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Who are your favorite musicians in the following categories? I will include some of my choices too.
Female Jazz Singers: Etta James Billie Holiday Ella Fitzgerald Sarah Vaughan Carmen McRae Nina Simone
Female Divas: Christina Aguilera Whitney Houston Adele Mariah Carey Aretha Franklin Lauryn Hill Donna Summer Celine Dion Diana Ross
Male Singers (any style): Marvin Gaye Ray Charles Stevie Wonder Frank Sinatra Michael Jackson Bruno Mars Freddie Mercury
Underrated Artists and Bands: Queen Elvis Costello Johnny Cash Elton John Red Hot Chili Peppers
Indie Folk/Psychadelic Artists of the 2000's: Sufjan Stevens Bright Eyes Elliott Smith Joanna Newsom Bill Callahan Beirut Bon Iver Dr. Dog The Shins Fleet Foxes My Morning Jacket MGMT Avett Brothers The Elected
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Female Singers (not sure if "divas", but my favorites): Immogen Heap Sia Furler
Male Singers: Ben Folds
I find your list for "Underrated Artists and Bands" amusing, considering their albums sold: Red Hot Chili Peppers: ~90 million Queen: ~200 million Elton John: ~250 million
You may as well add U2 and the Beatles to that list . Though perhaps you're going off some other metric?
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You may as well add U2 and the Beatles to that list . Though perhaps you're going off some other metric?
Maybe underrated by professional critics? I really like Philip Glass, and he's the most "popular" of the minimalist composers (popular in quotes since that's probably not the right word to use in conjunction with minimalists ) but tends to be down graded by most of the "serious critics". So I might, theoretically, include him in a list of underrated whatevers, even though he's, I think, the best selling composer in his group. Or maybe RotR means something else.
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Female divas: I do like Adele. Not sure she's in the diva category, but Victoria Legrand of Beach House gets my vote for voice I most like listening to.
Male singers: Thom Yorke--a close second to Victoria Legrand.
Indie: Beach House Wye Oak Smith Westerns Earlimart
Underrated bands: Hmm. The Pretenders?
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Ooh, I should have had Kissin on my list. Can't believe I left him off.
As for Gould, he definitely isn't for everybody but as a huge Bach fan, there is no way I could ever leave him off. I admit that some of his interpretations are just dreadful but the ones I like are for me, head and shoulders above everything.
Then there is Ashkenazy. I've noticed that a lot of piano aficionados seem to really dislike him but his Beethoven recordings just blow me away every time. I could listen to his Pathetique for hours on end, critics be damned. Brendel's are good but just don't move me in the same way.
I haven't heard much of Wang. Might have to listen to that Prokofiev.
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Well, I searched for her Prokofiev on youtube and it was there but I got distracted by her playing Scriabin. Scriabin is a very interesting composer to me. When I first starting trying to listen to his music years ago, I just couldn't stand it. I mean truly hated it with a passion. Over the years his work has grown on me and now he is one of my favorites. She did a great job on it though the short dress and high heels certainly aided my attention span.
Then I discovered that my all time favorite piano recording is on youtube. Gary Graffman's recording of Chopin's Raindrop Prelude in D flat.
Such a simple piece (even I can play it fairly well) yet so expressive and this recording is by far my favorite.
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I definitely did not mean underrated. Simply a wrong word.... didn't proofread. I meant more of their careers spanned multiple decades, changing styles. Which to me, isn't underrated at all!
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quote:Originally posted by RivalOfTheRose: I definitely did not mean underrated. Simply a wrong word.... didn't proofread. I meant more of their careers spanned multiple decades, changing styles. Which to me, isn't underrated at all!
David Bowie might prove a little more apt for this category than a few of these. Also, the Beach Boys.
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Amanda Palmer could eat the other divas for breakfast.
I'd be curious to see entries in Heavy Metal / Modern Metal. . . .
Best concept albums might also prove interesting. Coheed and Cambria? Green Day? Or do we have to go back to Tommy or Pet Sounds? Please just don't say Pink Floyd (yuck). . . .
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quote:Originally posted by Aros: Amanda Palmer could eat the other divas for breakfast.
I'd be curious to see entries in Heavy Metal / Modern Metal. . . .
Best concept albums might also prove interesting. Coheed and Cambria? Green Day? Or do we have to go back to Tommy or Pet Sounds? Please just don't say Pink Floyd (yuck). . . .
For me, heavy metal will always be Black Sabbath. Follow up with early Metalica and Megadeth and just stop there.
For concept albums, I have to go Dream Theater and Queens of the Stone Age.
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quote:Originally posted by Aros: Amanda Palmer could eat the other divas for breakfast.
I'd be curious to see entries in Heavy Metal / Modern Metal. . . .
Best concept albums might also prove interesting. Coheed and Cambria? Green Day? Or do we have to go back to Tommy or Pet Sounds? Please just don't say Pink Floyd (yuck). . . .
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Concept albums: Agree with Dream Theater, Scenes From a Memory. One of my favorites is Queensryche, Operation: Mindcrime. As reviewed in Guitar World:
quote: A preacher, a hooker, and a junkie walk into a bar... No, that’s a different story. A preacher, an ex-hooker, and a junkie get caught in a web of intrigue involving an underground political movement bent on assassination. Queensrÿche differentiated themselves here from the better-selling ’80s poodle metal bands by not being butt-stupid.
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Wingracer: here you go (I know you said you found it, but just to make sure you see the HD, full version ).
I'm quite a fan of Chopin and Raindrop in particular. If we did composers... well he'd at least make the short list (short list for the list I guess?). When it comes to straight piano music, it's him and Liszt for me, with the latter edging out the former. And it's wonderful because classical pianists really seem to enjoy playing those two, and so there are so many recordings of their pieces, not only can you always find someone who played what you want to hear, and normally you can find someone who plays it in a way that you can really appreciate.
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I do like Avett Brothers. Could Devendra Banhart be added to the list? He's not quite as well known, and certainly not as commercial, but he's definately something to listen to.
Anais Mitchell being omitted is almost criminal.
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Male singers: The National. I really love Matt Berninger's voice.
Indie Folk/Psychadelic Artists of the 2000's: I'll second afr's recommendation of Earlimart. Grizzly Bear Department of Eagles
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Aros - I like Devendra Banhart quite a bit. His music is really weird, but in a fun way.
Danielson Familie (aka Danielson aka Brother Danielson) put out some really great indie/folksy albums too. They toured with Sufjan Stevens a lot.
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I don't think Devendra Banhart is a very good song-writer, but his production gives all of his songs a very mellow vibe, like they could be used in Tarantino films.
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. Though perhaps you're going off some other metric?
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) but tends to be down graded by most of the "serious critics". So I might, theoretically, include him in a list of underrated whatevers, even though he's, I think, the best selling composer in his group. Or maybe RotR means something else. ![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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