Underrated/Obscure Bands

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I've seen YouTube videos of this guy before. He truly is amazing. I think if he's underrated it's only because so many people just don't listen to jazz.

blocked in US for copyright reasons

Anyone who is remotely interested in metal should listen to Black Tide. I saw them at Mayhem Festival in 2008 and I was just blown away. And one of the most amazing thing is when we saw them, the lead singer was 15, and none of the band was older than 20. They've got a lot of talent and could become very popular in the future. Here's a vid:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VKCLohLM48[/youtube]

I just found this guy from browsing YouTube. I don't know if he's old news or not, but I can guarantee he isn't played on the local top 40 station. I think he's very interesting to listen too and the little creature in this video reminds me of something I dreamed recently.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2pG8EtH6CM&feature=fvw[/youtube]

My entire music collection mainly consists of obscure/underrated bands. Most mainstream music is really boring. I'll just mention four for now.

Overkill--My favorite metal band, the most consistent, longest running and best thrash band ever.
Pro-Pain--Excellent groove/metalcore/thrash whatever band.
Chris Liberator--Great banging acid techno DJ
Steve Roach--relaxing and peaceful ambient/ "new age" (but not typical new age, as some of his stuff is really dark)

Yeah, as you can see, my tastes are a little eclectic.

bis. I love them, but the only reason why most people know them is because they did the Powerpuff Girls theme song.

Mattafix! Great musicians, but very underrated. "Living Darfur" and "Angel" are the best songs ever!
Check them out on youtube, the videos are kinda funny when they involve dancing, but "Living Darfur" is very moving, even to me. Makes me want to go an volunteer someplace like that. Their webpage also has previews of songs, and the beginning of "Living Darfur"
The musical structure and cooperation of the duo is excellent, combining many genres I wouldn't usually like into something great.

Here's a band from Cleveland that I support 100% and would love to see get more exposure. This is mr. Gnome. Think Massive Attack with guitars. Psychedelic alt-rock.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp6uyWeMHqU[/youtube]

No idea if I've posted here or not. I've been getting into a lot of the early Matador Records/Teenbeat records stuff from the early Nineties. Most of this is indie rock that was huge some point twenty years ago, and then faded into complete obscurity [the fact that I have never been to a record store that carries more than one of these bands may prove this point].

Versus - Melodic guitar-based rock from New York. Think of all those bizarre tunings Sonic Youth used, but more poppy and jangly. They're named after a Mission of Burma album, and if you listen to Mission of Burma, you'll hear the similarities.
Unrest - Straddled the lines between aggressive post-hardcore and melodic pop. I've heard very little of their music, but need to keep listening.
Railroad Jerk - Played a harsh, post-punk blues with spoken, rhythmic chants and hollers and a hip, urban swagger. They remind me a lot of Beck.
Flying Nuns - Boston band that only put out, as far as I know, one EP.
Silkworm - One of many bands from Missoula, Montana that somehow made it big in the Nineties. They had a sound that mixed the "shoegazing" popular at the time with riff-centric classic rock of the type they probably grew up with. If you've listened to the Decemberists, you might be surprised to learn they have roots in Missoula, as well. I certainly was.

Coincidentally, Ben Folds used to live in Australia, and even wrote a song about his adopted town, Adelaide. I always like Ben Folds Five, especially the songs "Philosophy," "Where's Summer B?", "Best Imitation of Myself", "Evaporated", "Army", "Magic", "Landed", "Losing Lisa", and his cover of "b*****s Aint s**t." So many classic tunes to choose from.

Also, I don't know how obscure bands really are in the Pitchfork era, but my favorite bands that people might not have heard of are:
Fujiya & Miyagi (synthy dance party)
The Mountain Goats (mostly acoustic rock about faith in the face of desperate, overwhelming odds)
J Dilla (epic instrumental loop producer)
The Builders and The Butchers (funeral dirge jam band)
Gogol Bordello (gypsy punk)
Starfucker (Elliott Smith in disco form)

wow you are still an emu egg after 4 years.
you must really like the ben folds five in order to make a post about it.
i did not know he lived in australia.

anyway here is an obscure song that very much captured my mind when i was about 9 years old.
it was spooky and made the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and at the same time, it made me fall in love with the old witch and i wished she were real and i could meet her.

i am not someone with any depth of emotion, but this song affected me very greatly.

there was something about the normal people who were suspicious of an eccentric old lady with mysterious abilities, and they were distrustful of her, and then when a natural disaster occurred, they blamed it on her witchcraft, but she saved them from it with her witchcraft, and when 10 strong tough men went to "get" her and bring her back to celebrate her (and use her powers), they came back very scared

i do not know what it is about that song that gets to me, but i am surely even at my age now, affected by it.
the accompanying video is not very good, so i suggest just to listen to it without watching.
it was the only example of it on youtube i found with reasonable sound quality.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYhDZ3H7F3s[/youtube]

To this list I'd like to add some more:

I Was A Cub Scout
Arab Strap
Emily Jane White
Au Revoir Simone
Mew
Jeffrey Lewis
Bombay Bicycle Club
You Love Her Coz Shes Dead
Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton
Moscow Olympics
The Organ
Jonathan Boulet
The Go! Team
Kaki King
Los Campesinos!
She & Him

Some I think are not as obscure, at least to me, but I stuck them in because they're awesome

Awesome live act, if you get a chance to see him, it's definitely worth taking.

Greatest bands and artists to never have wide-spread fame!

Ween
Cabaret Voltaire
Liars
Boards of Canada
The Fall
Helium
Sonic Youth
Pere Ubu
Peter, Bjorn & John
Giant Drag

and they all kick my Asperger's in different ways.

I once watched Ween wrestle a 500 lbs.drag queen in cherry jello.
They cut it short because they were afraid Donnie would have a heart attack.

Greatest bands and artists to never have wide-spread fame!

Ween
Cabaret Voltaire
Liars
Boards of Canada
The Fall
Helium
Sonic Youth
Pere Ubu
Peter, Bjorn & John
Giant Drag

and they all kick my Asperger's in different ways.