Obscure bands. Awesome bands.

Pretty much the majority of what I listen to, because of it's age. Although if you were around in the '70's then you'd not think so.

Thin Lizzy are my favourite rock band, they were one of the best '70's rock acts, and sooo many people haven't heard of them (or if they have, it's only "Whiskey in the Jar" or "The Boys Are Back In Town", and a lot of their material is just as good, if not better).

I also listen to a lot of prog rock from the 70s/80s, and this is one of the most maligned genres, so a lot of obsurity there. Van der Graaf Generator is my idea of what 'gothic' music really is, check out 'Godbluff', their best IMO. A new band called 'Diagonal' is a pretty good canturbury scene '70's sounding act.

edited 25th Feb '10 4:27:45 AM by R3tr0r0ck3r

^ I don't think Thin Lizzy and Van Der Graaf Generator count as obscure (awesome, maybe; haven't heard enough from either band). Can't say about Diagonal.

As for obscure bands that I know, there's Ahab, a German Moby Dick-themed funeral doom band. I'd call them "quite good" as opposed to "awesome", though. I also may need to add that they're one of the more popular funeral doom bands, though if you're unaware of the genre, any funeral doom band is obscure.

(I can't check if the link works because I can't access You Tube on this computer, and I had to manually type out the URL from another computer.)

edited 25th Feb '10 8:57:45 AM by Lordnecronus

Live to Tell is pretty darn good, so is Monster Eats the Pilot

Jabberwock! A crazy but awesome electro-punk band x3

I suggest listening to Fake, Obsolete, and Tense

If anyone can track down DJ Piper's work, do so. S'awesome.

Let's see. I'll start by mentioning Naked City. Probably not as obscure as a lot of the entries in this thread, but most people (even musicians) I mention 'em to just go "who?". They feature surf rock, avant-garde jazz, experimental rock, and sound somewhere between a sunny vacation at the beach and genocide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DHQX7SwF1w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7yB4wcOoy4

Another overlooked great band is Cibo Matto. While not entirely obscure (they were featured on Buffy, after all), I think they'd qualify. For anyone not having had the pleasure, check out songs like Sugar Water, Beef Jerky and Know Your Chicken. Yes, they're rather absurd. Finally, I wanna push Miasma And The Carousel Of Headless Horses. A very atmospheric, intense art rock band that I for one appreciate tons.

How obscure is Yeasayer?

I don't pay attention much to obscurity, but I do pay attention to awesome, and Yeasayer is definitely awesome.

^ Not very. But this is by my standards. They are definitely popular with the Pitchfork/Blog Hype crowd.

Relevant to this thread: Balmorhea, Souvaris and Sincabeza (the latter two recently released a split EP together).

edited 28th Feb '10 1:22:32 PM by Saeglopur

Yeasayer are rather obscure by mainstream standards, but by indie standards they're practically superstars.

Isn't the indie standard that if more than 5 people know about them, they suck?

I thought that was the Pretentious Hipster Standard.

edited 28th Feb '10 4:05:03 PM by Zudak

Oh, right sorry.

I am slightly bitter that most bands I like fall under the category of "stuff Pretentious Hipsters listen to".

^ I am intrigued as to why you consider it a bad thing that the music you like is associated with hipsters. Not angry or offended, just intrigued.

Because I am associated with a subculture I neither have nor want to have anything to do with.

"Oh what're you listenin' to?"

"Indie-"

"LOL, FUCKING HIPSTER, LOL"

repeat ad nauseam.

Further, hipsters make up a large percentage of the people who buy indie rap, and I don't like that, because in general, these people don't know anything about the artists whose albums they're purchasing and are only doing it to "support the indie ethic" when in fact, there is almost nothing in common between indie rap and indie-anything else.

So yeah.

I can definitely see how it would be annoying for a bunch of people to listen to the music you love and are involved in, despite knowing nothing about it, purely for the purposes of looking cool. Hipsters can be incredibly shallow, which is ironic considering how deep we tend to think we are.

I'm also surprised to hear that the word 'indie' ellicits that kind of kneejerk reaction. I can't say I've ever encountered that.

Yeah, it's pretty annoying to interact with so-called "fans" when they don't even know what a b-boy is.

Anyway, no offense meant to you, it's just irritating.

@Topic: Junk Science is a seriously underrated duo from, I believe, Detroit. The rhyming is excellent and the production is above-par also.

^^ None taken .

Oh yeah, On Topic, umm... ah yes, DM Stith, singer-songwriter-producer on Sufjan Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty record label. His debut album was called Heavy Ghost, and there's never been an album name more evocative of the sound contained therein.

Oh, not a band but an album.

Illinoize is a fan made mixtape combining Sufjan Stevens instrumentals with the lyrics of various rappers, it's extremely well made -too well made to be called a "mash-up"- and does justice to both parties, personal favorite is "None Shall Pass/Star of Wonder".

^Awesome effort that.

Indeed.

New discovery of mine - The Appleseed Cast.

Say Anything. :D I friggin LOVE them.

Say Anything. :D I friggin LOVE them.

o.O Sorry. I dunno why it posted twice.. Didn't mean for that..