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[AntoneM]

*looks at avatar

Alva Star

and another one I just thought of: Medeski Martin & Wood

**edit**

and I'll agree with Sweetwater and Tripping Daisy

 

[Mainline]

Default

They're like Nickelback, but good. Pretty much a mix of rock/alternative/and a tiny bit of country. Pisses me off, because it's like Avril Lavigne getting famous over Nelly Furtado, or Celine Dion getting famous over any other Canadian female singer. The crappy ones always rise and we get blamed for providing shitty music.

I remember seeing Default open for Nickelback before either bad was famous in a bar here in Winnipeg, I just remember telling my friends both those bands are going to make it, their live shows were just amazing then.

Anyways, I don't think David Usher is going to go back to Moist since his solo career is doing pretty well, I don't like the material, but it's still doing well. Creature was one of my favorite cds a while back.

On to some Opeth talk, my favorite album of all time is Blackwater Park, if you like their softer stuff check out Porcupine Tree - In Absentia, the lead singer of Porcupine Tree produced the past few Opeth albums, they are a band I would consider underated, the dvda version of In Absentia won "Best Mix: Non-Orchestral" at the 2004 Surround Music Awards. You have to hear the mix to believe it. But I bet no one here has

 

[karasu]

Queens of the Stone Age.

I have no idea how well recieved they are, but they've never been recomended to me before. I'm loving the hell out of them.

 

[DCharlie]

Random selection :

The Beta Band - RIP - "Heroes to Zeroes" is just too fine of an album....
Modest Mouse - okay, they aren't under-rated as such, they just ROCK so much...
Catherine Wheel (prior to Happy Days - especially Chrome - this is Shoegazer nirvana)
Half Man Half Biscuit (UK'ers only need apply - highly funny Liverpudlian band - "Some day ,one day, one of these fine nights/Coucil is going to ask Radiohead to switch off Blackpool lights" - too firking funny)
The Family Cat ("Furthest from the Sun" is great, but "Magic happens" is divine)
Nyack (Even though the singer tried to hit on my gf at the time, they were fantastic)
Gus Gus (the best thing to EVER come out of Iceland)
Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club - just because i love "In like the Rose"

 

[DCharlie]

oh shit, i forgot!

the worlds most under-rated band ! ....

without question... the greatest band to come out of Manchester... (um... well, ignoring Happy Mondays/Black Grape and New Order...)

PURESSENCE.

Fuck they are amazing.
Words can't describe how amazing the album "Only Forever" is.
They are very tight live too.


Please see/hear :


You move me
India
I Suppose
Traffic Jam in Memory Lane
Make Time
Walking Dead
Heart Of Gold
Free Fall
Gutter Girl
Analgesic love song
This feeling
It Doesn't matter anymore
All i want <--- HOLY FUCK! Amazingly good song
Never be the same again
Fire

 

[White Man]

Not enough people listen to Bowie these days. It's a shame.

Anyway, if I had to pick 3 of my current favorite indie bands to get big:

Trail of Dead (and it may happen!)
The Decemberists (if sea shanties started getting play on the radio, I'd be in heaven)
The New Pornographers (pop taken to its logical extreme. also canadian)

 

[Hooker]

I wouldn't exactly call Tool underrated. Best band ever? yes! Underrated, no.



My vote for underrated is Tomahawk. Probably my favourite Mike Patton project, FNM just edges it out due to more material being available

 

[tt_deeb]

My vote for underrated is Tomahawk. Probably my favourite Mike Patton project, FNM just edges it out due to more material being available

No way, I consider Tomahawk his worst project - still damn good though.

 

[atomsk]

everytime we have one of these threads, i recommend the same band, one of the hardest working bands on the road today...

Dope

 

[sefskillz]

everytime we have one of these threads, i recommend the same band, one of the hardest working bands on the road today...

Dope

i saw these guys at a local club back before their first album came out. they weren't so hard working then. so tell me, do they still use dat tapes and just hold their instruments for their shows?

