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I was recently talking to my friend about that Rebook commercial that uses Vashti Bunyan's "Train Song" as the background song, and he said that if he hadn't seen it, he never would have known about that artist. I think it's a great song, and it made me think about all the good music out there that I don't know about because it's not well known.

So can you recommend good obscure songs/artists that may not be very well known?

And sorry if this message has already been posted. I made a quick search and I didn't find a match.

I'll start it off myself. I don't know how obscure they are because I think their last album did pretty well, but I'd recommend checking out indie band Band of Horses.

Some youtube videos of their songs:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=band+of+horses&search_type=&aq=f

Califone is great - this is from a live show

The Dead Kennedys



The Dead Milkmen



The Screaming Trees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLvwVO8Fh04

sorry, embedding was disabled on that one.

dowal saidAnd sorry if this message has already been posted. I made a quick search and I didn't find a match.

No, you're not

tee hee hee *snort*

Arvo Part is amazing too !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OwdlKiB_ro


All his stuff is outstanding





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX7MNMSNUQE&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebGbKhrNqbU&feature=related


here he is, in this one


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c08i_9gumJs&feature=related

Anggun rocks. She's much better in French than English.

Feel free to check out my profile for a few songs. I'd say about 7 of them fall into this category. They are a bit more somber as I like to hear relaxing music as I surf the net.

I'll mention two that were once rather popular but have since fallen into obscurity:

Michael Nesmith, from The Monkees. Some of his work from the 1980's is some of the most interesting, eclectic, and thoughtful music/lyrics I've ever heard, such as "Lucy and Ramona (AKA Cruisin')" which was his homage to the gay community. A bit of those lines...

CRUISIN'Lucy and Ramona cruisin' thru the jungles of L.A.
Hopin' to promote a dream somewhere along the way.
(They're) Rollin' thru the streets looking for a disco,
Passin' up the treats from a kid named Cisco
Trying to make connections
With their blemish-free complexions.
And just as fate would have it,
They ended up with Sunset Sam.

Sam was sellin' watches from a suitcase on a TV tray,
And Lucy and Ramona were tryin' to figure out if he was gay.
The three of them were standing staring at each other,
When the light behind their eyes blew each other's cover.
The ancient code was branded.
And each of them was handed
A ticket to their kingdom
'Cause they saw their brother Sunset Sam.

And also the music of my single all-time favorite artist, C.W. McCall, famous in 1976 for his C.B. radio trucking song CONVOY. But don't let that fool you...He's made about 7 albums, all of which contain songs which are highly intelligent, thoughtful, funny, and/or inspirational. The musical group who did his back-up went on to become the well-known Chip Davis group Mannhiem Steamroller, who creat the music known as FRESH AIRE.
Here are the lyrics to one of C.W. McCall's best songs, Old Glory.

She was old, and beautiful, and wise, and She taught the young boy everything he needed to know. All about the land, and the woods and the rivers, and what had happened there even before he was born. She taught him what was good and what was bad. And most of all, the difference between right and wrong.

And so, every morning he stood beside his desk, with his hand over his heart, and promised to respect Her for the rest of his days.

When times were hard, and the grain elevators stood empty against the black Midwestern sky, She gave him praise for a hard day's work, and hope for his father. And She promised there would be better days to come.

And he sat by the radio and cried angry tears one gray December day, when he heard that She'd been betrayed. She was hurt; She needed help. He was only twelve, but he gave Her all he could: scraps of paper and tin cans and even the rubber tires from his wagon. He followed Her across the sea, on the maps in the newspaper, wishing he was older, old enough to fight back.

Then after four long, dark years, he heard the church bells ring and the noon whistle blow long and high. And he was part of one brief moment when all the world paid respect to Her.

And then he was grown up; and suddenly, the world had changed. And there were questions. About Her! Some thought She was old-fashioned, useless. Some thought She was dead. But then after all, maybe they hadn't known Her as he had.

And now everyone has grown older. The boy, and his children, and She too. He saw Her again just the other day: it was one of those bright, summer mornings and the church bells were ringing again. The bands were playing, and even the noon whistle was blowing... early!

He stood and watched proudly as She passed by. The sunlight catching the flash of crimson and white, stars blazing in the clear blue sky.

And then She was gone.

And he looked down through three generations into his grandson's eyes, and said, "There she goes, son. We used to call her Old Glory."

Here's a video I made of my mountain property using one of C.W. McCall's best songs, WILDERNESS. You can clearly hear the early sounds of Fresh Aire in the music.

Dare I say, I liked Nancy Sinatra's version of Bang,Bang, as much as Cher's.

It had such a sincere, femininity but still conveyed the hurtful sorrow.

