In the spirit of the books and movies threads, here's one to talk about what you're listening to lately and what you have discovered. Tell us if you like it, what it reminds you of, anything you like, short or not, simple or not.

Like the books thread, I'd ask that we keep it mostly to stuff we are listening to or going to listen to soon, or have just finished listening to (that is, like a log more than a resume).

Below is my first entry.
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Bonnie Raitt, by Bonnie Raitt.

My understanding is that this was her first record, which she made when she was 21. Nine out of the eleven songs are covers; the two she wrote are "Thank You" and "Finest Loving Man," and both are good.

I really liked this album. Bonnie's voice is much sweeter here than I've heard her before, and very warm, traveling between notes more fluently, and not yet as raspy sounding as it became. (Which I also like in its own way.) Despite the sweetness of her voice she manages to put some heart into the bluesy material, and sings with what sounds like a real love for the lyrics. It's great to hear someone who doesn't just walk through lyrics. She sounds like she really thought and felt her way through the songs. Many of the most gifted and popular singers out there don't, winding up leaving a lot of a song's power still on the table, so to speak.*

From an Amazon.com review:

I really enjoyed Walking Blues a lot and wanted to hear it immediately again, but decided to let the rest of the album play out instead of interrupting its flow. The album is good enough that I think I'm going to listen to it again.

By the way, it's in the Rhapsody's catalogue, if you have that service. It's also at Amazon, and the MP3 256kbps download is on sale there for $2.99. You can listen to samples there too.

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*This reminds me of a biography of John Denver that I saw on PBS the other day. I'm not a big Denver fan, but the biography was so good that this is the second time I felt compelled to watch it. Anyway, in it his manager said that at a particular concert Denver sounded exceptionally good, and it seemed like the audience noticed it. His manager recalls saying something like, "Your voice was incredible today. How did you do it?" Denver replied that he was trying to do what he learned from Placido Domingo when they worked together. He said he was amazed by how deep Domingo's art was; he didn't just sing a line, but put the right emotion into it word by word. If he was going to sing about a piece of steel, his voice would sound like steel. Every line was emotionally full, clear, and precise.

I got a bit of a feeling of that in this Raitt album. Raitt very much inhabited those songs when she sang. Unlike some spoiled divas, the newly emergent Raitt got across the feeling that she was glad to be there.

I was listening to the radio today and the dj lost it with the playlist. In amongst the total confusion he managed to get this on, which I thought was one good song for djs to fall back on when that happens.

Elvis Costello - Pump it Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpprOGsLWUo

I got some Itunes gift cards the other day so bought myself some albums I couldn't buy locally or had not thought about for ages, they were:

Cigarettes and Gasoline: Emerson Hart, he is the lead singer from a band I liked a few years a go called Tonic and I saw this album and decided to pick it up. It's not too bad a typical Singer/songwriter acoustic type album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0tK70gN190

Half these Songs are about you: Nizlopi, Had this song on my ipod for ages and decided to get the whole album, it's a good album. I like the singers voice its just different to what I normally listen to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3WhQB7Hq0Q

Leviathan: Mastodon, the metal band I listen to most at the moment, started with their album called Blood Mountain and just ended up buying all their albums and this was the only one I couldn't find. Great music for working out, their latest album is the best album I have bought this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=labytsb3gfI
And from their latest album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aynm0sWpNSo
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=labytsb3gfI (Long 10mins+)

Ocean of Confusion: Screaming Trees, this is pretty much a best of type of album of one of the bands I used to listen to when I was younger, they were a band that became semi big in the "Grunge" era. Just a bit different to all the bands that were out at that time and the singer Mark Lanegan is great, he has put out a lot of solo stuff and sings with Queens of the Stone Age on occasion as well.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...28802825471459

So nothing ground breaking or anything, just albums I could not find or songs and bands that I have liked in the past and had a chance to grab their albums so I did.

tl;dr Inme right now. Like bob and foos editors radiohead (obv) mastodon but inme are unreak

I listened to the Pixies and They Might Be Giants all day today. TMBG's more recent albums, Mink Car and The Spine. They are true geniuses and shamefully underappreciated.

I'll have what he's having.

Right now i'm listening to Air Supply's "Sunset."

Never get exposed to new music these days- Much Music (and I assume MTVwhatever) plays non-stop bands where the members are like literally 12. Not a whole lotta songwriting skills developed by the age of 12 (or 17).

Noisettes could be awsome.

Life's Too Good - 1988 album from The Sugarcubes.

Pandora on my Palm-pre. I'm so burned out on songs I've heard a hundred times.. always looking for something new.

Some of my current favorite Pandora stations are Benny Goodman, Les Paul, Robert Earl Keen and Jeff Beck.. to name a few.

Waking up to a little Soundgarden b.m.f.

Sitting here like wet ashes with X's in my eyes and drawing fliessssssss

on deck- superunknown, or perhaps some sabbath bloody sabbath, maybe a lil qotsa.

As I write this the song playing on my IPhone is "Beautiful Thing" by Slaid Cleaves.

I had never heard of him prior to seeing him open for Guy Clark. For those that are fans of the folk side of country, he is worth a listen.

I listened to Steve Winwood this morning.

With The Spencer Davis Group,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LVI1gDswg&feature=fvw

With Blind Faith,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUW1SGF7bR8

With Traffic,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlbgqmxXNY

Right now,I'm listening to a new band out of London called The xx:

Crystalised

This morning I listened to a little Okkervil River.

Bon Iver. If you like Fleet Foxes, you will love Bon Iver.

Skinny Love

funny, I love Bon Iver but hate Fleet Foxes.

You are one strange dude.

Not really, but I think the sound of both bands are very similar.

Do you know any other bands that have this sound?

I just found these guys too. Very good stuff.

Band of Horses are similar, I guess....don' like them, either. A lot of the indie/folk sounds similar to me

I'm listening to my itunes library on random shuffle.

Playing at the moment is . . .

Oh yea, good call on Band of Horses. I have the album Cease to Begin but have only listened to it once or twice.

yesssssssss

I finally started listening to the Arctic Monkeys. I always thought they were just some crappy English flavor of the month type thing, but I got Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, and it's really good.

Just DL'd tiesto's Disco'g.

My cat, who insists on playing with his teeth.

Blarg,

Speaking of John Denver, remember this?

Never saw that one before.