Bands and singers that you have been obsessed with.

Here is a sample of Caravan Palace, this from their 2012 album called Panic. The music is called Electro Swing.

Clash


Dramophone

 

This song is like a virus. I've got "Spirits" in my head and it won't go.

 

That's rather cool. The video is a bit different haha.......

 

Past: Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff.

Current: Taylor Swift (though it's going on 9 years so maybe a past one as well).
Lorde - Up until a few months I'd only ever heard Royals and Team. When Green Light was released I bought Pure Heroine and began watching as many of her live performances on YouTube as possible.

 

Lorde is pretty cool as a performer.

 

So that means you're probably a pretty good person to ask this question. I know Taylor Swift and Lorde are friends, or at least they have been. On Swift's song "Wildest Dreams" - am I hearing Lorde's influence on Swift, an undocumented collaboration between the two of them, or just imagining things? Because to me, the verses seem very Lorde-esque.

 

^ Nope. Lorde had no involvement in the song. A lot of critics compare it to Lana Del Ray actually.

You might have thought Lorde had some influence because she and Taylor both worked with Jack Antonoff on their respective albums (1989 and Melodrama).

 

Fun fact: Lorde wrote "Royals" because of the Kansas City baseball team.

Really. She saw a picture of George Brett signing autographs and just liked the name 'Royals.'

 

Recently - Post Modern Jukebox's clever jazz covers are delightful.
Morgan James, who is both a vocalist with PMJ and a solo artist, is a bloody blues goddess. I dare anybody to watch her video of "I'm Not the Only One" and not cry.

 

I was a big fan of Great Big Sea right up until they split. There wasn't even a notice on the band's website when it happened, but I take that more as a management issue. Leaving your fans hanging? Not cool. People had to find out via articles that something had happened behind the scenes, and even then, until a few years ago, it wasn't entirely clear what had happened. I'm not much for airing dirty laundry, but come on, at least tell your fans that the gig is up by posting it plainly on an official website rather than not acknowledging it. This is a band that has led me to discover other great Celtic rock/folk rock and eventually bluegrass.

So, because of GBS, I've been obsessed with Nickel Creek, and always secretly wished they'd do a show together.

Oh hey LB, I saw the Strumbellas in concert two years ago. They put on a good show

 

^^ I was a late-comer to Great Big Sea fandom.. Saw them with about 60 other people here in Albuquerque and was blown away... It really fell apart when Sean left in 2013 and then Alan and Bill just decided that without him as the glue, there wasn't much they could do to continue on.

Obsession is a strong word that for me really only holds true with two bands.

Rush
Marillion

I'm a huge music fan, but those two bands had and always will affect my soul..
Other bands that I've had "near" obsessions with include:

Keane
VnV Nation
A Flock of Seagulls
Panic! at the Disco
Men at Work
The Sounds
Queen

 

Bob you mean But yeah, it really did, and I can't say I blame Sean after hearing his reason for leaving. BUT, all the silence really didn't do the band any justice, and just seemed to create more speculation as to what went on. Just made it seem much uglier than it ended up being. The official website meanwhile kept hocking Alan's stuff which I felt was a little disrespectful towards the band as a whole.

I'm a fan who's preferred their older stuff to their newer material, as I felt it was more dynamic and energetic. I felt like they lost a little something as they went on. But the last studio album they put out was actually quite good. As soon as they started advertising their 20th Anniversary release though, I figured something was going to happen. You're right that without him, they wouldn't have been able to continue. It was hard enough when their bassist Darrell had left, and Murray had never officially become a member, but more of a hired hand. They're a kind of a band where you couldn't easily replace members because each and every one of them were the band. Continuing with just the two of them? Unthinkable.

Speaking of energetic, I saw them at least 3 times. First time was in 2002, then 2009, and then I think Canada Day in 2012. They put on such great shows each and every time. I've only ever seen another band come close to that level of energy and that was this summer with The Jerry Cans a band from Nunavut.

 

Nice.. I really came into them late, with Fortune's Favor and I was just blown away by it.. Went out and got most of their older stuff, but the last studio album left me oddly cold.. Yes.. Bob.. Sorry! LOL.. After the show in Albuquerque, Alan went out drinking with a few of the fans (shocker)... Despite the tiny crowd, there was a ton of energy...

Each of them brought such a dynamic that if one of them left, it really wouldn't have been the same...

 

Another artist I just found is Diana Krall. She's good

 

Thought of a few more current ones, albums rather than the artist themselves.

Kesha - Rainbow
Harry Styles - self-titled debut
Ed Sheeran - Divide

But I also have an on/off again obsession with Ed in general. His songs are just beautiful.

 

OK this one's stuck in my head....



Thank you Saints Row

 

Another band that I've really played a lot in the past is The Duhks. Loved their blend of different cultures showing in their music. I'd wanted to see them in concert at some point, but their popularity was growing so much to the point that while they were drawing crowds at music festivals, it was impossible for smaller festivals like my local one to even consider booking them as they had become quite expensive according to one of the festival directors I had talked to at the time. Then a few years later, lead singer Jessie Havey had left the band and they brought in Sarah Dugas (featured in the second video) who was good, but I felt was missing something. Then an album later after that with her as lead, they announced a hiatus. Fast-Forward a few years later (7?) and Jessie's back and with a new album in the pipeline. I still don't know if I'll ever be able to see them.

 

First of all, nice to see a music thread that isn't an in memoriam.

Liked all three of these songs a lot. Yeah, the original lead has a voice that is as smooth as melted butter. Nice blend of pop, bluegrass, gospel, with beautiful melodies. But, the dude playing what appears to be a trap set with his hands...I can't.

Recent past obsessions:

Gin Blossoms
Mike and the Mechanics
Milo Greene
Jerry Butler - old R&B singer
Jean Carn - old jazz/pop singer NONE of you have ever heard of.
The Zombies - old sixties Brit band who have continued to write and record quality songs through the 2000's.

Current obsession (and it is truly an obsession):

Hamilton - Broadway musical soundtrack. Yeah, I know, not a band. I'v been aware of the show for 1 1/2 to 2 years but didn't listen to the album until about 3 weeks ago. Feel like I'v been infected by it because can't stop listening to it. Also feel like my body may have been snatched because several family members have been this way for a long time and have been trying to get me to listen.

 

You mean in the second video with the guy at the beginning with the board? I think that's common in the folk-music circle where they're aiming for a specific tone. And this band is known for being experimental and going with whatever they can get their hands on. In fact, their album before last (Fast-Paced World) which Mighty Storm is from, created quite a stir within the fanbase as some felt it was too much of a departure. Looking back now, it's actually quite brilliant. And it's actually an old folk song

 

"Have been obsessed with" is pretty strong, and it would take it to the top level of sporadic enthusiasm, like buying most or all their albums or seeing them in concert multiple times whenever possible while I was obsessed with them. It would exclude certain bands that I enjoy more casually and also performers who I think are better (than certain of these obsessions) but who I didn't ever turn fanatical over. Some of my pop band obsessions over the years:

The Alan Parsons Project
The B-52's
David Bowie
The Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
Peter Gabriel
Robert Fripp
The Moody Blues
Styx
KISS