Favorite Obscure Musician?

[WannabeMego]

Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu

[goldenryan]

dennis lyxzen - deffinitely the best artist most people never heard of. (refused, international noise conspiracy,lost patrol)

[MegoSteve]

Hmmm, I don't know how obscure these are, but I like 'em:

Operator Please. An Australian band that hasn't made much of a dent here yet, but they're really young... they were founded three years ago by a gal who wanted to win her high school talent show. They're kind of garage-y and basic rock, but they have a lot of energy and originality to make up for the rough edges.

YouTube - Operator Please - Just A Song About Ping Pong

April March. Don't you hate when you find an obscure song about eight years ago and then Quentin Tarantino puts it in a movie and suddenly it's like the song was his discovery? April March is the one who did the song Chick Habit from Death Proof. Great song... retro French pop sound. Here's a different song, though...

YouTube - April March - Up Above

The Innocence Mission. Band from Lancaster, PA. Kind of 10,000 Maniacs-like...

YouTube - The Innocence Mission - Bright As Yellow

Suddenly, Tammy! Another band from Lancaster, PA... had a major label deal in the 90s that fizzled after one album, but they were great. Pop/rock with jazz-style three piece arrangement (bass, piano, drums).

YouTube - suddenly, tammy! - Video for

The Brilliant Green. Japanese pop band most famous in the U.S. for doing a song used in the Power Puff Girls cartoon. They're a little deeper than that, though.

YouTube - the brilliant green CALL MY NAME
YouTube - The Brilliant Green - Ash Like Snow

If you like Devo-esque electronica:
Polysics.
YouTube - Polysics- I My Me Mine (Strong Machine 2 Version)

Not too obscure, but I really like Dragonforce in an un-ironic way. It's totally over the top. Herman Li and Sam Totman are so unbelievably fast on the guitar... if you don't want to suffer through the heavy metal, just fast forward to 3:21 and your jaw will drop.

YouTube - Dragonforce - Through The Fire And Flames (Video)

My friend likes music videos and has a blog. It's mostly punk or alternative type rock and 80s retro, but there's a smattering of everything there. I've found some new things to listen to there (like Operator Please).

Sphere of Repugnance

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Anyone know the Sinister Ducks?

Don C.

[Zemo]

If your not a guitar player, he is probably obscure. Eric Johnson incredible instrumentals on the guitar. What a talent.

[misterdroid]

BBQ and King Khan show- two man band that do a rockabilly,country,soul type music that will have ya pounding yer foot and wondering how 2 guys can sound this good.

(ps-I haven't heard The Sword yet, they sound like something I'd like too).

King Kahn and BBQ Show are amazing... really, really great stuff. A surprising amount of range. Goes from a fierce garage rock stomp to a stripped back motown groove effortlessly. I couldn't recommend it more. Good call Stretchandro!

[Action Martin]

I really like Jeff Scott Soto. He was the lead singer for Journey for something like 5 months last year. He can rock, funk, and do the silly love songs. He did the vocals for the "band" Steeldragon in the movie "Rock Star". He has his own stuff, "Believe in Me" is a personal favorite. He also does covers of Prince, Journey, Queen, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Kansas, and more.

[4NDR01D]

Well here's a list of some of my faves. Mostly pretty obscure, but you might have heard of some of them

Hasil Adkins- one man rockabilly band from the late 50's thru till his recent death a couple of years ago, oh yeah HE MAKES HIS OWN INSTUMENTS!!! try to find the
song "No more hotdogs"- WILD STUFF I TELL YA!!

BBQ and King Khan show- two man band that do a rockabilly,country,soul type music that will have ya pounding yer foot and wondering how 2 guys can sound this good.

HIGH ON FIRE- the best, wait let me capitalize that, THE BEST! heavy metal band of the last 15 years easily. I know that's a pretty hefty statement to make, but I'm behind it 100%. Oh yeah, they're a 3 pc. (ps-I haven't heard The Sword yet, they sound like something I'd like too).

Swervedriver- the most underrated band of the 90's, british "shoe gaze" style guitar psych. They're on a reunion tour next month, just got tix will be 4th time seeing them.
um, they're a 4 piece btw.

Mostly these days I just listen to Syrius satelite and tune it to "Little Stevens Underground Garage".

[Tyme2tyme]

I like some of the newer rock such as Shinedown but have also been listening to Alizee (Big in France but not well known over here) JOHN

[monkey tennis]

Aren't all three of them extremely well-known?

Very True

[HardyGirl]

Even though they are no more, I love the band The Jenerators. Billy Mumy (Lost In Space), Miguel Ferrer (Crossing Jordan, revamped Bionic Woman), David Jolliffe, (Room 222) along w/ Gary Stockdale and Tommy Hebenstreit. Their style was classic rock, and they performed their own material, and a few covers. What I really liked about the band was that there were no lead singers. Everyone (except Tommy and that was by choice) had their own songs they would perform and they were great! I used to fly out to Santa Monica just to see them. They're released 3 albums: The Jenerators, Hitting The Silk and Pony Up. Billy has released his own albums, my folks style, and my favorite song he does is Woe, The Lovers Tune. It inspired me so much, that I wrote a fan fiction piece on it. And, I'm proud to say he loved it!

[livnxxxl]

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.

The Sword sounds of something that may be an interest to me. I like the sound and the grind of vintage Metallica. Master of Puppets, Ride The Lightning, Garage Days, Blackened are some of my favorites. I was a bit too young for Black Sabbath therefore I never really got into them as much although I do like the song "Iron Man". Thanks for the links I will be sure to check out The Sword.

[livnxxxl]

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

I would tend to agree with you there.

[livnxxxl]

Three words for you....

Lords of Acid
1 2 3


They rule!!

[nvmbrsdoom5]

I really noticed the difference in the overall sound and fidelity when I got "Danger Money" on cd a while back as compared to my vinyl. The sound of the vinyl is superior to my ears, I gotta say.

Another favorite "obscure" musician I can recommend is Danny Cavanaugh. He's the lead guitarist/co-vocalist/co-songwriter for an alternative/progressive/doom band from England called Anathema. Danny also records and tours as a solo artist, mostly doing acoustic stuff, sometimes with his brother Vince (who is also in Anathema). They're one of the few artists who I've seen cover Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and Iron Maiden all in the same show, and make it really work. Best place to probably find Danny Cavanaugh or Anathema stuff to sample would be to look them up on YouTube, most likely.