LucyMonostone

Judging myself as quite the ecclectic art collector i will recommend some of my gems if you want to check them out if not it's all good.

Otomo Yoshihide: very experimental japanese artist... has a number of side projects such as "ground zero" and "otomo yoshihide's new jazz ensemble" the latter featuring great female vocals and the former with more of a godspeed you black emperor feel to it.. with quotes and experimentalism... his solo work is mostly experimental with all kinds of sounds.. he works with mr. zorn alot who is sort of a thrash jazz player... very interesting stuff.

Ghost: another japanese band with a psychedlic/hard rock type of feel... very good band.. they also released a good album with "damon and naomi" from galaxie 500 entitled "damon and naomi with ghost" and damon and naomi worked with the guitarist of ghost on some of their newer albums.. very good band to zone out to.

"flower travellin' band" continuing with the japanese theme this band most fans heard of because their legendary album satori was featured in the takashi miike film "violent fire aka deadly outlaw rekka" they rock hard similar to black sabbath in many ways. 70's group.

"hayden" the canadian soloist... first album "everythiny i long for" is one of my all time favorite albums to ever been exposed to my ears.. very emotional, heartfelt songs well written... from a 20 something guy.. any 20 something guy can definitely relate to his honest/moving songs.. especially that first album.. never quite caught the same magic as that album but still his others aren't that bad either.

"explosions in the sky" amazing, amazing instrumental band from texas... they became a bit more mainstream nowadays from their soundtrack of friday night lights... but before that they were blowing away the underground with their amazing instrumental anthems.

"jerry cantrell" sort of on the borderline of "gem" status... only fans know he is the brain behind alice in chains and wrote probably 97% of the material they put out... his 2 solo albums are very similar to alice in chains work with his trademark guitar and suprisingly he doesn't lack in the voice department.. boggy depot and degradation trip volumes 1 and 2 are both solid.

"mogwai" what can i say.. amazing post rock/experimental group.

"mazzy star" and later "hope sandoval and the warm invention" great female vocals by hope... every song is great on every album released.. she has one of the best female vocals in my opinion.. check out everything by her.

"leonard cohen" can't believe many people don't know of him... even though he's been around forever... and still puts out music... me personally got to know him from natural born killers and his amazing songs from the album "the future" featured in.. simply poetic.. very intelligent thoughtful music.

"nick cave and the bad seeds" probably my favorite band... don't know what to say about them except every song they ever put out was on another level above all the mainstream... it blows my mind how many people never heard of them or know about them... simply stunning band with flawless execution on every level of their art... some of the best songs i have ever heard in my life.. amazing lyrics, amazing atmosphere... what can i say... i would start with "the boatman's call" if your more of a romantic dreamer or "no more shall we part" if more into punkier type of stuff i would go with his old stuff... some of his best stuff is his unreleased b-sides and bootlegs which there was just a awesome set released this year b-sides and bootlegs with simply stunning art.. believe me you can't go wrong with that pick it up ASAP.

"love spirals downward" great band... sort of gothic sort of dreamy.. powerful female vocals... good stuff.

"the cruxshadows" amazing darkwave/gothic/ebm type of band...i got just about everything they ever released and everything is top notch... alot of mythology themed lyrics with angels and gods, etc.. very very good.

"joy division" i don't really think of them as gem but amazingly i find alot of people never heard of them... many people i talk to think trent reznor made the song "dead souls" from the crow soundtrack but it was actually a cover song of joy division.. the lead singer killed himself after 2 albums if i'm not mistaken.. and the rest of the band eventually went on to form "new order" a more electronica band... very haunting music.. everytime i listen i feel as if he is right there.. just very eerie music.

"horace andy" any massive attack fan knowns him... his career was resurrected from appearing on all massive attack albums with his very unique voice being an instant hit... any reggae fan should check out his solo work.

"elliott smith" sort of like hayden.. soloist very honest and emotional.. from what i heard he killed himself from stabbing himself or something of the sort.. very sad he was very talented.. check his stuff out.

"boards of canada" all kinds of myth surrounding these guys.. some say they are using tricks to hypnotize people with the words of david karesh's cult.. others say they are satanists spreading his word subliminally... i'll leave it up to you.. instrumental music.. very creative.

"blutengel" german band... a mix of english and german language.. and a mix of female and male vocals... some awesome songs.. very dark and gothic in style.. i would recommend the song "stay" especially.. one of my favorites.

"black tape for a blue girl" very beautiful and artistic with a mix of male and female vocals and a variety of different artists... if your into more deep artistic music definitely for you.

"ayreon" very experimental/progressive... makes a mix of progressive metal type of music usually with a theme for the album with fantasy elements... not for everyone i guess but i tend to like the more creative artists who try and break the boundaries of mainstream... great musicianship on his albums and creativity.

"ars nova" japanese girl progressive band... good band not alot to say if you like progressive style and asian should dig them.

"android lust" sort of the female trent reznor.. very disturbed and sad themes and.. amazingly deep and artistic in my own opinion.. like her alot.

"amon duul 2" psychedlic/progressive german music from the 70's... interesting stuff.

"spock's beard" amazing progressive rock band.. neal morse the lead singer now is more into spiritual stuff and has left the band and is doing solo stuff.. great band and great albums..

"nick drake" criminally overlooked poet from the 60's... made music very much ahead of his time.. dylanesque in style.. very poetic and thoughtful lyrics.

"red house painters" nothing fancy just good music

"stereolab" .. female vocals mostly. very artsy type of band.. i tend to like them.. alot of time not english lyrics.

"sun ra" very eccletic jazz musician... made all kinds of music that pushed the boundaries for al ong period of time... if your into experimentation and jazz definitely check him out.


there ya go... a list of some what i think to be gems... if your looking to check out some music and never heard of some fo these doesn't hurt to give em a try.. left off alot due to time... would take hours to list many.

