March 20, 2005

Curious George: MusicFilter Looking for music recommendations. I recently got a copy of Dummy by Portishead and really like it...

..especially tracks like Pedestal and the one after it, very mellow but with the scratch and "wikiwiki" sounds going on too. Are all of their albums like this? Who else would I like who sounds like that?

posted by Sooooz 19 years ago
  • musicplasma is a great (flash) visual exploration of band recommendations/similarity/popularity. You type in a band name and get a linked map of which bands are similar and which bands are similar to those - a great way to discover similar music. I do have the feeling, however, that every band is only 3 steps away from Radiohead.
  • I love that album. Another good site to browse is allmusic. Some similar bands are Tricky, Massive Attack, Everything But the Girl and Björk. Pretty much anything trip-hop would be similar.
  • Yeah, i'd try the other portishead cds. they're all good. A breath in the same vein, although a bit more gender bending, is Tricky. "Maxinquaye" is a good start. "Nearly God" is a bit more challenging, but also extremely rewarding. Tricky's early work with Massive Attack (see Blue Lines) also does some very interesting things with rolling bass lines and hypnotic vocals. Protection, Mezzanine, and 100th window are also great additions for the music library imho. And the Sneaker Pimps probably fit the bill as well. cheers.
  • Lamearse, that is an awesome site, just for the design alone.
  • Yeah, I've got the Sneaker Pimps album and really like it.
  • interesting george (lifted from Amazon): Tricky's solo debut Maxinquaye single-handedly created the ‘trip-hop’ genre, as a new tag was the only way blown minds could come to grips with the sounds and ideas found on that groundbreaking album
  • Come join the crazies over at Rate Your Music. It takes some time, but enter your ratings for the albums you like and the RYM magic will give you suggestions. Also, feel free to ask in the message boards, people are sometimes sarcastic, but usually friendly. By the way, I'm "Barlights" on that site.
  • Also, Audioscrobbler (my favorite because its affiliation with Last.fm means you can hear full length streaming audio of recommended songs), and then there's Goombah (for Mac users) or Upto11.net as well.
  • And while you're at it, you can join the MonkeyFilter Audioscrobbler group and see what other monkeys are listening to.
  • Try the brazilian girls. They are the new hipster rage in loungey electro music. And they don't suck.
  • I second bjork, and tricky, also maybe check bahamadia if you are more into the hip hop side of trip hop. also posting while drunk is fun
  • Like Portis? Try Laika! And I second Koko's reccs. In similar vein: Lamb's first album is hit-n-miss. I haven't heard anything else from them. You might like DJ Krush. If you like Tricky's earlier work, check out his lead signer Martina Topley-Bird.
  • Nathaniel Merriweather Presents: Lovage, Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady by. It's produced by Dan the Automator (Octagon, Gorrilaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School) and features the amazing voices of Mike Patton (Mr.Bungle, Faith no More, Fantomas, Tommahawk) and Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields). The track Strangers on a Train (Real Player. Streaming) is worth checking out if you like Portishead I think.
  • I second Scartol and say try Laika. Sounds of the Satellites is my favorite with Good Looking Blues a close second.
  • waitingtoderail, thanks for the tip. Not that i'll ever get enough info input to get a decent recommendation, but i enjoyed adding some reviews and ratings.
  • I third Laika, but the best album is Silver Apples on the Moon. By far. All those other opinions? They're wrong. What is it that you like about Portishead? The hip-hop? The chanteuse? Gimme some more and I can recommend more stuff... Oh, and Nearly God is really good too. So is Ruby, who I don't think anyone has recommended yet.
  • JS, I like the scratching and other techno sounds over a laid back beat and smooth tunes, if that makes sense. Sneaker Pimps (at least the first album, I haven't heard any of their other ones) also falls into this realm for me. Thanks to everyone for their recommendations! I'm compiling quite a list.
  • Sooooooooz— Here's a good start then: Nightmares on Wax- Stoner's Delight; Coldcut- Let Us Play; DJ Food- Nocturne; Brokenhearted Dragonflies- s/t; Moloko; Renegade Soundwave (just get their greatest hits)....
  • I was listening to XM today and thought of this thread. Have you tried Morphine?