Best Bands That Nobody Has Heard Of
 

I know everyone reading this forum has somewhere between two and two hundred bands that they think are pretty sweet, but nobody has heard of them. Maybe they are too local. Maybe they just haven't gotten the correct exposure. Maybe they really suck and you are their only fan.

Take up to three of those bands and post about them. Give a brief synopsis of their musical style. Provide a link to their website if they have one. If someone else posts a band that you have heard of, make sure you let them know.

Perfect Thyroid, or more properly,
http://www.jimmyt.com/PTlogo.GIF.

A ska/funk (skunk) band. Their drummer is outstanding. 4 or 5 people in the band can sing, and the lead singer (also Skunk) has a rich baritone and is careful enough with his diction that you can understand the lyrics. Standard horns.

Lyrics are generally save the world/everything is beautiful.

They were around for about 10 years, and broke up a couple years ago. Their best album was "Which One Of Us Is Me?"

Everyone I have played the album for is now a fan.

Bionic Jive - One of the best rock bands in the world with a solid hip-hop oriented lyricist. Nothing at all like weak ass limp biskit. This is what rock/ hip-hop fusion was meant to be. Their song Ricochet was featured in the commericals for the movie Transporter. They were also featured on Farm Club.com tv show and toured with Eminem and D12.

Skunk Anansie - South African political rock band. Female lead singer has an amasing voice and a reptillian jaw. Broke up a few years ago but recored a few albums first. Their biggest US hit was Charlie, the themesong to that movie where Kevin Bacon was the invisible man.

Wax Poetic - New York based acid jazz, neo funk/ soul band.

RPM (Restoring Poetry in Music) - Emcee with live band ala The Roots but with a completely different sound. Amazing lives shows in DC, Philly and NY area.

Denzil - Pub. Weepy british acoustic stuff, very funny and sad at the same time. Absolutely brilliant stuff. You can find it on ebay.

Splitshift - Started out as a KoRn cover band that evolved into a band that combines many different styles of rock/metal today.

Blue Illusion - Great bad that is sure to make it's mark in the coming years. All the band members are still very young (just out of high school i think) and sound incredible for their age. They have the feel of Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Pleasure Techinicians - DJ group out of Pittsburgh that mixes live instruments with the computer generated sounds, makes for an interesting sound that you usually dont hear, especially in America.

DJ Z-Trip - A House DJ that has been around for a few years but just got signed and is working on his first major label release to possibly be out sometime next year.
http://www.djztrip.com/

Hemlock - A hard-core metal band from Las Vegas, NEvada. They've been together since 1993 an have toured with HAtebreed, Drowning Pool, SOAD, Papa Roach, Slayer, Machinehead, and others, but just haven't broken big yet.
http://www.hemlockworld.com/main.htm

Index Case - A Metal foursome out of Indianola, Iowa that just just broke it big with a track on the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre soundtrack titled "listen". Performed to great reviews at the SXSW Music Festival this year and are are working on thier melodic, moody metal to have their first major label release on Elektra Records sometime next year.
www.indexcase.com

what a good idea

regina spektor- this girl is fiona apple getting into a fight with bjork, then making up to sweet love with tori music in the background. :D

but really, she's good. her voice is reminescent of the former two artists mentioned above and she plays piano on the album. she has recently been seen opening for the strokes.

and can be found at http://www.reginaspektor.com
or heard at http://cdbaby.com/cd/spektor2

crosstide - this is a local band in the portland area but i think they have the potential to really go far. they have a pretty big local fanbase and have opened for sparta, taking back sunday, elliott, the velvet teen, hot rod circuit, further seems forever, jimmy eat world, etc.

melodic emo http://crosstide.net

Seems like most people have never heard of Frank Black and the Catholics. The lead singer, Frank Black, was the lead singer of the Pixies (when he went by Black Francis). Their style is hard to catogorize, sometimes Black screams a lot, other times the music is very folk rock sounding. Their sound has changed a lot from album to album as well. In my opinion the earlier ones are better. All i know is that I've seen them live 4 times and have never seen another band put on a better show.

