Complilation to introduce...
 

My girlfriend to alternative music. I need some help on this. I've tried once before at her request but it didn't work. :( I started too far out. Stuff too crazy for someone like her to catch on with.
To begin with: She has no prior "alignment",if you will, toward alternative music or rock music, for that matter.
My music: I have basically an unlimited supply of SY, MBV, Pixies, Radiohead, YYYs, Beck, Hum, and pretty much anything in those veins.

I just want some opinions and suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

My suggestion is to not make tapes for friends ever.

Alternative and Rock are the two lamest genre names ever.

I'll just write what I would give someone who wants to get into 'good' music
should give someone.

1)Cat Power - You May Know Him
2)Sufjan Stevens - He Woke Me Up Again
3)Danielson - We Don't Say Shut Up
4)Xiu Xiu - Apistat Commander
5)Sonic Youth - Cross the Breeze
6)Beck - Beercan
7)Arcade Fire - Headlights Look Like Diamonds
8)Neutral Milk Hotel - Two-Headed Boy
9)YYYs - Modern Romance
10)XITSJ - Hot Karl
11)Wolf Eyes - Rotten Tropics
12)Joanna Newsom - En Gallop
13)Deerhoof - Twin Killers
14)Radiohead - Idioteque
15)Mount Eerie - No Flashlight
16)Animal Collective - We Tigers
17)the Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes
18)Devo - Mongoloid
19)Arab on Radar - My Mind Is A Muffler
20)Yellow Swans - Police Eternity

If you insist upon making a tape, please have this song on it. Only good things can come out of something like that.

Try a bit of Blonde Redhead, Beck, Deerhoof, Buck 65, Unwound, Smog, Solex, Stereo Total, Enon, Boards Of Canada, Les Savy Fav, Fugazi, The Fall..........stuff like that.
Probably best not to put any Lightning Bolt or Melt Banana on!

'Alternative' is the smartest title for a genre, if you don't and or can't pigeon hole the band's sound.

What is your girl into then?

I made a mixtape for someone once and never gave it to them. Uhuh. Anyway:

"Freedom" - J Mascis + The Fog
"Cyanide Breathmint" - Beck
"Love In Outer Space" - Sun Ra
"I Could Be Dreaming" - Belle and Sebastian
"There She Goes Again" - The Velvet Underground
"Add It Up" - The Violent Femmes
"Lived In Bars" - Cat Power
"Obstacle 1" - Interpol
"Electioneering" - Radiohead
"Feel The Pain" - Dinosaur Jr.
"Saucerlike" - Sonic Youth
"Newark Wilder" - Pavement

[quote=HaydenAsche]Alternative and Rock are the two lamest genre names ever.
17)the Smiths - This Night Has Opened My Eyes

Interesting choice as it's not a song of theirs that gets much attention.

Pavement - Cut your Hair..

I think you should include that one

Really depends what she likes. For a general starting point, start with easy music like Elliott Smith, Nirvana, and Pavement. From there gradually work your way towards Noise, Dub, Industrial, etc...

Thanks, I'd never thought about Pavement. But "Cut Your Hair" seems like a natural starting point

[quote=porkmarras]
Tis my favorite Smiths song.

As for her, she's not really a music person. She just asked out of curosity. She is probably the only person that stumps me in this situation. I can usually make a fairly correct musical judgement about a person in a few minutes. But, her taste just elude me.

Does she like Raffi? "Old toy trains, little toy tracks" Raffi? "There's a spider on my leg, on my leg" Raffi? "We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you, you? You can come too, too, too, we're going to the zoo" Raffi?

Your missus is a mistery then, hey.

She actually was receptive to Beck. So there is hope!

If she likes Beck, she'll love Einsturzende Neubauten.