·
Aesop Rock – spits more
words than most can handle in a lyrical jigsaw puzzle that amazes the ear [Music
For Earth Worms (1998), Appleseed EP (1999), Float (2000), Labor Days (2001), Daylight
EP (2002), Bazooka Tooth (2003), Fast Cars, Danger, Fire, and Knives (2005),
Coffee VLS (2007)]
·
B Dolan – beard-brother
of Sage Francis on Strange Famous records spouting politically conscious dark
hip-hop [The Failure (2008), House of Bees Vol 1 (2009), Fallen House, Sunken
City (2010), House of Bees Vol 2 (2012)]
·
Beastie Boys – not a huge
fan, but it has Intergalactic [Hello Nasty (1998)]
·
Black Star – authentic intelligent
hip-hop from two legitimate MC’s [Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
(2002)]
·
The Fugees – I bought this
on sale last year, not as important to me as it is to its genre, but I can see
why it’s place to others [The Score (1996)]
·
Jay-Z – I respect the
industry of the guy. Borders on not
really being in my wheel-house, but songs like Death To Audiotune made me
interested enough to check out. The
unplugged album is my favorite, because it is stripped down from a lot of the
commercial show-me rapping about rapping shit I dislike that mitigates my
interest in this style of hip hop [Unplugged (2001), The Black Album (2003),
The Blueprint 3 (2009)]
·
K’naan – Somali
authentic poetic hip-hop of usurping true poverty and grabbing a heart and
still dancing [The Dusty Foot Philosopher (2008), Troubadour (2009), More
Beautiful Than Silence (2012), Country, God or the Girl (2012)]
·
KRS-One – authentic urban
street MC that can command an audience and spit [Playlist: The Very Best of
KRS-One (2010)]
·
Mos Def – straight hip
hop with deep thoughts and Michael Jackson pop hooks when he feels like it [Black
on Both Sides (2002), The New Danger (2004), The Ecstatic (2009)]
·
Public Enemy – The hip-hop
version of The Clash challenging the establishment with intelligence and the
power of the underground [Fear of a Black Planet (1994). It Takes A Nation of
Millions to Hold us Back (1995), Power to the People: Public Enemy’s Greatest
Hits (2005)]
·
The Roots – Black Thought
will make you think and real hip-hop with real instrument musicianship [The
Roots Come Alive (1999), Things Fall Apart (2004), How I Got Over (2010), Undun
(2011)]
·
Sage Francis – Public Enemy
influenced spoken word hip-hop MC master of the slam speaking of the darkness,
the anti-commercial with indie hip-hop cred operates Strange Famous Records [Sick
of Waiting Tables (2001), Personal Journals (2002), Sick of Raging War (2002), Still
Sickly tBusiness (2005), Road Tested Live 2003-2005 (2006), Human The Death
Dance (2007), A Healthy Distrust (2008),
Li(f)e (2010), Ubuntu (2012)]
·
Scroobius Pip – British
hip-hop a bit political on Strange Famous records Distraction Pieces (2011)
·
Talib Kweli – spoken word
artist poetic hip hop with rhyme skill [Reflection Eternal [Train of Thought]
(2002)]
·
A Tribe Called
Quest
– foundational hip hop collective [The Anthology (1999)]
Jazz/ classic
singers
·
Billie Holiday – Voice,
classic, beautiful for a quiet night [The Complete Billie Holiday (2009)]
·
Charlie “Bird”
Parker
– upbeat jazz [The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes (2009)]
·
Duke
Ellington – jazz, straight up horn [Best of Duke Ellington (2008)]
·
Ella Fitzgerald – command the
room female jazz voice [Pure Ella (1998), Essential Ella Fitzgerald (2010)]
·
Esperenza
Spalding
– new school bass playing jazz artist [Radio Music Society (2012)]
·
Frank Sinatra – Not a huge
fan, but the guy could belt it [Classic Sinatra – His Great Performances
1953-1960 (2000), The 20 Greatest Hits (2012)]
·
Gene Austin – I bought this
for my grandmother and got into it of what they use to dance to back in the day
[The Voice of the Southland – Greatest Hits (2010)]
·
John Coltrane – The
definition of a saxophone player. The sax icon [A Love Supreme (1965), The
Greatest Hits (2010)]
·
Miles Davis – The trumpet
player icon of modern jazz [Bitches Brew (1969), Kind of Blue (), The Complete
Birth of Cool (1998), Panthalassa: The Remixes (1999), Miles Davis Plays For
Lovers (2006), 10 Greatest Hits (2009)]
·
Nat King Cole – A world class
voice a la Sinatra [The World of Nat King Cole: His Very Best (2005)]
·
Norah Jones – Her first
album is classic [Come Away With Me (2002), ..Featuring (2010)]
·
Thelonious Monk – The jazz
pianist icon [Genius of Modern Music: Vol 1 (2001)]
Compilations
·
Idiot’s
Guide to Classical Music (2002)
·
Divas
of Jazz
The classical
music one is great because it is 30 second excerpts to give you a rotating
taste of some of the best compositions without having to listen to ten
minutes. It’s like classical music for
punks.
