I Can Play One Chord on a Guitar…

By Guest Contributor

March 31, 2011

How did I not know about Rodrigo y Gabriela until yesterday?

They’re freaking amazing.

And now I’m in the middle of listening through everything they’ve ever done…

What other bands/groups am I unaware of that you’re all keeping from me?

(I’m just gonna assume you can all read my mind.)

March 31, 2011

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Erin T.

I love that duo! Saw them live at McMenamins last summer – AMAZING! You might also enjoy Kaki King and Takenobu.
ericka

didn’t they start as a metal band? I love them!
Stacey

Try Martin Sexton. Stunning versatility. (Nothing like R & G, who are even more amazing when you see them live, but excellent.) Also, if you want great electric blues guitar licks, look up Joe Bonnamassa. Jake Shimabukuro is a virtuoso on the ukulele of all things. You might have seen him in a couple of commercials lately.
Scott

Jose Gonzalez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGMhLUgqnRA

Tim Minchin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q
(Also atheists, so double points!)
Harry

Newton Faulkner.
Jeff Handy

That’s some duet! If you like these, you may like Andy McKee and Antoine Dufour.
Julien

You’ve been missing out on Great Big Sea too – the most popular Canadian band you’ve never heard of.
NiphraDil

A rather different genre,but you might like it Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra feat. pianist Hiromi
Rachel

Wow, I just got blown away!
a different phil

Did you know about the Leningrad Cowboys?
Anna N.

yes, they are pretty good. If it helps, I learned only recently that Radiohead is actually fabulous and Imogen Heap is great too.
keystothekid

I second the Jose Gonzalez recommendation.
Kamaka

Oh, it’s musicianship you like?

Taraf de Haidouks wins. This CD comes with a DVD of a live performance that is mind-boggling.

Their CD “Maskarada” is a favorite of mine.
Shells

Epica. In my humble opinion, they are the best symphonic metal. Despite being metal, and having some grunting here and there, I guarantee you can’t help but appreciate them. Not everyone falls in love, but everyone appreciates.

Try Chasing the Dragon or Cry for the Moon to start with.
Nicole Schrand

Janelle Monae and Corvus Corax come to mind, not that they’re really at all similar to this, or to each other, lol. Still excellent music, though.
Bryan Elliott

May I humbly suggest The Mars Volta, specificially the album “Frances the Mute”.

http://youtu.be/0OnFKTNC77I

Good for a brain-fucking.
Anthony

The Black Keys
The Other Tom

@Hemant: Eddie From Ohio
WCLPeter

Wayne Wesley Johnson and Ruben Romero’s “Hypnotic Safari” is one of my favourite “go to” albums when I’m reading or just want to sit quietly.

If you like trippy electronic music not much beats Mike Oldfield or Jean Michel Jarre.

Nearly everyone has a favourite Night Ranger tune.

But if you want the best of the best, at least in my opinion, then you’re going to spend an awful lot of time listening to The Alan Parsons Project, they are the most well known band that almost no one knows about. Purchase one the “Best Of” albums and you’ll likely be all “Woah! I love this song, I can’t believe I never knew this is who made it!” on a number of tracks

Pete…

PS: I was going to put in some iTunes / Amazon links so people could go and get samples of the stuff I’m linking but the site wouldn’t let me hyperlink those. I ended up having to use the Wiki Pages for most of them, though I was able to use the Alan Parson’s page directly and his store has samples of all the albums.
bill

I second the radiohead recommendation. Also, the arcade fire and LCD soundsystem. I could recommend a ton of stuff. what genres are you looking for?
Liz

I THOUGHT THIS BLOG WAS ABOUT ATHEISM NOT MUSIC.
marf

They are great. But I have to plug my husband, a nice atheist guitar player. I use his website as mine in these comments. He’s got a Facebook page. Give him a shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu0QgvF2uLQ
Steve

What I find myself listening the most to for some time now is soundtracks. In particular the work of Bear McCreary. He did the music for Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Walking Dead and Human Target (Season 1), among others. He is by far one of the most innovative modern soundtrack composers. His work contains tons of different styles like relentless drumming, ethnic vocals, string quartets, solo violins, sweeping (and huge) orchestras, solo piano, rock, heavy metal, opera, celtic flutes and bagpipes and whatever else you can think of. And yet all fits together seamlessly

Sarah Connor’s Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX8PPaoYwLk

Two Funerals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jekumsEwfBs
A Good Lighter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKkpIqixoPY
Wander My Friends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGcMPp7TNo4
The Shape of Things to Come:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8zsE5zdlsQ
A Promise to Return:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1S81JN7rLk
Prelude to War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlcUwUwjLrs
Roslin and Adama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG-Js_rMEV4
A Distant Sadness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9CqxkuSldY
Admiral and Commander:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZdS2KKvwVo
Violence and Variations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYwpt092O7U
Gentle Execution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZKKhfyc7Og
The Signal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIvppNWZUtc
The Alliance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KeWQ4mjG8Y
Diaspora Oratorio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UgXIf9jhF4
The Heart of the Sun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97tc_s3vKAY
So Much Life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6tfljPS8kU
Kendra’s Memories:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faxKOWt6dZY
Apocalypse (Live):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-tss6mIm-Y

And since the last track contains an awesome Cello solo, I recommend Zoe Keating:
http://www.zoekeating.com/gallery.html
(or search her on YouTube for some cool live performances)

She’s basically a one-woman string quartet, looping back her own performance to make it increasingly complex. You’d never think a single Cello could sound like that
Rhodent

Kind of hard to make recommendations without knowing your tastes, but I’ll take a few shots in the dark…

The Bad Plus — jazz trio (piano, bass, drums), fond of doing jazz interpretations of rock songs. I saw the world premiere of their interpretation of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” a few days ago and was completely blown away.

Mono; Explosions in the Sky; Sigur Ros — Three amazing post-rock bands. Mono is a little darker than the others (their promotional material describes their music as “the most beautiful noise you will ever hear”, and it’s not a bad description); Sigur Ros is a little lighter and (unlike the other two) features vocals, although not in English.

Rachel’s — Indie rock meets chamber music. Their style varies widely, from very pretty acoustic music to highly electronic stuff. And yes, their name really is intended to be a possessive. 🙂

Talk Talk — Best known as the one-hit wonder (here in America, at least) that brought us “It’s My Life”, but their later albums (“Spirit of Eden” and “Laughing Stock” sound COMPLETELY different and are great sitting-in-the-dark-with-the-headphones-on music.
Sara

Anggun

Indonesian…sings in English and French. Amazing voice
Daniel Dingeldein

Check out:
Here Come The Mummies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOz9nFOItY

And
Great Big Sea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGp9bnDm0n0

I think you’ll really appreciate the Great Big Sea song Consequence Free!
Ben Zalisko

As a fingerpicking guitarist, I really like Adam Rafferty. He’s got a lot of great covers and some originals on youtube.
Christie

Check out the compilation Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings.
Dan W

It depends what kinds of music you like, Hemant. If you like some more techno/electronic/synth music, I recommend Daft Punk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxEcrKOvM-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN2hntZBIUQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVP7N9_Q6hs&feature=related
^Some examples of their songs.
qtip

How about Mumford & Sons?

Little Lion Man

It sounds like acoustic Irish fold music to my uneducated ears…but with a bit of an edge.
Rich Wilson

Along with Great Big Sea, how about Big Sugar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9FqCcT2cNs
wazaghun

Try the Yoshida Brothers.

1) Instrumental only:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml5XaPDnjtA&feature=related

2) My favorite: Rising (the two + some cool rock background)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2lD3umbqbQ

3) A copy by american(?) students
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1zq2aSm-hc&feature=related
Stephen P

For something totally different and quite awe-inspiring, have you met Nikolai Lugansky?
Richiban

If ever anyone asks about great guitarists to listen to, you just /have/ to mention Andy McKee. I think he’s one of the greatest living guitarists!
Buzz Bomber

Here is a number I wrote recently called Infinite Regression (Turtles All the Way Down).

It features Bill O’Rielly’s comments to Dave Silverman about the tide going in and out and describes an alternate view of the universe, all set to a heavy psychedelic groove.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBIFms2uUlo

-Buzz
writzer

Strunz and Farah. Similar, but different.
LaurenF

There’s some neat-sounding stuff in these comments!

