The Smiley Smile Message Board

I felt (i'm not sure if this been a topic before), but does anyone have a top favorite artist/band from the 90s-present?
Anyhow here's my top 30, and it dosen't have to be A Rock band, it could be anyone.

30. Gorrilaz
29. Insane Clown Posse
28. Escape The Fate
27. Avenged Sevenfold
26. A Day to Remember
25. Hollywood Undead
24. Snoop Dogg
23. Of Kings
22. Tool
21. Necro
20. We Are Living
19. Rise Against
18. As I Lay Dying
17. Atreyu
16. Jay-Z
15. Nirvana
14. Stone Temple Pilots
13. Velvet Revolver
12. Pearl Jam
11. Alice In Chains
10. Godsmack
09. Papa Roach
08. Notorious BIG
07. 2Pac
06. Daft Punk
05. Tupac
04. Enimen
03. White Stripes
02. Coldplay
01. Kings Of Leon

In no particular order:

Nirvana
Smashing Pumpkins
Cranberries (up until their last album, which is truly atrocious)
THE FLAMING LIPS
Two Gallants
Modest Mouse
Squirrell Nut Zippers (including Tom Maxwell's solo albums, which are wonderful)
Andrew Bird
Regina Spektor
The Killers
Mercury Rev
Galaxy 500
Portland Cello Project
Apples in Stereo
Indigo Swing
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Looper
Belle and Sebastien

Thats all I can think of at the moment.

;)

Counting Crows.

There are others (many of whom already listed) but they were the band that had the most impact on me upon first listen. 

Bob Dylan

Amy Winehouse, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, Portishead, Outkast, Pulp, Sleater-Kinney, Spiritualized, Spice Girls, White Stripes, Nirvana, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Destiny's Child, MIA, Mazzy Star.

Limp Bizkit
Linkin Park
Creed
Staind
Korn
Orgy
Slipknot
POD
Nickelback
Puddle of Mudd
3 Doors Down
Godsmack
RAAAWWWRRRRR!!!!!!!!

 :lol :lol :lol
Just kidding.

Here's my real list:

Barenaked Ladies
The Flaming Lips
Wilco
Weezer (Blue, SFTBH, Pinkerton, and Rivers Cuomo "Alone" Demos)
Leslie Feist
Camera Obscura
Spin Doctors
Fountains of Wayne
The Sundays
Morning Glory-era Oasis
Pablo Honey and Bends-era Radiohead
Gin Blossoms
Goo Goo Dolls
Blink 182
The Thrills
The Decemberists
The Magnetic Fields
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Third Eye Blind
Pavement (well, maybe just "Cut Your Hair".)
My Bloody Valentine
Save Ferris
American Hi-Fi
Neko Case
Phish
Amy Winehouse
Neutral Milk Hotel

I really like a lot of "modern" music (if we can go back 20+ years and consider it modern), so my lists could get ridiculous. But the main ones, not including older artists' music released during those years (Waits, Dylan, Costello, BW/BBs, etc.), might be these, divided into my top and second tiers.

Top tier: Fiona Apple (only gotten into her in the past six months, but unquestionably belongs), Beck up through Sea Change, Belle & Sebastian, Brown Flamingos, Cotton Mather, Fiery Furnaces, mid/late 90s to mid 00s Flaming Lips, Herman Dune, Iron & Wine, Mountain Goats, Neutral Milk Hotel, Joanna Newsom, Of Montreal, Radiohead, Amy Winehouse, Jack White, Wilco.

Others I really like: Arab Strap, Bonnie Prince Billy, Delgados, Future Clouds & Radar, Inara George, Girls, God Help the Girl, Jeff Hanson, Hawk and a Hacksaw, Nellie McKay, Jeremy Messersmith, Janelle Monae, Okkervil River, Outkast, Puerto Muerto, Robyn, Shins, Voxtrot, James Yorkston

To pick a few,

Spiritualized
Janelle Monae
Lil B (although his rock song is fucking awful)
The Avalanches
Dan Deacon (been getting into him lately, dude's amazing.)
Jellyfish
Mercury Rev (after Deserter's Songs they inexplicably become rubbish, though?)
Wooden Shjips
A lot of Luthers list! There are a few I would disagree with, such as I didn't think the Jack White solo album was much cop at all. The White Stripes, on the other hand....
The Shins
Frank Ocean
Jon Brion

Is all I can think of down the office...

"Lil B (although his rock song is f***ing awful)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cccllivwnP0

Looking at some of these bands you can probably tell that I was in college 10 years ago so...and I didn't feature any bands that debuted after 1990.

1.-2. Jimmy Eat World + Death cab for cutie
3. Oasis
4. Coheed & Cambria (love the first 3 albums)
5. Collective soul

Nooooooooo

most of the music I listen to is post-1990.

Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, Animal Collective, Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade, Broken Social Scene, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Good Life, The Decemberists, The Magnetic Fields, Death Cab for Cutie, Okkervil River, Destroyer, Paul Baribeau, Joanna Newsom, Arcade Fire... I could go on and on.

I don't know why The Apples in Stereo or Neutral Milk Hotel get so much praise when there are better, more interesting Elephant 6 bands. Two of them are not even obscure for "non-specialist" music fans: of Montreal and The Olivia Tremor  Control.

Circulatory System is the best elephant 6 band without question. S/T is probably the best psychedelic album released ever, period.

I dont really listen to ANY, but the Wondermints are just amazing, they really have no "bad" songs.

