Tropical Island Music Artist Draft - FINIS

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Okay, time for me to do this before I talk myself out of it again. But let's be clear here -- I think these guys are tops and am really looking forward to their future. The ONLY thing holding me back from taking them in my top 20 was catalog size. A truly current artist, they only have one LP released last year, with their second due out before the end of the year. But they also have an earlier EP, a decent catalog of stuff available in live versions on Itunes, and at least another dozen songs up at youtube that aren't on the first LP. I'm gonna take every bit of that diaspora I can somehow fit under the rules becuase these guys are a blast:



Mumford & Sons

Coming out of the newly minted London folk scene, this is the sort of band that gives me hope for the musical future in the face of the endless wash of autotuned talentless studio made hacks on the radio. Consisting of four talented multi-instrumentalists and a seemingly endless stream of their musical friends as guests and contributors, to say this is a talented musical crew is a understatement. Any particular song can have almost any instrument known to man thrown together in these vastly interesting combinations -- mandolins, upright bass, bass drums, accordions, banjos, keyboards, organs, pianos, guitars, horns...you name it, and it makes an appearance. And yet it always remains distinctly Mumford & Sons. They rarely go with a standard drum kit, and yet remain one of the most rhythmic bands in my, or any of our, catalogs, often mixing in country stomps to their choruses. They've got got a great sense of dynamics and singalong melodies, and when they go loud the wall of background noise they produce is constantly shifiting and moving and endlessly entertaining.

I got turned onto these guys by a friend who otherwise has pretty crappy muscial tastes. Okay, pretty different tastes than mine. Which is to say crappy. Anyway, she struck gold with this one though. I now pass on the favor. Take a listen:



 
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Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
Sometimes decisions are hard. But sometimes starting a write-up makes a decision so much easier, kind of like this one: Spoon



I didn’t have any idea of this until I started researching this pick, but Metacritic determined (via algorithm) that Spoon was the top overall artist of the ‘00s - and the reason that they got this honor is that all of their albums are consistently great. Spoon is another “iTunes Music Store” band for me - the suggestions kept putting up this cover that was reminiscent of one of the Star Wars Emperor’s Royal Guards and I finally had to click on it to look at it, caved in and gave it a listen. 30 seconds of “The Beast and Dragon, Adored” sold me. Britt Daniels has this mildly gravelly voice that just hits that sweet spot between smooth and harsh, and Spoon just has this fantastic imperative push through almost all their songs, yet they’re never too heavy; these songs just impel themselves. Try to stop one, and you’ll fail.

Years active: 1993-present
Catalog: 7 studio albums and 7 EPs (~6h)
Landmark songs: Everything Hits At Once, Stay Don’t Go, The Way We Get By, I Turn My Camera On, The Underdog
Songs I keep coming back to:
The Beast and Dragon, Adored - Definitely one of my favorite songs ever; such random yet precise guitar noise
Chicago At Night - A great song that just slinks its way through three minutes
 
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Sometimes decisions are hard. But sometimes starting a write-up makes a decision so much easier, kind of like this one: Spoon
Pretty awesome picks. Mumford & Sons is quite bold, considering their rather inextensive catalogue, but I agree with the premise, they're definitely going to put out some great music in the future. Sigh No More is a particular favourite of mine. As for Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a brilliant album. Sadly, I'm unfamiliar with the rest they've done, but that one is already close to enough to warrant a pick.
 
I like the Mumford pick, was considering them. A big factor in not drafting them was that one of my semi-friends has a serious man-crush on them, and he's a massive hipster. I know I shouldn't let it, but he's kind of ruining them for me.
 

Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
As for Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a brilliant album. Sadly, I'm unfamiliar with the rest they've done, but that one is already close to enough to warrant a pick.
If you like Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, you probably owe it to yourself to check out Girls Can Tell, Kill The Moonlight, and Gimme Fiction. I think I like all three of those even more, but they should be comparable at any rate.
 
One of those bands that integrate a little bit of everything. Their music just makes me want to move. First heard of them back in the early 00s. I thought they were unique and I went ahead and researched them to find that I really enjoyed their stuff. The more I listened, the more I loved. Their "Colorblind" album is still one of my favorite albums ever.



