If you like W, you might also like X, Y, Z (media)

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   A various media topic that included music, books, film, TV and more. One can find intersections between all of those so one can draw comparisons. Of course we have film soundtracks, TV, movies and albums conceptually based on books.  I often take a fairly holistic approach to things, unfocused would be another descriptor.

One of the the things I often will look for in reviews, topics, and comments are comparisons and suggestions of what to look for if one is into something such as an album, a novel, a TV show, a particular song, a film etc.  It is, of course, a common topic at this forum with requests such as "I'm into Genesis, what other bands can you recommend?"  This of course might lead to asking for the person to be more specific, such as the respondent asking, "What is your favourite Genesis album?", "Which Genesis period and songs do you most enjoy?", "What are some of your other favourite bands?", "Have you heard any others that would fit the bill?" And then some suggestions are much more on point/ relevant than others. Some will specifically suggest bands with similar qualities and perceived appeal, some will just list things that they like in response even if they really are not similar, and some might lecture that person who is asking for recommendations with a comment such as "You shouldn't look for other people's recommendations and go out and discover the music for yourself, which is a far more progressive thing to do!"  Or, "You should let your own ears be your guide." Or, "the question you should really be asking is THIS."  To which the respondent might say something like, "I want more music like what I asked for, and this helps me to find such music instead of listening to everything under the sun hoping it will scratch that itch", "There's only so much time", "Get lost" or all of the above.

I generally favour addressing the request as asked. intended rather than making it about one's own values and likes.  It's a far more charitable approach generally. And it's commonly better to try to stick to the topic and parameters as laid out even if digressions can be fun and interesting.

With that preamble out of the way, I thought it might be interesting to have a general arts topic where we can list albums, films, books, movies and TV shows (and more) and then mention others that we think might appeal to those who also like such things.  Originally I was just going to do this for music, but decided to widen the net, and if one likes  a certain TV show, one might say that certain novels and films might appeal due to having similar characteristics/ qualities.  If, say, discussing an album, that doesn't mean it need sound the same, and certainly not have to be a rip-off (although it could be), but one gets at least  a similar feel or vibe to it.  Note: people draw different associations and their brains can interpret music differently, so just because X album appeals to me, and has similar qualities to Y to me, does not necessarily mean that another will make the same associations.  Each listener has a unique experience with music since we have unique brains that filter and interpret the sounds and unique experiences from which we draw our associations.

I'll start with some albums that have similar appeal to me (some are more similar than others, and it's not like I would necessarily want copy-cats).

I like Herbie Hancock's album Crossings.  This album has simialrities to the rest of Hancock's Mwandishi trilogy which includes Sexant and Mwandishi, and others who were involved on that album (often called the Mwandishi players) released albums with a similar appeal, such as Eddie Henderon's Realisation (highly recommended for those into Crossings), Inside Out and Sunburst, Bennie Maupin's resplendent The Jewel in the Lotus and Slow Traffic to the Right, Buster Williams' Pinnacle, and musically related ones such as the I think excellent Love, Love by Julian Priester (which I love, love, love), Norman Connors' Dance of Magic and Dark of Light, Lenny White's Venusian Summer (the suite is so sweet), and Bob James' One.

If you like Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, then I might recommend Donald Byrd's Electric Byrd or Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay amongst many others.

If you like Stereolab, then maybe try Pram and Broadcast (without going into specifics now).

If you like Comus' First Utterance, then I suggest listening to Spirogyra albums (and other acid folk acts), and Exuma.  And if you like Exuma, I suggest Dr. John the Day Tripper's Gris-Gris ("I Walk on Guilded Splinters" I find terrific). And for me there is some brooding similarity between Nick Drake's "River Man" and Comus' "The Herald".

If you like Univers Zero, try Present, as well as Art Zoyd.

If you like 2001: A Space Odyssey, try Tarkovsky's Solaris.

If you like Orwell's 1984, maybe try Huxley's Brave New World, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, and maybe give Gilliam's Brazil film a watch.

If you like Twin Peaks, maybe try the Fargo series and Lost, as well as Hannibal and the X Files (I could go really wide on this ad mention many others).

If you like the Game of Thrones TV show, and want to watch things with similarities that are more kid-friendly, try His Dark Materials and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

You get the idea. So please list your own, and comment on and add to to other people's lists or just comment generally.  And sorry for getting a little long-winded again, my wife was complaining about this quality of mine earlier ("Get to the point!")  Unfortunately, I have a rather disorderly mind that will go off on tangents regularly and I need to try to rein that in.      

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