Favourite Album that Nobody Else Has Heard Of?

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Dude, you rule!!! New Orleans is one of my favorite songs ever!!!!

Davis Berman is an amazing song writer.

I figured you might chime in on this one, as the resident Malkmus pimp. I couldn't live without 'American Water' or 'Starlite Walker' (and the newest is pretty damned tasty as well). Berman may be one of my favorite lyricists ever "When the sun sets on the ghetto, all the broken stuff gets cold."

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

Honorable mention is "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel, and I found out about that on this board, so I know there's at least one other fan.

I'm also a huge Neutral Milk Hotel fan (if it was the shit ten years ago, I'm all over it), and I'd recommend that fans of 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' check out 'Are We Not Horses' by Rock Plaza Central. It's derivative as all hell, but a good listen, and it's not like we're going to see another NMH album in a bazillion years.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Mr. Snappy

You pulled me out of lurker mode with this one. It's one of my favorites. You combine some great Steve Malkmus guitar work with Dave Berman's dry wit (and bad singing: think Chuck Norris doing the Walker, Texas Ranger theme) and the result is perfect from start to finish.

Heh. My pleasure! Who knew Berman would get so much love on FOFC?

[thesloppy]

Howzabout a couple classics:

The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Gilded Palace of Sin

As the alt-country movement continues to churn along somewhat healthily, it's a shame that both these records seem to remain unheralded outside of music-nerd circles. Gram Parsons at his finest, both records are solid from start to finish, and the Byrds record holds special meaning for me, as one of the first (of many) albums that I stole from my mom's record collection.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I think it depends on what musical circles you hang in. If you know people who only listen to radio music and MTV, they'll never have heard of Guster. If they are somewhere with college radio or have been to college, then they'll know of Guster.

I think the college scene is the huge factor here. They performed at W&M at least twice, if not more, while I was there.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I figured you might chime in on this one, as the resident Malkmus pimp. I couldn't live without 'American Water' or 'Starlite Walker' (and the newest is pretty damned tasty as well). Berman may be one of my favorite lyricists ever "When the sun sets on the ghetto, all the broken stuff gets cold."



I'm also a huge Neutral Milk Hotel fan (if it was the shit ten years ago, I'm all over it), and I'd recommend that fans of 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' check out 'Are We Not Horses' by Rock Plaza Central. It's derivative as all hell, but a good listen, and it's not like we're going to see another NMH album in a bazillion years.

Anything compared to "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is worth listening to. I'll give it a go.

[thesloppy]

Whilst we're pimping unheard, defunct bands of our yoot, any Archers of Loaf (or Crooked Fingers) fans up in the FOFC??

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Whilst we're pimping unheard, defunct bands of our yoot, any Archers of Loaf (or Crooked Fingers) fans up in the FOFC??

I've never been much a fan, but one of the strangest things for me is that I have about 10 default songs in my head that i'll start singing at times for no real reason. The sames ones always, unless uninterrupted by stuff that i've just recently heard. So anyway, "All The Nations Airports" is inexplicably one of the songs that always pops into my head.

[fenrrris]

Meat Puppets - II
Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun

Everyone knows the name because of Nirvana, but I know maybe three people who've actually listened to them. Two of my all-time favorite albums.

[thesloppy]

Otay, one more from me and then I'll stop monopolizing and bumping this thread.

Hayden - Skyscraper National Park.

I think it's a crime that Hayden remains pretty much unknown outside of the Great White North, but I get the impression that's the way he likes it. Nothing he does is revolutionary by any means, just solid and consistent. As I continue to shelve some bands that caught my ear 10 years ago, my older Hayden CDs have never budged and the newer stuff is just as good.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by fenrrris

Meat Puppets - II
Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun

Everyone knows the name because of Nirvana, but I know maybe three people who've actually listened to them. Two of my all-time favorite albums.

Like two weeks ago, coming home from the airport, I had a long discussion with my cab driver about Meat Puppets II. Awesome! SST was such a great, GREAT fucking label and with the relative dearth of decent music in the '80s I shudder to think what I would've had to listen to without Bad Brains, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, the Meat Puppets, and my favorite fat, gay, speed junkies Husker Du.

