String Cheese Incident
Widespread Panic
Any of the various combinations that Steve Kimock is in
Deacons Trucked, I was thrilled to see Machines of Loving Grace on your list. I saw them open for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult about 7 or 8 years ago and ran right out and got “Concentration” the next day. I’m listening to it right now, it still kicks ass.
Another few that have already been mentioned: Oingo Boingo, God Lives Underwater and The Afghan Whigs
The Poor Clares and The Battlefield Band, a couple of Celtic/rock sort of bands.
Grant Lee Buffalo
Voice of the Beehive
Drain STH has already been mentioned, as well as Sebadoh and Squirrel Nut Zippers. I also like:
pizzicato five
the red elvises
portishead
ani difranco (none of my friends have heard of her/ like her)
juliana hatfield
…and lots of punk bands that even i don’t know what they are called 
Burnt Toast and Jam is the greatest rockin’ bluegrass band currently in existence.
A second for They Might Be Giants and Moxy Fruvous.
Add in:
Sebadoh
Eddie From Ohio
Eels
Subdudes
Great Big Sea
Figgy Duff
The Tea Party (Tip of the hat to Coldfire for turning me on to them…)
Sweet, BurnMeUp! I love Biafra. There’s this great line from Mr. Lucky: “pimp my intellect and burn the rest.”
And for those benighted folks who think the Lords of Acid, KMFDM, Thrill Kill Kult, and the like aren’t popular…well…come to New York.
MR
Motorhead
Gary Moore
Golden Earring
Helloween
Gamma Ray
Rage (no not Rage agains the Machine, these guys are a German metal band)
Virgin Steele
Armored Saint
Most are the heavy metal kind of music though Golden Earring is a mix of everything.
oh and TP605, sorry but Noise has a much better metal selection, IMHO. Though I might have to check out Sword just to see.
Eve, I got to see Combustible Edison play live a few years back. Very good choice, the show was a lot of fun
And I’ll second the praise for Olivia Tremor Control.
My favorite stuff that no one seems to listen to much is the whole incestuous family of bands out of San Diego. Including, but not limited to:[ul][li]Three Mile Pilot[/li][li]Heavy Vegetable[/li][li]Pinback[/li][li]Thingy[/li][li]The Black Heart Procession[/li][/ul]Three Mile Pilot is probably my favorite out of the batch, with Pinback being a very close second. Armistead Burwell Smith IV (aka “Zach”) plays bass in 3MP, and his style is just unbelievably unique. In a good way. It’s like he learned to play guitar first, and then someone handed him a bass, and he didn’t make any adjustments for the new instrument. Rob Crow is one of the singers and guitar player for Heavy Vegetable. His side project is Thingy. Pinback is Zach and Rob Crow together. They but out a full length CD about a year ago, and an EP in the past few moths. Amazing stuff. Anyone else out there into any of these bands? Most people just give me a blank stare when I bring them up.
As in Ed from ohio former firehose frontman??? I didn’t know he had a solo thing! Is it folk stuff?
Yeah, I love all those bands. I kinda worked backwards though. I first heard Pinback, then Thingy, then HV, and finally starting to listen to BHP and 3MP. I do recommend all these bands as well…although BHP might put some people to sleep. What’s a good 3MP album to start with?
I’ll add some to the list. These are just a couple bands I really like and they are pretty varied:
Shellac
U.S. Maple
Dismemberment Plan
Well, I have to nominate my favorite band, XTC. They have over a dozen albums out, and a great one just out this year. Pick up “Upsy Daisy Assortment” for an exclectic sampler of their years from 77-92. A truly great, underappreciated band.
You’d also probably like:
Oingo Boingo (Not exactly obscure, but worth mentioning)
John Wesley Harding (Started of as a sort of American Elvis Costello, but from England. If that makes any sense.)
Pixies (might fit in well if you already are into the Descendants & Misfits)
The Beutiful South (A GREAT British band virtually unheard of here in the states. Never before has so much so bitter been said so beautifully.)
Chameleons UK (Another obscure brit band.)
They Might Be Giants (I’ll second that recommendation!)
Smiths (Again, not necessarily obscure, but well worth a “Greatest Hits” collection)
Voice of the Beehive (First two albums are unbelievably catchy.)
Magnetic Fiels (“69 Love Songs” is a remarkable achievement.)
Well, that scratches the surface. Again, I can’t recommend XTC enough.
The Brothers Four ARE hillbilly. And it wasn’t just that banjo…but that was part of it. They have that hillbilly twangy sound…kind of remind me of Boxcar Willy. (shutter) If anyone doesn’t believe me, just let me know and I’ll email you Sqrl’s copy for free.
Agreed! I was a little disappointed in “Apple Venus Vol. 1,” but “Wasp Star” is excellent. Far better and more consistent than “Nonesuch” was.
3MP’s albums have all been so different it’s hard to say what a good one is to start with. Their first, Na Vucca Do Lupu (which incidentally was the topic of this thread) is weird and mellow, but very busy. Their second, The Chief Assassin to the Sinister sounds more stressed, with the vocals being more dramatic. Tough to swallow at first but once you get a taste for it, it’s great. Next was Another Desert, Another Sea. Probably their most accessible record, it is less hectic and more structured than the previous two. They put out a 2 disc collection of scrapped songs called Songs from an Old Town we Once Knew is cool once you really start feeling what they are doing, but not a good starting point.
So, In order, you should get:
The Chief Assassin to the Sinister; Another Desert, Another Sea; Na Vucca Do Lupu; Songs from an Old Town we Once Knew
Of course, I know other people who are 3MP fans and their list would be in completely different order than mine.
music currently on my desk-
Lucy Kaplansky- folkie sings with Dar williams and Richard Shindell
Lyle Lovett- I love this man.
Ben Folds Five- very sad to hear they broke up…
Son Volt- 1/2 of uncle tupelo (great alt-country)
George Jones
but the thing that does not leave my cd player, and has not since I got it is…
Nick Drake- Pink Moon. Please go and buy this cd. His voice just rips my heart out, and Which Will is the best song ever written about breaking up with someone cheating on you…
I do like other, more rocking stuff- big fan of Sugar (Bob Mould’s thing after Husker Du broke up)
Bjork
PJ Harvey
A Perfect Circle
Tool
Rev. Horton Heat
311
Portishead
Einsturzen de Neubauten (Forgive the spelling. Any German Techno fans in the house?)
Die Warzau
RC Mob, aka Royal Crescent Mob (Ohio band from college. Did a killer cover of “Mama Said Knock You Out.”)
Orchestraville (current local Ohio band based in Columbus)
Puya - South Florida band: punk + salsa = way cool
I’ll think of more and post again later…
Oddly enough yes! I am a rabid fan (tattoo, tons of bootlegs all kinds of stuff) many people just smile at me like “Silly boy, get yourself some help”
Ok I thought of a few more I like that most people dislike or don’t know:
Tito and Tarantula
Current 93
Frazier Chorus
Bad Manners
Stretch Armstrong
GBH
Hepcat
Nietzer Ebb
Reel Big Fish
I also second XTC, Einsturzende Neubauten, combustible edison, they might be giants and all
Husker Du
Yo La Tengo
The Divine Comedy
Belle & Sebastian
The Replacements
Superchunk
Handsome Boy Modeling School
The Pogues/Shane MacGowan
Quasi
Elliott Smith
The Feelies
Gang Of Four
Unfortunately, most of these bands have broken up.
If these are non-popular bands I wonder what your “popular” band list would look like.