Contemporary music
 

I have not listened to the radio (except NPR and Air America) in nigh on 10 years now, so I have no idea what is current.

I'm getting more familiar with contemporary jazz (I like Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Chris Botti), and I remember years ago liking some of the neo-soul type stuff (Jill Scott, Maxwell), but I have no idea if that kind of thing is popular anymore. Basically, I would like to start listening to stuff that isn't 50 years old, and I know that at least some contemporary music is good.

Does anyone have suggestions?

I've been enjoying KT Tunstall lately. She's from the UK - her singles include Black Horse and the Cherry Tree and Suddenly I See:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endID=31546263

That's her MySpace page....

:nod: kt tunstall is GREAT! her album is awesome. i stopped listening to the radio 2 and a half years ago, so i'm not really with it, either. :shrug: i do a lot of sampling at itunes to see what i like. really, the only newer artists i like are kt, neko case, and martha wainwright.

Those ladies you named are some I would've said. Jazz wise. I've been reading about other artists, too - but I don't like Jazz that much (I like it okay, more instrumental than vocal). So mostly the jazz i have is Miles, and Stan Getz with Astrid Gilberto, and this really good Charlie guy, forgot whole name and can't find CD
But you should just look online - if you look under Jazz in itunes store - I think they let you hear little samples of every song on an album. That's what happened with me and Gnarls Barkley. And yes, it's fairly popular, and there are some kick ass vocalists out there, from the limited knowledge I have.
:shrug: Do jazz musicians play around your town? They do here. Also, sometimes when you look up an album, say on Amazon - it shows you other jazz albums that people have bought - and as I'm sure you know, you can hear samples from Amazon as well.
There's a lot of really good jazz instrumentalists around here, I really enjoy it. There seems to be an innovative spirit (duh, it's jazz!) about it here.
Hope that helps.

In terms of contemporary music - it is rare for me to really like a new artist. I tend to listen to new releases from 70s 80s and 90s artists. I think KT Tunstall is the most "new" artist that I enjoy...

yeah, but she's not jazz. I think he wants jazz.

Most, if not all...
 

the contemporary music I enjoy these days is European based-Be it power metal, speed metal or death metal. I tried giving American music a chance but I just cannot get into the 'trendiness' of it.

I prefer bands who will be around for years and will build a loyal following instead of bands/artists who release only a couple of releases, be the media darlings then just fade away as fast as they arrived.

Yeah. I know diddly-squat about jazz :laugh:

Right, many people don't, but I was just saying. That people giving advice of non jazz musicians might not be helpful to Markolas. :p

He'll find something. He just has to web around and look for stuff.

I swear, this one Charlie guy is so good (instrumental) wish I could remember. The CD got a little messed up, hope I didn't toss it. That reminds me of something I would do while cleaning, as I hate cleaning so much that I'll just throw things away.:laugh:

Hey Marky- music has sucked the big asshole for the last 10-15 years now.

If you want a revelation, buy all of The Innocence Mission's albums. Glow, Umbrella and Befriended are all five star, unbelievable masterpieces. You will plotz.

Edie Brickell's last solo album, Volcano, is a revelation as well. Ooh, Morrissey's You Are the Quarry was orgasmic.

Sorry that music sucks. Everyone forgot what made it great....

Ya mean...
 

Charlie Parker? He was a great jazz musician.

Hate to admit it, but I have always liked contemporary jazz & Deb loves contemporary classical & new age.

Our music collection is not all metal or country as most may assume (The following are from a stack of discs I just pulled up):

Yo-Yo Ma-"Emanuel Ax"
Eliot Fisk-"Paganini 24 Caprices" (The dude's fingerpicking style is sick beyond sick-Makes Lindsey Buckingham seem totally digit-less!!!)
The Chieftains-"The Celtic Harp"
Margie Butler-"Celtic Lullaby"
Bond-"Born" (Damn those 4 chicks are hot!!!)
Wynton & Ellis Marsalis-"Joe Cool's Blues" (Tribute to Vince Guaraldi Trio's music of "Charlie Brown")

The "whoo hooo" part reminds me of Annie Lennox. I like the beat. Catchy tune. Good vocals.

But .... WHY is it... everytime she sings "big black horse and a cherry tree" that news article of that guy that died from having sex with a horse pops into my mind.... AAAHHHHHRRRRGGHH. I should NEVER have read that story. I'm TRAUMATIZED!

Same here... I've been living in a cave with my favorite CDs. FM radio has too many commercials and I work at a computer all day, so at home computer is limited. {DING... time to Log Out}} My new car came with 3 months of XM to which I'm going to subscribe because I need to expand. So far, I've heard some pretty good stuff on the Starbuck's channel, Urban/Soul and even some HipHop (did I just say that? :eek: ) Now to pay attention to the screen when it displays who and what song is playing and try not to crash! :lol:

Other than that, I like that Gnarls guy, I hear him in the shower sometimes on Kink FM. Death Cab for Cutie is cool too.

do you mean contemporary as in literally contemporary, modern music? If so what years define contemporary?

Nah, it doesn't have to be jazz. I just don't like anything too "menacing," like hard rock/metal, or hard-core rap.

Yeah, I meant contemporary/modern. As in the last five years or so.

I listened to some clips on Amazon, and liked what I heard. Those are some really moving vocals. :D

I've always liked her. Didn't know she was still active, but I'll check it out.

Never really listened to Morrissey or the Smiths. I'll make a point to check them out, though.

I'm not sure what the hell happened. It all got very copy-cattish at some point, and nobody's ever really tried very hard to come up with something new. The best they can do is imitate. And music critics don't help matters...all they can do with new artists is compare them to other people, and then tear them down when they end up not being the same. :shrug:

Yeah, I've been looking the last couple of days. Found a jazzy singer named Madeleine Peyroux whom I had not heard of; she sounded good. There are some good instrumentalists, too. I'd always written off Chris Botti, but he's actually very good. Regina Carter is a jazz violinist who is amazing.

There is some good contemporary R&B/hip-hop/soul, but you have to wade through a *lot* of dreck, and sometimes it's just too disheartening. :laugh:

You mentioned Getz & Gilberto, so maybe it's Charlie Byrd? He did a bossa nova album w/ Getz called "Jazz Samba" that was very popular.

Some I particularly like these days:
Arctic Monkeys - solid garage band, great lyrics
Kino - Progressive rock, with a touch of late sixties and a quite ductile style
Tan Dun - He's one of the best living composers for me. He did a couple of soundtracks (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero), but his masterpiece IMO is Eight Memories In Watercolor
Gotan Project - they reinvent tango with a truly modern vibe
Damien Rice - He's a brilliant Irish songwriter, definitely influenced by Nick Drake but his songs are worlds built with pure poetry and deep emotions. Plus the singer who usually duets with him, Lisa Hannigan brings even more magic to his music. His new album is going to be released in November.

Oh, and that lady who was touring with Tom Petty... she sounds cool.

Romy

Well, I'm not the most sophisticated guy around but as far as modern music goes, I'm a huge fan of The Stereophonics.