Good choice Muchmore!

anton webern is my favorite composer to choreograph to. i couldn't find a performance of opus 5 to share, but opus 6 and opus 10 are also some of his more accessible works, along with his passacaglia

RBY71 saidThe Dead Kennedys

The Dead Milkmen


The Screaming Trees

Wanna get married?

I'll add Q and not U, The Faint (although they've become better known lately...), Awesome Colors, Once a Pawn, Coyote Bones, Sebadoh (and, hell, Dinosaur Jr), Tad, and finally Mudhoney.

Oh, and the Distillers. Brody Dalle is one of the few women I'd willingly sleep with.

Animal Collective
Anja Garbarek
Beirut
Bikeride
Bitter:Sweet
Broken Social Scene
Cortney Tidwell
Cursive
Cut Chemist
Dani Siciliano
The Delgados
Dengue Fever
Devotchka
The Earlies
Federico Aubele
The Go! Team
Guillemots
Hercules and Love Affair
Honey Ltd.
The Hours
Jose Gonzalez
The Kills
Love
Love Grenades
Martina Topley-Bird
Son of Dave
Sound Team
Space Raiders
The Standard
The Submarines
These New Puritans
Tosca (not the opera, but the downtempo duo)
Tricky
Wax Tailor
Wolfmother
Zofka

Random iTunes bands time!I'll do five songs on shuffle and give you the five bands.
chicken payback; by the Bees.

No Children; by The Mountain Goats

Frankenstein; Edgar Winter Group

Mutha uckers; flight of the conchords

Pretty Girls; The Kids of Widney High



there ya go.
(and I didn't even put any metal in there! )

I'd say a majority of the work of Bright Eyes, and the soundtrack to Requiem for a Dream. Imogen Heap isn't too bad as well.

I heard some 10 year old girls singing 'Paper Planes' over the weekend in Culver City, so I guess she's now officially pop, but M.I.A has been consistantly delivering some of the most infectious and unusual stuff i've heard for the past few years.

I'm also falling back in love with The Start, since hearing their newest a few weeks ago. The record actually came out a while back, but it hits all the same sweet spots as their debut, while venturing into some more sophisticated time transitions and the production aesthetic is richer.

Finally, I'll do a plug for my buddies Krystle Warren and the Faculty. They signed to Because a while back, (Charlotte Gainsbourg/ Manu Chao) and their new record, produced by Russell Elevado (D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Nikka Costa, Blackalicious, The Roots etc) will be released in the UK and France in November. Check them on iTunes they're truly brilliant!

My cousin is in this band...

Ambience - Obstacles


Ambience - Mythopia


Listen more songs in his myspace profile:
http://www.myspace.com/ambientwaves

And no he is not gay!

I can't help but post at least 7 of my favorites... sorry for the long post!

First and foremost, Nick Drake:


Animal Collective - controlled and choreographed chaos:


The Slits!


Destroyer; a short clip from a movie w/ Dan Bejar, the singer/songwriter of Destroyer:


Jolie Holland:


Joanna Newsom:


Faun Fables:


Jose Gonzalez:

homonculus. I don't want to creep you out too much more, but you reminded me: i think i'd do it to Joanna Newsom's "Swamsea" too.

Casey Scott. As far as I know she's only had one album,called "Creep City" ,but it's amazing.

[quote][cite]Funkapottomous said[/cite]Random iTunes bands time!I'll do five songs on shuffle and give you the five bands.

Mutha uckers; flight of the conchords


I loved it! Thanks for sharing that. lol.

I quite like an artist most people have never heard of, Lloyd Cole. There's a quality to his voice that just appeals to me.

My first boyfriend turned me on to Red Red Groovy, and '25' is still one of my very favorite albums.

Jean-Michel Jarre

I think to most people, most of the stuff I listen to would be considered obscure. That's why I usually only list bands that I think people have heard of on my lists of favorite music.

Kudos to both RBY71 and GwgTrunks.

Lately for me it's been a band called Stars. I totally dig them, and can't get enough.

When I get back from San Francisco, I'm going to see Motorhead in concert again. I never really though of them being obscure, but when I mention the concert to friends, a lot have no idea who I'm talking about.

Mine are really obscure, can't even find a youtube vid. LOL

Salt Tank - Ritual

Heart-thumping tribal techno. Recommended playing on speakers with good bass.

Tape 5 - Suitcase No.347

Nujazz, really good in an 'Ocean's Eleven' and 'No One Lives Forever' kinda way. Here's a youtube vid I found:



Juno Reactor

Not really obscure, but no one always seem to know them when I mention them. Made a lot of movie soundtracks, the most notable is from The Matrix Trilogy.

Trance techno. One of my favorites is 'God is God' featured below



Jonathan Coulton

Not very well known outside of geek circles. The famous composer of the Portal theme song, Still Alive. Has really really funny songs. But most wouldn't make sense to anyone not born less than 30 years ago.

