Since folks here have such varied tastes in music aside from our common denominator , I just wanted to share my recent ventures into the alternative realm. You may agree or disagree that most music today regardless of genre is Garbage- not a reference to the group - but there are gems to find under the mud. My particular flavors in the past year & now are groups like Interpol, The Mars Volta, Muse, Hot Hot Heat, The Secret machines, The Strokes and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Add to that old time favorites such as Depeche Mode, They Might be Giants, The Smiths, Violent Femmes and The White Stripes, you might say I'm turning japanese.

This by no means is a promo for Alternative over any other genre, I just wanted to let folks know I'm Black & I'm Proud, and I'll listen to whatever I like despite what cultural barriers are out there. If it sounds good, and the music is well done, I'm buyin' it. Thanks for reading my rants, you guys and gals are cool, at least most of you are.

UncleGrandpa said:

I understand what you mean. The vast majority of my favorite music is what people dub as "alternative". I also like Rap, Jazz and Rock--basically anything that catches my ear.

All alternative music can be traced back to one man -- David Bowie. I'm not a huge fan of his, but all of the Genres except the Grunge/Alternative moviements go back to Bowie (even Industrial).


It think the TOP "alternative" staples are:

The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
Joy Division - Disorder
Peter Murphy - (basically any one of his albums)
Julian Cope - Anyone of his albums
Violent Femmes
Skinny Puppy
Any of Al Jurgenson's Bands (Minitry, 10,000 homo DJs, Revolting Cocks)
Smashing Pumpkins (Meloncology & Infinite Sadness)
Erasure, Depeche Mode, Yaz (all of the early 80's fag pop)
Radio Head

There are alot of other more obscure ones, but then your getting avant gard.

AsianBomb777 said:

Thanks folks, there are some good choices you put out there, now let me know which better between some other choices I'm interested I'm buying. From Bauhaus came Love & Rockets and Peter Murphy. Is there a major difference in sound & style from either groups or in their solo work? The Pet Shop Boys are certainly a great group, even if Neil Tennant is considered pretenious, so whats a good album from them that I can start listening to? Fear not, RADIOHEAD is prominantly featured in my CD collection. Does the Joy Division Box collection pretty much cover their whole exsistance, or are there any " Must Own " albums of theirs?


Thanks for your very welcome responses!!!

i'd start w/ the joy division box set or a greatest hits 1-or-2 disc comp - just to see what ya like.

along with just about everything asianbomb777 listed, i'd also recommend "talk normal: the laurie anderson anthology"; sonic youth's "goo" and/or "dirty" albums; "the best of nick cave & the bad seeds" and siouxie & the banshee's best-of compilation CD.

Anxiety said:

Thanks, I'll pass on Sonic Youth and Nick Cave, it's nothing personal, but Joy Division & Siouxie sound like good choices. I've always liked Siouxie's " PEEK - A - BOO ", that still quite a loopy lil' track. As for Laurie Anderson, I'm familiar with her but probably not enough to go out and buy her work. MmmmKayyyy...

AsianBomb777 said:

I have a feeling fans of groups like The MC5 and The Velvet Underground would disagree.

Supernova said:

Remember the basic rule goddamn:

If you can buy it at a record store it's not really alternative.

Supernova said:

I stand by my convictions. I'm no Bowie fan though.

Could someone define "alternative" for me? Because it seems like a million bands get this label, dating all the way back to the early 70s. Plus, since the whole early 90s grunge/alternative explosion, now whenever I hear the term "alternative", it just makes me think of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. For example, I'm a life long Depeche Mode fan, but I never thought they were considered alternative.

Someone clarify for me please.

UncleGrandpa said:

Bauhaus is the original goth rock group. They were great stripped down post punk with especially dark/morbid overtones. Guitarist Daniel Ash and drummer Kevin Haskins had a side project at the time called Tones On Tail which had a similar, but less mature/polished gothic sound. After Bauhaus broke up in 1983, Peter Murphy went solo and the remaining members formed Love And Rockets. Peter Murphy's solo albums are much more conventional and accessible than Bauhaus. His music was much softer and romantic and towards the end, a middle eastern influence was clearly evident. Love And Rockets were much brighter and electric at first (their S/T 1989 album had a strong T-Rex influence) and they often experimented with atmospheric instrumentals, eventually turning toward trance and techno in the 90s.

My recommendations:

Bauhaus:
1979-1983 Vol.1
1979-1983 Vol.2
Mask (remastered)
Rest In Peace - The Final Concert

Tones On Tail:
Everything!

Love And Rockets:
Sorted - The Best Of Love And Rockets
Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven (remastered)
Express (remastered)
Earth Sun Moon
Love And Rockets (remastered)

Peter Murphy:
Love Hysteria
Deep
Holy Smoke
[This message was edited Fri Aug 27 10:14:38 2004 by sextonseven]

UncleGrandpa said:

I'd strongly recommend Siouxsie And The Banshees obviously. The Once & Twice Upon A Time collections are good starting points. My favorite studio albums are Tinderbox, Peepshow and Juju.

AsianBomb777 said:

Stand by 'em, I didn't say it because it was my opinion they were right, or wrong for that matter.

Wow, what a response!!! Thanks for lookin'. Anyhoo, I only used the ALT term cause it at least distinguishes the music from conventional radio pop- which by the way is pretty much any & everything - and couldn't just call it rock, cause that's too broad. I like Depeche Mode as well, and they ARE pretty well known but you won't hear them aplenty on POP 40.

Just one more question, what was/or is the appeal of the MC5? They got pleny of press for being brash and crazy, and some members have died or did drugs ( GO Figure?? ), so what can their sound be compared to? What group today has some of their sound ( the Stripes are from Detroit, but is that where the similarities end) ?

The ORG Has come through once again .

POOK said:

3 DAYS!!!!!

sextonseven said:

POOK HAVE THIS ONE

You should add Stone Temple Pilots to your music collection, starting with
Core
Purple,
Tiny Music: Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop,
and No. 4.

theVelvetRoper said:

How Old R U?

Holy crap! Another They Might Be Giants fan?!?!! There aren't too many of us on this board. I'm happy to see there's another one here. I gave up on them for a while but have been addicted to their past few CDs- Mink Car was a great album. The same silly lyrics woven into near perfect pop music.


(ps- I like a number of bands that you mentioned, but wanted to call special attnetion to TMBG, cos they are very neglected in these parts )

endorphin74 said:

You need to get the birdhouse in your soul in order!!!

AsianBomb777 said:

theVelvetRoper said:

STP to me are just a hard rock band. They briefly were part of the whole grunge thing in the early 90s before becoming a huge album rock radio staple.

POOK said:

That comp is good for it's remastered tracks, but most Siouxsie fans find it frustratingly incomplete. Sort of similar to "The Very Best of Prince" CD.

sextonseven said:

We are in agreement here, and STP's NO.#4 is a good album, but they've leaned more toward the rock sound than alt. And if any ask, NO I'M NOT GOING TO BUY VELVET REVOLVER!!!!!

POOK said:

Great recommendation, and with Nothing's shocking I'll go for it. The first Porno for Pyros album was good, but I've never listened to their second album.

PAVEMENT
Sonic Youth
Yo La Tengo
Preston School Of Industry
and a whole bunch of others that don't come to my mind right now since I'm dead-tired.....those 18 holes knocked me out today!

UncleGrandpa said:

You would if you lived in Eastern Europe.