The "I Have No Idea Who The Hell That Is" thread
 

hey mods if there's a thread exactly like this delete mine

basically the thread title gives away the point of this thread, every single day i hear about hundreds of different bands or artists i have never heard, and obviously i can't listen to all of them so how in the world do i pick out the ones i won't end up regretting later? by asking someone about them of course! :afro:

just a few names i came across within an hour:
Renaissance
Sleepy Sun
Hatfield and the North
Mumford and sons
crystal castles
LCD Soundsystem
The Unicorns
Strawfoot
Wintersleep
Treepeople
Ghost Mice
Talking Heads
Portishead
Lulu

go for the electronica, man!

Talking Heads!

At least you're honest :p:

A few there I don't know either though.

Neu!

Just haven't felt any need to listen to them, I doubt I'd enjoy their stuff. But who knows til I try? Maybe one day.

NEU! awesome. I want you to get your butt onto google and get NEU! '75

These are the ones that I think are worth checking out. LCD Soundsystem is an indie/dance-punk band that plays music influenced by the post-punk of new wave bands of the late 70s. They're pretty overrated, but their second album Sound of Silver is definitely worth checking out.



Treepeople is the first band of Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch. They've got a pretty different sound but they're good too. Definitely check out Built to Spill too.

Talking Heads is basically the best and most influential band to come out of the New York/CBGB scene in the late 70s. That's really all there is to it.



Portishead are an influential trip-hop band from the UK that were a driving force behind the genre's proliferation along with Massive Attack in the 90s. Check out their debut album "Dummy" from 1994

One man, one song, one guitar...oh and a tape cassette player.



Genius!

Portishead, Ghost Mice, LCD Soundsystem, and a great deal of Talking Heads material (if you're anything like me, you'll like some of their songs on an album and despise the rest, so expanding your horizons on them is your best bet).

With every fiber of your being, avoid The Unicorns!

@Stone Birds

Hatfield and the North keeps popping up as a recommendation on my last.fm, because I have a lot of Henry Cow plays. All I know is that it's a progressive, jazz-rock band from Canterbury scene. I haven't listened to it yet, but I youtubed some of their songs and I have a feeling I wouldn't like it.

Everything you need to know about Lulu, she may have had more hits in England but I think this is all that made it in America.

To Sir With Love

The Jesus Lizard are another band I've heard a lot about, but never actually heard their stuff. They any good?

Meh, they really don't appeal to me. I'll get round to it eventually.

If you like noise rock



From the first and second proper album.

not heard of most of them.
Hatfield and the north are o.k
Talking heads are highly recomended
and Lulu is just some silly showbiz type slapper who i seriously advise you to avoid listening to

Go for Ghost Mice! Really great stuff there, actually anything Chris Clavin is involved in is awesome. Then I would also recommend Mumford & Sons and Wintersleep two very solid bands.

Man, The Jesus Lizard are sublime for sure. I should listen to them a lot more than I have.

Also to the original poster, Treepeople are amazing. They're Doug from Built To Spill's other band. Check out Just Kidding, absolute killer of an album.

Bands I hear a lot of but have never listened to/heard of before this forum:

Karnivool
Swans
Melt Banana

Melt Banana is a crazy Japanese noise rock band.



As for Swans, I could talk about them all day. But if you haven't heard anything, I think a good place to start would be Children of God album, from 1987, because it still has the remains of that abrasive sound of their earlier period, but is more melodic and musically more developed, which is something they'll follow through the 90s.

I'd make sure to check out Talking Heads and the Unicorns if I were you. Especially Talking Heads... god they're awesome.

<3 Wintersleep and The Unicorns.
Definitely have a listen to Wintersleep's "Untitled" album.
And anything by The Unicorns. :D

Here are a few:
Ochre
Plaid
TV on the Radio
Gescom
The Tuss
VHS head

which ones are worth checking out?

