Rypro 525

Lets just say that the only bit i have heard is the 30 seconds of "we used to be friends" for the veronica mars opening. I was wondering where i should start with them, and are most of their other songs similar to that one?

auto

I would sample some of their music on amazon.

I tried to get into them after I saw the film Dig! and I found their entire catalog to be lackluster.

The film was great though. Check it out and you'll get to sample some of their songs.

jimdrix

Dig! is a great movie and would be a good way to check them out...As for CD's I would choose "13 tales from urban bohemia" as the album to check out...But go listen to the Brian Jonestown Massacre instead...you won't be dissapointed.

mdc3000

I'd say check out Welcome to the Monkey House, IMO it's their best record. Definitely, if you're new to the dandys, stay away from Odditorium... Most of their songs do not sound like "we used to be friends"... every album they have a few good solid pop tunes (like above) and then the rest of the albums are a lot more experimental and diverse... on monkey house, check out "scientist" and "Plan A"... if you like those, you should enjoy the CD.

MATT

auto

lostatmidnight

For uninitiated, the Warhol's sound has not remained totally coehesive through all their albums as they constantly experiment and investigate. Their best and most listenable for those like yourself is '13 Tales...'

But you can go back to their first, 'The Dandy Warhols are OK' as they were much more into the stoner, shoe-gazer sound-scapes that you can bounce your head to music.

'The Dandy Warhols Come Down', there second and most (in)famous is a more refined sound from 'OK' with a lot of poppy stuff like 'I never thought you'd be a junkie', 'Everyday is a holiday' , 'Boy's Better' and 'Cool as Kim Deal' interspersed with droning, almost mournful tracks like 'Orange', 'I love you' and 'Good Morning.'

'13 Tales' is everywhere, from their same stoner, dark tunes, to country jams, space rock, folk, encapsulating or to some a pastiche of every musical form at the turn of the century.

'Welcome to the Monkey House' is 80's synth, but not totally totally lacking the warmth of that sound era. Songs like 'The Dandy Warhols Love...', 'You were the last high,' and 'Heavenly' still keep the Dandy's main sound, go off into different directions like 'I am the Scientist' and 'Over It.'

I've been a bad Dandy's fan---bad fan of most of my favorite bands/musicians---over the last few months and haven't picked up 'Odditoruim...' yet, so I can't really comment on this one.

But if you're looking for a stuff similar to 'We use to be friends', I have to say I think you will be disappointed. Some people are just turned off by Courtney Taylor's sardonic, ironic and sly lyrics that poke fun at their milieu---which ultimately become inside jokes---others just by their strange can't-pin-down-their-sound. They definetly are an acquired taste but one of my all time favs.

Linn1

I went out and bought a couple of CDs from each group. In the end, there was no contest, Brian Jonestown Massacre made better overall cds. While they were good songs on the Dandy Albums, they were hard to put in your cd player and just leave on play.

brainee

I was introduced to both bands from "Dig!" too, though I had heard some of the Dandies songs on the radio ("Last Junkie", "Bohemian Like You", "Used to Be Friends"). I agree -- their albums seem a little spotty to me, with "13 Tales" being the most consistently good. But maybe hearing the singles beforehand was bad, in that I was expecting more songs like that.

A related question that I have: what should someone looking to get into BJM buy first? Anton is just so damn prolific its hard to know where to start, even though I really liked what I heard in "Dig!". Any suggestions? I see there's a retrospective CD that came out last year (2CDs for $13.99 at Amazon -- looks like a good deal) -- anyone more familiar with the songs/albums know if that's a good buy?

Linn1

Yup, the retrospective is among the best of its kind IMO, as it really does sum up the band. There's a perfect mix of well known songs (at least by fans ) and unusual live or alternate versions. It also has some interesting liner notes. Also, all the BJM songs that were featured on Dig! are there as well.

auto

BJM: The retrospective is good but I would start with their first album, Methodrone.

LiquidSky

My favorites are:
1. The Dandy Warhols Come Down (more kind of dancy music)
2. Dandy's Rule OK? (trippy/1960s/psychedelia)

Their new CD Odditorium is horrible in my opinion.

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Definitley try some Brian Jonestown Massacre as well.