 

[atomsk]

now that they've got a line up that can actually play live, yeah

they've been through so many line up changes since 99 its ridiculous.

but i've seen thier drummer fuck up live (at the time it was adrian from PM5K), and i've seen them blow out the low end, and other assorted fuck ups that couldnt happen if the show still ran on DAT

but hard working, in the context i meant it as, is when are these guys never NOT on tour? the longest break i ever saw them take was a month and a half to get a new album finished. hell, the last album came out october 03, and the new one is out february. i've seen them countless time's where edsel's had strep throat, or the flu, half the band is sick, but no shows get cancelled. but they still hang out with fan's after the show. most accessible band i've ever seen. though snake river conspiracy comes a close second, tobey's a sweetheart...

anyhow, now i'm rambling...

 

[tt_deeb]

Mike Patton is the hardest working person in the business. Case closed.

 

[carbonbased]

From Autumn To Ashes.

 

[atomsk]

what part of "one of the" and "bands" didnt you quite understand?

i'm well aware Patton is the hardest working guy in music today, i wasn't about to dispute that.

 

[Dilbert]

Nitewulf, you have OUTSTANDING taste in music. My third vote for most underrated, behind Beck, would be Suede. (Screw that "The London Suede" crap.) My #2 vote, though, would probably go to Pulp, who are goddamn geniuses in every possible way.

 

[tt_deeb]

what part of "one of the" and "bands" didnt you quite understand?

i'm well aware Patton is the hardest working guy in music today, i wasn't about to dispute that.

Yeah I know, I just felt like saying that.

 

[radioheadrule83]

Muse

They seem to get better and better. They should be bigger in the states IMO. Bigger than coldplay at any rate.

 

[calder]

Most underrated and overlooked album ever.

 

[WHOAguitarninja]

I know alot of people think progressive rock is over technical, under emotional wank fests, but these people really need to listen to Pain of Salvation.

These prog rockers from sweden are hands down the most powerful, emotional, and sublimely melodic band playing today. Their progressiveness comes from emotion, not technicality.

I personally consider their singer (and songwriter and lyricist and cover/booklet artist...all the same guy) to be the greatest musical genius alive.

It kills me that next to no one knows about this band (I did a search on facebook for people at my school of 30,000 that liked them...got one result).

But for a band to come out witht he mindblowing debut "Entropia", then proceed to get BETTER with EVERY cd, I'm honestly scared of what they may do next. If it is to continue the trend, I don't really know what I'll do. I simply cant see anything topping "BE"(their latest cd). Although I haven't been able to see anything topping their previous cd since "The Perfect Element"....which was 3 albums ago...but they keep doing it.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Most of the nominations in this thread are shit and laughable at best. Underrated? On what grounds? Critical acclaim? Commercial success? Mainstream coverage?

Jinx- SUEDE Fucking yes.

Nitewulf - Midnight Oil Fucking yes: Return of the Fucking yes.

As for my own nommy, I vote for the very brilliant Slowdive. Perenially overshadowed by MBV, who most equate as the only shoegaze band that ever existed.

I am of the very lonely opinion that Souvlaki>>>Loveless.

 

[enjoy bell woods]

Most of the nominations in this thread are shit and laughable at best. Underrated? On what grounds? Critical acclaim? Commercial success? Mainstream coverage?

Jinx- SUEDE Fucking yes.

Nitewulf - Midnight Oil Fucking yes: Return of the Fucking yes.

As for my own nommy, I vote for the very brilliant Slowdive. Perenially overshadowed by MBV, who most equate as the only shoegaze band that ever existed.

I am of the very lonely opinion that Souvlaki>>>Loveless.

I hope you don't include me in this. I really think SFA are hideously underrated.

I have no idea how Tool is. I saw them in concert a few years back -- back when I actually liked Mike Patton a lot and wanted to see Tomahawk (my friend was a Tool fan). It was pretty much a stadium show, and it was full of hicks and kids. That's not what I call underrated.

I hated that show. I was so bored.

Oh, Mike Patton sucks.

 

[J2 Cool]

 

[Outdoor Miner]

I hope you don't include me in this. I really think SFA are hideously underrated.

I have no idea how Tool is. I saw them in concert a few years back -- back when I actually liked Mike Patton a lot and wanted to see Tomahawk (my friend was a Tool fan). It was pretty much a stadium show, and it was full of hicks and kids. That's not what I call underrated.

