I nominate Rufus Wainwright. I found out about him two or three years ago when I saw his “April Fools” video on MTV (I think they probably have played it twice:(). I got his CD for my birthday and was blown away by the amazing songwriting. Every single song is great, and they are all fun to sing along with. I recently purchased his new CD, Poses, which is equally awesome. I think that everyone should give Rufus a try!
Your turn! What artists deserve a bit more recognition? Please explain why.
XTC
Define underrated.
By my definitions: Underrated because they are ignored by Rolling Stone Magazine: Placebo. Underrated because they have just broken up for no good reason: Afghan Whigs. Underrated because I’m not sure if his star is rising deservedly at the right speed: Ryan Adams. Underrated because they come from a small country, deserve to be big but probably never will be: Bic Runga, The Feelers, The Exponents.
XTC are hardly underrated given the number of people who put them in their list on that thread about top 10 faves
I nominate Sixto Rodrigues, an artist who is huge in SA and (I’m given to understand) Oz and NZ, but who gets no reps in the US - and I like hime a lot more than Dylan, who does.
Wrong Wainwright. Rufus gets plenty of press. Loudon Wainwright III is barely knowns – and everyone agrees he’s better.
Harald Sohlberg, Norwegian Symbolist artist (1869-1935)!
http://www.artchive.com/ftp_site.htm
He responded to a tradition of extreme Naturalism in landscape painting by charging his works with complex symbolic content, transforming nature into a metaphor for interior emotions. He stands, along with the better-known Edvard Munch, as northern Symbolism’s greatest practitioner. And his use of filtered light…breathtaking!
{Goes back and reads previous posts} Oh, shit…
Ukulele Ike, you should post about art more often.
Alternatively, I should take a more active approach and go and find art off my own bat. I’ll have a good old browse through that link of yours.
{blush}
That link takes you to the general site, which is pretty damn amazing…not to the specific Sohlberg area. DO click on Sohlberg though; he’s top-notch.
I’ll nominate Opeth. They are a progressive death metal (or maybe atmospheric death - for lack of a better term) band from Sweden. They are very talented and have a loyal fan base but will probably never sell more than 50,000 of each album world wide because they aren’t on a major label and don’t do it for the money. Check out:
Well, I was going to follow Ike’s lead and say Egon Schiele, but now I’m at a loss. Red Snapper? Add (N) To X? I think they may be more obscure than underrated.
OK, maybe Rufus does get some press, but he gets next to no radio or video play. Nobody around here (Minnesota) even knows who he is. And who is this “everyone” who thinks that Rufus’ dad is better?
Lullaby for the Working Class - Beautiful, haunting, intense albums of hard-to-define but completely American music.
Wheat - Another amazing rock band that dares to express… of all things… emotions. Wow.
And I’m familiar with both Loudon and Rufus Wainwright. While I like Loudon’s wry humor, he gets annoyingly pretentious pretty fast. And he sings just as well as Dylan. Rufus, on the other hand, is an amazing vocalist and an incredibly talented lyricist, with more sincerity and passion than his father ever managed to express on disc. Both have their place in my music collection, but the sheer beauty of Rufus’ songs can bring me to tears.
I nominate Pauly Shore. Most people just make fun of him, and fail to recognize his genius.
Thank you! I have never heard any of Loudon’s stuff, but, if he sings as well as Dylan, I don’t think I’d want to. I must admit to also being brought to tears by Rufus’ songs. He is without a doubt my favorite male artist. I think I’ll have to give Lullaby for the Working Class and Wheat a try.
Arnold Winkelried: I agree 100%.
G. Nome: Underrated can mean whatever you want it to mean. To me, it means that they haven’t gotten the attention they deserve. Also that people don’t give them a fair chance. For example, all my male friends would say, “Rufus Wainwright? Who’s he?” I’d let them listen, then they’d say, “Boring” or “He’s gay.”
The fact you’ve heard Rufus’s music but have never heard Loudon’s proves my point. Rufus is far less obscure than his father.
Loudon is one of the best lyricists around, and often takes songs in directions that surprise the hell out of you (listen to “Tonya’s Twirls,” for instance). He’s also got a great sense of humor and is a wonderful live performer. His songs are funny and usually quite deep and sophisticated (and it’s really off-base to describe the author of “Dead Skunk” or “Sleeping Around” or “I wish I was a Lesbian” or “The Swimming Song” as “pretentious”). Listen to his Kennedy Center Concert, for instance. He’s been writing great songs for 30 years – and you’ve never heard any of them.
As far as “everyone” – The All Music guide gives one of Rufus’s albums 4 1/2 stars and another 4. Loudon has five 4-1/2 star albums, and three with four. Granted, it’s a longer career, but Rufus obviously has a way to go to match the quality of output. Yet he is better known by far.
It’s no contest.
Let those male friends take a gander at Placebo and see what they say! I agree with G. Nome that they don’t get the amount of attention that they should get. Especially in America. I really, really like them and feel they are a truly unique band. Although, many good bands and artists who are thrown into the public’s eye make me sick after a while. After hearing the same thing over and over on the radio, I want to hear something new.
I’ve just got to chime in with XTC again. This is a band that should be selling a million alums each release like clockwork. But no, the music gods have cursed them to eke out what sales they can to their rabid fanbase. Yes, they are my most favoritest band ever.
In second place is another obscure band. Well, obscure in the States, anyway. The Beautiful South, headed up by . . . you know, that guy from The Housemartins. The Beautiful South have two basic kinds of songs, those about how wonderful it is to grow old and fat (Perfect 10, Hold me Close (Underground), 'Til You Can’t Tuck it in) and those about misery, betrayal, and obsession (Don’t Marry Her, Song for Whoever, Mini-Correct) but always with cheerful, upbeat music. Wonderful stuff, but I can understand why they’ve never caught on with American audiences.
Another Loudon fan checking in. Remember his work on MASH? I remember when Rufus was born; listening to him just makes me feel old.
Israel’s Dudu Fisher has the best voice I have ever heard in my life. He was a cantor until he saw Les Miz in London. Three months later he was Jean Valjean, and later did the show in Hebrew in Israel. Truly amazing voice. If he ever does The Phantom in Hebrew, I will die happy.
Peter Murphy. The Father of Goth Rock, ex leader singer of Bauhaus, who is now doing his own (completely different) thing solo. And now, finally, he has a new album coming out at the end of the month - after a six-year dry spell!
RealityChuck - I think I’ll have to give Louden Wainwright a try. I didn’t mean to sound snotty in my response to your comment earlier. You’re right, the fact that I haven’t heard any of Louden’s stuff does prove your point.
Also sounds like I’ll have to try Placebo and XTC. Keep it comin’.