the artists we never heard of... (aka the small time artists thread)
 

i want this thread to run as an appreciation thread for small time artists who deserve to be big. my pick is:

<a href="http://www.masonjennings.com">mason jennings</a>

he has been compared to many successful artists (dave matthews, bob dylan, paul simon) but he is really his own thing (maybe that is why he is compared to those people). his lyrics are incredible and you can tell his songs have heart.. one of his songs is quite possibly the most romantic ballad i've ever heard ("Ballad for My One True Love")...

i highly recommend both of his albums!
-di doctor-

I like the canadian band Moxy Früvous.

Re: the artists we never heard of... (aka the small time artists thread)
 

Thanks for the recommendation; I downloaded some "samples" of his songs & dug em'. Similar in some ways to Vic Chestnutt who seems to be languishing in relative obscurity.

Another pick would be David Lewis the long time collaborator with John Wesley Harding. A talented artist in his own right.

You may not have heard of some of these bands, but in a perfect world you would have.


3Ds
Acetone
Air
Aislers Set
Apples in Stereo
Bedhead
Belle & Sebastian
Bettie Serveert
Beulah
Bird, Andrew('s) Bowl of Fire
Bonnie Prince Billy
Boxhead Ensemble, the
Bruno, Franklin
Built to Spill
Bunnygrunt
Calexico
Cat Power
Chappaquiddick Skyline
Circulatory System
Corn Sisters, the
Court and Spark, the
Crabs, the
Cub
Damon & Naomi
Death Cab for Cutie
Delgados, the
Dismemberment Plan, the
Doleful Lions, the
Dougher, Sarah
Dressy Bessy
Elf Power
Essex Green, the
Farina, Geoff
Frost, Edith
Gates, Rebecca
Gentle Waves, the
Godspeed You Black Emporer
Halo Benders, the
Handsome Family, the
Heavenly
Holiday
Ida
Idaho
K.
Karate
Kings of Convenience
Kleenex Girl Wonder
Lilys, the
Lois
Low
Lucksmiths, the
Magnetic Fields
Manning, Barbara (and the Go-Luckys)
Mascott
Mates of State
Microphones
Minders, the
Mountain Goats, the
Neutral Milk Hotel
New Pornographers, the
New Year, The
Nothing Painted Blue
Olivia Tremor Control, the
Palace
Papas Fritas
Pedro the Lion
Pernice Brothers
Pernice, Joe
Pharmacists/Ted Leo
Push Kings
Rainer Maria
Rasputina
San Francisco Seals, the
Sarge
Secret Stars, the
Shins
Sigur Ros
Smog
Songs: Ohia
Spinanes, the
Swearing at Motorists
Tindersticks
Toomey, Jenny
Tullycraft
Verna Cannon, the
Virginia Dare
White Stripes
Will Oldham
Wolfie

Never heard of the others, thou. Are you sure you aren´t making ´em up? :D

See, if this was a perfect world, you wouldn't be saying that.

Strange about me leaving Elvis Costello in the list. Definitely wasn't supposed to be there. Also removed a few others.

Mick Collins of
--The Gories
--King Sound Quartet
--The Dirtbombs (w/ Jim Diamond)
--The Screws (w/ Terri Wahl)
--Blacktop
----and also recorded with and/or produced:
----Andre Williams
----Speedball Baby
----Red Aunts
----(and many more)

Dan Kroha of
--The Gories
--Demolition Doll Rods

Greg Cartwright (aka Greg Oblivion) on his own and with:
--The Oblivions
--Compulsive Gamblers
--The Deadly Snakes
--'68 Comeback

Jack Yarber (aka Jack Oblivion) on his own and with:
--The Oblivions
--Compulsive Gamblers
--'68 Comeback

Ba$$holes
Big A$$ Truck
Bulemics
Candy Snatchers
Countdowns
Gaza Strippers
Knoxville Girls
Manic Hispanic
River City Rapists
Secret Chiefs 3
Stone Fox
T-Model Ford
Tarbox Ramblers

CYBERNAUTS -- Members of Def Leppard and Bowie's original Spiders from Mars band together as a David Bowie cover band

SCATTERBRAIN -- funky comedic metal from early 90s

sundog:

Secret Chiefs 3 are awesome! You might as well mention Mr. Bungle too but the Chiefs would be more obscure.

Anything w/ Mike Patton besides Faith No More should be on here (Tomahawk, Fantomas, his solo stuff)

GuessWho: I heard Scatterbrain recently and they rock! The one song where they cover all the famous guitar riffs is bad ***.

I will also add:

Self
Cyst
Orbit
The Melvins (been around but a lot of people forget about 'em)
Skinny Puppy (awesome industrial)

Some of the artists are ore big name than others but I mentioned them all because even though SP or Melvins have been around 15+ years he average Joe never heard of em, as opposed to Cyst which is a local speed metal band in S. FL that has no major label albums (yet).

The Riverdales are excellent if you like the Ramones.

stevevt: You can't live in Seattle and NOT know who Death Cab for Cutie is.

Guster

I have a feeling they may make it big one day though.

stevevt:

Nice f'n call on some of those, especially:
Virgina Dare
Nothing Painted Blue
Bettie Serveert

And of course, The Mountain Goats...I actually had "Going to Georgia" playing WAY too loud right when I started reading this. Does John Darnielle still tour or what? I'd love to see him live.

I don't know most of the other stuff you have listed, but with taste like that, I'm gonna try to give some of it a listen.

John Darnielle writes for a music website that I also write for. Neumu.com. Check it out.

It took me a long time to find Zopilote Machine on CD, but I did. Totally worth it, of course.

Tour info and lots other info at the official site:
http://www.themountaingoats.net/

I'm pretty excited about the forthcoming Extra Glenns (Franklin Bruno and John Darnielle) release on Absolutely Kosher. January, I guess.

I own music by:
Apples in Stereo
Bedhead
Belle & Sebastian
Beulah
Bonnie Prince Billy
Bruno, Franklin
Built to Spill
Crabs, the
Cub
Damon & Naomi
Death Cab for Cutie
Gentle Waves, the
Halo Benders, the
Handsome Family, the
Heavenly
Holiday
Lois
Low
Magnetic Fields
Manning, Barbara (and the Go-Luckys)
Microphones
Minders, the
Mountain Goats, the
Neutral Milk Hotel
Nothing Painted Blue
Olivia Tremor Control, the
Palace
Papas Fritas
San Francisco Seals, the
Secret Stars, the
Smog
Tullycraft
Will Oldham

I have listened to, or heard of:
3Ds
Acetone
Air
Bettie Serveert
Bunnygrunt
Calexico
Cat Power
Delgados, the
Dougher, Sarah
Dressy Bessy
Elf Power
Essex Green, the
Farina, Geoff
Frost, Edith
Gates, Rebecca
Godspeed You Black Emporer
Ida
Idaho
Kings of Convenience
Lilys, the
Pedro the Lion
Pernice Brothers
Pernice, Joe
Push Kings
Rasputina
Songs: Ohia
Spinanes, the
Toomey, Jenny
Virginia Dare
White Stripes

never heard of:
Aislers Set
Bird, Andrew('s) Bowl of Fire
Boxhead Ensemble, the
Chappaquiddick Skyline
Circulatory System
Corn Sisters, the
Court and Spark, the
Dismemberment Plan, the
Doleful Lions, the
K.
Karate
Kleenex Girl Wonder
Lucksmiths, the
Mascott
Mates of State
New Pornographers, the
New Year, The
Pharmacists/Ted Leo
Rainer Maria
Sarge
Shins
Sigur Ros
Swearing at Motorists
Verna Cannon, the
Wolfie

Gruppo Sportivo
Monochrome Set
Reivers
Rezillos/Revillos
Plastic Bertrand

These bands were in a thread I started yesterday. Since they only have one view (or was that me?) I take it no one has heard of them.

I could easily add another 50-100 more.

Some I love and some I have and like, a few of the others I'd like to hear.

Time Of Need

Dent

The late <A HREF="http://www.nomadland.com/Point_A.htm" target="_blank">Michael Hedges</a>

& <A HREF="http://www.spitfirerecords.com/Masters.htm" target="_blank">Masters of Reality</a>

Bree Sharp...

if i can, i would like to redirect this thread in the way i intended it to go.

please do <b>not</b> just write a list. just name one or two small time artists who you could not live without and possibly give a short description of their music (i.e. my first post).. if your entire listening collection is small time stuff, just list one or two favorites..

thank ya'll.
-di doctor-

Although he's starting to become more famous than he was say.. last month, John Mayer is one of my favorite artists who most people have never heard of.

I can relate to his lyrics almost word-for-word, it is kind of creepy. (It's possible John Mayer is actually me in disguise.. I'll have to look into this further.)

Bob Schneider

http://www.bobschneidermusic.com/bobframes.html

Check out songs like "Bullets" and "Big Blue Sea".

I was in a used record store the other day, and the guy behind the counter was playing a demo tape of his friends in El Paso. The group was named "Casket versus Carriage" and while the name sucks, the music was absolutely wonderful. Very dark, very goth like Type O Negative, but more melodic and smooth.

He still hasn't gotten me a copy of that tape. GRRRRRRR.

hhmm
I'm a big Type O fan. I'm going to have to check out that band.
"Casket versus Carriage" is kinda a suckee band name though