De Staat
I can't make sense of the reality that they're not incredibly famous.
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De Staat
I can't make sense of the reality that they're not incredibly famous.
Collective Soul (fairly popular in their heyday, less so now)
They're not really considered underground since they have 1 million monthly listeners, but I still don't see a lot of people talking about the band Foreign Air. They are known for their hit "Free Animal", but they have so many good songs. I recommend "Your Touch", "Hello Sunshine Pt 2", "Wake Me Up", "Moving On," and "Monsters". Unsure of how to describe their genre, it certainly isn't rock nor bubbly pop...
Aesop Rock
I'm sure some people have heard of them but I didn't see them anywhere in here. So, here ya go!
Low is super slow and very long (at least in the first couple of albums).
Charlie Parr is an amazing country blues singer.
My kids say I don't have a good grasp of how popular bands are, but I think most of these are popular? I have seen Jason Isbell, Sylvan Esso, and Bleachers in pretty big venues here.
I was thinking about "mainstream", but that could be interpreted a few ways. I think these are popular bands within their niche genres, but I don't know if I'd call them mainstream. If I'd ask most of my friends about Sylvan esso maybe one out of ten might have heard of them. But if I talk to someone that listens to a lot of electronic music they definitely would know of them. Sorry @OP: I might have misinterpreted your prompt!
Khruangbin, MONO, Babe Rainbow, Kikagaku Moyo.
If Khrungabin aren't well known there is no justice in the universe. They are so good. They headlined a big festival here (one so expensive I didn't go) and did those awesome collaborations with Leon Bridges so I thought they were famous?
Papadosio.
Nightly. But they are getting there.
Dedline
Deadbolt
Brunettes Shoot Blondes (Ukrainian synth pop).
For obvious reasons they haven't been so active lately.
Work Drugs.
Cool as hell band who make smooth, summery, indie pop laced with synths and sax.
I love the Delgados. They broke up a long time ago and cited being dissatisfied with not obtaining much success. The most exposure they saw was one of their songs being used for an anime opening. Alun Woodward released one pretty neat solo album as "Lord Cut Glass", and Emma Pollack made (is still making?) a few solo albums afterwards that are all pretty good, too. I think their drummer was one of the most unrecognized musicians working in popular music ever. The drums on the Delgados albums go hard.
Kaleo
Pretty much my whole genre is obscure - appalachian "old time" fiddle music.
The best way to experience this genre - sitting the middle of a jam, preferably with an instrument. Here's boys them buzzards are flying from that perspective.
Some more examples I like:
Here's Dan Gellert being funky on fretless banjo. Tune is black eyed susie.
Here's his daughter Rayna Gellert & co on red steer
Here's Jon Bekoff on rabbit in the pea patch.
Here's some cool dual fiddles on grub springs
Really obscure: I like Ramsay Midwood, Have Gun Will Travel, and Joshua Ray Walker too, so good and a class act as a person.
Somewhat known: I love Ondara, Durand Jones & the Indications and all their associated solo stuff, Charley Crockett, Toro y Moi, Phosphorescent, Josh Ritter, Arlo Parks.
Oh my God how could I forget, they are broken up now but J RODDY WALSTON AND THE BUSINESS! They are one of the best live acts I've seen and their records were also great.
I was miffed when, in the early 90s, grunge swooped in and wrecked powerpop's resurgence. MTV had Jellyfish in every corner, and seemingly overnight Nirvana took over.
In the search for harmonies, major key power chords, and jangly, summery guitars (not to mention hummable hooks galore) I had to dig.
The Well Wishers Dressy Bessy The Lolas The Beths The Dahlmanns The Riffbackers
And I know I'm missing so many more feel-good bands...
Dry The River (British, now disbanded)
Turboweekend (Danish, now disbanded)
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy (Danish, re-formed)
The Beths (New Zealand)
Bonus edit: Priestess (Canada, hiatus)
On the hip hop side, they're growing in popularity but could be bigger: Coast Contra
One of the modern rap/hip hop groups that really holds up, and they're consistent with the quality
This was the video that got me following their stuff:
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/watch?v=IdNxeepSpuk
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Professor Kliq - Coming up on 10 years and these are still some of my favourite tunes.
All tunes are: CC BY-NC-SA
Mallory Chipman is wonderful.