Age has not wearied them: Artists who still make good records even though they're old

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Er, er.... Brian Eno?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Fred Anderson

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I guess Bob Dylan qualifies, even tho his career's been so patchy. The recent good stuff has been great (Love and Theft, World Gone Wrong, even Oh Mercy if you wanna consider that "recent").

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Wire!
Nihilist Spasm Band!
Peter Stampfel!!!

― Douglas (Douglas), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Sonik Yoof
Emmylou Harris
Echo & the Bunnymen (assuming there will be another one)

― Paul Cox (paul cox), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Supposedly Jeff Beck released a monstrously whompass rock/techno/fusion album a couple years ago that was a hundred times more awesome than the phrases "Jeff Beck", "rock/techno/fusion" and "a couple years ago" in conjunction have any right to be. I heard samples of it and hey, it's pretty snazz. I'm pretty sure "Earthquake" is better than anything that'll be on the forthcoming Prodigy record.

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Sunday, 18 May 2003 04:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Robert Wyatt!!

sorry

― JasonD (JasonD), Sunday, 18 May 2003 05:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Richard Thompson; it's over 35 years since he started playing with Fairport Convention, and his new record's stellar.

― derrick (derrick), Sunday, 18 May 2003 05:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Bob Pollard
dude out of Green Pajamas
Vini Reilly

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Sunday, 18 May 2003 06:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Johnny Cash?

― Sean (Sean), Sunday, 18 May 2003 06:41 (twenty-two years ago)

John Cale - as patchy as Reed, but generally superior. He hasn't done much worth noting in years mind but, 5 words: Fragments of a Rainy Season.

― Jamie Conway (Jamie Conway), Sunday, 18 May 2003 06:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Ornette Coleman!

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 18 May 2003 06:45 (twenty-two years ago)

dude out of Green Pajamas

I thought This Is Where We Disappear from last year was kind of rough, but it's still better than what most of his contemporaries are releasing.

― Paul Cox (paul cox), Sunday, 18 May 2003 06:47 (twenty-two years ago)

derek bailey

― francesco, Sunday, 18 May 2003 07:05 (twenty-two years ago)

ivor cutler

― bob snoom, Sunday, 18 May 2003 09:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Joe Lovano
Wayne Shorter
Henry Threadgill
Lol Coxhill

is Bill Frisell considered "old" yet?

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Sunday, 18 May 2003 09:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Leonard Cohen and AMM (now there's a team-up waiting to happen!).

― Marcello Carlin, Sunday, 18 May 2003 09:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Mark E. Smith!

Although, it could be argued that The Fall's records are just as badly received now as the early ones.

― Sasha Gabba Hey! (sgh), Sunday, 18 May 2003 09:49 (twenty-two years ago)

fleetwood mac you bonkers ppl

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 18 May 2003 10:13 (twenty-two years ago)

lyrics born

― duane, Sunday, 18 May 2003 10:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Tom Waits.

― Simon H., Sunday, 18 May 2003 10:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Christina Aguilera!

Or so I read somewhere (Yes, "The aging popstar" indeed!)

I guess that one was a double-miss. Sorry.

Robert Fripp, I suppose. I haven't seen much positive about it here, but I quite like The Power To Believe.

I'm tempted to say Wayne Shorter, based entirely on the great concert he gave here in Norway recently; but he doesn't do much in the way of albums anymore, and even the few he's done, I haven't heard. Damn! Foiled again! Tin?

The Univers Zero guys.. I'm not really sure how old they are, same with Lars Hollmer.
Admittedly "Rhythmix" was far from their finest hour, but still a good album.

― Øystein Holm-Olsen (Øystein H-O), Sunday, 18 May 2003 12:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Faust
Keiji Haino
Merzbow
Mr. Scarface
Dr. Dre

― ss, Sunday, 18 May 2003 12:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Bobby D
Lucinda Williams
Steve Earle
John Prine

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Sunday, 18 May 2003 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Flaming Lips?

― Nick H, Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:09 (twenty-two years ago)

derek bailey, peter brotzmann, amm, cecil taylor

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:15 (twenty-two years ago)

R Kelly must be getting on a bit

― ss, Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

john zorn is getting better and better

― francesco, Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

but maybe zorn can't be considered old enough for this thread

― francesco, Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Bonnie Raitt, Dolly Parton, and I'm looking forward to hearing Wanda Jackson's new one when it's finally finished

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I hope the Brian Eno ref. was ironic. He hasn't made a decent record in almost 15 years.
Otherwise:
I guess the lifespan in electronic music is shorter:
Baby Ford
New Order
Thomas Fehlmann

― direct_program, Sunday, 18 May 2003 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not going to mention the name of my candidates for this thread, as I was somewhat chastised on another thread for beating their name to death, so I shall verily hold my tongue and stay my typing fingers. But, I'm guessing you all know who I'm alluding to.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 18 May 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

With the exception of No Substance, Bad Religion's career has been flawless.

― Paul Cox (paul cox), Sunday, 18 May 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

El Gran Combo
Willie Rosario
Gilberto Santa Rosa

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 18 May 2003 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Bad Religion's career has been flawless.

Really? I don't think they've made a really decent album since Recipe for Hate....and even that had its flaws.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 18 May 2003 16:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, I love 'em all (except for the aptly titled No Substance -- it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever). They've been on fire as recently as 2000 with The New America, and still fairly warm with last year's The Process of Belief.

― Paul Cox (paul cox), Sunday, 18 May 2003 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Death hasn't worried them. Artists who make great records when they're dead.

― of heaven, Sunday, 18 May 2003 17:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Paul Weller

― blutroniq (blutroniq), Sunday, 18 May 2003 17:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Death hasn't worried them. Artists who make great records when they're dead.
-- of heaven (d_wit...), May 18th, 2003.