The Infidel

You didn't recommend Hilary Duff. She's going to be very hurt and disappointed.

BTW...you got the heart thingy in your sig wrong.

LucyMonostone

yes, thank you i fixed it.

and this thread is more focused on the unknown or gems and hilary is very well known by the mainstream so that is why i didn't include her.

The Bus

Some of these (especially Leonard Cohen) are extremely well known. I don't think you can be unknown once you're on the soundtrack of a movie that made over $300 million.

Anyone over 25 that listened to rock a lot in the 80's can tell you that they know Nick Drake and especially Joy Division.

Boards of Canada made almost every single Top Albums list for Music Has the Right to Children, and Sun Ra is extremely well known for anyone that is into the type of music he does.

I'll have to look into your other recommendations though.

BTW, have you heard the Sun Kil Moon album? Don't know if you did, since you seem to be a fan of Mark Kozelek.

Tscott

"mogwai"
- I've got a few CDs of theirs- kind of been hit and miss so far.

"mazzy star" and later "hope sandoval and the warm invention"
- love her voice and have all albums

"leonard cohen"
- like but don't have enough by him. I'm Your Man and a Greatest Hits are all that's in my collection. I want to get more but haven't gotten around to it yet.

"nick cave and the bad seeds"
- similar to Leonard Cohen, I don't have enough by them. Murder Ballads and Boatman's Call are the only two I have.

"love spirals downward", "black tape for a blue girl"
- I've got a few by both of these Projekt artists, plus some Soulwhirlingsomewhere . Pleasantly depressing music, great to play when I'm falling asleep but fairly unremarkable otherwise IMO. Looks like Android Lust is also on this label, but I haven't heard them before- I am a bit curious to hear them now.

"boards of canada"
- Have both CDs. Very enjoyable. I just tend to love anything weird electronic/ambient.

"red house painters"
- Fantastic band. For the longest time all I had was Songs For a Blue Guitar, because everything else was out of print. They finally reissued the rest and I got them and love them all. And oddly, I now think Songs For a Blue Guitar is the one now OOP. Songs For a Blue Guitar and the Self-titled (Rollercoaster cover) are my two favorites but you can't really go wrong with any of them.

"stereolab"
- Very Enjoyable. Dot and Loops is my personal favorite, and I just got Margerine Eclipse and that's great too. I've got about 4 or so other CDs by them and enjoy them all to varying degrees.

Those are just my thoughts of the ones that I own something by. I know I need to get some Joy Division eventually (I've got a little New Order, though), and a few others you recommend sound interesting.

LucyMonostone

yeah i heard that sun kil moon cd it's pretty good.... and some of the artists maybe are more known than others as i said on some "i can't believe people don't know them" but it suprises me when getting into discussions people are like never heard of them.. you would be amazed especially at how many people don't know leonard cohen.. i know i am. also i have never met anyone who has known sun ra... more geared towards to non hardscore musical enthusiast looking to get into some different music rather than someone who is into the whole scene i guess.

LucyMonostone

Lenard Cohen i would definitely get into his first album "The songs of leonard cohen" 1968 it has the infamous "suzanne", "teachers" "sisters of mercy" then i would check out the songs "Avalanche" (nick cave did a great cover of this song), "bird on a wire", "hallelujah", "everybody knowns" (concrete blonde has a good cover on the pump up the volume soundtrack), "first we take manhattan", "tower of song" (nick cave has a rare 30min uncut cover of this a must have). "the future" and "waiting for the miracle" both featured in natural born killers... that should be a very good start into his catalog.

Nick Cave where to even start there.. first he had a few bands before the bad seeds which were "the boys next door" and "the birthday party" both which were much more in the punk vein and noise... he became much more somber and poetic in his music with his bad seeds.. really everything he has ever released is classic so you can't go wrong with anything... if you already have "the boatman's call" you got a great start as that is one of his best.. if you liked boatman's call i would grab that b-sides and rarities album that just released it is 3 discs with a tons of great material.. that is a must have.

atlantamoi

Like a lot of the bands you listed. BTW, Stereolab is from London, not Sweden. Laetitia Sadier sings in French sometimes.

LucyMonostone

aghh your totally right... don't know why i was thinking sweden. yeah she sings in french alot.

The Bus

As far as Sun Ra, they used to have stuff on MTV about him all the time (this was back in like 1991 or before). Also what "scene" are you referring to? Sun Ra is a jazz musician.

LucyMonostone

the whole music scene.. as in hardcore music fan which would translate to know alot about music, etc.

the common person you ask on the street isn't going to know most of these people... maybe some will maybe some won't that's not the point... yes they are not secret cults hiding they release albums to the public to buy they are out there... as i said over and over some music that i feel is gems or unknown to alot of people i discuss things with or hear... or what i would consider mainstream.

if you know them fine.

mndtrp

Thanks for the post. The ones I have heard of, I like. I'll have to try to check out the others.

Another for Mogwai.

The Bus

Don't take this as a personal insult, but anytime anyone uses the term "hardcore" or the word "scene" I always think of them as a bit juvenile, like one needs to be "a part of The Scene" to appreciate anything. These are usually people that wave around band's names as some sort of call for authenticity and "betterness" than other people. I agree with some very basic ideas: the state of radio today sucks, most people aren't willing to try other music, music doesn't mean a whole lot of a whole lot of people.

When teenagers do this, I don't fault them. Afterall, the "otherness" of certain music, for lack of anything else, can help the outside world define you. In the odd, completely irrelevant world of high school things like these are important. It's when people turn 20 or 25 or 30 and still continue to carry on these foolish charades I start to cackle inside just a bit.