Underrated bands and musical artists

[Matt Brown]

Wierd Al

if you win grammies almost every year, you arent underrated

[Las Naranjas]

The New Amsterdams.

[Sluggo]

I'm a big Ravel fan
but I'm probably theonly one  

I love Ravel! Le Tombeau de Couperin is probably one of his finest works. And I absolutely love La Valse. As for the Bolero, I too get kind of sick of it, but some of his orchestration is just amazing. Who else would combine french horn, piccolo, and celesta at three different partial levels?

[DragonRose]

big bad voodoo daddy
royal crown revue
cherry poppin daddies (they did more then zoot suit people)

retro swing gets no respect

How could I forget these guys? Retro-swing rocks!

Or swings.

Or whatever.

[Timosity]

What about Mike Patton?

Yes, he's one of my favourites, he's in a bunch of bands I love.

I remember in the Epic clip he was wearing a Mr. Bungle T-shirt

In My Cd player at the moment (a 3 disc one) I have FNM-Angel Dust, Mr Bungle - California & Tomahawk-Mit Gas

so you can say I'm a fan, I've seen FNM twice, Mr. Bungle thrice, Fantomas Twice, Tomahawk once.

I've also heard a solo album Mike Patton, which is just him making weird vocal sounds, odd but worth a listen.

I'm sure he's in some other bands (or projects) too, He comes out to Australia quite regularly in his different bands, most recently Tomahawk & Fantomas played together (He does have Australians in his bands)

but I wouldn't say FNM were underrated (yes they were more than just Epic) but they were fairly commercial after that IMO (although Mike was much better than Chuck) His other bands are fairly underground though.

big bad voodoo daddy
royal crown revue
cherry poppin daddies (they did more then zoot suit people)

retro swing gets no respect

I really get into that scene too, I also like a bit of Rockabilly and Psychobilly.

One of the most memorable gigs I went to was the Reverend Horton Heat, he rocks.

I would have loved to see 'The Stray Cats' live,

'The Living End' are a great aussie band that are fairly big here, excellent live show.

I used to be really into the Punk Scene, (inc all those Fat Wreck Chords bands) but it's become too friggin pop, thanks to bands like 'Blink182'.

Ska is great, My favourite aussie ska band are 'The Porkers' - awesome live

Mad Caddies are great too, another Fat Wreck Chords band.

I used to be a fan of 'Frenzal Rhomb' and know the the singer.

My favourite band that doesn't exist anymore, were the 'Fireballs', they were from Melbourne, Heavy/Psychobilly on speed would be a good description. I climbed up on stage once and lit my Cigarette off his flaming Double Bass at the end once.

man I've seen literally hundreds of bands live from all over the world, I could go on forever.

[remixor]

most bands seem to write music for money

You mean like most classical composers?  My topic of study in college is music, and after taking quite a few music history classes, I've come to the conclusion that, in general, classical composers were in it just as much for the money as most bands today.  This doesn't mean it was the biggest motivation for those guys--but I also don't think it's the biggest motivation for current bands.  Very few bands actually DO make much money, so it's a silly profession to go into if you just want to make it rich.  Another thing worth keeping in mind is that there was still a lot of really shitty music written two hundred years ago, it's just that most of the shitty stuff has been filtered out by time.  We only really listen to a fairly small percentage of all the composers who were working during that time period.  All the crappy ones just got lost in the shuffle of history.  A couple centuries from now, people won't remember most bands of today, but the great ones will likely still be known.

[Blackthorne]

Blackthrone, do you mean Meatloaf?

Nope, I mean SUGARLOAF.  They're a 70's rock band. Look up their song "Green Eyed Lady".... it's pretty groovy.

Blackthorne

[cpage]

MY BAND IS UNDERRATED!!!

[Sylpher]

Remixor:
One of the best break downs of mordern music vs. classical I've read, bravo good sir!

Jimmy's chicken shack/Jarflys
The former more popular then the later. Either way all of Jimmy Haha's creations are unique and most importantly humble. Which sadly seems to lead to there downfall.

Bad Brains
Arguably the fathers of hardcore music. With roots deep in punk with a mix of rock and just enough drops of metal they created an amazingly interesting musical cocktail.

Fugazi
Number one on my list would have to be Fugazi though it seems unappropriatly placed. The entire philosophy of this band would almost lead you to believe they prefer the underdog/underrated motif. In reality, or in the very least in my opinion, they are one of the few bands that are really truely all about the music.

[Goldmund]

I think Erik Satie is quite underrated: most of his stuff is really simple (even I can play Gnosiennes), but this is the only piano music that can convey such strange emotions, weirdness plus melancholy, melancholic creepiness.

