The format became irrelevant

I would describe Eels as "intelligent pop with a wry edge". With this description in mind, let me offer the following as possibility opportunities for your listening pleasure:

• Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
  
• The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
  
• Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
  
• Elliott Smith - Figure 8
  
• The Sugarplastic - Bang, The Earth is Round
  
• Tripping Daisy - Jesus Hits like an Atom Bomb
  
• XTC - Anything, starting with "Black Sea"
  

I've probably got more that I could include, but this was a quick list off the top of my head. Let me know if you would like me to continue.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

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I have the Jazz classics but I am looking for some acoustic guitar, drums that sound like, well, drums really, piano and honest simple material.

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The Eels album is a stunner, as are the other two, and there is a new one out very soon (I heard a track the other day). Excellent stuff.

As for simple acoustic stuff, I am currently addicted to 'Quiet is the new loud' by Kings of Convenience. This is a simply stunning recording - what you get is a couple of people playing acoustic guitars (incredibly well) and singing right there in the room with you. Has minimal drums and trumpet in places too. A fabulous album, that manages to totally avoid sounding twee, folky, or clichéd. The first thing I played on my new CDX.

Tony.

Steve

If you don't want extreme (noisy?) production, eliminate The Flaming Lips, Super Furry Animals, and Tripping Daisy.

Add to the list The Brothers Creeggan (http://brotherscreeggan.com). I highly recommend all of their albums.

I'll check for more later. Sorry for the original misread.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

An obsrevation:

This thread reads like a group of audiophiles choosing their next music purchase based on the sound quality of the disk.

Am I alone in finding statements like:

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This is the first time that I have put a CD on
from start to finish and just listened to the music.

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disturbing?

And I'm not picking on you Nigel - the statement just seems a tad extreme and unfortunate.

This thread reminds me of TCs thread on the other forum about only playing one side of a record and not having interest in going on to side two.

*Preach Mode On*

The best change you can make is the one that rids you of your self-consciousness about the sound.

*Preach Mode Off*

OK - flame away.

- GregB

Insert Witty Signature Line Here

Steve

Just the tunes man!

“God damn right, it’s a beautiful …” album. There’s something about it that makes me think of it as (dare I say it) a concept album, but without the associated tediousness.

I find the cover adds to the experience. Take, for instance, “Jeannie’s Diary”: From beginning to end, this song is hard on the verge of kitsch, both in terms of the music as well as the lyrics. Never once is any sort of irony displayed, the illusion remains intact. Together with the cover however, which is entirely over the top, you have a framework that marks the entire content as potentially ironic. It is wholly exemplary of our times, in which form is often disassociated from content (e.g. Che Guevara T-shirts, worn by teens who barely know the name).

Oh goodness, I feel a surge of intellectualism coming on. Oh … no … it’s passed (I was only pretending).

Thomas

Daisies of the galaxy was my recent discovery, it has rarely been off repeat. Especially Tiger in my tank!

Ben

-John

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There is also an Internet-only live album (Oh What A Beautiful Morning)which is again worth the money - the sort of album that makes me want to get off my butt and go and see them live.

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Good call! I have just ordered it, postage is a bit steep though. I will investigate the early albums too, I never realised they existed.

Tony.

Greg,

This is not a bragathon - I'm even careful not to mention what I'm playing this on. It's taken me about 15 years to get a CD player and I have a very extensive and high quality vinyl collection. I have spent a great deal of money on my system and I am disappointed by the amount of junk out there. There's good music and poor recording abound and I find that I just don't play it. In fact, when I get something that is poorly reproduced it goes back since I don't want to pay the record industry for not doing their job properly . Hope you can understand where I'm coming from .

Regards,

Nigel

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I bought the Elliot Smith album today and its another stunner. Got Badly Drawn Boy and it's good but I can't stop playing Daisy's of the Galaxy - Oh what bliss!

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I'm glad that you're enjoying them. There's nothing as much fun as discovering a good CD. As my best friend said when I introduced him to Super Furry Animals, "This is very special music!"

I really feel sorry for my friend. He's plays CDs with a DVD player, a 30 year old receiver passed down from his Dad, and a pair of Bose 301 speakers leaning back on a metal bracket on the floor. His wife can't stand it when he turns it up. (She said she's going to kill someone if she has to listen to Radiohead on another Saturday morning.) I couldn't resist lending him my best pair of headphones.

Every few weeks we get together to jam on piano and bass (we swap instruments throughout). We also take breaks and listen to lots of music. I love the look on his face when I'm playing something for him that really blows him away. Pure pleasure!

-=> Mike Hanson <=-