Contemporary Bands that use traditional instruments?
 

I really enjoy contemporary bands (as in rock or alternative or whatever they are called these days) that regularly incorporate, write, and play music that includes traditional instruments, specifically cello, flute, french horn, violin, and bagpipes.

Besides the obvious such as the flute in music from Tull and Genesis, anyone have any suggestions or favorite bands use these instruments?

Thanks!:spin:

the ozric tentacles

The bagpipes in the Animals - Sky Pilot.

Jimmy Paiges use of the violin bow on his guitar in Dazed and Confused.

Actually, what made me add bagpipes to the list of instruments is the bagpipe pieces in ACDC's It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll) and The Church's Under The Milky Way - great stuff
:AP:

The Waterboys


theflaco

dunno about bagpipes, but theres fiddles aplenty in the Pogues music

please ignore anything naz says as he wouldn't know art if it came up and hit him in the face...

which it may well do one of these days

Radiohead are fond of brass instruments (sounds like the band is dying, though) and the occasional strings. Or if you want even more traditional they bang on pans too, but maybe that's *too* alternative

:J:

Otherwise Nirvana's Unplugged in NY comes to mind. Accordion, Cello added to acoustic guitar. Bet you already have that one, doncha. :)
Earlier Corrs songs have a celtic feel (flutes and violins) try "Toss The Feathers", it's a lively instrumental 'dance' song.

Enjoy TradRock! :LF:

I love Cake. Lot's of horns in most of their music along with some other instruments that i don't know the names of. like that one you spin across your hand that makes a fast clicking sound or the one you knock against your knee...using the hand and knee i think...traditional...hmm...not sure.

their hit songs are not very representative of most of the rest of their songs...Hits include: "The Distance"(nothing like any of their other songs), "Never There" and the recent "Short Skirt Long Jacket" which is only representative of their typical lyrics. they are probably a group you either love or hate. i like all four albums. They kind of remind me of Ween if you have heard of them "Push the little daisies and make them come up."

I hate to keep bringing them up, (well, no I don't) but Mouth Music comes to mind as my favorite current example, especially the newest CD, Seafaring Man, which is rife with fiddles, flutes, dulcimers, accordions, uillean pipes, zither, bowed psaltery and acoustic percussion. An amazingly beautiful album.

bowed psaltery? c'mon - you made that one up, right?:N:

slipped it in there to see if we were paying attention?:ND:

http://unicornstrings.com/whatisit.htm

Theres a lot of flutes on lv's new mix, i' think there might be the odd panpipe thrown in there for good measure :f:

You might want to try..

Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

Lots of brass/horns there.

OOO I love zappa...I litterly have all of his cd's


Also...REM's albums Out of time and Automatic for the People use lots of mandilins and the like.....

ooooh yeah, i forgot about my mix...

go and download the stretchy boingy fecal show

theres loads of strange instuments on that

your latest masterwork ain't on the site itself yet homey; just the FTP. (assortedgoodies.mine.nu file name is LVMix8.mp3)

I didnt' link directly as i'm uncertain if mixes/compilations violate copyright. (see what a sweetie i am gaz?) hehe.

it's ok...i understand

You are Art.

FAIRPORT CONVENTION

Been listening to Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock by Talk Talk (in a fit, you might say) for the last couple of days. These last two albums by this band are almost sacred to me, definitely at the top of my all time recordings list. Perusing the liner notes earlier, I realized they belonged in your thread, Mr. Knife.

Spirit of Eden's potently eerie but beautiful aural textures is worlds apart from the bubbly synth-pop hits— Talk Talk and It's My Life (their first two albums)—that typified Talk Talk's early '80s new wave sound. After scoring a bestseller in 1986's The Colour of Spring, EMI gave the band (Hollis, Friese-Greene, Webb, and Harris) a hefty recording budget for their next effort. Moving into an abandoned church, Talk Talk embarked on a lengthy 14-month recording session. When the group finally delivered Spirit of Eden, EMI execs—who had been refused advance access to the recordings—were shocked: The album's classical and freeform jazz influences and art-rock leanings broke from traditional pop expectations, resulting in something utterly uncategorizable! This record label nightmare elicited nary a commercial whimper, but quickly garnered huge critical accolades, nevertheless. Even more than a decade after the album's release, the organic, often stark, arrangements decorated by singer Mark Hollis' nasal and hauntingly plaintive vocals still command immediate attention. Listed as individual tracks, "The Rainbow," "Eden," "Desire" are really three parts to a single brooding 23-minute piece reminiscent of the more melancholy sections on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. As "The Rainbow" and "Eden" unfold as contemplative lilts with moments of soft atonality, "Desire" percolates to an aggressive and percussive climax. Fans of late-'90s electronic music also take note: Spirit of Eden's transcendent ambience practically paved the way for later innovators such as Massive Attack, making this a truly forward-thinking album.