As for moderns, I'd say Death in June and Current93.

[plasticman]

this topic confuses me.
what qualifies a band as underrated ?

sure, the average joe doesn't know mike patton or fugazi, but in their respective "scenes", they are considered seminal artists.
same for the bad brains, any self-respecting hardcore kid knows them...

i'd agree about the black heart procession, but it's not a field i'm familiar with, so it doesn't mean a thing. there are probably people who believe the exact opposite, who knows ?

to me, some underrated bands would be 999, the saints or the rich kids, who didn't get the coverage they deserved. unlike the damned, the stranglers, richard hell, etc.
but once again, someone who's not into punk would never call the damned and the buzzcocks "legends".

[Blackthorne]

to me, some underrated bands would be 999, the saints or the rich kids, who didn't get the coverage they deserved. unlike the damned, the stranglers, richard hell, etc.
but once again, someone who's not into punk would never call the damned and the buzzcocks "legends".

Well, I'm not into punk, but I know that Richard Hell and the Buzzcocks are legends in that scene.....

I think underated is really a personal preferance..... are we talking about bands that don't get coverage in Rolling Stone?  Or Spin?  Because whatever the media chooses as the moment as popular can change in years.... sure, during the punk rise of the 70's, the Buzzcocks or Richard Hell would NEVER HAVE been written about in the press, now they'll get an article from time to time with their names written in reverance....the point is, it doesn't matter - you have to like what you like, right?  Isn't that the beauty of music?

Bt

[Timosity]

Just had to bring this back as I saw the "Mad Caddies" last night all the way from Santa Barbara.

I've seen them before but they are an awsome band to see live, and they have only been here twice I think, but I think they're moving out here, If I heard correctly (unless he was joking) but I think he was serious.

here's their site if anyone is interested.
http://www.madcaddies.com/


Earlier in this thread I mentioned an awesome band "The Fireballs" who no longer exist, well the other week I saw this band "Sinshifters" which contains the Drummer/singer & the Double Bassist, They're very similar so after 8 years in the wilderness they're back. They're like a heavy psychobilly band, quite original really

http://www.sinshifters.com/txt/default.htm



One of the supports last night were an awesome ska band from the Gold Coast, up near Brisbane, called "Dr Octopus" they had a sexy lead singer chick too

http://www.dr-octopus.com/


I'd suggest checking out these sites if you like ska/punk/jazz/blues/reggae/piratety goodness

I'm going to see the Mad Caddies again today, say happy mothers day to my mum for me, Cheers.

[Renal Shutdown]

[shameless plug] Saltslide [/shameless plug]
Link below.
Please buy our EP, we're skint..

Hugs
Iqu

[c.leksutin]

Boards of Canada
Autechre
Amon Tobin
Squarepusher
Prefuse 73
2 Lone Swordsmen
Dave the Surgeon
Mogui
Boards of Canada
Pongiod
Obis Cygma
Dark Stalkey
Dead presidents
Amon Tobin
Boards of Mutherfukin Canada



C.

[Evil]

The Flaming Lips. Seriously, those guys are great.

Elliot Smith. If you know who this is and can name one of his songs, you get a cookie. Seriously, he compares to Kurt Cobain. One of the best artists of all time.

[juncmodule]

Books On Tape
Aphex Twin
Squarepusher
Muziq
Jega
Autechre
Boards of Canada
juncmodule :
Go Evol Shiki
Modest Mouse

[evenatsisters]

Morphine.  Great deep vocals, lyrics, saxophone, standup bass, and drums.  However, since the lead singer is dead, I can understand why no one is promoting their music too heavily.

Tom Waits. Certainly not underrated here in Texas or most other parts of the US.  But no one back home has ever heard of him, and I'm curious how familiar UK AGSers are with his work.  Suggested albums:  Blood Money, Alice, Rain Dogs, Frank's Wild Years.

Robert Goulet.  I'm joking, I just wanted an excuse to type "GOULET!"

[Yakwork]

[shameless plug] Saltslide [/shameless plug]
Link below.
Please buy our EP, we're skint..

Hugs
Iqu

Still diggin' it but what happened to the ultra-spiffy flash-esque website you were doing?

[Pessi]

Peter Thomas, I don't think anything else really matters except whether you like the music or not. I don't understand how it makes the music less enjoyable if it was made for money or for the music. It sounds the same.

This is just a thing I've heard from lots of people and I'm hoping you could explain it. Cause the only reason I see for it right now is that these people don't listen the music for the music but for everything else that is related to it. Like, which genre it is, how commercial band made the music etc.