who were the band who were (... or are) most ahead of their time?
im thinking this heat. cant imagine hearing them in '76. must have been pretty cool. noise rockish stuff while punk was still kickin, 7 years after cream were number 1 in the album charts? whoa man.
that or daft punk or something
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String Driven Thing made an album that sounds like
the Arcade Fire and/or something that Warren Ellis might be involved with in 1973
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_kGO1w5Rw
(listen all the way through)
i did!
sounds surprisingly post rockish (this is probably the wrong term but its only what came to mind apart from what you said) with folk tinges and stuff. considering the year - whoa.
still not as big a break as This Heat tho, I think
there was a whole load of amazing prog(ish) bands from that time
like these guys, and some of the stuff associated with Hawkwind's extended family who were doing stuff most experimental/post rock type bands these days couldn't dream of
when i have time i might make a good list thread
Speaking of ahead of their time
i listened to 'Pygmalion' by Slowdive for the first time the other day and i was amazed at home contemporary it sounded, especially in comparison to their more shoegazey 'Souvlaki' stuff. At moments its well Burial-esque.
all about chad
http://www.last.fm/music/All+About+Chad/_/Japanese+Couple+in+Reverse?autostart
=
that SHOUTY NOISY TWEE stuff going around at the minute
except not shit
actually, anything off the pop american style compilation
This
especially PEE, who are bloody fantastic
Bowie of course. Bands are still only catching up with him now.
i was going to '^this' this, but its so true it needs a comment
prettymuch
I'm not sure about Bowie
True, he was the Guv. But he tended to be just as much an influencee as an influencer.
Joe Meek?
I'm not sure if the stuff Scott Walker does these days is ahead of his time, but certainly not much out there like it.
Can
just listen to almost any of their earlier stuff, for example Tago Mago, incredibly fresh sounding album.
also, this album:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HI7FnZDDL._SS500_.jpg
for a band that was pretty ahead, yeah?
let me rephrase that.
before this the whole white band playing dubz was pretty unheard of in popular music.
silver apples?
and
United States of America
definitely
came here to post this.
bands/artists yeah?
miles davis
yeah bad wording on my part
artists, anything/one that makes music basically
Black Sabbath
It begins and ends here, baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjOdcAyXqps
Didnt you lose
your virginity to this track?
Great stuff.
Yeah
it's a real life-changer.
didn't mean to 'this' that
but might as well've.
The Beatles
This Heat
+1
hilarious - saw this thread, thought THIS HEAT instantly
love'em. check out Camberwell Now, straight after
On the Corner by Miles Davis, by the way, is pioneering jazz-spacefunk, and sounds like Tortoise
see also:
King Crimson invent Slint, with "Red"
Glenn Branca invents GYBE! (album # 3) with "The Ascension"
defo check out camberwell now
along with many other bands mentioned.
cheers!
The Pixies
Bands still get away with making music that sounds exactly like them.
im just going to throw in Disco Inferno here
post rock before there was post rock, with beats and samples and stuff
not in the same league as This Heat, or Bowie or whatever, but still pretty cool. also in the growing out of post punk vein. good review here
http://icoulddietomorrow.blogspot.com/2008/11/disco-inferno-summers-last-sound.html
They look pretty great.
Also A.R. Kane were pretty post-rock before post-rock.
As were Pere Ubu post-punk before punk.
And the Silver Apples were cool electronic before everything
But I think the grand winner of this thread has to be Delia Derbyshire with this little offering:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7512490.stm
yeah...
....i was listening to 'em last night - i hadn't heard them in so long. i'm surprised and how good it still is....
I came into this thread just to post Disco Inferno
my other choice would probably be Sonic Youth simply because their use of alternate guitar tunings was not only hugely influential but also something that hadn't been employed to a large degree at that point.
Chrome
they still sound ahead of their time now.
