I will be posting the stuff I've recently bought here. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts. Also, my tastes are pretty eccentric. There's not really a genre of music I don't like, so you'll eventually see all kinds of stuff popping up in here: rock, jazz, bluegrass, rap, classical, blues, world music, etc.
If you're into something, it's probably good music. How about a quick little 2-line summary WRT their musical styles?
Jack Johnson: Brushfire Fairytales I didn't get the Japanese version, but it was the quickest picture I found.
I guess that would be a good idea Robert Walter: Was the keyboard player in the Greyboy All-Stars. This stuff is pretty funky, Galactic's drummer Stanton Moore plays on it too. I haven't heard any of his solo albums but like what I've heard as far as samples on the web go. This one is supposed to be more beat heavy and techno-ish than his other albums, which are more straight ahead funk. Soulive: Also a jazz/funk-ish band. They're on blue note, but are supposed to be more modern and hip-hop influenced. Vida Blue: A group fronted by Phish pianist Page McConnell. I didn't like their first album very much, but this one is supposed to be the real deal. Free form jamming with a heavy funk & latin influence. He's joined by Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers & the Aquarium Rescue Unit as well as the drummer from the Meters. The Spam All-Stars and Miami based latin band also joins him on the record. Leftover Salmon: Their self-titled tagline is "Poly-ethnic cajun slamgrass." They draw heavily on bluegrass, cajun/zydeco music, rock, calypso and copious amounts of marijuana. Jack Johnson: A singer/songwriter from Hawaii that plays really low-key but catchy tunes. Simple lineup of acoustic guitar, drums and bass. I normally don't like much like this, but Johnson is light years ahead of the rest of the pack. Primus: Seas of Cheese - I had this album a long time ago, and for some reason got rid of it. I've recently "re-fallen in love" with Primus and this was the Primus album to own. Quirky band combining heavy bass riffs, weird guitar, thunderous drums, bizarre lyrics and strange singing.
Statistics: Leave Your Name Since those other CDs haven't gotten here yet (I only ordered them yesterday), I figured I would dig back to the two or three I purchased prior to those. First up, Leave Your Name by Statistics. Statistics hail from the bustling scene of Omaha, Nebraska. Quite entertaining stuff. Parts of what they do remind me of the Smashing Pumpkins, some of it has elements of Radiohead, but mostly they just sound like themselves with heavy elements of guitar pop and new-wavish laptop stuff. They don't sound like those other two, they just contain elements that remind me of them. Got to love any band that sells a full length CD for $10. I guess you don't have to love the band if they suck, but Statistics clearly do not and at $10, I felt like I ripped them off. However, lead singer/guitarist/keyboard player/noise-meister Denver Dalley sold it to me with his own two hands, so I don't feel so bad. He knew what he was doing.
Starflyer 59: I Am the Portuguese Blues Definately one of the weirder album titles I've seen in a while, Starflyer 59's I Am the Portuguese Blues does deliver musically though. This a collection of tunes written between their Americana album and The Fashion Focus and they didn't really fit SF59's new direction so they weren't released. Jason Martin, lead singer/guitarist/everything likes to give his fans music often and decided to go back and release these tunes. Their are some really solid songs on it, but it definately isn't their best material, or the place to start exploring their music. I'd recommend Gold, The Fashion Focus, Old or Americana for that. The album cover pictured above is obviously simple, but no online image I found came anywhere close to replicating the cool metallic silver-blue that it actually is. Starflyer 59 is probably one of my four or five favorite bands of all times, and they demand your attention.
Re: Starflyer 59: I Am the Portuguese Blues Just so you know, I've gone back and added URL's to all the bands websites so you can find out more info!
Re: Leftover Salmon: Leftover Salmon It came out about a week or two ago. It has some of their best old tunes that never got recorded on it, so I'm kind of psyched to hear it. Yes, they're playing Zydeco in about three weeks. I wonder if advance tickets are required?
Re: Leftover Salmon: Leftover Salmon eBay is great. I sold a crapload of stuff recently (well over $300) so I went to Best Buy tonight and picked up many, many CDs. I love this whole $11 CD thing that's going on over there. Let the album cover posting begin: