Two examples that come to me immediately are Enya and Smashing Pumpkins. If music starts feeling stale, I can put on Enya and music feels new again. It’s such a pleasant departure from the standard pop/rock/RnB etc sounds that dominate (even if I like those artists).
Anybody have their own equivalents?
Tool
Great example. Haven’t listened in years so I must get to them now.
Their latest album Fear Inoculum is a masterpiece
Louis Cole / Knower
Clipping. Totally out of my usual genres.
Great point. Just because it’s the first time we’ve heard a sound doesn’t mean they’re not standing on the shoulders of others a little/lot.
The Cure. They definitely have their own sound.
Gotta slide in with my boys King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, no matter what genre they’re recording in
Also shout out to Sleater - Kinney, I know they made a pretty major tonal shift in recent years, but that early era has a feeling all its own
2 that come to my mind
Of Montreal
They might be giants
Grateful Dead, especially live albums.
Van Canto is very unique as all instruments (except percussions and drums) are made in Acapella.
Master of Puppets as an Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKAzE8nVft8
Fear of the Dark as another Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tlpRMmTHS4
Makes me think of the (soundscape) leveling role of mixing engineers in rock music (my area)
That sounds interesting! I’ve played a few instruments over the years but am an amateur (being generous here) when it comes to mixing. If rock is your area, that makes me think of Queens of the Stone Age. When a new song of theirs would come out, I’d sometimes know it was them immediately even before the vocals started. An evolution more than a revolution, but still uniquely identifiable I think.
Oh yeah I didn’t mean we all sound the same. It is after all a quest of finding your sound, as in a sound that is uniquely yours. But in the limits of what the genre is
I didn’t read you as saying the sounds are the same so no worries there. It’s such an interesting area.
- Explosions in the Sky
- Neutral Milk Hotel
- mewithoutYou
And it’s not really representative of the rest of their work, but I have never found anything that sounds quite like Sigur Ros’ album Kveikur. It’s this dreary, echoy, droney sound that is such a vibe.
Explosions in the sky is amazing
I think Queen is in this category, cause it’s rock opera.
