Recommend 3 albums we should listen to
 

I was just thinking, well, just, not just just, but well, just. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's always trying to find some great new bands and artists - sometimes you succeed (*thinks of all the great bands he discovered this year*), sometimes not. In any case, I personally love looking for new stuff, and I love getting recommendations as well - since when one searches him- or herself, he or she often doesn't stray far away from what he or she generally likes already. That applies/applied for me as well (not as much any longer, but still quite a bit I think - a habit hard to shake). Therefore, this thread.

What to do? Recommend three albums you love we should all listen to. I'm sure everyone has a couple of albums he or she loves to death - so, by all means, tell us about them! It'd be particularly nice to see some of the more unknown bands and artists to pop up here, but of course you could recommend Hikki, BoA, or even Ayu as well!

Without further ado, here's my three recommendations to begin with!

http://student.hro.nl/0756756/envy.jpg

Envy - All The Footprints You've Ever Left And The Fear Expecting Ahead (Japan)
2003

Envy is a Japanese band that brilliantly blends post-rock, emo, screamo, and hardcore - absolutely astonishing! Everything about this band is intense, from the guitarwork and the rhythm-section to the vocals and the melodies. If I had to describe Envy in three words, those words would be 'intense', 'emotional', and 'genius'. Recommended to those who can appreciate it.

Why I chose this album: Envy is one of the most brilliant bands ever to have roamed this planet. I personally find that their music represents sheer emotion - so incredibly touching and intense.

http://student.hro.nl/0756756/mp3.jpg Envy - A cage it falls into (8.5 Mb)

http://student.hro.nl/0756756/eits.jpg

Explosions In The Sky - Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever (USA)
2003

Explosions In The Sky hail from Austin, Texas. Their music is probably the best sonical representation of Texas you'll ever hear - dusty, yet vibrant, moody, yet romantic, and at all times, alive. Their instrumental songs do never get boring (mind, the song I uploaded has some whispering but no actual vocals) - it's always real, it's always something that sounds familiar, like life, like love - Explosions In The Sky are nothing short of brilliance.

Why I chose this album: Explosions In The Sky know what life is - whenever I hear their music, I realise how beautiful life is again.

http://student.hro.nl/0756756/mp3.jpg Explosions In The Sky - Have you passed through this night? (6.7M)

http://student.hro.nl/0756756/mono.jpg

Mono - Walking Cloud And Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined
2004 (Japan)

Mono consists of three guys and a girl, and their music is somewhat comparable to that of Explosions In The Sky. However, Mono has a somewhat different instrumentation - on this particular album they even lean towards classical music at moments. Their songs are long, but beautiful to say the least. An absolute masterpiece.

Why I chose this album: Somewhat similar to reasons I mentioned for Explosions In The Sky and Envy - this is what life is.

http://student.hro.nl/0756756/mp3.jpg Mono - Lost snow (20.9 Mb)

I really liked that Envy song.

I'd recommend:

Motion City Soundtrack - I AM THE MOVIE
Its kind of...I dont know what it is, Its like Pop-punk and 80's?

Fall out Boy - My heart will always be the b-side to my tounge
Its emo, their other stuff is poppunk, but this is more emo sounding, Its all acustics. It came with a DVD too, so it was nicer to have then their other CD, which I really didnt like.

=\ I only have two. The Ceasers are good as well.

http://home.hetnet.nl/~saturnchild/map/AVCD17459.jpg
Rin' - Jikuu (2004, Japan)

Currently my fav. album
I dont know much about the group itself only that it are 3 women that make beautiful songs.
on the album are vocal and off-vocal songs.

http://home.hetnet.nl/~saturnchild/map/hane.jpg
KOTOKO - Hane (2004, Japan)

i <3 this album, i think its her best album ^___^
KOTOKO sings in in the group I've.. they make music for h games...
hm she also sung Second Flight together with hiromi satou (hope i spell it right), the opening from Onegai Twins, to bad the song isnt on the album...
ohwell, go download! =D

http://home.hetnet.nl/~saturnchild/map/vicl61137.jpg
Yuki Kajiura - Fiction (2003, Japan)

This album contains beautiful songs composed by yuki kajura herself, it's her first solo-album.
You may know Yuki Kajiura from the j-pop group See-Saw.
Yuki Kajiura does a lot of anime theme's and OST's, some examples are the .Hack// series and Noir...