The only one I know is TV on the Radio, but they're good. Their most recent album is great, and Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes is good as well. I've heard Return to Cookie Mountain called their best, but I don't own it.

All of them. :p: Maybe Gescom last, haven't ever really gotten into them.

I suppose you know The Tuss is Aphex Twin. So check that our Plaid out first.

^

I've only heard of TV On the Radio out of all those, but they are good.

Agreed.
If I had to recommend just one from that list, it'd be TV On the Radio.

I've been meaning to get into his The Tuss pseudonym for years, because I heard it was good, among the boccers.

Also, I've been meaning to get into Plaid for years. What albums to get first?

Hmmmmmm how about Rest Proof Clockwork or Double Figure, you decide. :p:

Thanks! I'll get them once my father stops hogging up the internet. :)

I must have been living under a rock, because before I came here, I'd never heard of Nick Cave in my life. And now that I have, I see him everywhere :/

Welcome to the subcutaneous layer of the interwebs.

I've taught you well, young one.

Don't hesitate with Crystal Castles, Ghost Mice, or Treepeople either.

1. Awesome and at times chaotic electronic.

2. Awesome folk punk with great lyrics.

3. Awesome indie rock with super cool guitar riffs.

Awesome...

OP are you kidding?! You've never listened to Talking Heads? Christ! It's artsy-post-punk-world-rock. They do lots of things. Just watch "Stop Making Sense", which I think even someone who isn't all that fond of TH could still enjoy. It's a fun movie.

If indie isn't a genre, what the hell do you categorize Superchunk as? Pop punk?

So - Lily Allen. Yea or Nay?

Haven't really heard any Jesus Lizard but I believe they formed from Scratch Acid who I loved. I think the vocalist and bassist both came from Scratch Acid.

Hatfield and the North is a pretty integral band from the Canterbury as their two studio albums are some of the finest to ever emerge from the scene. Richard Sinclair who was previously in Caravan had, along with keyboardist Steve Miller, gotten more interested in exploring a jazzier sound. These influences are appearant on the Miller/Sinclair songs on Caravan's Waterloo Lily from 1972 .. After that album, they both left Caravan and Richard Sinclair formed Hatfield and the North a little later with Phil Miller (Steve Miller's brother), Pip Pyle and Dave Stewart.

They're jazzy, complex but catchy and melodic. In short, awesome :)

edit :

Richard Sinclair likes to write songs, for example Let's Eat (Real Soon) which was released as a single before their first studio album.



but the bulk of their stuff is instrumental ..



.. with occasional appearances by the "Northettes", the band's female trio who did angelic, boy choir-ish vocals (they are generally not regarded official band members).

Health
Stevie Ray Vaughan
John Zorn
Fucked Up
Holy Other
Sebadoh

Health are a noise rock band but I have never checked them out.
SRV is a dead Blues Rock fella with a daft hat but played a mean guitar and could be quite aggressive musically at times. His cover of Hendrix's Little Wing is sublime.
John Zorn is a Jazz musician who sticks a finger up at the clicky Jazz scene and incorporates Speed Metal and Avant Garde (amongst other genres) in his music. He also plays in numerous side projects.
Fucked Up are a sorta Punk band that incorporates white noise, hardcore and shoegaze in some of their music. An acquired taste but worth a listen.
Holy other- same here. don't know nothing about them.
Sebadoah - heard the name lots of times but I haven't a clue what they are about. Always best to be honest and not proclaim that I know everything.

Sebadoah is a side project by the bass player from Dinosaur Jr......probably more than a side project as they've been around for quite sometime now.....great 90s lo-fi alternative along the lines of Guided by Voices

Yeah HEALTH are kind of an experimental noise-rock band and they use all analog equipment and various effects pedals instead of computers to create their sound. They're ok but nothing to get excited about.

since most of the others have already talked about most of the others, i'll lend you my thoughts on Renaissance

Renaissance are something like prog version of electric folk, like the Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span

I only have Ashes Are Burning but it rocks, almost too beautiful for words