Ween too? Talk about quirky!

I've picked it up at the video store before, but just never had the chance to watch it. One of these days I'll get around to it, though.

I like Ween, though I haven't kept up with them for the last several years. Definitely quirky :)

I think they have wives and kids now. Sometimes that will halt the music career.

that The Flaming Lips listened to a lot of John Lennon's stuff. Post-Beatle stuff.

Sounds quite derivative to me.

I'm underwhelmed.

:)

They don't have the progressive sound of, say, Yes or Genesis - but I gotta give both of 'em HUGE props for actually knowing how to use their instruments, and what they're for, unlike so many other of these new wanker bands.

I find that they (he) shows the raw creativity and edgy conviction that attracted me to this type of music in the first place.

I don't listen to the radio :shrug:

I use Pandora, which is a fantastic way to find new artists you like.

Also, I will say that this is like saying, "Where's today's Mozart and Vivaldi?"
It was a different era, with different musical styles. Not to mention that we remember the diamonds in the rought, whereas there were SHITLOADS of truly awful music back then.

edit: and, in an actual response, I like Dream Theater (Kind of old, perhaps), Primus, Oysterhead, the more innovative stuff.

The band you're looking for is The Flaming Lips. Their music does what I need music to do.
Listen to whatever you can get your ears on. Try to score "Yoshimi..." first if you can.
Hookiness, originality, musicianship, not respected by mainstream. It's great stuff.

Zappa's dead. Barrett's dead. Phil Collins has terminal baldness. The golden days are gone. The Lips can ease your pain.

(Edited to thank you: I've seen Fripp, Belew, and FZ live, and I feel yer pain...)

Yes I've seen Zappa & King Crimson live.

although Radiohead dsperately wanted that crown. Close, but have a no cigar, boys.

Which may in fact be a ripoff of Damo Suzuki era Can, but let me not wrap myself in knots of snobbery.

I love Mogwai! I saw them a couple of year ago in Cleveland. It was the loudest show I've ever been to, but oddly enough, it didn't "hurt" to listen at the volume they were playing. Especially when the were doing songs like "My Father My King".

Fantastic records
Fantastic live performance

Honestly.
I tell them that they are dead wrong because Fripp is an uncharismatic and boring pedant. I'm a slightly more charismatic and slightly less boring pedant.
Another difference?
He can play like a motherfucker :)

Oops...you meant the facial hair...
Hell no, I don't have the beard, but I do use an insane number of...delays...delays....delays...delays....delays....delays....delays...delays....delays...delays...

What is he using, exactly? I have a DD5, a compressor, a volume pedal and other assorted gizmos that let me cheat it a bit, but still nothing close.

The damndest thing is that I've never really been into Fripp other than when he was punching the clock on Eno and Bowie sessions. And the Exposure record. I'm told that my tone sounds very close and I'm using a Dynacomp, an old Rat, volume pedal, and the aforementioned insane number of delays. Which I'm sure is not what he used at all.
I honestly don't think we sound much alike at all. Maybe the true similarity is that I also play sitting down. But that's because I'm a lazy fuck.

I can't do the Rock God Gutiar Strut anymore, not that I ever did:D

I did have the RGGS down- more Keef than Keef
and that kind of stuff really did help me get over despite my really terrible playing.
Later when I did decide to become a better player, I dropped all of that and it became "all about the music, man"
I have now become what I used to despise. Grrrr :)

I play sitting down all the time. I sing like that too. It just "works" for me...

... http://www.jethrotull.com:8100/ramgen/jethrotull/tinkara/tinkaraianlive.rm

Thanks for the link! I hadn't heard of Tinkara before. Listening to some of her other stuff, it sure sounds like Ian was a big influence on her playing! :thumbsup:

It doesn't hurt that she's a lot easier on the eyes than Ian and the boys ever were. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYbgE9yvFE0

And the White Stripes are today's Presidents of the USA.

how can you NOT rock with that combo?

They're really good. I only recently discovered them (thanks to my also-a-DUer boss), and they're really cool. Justin Chancellor's a helluva bassist, and has great tone too.

A Perfect Circle is really cool, too...one of Maynard Keenan's other projects. They get into Prog-like territory on some of their tunes.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

In the meantime we can all relive the glory days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWfmfgHXAfE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUW4WfjaI2g&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw6RzD6KrPU&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QALAk7-h5VE&mode=related&search=

his collaborations with Bernie Worrel and Buckethead have produced some really interesting music. He's a twistedly creative musician, and I mean that as a high compliment. Dextrous, funky, and slightly insane...great antidote to the Gwen Stinkfanis and Furbies infesting popular radio (which I avoid like the Ebola virus.)

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

I've seen him live twice (once with Primus and once solo), the guy is absolutely insane. Primus is one of my favorite bands ever.

..then I got nothing for ya. Good luck out there.

ethnic folk/rock crossover stuff--Ashley MacIsaac, Annbjorg Lien, Vasen--stuff like that. I can't speak to the quality of the lyrics as I do not speak: 1)Gaelic, 2) Norwegian, or 3) Swedish. Well I know a couiple of phrases of Norwegian, but certainly not enough to follow the lyrics!

The one truly common thread in my musical tastes is a lot of notes. I tend to like busy music, whether it is Hardanger fiddle (A Norwegian fiddle with a set of sympathetically resonating string for glorious overtones) Bagpipes, or Joe Satriani blazing away on his Ibanez, I like melodic twists and turns.

Any attempt to find someone as good as Tull, but in the style of Tull, will always lead to disappointment as it will inevitably sound derivative. Having said that, ther are always a ton of great musicians coming up--they just might not be where you expect to find thsn.