I know my writing style is very crappy and that my english sucks but i just wanted to tell u guys how good these 3 albums are ^__^

Great album - I do happen to have it (in MP3 format - the shame - but I'm considering buying it). Caught me off-guard.

1. Mew - Frengers
Awesome Danish band that makes beautiful shoegazer rock. This is their debut and only album out so far, I've been waiting for their second album (which was supposed to be released in December this year) forever and now they have it scheduled for "early next year" =/

2. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Hm, I can't really describe this properly, but it's just really really good indie pop, and I have a thing for bands with both female and male vocalists, like Supercar.

3. art-school - LOVE/HATE
A Japanese indies band, awesome hook-filled rock songs with great playing. I'm feeling lazy with the descriptions here.

I recommend:

MISIA - MARS & ROSES

bump of chicken - yggdrasil

tokyo jihen - kyouiku

Albums I'd recommend....(non-Ayu)

Game by Flow
Great songs...sorta feels like Less Than Jake or anything along those lines...good music...been listening to it a lot lately. Fast and upbeat...good stuff.

Superstar by SHE
Great cpop group and each song in the album is great...definately the title track tho...superb.

I guess my last recommendation would be Hikki's US album Exodus. If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen to. I'd ignore some of the tracks on it tho, like the workout. There are some really good listens in Devil Inside, Kremlin Dusk, and Exodus04.

i recomend :

1. Bump of chicken yggdrasil,
very good album i think, so i think everyone should give it a try
2. Minmi- Imagine
very good vocals sort of like Pushim, her songs are like nice, leaves you with a
great feeling and makes you want to get up and dance :)
3. Bennie K.

3 albums
 

1) Poe- Haunted

here's what's written on the first page of the cd booklet:

"A few yeras after my father died me and my brother came across a box of cassettes-recordings of my father's voice.(...) Hearing his voice again shook me to my foundation. At first I couldn't bear to listen to him, then I couldn't stop. Finally I began sampling him. It was an eerie process. Had I resurrected a ghost? In some ways I had. Ultimately I entered into a dialogue with that ghost. Pieces of that dialogue compose the story contained on this album"

AMAZING ALBUM. I've been listening to it for 2 years already and i'm still not tired of it.

2) Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen- any album, but if I had to pick one it would be "Shouso Strip"- great cd, great songs(especially yamini furu ame where the bit is made with violin and izonchou with the beautiful 3 minutes long guitar solo) and shiina's perfectionism- it's not by accident that the album's lenght is exactly 55:55

3) PJ Harvey- also any album, but if I should pick one it would be "To Bring You My Love" or "Is This Desire?"- beautiful work, full of emotion, rather sad(especially is this desire?)


also, Kate Bush "Hounds OF Love":P

I recommend:

http://www.projectj.net/hitomi/Candlize.jpg

1.Yaida "YAIKO" Hitomi's Candlize:For anyone who hasn't heard Yaiko yet, buy this album, it's wonderful. It's so much better than that mainstream Ayu stuff though she has become quite popular. She has a very unique voice and very different music and instruments that make this album my current favorite. She also writes the lyrics and music for all her songs. :)

http://img04.21cn.com/2004/01/19/1573977.jpg

2.Yaida "YAIKO" Hitomi's Air/Cook/Sky:This is probably my second favorite album at the moment. Once again Yaiko has her unique voice and instruments, and about 90% of this album is upbeat electric and acoustic guitar. Songs like Are You Ready? Boy have very different instruments from the usual J-pop, and in all the songs Yaiko shows her high energy and vocal skills.

http://i3.yesasia.com/assets/imgs/mu...1003880277.jpg

3.Chihiro Onitsuka's Ultimate Collection-This best album gets the third spot for my favorite album of the moment, but is a drastic change from my other two choices. About half this album is dark, kind of depressing music, and half is inspirational, slightly happier music. Songs like Gekkou, infection and Shine are really some of Oni's strongest songs on this album and all show how powerful her vocals are. Fly to me and We can go are happier songs that I still found enjoyable.

