Share Your Obscure Hidden Gems of Music Artists

[XPRTNovice]

So I was listening to the guy I'm going to post at the end of this, here, and thinking - there's just so much amazing stuff out there, but it's hard to sift through the white noise. Sometimes the most obscure bands or artists are the ones that I find the most compelling to listen to, because real musical genius often does not equal popularity (and nobody knows MY music, so I must be a genius ). So I thought I'd open up a thread here for everyone to share a track from their favorite "Who the hell is that guy?" artist.

I'm sharing Avishai Cohen, an Israeli jazz bass player who puts Middle Eastern influences into his music in ways that are just absolutely fantastic. I saw him live when I was in Tel Aviv a few years ago, and the concert blew me away; I keep waiting for him to come to the US so I can see him again. Here is one track by him.

Name: Avishai Cohen (don't confuse him with the trumpet player)

Style: Contemporary Jazz, but not so contemporary as to be formless and silly. Heavy syncopation with ethnic instruments like oud and saz. Sometimes includes bitchin' Hebrew vocals.

Sample Track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8un8nEkQJG0

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I'm sharing Avishai Cohen, an Israeli jazz bass player who puts Middle Eastern influences into his music in ways that are just absolutely fantastic. I saw him live when I was in Tel Aviv a few years ago, and the concert blew me away; I keep waiting for him to come to the US so I can see him again. Here is one track by him.

Name: Avishai Cohen (don't confuse him with the trumpet player)

Style: Contemporary Jazz, but not so contemporary as to be formless and silly. Heavy syncopation with ethnic instruments like oud and saz. Sometimes includes bitchin' Hebrew vocals.

Sample Track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8un8nEkQJG0

Hoshit this guy's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[Wiesty]

Joe! Avashi is a killer player! I may have the opportunity to see him in Montreal this summer.

[JoJo]

Check out the soundtrack from this Playstation game called Journey. It's more popular now I think than it was when I first discovered it, because they've come out with a disc where it used to be only downloadable. But the soundtrack is gorgeous, by Austin Wintory:

[XPRTNovice]

Joe! Avashi is a killer player! I may have the opportunity to see him in Montreal this summer.

DO IT. I'm telling you, man, when I saw him in Tel Aviv he had an oud player and a flute player with him that were both fucking KILLER. That place was jumpin' easily one of the most fun concerts I've ever seen.

[avaris]

Perturbator:

Hard cutting 80's new retro type of music. Don't know if there is an exact term for this sub genre.

Kavinsky, similar but not as obscure bc he was on the Drive soundtrack:

Mt Eden, chilled laid-back dubtsep, less wub wub and more awesomeness:

[Necrox]

This was posted here a few months ago. Beautiful ambient/chill stuff

https://soundcloud.com/cynicmusic/pixelsphere-soundtrack

[Jedi QuestMaster]

Dave Anderson - Steady Burn from the album, Only Against Eternity.

I can't find the whole track posted anywhere, but I assure you: it's as good as it sounds.

[Magnetic Ether]

Mmm, this is a good thread. Needs more recommendations though!

Here's one of my favorite obscure groups:

http://evokethylords.bandcamp.com/

If you like doom or gothic metal at all they're really worth checking out! Also a lot of their lyrics on "Escape to the Dreamlands" are H.P. Lovecraft inspired, which is pretty cool .

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Good thread.

Though he is a legend now, singer-songwriter Max Martin's old funk-rock band "It's Alive" was fan-freakin'-tastic.

Check out

This band has tons of great songs, but they only made it like two albums. However, the label kept Max as a songwriter and he went on to write such hits as "...Baby One More Time", "I Want It That Way", lots of Katy Perry tunes and just about every pop hit since 1996. Including that damn "Never Getting Back Together" song that Taylor Swift Sings.

