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  3. 129677-2013

80's iconic artists

The Dream Syndicate announced today that they have signed a new record deal with ANTI- which is the label for Jeff Tweedy, Billy Bragg, and others. They will release their first new album in 29 years in the next few months. The new Feelies album is fun and Love Tractor is currently in the studio. Now if only we could get Let's Active, Guadalcanal Diary, the Connells, and the Hoodoo gurus to release some new stuff. Am I too nostalgic? Probably. Is this music going to change the course of world history? Maybe. The reality is that with the daily assault of negative news of one sort or another, it is refreshing to have the simple pleasure and release of new music by artists you respect that bring back memories of the past and creative directions for the future- regardless of musical genre, style, or era.
maxnewid
maxnewid OP
449 posts
 
I agree with you that Squeezing Out Sparks is a classic. Two other artists of this era who have continued to release quality work are Robyn Hitchcock and Lloyd Cole. I think Cole in particular has been underappreciated.
loomisjohnson
1,941 posts
 
I love Hitchcock too, but he's another guy that puts out too many records. His latest, BTW, is vg
maxnewid OP
449 posts
 
You are probably right about Hitchcock. Unfortunately, a lot of the contemporary rock and roll artists I like could probably use a good editor. Guided By Voices and Brian Jonestown Massacre come to mind. At their best, both of those groups release compelling music. At their worst, they produce cacophonous vanity projects only memorable for how bad they are. 
loomisjohnson
1,941 posts
 
gbv/pollard is ridiculous--i just checked and in their various incarnations he's released over 110 unique lps and eps plus countless singles, scores etc. (over 2000 songs). what's surprising is that almost all of the (probably too many) i've heard have something worthwhile in there--the guy is a tunesmith.
bjm is, as you say, compelling at their best and at their worst indulgent or dull, tho like pollard the guy's too much a natural to sound really bad.
maxnewid OP
449 posts
 
No doubt! I think Pollard can cram more hooks into a 2 minute song than just about anyone and I love the 60's Stones jangly guitar vibe that Anton creates. There are some excellent BJM live shows on youtube by the way. In both cases, at least those bands are true originals. They would probably be better known if they would concentrate on quality rather than quantity.
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