Sorry for the late post, I just stumbled across this thread now…
My #1 choice would be The House Jacks, no doubt about it. They rock hard and do some good funk. On their song Feelin’ Funkae you’d swear the lead singer was ripping up his vocal chords…
Second choice is harder. A year ago it would have automatically been M-Pact, but lately I’m really getting into Duwende. Duwende rocks hard, and their bass is amazing. Gotta love Good Morning Brooklyn…
Is such a contest really happening, or is the OP just a hypothetical question?
Some of my favorites have already been listed here:[ul][li]Foetus/Jim Thirlwell[/li]Truly a musical genius. He’d be world famous if he weren’t a dedicated, lifelong heroin junkie.
[li]Portishead[/li]Where’s number 3? They did get some mainstream/MTV exposure, though.
[li]Wilco[/li]Great stuff.
[li]Big Ass Truck[/li]YAY!
[li]Nightmares on Wax[/li]“Smokers Delight” is a DID.
[li]Nina Hagen[/li]She’s one of my goddesses. See today’s NYTimes for a review of a new documentary about her.
[li]Einsturzende Neubauten [Strategies Against Architecture][/li]Definitely. Along with all their related projects, ESPECIALLY Blixa’s girlfriend Anita Lane, whose “Dirty Pearl” is also a DID.
[li]White Stripes[/li]–although they don’t really belong in this list: they’re about set to break, big time.
I’d add the following:
[li]9 Lazy 9[/li]An absolute must for fans of Nightmares on Wax.
[li]Diamanda Galas[/li]Another goddess.
[li]Mary Margaret O’Hara[/li]One of the single most important singers of the 20th century. And I’m not making this up.
[li]Jane Siberry[/li]For fans of Dar Williams. If I had to pick a number one favorite artist of all time, it would have to be Jane.
[li]Brassy[/li][li]Basement Jaxx[/li][li]The Donnas[/li][li]N.E.R.D.[/li][li]MAG! NET! IC! FIELDS![/li][li]The Geraldine Fibbers[/li]“Butch” is a lifetime top ten.
Or any of Stephin Merritt’s other projects. He’s also a goddess of mine.
[/ul]
My god, too many more to list. I tend to collect overlooked artists. For one of the best sources in the world, listen to my local radio station, at [url=“http://www.kexp.org”]KEXP. It’s a public radio station associated with the Experience Music Project and is one of the only stations in the entire country that has no program director: each DJ plays exactly what they want, with no other input. Truly the best radio station I’ve ever come across.
aside: I hate hate hate hate HATE Moxy Fruvous, and don’t have much use for Dar Williams.
It isn’t new. It was playing the festival circuit in 1999. For instance, it played at the Toronto Film Festival.
I like Nina’s music too, her album Nunsexmonkrock is freakin’ brilliant, one of the best albums ever, but personally she’s a dipshit, one of those idiots who believe that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS.
I second most of the rest of your choices (of those I’ve heard), especially Jane Siberry and Mary Margaret O’Hara.
I’d throw in **Happy Rhodes **, an indie artist with 10 wonderful albums. She has one of the most amazing voices around, her music is original, simple while not boring in the slightest, and her lyrics are always interesting. She tends to appeal to the same type of people who like artists such as Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan and the above Jane and Mary Margaret.
<minor hijack> lissener, tell me about N.E.R.D. Their song “rock star” has been on the radio for a couple of weeks now, but my brother tells me that they’re really the Neptunes, whom I’ve never heard of. What is he talking about?
</minor hijack>
You do have Amy Ray’s (of the Indigo Girls) solo album (Stag), right? The Butchies backed her up on a lot of the tracks. They also backed her up and opened for her on her club tour. One of the most enjoyable shows I’ve seen in a while. (The world needs more lesbian punk pop. )
Re: Wilco–fear not. Between the press surrounding Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the Grammys I expect it to at least be nominated for, they’ll get some exposure. I thought it should have come after Being There, but that’s just me.
My list of bands would be fairly long, but here are a few that spring to mind:
–The Apples in Stereo. They’ve had a bit of exposure now that they did some songs for the Powerpuff Girls, but they still don’t get what they deserve. I’d do the same for all the Elephant 6 bands (I just saw Elf Power last night), but the Apples top the list.
–The Asylum Street Spankers. Granted, they’re much better live, and since they refuse to use any electricity in concert, they’re better for a small audience, but everyone should hear them.
–Alejandro Escovedo. He keeps writing brilliant songs that no one hears and making brilliant albums that no one buys. I’ll never understand it.
You do have Amy Ray’s (of the Indigo Girls) solo album (Stag), right? The Butchies backed her up on a lot of the tracks. They also backed her up and opened for her on her club tour. One of the most enjoyable shows I’ve seen in a while. (The world needs more lesbian punk pop. )
Re: Wilco–fear not. Between the press surrounding Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the Grammys I expect it to at least be nominated for, they’ll get some exposure. I thought it should have come after Being There, but that’s just me.
My list of bands would be fairly long, but here are a few that spring to mind:
–The Apples in Stereo. They’ve had a bit of exposure now that they did some songs for the Powerpuff Girls, but they still don’t get what they deserve. I’d do the same for all the Elephant 6 bands (I just saw Elf Power last night), but the Apples top the list.
–The Asylum Street Spankers. Granted, they’re much better live, and since they refuse to use any electricity in concert, they’re better for a small audience, but everyone should hear them.
–Alejandro Escovedo. He keeps writing brilliant songs that no one hears and making brilliant albums that no one buys. I’ll never understand it.
My choice would be Fridge. I really love them. It’s post-rock from the ol’ UK… They sound kind of similar to Tortoise, but they’re jazzier and more easy-going. There’s always a million things going on in their songs - tempo changes, insane mood swings, subtle dronings, off-key harmonies, …
How funny, when I was just about to say Rammstein. If you think that they are “popular” anywhere outside Berlin, you’re nuts. I had a friend call me the other day…HE WORKS FOR Q101, an Alternative/Modern Rock station in chicago. He said
“looks like you owe me 10…Rammstein hasn’t put out a new album since Sehnsucht.”
I said, “They’ve in fact put out TWO.”
Nobody…and I mean NOBODY knows rammstein except for the song DuHast, which sucks.
EN is a great great band, so is Welle: Erdball, Lacrimosa, Megaherz, Oomph. But until any of these German bands bow down to the Almighty English Language…no one will buy their stuff.
Rammstein is more popular than the others because they’re very good looking…all of them…they have said themselves that they are Germany’s version of a Boy Band.
)