Mission of Burma would be my other pick.
in my lifetime =
BLUE LINES era massive attack. hearing that album the first time was like a whole new world opening up. 6,7,8 years later just about everything sounded like it had some kind reference to it. madonna, U2, bjork.. everyone sounded like a bunch of stoned just-off-the-dole-Bristolians from 1990.
easy.
kraftwerk or suicide
silly question though.....
..or maybe some old blues guy...
^this
I was going to say Kraftwerk and Suicide too.
Joe Meek?
I'm not sure if the stuff Scott Walker does these days is ahead of his time, but certainly not much out there like it.
Yeah, This Heat are pretty oot thar, mang.
I think Glenn Branca sounds quite forward-thinking. I always thought he just made music like Sonic Youth's noise freakouts and discordant droning, but then I heard 'Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar': it was like Holy shit, colour and magic have flooded instantly into my ears and my eyes are open - I can see the music erupt gloriously in front of me like a bright new morning at the end of the world and feel the rays cascade down, surrounding me, warming my skin and lifting me upwards, upwards, upwards out of the mediocrity of humanity and onto the wondrous Beyond.
Devo
or
this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2Wmto9fQY
Marty McFly
I think this topic is always a tad stupid when it comes up
Surely anything that is new/different at its time could be considered ahead of its time? like Kraftwerk (mentioned above)... they were pioneers of there genre but I think it would sound out of place if it was a new release now.. not that its a bad album, it just clearly sounds 'of its time'.
what a load of shit, you didn't think about that before you posted did you.
expect that it...
.....doesn't sound of it's time.
Karl Stockhausen
End of thread.
Babylon Zoo
Throbbing Gristle
would still be amazing if they we're just starting out just now.
Of mere recent tenure: John Zorn's Moonchild
MC5,
Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Boredoms
The Monks?
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+monks&search_type=&aq=f
Pretty kickin' for 1965. Otherwise, all those avant garde composers maybe.
How about Delia Derbyshire?
http://www.delia-derbyshire.org/
And I'm gonna give Kraftwerk another mention.
And, laugh all you like, but Jesus Jones were one of the first groups to achieve mainstream success and chart with stuff that mixed rock riffs and samples with electronica. Perverse was the first rock album recorded entirely digitally (with lead vocals being the only non-sampled acoustic instrument).
Public Enemy, apart from being one of the first hip-hop groups to go internationally stellar, were one of the first groups to release a full album on the web (in 1999) before it became available on CD.
'Jesus Jones were one of the first groups to achieve mainstream success and chart with stuff that mixed rock riffs and samples with electronica'
ahem....
http://www.pweination.co.uk/pwei/
You're taking the piss, right?
IT'S CALLED PWEI-ISATION!
:D
:D
You'll not find me dissing PWEI. Not ever.
And I don't like to resort to putting emphasis on chart positions, but Jesus Jones edge out PWEI on that level. But, yeah, PWEI were just about on the scene first, but only marginally.
Can U Dig It?
Feels like
KARMAAAAA!
Yep, i can indeed - thanks, think i'll hum cicciolina to myself for the rest of the day now :)
I think Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band come close to fitting this bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9msDItyYvxo&feature=related
i think Chrome Hoof might be from the future or another planet ot something
futuristic costumes fo sho
but they are a simple fusion formula Metal Funk Opera- not very futuristic
LOVE CHROME HOOF
HOOF CHROME LOVE
CHROME LOVE HOOF
HOOF LOVE CHROME
CHROME HOOF LOVE
true
manuel gottsching e2-e4
How about this...
Recorded in 1928 & sounding uncannily like My Bloody Valentine! Hoyt Ming and his Pep Steppers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wz7K-Kry8k&feature=related
apart from having a lot of background noise/fuzz (which is probably due to old old recording)
i dont get the comparison
Talk Talk's last two albums
were pretty ahead of their time. Maybe for being a bit less obtuse than Laughing Stock, Spirit of Eden sounds especially prescient - from 1987 and you could reasonably point to it having as much a claim to being the first post-rock album as Slint or whoever... and a song like 'Desire' is singing from a pretty similar hymnsheet as 00s Radiohead.