Robert Randolph & The Family Band

[video=youtube;PtxYAQt8Fhg&feature=related]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtxYAQt8Fhg&feature=related[/video]
[video=youtube;2C3b1fmMmKM&feature=fvst]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C3b1fmMmKM&feature=fvst[/video]
[video=youtube;xxcLNHasPx4&feature=relmfu]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxcLNHasPx4&feature=relmfu[/video]
 
Well....I'm kinda breaking my own rule on this one. There are probably bigger fans of this band on this board than me, but I'm not letting them fall anymore. And getting one of my favorite (and arguably top 10 of all time) songs at this point in the draft?...I'll take it.



Journey

And for the 3rd time in this draft, I finally get a song that I missed out on in both iPod drafts (Killing in the Name, California Love, and Don't Stop Believin')


I also completely forgot that an earlier pick of mine, Rise Against, did a cover of Any Way You Want It
 
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well....I'm kinda breaking my own rule on this one. There are probably bigger fans of this band on this board than me, but I'm not letting them fall anymore. And getting one of my favorite (and arguably top 10 of all time) songs at this point in the draft?...I'll take it.



Journey
And here I always thought these guys were going to Prophetess. But she kept passing on them and passing on them, and now you took the leap. Tough band for me. I actually had them sitting on my list with a ?? after them. 25 years ago hey no hesitation at all. Huge band, a lot of great stuff going deep into a greatest hits album. And Steve Perry could seriously sing. When I made my Boyz II Men pick I noted that they covered a Journey song, and that even those guys did not even come close to matching Perry's vox on the song. Not even close. But all that said, Journey just keeps on getting more dated for me, and oh the cheese, the cheese, how it hurts. Glad somebody took them though. There are a lot of bands not 1/10th as talented that have gone before them.

P.S. come on man, you gotta use a main pic with the classic Perry led lineup. :p
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
P.S. come on man, you gotta use a main pic with the classic Perry led lineup. :p
I know that's sad, looks like its not even the feel good Phillipino karaoke singer but Steve Augeri, which always had me scratching my head if the thought they could replace Perry with a guy with a phonetically similar name and nobody would be the wiser.

I kind of like Journey but I'd never pick them.
 
And here I always thought these guys were going to Prophetess. But she kept passing on them and passing on them, and now you took the leap. Tough band for me. I actually had them sitting on my list with a ?? after them. 25 years ago hey no hesitation at all. Huge band, a lot of great stuff going deep into a greatest hits album. And Steve Perry could seriously sing. When I made my Boyz II Men pick I noted that they covered a Journey song, and that even those guys did not even come close to matching Perry's vox on the song. Not even close. But all that said, Journey just keeps on getting more dated for me, and oh the cheese, the cheese, how it hurts. Glad somebody took them though. There are a lot of bands not 1/10th as talented that have gone before them.

P.S. come on man, you gotta use a main pic with the classic Perry led lineup. :p
Hahaha just home from a long day and grabbed the first pic I saw without really looking at it. Actually going to change it now that it's been brought to my attention though lol Perry was too good to not showcase. And too cheesy? Coming from the guy that took Billy Idol a round ago?:p
 
And here I always thought these guys were going to Prophetess. But she kept passing on them and passing on them, and now you took the leap. :p
if we were doing a bands i would be tortured with on an island, then yes I would pick them. I had an ex who was overly obsessed with them, not only were they overplayed on the radio, they were overplayed by him and I would be perfectly happy to not ever listen to them again and I will not tolerate their music on my island.
 
I was wondering if anyone would pick Journey. I considered them briefly but ended up deciding that their career had just a bit too much cheese and filler overall. They do have some songs that I really love like Wheel in the Sky, Lights, Who's Crying Now, and Separate ways and those alone would make them almost worth picking. Also, their pre Steve Perry prog rock stuff is pretty solid and ads some value for anyone who's at all a fan of progressive rock.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
The speed metal guy picked Train? My head exploded. I have nothing kind to say about that band. G3, help me out here.