Suggest you check out his song 'Tom Cruise Crazy'. His music is GPL I think (totally free, for you geektards )

E.S. Posthumus

Again not well known although they have made a crapload of movie and video game soundtracks. My favorite is the surreally beautiful track Nara (named after an ancient japanese city):

I'm going to second Flight of the Conchords, along with *every* band on Sub Pop.

Great lable.

As far as obscure goes...



and



!!!!

Right now:

Jill Jones "Fuck You Till You're Groovey"

Sedative: there are Juno Reactor fans out there. I'm one of them.

ChicGymGeek saidSedative: there are Juno Reactor fans out there. I'm one of them.

Nice! Did you know the origin of their name? Badass. LOL. A protest with an ICBM mockup. LOL! I put them in the same category with Rage Against The Machine.

Bands which actually have something to say.

P.S. I'm listening to Juno Reactor - Children of the Night at the moment. I actually play their music when I'm working (3d modeling). Puts me in a sci-fi-ish creative mood.

dancerjack saidanton webern is my favorite composer to choreograph to. i couldn't find a performance of opus 5 to share, but opus 6 and opus 10 are also some of his more accessible works, along with his passacaglia

Really?!?
Maybe "Im Sommerwind" but I'm not sure whether or not I'm sensing some severe sarcasm here...Then again, you may be tired and saying to yourself "I want to choreograph something, but nothing linger than 90 seconds."

LOL

visit www.sarband.de

no, no sacrasm at all - i love webern because his music is perfect. its structures and concepts are literally perfect, from a mathematical p.o.v. the fact that his pieces tend to be short just makes them better - he is able to say what he has to say in a succinct manner. nothing is extraneous.

i strive for that in my choreography. at this point i get very bored of dances that last more than about 5 minutes. 10 minutes at the most. i'm grumbling at 12 minutes, getting rotten veggies ready at 15, and making rude comments at 20. if you haven't accomplished what you intended by that point, then you are simply performing kinesthetic babbling. if your dance doesn't communicate in that amount of time, making it longer won't help it. enough with the ballets that go on for 3 hours and hardly do anything with the music given to them! i want meat, not cotten candy!

i choreographed webern's op 5. i'm not saying my dance is perfect; however, it's alot better for having used webern's music as a skeleton. if i'd gone with another composer i'd have felt compelled to "do something" with the music. the dance should be about the dance, not about competing with the music that is upstaging it.

Sedative said
P.S. I'm listening to Juno Reactor - Children of the Night at the moment. I actually play their music when I'm working (3d modeling). Puts me in a sci-fi-ish creative mood.

I'm more of a fan of Zwara from Labyrinth. It's so primal, and gets me in the mood for the vampire LARP I run.

anything from the Cocteau Twins.

What are you opinions of Anything Box or Dresden Dolls?

Dresden Dolls have a couple good songs. but a lot of crap.

She is an angry man hater. But got to love Coin Operator Boy.

Just a few:

Sigur Ros
Turin Brakes

Yesterdays' New Quintet [aka Madlib]
Hot Chip
BLOWOFF
Robin Guthrie [formerly of the Cocteau Twins]
doves
Eagles of Death Metal [totally rock]
Alpha
Basement Jaxx
Calexico
Charlie Hunter Trio/Quintent/Quartet
RJD2
Cousteau
Hard-Fi
4-Hero
Saint Etienne
Jose Gonzalez
k-os
Kitchens of Distinction [disbanded]
Ozomatli
PAul Weller [formerly of the Style Council]
Rae & Chrisitan
Massive Attack
Zero 7


That was fun.

I contend that Bran Van 3000's Discosis is the best album most people have never heard. It was ahead of its time and it still sounds fresh.

I'm into pretty obscure stuff. This is out there, but I think Phil Collins' No Jacket Required is amazing. Ever heard of him?

Great suggestions guys. I liked Anggun, the Distillers, Nick Drake, Destroyer, Jolie Holland from above, and I've never heard of any of them (ok, except Nick Drake). Here's my contributions:

AA Bondy - Vice Rag


Miwa Gemini - Pieces


Dan Dyer - Stop for a Second


Voxtrot - Steven


Lex Land - Easy (starts about a minute in)

joggerva saidVoxtrot - Steven

Voxtrot is great. From Austin, btw.

ChicGymGeek said

Sedative said
P.S. I'm listening to Juno Reactor - Children of the Night at the moment. I actually play their music when I'm working (3d modeling). Puts me in a sci-fi-ish creative mood.

I'm more of a fan of Zwara from Labyrinth. It's so primal, and gets me in the mood for the vampire LARP I run.

Love Zwara too.