All of these:
Kraftwerk
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
Young Marble Giants
Underworld
Can
Maybe... Au Pairs
cardiacs
Came here to say this :D
guys,
can we get an explanation as to WHY these bands were ahead of their time rather than just lists. no ones going to check out them out if justs a bloody band name. lets get some discussion up in here
THANKS
Kraftwerk - Because they sounded really ahead of their time.
Captain Beefheart - Because they sounded really ahead of their time.
YMG - Because they sounded really ahead of their time.
Underworld - Because they sounded really ahead of their time.
Can - Because they sounded really ahead of their time.
In all seriousness, I wasn't there with 4 of those, it's more that I hear
everything else that came out around then and whats out now, and they sound like nothing around back then and sit nicely along side 2009's crop.
YMG I like because their music is so barren and empty, yet danceable and intricate. They remind me of a lot of the qualities The XX show, but I like them far more.
Can just rule my world. And I put 'Safe as milk' on for the first time ever a year back and was blown away.
As for Underworld, I just think they're immense. They combined arty visuals, abstract random words, bits of found samples, instrumentation and have done music ranging from club anthems to bleak post-rock. They're the only band that manage to do all of these things without being total wank.
TALKING HEADS
moroder/ donna summer for i feel love
don't think there was electronic house music before this. made the template for todays club music over 30 years ago.
Discharge
pioneers who were completely ahead of the game
How the fuck am I the first person to mention Wire?
You all want shooting.
Chairs Missing and 154 are so ahead of the curve, it's like they didn't even know what steering wheels were for.
Why have Refused not been mentioned?
Or Will Haven, hearing bands still trying very hard to emulate this and failing,
So much of what they had done is coming through, not sure if they were ahead of their time or if they precipitated it.
this one
needs no explanation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2Wmto9fQY
Frank Zappa anyone?
He was ahead of his time on so many levels I'm not sure where to begin listing them. The ability to produce something like 60-80 albums of mind bending, genre-defying music while gaining a huge cult following, being acclaimed by critics the world over, whilst being rude about everyone and still never managing to be at the top of lists such as this one makes him deserving of a place.
In addition I'd like to drop Lee 'Scratch' Perry in. Listen to some of The Upsetters best work and wonder how Burial can be seen as so great. (And I really like Burial)
Like, like, like!
I'm saying it again
Karl Stockhausen influenced half the bands on this thread - Can, Kraftwerk, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, The Beatles, Throbbing Gristle, etc.
looking at it like that
I must mention Varèse and Satie even before that as influences of many of the bands mentioned here. Varèse as one of the first to compose with electronically driven equipment (or however one might want to describe what he used). Satie played with notions in music that at the time were perceived as pure noise even though we might be completely accustomed to them now.
All in all what we are talking about here is avant-garde music and there has been a lot of that around since at least Monteverdi (he attempted to recreate the sound/noise of thunder in one of his opera's) who called upon his critics to open up to new ways of dealing with harmonies.
Since the second half of the nineteenth century the term avant-garde actually comes into play. Taken from the French vanguard, which were the first in battle. This does not mean that those in the avant-garde of music are not influenced by others, but that they have taken these influences and turned them into something which has not been heard before.
Fast forward to the 21st century and we're in a musical soundscape which has been so vastly explored that creating something all together new has become near to impossible. It is thus about the combination of influences, recognising them and playing with them. Zappa did this, Stockhausen did this and the person alive who is doing this in the most shockingly wonderful way, i think, is John Zorn. If you can create something like Bar Kokbha and Naked City and Moonchild you are one insanely creative person.
i like this post
quite a bit
THE GEEKS
from 1965-1981... crazy /postpunk/ art jazz rock!
The Monks must have...
seemed somewhat odd and out of place at the time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLOrfPyhEfI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3fAzQzgeSc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5iI0__9S1c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdrJ-_iGmjE
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Geez! The guy even had to invent his own instruments to get the sounds he wanted!