I hated that show. I was so bored.

Oh, Mike Patton sucks.

No way, I definetly consider SFA up there in the "underrated" ranks. They're one of the best bands of the last several years. Actually... they are the best band of the last several years.

Oh and... thanks for saying Mike Patton sucks. He does.

 

[enjoy bell woods]

I thought he was a bit brilliant back when California came out, but my opinion of the guy has lowered drastically in the past few years. I think the good things he's done are flukes honestly. I mean, for fuck's sake, his biggest band was, for the most part, a mediocre metal act. Ugh.

And if you check out where the Bungle guys splintered off to, Secret Chiefs 3, you can see whom the really good Mr. Bungle songs were written by. "Dessert Search for Techno Allah" and "None of Them Knew They Were Robots" weren't Patton in origin.

Check out the last non-experimental Patton was a part of, Tomahawk. They're more annoying than Faith No More's last two albums.

It bothers me that at one point in my life, I thought his solo CDs were good.

---

Oh, and here's another reason why I think SFA are brilliant. That is definitely one of my favorite songs of all time.

 

[tt_deeb]

Oh and... thanks for saying Mike Patton sucks. He does.

Doesn't get better than that and that's a fact.

 

[tt_deeb]

I thought he was a bit brilliant back when California came out, but my opinion of the guy has lowered drastically in the past few years. I think the good things he's done are flukes honestly. I mean, for fuck's sake, his biggest band was, for the most part, a mediocre metal act. Ugh.

And if you check out where the Bungle guys splintered off to, Secret Chiefs 3, you can see whom the really good Mr. Bungle songs were written by. "Dessert Search for Techno Allah" and "None of Them Knew They Were Robots" weren't Patton in origin.

Check out the last non-experimental Patton was a part of, Tomahawk. They're more annoying than Faith No More's last two albums.

It bothers me that at one point in my life, I thought his solo CDs were good.

Faith No More a mediocre metal band? They were a lot more then just a metal band.
Mr. Bungle as a whole was a very talented band - including Patton. He can change styles just as well as the rest of the band and has a great range. Can you imagine any other vocalist fronting them? You can't deny the talent.

 

[enjoy bell woods]

I find him extremely annoying, and I'm sick of all of his vocal gimmicks. He needs to put down his little CB radio mic, his scream-enhancing machines, and just sing.

The man can sing, but he doesn't want to anymore. Since that's the case, I have no desire to listen.

California was a brilliant album, and no, no one else could have given as good of a performance as he. He was perfect. But he's just fucked up too many times for me to care anymore.

[edit] There's a fantastic rendition of "What the World Needs Now" that he performed in '99 with Mr. Bungle. He fucking belted that song out. What the hell is it that makes him want to just scream over Rahzel beatboxing? His music is unlistenable shit.

 

[tt_deeb]

I find him extremely annoying, and I'm sick of all of his vocal gimmicks. He needs to put down his little CB radio mic, his scream-enhancing machines, and just sing.

Yeah I can definately agree with that on some of his projects. I'm looking forward to Peeping Tom album next year though. But hey, you're talking to someone who enjoyed the Fantomas' Delirium Cordia album.

 

[drohne]

i used to be in a suede cover band. haha.

and yeah, super furry animals rock.

 

[enjoy bell woods]

Delirium Cordia is what made me give up on him. I genuinely enjoyed their first release; I won't deny that. But The Director's Cut seriously underwhelmed me, and then Delirium Cordia seriously bored me. Since that's the case, what else has he done that I can personally enjoy?

Actually, that Eyvind Kang album that came out either this year or last year was pretty good. Mike Patton delivered a good vocal performance there, but he actually sang.

My opinion stands, though. I think he's annoying as hell.

 

[Megafoo Chavez]

tool is a very spiritual very personal music choice. tool fans listen to tool because it is more than music. tool fans hate you. i hate you. they say the new album will be heavier? bullshit. Tool is beyond anger and deep into enlightenment.

 

[tt_deeb]

Delirium Cordia is what made me give up on him. I genuinely enjoyed their first release; I won't deny that. But The Director's Cut seriously underwhelmed me, and then Delirium Cordia seriously bored me. Since that's the case, what else has he done that I can personally enjoy?