On a side note; while I am a pretty pretnetious bastard in many ways--listening to forgeign language music for the sake of foreign language isn't one of them. I like a bunch of instrumental stuff, so I don't feel a pressing need for a lyrical stroy in my music. A vocalist singing in a language I don't understand is just another melody line.

Here's alink to some of the stuff:

http://www.noside.com/albums.html

A note of caution though, I've found it best to stick with the compliations, a lot of the actual albums tend to be kind of uneven.

Goofy guys from Dayton Ohio. Sold alot of albums, and made it big enough to appear on the Conan O'Brien show, then POOF* Quit, just like that...

Tool put out an absolutely fantastic album last year. Called "10,000 Days".

Dream Theater has a new one called "Systematic Chaos" that is quite excellent.

Porcupine Tree's latest is decent, I'd recommend "In Absentia" and "Deadwing" over their most recent, "Fear Of A Blank Planet".

Symphony X just released a new disc called "Paradise Lost" that I've heard is excellent. All of their previous albums are great as well.

Biography
Oysterband (or the Oyster Band, as it used to be) are one of the few outfits still burning with the fire of punk, but managing to combine it with the ideals and knowledge of English folk music -- a balancing act they've made into a fine art over the years. And they have deep roots in the U.K. folk scene, emerging from both the Whitstable Oyster Co. Ceilidh Band, which formed in 1975, and Fiddler's Dram, a group put together in 1973 by Dave Arbus, whose fiddle work had graced releases by East of Eden and the Who. Prosser, Telfer, and Taylor were also in Fiddler's Dram, whose moment of fame arrived in 1979 with the British hit single "Day Trip to Bangor" -- released after they'd split up. They reconvened for a last album when Kearey joined them. He also became part of the band's alter ego, the roots-oriented Oyster Ceilidh Band, as they'd now become. With Fiddler's Dram no longer extant, the members put their energies in the newly renamed {Oyster Band} in 1981, playing gigs around England and self-releasing albums on their own Pukka label. It wasn't until 1986 that their first "commercial" release, Step Outside (produced by Clive Gregson), with its rocking treatment of the maypole song "Hal-An-Tow" and what's now become an Oysters classic, "Another Quiet Night in England. " It established them as a force on a fairly moribund English roots scene and they capitalized on it as they continued to release albums, mixing folk tunes, original material, and a curious taste in covers, ranging from an incendiary version of New Order's "Love Vigilantes" (which put it into the folkier context it deserved) to Bruck Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time." More than anything, however, the band grew in stature as writers, railing again the politics of Maragaret Thatcher and then her successor, building during the '90s, helped by a relatively stable lineup. Perhaps their highest profile came in 1990, when they collaborated with folk singer June Tabor on Freedom and Rain, very much a rock album covering songs by Billy Bragg, Richard Thompson, and others. From there, though, they've become a critically acclaimed force in English roots music, even if they've never managed to break through to a wide audience. 1995's The Shouting End of Life saw them at their most political, while the long-awaited Here I Stand in 1999 reasserted their supremacy in their particular field, as songwriters, instrumentalists, and singers. The band returned in 2003 after the longest recording layoff of its career with Rise Above, which included eight originals and two English traditional numbers, and featured the work of Irish piper James O'Grady throughout. it was yet another sign that old punks never die -- they just continue refusing to compromise. ~ Chris Nickson, All Music Guide

For more mainstream stuff, you'd go to The Mars Volta, who have their moments when they're not trying to be six guys fighting over who's the most impressive musician of the group.

In the underground there's a group from Oakland called Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, who uses mostly stringed and acoustic instruments and nothing with keys. Very good musicianship and songwriting if you don't mind harsher vocals. The violinist is a virtuoso and the bass player makes a lot of their instruments, assuring a unique sound.

Then there's Secret Chiefs 3 and Estradasphere. Both are instrumental groups and dabble heavily in Gypsy/Moroccan/Klezmer music mixed with prog and metal.

On the metal side, there are a few groups that emphasiz great heavier songwriting with odd time signatures. Mastodon, Meshuggah and Opeth are my current favorites in this genre, and less heavy would be the afformentioned Porcupine Tree.

If you're also looking for the more atmospheric prog from bands not fronted by Maynard James Keenan, there's Isis, Pelican, godspeed you black emperor, explosions in the sky and Mouth of the Architect. And even greater than all of those is the band most in the know say originated the whole thing - Neurosis.

There's another band on the stoner side of things that go all Hawkwind on your ass called Mammatus.

I could think of more, but that's about it fer now.

Good call on all four counts.

Here's a video of their song "The Ghost of Rita Gonzolo"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pCCwfjEWbxs
The Japanese band The Pillows is pretty damn awesome too, IMHO.

Thanks to the other people in this thread who just turned me on to Porcupine Tree and Oysterband. Most of the music I like is 60's/early 70's rock, and old jazz, but I'm looking for some newer stuff to listen to, too.

Okay, "fiddle or a gun" just made it onto my favorite songs list. :headbang:

Also Joy Zipper and Zero 7 are quite good.

Outside of Floyd, all of those bands blow, and blow hard. Especially Genesis. I'm guessing you like Rush too, but any band that actually uses morse code in their songs is, by definition, not a good band.

If you're into really good music, however, try Tool. Groundbreaking, creative, intelligent... I couldn't say enough good things about them.

2) They used morse code in the intro of one of their songs - astronomy domine IIRC.

So not everyone who has used morse sucks.

But it definitely knocks them down a notch. That's quite possibly the lamest thing I've ever heard.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6246448.stm

:evilgrin: