Modern Rock - what do you like???

[sal]

The new actual album is only 36 minutes long. Its great. Pick up Girls Can Tell and Kill the Moonlight as well. Spoon is remarkably consistent in quality and tone without ever sounding too repetitive. So far atleast.

Getting to reading your post somewhat late, md655321, but thanks for the recs! I will check these out. I am really digging Spoon.

Finally got "Alligator" by The National. Excellent. They have become one of my favorite bands.

Another new one I've been digging is "The Shepherd's Dog" by Iron and Wine.

[sal]

I've been listening to a band called Blitzen Trapper quite a bit lately. Very good band from Portland, OR. They have a new release on Sub Pop called "Furr", and their album "Wild Mountain Nation" from last year is excellent.

[Shawn]

I've been on a "retro" kick recently:

Witchcraft (Sweden)

Graveyard (Sweden)

The Sword (Austin, TX)

[clifford_thornton]

Picked up a nice, unplayed copy of Slant 6 - Soda Pop * Rip Off - on Dischord last night for $8. Haven't heard that record in years, but remember liking it at the time (ditto Autoclave).

[Aggie87]

Anybody know anything about a group called Secret Chiefs 3? Appears to be a Faith No More/Mr. Bungle spin-off. I heard a song of theirs on Pandora.com that was pretty cool. Where's a good place to start?

Well, 2 1/2 years later I'm listening to Secret Chiefs "Book M" release, from 2001. Good stuff - got alot of Indian and Middle-Eastern sounds, mixed with some techno-ish rock.

SC3 also have a release in the Zorn/Masada Book of Angels series, "Xaphan". Gonna have to check that one out as well.

[Shawn]

Josh Homme - Guitar, Vocals (Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age)

John Paul Jones - Bass (Led Zeppelin)

Dave Grohl - Drums (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)

[sal]

I've listened to Them Crooked Vultures once through. I'm not a huge Queens of the Stone Age fan and this album kind of sounds like one of their albums. I'll give it a few more listens though before ultimately making up my mind.

[sal]

Speaking of "super groups", Jack White's project from earlier this year called The Dead Weather put out a nice album that remains one of my favs from this year.

[clifford_thornton]

Saw Blues Control the other night - I think they've come a long way since 2006/7, when I saw them last.

The new album, on Siltbreeze, is excellent if you like a contemporary art-damaged-rock spin on Cluster/etc.

[Norm]

My meagre attempt to keep abreast of whats going on in the here-and-now world of music has resulted in interest in the following two groups who have releases this year, probably my favorite records that I've heard by up-and-coming artists in 2009:

Animal Collective - Merriweather Postpavilion

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

But these acts seem almost post-modern or alt-modern, if such a term existed. The release by Animal Collective, for example, (the first I've heard of their's, though I know they have a dedicated following) has shades of Pet Sounds, psychedelic electonica, world dance beats, jungle rhythms and trance-like harmonies. I'm guessing they would be a lot of fun to see live. In particular, "My Girls," "Summertime Clothes," and "Brother Sport" send me to a far-out mental zone. I'm not a raver -- neither in the Floydian sense nor in the late '80s Manchester-Stone Roses-Happy Mondays sense -- and not into rave music but these guys bring something unique and captivating to the table.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Norm

[BruceH]

Starting in about July of this year I've really gotten into Yo La Tengo.