One of my other favorites, Navras, one of the songs with a deeper meaning if you take the time to know it. It comes from hindi, Nava Rasa, the nine states of the soul. Namely: Love, Humor, Pathos, Wrath, Heroism, Horror, Disgust, Supernaturalism, and Peace.

The lyrics of the song is sanskrit from the Upanishads:

Asato ma sad gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya
Om shanti shanti shanti
Jnani manasa saha
Buddhis ca na vicestate
Tam ahuh paramam gatim

Translated:

From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality.
Let there be peace everywhere
When the five senses and the mind are still,
and reason itself rests in silence,
then begins the Path supreme...

'Om shanti shanti', is a mantra which means 'Om (the hum of hindu/buddhist monks meant to induce calmness by the vibration of the vocal chords) Peace'.

And I just realized I posted shit quality of Nara by ES Posthumus. LOL. Here is a better version with used in conjunction with FF clips:



Might come in handy for your fantasy LARPs haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sicf2CECUBo
Sorry embedding was disabled.

Digitalism - Pogo

Awesome song. Instant mood lifter song but not in that cheesy 'love life! Dont worry, be happy' way. This song will remind me of my youth when I'm super super old.



Heartsrevolution - Switchblade (La riots remix)



Mr. Scruff - get a move on

super cute.

YOKO ONO

I love country music... and some of my favorite old country music is by Charley Pride. Songs like "Kiss An Angel Good Morning," "I don't think she's in love anymore," and "Is anybody going to San Antone."

Pride was the first ever Black country music stars. When his records first came out, they kept his picture off the cover to get stations to play them. This country sure has come a long way.

Pride is 70 now and lives in Dallas.

Michael Franks "The Art of Tea"

Okay, I'm into Icelandic Pop Music (how unusual is that!. Some of my favorites:

Margrét Eir, I used to sing with Margret when she lived in Boston. Exquisite voice and she loves the gay boys:


Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson, the outlandish gay Icelandic pop star:


Friðrik Ómar: Iceland's entry to Eurovision 2008 (with Regina Osk as Euroband). I got to meet him when I was in Iceland in 2007.

Note: I love this song (Eldur) but the video is off and the mouth and voice don't sync.

Hey Jogger - I especially liked the two you mentioned below - AA Bondy and Dan Dyer. Dang - Dan Dyer is pretty hawt, too - I'd do 'em.

A few more, if I may!

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy:


Deerhoof:


Gillian Welch:


Amon Tobin:

joggerva saidGreat suggestions guys. I liked Anggun, the Distillers, Nick Drake, Destroyer, Jolie Holland from above, and I've never heard of any of them (ok, except Nick Drake). Here's my contributions:

AA Bondy - Vice Rag


Dan Dyer - Stop for a Second

homonculus saidHey Jogger - I especially liked the two you mentioned below - AA Bondy and Dan Dyer. Dang - Dan Dyer is pretty hawt, too - I'd do 'em.

A few more, if I may!

Great additions to the list, and of course you may... if I may too.

Dan Dyer sang the national anthem at the Nike Human Race in Austin. It was a good performance that was all messed up by the crappy sound system. I was planning on seeing him while I was down, but I saw Doug Burr instead - also pretty cool.


I also like Gillian Welch - she was a surprise guest at a concert with Rilo Kiley and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down. Rilo Kiley is great, but not that obscure, so here is Thao with the Get Down Stay Down for your listening pleasure:

Thanks guys for all your great input. I've learned about new artists and songs that I now like.

What a great site we have here.

muchmorethanmuscle saidThanks guys for all your great input. I've learned about new artists and songs that I now like.

What a great site we have here.

You are welcome... It is a great thread and I have learned a lot too.

Jadamo saidACE OF BASE
"Sparks (from a Fire)"

I have heard Ace of Base before... They are popular band.

Jadamo saidACE OF BASE
"Sparks (from a Fire)"

I have heard Ace of Base before... They are popular band.

My cousin introduced me to Korean pop music. I like it; can't sing along and I'm not sure what they're saying, but its cool... here are the wonder girls.

SamerPhxAZ said

Jadamo saidACE OF BASE
"Sparks (from a Fire)"

I have heard Ace of Base before... They are popular band.

VERY HOT RIGHT NOW!!

Not sure how obscure these are everywhere else, but where I am from these are virtually unheard of:

Finn Riggins (Local Idaho Band)

NightWish (Rock/Metal with a classically trained lead female singer)

Stella Soleil (dance)

RBY71 saidThe Dead Kennedys

Not really obscure but totally awesome.


Napalm Death (Grindcore)
Trendy Bastard (Grindcore)
Death Cube K (Ambient)
The Cramps (Southern Punk Tinge)
Melt Banana (Japanese Noise)
Limp Wrist (Queercore)