Actually, that Eyvind Kang album that came out either this year or last year was pretty good. Mike Patton delivered a good vocal performance there, but he actually sang.

My opinion stands, though. I think he's annoying as hell.

Yeah, I'm not trying to change your opinion or anything. Delirium Cordia was a difficult album but I could appreciate it in a sense. Although Mike Patton is my first listen to ambient/experimental music and I still need to check out other artists and put it into perspective. I haven't heard the Eyvind Kang album or his solos.

I've been meaning to check out SFA - I've only heard a bit from them - are they like power pop /alternative? Anyway, any recommendations are welcome, the holidays are coming up and I have nothing to get.

 

[Maxwell House]

Musical elitists are hilarious. To even worry that someone might be a poseur is just flat out retarded. Thankfully, most people who ever get into that phase grow out of it by their early twenties.

 

[enjoy bell woods]

You really should check the Eyvind Kang album out. It's actually very pretty, and would go along well with this time of year.

---

SFA are actually really hard to categorize. They started out as a messy take on '60s and '70s British rock music with their debut album, Fuzzy Logic. But even still, their sound was distinct. They had original ideas, and really crazy lyrics. One of the songs on that album is a dialogue between the band's guitarist and his hamster.

They came out with Radiator after that, which was pretty much the album that actually got some attention from the mainstream British press. The album goes from two-minute pop song to orchestral six-minute Beatles-esque/Bowie-esque stuff by the end. It's extremely listenable, yet different.

Guerilla came out after that. I don't know how to describe it. It's just really experimental British rock. Like Radiator, it starts off with a pretty simplistic pop feel and then turns into something entirely different. In my opinion, this is the band's masterwork. I think it's brilliant, and I wish more people would listen to it. There are so many interesting songs and sounds on this album.

Mwng is psychedelic Welsh folk music. It was also the best-selling Welsh album of all time. I think they made this album on a $6,000 budget, and it sort of sounds that way. But they still sound fantastic here. Check the site for the album out: http://www.mwng.co.uk Most people aren't familiar with the Welsh language (I sure wasn't). Just check the lyrics out. The language looks extremely interesting written out.

Rings Around the World, perhaps, may be their best seller. I don't know. It fared pretty well with the critics. The sound is heavily influenced by The Beach Boys at points, and some of the songs are really orchestral. They released a DVD simultaneous to this album, and apparently that was a first. The DVD is really cool. The music is really good, although some would say this is the weakest of their albums. I loved it, and it got me into the band. Uh, http://www.ringsaroundtheworld.co.uk There may be some clips or something there. I'd probably check this out first, if you can't find any of the other albums. That's likely.

Phantom Power came out last year. It was my favorite album of 2003, but people sort of ignored it. Maybe it's just my love for the band, but I genuinely thought it was something special. I'll be listening to it for years to come. It has a really warm sound; it sort of recalls The Yardbirds, ELO, and the Beach Boys at points. But then there's the occasional rock song. You could probably also find this album in stores. http://www.phantom-power.com

Since I take it that you like pretty experimental music, you'll be able to tolerate the slight experimentation SFA takes with their music. The reason I think they're so much better than bands like Blur and Radiohead is because they have been able to manufacture a sound that doesn't take itself too seriously, yet is serious. And there's a lot of musical talent going into their music. Their live shows are really fucking great. I've made a lot of fans out of people by taking them to their shows.

Oh well. My album synopses weren't great or anything. But yeah, I'd definitely check them out.

---

Here's something sort of cool. It's a clip of the band performing one of my favorite songs of theirs -- Receptacle for the Respectable, off of Rings Around the World. I wish they'd put a full clip up, but it'll give you a good feel for the way the band performs: http://www.superfurry.com/media/respectableSm_Prog001.wmv

And a lame music video for a song off of Radiator: http://theonenetwork.com/playvideo.asp?type=music&videoid=sfanimals1

Ysbideau Heulog off of Mwng: http://www.mwng.co.uk/downloads/SFA_Aside.mp3

 

[Maxwell House]

woah. you're telling me there aren't posers out there? fuck, i've done that. I've bought a splitknot cd and shirt without hearing one song...and i wore the shirt all over without really liking them becuase it was cool. at that time i couldnt name more than 3 songs off their cd.

i've come to like them now, but i never wear the shirt. i was a bandwagon, jump on the hardkor3 hype loser.