You  guys would probably laugh me off the board if I posted my list...I actually like a good deal of current pop :/

N.E.R.D. (aka The Neptunes: Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo)

Those guys GET IT. From what I gather, they're the most "musical" duo to crossover into mainstream commercial pop in who knows how long. They broke out producing deceptively simple hip hop beats, but there was something magic about every track they produced, somewhat comparable to the raw energy heard on early Beatles records. While everyone else was quantizing their drums & using sterile digital sounds, these guys had the balls to use live drums, unquantized instrument parts, which was pretty much inconceivable for pop radio at the time. A few years into their career they showed how musically creative they were with the "In Search Of" album, under the name N.E.R.D., which in my mind is an all time classic album, up there with some of the best Beatles + Beach Boys stuff, all the while writing & producing some incredible pop & R&B records for everyone from Usher to Justin Timberlake to No Doubt & countless other massively successful acts. One of the interesting things about them, is that they basically created their own "scale" if you will. There were certain "wrong" notes they would use consistantly in their music, and it actually started to make sense. Tons of Neptunes imitators popped up during that time, which in and of itself shows just how unique & influential they were. From a music fan standpoint as a teenager, it was fascinating watching them knock out hit after hit after hit from around '98 - '05 - an eerily similar amount of time The Beatles were together doing their thing. Every beat or song they came out with had something very musically interesting about it. There's no question that they were blessed with the "it" factor, whatever that is. Looking back, those days kinda remind me of what it must've been like to await the next Beatles single in the 60's.

Sadly, Chad & Pharrell drifted apart (for reasons that I don't think were ever made clear to the public) and now all of the tracks are solely produced by Pharrell. While Pharrell was the main source of inspiration behind a lot of the Neptunes music, Chad added his incredible musicianship as well as technical know-how (synth programming, etc) which brought the level of professionalism in their sound up tenfold. So now what you have is.. well sorta like a Brian Wilson solo album. It's great, but there's a secret ingredient that's just not there. Or maybe a Mike & Bruce show. Solid, but not The BB's.

Any other Neptunes / N.E.R.D. fans lurking?

For starters, and in no particular order...

Oasis
The High Llamas
Manic Street Preachers
Blur
The Imagined Village
Semisonic
Paul Weller
The Apples In Stereo
Radiohead
Belle & Sebastian

I'll limit myself to  what are probably the Top 5:
Swing Out Sister (Somewhere Deep In the Night is incredible)
Pizzicato 5
The High Llamas
Stereolab
Jamiroquai

OK- Top 10:
Saint Etienne
Louis Phillippe (mucho exquisite chamber pop music from a really obscure artist)
Blur (forgot them- thanks Dead parrot)
Hooverphonic
Paul Weller

No way, the only problem I have with modern pop is that I can't really get myself to listen to an entire album. But, the singles/listening in short bursts is amazing. Post your list! I'd like to listen to more music like that and it's hard to know where to start, sorta.


FOTM, you need to check out like 90% of the bands in this thread. And not just the Beach Boys soundalike lists (ie, step away from The High Llamas), but the modern day is actually a pretty good time for music. So much variety!

Also,

Do you mean to say you've never listened to Jellyfish? I'd swear they'd be like your favourite band.


Also, no-one's mentioned the Super Furry Animals yet. They're amazing.

I listen to all four of the bands you just mentioned and I just happen to think that the songwriting for Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel is consistently better. There is no Of Montreal song that has made me weep like I have while listening to Two Headed Boy Part 2. I saw Jeff Mangum twice last year and during both concerts I was in tears almost the entire time. at an Of Montreal show I'd probably just be dancing.

Okay, fair enough... so just talking artists who released their first album from 1990 on (so no Nirvana, as Bleach was in 1989)...this is only people who I've heard multiple songs/albums (no 'I just like one song)...and this list is not all-inclusive, and is in random order. My tastes really are diverse.

Stone Temple Pilots
Drake
Katy Perry
Mars Volta
Maroon 5
Eminem
Against Me!
Cardigans
Vanessa Carlton
UGK
Chamillionaire
Ke$ha
Jet
Mandy Moore
Linkin Park
Missy Elliott
The Catbirds :)
2Pac
Justin Timberlake
Rihanna
Pink
Snoop Dogg
Weezer
Amanda Palmer
Marina and the Diamonds
Jay-Z
Pharrell
Ne-Yo
Beyonce
Gorillaz
Adele
Kanye West


There's more but I'm tired.

Myself, I think Of Montreal is one of the best bands of the past dozen years or so, and I have them in my "first tier" of bands. (Aegir, there's nothing wrong with "just dancing!") NMH's Aeroplane alone places them above the vast majority of other music released in the year's we're talking about. I, too, saw Mangum within the past year and it is almost scarily religious.

I like Apples, but not as consistently. Or rather, I think they have a consistently solid, workmanlike product. Sometimes I'll love a song, but mostly I just think Schneider is a good craftsman. OTC is just rarely my thing, and the also-aforementioned Circulatory System even less so. Psychedelic stuff just doesn't connect with me: it's the poppier E6 I tend to like.

Andre Nickatina
Chevelle
cKy
Deftones
Die Antwoord
Stone Temple Pilots
Sublime
The Libertines
Transplants
Velvet Revolver

I can't believe I forgot Sublime and the Deftones!

Jellyfish
The Chills
High Llamas
East River Pipe
Ryan Adams
Chris Stamey and Peter Hoasapple (1 LP the amazing "Mavericks!)

All are pre-2000 and most on the earlier side of the 90s -- so be it!

Brb, flashing back to drinking neat vodka in the park aged 14 on saturday nights meeting random groups of teenagers with questionable haircuts and, you felt, a set of life choices that could only hinder them in the coming years, with Up the Bracket in one headphone.


Ah, youth.  ;D

No mention of Silverchair's last two albums? :'(

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