Definitely This Heat
These 2:
These 2
Cardiacs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhuQWKwbqY
Talk Talk - in particular the last 2 albums they did in the late eighties...Check out "spirit of eden"....they influenced Mogwai and Radiohead bigtime.
Editors
Portishead
"Third" is at least ten years ahead of everything.
Cooper Temple Clause
Utterly pre-empted the digital-indie/indie-dance/synth'n'guitars crossover which has happened post-LCD/Soulwax (which was in part instigated by XTRMNTR)
The Cooper Temple Clause – See This Through And Leave: http://open.spotify.com/album/3PFi7kQUpcXhib2ifH0dlk
Didn't realise this Soulwax album was 1995?
Soulwax – Leave the Story Untold: http://open.spotify.com/album/7h4bHaBzP7wVNqfLoPIjiT
I read the first part of your post, and couldn't spit 'XTRMNTR' fast enough.
But then I read the rest :O
"digital-indie/indie-dance/synth'n'guitars crossover"
Hmmmm.
I'm sticking by my shout for Jesus Jones on that front (http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4204155#r4963314). And, as acknowledged, PWEI deserve an honourable mention, also.
I <3 XTRMNTR, LCD, The Rapture, and other 'punk-funk' stuff, but that was more an evolution of things that others have done previously, rather than something genuinely new and coming from seemingly nowhere. Alongside Jesus Jones' key albums in 89, 91, & 93, Utah Saints (on I Want You & New Gold Dream) were also splashing rock riffs all over dance music in 92. The Shamen also deserve a mention at this point (Boss Drum in 92). And don't be too quick to knock EMF either (92's Stigma is worth a listen and surpasses 91's weak-apart-from-the-singles Schubert Dip). The Prodigy ran with that momentum and spanned the 90's, going from from Experience (92) to Jilted Gen(94) to Fat of the Land (97). Going from that to XTMNTR (2000) doesn't seem like such a big leap, IMO.
If we're talking about Primal Scream leading the pack, then we need to talk about Screamadelica. And that owes a big debt to Andrew Weatherall. The Scream are rarely originators, but they're very genuine music fans who are extremely good at taking something and giving it a new energy.
And they lyrics to Losing My Edge show that James Murphy knows he's not really any kind of maverick. But, like the Scream, he is a huge music fan who has made a good job of pushing things forward.
(Speaking of pushing things forward, does The Streets' debut deserve a mention?)
But obviously most stuff comes from somewhere, and punk-funk goes back through Indie-dance via post-punk to disco & funk, and back to blues & gospel, etc.
Delia Derbyshire is still my pick.
For me, its Battles
The first time I heard them I can honestly say I had never heard anything like it.
You should listen to some Krautrock
like Can or Neu!
Harmonia
Music Von Harmonia
I don't think you can single any single artist out,
but people like:
James Brown
Bo Diddley
Chuck Berry
Howlin Wolf
Velvet Underground
Jimi Hendrix
Can
Kraftwerk
Juan Atkins
The Sonics
The Monks
Brian Eno
Disco Inferno
D.I. Go Pop is among the greatest albums ever and if it were released today, it would be relatively popular or I like to think it would be. But for now, its just a oft-forgotten masterpiece.
very influential for this generation was Angelo Badalamenti's work for Lynch's movies, especially classic Twin Peaks. if you search the myspace profiles of contemporary artists, almost everybody has Twin Peaks
and maybe Nick Drake. he recycled strings and classical arrangements of the past and put it into his always-fresh-chamber guitar music.
Moondog
Still can't believe his recordings are from the 50s!
soundtracker dudes
like Ussachevsky ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Ussachevsky ) and Oskar Sala ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Sala ) sound utterly out of time to me. Another vote for Raymond Scott too. And out of the krautrock stuff, I'd say Cluster. Listen to 'Cluster '71', 'Zuckerzeit', 'Sowiesoso', it's pretty hard to come to terms these are early to mid 70s records.
Some weird calls in this thread.