Recent must have albums

A great source of new music is Bob Harris's Saturday midnight show - a great range of new and classic music - get the tune in radio app (probably other options) and record if staying up until 3am is too much!

In terms of stuff I enjoy:

Jonathan Wilson - gentle spirit

Bill Callahan - sometimes I wishi were an eagle

Porcupine tree - lightbulb sun (whole catalogue worth exploring)

If you like p/t try Airbag - rubbish name but the album identify is very good 

Sam Baker - any of his trilogy are worth a listen

Just a few to get you started!

Enjoy

Gary

Yes ....lots of good naughties music including 

• Half Man Half Biscuit (of course)
• Blackmore's Night (Ritchie and Candice and medieval arrangements) 
• The Zutons (too clever by half, but what great songs) 
• Basia Bulat (debut album is unbelievable good)
• Duckworth Lewis Method (superb concept album)
• Karine Polwart (one of the best singer songwriters ever)
• Arcade Fire (always worth a listen)
• Ozric Tentacles (music for music's sake and great playing)
• Angie Palmer (songs with attitude) 
• Cathedral (metal with a smile ... wonderful)
• Kate Rusby (you know what is coming, but it always sound great)
• Cradle of Filth (extreme nonsense to annoy the neighbours, it sort of grows on you)
• Polly Jean Harvey (PJ just gets better and better)
• Nightwish (superb band - great tunes and playing if you like symphonic metal)
• and lots more .......... 

Artists that have delivered consistently in the last 10 yrs or so for me would be Wilco, Bonnie Prince Billy, Iron and Wine, Antony The Johnsons, Midlake, Patrick Watson, Richard Hawley. All have produced 2 or more really good albums this decade. There must be loads more but these popped into my head first.

Suggsting individual albums without more specific pointers is a bit hit and miss, but if you like the Bill Callahan album (as I do) then I reckon you will find something here. OK, try Bonnie Prince Billy; Lie Down In The Light for starters.

Soundcloud or Grooveshark is you friend here! There is no shortage of 'best of the decade' list out there. I find the year end lists of places such as pitchforkmedia.comuseful too.

Maybe tell us the sort of things you like and it would help suggestions of similar ilk?

Bruce

Why not have a listen to some "later with jools holland" albums as he brings lots of new ( and established) talent to the fore and you will hear new artists from a wide range of genre, and enjoy the albums in the process

Paul

Yep. "Let England Shake" is an instant classic. Amazing.

Here's a couple of lists from the online Fact Magazine: 100 Best Albums of the 1990s and for the 2000s; 100 Best Albums of the Decade. Perhaps you can find something there. Thanks!

Thanks everybody for your input. This is exactly what I am after.

@ Gary; I am yet to catch one of Bob Harris’s Saturday midnight shows. However, I am planning to, based on your suggestion. I currently have some of Steven Wilson’s works but I agree whole catalogue e.g. Porcupine Tree seems worth to explore. I shall also check the other artists you have mentioned, seems interesting.

@ Guy; you have once again presented an interesting list. I have noticed already earlier that you very much favor Half Men Half Biscuit and actually I have tried to find some of their albums from my usual sources before but without any luck. It seems that I have to finally try buying on line (which I have refused so far – there is no logical reason, I am just old fashioned i.e. records should be bought from a record shop). I guess I shall go through your list completely besides maybe Nightwish. The way Tuomas changed the vocalist in the band few years back although not in totally unheard manner is still a bit of turn off for me (nothing to do with the music, I know).

@ Bruce; I understand that it would be easier to suggest something if the taste was better known. However, I was planning this exercise in a hope to find something different which would be at least interesting. I am sure that not all will end up as my favorites but I hope that I would bump into something which I otherwise would not i.e. I am not only looking more what I already have. I surely will check all the names you mentioned (I still have not got those Great Lake Swimmers albums you wrote about in another thread but they are still included in my shopping list).

@ Paul; good reminder about Jools Holland. I try to follow this tip also.

@ Winky; I think I have a couple of PJ Harvey albums and now when she is mentioned I wonder why I do not have more. “Let England Shake” seems to be available (even in vinyl) from my nearby store so I might pop in there next week.

@ Nagoya; interesting links. I shall check them and I am sure I shall find something which I would like to try.

@ Iver; nice to notice that someone else consider this topic useful also. I am glad you found something you like.

When I was browsing the older topics awhile ago a came across this one:

Naim Owners Club - 1000 Best Albums (the actual listing in page 6 if do not care to read the whole thread)

And although it does not contain that much any recent albums it's still quite fascinating to read, also got me thinking what would be the result today.

Hard to say what LP is well-known anymore in the age of singles downloads.

Here are six of my must-have LPs from1995 to present, spanning various genre;

Greenday - American Idiot

Paul McCartney - Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

Paul Simon - You're the One

Tracy Chapman - New Beginning

No Doubt - Rock Steady

Brandi Carlile - Brandi Carlile

Rock music (I suspect it's what the OP's referring to), is way past its sell-by date and there is very little worth spending time with over the 60/70s classics. At least in terms of bringing something new/refreshing that hasn't been covered a zillion times before.

I would argue one strong exception to this are the 2 Manu Chao discs Clandestino and Esperanza. Especially the first.

If you don't have any Cake or Lucinda Williams you are in for a treat. The Black Keys are good. Also try Thievery Corporation and Public Service Broadcasting for something a bit different.

@ joerand good suggestions, I know all these as artists (Paul Simon is one of all time favourite) and even have the Green Day one (I prefer Insomniac as an album though if I have to pick one). However, I must admit that McCartney's later works are not familiar to me so maybe I ought to give this one a go.

@ YanC It was not my meaning to restrict the discussion only to rock music, any genre will do. I am well interested in recommendations concerning recent recordings of classical or contemporary works too. I also refuse to believe that concerning rock everything has been seen already and as a genre it would be dead. I shall check Manu Chao, I vaguely remember seeing Mano Negra live at some point in late 80's (he was part of that band, wasn't he).

@ Dozey some not so familiar names (for me, besides The Back Keys) you brought up thanks. I shall certainly look at these.

However, the main reason I revived this topic was to find out if anybody has any comments concerning the content of the 1000 best albums list the forum members put together a few years ago. It must have been quite a job and I have to admire the members involved. There are some favourites of mine included but many of the artists or albums I have never heard before. 

Macca's 'Chaos & Creation' is really something special. Supposedly, producer Nigel Godrich challenged him to go outside his usual comfort zone, with very positive results.  

The suggestion above for Cake is a good one and you really only need to hear one of their LPs to know what they are all about. I'd suggest 'Comfort Eagle' or 'Prolonging the Magic'.