On the other hand, I sometimes wonder could've been if SST had a single decent engineer on staff....EVERY SST record sounded like you were listening to it over the telephone.

[fenrrris]

I think I love you, sloppy. I'm putting on You're Living All Over Me right now.

What did you think of the Puppets later albums? I've always had a hard time liking Huevos, Forbidden Places, and Too High to Die as complete albums despite several great songs.

[thesloppy]

I totally agree with you on the Meat Puppets later work, there's some good stuff in there, but you have to hunt for it....and that applies to Dinosaur Jr. as well (which I suppose is more understandable, since Lou Barlow got kicked to the curb).

Anybody with an interest in some o' them seminal SST bands should check out Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life if you haven't already. Great stuff! Lots of history and interviews and most importantly GOSSIP about all the great bands from the '80s including the SST heavyweights Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Black Flag and the Minutemen, as well as the Replacements and both of Ian MacKaye's wonderful bands, Minor Threat and Fugazi. I also just recently watched 'We Jam Econo', an awesome Minutemen documentary with tons of great live footage and interviews, and I highly recommend that as well, if you're a fan of D. and the boys.

[thesloppy]

Oh crap! I've been sucking up this thread, and I thought I was done....but I forgot to pimp my mostest favorite under-appreciated band of all time:

Chavez!

They only released two full length albums and an EP as part of Matador's mid 90's indie onslaught, but late last year Matador collected all of that work and put it on a single disk 'Better Days Will Haunt You'.

Chavez is math-rock at it's finest. I could try to describe their sound, but I would fail and I'd jsut sound like (more of a) douchebag. Why not put on some headphones, crank your volume to ten, and take a gander at their two awesome (and hilarious) videos:






If that manages to pique your interest, check out their website which has a bunch of streaming songs.

http://www.menofchavez.com/

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Obscure is relative, but since most of the general music-listening population either don't know or only have a vague knowledge of him, I'll say Brian Eno's Another Green World, one of my all-time favorite albums.

ooh, that is a good album -- every time I listen to it, I wonder why I don't listen to it more often.

[Vince]

Cardinal Trait - You Already Know

I randomly heard a song of theirs on Pandora a while back, and I absolutely love the whole album.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Well, they are Australian, so as you might imagine they are massive over here. They got a song included on GH2 as well, so that might have increased their popularity abroad.

I didn't notice you from Australia.....makes more sense now.

[IMetTrentGreen]

anything ike reilly does

Honorable mention is "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel, and I found out about that on this board, so I know there's at least one other fan.

i knew i was forgetting something. every decemberists and death cab owe everything to nmh. incredible album.

[VPI97]

The Charlatans - Some Friendly
The Ocean Blue - Cerulean
Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie


Yes, I'm stuck in the late 80's - early 90's.

[bob]

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers - Americano!

[fenrrris]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Oh crap! I've been sucking up this thread, and I thought I was done....but I forgot to pimp my mostest favorite under-appreciated band of all time:

Chavez!

They only released two full length albums and an EP as part of Matador's mid 90's indie onslaught, but late last year Matador collected all of that work and put it on a single disk 'Better Days Will Haunt You'.

Chavez is math-rock at it's finest. I could try to describe their sound, but I would fail and I'd jsut sound like (more of a) douchebag. Why not put on some headphones, crank your volume to ten, and take a gander at their two awesome (and hilarious) videos:

If that manages to pique your interest, check out their website which has a bunch of streaming songs.

http://www.menofchavez.com/

Chavez is awesome. I had a long phase of Ride the Fader obsession. But in the interest of further monopolizing the thread, I will duel banjos with you: Ui's Answers. Totally obscure stuff skewing a bit more toward the Chicago (Sea and Cake, Tortoise) school of post-rock. It kicks off with one of the most badass tracks I've ever heard.

