Quilombo by Steroid Maximus. Steroid Maximus is J.G. Thirwell, better known as Jim Foetus. How to describe the music? All-instrumental, industrial big band, psycho-jazz.
<i>Crack the Sky</i> - Crack the Sky
One listen to “I Don’t Have A Tie” will have you hooked on this band.
West Coast Pop Art Expieramental Band
Any one heard of them? No? I didn;t think so.
They are an old 1960’s hippie band from San Francisco.
Azure Ray by Azure Ray. Goodness, this is the best CD ever. “Displaced” is one of my most favorite songs, and the whole thing is wonderful. The lead singer has an incredibly beautiful, haunting voice. You can listen to some samples here.
Pickles! I hate that.
It’s really not my fault. It keeps adding in spaces that I didn’t type in the url. Anyway, here it is:
“Blame Everyone” by Grand Theft Audio. A song from it is in Gran Turismo 3, which is how I heard of them. A pretty cool rock/techno CD–great to drive to.
I’d have to say Bilingual by the Pet Shop Boys. Of course we’ve heard of the Pet Shop Boys but for some reason Bilingual seems to be rare in North America.
As are L’autre and other albums by Mylène Farmer: the love and joy of the Montreal gay community and completely unknown elsewhere on the continent.
Dragon’s Kiss by Marty Friedman.
He was the lead guitarist for Megadeth for a number of years, and his solo albums are simply amazing. This first one is quite a bit heavier than the others (his later albums are in a whole different genre), but they’re all fantastic. Definitely worth checking out.
I’ve heard of him! Used to play bass with Wigwam. And I’ve also heard of Laika and the Cosmonauts.
Other Scandinavian stuff I’ve got and like
Värttinä - Ilmatar, Vihma
Gjallarhorn - Ranarop
Annbjørg Lien - Baba Yaga
Lena Willemark - Windogur
And by an Italian jazz musician
GianLuigi Trovesi - Round About a Misummer’s Dream
Cellobotomy by Gideon Freudman – one man, one cello, a recording studio and too much free time.
Nothing But Blood by This Mortal Coil. I’m convinced that this is one of those bands that lots of people in a very small subculture know about, and that I just haven’t met any of them yet.
Fetish - Shade of A Ghost,So Many Prophets
Not My Dog - Dogumentary
Dorp - 5 Steps Off The Pacemaker
BTW these are all South African bands so I’m pretty sure no one else on this board has heard of them. However they’re all excellent and check out Napster/Audiogalaxy/webistes-listed-above and maybe you’ll be able to get a few mp3’s of theirs. Fetish is ambient rock (think Portishead), Not My Dog are hardcore/punk and Dorp are ska just in case you were wondering.
More Japanese bands:
Sekiri, “Take me to Sekiri”. Melodic girl-punks. Very nice.
Cibo Matto, “Stereotype A”. Imagine Beck’s “Odelay” done by 2 accomplished Japanese women musicians, and you’re about there. Love this album.
I have this CD. Very, very good stuff. I submit “Smoke Machine”, by Chocolate USA. Chocolate USA is the old band of one of the members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Julian Koster. NMH is very much Jeff Magnum’s band, but when you hear “Smoke Machine”, you’ll know why they wanted Julian onboard. (Unless you hate whiny voices.)
“World of Fireworks” by Little Jack Melody and His Young Turks. I guess LJM would be classified as “neo-cabaret.” In concert they do a cover of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, complete with cue cards, in German, for those wishing to sing along. Gotta love a band where the low end is furnished by a tuba.
Return to the Center of the Earth by Rick Wakeman, a revisiting of the themes of his Journey to the Center of the Earth album.
Deltron 3030. You take the freshest free style hip hopper Del, add one of the best DJs with Dan the Automator and a few cuts by Kid Koala, and you get this space aged hip hopera.
And everybody thinks I just like metal.
I forgot to add: anything by Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. From the cover photos to the interview in the booklet to the highly individual interpretations of popular songs (everything from “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” to “Stayin’ Alive”), their unique approach to musical performance stands out quite distinctly.
I am not typically inclined to pure pop, but a couple of great but not well known CD’s include
Utopia Parkway by Fountains of Wayne - great, catchy music, thoughtful lyrics - addictive (you have to hear “Red Dragon Tattoo” then you’ll understand)
Bubblegun by the MerryMakers - a Swedish band produced by one of the guys from the old SF pop band Jellyfish - great, catchy pop - “April’s Fool” is the best track - think Rubber Soul-era Beatles
The American by [Martin Sexton[ur].
And, since others have done it, I’d like to take this chance to promote my friends’ band, [url=“http://www.betwixtandbetween.com/”] Betwixt & Between](www.martinsexton.com).
I have four more for you…
“1990” by Daniel Johnston.
“There’s Nothing Wrong with Love” by Built to Spill.
“Furnace Room Lullaby” by Neko Case & Her Boyfriends.
“Through the Trees” by the Handsome Family.