If you could turn everyone on to ONE band, who would it be?
 

The one band I always go out of my way to recommend is the now defunct Smoking Popes. Especially evident on their Live CD, they just churned out great music (think pop-punk w/ a Morrissey-sounding singer).

If you could get everyone here to try one band, who would it be?

mos def & talib kweli

two of the best undeground rap acts out there. you might even consider them to be just one act since they did do an album together (black star)

Martin Sexton:
Live this man proves that he has more musical talent than 99% of the artists out there today.
Strongest releases include- Black Sheep & Wonder Bar

Idlewild - the long-lost link to late-80s college radio.

I would say Tori Amos, but then I wouldn't be able to see her in concert in normal performance halls.

Army Of Lovers

Tool (altho alot of DVDTalkers seem to dig em already) :D

Fountains of Wayne

TOOL rocks!

Pushmonkey

I'd say Coldplay too but they're more popular
 

Badly Drawn Boy

For someone with only one major album release (2000's critically acclaimed 'The Hour of Bewilderbeast'), I think Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) has one of the coolest live performances I've ever seen... He performs for himself and doesn't care about the audience at all. While this is annoying at times, it's incredibly refreshing to see him do a 10-minute instrumental jam off of his song 'Fall In a River' (which on the LP clocks in at just over 2 minutes), then he repeats it about 45 minutes later as a feedback-laden art rock song, then comes back 30 minutes later and does the song on his acoustic set.

Not to mention I've listened to 'Hour of the Bewilderbeast' on average 5 times a week since I got my hands on it back last October -- it's been a full year and this album is still with me...

Buy the album at cdnow

From AllMusic.com: "What has the field of lo-fi slacker pop come to when faced by an LP as ambitious and entertaining as Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast? Despite all attempts to sabotage his songwriting and production with innumerable experimental tidbits, songs within a song, and (seemingly) tossed-off arrangements, Damon Gough has to face the fact that he wrote and produced over a dozen excellent songs of baroque folk-pop for his album debut, and the many gems can't help but shine through all the self-indulgence. The sprightly orchestration for cello and trumpet (Gough's own) that begin the album are eventually taken over by the sparse guitar pickings and wistful folky sunshine of "The Shining," which veers into the skewed slide guitar and ominous tone of "Everybody's Stalking." Gough rarely pauses for breath (even when he's doing a ballad) or follows any traditional sense of album flow, but after a listen or two The Hour of Bewilderbeast is revealed as a shambling masterpiece of a pop album. Most of these songs are Gough's entirely (he plays as many as eight instruments), with occasional help from friends like Twisted Nerve co-labelhead Andy Votel and assorted drummers for accompaniment. His songwriting is great, but Gough's twisted sense of humor helps the album shine as well, as on "Fall in a River" where the down-a-lazy-river feel carries through to the point where not just Gough but the entire production is submerged with a splash and attendant warping of the sound. The Hour of Bewilderbeast surely isn't a traditional pop album, but a continually beguiling trip through lo-fi post-modern folk that draws as much from Harry Nilsson as Beck."

In all honesty, I wouldn't turn everyone on to any of my favorite bands.
I like seeing them at small, personal venues, and all that good stuff.

Re: I'd say Coldplay too but they're more popular
 

I might agree with that. the 2 shows I saw him in this year were
excellent, 1st one at Bimbos 365 Club in SF was the better, lasted about 3 hours. by 11pm 60% of people has walked out.

KING'S X (and all of the many side projects...Platypus, Ty Tabor, Poundhound, Supershine, Jelly Jam, Jughead, and more on the way). For better info on them, check out www.KingsX.net, www.KXCD.net, and www.KingsXonline.com for starters.

Besides being one of the best and most underrated bands in the world, since they left Atlantic, they have found new freedom, and have opened the floodgates for their music (as mentioned above).

King's X definitely rock. Great tunes from those guys :)

poe

Eliza Carthy - English folk singer/fiddler with an awesome double album called Red Rice, with a great combo of new original and newly found/arranged traditional English folk songs. Great album if you're a fan of folk violin. Also highly recommended, Angels and Cigarettes, her folk/pop follow up.

But, if violins aren't your thing maybe xylophones are:D- Try Tortoise, the best (most accessible) 'Post Rock' band out there. Albums of instrumental goodness include Millions Now Living Will Never Die (the best song, the 20 min long 'Djed', will have you running to your CD player in fear somewhere in the middle of it;)), TNT, and Standards.

Oops, sorry that was two wasn't it? I'm so bad at these kinds of threads.:rolleyes:

Afghan Whigs
Tindersticks

Though the 'Whigs have broken up, they were definetly one of the great bands and Tindersticks just keep getting better.

The Roots

Thanks for the tip, I'm enjoying 100 Broken Windows.

Failure - These guys are awesome. Maynard from Tool even did a side project with them called Replicants. Maynard loves these guys.

Fantastic Planet was the last cd they put out but what a last gasp it was. I don't skip one track on that cd.

Magnified was another great album. All the songs on that album are excellent as well.

Man, I was just going to recommend 100 Broken Windows

Try JJ72, like the smashing Pumpkins meets U2

I've heard them, what's with the singer's voice? Sounds like Marianne Faithfull