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Mary's Danish - Circa
An L.A. alt. rock band that should've been huge in 1991 when it was released. Instead, the world embraced the grunge Seattle scene. Great and varied alt. rock filled with irony and a dash of humor.

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Sarah Fimm - Nexus
For those who thought Sarah McLachlan got stale after Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, give this great album at spin.

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Snakefarm - Songs From My Funeral
Trip-hop folk. Imagine if someone like Portishead did covers of well-known folk standards like Black Girl (Where Did You Sleep Last Night?), All the Pretty Horses and House of the Rising Sun. That's this album.

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Vanessa Daou - Make You Love
This album oozes sex. Smooth pop/jazz/dance. Her best album ever, better than Zipless, her debut, which got her the most press, then the world sadly ignored her. Includes a beautiful and haunting cover of Jane's Addiction's "I Would For You".

Great call, probably my favorite Jam album. I tend to hold Jam albums up as the model for almost perfect rock production values. You can always hear every instrument SO clearly, and at the perfect volume, but there's no overproduction---very lean. I also loved that Weller was such a diverse writer that he could write a song about ANYTHING, angry punkish social/political commentary, tender, poignant romantic ballads, slice-of-life rockers--he just had few boundaries as a writer, IMO. And, although he asked a lot of profound questions, unlike a lot of his punk contemporaries he didn't usually supply you with simple answers.

I'll throw in one more---Wall of Voodoo's Call of the West. Yes, it spawned the hit Mexican Radio, but the whole album was really awesome and creative. WOV started off as a group to do soundtracks for low budget horror movies, and they kept the weird synths and some synth drums, minor key tunes and odd percussion. But what set them apart was singer Stan Ridgway's folkish Americana-noir storytelling lyrics. He was kind of like a deranged Bruce Springsteen who had watched too many Sergio Leone movies, film noirs, and Outer Limits episodes:

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Lots of excellent recommendations here. I'll add one as well that I picked up for $2 at a used CD store:

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"Pat Fish/The Jazz Butcher is one of the most brilliant incisive pop writers that Britain has produced since the glory days of Ray Davies and Pete Townsend. Criminally overlooked by a media obsessed by the next big thing instead of what is actually good. A truly great songwriter, surely due promotion to the premiership this time"
Alan McGee founder, Creation Records

Interesting thread; I would second many of these recommendations. Here are my own:

Liquor Giants
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Liquor Giants (Matador) 1996
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Every Other Day at a Time (Matador) 1998
Two great back-to-back albums by this band formed by Ward Dotson from the ashes of the Pontiac Brothers. They pack songs with throwaway hooks that other bands would build careers on. RIYL: Big Star, the Move, or the Stones.

Pugs
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Pugs (God Mountain) 1993
No Wave pop from Japan, fronted by gorgeous Debbie Harry wannabe Honey K. Sort of like Blondie meets the Geraldine Fibbers. They eventually signed to a major Japanese label, then an American indie, tried to become the new Boredoms and failed miserably. Their debut album is still untouchable, though. RIYL: Romeo Void or X-Ray Spex.

Love 666
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American Revolution (Amphetamine Reptile) 1995
What if every member of Slider-era T. Rex were 20 feet tall, amps powered by industrial turbines, and they had enough THC in their systems to stun a buffalo? What would you call that? - Stoner Glam? OK, that's what this is. RIYL: the MC5 or playing Blue Cheer at half speed.

I have that album...somewhere. "Three Days" is one helluva a catchy tune.

Weren't a couple of the bandmembers in Mary's Danish -- another L.A. area band that released 2-3 albums?

I just mentioned them, before getting to the second page. Heh.

Great band. I liked Circa. Don't have their other album.

I wouldn't say this album is obscure, more under the "overlooked" category, but Davi'd Garza's This Euphoria is an awesome album. It made me want to get everything he's ever done.

http://image.com.com/mp3/images/cove...67462ar95d.jpg

Best Buy's "New Music" touted him as new artist to watch (even in commercials), but it didn't do anything to boost his sales. The album, however, is euphoric.

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Rosie Thomas - If Songs Could be Held

Two of the songs on this CD have gotten some play on TV (Brother's & Sisters last season and the Heroes season 2 promo) , but the whole album is pretty good.

If you like Sarah McLaughlin (sp), or maybe the piano songs from Tori Amos, then you'd probably like this. Her speaking voice is very high and squeeky, but her singing voice (to me) has a smooth, almost haunting sound to it.

Powderfinger - Odessey # 5

Huge in Austrailia, unknown here.

Yukihiro Takahashi - Neuromantic.

A largely unknown, early '80s synth-based New Wave music classic.

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Even more obscure (unavailable on CD), is Concrete Scheme by Modern Man.

Modern Man were a New Wave/Post-Punk band produced by Midge Ure. The core of the band were members Colin King and Danny Mitchell, who later became the group Messengers (who sang backup for Ultravox on two tours, and released several great synth-pop singles). "Concrete Scheme" was their only album.

This is one of my favorite albums. I usually spin it at least once or twice a month.

I would say either <b>Poster Children</b>'s <i>Junior Citizen</i> or <b>The Slackers</b>' <i>Redlight</i>...
-ringding-

If you like that, you'll surely like Strange Advance, which I mentioned further up. Sounds very similar in style. I recommend the anthology album "Worlds Away and Back" as a starting point, if you're interested. Nothing but great tunes from these guys.

Quiet Company - Shine Honesty

i have this on vinyl, is it available anywhere on CD?

also, another good one is:

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Thanks, I actually do have some Strange Advance. I have the "Over 60 Minutes With" compilation and a couple of remixes. :up:

Nice call on "Rice Music", that's a great album as well. I also highly recommend Exitentialism by The Beatniks, which is Takahashi and Keiichi Suzuki.

Yes, I have it on CD. You can find it, but it ain't cheap.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neuromantic-...1286073&sr=8-2

Jason Traeger, My Religion is Love

It's a pretty funny album, but I can listen to it over and over. And everyone I have given it to has loved it.

thanks for the heads up!

Milosh - You make me feel

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Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye

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That's a good one. For more Australian goodness, also check out Augie March.

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Matthew Ryan, one of my all-time favorite artists. This was his first CD, and it is amazing. i highly, highly, highly recommend it.


Also, all of Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers. Great catalog of music, not really, really obscure, but certainly not mainstream.