Edited April 11, 2014 by AngelCityOutlaw

[The Legendary Zoltan]

Not a gem of an artist as much as a gem of a single song. This is from Venezuelan band Candy66. I don't even know how or when I came across this but I first saw it a long time ago and thought it was such a fun song. I learned several Spanish words from this song! It's about a real problem they had or are having in Venezuela. I'm not familiar with the situation but the song and the sprite video are cool.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/183385

[The Coop]

- "Resurrection by Erection"

- "Raise Your Fist Evangelist"

- "Sanctified With Dynamite"

- "Son Of A Wolf"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWbfztup-6Q - "Cardinal Sin"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poz7ilMaRCI&feature=kp - "Secrets Of The Sacristy"

A pair of tunes from each of Powerwolf's last three albums (they have five). Basically, it's German power metal, a touch of symphonic metal and choirs, songs about werewolves/vampires/demons, and some story telling and various kinds of religious themes. It's all done with a dose of irony and humor as well, making for songs that are just... well, catchy and enjoyable. Attila Dorn's got a solid voice for this stuff, and the Greywolf brothers deliver good riffs and licks.

Yes, it's cheesy and in some ways silly (go look up how they dress for their shows). But the music's good, and instead of heavy-handed messages about personal and world issues, the songs are just fun. Whether or not these guys are obscure or "gems" is open to conjecture, but I'd never heard of them until last year, and they've been around since 2003. So I figured I'd post them.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

- "Resurrection by Erection"

- "Raise Your Fist Evangelist"

- "Sanctified With Dynamite"

- "Son Of A Wolf"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWbfztup-6Q - "Cardinal Sin"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poz7ilMaRCI&feature=kp - "Secrets Of The Sacristy"

A pair of tunes from each of Powerwolf's last three albums (they have five). Basically, it's German power metal, a touch of symphonic metal and choirs, songs about werewolves/vampires/demons, and some story telling and various kinds of religious themes. It's all done with a dose of irony and humor as well, making for songs that are just... well, catchy and enjoyable. Attila Dorn's got a solid voice for this stuff, and the Greywolf brothers deliver good riffs and licks.

Yes, it's cheesy and in some ways silly (go look up how they dress for their shows). But the music's good, and instead of heavy-handed messages about personal and world issues, the songs are just fun. Whether or not these guys are obscure or "gems" is open to conjecture, but I'd never heard of them until last year, and they've been around since 2003. So I figured I'd post them.

OMG Someone else who listens to Powerwolf!

[Brandon Strader]

I'm gonna riff on The Coop's first suggestion and share this one

- Zimmers Hole - Anonymous Esophagus

Whole album is amazing.

[Meteo Xavier]

Pretty much everything I listen to these days is VGM, Anime pop music, or celtic new age stuff, so it's all obscure. /hipster

Here's a good one.

[alrubedo]

A band I recently came across that's captured my creative mind is the progressive band 3. I haven't come across a song YET that I didn't like.

Few favorites:

"Only Child" : http://youtu.be/z5q8Gx4PDic

"The World is Born of Flame/The End is Begun" : http://youtu.be/rJZYCSEs2g8

"Amaze Disgrace" : http://youtu.be/Kjn96zHmgag

Hope those links work. lol

[ectogemia]

This song is insane.

[Meteo Xavier]

This song is insane.

Hairy baseball player playing the gong to a light 70s medieval music... :S

On that note, here's Motoi Sakuraba's solo album before he became an RPG composer powerhouse to rival Uematsu.

[Nase]

Gentle Giant is cool. Such a great band name too.

I found this guy on soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/artlowell

His music is quite varied and unique, kind of loosely rooted in classical but going lots of places.

If you scroll all the way down, "Luna rising" is one great piece.

Oh and this guy https://soundcloud.com/datroof

Edited April 12, 2014 by Nase

[AngelCityOutlaw]

If you people like epic orchestral stuff like Two Steps From Hell, I highly recommend this Ivan Torrent dude from Spain.

"One of Us" is my favorite of his tunes.