(from a review by Bryan Yates at musthear.com, with whom I agree on every account, although I would probably gush a lot more like a complete groupie)

Players and instrumentation on Spirit of Eden:

Mark Hollis: vocal, piano, organ, guitar
Tim Friese-Greene: harmonium, piano, organ, guitar
Paul Webb: electric bass
Lee Harris: drums
Martin Ditcham: percussion
Robbie Mcintosh: dobro, 12-string guitar
Mark Feltham: harmonica
Simon Edwards: Mexican bass
Danny Thompson: double bass
Henry Lowther: trumpet
Nigel Kennedy: violin†
Hugh Davies: shozygs*
Andrew Stowell: bassoon
Michael Jeans: oboe
Andrew Mariner: clarinet
Christopher Hooker: cor anglais
Choir of Chelmsford Cathedral

†: Which also reminds one that Kronos Quartet belongs here.
*: I have no idea what that is.

Within Without

Thank you all for the input...

and thank you, Mr.Stone - I always find your suggestions to be worthy of careful consideration:W:

Worthy of comment for sure?
 

Yes "Mr Stone" Thankyou for the reminder about Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk, a truly Stunning album indeed, one I used to listen to on boring train journies from London to home in the early 90's
I always found it stimulating, yet soothing.

"Spirit of Eden's potently eerie but beautiful aural textures is worlds apart from the bubbly synth-pop hits— Talk Talk and It's My Life"

What a change, indeed, and no wonder the musical industry didn't understand it... Do they EVER really understand their products anyway?

Now I must search a copy, my walkman tape has long gone..

Snark.. :beer:

You also might want to check out Arid as well....I fell in love with the music after the Haunted House movie...

Lunch Break Special
 

Three albums by another favourite band: THIS MORTAL COIL

It'll End in Tears: voices, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, cello, violin, viola, accordion

Filigree and Shadow: voices, piano, sax, guitars, bass, cello, violin, viola

Blood: voices, (chamber) string arrangements, cello, violin, piano

Including synths, drum programming, and loops in a seamless mix with the acoustic instruments. Emotionally wrenching songs. Some of the most beautiful female voices in modern music, including Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins) and Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) among others. Breathtaking string arrangements. (especially the last two albums) Check out Velvet Belly/The Jeweller or Tarantula for examples, or I Must Have Been Blind, a minimalist masterpiece held together by a golden thread of beautifully processed cello. (all from Filigree and Shadow)

Thanks for tips
 

Quoting...

Filigree and Shadow: voices, piano, sax, guitars, bass, cello, violin, viola

Blood: voices, (chamber) string arrangements, cello, violin, piano

Managed to get most of the Filigree & Shadow, so far seen "Blood" but been unlucky getting a download to start...?

First listen, suggests some similarity to Spirit of Eden (TT) but due to the strange way the mastering whiz-kidd has added the track markers, continuity isn't good and the ripper has made no effort to group the tracks together.

I'm not impressed, at the moment, OK some spectacular sounds in there, but not up to the TT standards... My Opinion of course.

It could grow on me, I suppose, like Eden, that took a few plays.

Snark..:ND:

Well, about the only real similarity between This Mortal Coil and Talk Talk is the fact that their albums suck when ripped into mp3s. (as most continuous albums do--there are very few natural pauses on Filigree and Shadow)

I would say that they probably will grow on you however if you experience the albums as a linear whole, as they are obviously meant to be.

If you'd like to hear something that actually does bear some resemblance to late period Talk Talk however, I might suggest Rain Tree Crow, a beautiful album featuring David Sylvian and most of the ex-members of the 80s group Japan.

theres some application out there that rips albums as one mp3, i got a few pink floyd albums ripped like that

unfortunately the name of this wonderful application escapes me