Indie
·
The Airborne
Toxic Event
– Los Angeles based indie-emo rock with great lyrics and musicianship of
college-educated Gen Xers [The Airborne Toxic Event (2007), All I Ever Wanted:
Live from Walt Disney Concert Hall (2010), All At Once (2011)]
·
A Fine Frenzy – female voiced
emotional slow music [One Cell In the Sea (2007)]
·
Arcade Fire – An orchestra
in a band of indie fury and layered musicianship [The Suburbs (2010)]
·
Beach House – low-key
haunting sparkle music [Teen Dream (2010)]
·
Julian
Casablancas
– solo project of singer from the Strokes with tingling electronic melodies [Phrazes
For the Young (2009)]
·
MGMT – acid/punk/dance
with infectious hooks [Time To Pretend (2009), Congratulations (2010)]
·
Nine Inch Nails –Trent Reznor
pulls at the darkness and makes you look at it in an industrial
piano/guitar/drum assault confrontation [Pretty Hate Machine (1989) Broken
(2004), The Downward Spiral (1994), The Fragile (1999) [I had a bunch of
singles and others and they were all stolen.
Most of these are digital replacements for some of those.]]
·
Pink Floyd – not a huge
fan, but I see why people are addicted [Animals (1977), The Wall (1979)]
·
The Postal
Service
– indie rock document [Give Up (2005)]
·
Radiohead – not a huge
fan either. But icons of indie and have listened and seen why people enjoy them
[OK Computer (2003), The Best of (2008)]
·
Regina Spektor – quirky
endearing singer/piano with Russian influence that makes you fall in love [Begin
To Hope (2006), Far (2009), Live In London (2010), What We Saw From the Cheap
Seats (2012)]
·
Rilo Kiley – indie female
singer band [The Execution of All Things (2002)]
·
Soul Coughing – drug/jazz/upright
bass New York poetic groove rock [Ruby Vroom (1994), Irresistible Bliss (1996),
El Oso (1998)]
·
Talking Heads – not a huge
fan either, but enjoyable indie big sounds [Little Creatures (1985), Stop Making
Sense (1999)]
·
They Might Be
Giants
– more cute than adult in my experience. But I saw them and got this album a
while back[Flood (1990)]
·
Vampire Weekend – English
major, juxtaposition of images indie/rock infectious candy with more going on
than at first glance [Vampire Weekend (2008), Conra (2010)]
·
Velvet
Underground
– I use to big a bigger Lou Reed fan than I am now, his LuLu Metallica project
really made me question everything [The Velvet Underground (1967)]
·
Weston – cute
highschool indie rock band [Got Beat Up (1996), Matinee (1997)]
·
311 – fun and sometimes
childish rock/rap that can put down hooks 311, a little too much like a frat
party at times, but I had an ex who had them as her favorite band so I have
seen them several times and have respect for what they brought to the table
after an ocean of inferior imitators [(1995), Greatest Hits ’93 – ’03 (2004),
The Very Best of 311 (2010), 8/16/2011 Morrison CO (2011)]
·
Augustus Pablo – solid reggae
[King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (1976)]
·
Bob Marley – The Bob Dylan
of Reggae, the icon of human rights, soul gripping smiling at death and
enjoying life music. His catalog is un-paralleled in his genre [ Live! (1975),
Legend (1984), Songs of Freedom (1999), The Anthology (2008), Definitive Gold
Discs 1 to 5 ()]
·
Chris Murry – Solid
ska/rocksteady peaceful unity music [Adventures of Venice Shoreline Chris
(1996), 4-Trackaganza! (2001),]
·
Desmond Dekker – A reggae Sam
Cooke [Isralites: The Best of Desmond Dekker (2002), You Can Get It If You
Really Want: The Definitive (2005)]
·
Fela Kuti – The lord of
Afrobeat with more layered grooves, basses and funk than anyone on the planet
has ever created. He also had a harem. [Two Sides of Fela: Jazz & Dance (1975),
Expensive Shit (1975)]
·
Jimmy Cliff – Reggae /rock steady
superstar, the last item was produced by Tim Armstrong of Rancid and brings a
lot of music full circle [Ultimate Collection: Jimmy Cliff (1999), Rebirth
(2012)]
·
Lee “Scratch”
Perry
– dub/reggae master for chilling joy [Upsetter (2000), High Plains Drifter
(2012)]
·
Toots and the
Maytals
– reggae with horns and rhythms that bring pure joy and love [Time Tough: The Anthology (1996)]
·
Westbound Train – reggae/ska
new school [Transitions (2006)]
Comps
·
100
Reggae & Ska hits (2011)
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