trying to get back into modern music...any suggestions:

[Blue_Tires]

i followed and loved the music scene religiously from the time i was a kid in the early 80s until the time i left college in the late 90s...but for a number of reasons, i just dropped out a few years back...I'm trying to catch up to see what groups/people are really worth listening to these days...any help?

[tuvor]

1. What did you listen to in the old days?

We need a starting-off point!

[Blue_Tires]

2. just about everything (outside of country)

i was a huge rap/r+b fan when rap was in its infancy (we actually had an all-rap AM station back in the day in my hometown)

i would also listen to some rock/alt. rock way back when...I used to stay glued to MTV back when they actually used to play music videos...sadly, it's a shadow of its former self

[tuvor]

3. Browse Amazon.

And use their song previews.

That should get you off to a good start.

[kaitykaity]

4. Try The Killers.

http://www.islandrecords.com/thekillers/site/musicvideo_discography.las

Check out the songs "Somebody Told Me" and "Mr. Brightside."
Let me know if this is the vein you want to go in.

[tuvor]

5. Really good album.

It's like an LP I missed from the 80s.

And if that grabs you, the Strokes first album is in that vein.

[Maestro]

6. When you say modern music

would you entertain anything from electronica to metal? My tastes are very eclectic so my advice would span several genres, even rockabilly and alt country not this new country crappola.

[Kazak]

7. *ahem*

Stereolab...The Flaming Lips...Tortoise

[LifeDuringWartime]

8. moe.

moe. - i would recommend moe. to anybody. they may be a "hippie jam band," but most of my best music/concert experiences has been seeing these guys. check out the March 2005 shows on http://www.archive.org

the mars volta - TMV is ridiculously crazy. sort of latin progressive hardcore. if that makes any sense.

practically everything else i listen to was recorded and performed back in the 60s/70s (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Pink Floyd, Yes, etc)....before my time :(

[Dr Fate]

9. My Morning Jacket, The Shins.

Check em out.

[passy]

10. Franz Ferdinand and Keane are good examples of the new Brit sound

I also see heavy metal is back with new releases from Judas Priest and Motley Crue. I can't say that it's such a good thing as it makes me feel old, but interesting none the less as the 20 year cycle is still taking place. Expect to see new albums by Def Leppard, Scorpions and the like any day now.

[jpgray]

11. Yeah--Franz Ferdinand sounds like they're from the early 80s anyway

:D

[passy]

12. To me they're Weezer meets the Cure

[Pounder]

13. Lot's Of Good Shit Out There Now...

Unlike the "creative", (term used very loosely), glut of the 80's...:puke:, the 90's & now, the.....ummmmm....aughts(?), seem to be chocka-block full of some really good music.

Just now I'm listening to Velvet Revolver...a new group comprised of Slash, & Duff from Guns & Roses, and Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots...they rock!

I'll just list, in no particular order, or genre, some of the stuff I've been listening to lately:

(One thing, tho....I'm basically a rocker, but I like trance, down beat, lo-fi, as well as afro-beat, salsa, techno-pop...etc., etc.)

The Vanished~Favorite Scar
Things Outside The Skin~God In A Box
White Stripes
Ulysses~010
Trans-Global Underground~Psychic Karaoke
The Postal Service~Give Up
The Killers~Hot Fuss
The Exies~Head For The Door
The Doves~Some Cities
The Decemberists
Snow Patrol~Spitting Games
Kings of Leon~Youth & Young Manhood
The Blue Nile~High
The Features~Exhibit A
All Hours~In Flagrant Delicto
The Comas~Conductor
M.I.A.~Galang
Tegan & Sarah~So Jealous
Kasabian~Club Foot
The Moaners~Dark Snack
Kyle Riabko
Mus~Divina Lluz
Mouse On Mars~Radical Connector
A Small Good Thing
Angelique Kidjo
Death From Above 1979~You're A Woman, I'm A Machine
Fountains of Wayne
Ivy~Long Distance
Keane~Somewhere Only We Know
Lo Fidelity Allstars~How To Operate With A Blown Mind

Well...that oughta get you started. I hope you enjoy at least some of it!

:woohoo:

[tuvor]

15. There was a lot of great stuff in the 80s.

You just had to know where to look. (Actually, a few of your suggestions have a distinct 80s sound to them.)

I happened to be at university at the time, so I was better able to evade the crap coming out of regular radio.

trouserpress.com is an excellent resource if you want to dig a little deeper.

Cheers!

[alfredo]

14. John Vanderslice "Cellar Door."

His lyrics rip.

Green Day have proven themselves as worthy of praise. Their American Idiot CD is very good.

Between the two, Vanderslice's Tenor voice, brutal lyrics, and fine arrangements makes me come back to him more than Green Day.

Now if you'd like something more in the Jazz vein, Charlie Hunter or Christian McBride might be your thing.

If you liked Zappa's classical works then John Adams might work for you.