This is only recommended to those who only own one or none of her albums as it would be a waste to buy all the albums and get all the songs, though a few are B-sides, considering the album art is minimal and there is only one picture of Oni in it excluding the front and back of the case...

tori amos - scarlet's walk
this is one of tori's best album's in my humble opinion. the music itself is rather laid back and relaxing. at the same time, however, it is deep and meaningful. it is a aural document of scarlet's journey as she make makes her way across the United States. it is a very beautiful album!

tan dun - hero soundtrack
i'm not really one for instrumental soundtracks however this one blew me away. the music never gets overly dramatic which is wonderful. the instrumentals, excepting 1 or 2 tracks, are very calming and beautiful. the violin theme seems to be present in most of the tracks. i love it!!

akino arai - eden
this is arai's newest album and it is wonderful. soft and lovely, much like her other stuff, you will hardly be disappointed if you've listened to her before. if you haven't, this album is a great place to start!

My recommendations are mostly Electropop... Enjoy. =)~~
 

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record...tron-2/604.gif
Ladytron - 604 (Belgium/England)

This band is what everybody calls "Electroclash", but they absolutely hate a definition like that. Ladytron is pure electronic pop with a mixture of new-wave, punk, and house music. Ladytron are Mira Aroyo, Helena Marnie, Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu. Their most popular song is called "Playgirl", one of the songs from their first album "604" and their LP, "Commodore Rock".

http://www.atlantamusicguide.com/htm...images/mp3.gif :: Ladytron - Playgirl


http://www.especial35.com/discos/m/i...-esmentira.gif
Miranda! - Es Mentira (Argentina)

Miranda! is one of the few bands from Latin America that I could call "Breakthrough", along with El Otro Yo (alternative rock/punk band from Argentina). They have a great taste in music, and their lyrics are always love-related... That's one of the reasons they have lots of fans here (well...in Santiago, mostly). I mean, they're not THAT popular, neither THAT mainstream, but i think they're the sweetest sound of underground culture here in South America.

http://www.atlantamusicguide.com/htm...images/mp3.gif :: Miranda! - Bailarina


http://www.jpopforum.com/pictures/al..._ZoeyAlbum.jpg
Zoey - Zoey (Japan)

Zoey is a singer from Japan which style is more alternative R&B than Electropop. Her album can be described as an inspired work by Dido and Björk. Her 1st single was a Björk cover, "Venus As A Boy". "Last Message" is my favourite song from her 1st album. I'm not a huge R&B fan, but this song has been one of my favs since I heard the album for the first time. :)

http://www.atlantamusicguide.com/htm...images/mp3.gif :: Zoey - Last Message

I love em', a friend sent some fo their stuff b4, but with the reformated...well
:thud

really??? whoaa, i'm surprised somebody here knows Miranda!... yayyy! =D

I like them very much... "Agua" is an amazing song, it's poppy but with a touch of drum & bass... i have their 2 albums, so if you want any song you just tell me =)

http://www.popmiranda.com --> their official website :yes...it has their music videos in quicktime ^^

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ted/megumi.jpg
MEGUMI's 'LOVE ALL PLAY'

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...mented/poe.jpg
Poe's 'Haunted'