I can't believe someone would actually wear a band shirt of someone they have never listened to, just to be cool. :lol

 

[tt_deeb]

Looking back I think a friend lent me Phantom Power over the summer and I enjoyed it quite a bit. And yeah their live shows look fun as hell. Thanks for the info.

 

[drohne]

super furry list!

1. radiator
2. mwng
3. phantom power
4. guerilla
5. out spaced (it's a compilation of early stuff, rarities, and b-sides)

i've never really cared for rings around the world, although there are some extraordinary songs on there (run christian run, particularly). it sounds as if they'd been given a big recording budget and didn't know quite what to do with it. and some of the trademark sfa genre soundclashes on that record are a bit jarring. phantom power is similarly glossy, but it's much warmer and better crafted. liberty belle is the only good song about current american foreign policy. slow life is maybe the best thing they've ever done.

i really think radiator is their masterpiece, though. just tirelessly inventive, genre-liquefying power pop. they couldn't really go up from there; just expand horizontally.

 

[enjoy bell woods]

I'd definitely agree to that! It's nice to see other people who know what's up. No one ever cares when I talk about the band. Sometimes I think I'm just pretending they're really good or something. How can't Radiator be a great album? "Hermann Loves Pauline" is the song that has pretty much gotten all of my friends hooked.

Anyway, I can't wait for their next album.

 

[Jim Bowie]

Mindless Self Indulgence.

And seriously, Alkaline Trio? FATA? Give me a break, guys.

 

[hXc_thugg]

Hot Hot Heat. They were doing the whole dance/punk/rock shit way before Franz Ferdinand and The Killers and they don't get any credit! New album by the end of 2004 hopefully!

 

[nitewulf]

Nitewulf, you have OUTSTANDING taste in music. My third vote for most underrated, behind Beck, would be Suede. (Screw that "The London Suede" crap.) My #2 vote, though, would probably go to Pulp, who are goddamn geniuses in every possible way.

heh, thats high praise! thank you.
i noticed you mentioned beck as our generations dylan. i think morrissey is definitely the european dylan. every smith's song i listen to has so many layered messages that its mindblowing.
unfortunately i havent delved too much into pulp, one of those bands thats on my perpetual "to check out" list.

 

[Guzim]

Metric.

 

[nitewulf]

BTW enjoy bell woods, have you checked out new romance by pretty girls make graves? i think you might enjoy that.

 

[Eminem]

From Autumn To Ashes.

bah, i like FATA on cd, but they sucked hardcore live =/

 

[Jim Bowie]

Hot Hot Heat. They were doing the whole dance/punk/rock shit way before Franz Ferdinand and The Killers and they don't get any credit! New album by the end of 2004 hopefully!

Seriously, hXc_thugg, will you be my best friend? Because you absolutely rule at music.

 

[Eminem]

bandages on my arms and my legs for you

 

[Myllz]

 

[White Man]

Make Up the Breakdown is a great album, for the most part, but I think the band might not be able to follow it up.

1. It's taken them FOREVER to record a follow up to a relatively simple album.
2. Their guitarist left.
3. There's really not many places the discopunk sound could go. All these bands: The Rapture, !!!, Ferdinand, and the rest will be as big a joke next year as electroclash is today.

While Make Up the Breakdown is an infectious listen, I believe it would be a good idea to keep your expectations low for that forever-delayed next album. It's practically the Duke Nukem Forever of indie rock at this point.

EDIT:

PROTIP for current hip discopunk bands: start emulating Big Black.

 

[Dead]

Oh man, thumbs up to Jinx for Mentioned Suede AND Pulp

And to Sal Paradise for mentioning Slowdive, though I wont go as far saying Souvlaki is better than Loveless though.....Slowdives Pygmalion is also fucking fantastic

 

[Eminem]

Has Oceansize been mentioned in here? they should have been.