Punk Rock Is Better with Bagpipes
 

After seeing The Departed, I had to go download a song from the soundtrack by the Dropkick Murphys, whom I now totally love. If you haven't heard them, look them up on iTunes -- anyway, it's punk rock, but with frequent bagpipe, and sometimes fiddle and flute.

After that, I downloaded Flogging Molly's "Drunken Lullabies" album thanks to iTunes' "users who bought this also bought..." sidebar. Less hardcore punk, less bagpipe, and whole fuckload more fiddle.

Anyway, point being, most of my favorite bands have been a mix of (some subgenre of) rock and non-traditional instruments, typically used to add more melody to the music. The Arcade Fire, for example, uses violin often, and Beirut is real big on accordion. And of course, Neutral Milk Hotel, which has used violin, bagpipe, and accordion, and I think all at once in one song, actually.

If anyone else has any bands that experiment with the typical rock instrument-formula, I'd love to hear about them.

Devotchka.
Andrew Bird.
The Decemberists.
The New Pornographers.
Devendra Banhart.
Tilly and the Wall.
The Pipettes.
Voxtrot.
Calexico.
The Go! Team.
The Dresden Dolls.
Asobi Seksu.
I'm From Barcelona.
Manu Chao.
Denver Gentlemen
Sufjan Stevens.
Of Montreal.
Architecture in Helsinki.
Rasputina.
Belle and Sebastian.
Regina Spektor.

These are all fantastic bands. If you like Beirut, then I know you have wonderful taste. This warms my heart to such an extent that I believe it would be possible to make a delicious batch of cookies inside of it, were it possible to open my chest and fit enough cookies to constitute a batch without causing irreparable, inevitably fatal damage.

These are innovative bands that among them utilize strings, accordions, hurdy gurdies, pianos, whistles, brass sections, hammered dulcimers, banjos, electronics, tap dancers, and much, much more. I urge you and all others to give these bands a listen, so that my cult of indie music may spread.

You'll want to look into the Real McKenzies, the Pogues and the World/Inferno Friendship Society.

if you like Dropkick Murphies and Flogging Molly, then definatly check out The Tossers and The Pogues.

Responses (in order)
- Never heard of them
- Like him
- Love them (they're from my hometown -- indie rock bands and HYYYYYYPPPPPSST-TURs may seem like fun pets, but remember kids, left unchecked, they can quickly reproduce, until before you know it no one in your city sells new clothes or washes their hair)
- Really love them
- Meh. He's just a little bit too grating for me, personally. My mom's bf, however, would gladly have pale, Swedish man-sex with him.
- Name's familiar, but never heard them.
- Cute, but not exactly a mainstay kind of band
- Never heard of them
- Same
- For me, it's really inconsistent between songs of theirs. I do really like some of their stuff though.
- They're OK
- Nevear heard of him (her?)
- Same
- Same
- Same
- Fucking awesome. Plus, his albums keep getting better. Greetings from Michigan was good, Seven Swans was great, but Illinois is a fucking masterpiece.
- Definitely more a fan of his newer stuff -- the old stuff is just a little too quirky, even for an indie-fan like me.
- What kind of indie-fan would I be if I didn't love B&S?
- Really enjoyed the first album, the second one not so much.

Some bands/albums you might like that I got recently:
- The Hidden Cameras
- Ferraby Lionheart
- Malajube
- The Spinto Band
- The new PAS/CAL EP (Dear Sir)

A very rare one...

As for the ones you haven't heard of, get to cracking on starting an effort to begin acquiring the means to allow you to enjoy the fruits of taking the time to look around to find a way that permits you to listen. To them.

A few recommended songs to get you started on the right track.

Devotchka: How It Ends, We're Leaving, Dearly Departed, Such a Lovely Thing (If you saw Little Miss Sunshine, pretty much the entire soundtrack composed of Devotchka, and really only How It Ends at that.)
Tilly and the Wall: Bad Education, Reckless, Lost Girls, The Freest Man.
Voxtrot: The Start of Something, Fast Asleep, Wrecking Force
Calexico: Corona, Sunken Waltz, Pepito, Quattro
Asobi Seksu: Thursday, Umi de no Jisatsu, New Years, Strawberries
I'm From Barcelona: We're From Barcelona, Treehouse

Also, in case you're unaware, KCRW's Morning Becomes Electic has a website that has many, many taped performances of bands like The Decemberists, New Pornographers, Sufjan Stevens, etc.

Thank you for the recommendations.

Cursive uses a lot of random string instuments in their songs. Which album is really irrelevant, as there is lots of interesting songs on all of them, but I personally am a big fan of The Ugly Organ.

You're secretly the guy who writes Questionable Content, aren't you?

Word on the saddle creek.
I KNOW that guy....XD

Siguir Ros
Mogwai
and
the russian circles
are the three that I would add
and if you like electronica
try The Faint.

But just so you know, no one in Nebraska claims Connor Oberst anymore.

Not so loud you fool!

Nay, if it were the guy from Questionable Content, there would have been a couple random metal albums on there.

I loved how Jeph (that's the guy who writes QC) put Wages of Sin by Arch Enemy on his recommended listening list as though it were something new. I listened to that CD in high school, which is a long time ago at this point. That's my random music snobbery for the day.