My suggestion is Týr, pagan metal from the Faroe Islands. Their song Ocean made me think of FA the other day:

the ways of the world
do not change by your choice to believe
in a lie
you should sail out and see where you stand
I demand
for the moment you choose to believe
you deceive
and you’re building your castles on sand

They’re my philosophical band. Heri Joensen is an impressive musician/songwriter, in my book.
webhed38

Todd Snider…..A great songwritter, story teller, comedian….and he describes himself as “an evangelical agnostic”!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pCGF42dB8k&playnext=1&list=PL93B19BE6B5FB9606
Matt E

Andy Irvine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug5y6Ibva9E

Maybe some Rufus Wainwright?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtVyl402W5s

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFenIIR47VU&feature=relmfu
Matthew F. Tabor

Trio Balkan Strings – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3YAQWqR3KA
Jeffrey Eldred

Nice recommendation Scott!
marf

If any of y’all are responsible for the sudden flurry of sales at my husband’s website, I’d just like to thank you. We’re not sure if it’s from here or the guitar forum.
If you’re looking for another fab female guitarist, check out Vicki Genfan.
sven

David Rawlins, makes amazing team with Gillian Welch, check out his finger picking solos.

Red Clay Halo

Caleb Meyer
slantrhyme

Well, um, there’s this garage band from Australia called Royal Chant….
Chas

Second on Kaki King. Her early stuff, particularly, played her the guitar as percussion instruments, much like RyG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shYdqbJgQdc
David

Get the album “Friday night in San Francisco” The musicians are Al Demeola, Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin, all three playing acoustic/flamenco style. Those guys just blow everyone else out of the water
Hugh

The interesting thing about Rodrigo y Gabriela is that although they’re from Mexico, they got their start busking in the streets of Dublin… a sort of real-life version of “Once”!

Some other names to search for in youtube:

La Bottine Souriante

Habib Koite
Robert L.

Crystal Castles, Freelance Whales, I Blame Coco and Lykke Li. All awesome musicians, though they’re not on the mainstream playlists.
Vas

Can you hang with this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QcYxqvWCgg
Is this too much?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7RT1zb43mM

It’s all the same

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJn5yQwI17s

Or it’s all different
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf13MmZIcLs

Or maybe it really is all the same

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWRyj5cHIQA

This is the way of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkrKq82M_QY

WHY
V
Vas

Oh no I can’t stop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVFhxp0wiLg&feature=related

Here’s a gem, (look at lots more BKF)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy7qSQDirKc&feature=related

For the fans of dirty hippies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNJswfXKJ3s

Classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bULLwt6cRvI

And this is a blast from the future or past
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCv2cgIlnHA

Aw man I could go on for days… Screw the radio.

V
ALE

Second on Mono, great stuff, try Mogwai from scotland good post rock.
everettattebury

Shahin & Sepehr:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-dv4GA4nac

Lhasa de Sela:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOLg_XY2cWA
Vystrix Nexoth

I mostly listen to video game music… there’s a lot of it out there, and good for listening to as background music – which is what it was originally designed for, of course – and good for setting the mood for just about anything with the right music selections. (Facing a particularly tough writing/programming/etc challenge? Put on some boss battle music!) And, of course, for listening to in its own right.

It seems to be a largely untapped source of music, at least whenever I bring it up whenever I happen to have the ear of someone running a webradio broadcast or something.

They’re plentiful on Youtube: just search for “{name of game} music” or the like. However, I listen to them in chiptune form: extracted from the source, playing exactly like the original, looping indefinitely, etc… but requiring specialized players (in my case, Winamp plugins) and knowing what to look for (“NSF”, “SPC”, “PSF” etc, for NES, Super NES and PlayStation, respectively). Takes a bit of setting up – and, in my case, running a program in WINE, not integrating as well with the rest of my desktop – but well worth it for someone like me who greatly enjoys it.

That said: Final Fantasy music is likely a good place to start, the series’ music being greatly admired. I might recommend Final Fantasy X in particular to start with.

There’s also remixes. Many remixes. (Look up “OC ReMix”, a site with hundreds of the things, or look up “{something} remix” on Youtube.) These serve much the same purpose.

Perhaps video game music can make you think about music differently just as this Rodrigo y Gabriela one has made me think about guitar music differently.
Keet

Justin King is another talented artist. Most of his videos are just him on a guitar, but he played with a band for a short time as well.

Double Neck Guitar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-pk4osQ5to

Taps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YaT0B3x-a0

Newest Album:
http://soundcloud.com/justinkingmusic/sets/king-west-manring-vamos-i-xii#

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