____twoism

I don't think this has been done before... but shall we get a list of musical geniuses and visionaries together in a list? Obvious ones and perhaps not so obvious, with reasons?

I'll get the ball rolling.... David Byrne

For being in one of the only decent post punk bands, his pioneering audiovisual work, his immense performances and of course just writing some of the best, original and timeless songs ever!

Let's see how many we can get!

Brian Eno

Father of ambient music.
Need I say more?

David Byrne AND Brian Eno tie for first mention.

Simeon Coxe III

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Apples


Thom Yorke

Neil Young

Robert Johnson

Jean-Jacques Perrey

Robert Moog

its hard to beat eno and byrne...

From a guitarist's perspective...

Robin Guthrie

Kevin Shields

Vini Reilly

But, yeah, Eno is pretty hard to beat. Think I'd put Bowie in there too.

John Coltrane - for musical honesty that's just too too rare these days.

Oh and while I'm at it - Richard D. James.

And let's throw Claude Debussy up there too.

And Erik Satie? The father's father of ambient music.

If I was to listen to David Byrne, without having heard any of his music, where shall I start?

Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra for sure! Legends!

thedisavowed wrote:Oh and while I'm at it - Richard D. James.

And let's throw Claude Debussy up there too.

And Erik Satie? The father's father of ambient music.

Hear hear to all three.

Jean Michel Jarre--for Oxygéne. That album precipitated the synth dance/electronica feel to come for the next 30 years.

The Other wrote:Simeon Coxe III

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Apples

Looks interesting. Where should I start with these guys?

Kate Bush, Fela Kuti, Tony Iommi, Vince Clark.

...and of course:

(fuckin sexy as well)

Integrity, honesty, an insatiable desire to push back his own boundaries. Thom Yorke may be a middle-aged dad these days, but a new Radiohead album is still - for me anyway - an event. The very best of British...



Because for all Syd Barrett was (is) hailed as a genius, frankly I wouldn't have given a toss unless Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour took the helm and steered Pink Floyd into calmer seas. For all the Dad-rock, stadia filling, merchant banker friendly tat they're associated with these days, from Dark Side.. through Animals, and Wish You Were Here - they were untouchable. You can stick the wall up your arse mind.



The female equivalent to Thom Yorke, only without the success. Polly Harvey is living proof that women CAN play guitar and not look like total twats.



What can you say about the Sex Pistols? Attitude. A triumph of sheer energy over talent. Pure, raw, horrendously unrefined electricity. I look at bands like The Libertines these days and frankly, I laugh my tits of at just how derivative they are after this lot. Then of course Lydon blew it and made a butter advert, but even a genius is allowed to sell his souls I guess?



40 years later - let me say that again - FORTY years later, guitarists are still copying him. 40 years later, they still aren't as good. Matt Bellamy might have the talent and the pedals, Tom Morello might have the energy, Toni Iommi might have had the riffs, Kurt Cobain - the integrity - but Hendrix had the lot in spades. God-like. Oh and my Dad knew Chas Chandler (Hendrix' manager and bass player with the Animals - never believed him when he said he was going to be famous. Doh!)



The Clint Eastwood of music. Mark Lanegan has a voice that sounds like what a lifetime of smoking Marlboros, drinking bourbon for breakfast and never getting over that woman in 1986 should sound like. You can smell the regret whenever he sings. He also famously decked Liam Gallacher backstage, and could outdrink all of Queens of the Stoneage. Genius. Artist. Legend.



The original tortured artist. 4am smoked filled rooms and Sunday morning hangovers just wouldn't be the same without him. Ladies and Gentleman, Miles Davis. God rest his soul, wherever it is...

Mexicola wrote:




The female equivalent to Thom Yorke, only without the success. Polly Harvey is living proof that women CAN play guitar and not look like total twats.

Brilliant songwriter, and - not wanting to dismiss her talent at all - she's lovely, ain't she...

mexicola wrote:


40 years later - let me say that again - FORTY years later, guitarists are still copying him. 40 years later, they still aren't as good. Matt Bellamy might have the talent and the pedals, Tom Morello might have the energy, Toni Iommi might have had the riffs, Kurt Cobain - the integrity - but Hendrix had the lot in spades. God-like. Oh and my Dad knew Chas Chandler (Hendrix' manager and bass player with the Animals - never believed him when he said he was going to be famous. Doh!)

Ha! Great story. It's almost a cliche to call Hendrix a genius (see also - The Beatles), but yeah, there's no doubt about it. I'm still regularly blown away by his stuff, despite hearing it so many times.

Would love to hear the collaboration that very nearly happened with..

mexicola wrote:


The original tortured artist. 4am smoked filled rooms and Sunday morning hangovers just wouldn't be the same without him. Ladies and Gentleman, Miles Davis. God rest his soul, wherever it is...

I'd agree with Kevin Shields and Stevie Wonder too.

I'd also add Sly Stone and Jason Pierce to that list.

This Is Part 1 For Me



Robert Fripp From King Crimson. The sound he brings to a guitar brings tears, fear and happiness.



Autechre of Course



Coil (Peter And Jhoon Done so much is unbelievable)



Peter Gabriel (Genesis were nothing without him)



Trent Reznor

Agree with many of the nominations above, particularly Trane and Miles. Here are mine:



and




(Steely Dan and Wayne Shorter in case you didn't know)

Lee Perry.

I choose him because he produced the first properly mass-appeal, grassroots culture 'acousmatic' LP (ie music designed entirely for consumption in a recorded state, over loudspeakers, where the production process is the main factor) although maybe it's of an accident of chronology, dub was a slow development due to technology and soundsystem culture, this was just the first full LP released.



And what an album it is too