Whether it be through Genius on Itunes (which I personally find atrocious), LastFM 'you listen to this band, so listen to this band!' recommendations, or just word of mouth, it's pretty hard not to discover new old music. And with online resources being what they now are, the obscure bands of the past are becoming more and more easy to discover; hell, people like Soundway (sp?) Records have made their entire shtick on releasing old Afro-Pop compilations of African/Caribbean artists from the seventies that otherwise would have been long out of print. It's almost to the point where mainstream hard rock fans are going, "Hey man, did you ever hear of Television? Marquee Moon is pretty badass."
Considering that the only real MAJOR release left for me this year is The Suburbs, by Arcade Fire (which I am NOT looking forward to, given the singles), I thought I'd highlight some of the old stuff I've discovered this year.
1. Saint Etienne (1994)
I have a thing for female fronted bands with the word "saint" in their name, so this is really no surprise. Saint Etienne was a nineties' dance act from the UK, a fact which more or less guaranteed that they'd be lost in the RIDICULOUS amount of trip-hop and general dance stuff that also came out in the nineties. However, unlike the majority, stuff like Tiger Bay still holds up; especially "Hug my Soul", which sounds more like loving eighties' post-New Order nostalgia than the same era that brought us Power Rangers.
2. Big Star (1978)
It's sort of depressing to think about the number of rock fans unaware of Big Star. Alex Chilton was a genius, and while I do acknowledge that not EVERYTHING they made was fantastic (to me), a lot of it was. With "Holocaust" and "Blue Moon", Chilton gave McCartney a run for his money when it came to dark, sadly self-aware, existential ballads.
3. Dion (1961)
Now, this is kind of a weird choice, but let me explain: I have been aware of Dion & The Belmonts since childhood. Being from the Bronx and having older parents it was kind of hard not to know fifties' time pieces, such as "Teenager in Love" and "I Wonder Why". However, it wasn't until a few months back that I discovered Dion's first album: Runaround Sue, released in 1961. For an early rock record NOT by the Beatles, IT'S PRETTY GOOD! Doo-wop singers always sounded better to me than the straight rockers like Elvis and Buddy Holly (larger range, less boring), plus Dion looked like a Kennedy, which was pretty cool. That being said, "Runaround Sue" is a pretty obvious classic from an era that wasn't used to such bluntness in lyrics. SHE GOES OUT WITH OTHER FUCKING GUYS PEOPLE! THE GIRL'S A SLUT! ASK HIM! HE KNOWS! It's hilarious to think about Dion pushing the envelope with "Runaround Sue" (not beating around the bush at all), when only six years later The Velvet Underground would release "Heroin".
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