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...mented/yui.jpg
Yui Ichikawa's 'i-pop mini'

~~~

I LOVE ZOEY! My favorite song of hers is 'Soakin' Wet.' She was also on Gwen Stefani's solo album. =)

Not your normal RAP...
Some of my favorite eccentric hip-hop from 2004.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...sc/streets.jpg
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
New album... and a "concept" album to boot. The whole album is one continuous story... a freaking masterpiece.
Sample: The Streets - DRY YOUR EYES.mp3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../Misc/rjd2.jpg
Rjd2 - Since Last We Spoke
Sample: Rjd2 - 1976.mp3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...um/Misc/ns.jpg
Northern State - All City
Sample: Northern State - Nice With It.mp3

oooh! Interresting.
Humm .. I have to choose only 3?

#1 Aiko - Akatsuki no rabureta-
This album is the 1st one I got from Aiko, and i think it's one of the best. It's a 1 hour-long album, and actually i think every songs of the album are good (13) And.. this album made me realise how the last song of an album is important, I mean... "#13 Ama no Gawa" is really good, i think it's the best to way to close an album (really).

#2 GreenDay - GD presents american idiot
This is the 1st album i got from Green Day too. I didn't know GreenDay at all a few months ago (yeah no kidding lol), and now im planning to buy Dookie. It's also a 1 hour-long album, and i think it's pretty good for an american album! I like them, but maybe there are better punk band (Bad Religion?) Anyway i own this album and recommand it.

#3 Linkin Park : Meteora
This album is just incredible. If you dont own it, it's a MUST. Really. I like Hybrid Theorie too, but imo this one is better. It's the kind of album you can listen to whenever, weather you play nintendo or with friends (because I dont know anyone who dislike LP...

I can share some mp3 of any songs, if you want ^^ Just ask, it'd be a pleasure for me~

#1 - Eminem's "ENCORE"

Ok don't hate me for picking this one. xD I just like it a lot, and I think that a lot of his songs have messages.

#2 - Utada's "EXODUS"

Don't dismiss this one just because a lot of people didn't like it. It's really good! And it's better if you can understand the words. (For me at least.)

#3 - Ugly Kid Joe "BEST OF"

Hm, I'm not sure if it was called that, but it was their 'best' album.

Hm...I'll list three european/american albums and three asian. I like these kind of recommending threads, it's a chance to find something new. =D

English:

01. Gwen Stefani - Love, Angel, Music, Baby.
Got this one fro Christmas and I have to say it is an amazing album! Gwen Stefani rawks in both No Doubt and her solo career...alot of the songs are actually really amusing and they all have a fantastic beat.

02. Russel Watson - Amore Musica
You have to be into classical to enjoy this I think...Russel's voice is outstanding and the duet with the beautiful voice that is Lara Fabian 'The Alchemist' is one of my favourite songs of last year!

03. Delta Goodrem - Mistaken Identity
Well after coming back onto the music scene after being diagnosed with cancer this album is pretty...depressing...but is much better than her first album 'Innocent Eyes'. The melody's are beautiful and Delta's vocals are as equally beautiful.

----
Asian

01. Fly to the Sky - Gravity
My favourite album of this year from the amazing K-Pop duo I definately recommend this album to anyone who has not yet listened to K-Pop...listen to the title track 'Gravity' and you'll soon be wanting more of their amazing voices. =P

02. Ai Otsuka - LOVE JAM
I didn't like Ai much in her LOVE PUNCH period...but after hearing Kingyo Hanabi and Daisuki da yo I fell in love with her soft, child like vocals and this album is definately a masterpiece!

03. Lena Park - Op.4
She probably is the greatest korean vocalist of all time...her songs are superb! [Going to upload probably the entire album.] the title track 'Plastic Flower' is the perfect opening/ending theme to a horror..something like The Grudge. lol. and the second track is an outstanding power ballad which makes me all goosebumpy. Highly reccomended album...and if you like what you hear from this album...try out her live album. *Nod.*

Great list.

And Akatsuki, Bad Religion is indeed a great band - I loved them back when I still was into punkrock. Basically all their albums are brilliant! It comes to taste though, their old albums lean more towards good old punkrock (No Control, Suffer, Against The Grain), the later albums are influenced by pop for a little bit (Stranger Than Fiction, The New America, The Gray Race). As said though, they're all great. I could provide you with some MP3s if you wish.