And speaking of the Sea and Cake! Oui, Nassau, and the Biz are my favorites, but I've always thought they're practically a no-miss band. Their albums are all fun, odd, elevator music at worst and something inexplicably good at best.

[Airhog]

The Bilge pumps


They sing at ren. faires in oklahoma and texas. A good group if dirty pirates is your thing.

[TLK]

Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic

[Subby]

My entry would be one that probably isn't all that obscure, but I know my mom hasn't heard it.

Ween - The Pod.

Pure. Genius.

[Draft Dodger]

William Orbit - Strange Cargos III
Dag - Righteous

[Sporkimata]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Murder ballads (pretty much any)

[MrIllini]

Jump, Little Children - Magazine

[st.cronin]

looking through my ipod, I came across some songs by a band called Elysian Fields that I used to listen to quite a bit. As I recall, they had 2 albums, both of which I liked.

Also ... My Bloody Valentine, Isn't Anything and Loveless. Loveless sometimes makes those "most influential lists" that critics put together, but I actually prefer Isn't Anything.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Oh crap! I've been sucking up this thread, and I thought I was done....but I forgot to pimp my mostest favorite under-appreciated band of all time:

Chavez!

They only released two full length albums and an EP as part of Matador's mid 90's indie onslaught, but late last year Matador collected all of that work and put it on a single disk 'Better Days Will Haunt You'.

Chavez is math-rock at it's finest. I could try to describe their sound, but I would fail and I'd jsut sound like (more of a) douchebag. Why not put on some headphones, crank your volume to ten, and take a gander at their two awesome (and hilarious) videos:

I was thinking of mentioning a Matador band, The Judybats. Although, I think my favorite album by them (Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow) is Sire. Math-rock, eh? I'll check out Chavez.

Hard to pick from other stuff that I haven't already mentioned on this forum. I know that MylesKnight is a fan of Love Jones, so I can't count them. How about Widescreen by Rupert Holmes? It was the album right before the Pina Colada Song. Of course, if we're talking literally no one, that would be Ramble by Amadaun, a local Irish music band from Grand Rapids (so maybe Schmidty has heard of them).

[CamEdwards]

Bob Schneider- The Californian. Amazing Austin singer/songwriter. I like all of his albums, but The Californian is the closest I've heard to replicating a live show.

Peeping Tom- Mike Patton's new project. Album came out about a year ago, and it's still in heavy rotation in the Edwards household.

I might think of others later, but those are the two that immediately come to mind.

[Butter]

The Sundays - Reading, Writing, & Arithmetic
-Great stuff for jangly guitar and wistful lyric fans.

The Avalanches - Since I Left You
-Still a stunning work all around... still waiting on the follow-up.

Portishead - Dummy
-How I miss them.

[Ryche]

Nightwish - Once
Pretty huge in Europe I think, but pretty much unheard of here. My favorite album currently. I love female singers in rock groups and this is the best I've found. Should be interesting to see who their new singer is in another month or so.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Bob Schneider- The Californian. Amazing Austin singer/songwriter. I like all of his albums, but The Californian is the closest I've heard to replicating a live show.

A friend gave me I'm Good Now to listen to and it didn't excite me much.. I'll give it another listen, though.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

The Avalanches - Since I Left You
-Still a stunning work all around... still waiting on the follow-up.

good call. in a similar vein, I'd also add on Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll

a great album, and I'd love to hear something else from them

[timmae]

Originally Posted by King of New York

Band: The Mountain Goats

Album: The Coroner's Gambit

The above mention!! Very nice btw...

They Shoot Horses Don't They - Boo Hoo Hoo Boo
Architecture in Helsinki - In case We Die
The Soviettes - LP I / LPII / LPIII (all three rock)
Awesome Snakes (soviettes side project) - Venom
The Distillers - Coral Fang
Russian Circles - Enter

Not sure how well known any are... distillers maybe moreso than the others..

