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First i should say that most people would view me as an equilateral quadrangle, in short, a square.
Secondly, my definition of mainstream music is pop, adult contemporary, etc. It's the stuff you hear on the radio.
I just discovered a song that I love by a band that is definitely not mainstream. I just downloaded the song Bela Lugosi's Dead by the band Bauhaus.
Just by looking at me, you wouldn't think that I'd like this type of music. Bauhaus is, I believe, classified as Goth music.
I'd like to open this thread up to discussion of music you like that you wouldn't ordinarily go looking for, or that doesn't neccessarily fit people's image of you.
*can't wait for payday so he can download some more Bauhaus*
Feel free to reccomend songs, and, or artists that you think other Hatrackers should check out.
Posts: 4569 | Registered: Dec 2003
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*would like to hear a recording of Space Opera's daughter singing about her Star Wars action figures*
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Sheesh, I remember what, like 20 years ago when Bauhaus did a version of Ziggy Stardust. To this day, I still like them, and crack up over the Goths.
Posts: 472 | Registered: Aug 2004
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The Hall of the Mountain King by the Electric Light Orchestra
A really fun version of a classical piece that we all know, but that a lot of people don't know the name of. I really like the ELO's stuff though, they have a lot of neat mixes of classical/techno/rock.
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I kind of hope Bob and Kat say something about Crow Greenspun, a definitely off-beat musician. Brilliant, though. His lyrics blow my mind. My favorite song in this whole world, in my whole life, is a song named "It's No Secret," about a young man, about to have a child, who hears his dead father's voice encouraging him. Pretty powerful stuff.
Crap on a stick, I must send out this music that is sitting on my desk.
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Everyone ought to have a listen to The Divine Comedy. "Absent Friends", "The Happy Goth" and "Note to Self" are my favourite songs of theirs.
Posts: 2443 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I really love all these nice Russian songs that Dmitri Hvorostovsky has been singing such as the Sviridov and fine Rachmoninov songs and a fine Tchaikovsky song called My Genius, my Angel, my Friend that is just heaven in song form. It's so beautiful. He also has a whole album filled with old Russian war songs. I must OWN that album rather than magpie it.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Right now, there are a couple of things that stand out.
The most mainstream of this would be the New Pornographers. Even this may be hard to find outside of a large record store, so you may have to do some searching, or go online. Songs to watch for are Letter from an Occupant, The Slow Decent into Alcoholism, Loose Translation, The Laws Have Changed, and too many others to mention.
Neko Case is a phenomenal example of indie talent eclipsing anything the mainstream has to offer. She is absolutely unique and has a voice comparable to any benchmark you care to name. While typically classified as alt-country, her music has more of an old country-western feel to it. That aside, her lyrics are certainly alternative, and the style is too complex to be adequately described in simple analogies. Listen to Deep Red Bells, or any of her latest, Blacklisted. What's that you say? You don't like country? That won't matter at all once you've heard her haunting voice. I finish with some of her own words from Blacklisted: "cold and shivering warm." I couldn't have put it any better.
The Afghan Whigs are an old group that deserves more credit than they get. Once again, their style is to complex and unique to simply describe. Listen to Rebirth of the Cool or Debonair.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Yep, that's their name. This Montreal based group describes itself as more of a collective. It has about 20 members and has a kind of neo-classical, very experimental orchestral feel to it. Very anti-publicity, they shun interviews and the media in general. Some of the track "East Hastings" can be heard in the movie 28 Days later when the protagonist is first wandering through London's deserted streets.
Download mp3s. I don't care if you have moral objections; with the state of radio and the music recording industry, this is the only real way of finding fresh, non-mainstream music other than word of mouth, and a great way to find out what you like. Most of these artists find file sharing a boon anyways, since without it, they would have a fraction of their current exposure. Such is the reality of living in the era of RIAA lawsuits and Clear Channel radio. Oh, and don't worry about legal consequences of sharing or downloading this stuff, the recording industry couldn't care less about these people.
Which brings me to another point: these people need your help. If you like their music, the best thing you can do is go to their shows. This is how they make their money. The recording companies take virtually everything from the CD sales and leave the artist with a pittance.
Posts: 1769 | Registered: Feb 2000
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gybe! is great, but Do Make Say Think is better.
quote:If you like their music, the best thing you can do is go to their shows. This is how they make their money. The recording companies take virtually everything from the CD sales and leave the artist with a pittance.
Unless they are their recording company. The Delgados come to mind.
Posts: 2443 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:I just discovered a song that I love by a band that is definitely not mainstream. I just downloaded the song Bela Lugosi's Dead by the band Bauhaus.
Hell yah!! Long live Bauhaus! Long live Gothic/Industrial/DarkWave music!
Some other great bands you should listen to are: Switchblade Symphony Faith and the Muse Dead can Dance Cruxshadows Rasputania
In the more Industrial vein: VnV Nation Apoptigma Bezerk Covenant
[ September 29, 2004, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: Telperion the Silver ]
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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hey Telp, if I'm ever in Detroit, or you're ever in Providence we should go to goth clubs together. Posts: 1261 | Registered: Apr 2004
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You are right about artists who own their own labels, but you have to be careful, because unless you find their records exclusively in indie record stores populated by insufferable hipsters, they are likely distributed by one of the biggies, which will still take most of the profits.
Also, even if they are produced and distributed independendly, their margin is likely still low, as they no longer have the cost-saving bulk power of the big labels and they also usually ask less for their recordings.
I find for the most part, recordings by these non-mainstream acts are mostly promotion for their shows, from a business perspective.
Posts: 1769 | Registered: Feb 2000
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