Here’s the scenario. Popular radio stations hold a contest. The winners get to select one or to bands that have minimal exposure to regular audiences. These bands will get regular audio play for a month.
You’re the winner. Who do you choose?
My first choice is easy. The Butchies are a great riot grrrl band. To put it simply, they rock my world. They’re clever, pretty talented with their instruments, and play a wide variety of songs. The vocals are good. They can screech, they can croon, and they can sing real pretty, too. Some riot grrrl bands get bogged down on one playing style, but these girls can play fast, slow, angry, content, sad, lots of stuff. I think their sound is accesable enough that if they got the coverage they could become relatively popular.
Next has gotta be Dar Wllaims. She’s more mellow than The Butchies, and definitely wouldn’t fit into mainstream rock music. She could fit very nicely into the Lilth fair, Sarah Maclachlan group, though. Her guitar playing is excellent, and all her songs are real personal. Lyrically, she’s got a lot more talent than most bands I hear. I’d love for songs like Iowa, If I Wrote You, and Are You Out There to get radio play.
So, what bands would the teeming millions like to see get a chance on popular airwaves?
I would love to see Chicago’s own **WILCO**get some nationwide recognition. They play in what is now called the “alt-country” genre. It’s great stuff–I first got into them after hearing their collaboration with Billy Bragg called Mermaid Avenue. It’s an album full of unreleased Woody Guthrie poems set to music by Bragg & Wilco. Great introduction to this band!
Their latest album, Yankee Foxtrot will be released shortly. The New York Times just wrote an interesting profile on them today: "A Jilted Band Finds Love After All(free registration required)
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
Acctually if you consider the people who have seen the first crow movie a main stream audience I suppose they have already been exposed. But still no one I talk to knows who they are. Damn shame too. They put on the best concert I’ve ever been to.
Either Einstürzende Neubauten (but they can be a bit… weird? Trippy? Scary? Pretentious?), Nina Hagen, who can match the Neubauten, and add a few ‘Hare Krishnas’ to the mix, or Portishead, who’re just plain trippier than the both of the previous combined. I swear, what sort of primaeval pond-scum-music are you kiddies listening to these days?
But if I really had a say, I’d leave the three in their relative obscurities - listening to music with a cult following, but no popularity to speak of has a sort of ‘ha, I listen to better music than you do’ feely-good to it
Piebald really rocks. Anyone who sees them live has no choice but to love them. Great songwriting. And nice guys. If they suddenly were getting heavy rotation on the radio (and I know they’d make some awesome videos, too), people would go nuts over them.
I’ve met Dar Williams. She went to my school (before I was there).
The Billy Bragg & Wilco album really didn’t do it for me. And I like alt-country.
I saw them in Chicago with KMFDM AND Ministry when I was younger. One of the best shows I have ever been too. My musical tastes have changed alot since then, so I am not into their sound anymore, but if you like dance/techno/metal they are good.
Living Sacrifice is the band I think people would really like in this musical climate. They are a metal/hardcore band on Solid State Records. If you want to check out one of thier records, get * The Hammering Process* . One of the top 5 metal discs of all time in my opinion.
Ersatz Glow. Definitely the best band I am currently in.
Shameless self promotion aside, I’d have to say Mates of State, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, or Death Cab For Cutie, and just as an act of revenge on radio stations everywhere, I’d make them play Merzbow once an hour.
WILCO is very good. In fact, I’ve seen them play with my fav band of all time: moe.
I really think that moe. is so diverse, that they could cross genres, but I I like seeing them in mid-size venues, as do the rest of the fans, so it tends to stay that way.
If I was to pick a band to get big, it would be either beGalactic or keller williams. Galactic has been featured on “The Real World” before. They are from New orleans, and are a very dirty funk band, whose only vocalist sings a small portion of the time during the show. Keller is an incredible musician, who uses more instruments than I could learn in a lifetime (I play 3 fairly well). On top of that, he uses a boomerang phaser to layer, and improvise with his songs. In either case, any show of either
of these two artists, will be well worth your money, or I will pay for the tix. I Promise as long as you tell me what you didn’t like about the artist
Great American rock. An unbelievable band; clean, straightforward, heartwrenching guitar solos, interesting and original lyrics, inspired musicianship, beautiful unforgettable melodies, and no mainstream exposure whatsoever.
I agree with Einsturzende Neubauten; they are most decidedly not mainstream, but some of their songs have the most perverted pop sensibilities. Plus, Rammstein has no right to achieve popularity when EN are still largely ignored.
However, I would most like to see Foetus get famous. Truly, Jim Thirwell (the entirety of Foetus) is one of the most unrecognized musicians out there today, and by far one of the most compelling. Everyone, buy the new Foetus album known as Flow. You will not be disappointed.
They call themselves punk, I don’t know what they are but I like 'em. They just play really well off of each other, and have a great variety in their songs.
They’ll be in Danbury, CT on Wed.
for the best local music in the country. Check out Bumpercrop, Automusik, the Reigning Sounds, Mouserocket, The Lost Sounds, The Subteens, Big Ass Truck, The Joint Chiefs, and just about everybody else on the site.
If I had to pick one to expose an unsuspecting populace to, it would have to be Automusk. Kinda like Kraftwerk with wicked a sense of humor, just hearing them doesn’t do them justice. You must see the stage show and multimedia presentation as well. A quick anecdote:
Automusik played a party for the recent International Film Festival in Memphis. 90% of the people there were uber-hip film people from LA and NY who were clustered around the buffet, too wrapped up in themselves for words. Automusik’s Male Rock Unit ends their set by berating the crowd with “Did you see your little films? We are Automusik! You are nothing! Now eat your fucking cheese and go home!”
Some riot grrrl bands get bogged down on one playing style, but these girls can play fast, slow, angry, content, sad, lots of stuff. I think their sound is accesable enough that if they got the coverage they could become relatively popular.