[MrIllini]

no one cares about your opinion Meseck...get a life

[Leonidas]

Originally Posted by MrIllini

Cowboy Mouth is good, IMO

they have a drummer for a front-man...entertaining...and he spits on people, so that's funny

Freddy Leblanc. I knew him when he played for Dash Rip Rock (New Orleans club band that's still around). He was roommates with a guy who was dating a very good friend of mine back when I was going to Tulane in New Orleans. This was back in 1985 when they were kids. He was the best drummer I ever saw live. We used to follow him from The Rat to Jimmy's to Tipitina's. Freddy played so hard he would literally destroy his drumkit every show. By the end of the show his gear would be laying all over the floor. He did that all the time. Dash Rip Rock narrowly beats out The Meat Puppets (another band I've seen more times than I can remember) as the best bar band I ever saw.

[MrIllini]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

Freddy Leblanc. I knew him when he played for Dash Rip Rock (New Orleans club band that's still around). He was roommates with a guy who was dating a very good friend of mine back when I was going to Tulane in New Orleans. This was back in 1985 when they were kids. He was the best drummer I ever saw live. We used to follow him from The Rat to Jimmy's to Tipitina's. Freddy played so hard he would literally destroy his drumkit every show. By the end of the show his gear would be laying all over the floor. He did that all the time. Dash Rip Rock narrowly beats out The Meat Puppets (another band I've seen more times than I can remember) as the best bar band I ever saw.

Yeah, Fred kicks in the tits of pretty much every drummer I've ever seen except for Brian Rosenworcel from Guster. Bloody hands every time they went out for a live show. Either way, both bad-assed.

[Leonidas]

Now for my obscure album choice. I'll do two.

First, Lolita Nation by Game Theory. Game Theory was an 80's band out of San Francisco that was in the same jangle rock genre as REM or Guadalcanal Diary. Then in 1987 they released LN and wow, it sure wasn't jangle rock. It was a beautiful mix of just about everything. A double album that the band poured everything into. Sadly I only had a cassette of it that I bought while I was in basic training. I still have the cassette floating around in my garage, but CD versions are extremely rare, sometimes fetching a couple hundred bucks on ebay.

You can read here on Amazon a couple of good revies
http://www.amazon.com/Lolita-Nation-.../dp/B000008FVI

"Lolita Nation" is one of the very best power-pop (if that term even begins to encompass the depth and breadth of this band) albums of the 80's (came out in '87). Scott Miller may be familiar to some as the leader of the Loud Family, whose most accessible long player was 92's "Plants & Birds & Rocks & Things". Scott is an extremely literate lyricist, a writer of great pop hooks, but has a bit of a grating vocal style (at least for the uninitiated). His body of work includes all the Game Theory LPs, along with the Loud Family canon. He has been out of commission since 2000, and the loss is immense. If you can get past the quirks, you will find some of the best pop songs ever written right here.

Lolita Nation (at 26 songs) is a huge undertaking initially, until you get the hang of where Scott is going (some songs are snippets, some repeat themselves in later albums, some backward-reference earlier records, it all ties together eventually, believe me). But patience allows the major songs to emerge, and the hooks will stay in your head forever.

I originally found this in a used bin in Lincoln NE in 1992, on the recommendation of a friend that I just had to own the song "The Real Sheila". He was right. I had just bought "Plants, etc." and had an idea of the structure and self-referential style.

Initially, this perfect song appears to overshadow everything else on the LP. But be patient. The songs all assert themselves over a few listens (think about discovering Zen Arcade, Get Happy or Disintegration, and watching the gems fall out). "Last Day That We're Young" captures a moment we all have gone through, and has never been stated better. He generously gives air time to one of his female musicians, and "Mammoth Gardens" and "Look Away" are 80s classics that the Bangles or the Go Go's should have done.

"One More For St. Michael" will thrill Star Trek" junkies, and "Waist and Knees" rocks as well as anything out at the time. This record (as far as I can tell) starts some Scott patterns, such as songs with two women in the title, and the "Where" series of songs (see "Interbabe Concern" for more on this).