Tupac.

― David Allen, Sunday, 18 May 2003 17:46 (twenty-two years ago)

-Echo & the Bunnymen / Ian McCulloch (what do you call 'old' actually?)
-David Sylvian, although his last outings mostly consisted of compiled stuff.
-Peter Gabriel, someone mentioned him in this thread's counterpart but I used to think Us was one of the most brilliant albums in my collection until I heard Up which is so fantastic it makes Us seem like a meagre album.
-Paul Simon, his voice actually seemed to have improved, if you hear his 'ay-ay-ay' in That's Where I Belong on his latest album You're The One.
-Nick Cave
-Bryan Ferry
-I've heard bad things about John Cale's last two records but at least live he's still awesome

― Tijn, Sunday, 18 May 2003 18:35 (twenty-two years ago)

The Fleshtones

― Curt (cgould), Sunday, 18 May 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, Johnny Cash.

― beaty (beaty), Sunday, 18 May 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Rod muthafuckin' Stewart will deliver an album at least of the quality of Out Of Order sometime soon. I hope.

Neil Young I hope. Cheap Trick's last one got some high marks.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 18 May 2003 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, and the Stooges are reuniting. One could pray.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 18 May 2003 21:49 (twenty-two years ago)

fishbone
residents
melvins

― chaki (chaki), Sunday, 18 May 2003 22:27 (twenty-two years ago)

scott walker. 'tilt' is magnificent. siucide released an album to the same standards as when they were young. and when they were young they were shit. bjork's pushing 40, too.

― matthew james (matthew james), Sunday, 18 May 2003 22:57 (twenty-two years ago)

blur!

― matthew james (matthew james), Sunday, 18 May 2003 22:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I second Paul Weller, and add The The and Frank Black
to the list.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Sunday, 18 May 2003 23:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Fred Frith has been steadily improving since he started. Derek Bailey and Cecil Taylor are good answers as well. Gyorgy Ligeti's Violin Concerto from the early 90s was better than his 60s stuff. Sunny Murray. Dr N Ramani. Hariprasad Chaurasiya (well, haven't heard anything post-early-90s but still). Glenn Branca. Robert Normandeau. But I honestly don't think any pop/rock artists have improved or even remained equally great past a decade.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 18 May 2003 23:32 (twenty-two years ago)

The Dictators

― Kris (aqueduct), Monday, 19 May 2003 00:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Hanson!

― William R Henderson (Cabin Essence), Monday, 19 May 2003 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Blixxxxxa Barrrrrgeld, my sweet.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Monday, 19 May 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Jonathan Richman

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 19 May 2003 18:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Les Claypool's music is getting way better the older he gets. I couldn't imagine the Claypool of ten years ago writing songs like "Barrington Hall" or "Buzzards of Green Hill" or "Cosmic Highway" at all.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 19 May 2003 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

A certain Hendrix roadie, & Co.

― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Monday, 19 May 2003 18:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Roy Haynes

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 19 May 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Ringo Starr .... baHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

― Jay K (Jay K), Monday, 19 May 2003 19:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Jonathan Richman is very otm. I really liked I'm So Confused.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 19 May 2003 23:52 (twenty-two years ago)

No Direct Program, the Eno ref was not ironic. I liked 'The Drop', esp the last 32 min track. Also liked Drawn From Life. Actually, he's never done an ambient record I didn't like, although I've never been hot on his vocal stuff. Oh, and just to get everyone fired up, 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' is a hugely overrated record, completely trounced by 23 Skidoo's earlier efforts in the same vein.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 00:23 (twenty-two years ago)

matthew james stole my response: scott walker.
you've got to respect the man for taking 12 years to make an album.
more people should take that long to make a record.

― jon dale, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Primal Scream, who totally look like oddly-dressed Carnival Cruisers wandering around onstage on the live DVD that comes with the new album, but holy shit that album rules.
Jay-Z; you 36 in a karate class?
I totally second whoever said Wire and Scarface.
Does Aphex Twin count?

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't believe I forgot to say Fugazi. I can't believe everyone else did too.

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Yello! Dieter Meier must be sixty soon.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Aphex Twin isn't old, he's in his early thirties, for fuck's sake! How old are you, Tom?

Anyone under the age of 55 (when you start getting senior citizens' discounts in the US) should be disqualified from this thread.

Agree with Johnny Cash, Wayne Shorter, Robert Wyatt, Bob Dylan.

Would like to add Merle Haggard, Solomon Burke (even if plenty of people disagree) and Charlie Rich (his best album was his last).

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 11:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Johnny Cash?
I like how he has reinterpreted so much stuff in such startling ways...BUT...his voice is getting painfully shaky as of late.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd say RL Burnside, but he was already past 50 when he released his first album, wasn't he? Anyway, he puts out great rekkids!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Grandmaster Flash, for realz. Did anyone here hear his two mix CDs from last year? Incredibly hott stuff. Still hungry, too; when I interviewed him, he was like "I don't wanna be history, man!"

― Neudonym, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Depeche Mode
David Sylvian
Bryan Ferry
Alison Moyet
Madonna
Annie Lennox
Kate Bush (when she can be fucked to make one)

― russ t, Thursday, 22 May 2003 14:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm 23; are you sure Aphex Twin is just in his early 30's? Dude looks mad rumpled to me.

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Thursday, 22 May 2003 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I reckon he's about ten years older than you then Tom, i.e. still a spring chicken.

― James Ball (James Ball), Thursday, 22 May 2003 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Bowie.

(and yes, I'm even factoring 'hours...' into the equation.)

― Erick H (Erick H), Thursday, 22 May 2003 15:29 (twenty-two years ago)

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