Favorite Obscure Musician?

[megoscott]

Okay, so if you were going to recommend the best artist I've probably never heard of who would it be? I need some new stuff on my iPod and I'm out of the loop. Rock, country, jazz, whatever. Who do I need to be listening to?

My own faves:

Robbie Fulks, alt-country pioneer who writes savagely witty songs in an old school country style that's reverential and punk at the same time.

John Cale--you know him from the Velvet Underground, but I also love his wildly unpopular solo work.

[monkey tennis]

I've been listening to :

Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Paul Giovanni - The Wicker Man

Paul Weller - As Is Now & Studio 150

Lias Ekdaul - Back to Earth

Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords

The Who - The Who Sell Out & Who's Next ?

Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed

T-Rex - Electric Warrior

Sly & the Family Stone - Fresh

The Family - The Family

Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

Scott Walker - Scott II

Bruce Cockburn - Speechless

Artic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Ween - La Cucaracha

[toys2cool]

I've been listening to a lot of Daughtery and Jordin Sparks

[monkey tennis]

Have you tried

JJ Cale

Tom Waits

or

Nick Cave and the Bad (songs) Seeds

[Donkey Hoatie]

Depends on What You Like

Some of these aren't "Obscure," but you might like them:

I recommend Colin Hay to everyone I meet. Seriously. Former lead singer of Men at Work. Sure, he still breaks out acoustic versions of some of the MAW songs, but his musical catalog is much, much, more than that. I was lucky enough to catch him at a live show last weekend in Chicago. Simply put, it was brilliant. Check out "Man at Work," which has some MAW songs with others. Move on to "Going Somewhere," which has one or two MAW songs. Then, try out "Transcendental Highway." You will not be disappointed.

Bob Schneider is another one of my faves. He's been in a bunch of bands you've never heard of and is versed in everything from ska to reggae. His vibe is all over the place. I'd focus on his albums "Lonelyland" and "I'm Good Now." He's another one who's great to catch live.

Joe Purdy. He's got a song featured on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack and he currently has a song playing in a Kia commercial. Very bluesy/alt. rock in his tone. I've got his album "Only Four Seasons" in my rotation where it's been playing steadily for a couple of years now. Very mellow. Good chilling out music.

Shameless plug 1: Nadine. I used to be real good friends with the lead singer in high school until I got sent off to a boarding school. We lost touch for a while and then I came across some old letters he'd sent me and found out he'd been in a St. Louis-based band for a couple of years and they were pretty big in Europe. They've been labeled Alt-Country, because some of their early stuff had a little twang to it, but they're really more in the Tom Petty kind of genre. Later on, they signed with a label owned by Pete Yorn and toured with him. They put out one album under that label called "Strange Seasons," with a couple of really catchy tunes. "Downtown, Saturday" is my favorite album with a song called, "So that I don't miss you," that is absolutely brilliant. They broke up as a band a couple of years ago. They're available on iTunes and at Amazon.com among other places.

Shameless plug 2: Terry Mertens. I have two brothers. Terry is like my third one. He is a great friend and an even greater songwriter. He self-produced an album a number of years ago called "Hopelessly Marginal," in which he wrote, sang, and played guitar on every track. It's worth listening to just for some of the song titles. "Where'd All the Horny Girls Go?" "Santa Liked Tequila," "The Heavy Petting Zoo," and "Happy, Crappy Valentine's Day" are all real crowd pleasers. There's some used copies at Amazon.com from time to time, but I'll burn a copy of this long-out-of-print CD for anyone that wants one.

[nvmbrsdoom5]

If you want someone fairly obscure that does an interesting twist on the singer/songwriter thing, try checking out Dax Riggs. He's a singer and guitarist who has played in a variety of different bands ranging from heavy metal to deep south New Orleans blues. The stuff he's doing now is very cool, it's a bit of a mix of everything he's done and alot of his influences. I'd say his sound is like mixing Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Jim Morrison, Nick Drake, Alice In Chains and Black Sabbath all in a blender. That doesn't even really sum it up but give it a listen, his voice is unique.

MySpace.com - Dax Riggs - HOUMA, Louisiana - Rock / Blues / Experimental - www.myspace.com/daxriggs

[EmergencyIan]

Colin Hay

Overkill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuXLElEDEKI

Beautiful World

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

- Ian

[Cosmicman]

Check out a band that has been hitting me hard. They are called The Sword. Besides being good friends of mine, they are from Austin, Texas. They are a cross between Metallica and Black Sabbath. Their lyrics are sorta medieval/dungeons and dragons styled. Since I discovered them, their two CDs have not left my player.

I just found out they got the open spot for Metallica this summer. They are really stoked about out and really excited. Hey, a foot in the door for my band is a foot in the door. I am happy to know someone that is opening for Metallica. That is so cool!
You are probably not into hard rock but if you are. Check it out.

The Sword - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MySpace.com - THE SWORD - Austin, Texas - Metal / Rock - www.myspace.com/thesword

[thunderbolt]

Big Black, Firehose, Robyn Hitchcock, Frank Black (of Pixies fame), and not really obscure, I'm really liking the new REM album.

[Dave Mc]

Nick Lowe. Late 70's sarcastic pop thing.

[Bizarro Amy]

Chris Smither, T-Bone Burnett(known more as a producer, has also performed with Elvis Costello under an assumed name) and Francis Dunnery are the first that come to mind, but I don't listen to commercial radio, so I don't really know if anyone I like is obscure or not. Some that other people have mentioned that I like are Frank Black, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Flight of the Conchords and Arctic Monkeys. Maybe it's just the circles I travel in, but I don't see any of those as obscure, other than maybe Flight of the Conchords. To me, Frank, Tom and Nick are borderlining on legendary.

[grayhank]

Deleted

[Bo8a_Fett]

Jerry Cantrell...ex of Alice in chains has a few excellent albums out

[Bionic Joe]

Any thing by KING CRIMSON, and check out Dave Edmonds

[kingdom warrior]

One of my Fav Obscure Rockers is Vince Taylor and the Playboys he was the brother in law to Joe barbera of Hanna/Barbera fame.

YouTube - Vince Taylor - Brand New Cadillac

YouTube - Vince Taylor - What'd I Say