In summary, this is a truly coherent album. The more you listen, the more it makes sense, and the more you see the beginning/middle/end and make the journey with Scott. I know punk was supposed to blow off these "rock opera" like structures, but look at Husker Du, and how they embraced a "concept" album (twice, actually).

You should also check out the other GT releases available, especially "Big Shot Chronicles", and all the Loud Family releases. The man has absorbed his sixties gods, but more than anything, he absorbed the sprit of Alex Chilton. His own voice and studio tricks obscure the picture a bit, but at heart, this is music in the true spirit of "#1 Record" and "Big Star".

Buy it, love it, make it a part of your life. This is a guy who will be "discovered" 20 years from now, and his praises will be sung to the rooftops. Beat the masses, and discover him now.

Art Blose

My second choice is Urban Beaches by Cactus World News. Like the Game Theory album, I had this on cassette. I don't think it was even released on CD initially. CWN is one of those Dublin bands that Bono discovered. And yes, they have been called a U2 clone at times. However I think their sound is distinct enough to be stand on it's own. Many of the songs on this album have stuck in my head for 20 years and refuse to get out. The Bridge was a minor 80's hit with a video. State of Emergency was even used on a Miami Vice episode. But the best work might be Church of the Cold or Jigsaw with it's haunting riff. To my good fortune, the band got back together in the 90's and re-released Urban Beaches. It's not available in stores though. You have to order it online. The new CD is autographed by the band and includes a lot of extra material. You can check them out here: http://www.cactusworldnews.com/

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

A friend gave me I'm Good Now to listen to and it didn't excite me much.. I'll give it another listen, though.

Meh. To me he sounds like a less-interesting version of a band called Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.

[timmae]

Originally Posted by MrIllini

no one cares about your opinion Meseck...get a life

Ahhh... but you have it wrong my friend. I am the world's foremost expert on my opinion! That you must care about!!

Oh, and I forgot to add 'Pretty Girls Make Graves' kicks ass too.

[Izulde]

The Poxy Boggards - Lager Than Life
The Merry Wives of Windsor - Here's to the Men

[headtrauma]

Chameleons U.K. - Strange Times

[WVUFAN]

Queensryche -- Rage for Order

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Boy Sets Fire - After the Eulogy

Where's your anger? Where's your fucking rage?

[DeToxRox]

Death By Stereo Into the Valley of Death

Last hardcoreish metal band I can stand to listen to.

[DeToxRox]

P.O.S Audition

Hip hop's most underrated MC, P.O.S can deal. He's phenominal with insightful lyrics and a great delivery that is Chuck D meets Dr. Dre.

Per the song Da La Souls (ft Slug of Atmosphere)

I fake to all these hard-case kids
I raise a black fist
But won’t say (nigga) in the things I write
And I don’t say (faggot)
Cuz I don’t think it’s right
I know my boy struggle with that for over half his life
I guess we got our own lives to live
But I’m stretched too thin, tryin’ to build a kingdom to rule
And I think to the past sometimes
And dag man, it’s bad, see I kinda acted like a fool
But I’ve apologized to the lives that I’ve touched
Wrong pride, to the back, move ahead strong
But I can safely say
I’ve never played a woman without karma catchin’ up later on
I try to walk the right side of the tracks
But I’ve hopped a couple trains
Mom would cry if she knew the haps
But I can stand who I am
And face the day straight
Knowin’ not a thing can change what our beat singin’

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by timmae

Ahhh... but you have it wrong my friend. I am the world's foremost expert on my opinion! That you must care about!!

Oh, and I forgot to add 'Pretty Girls Make Graves' kicks ass too.

I saw them play in Anaheim the day before Thanksgiving last year. Too awesome for words. I love them.

[timmae]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I saw them play in Anaheim the day before Thanksgiving last year. Too awesome for words. I love them.

They have their last Chicago show at the Empty Bottle on May 12th. I am eagerly awaiting that one...

[Passacaglia]

Wow, Pretty Girls Make Graves on the 12th, and Morrissey on the 15th? Too bad lurker and I have a huge exam on the 16th.