Wow, I havn't listened to them in awhile. I saw them a bunch in the mid 90's. Definently a good live show.

Bad Examples - Local Chicago bar band lead by Ralph Covert, who is simply one of the most talented songwriters I've ever heard. If you're willing to throw abandon to the wind and hear for yourself, pick up either of the two "Songwriters" CD's off his website. They are simply Ralph with his acoustic guitar singing songs from a list that his fans put together. Pretty great.

www.ralphcovert.com

Knee Deep Shag. Rock band with lots of charisma and soul. Out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. They play Chicago lots.

Todd Snider. Singer songwriter who just blows me away. Amazingly funny and sensitive lyrics.

The butterfly effect, the mayan project, two great alternative bands you should try heraing them

yay.. someone outside of australia knows of the butterfly effect! *high five*

if you think these guys are great, do yourself a favour and checkout these three lads.

COG - the greatest band australia has produced in the last 10 years, and should be bigger than silverchair is.

several music mags/radio shows i've heard/read, refer to them as australias answer to tool. their live show is not one to be missed - huge sound, huge atmosphere, simply unbelievable

www.cog.com.au

I'm gonna say Downface...their music is AWESOME, yet I can't find a CD anywhere

I've heard of him, in fact, my old roommate used to put on raves, he brought Z-Trip into town. He played at a local club one night, and played at out house the next. He plays the most eclectic set I've ever heard. Anyone that can make 'I'm Henry The Eighth I Am' sound good deserves to be a superstar.

My fav bands that no one has heard of.....

2 South Florida bands

One is Two Story Double Wide... they call their music Cowpunk, its just groovy stuff.
www.2sdw.com

and

Spazimoto... they just rock
www.spazimoto.com

And my fav band that not a whole lot of people listen to is Bella Fleck and the Flecktones (well they are 1 among many more lol)

Cross Canadian Ragweed

They play a local (as in the Oklahoma/Texas area) variety of rock that i've not heard of anywhere else called. Its called "red dirt." Some of it has a bit of a country tone (occasional slide guitars), but most of is quite a bit harder. Kind of a derivation of the classic southern rock groups of the 60's and 70's (Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jethro Tull), but without the cheesiness. They'll split your ears with a hard-rock tune, then give ya a soulful bit of country poetry.

Listen to:

Boys From Oklahoma
Carnie Man
Train to Birmingham

http://www.crosscanadianragweed.com

has anyone else heard of/listen to red dirt music?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by frozenstellar
[B]yay.. someone outside of australia knows of the butterfly effect! *high five*

if you think these guys are great, do yourself a favour and checkout these three lads.

COG - the greatest band australia has produced in the last 10 years, and should be bigger than silverchair is.

several music mags/radio shows i've heard/read, refer to them as australias answer to tool. their live show is not one to be missed - huge sound, huge atmosphere, simply unbelievable


I saw these two bands play together in Melbourne at the Tote.
UNBELIEVABLE is all I can say, It was for The butterfly Fly Effect's E.P. launch and COG was their main support. Awesome night out indeed!:D

The Mentors?

El Duce?

Anyone?

Someone in another thread that I can't search for now, mentioned Pain. They are punk, with a ska overtone, and the lyrics and delivery are somewhat similar to They Might Be Giants.

N'Dea Davenport - Acid Jazz vocalist formerly of Brand New Heavies but best as a solo artist.

Shezor V.s Skizoid. Amazing stuff.

Fatty Deluxe and the Jolly Llamas. Bunch of Deadheads that played some really sweet tunes in C'Ville right when Dave Matthews was breaking out and spoiling the area for everyone else.

Avant Gaardvark. DC band, lead bassist, 100% hairless drummer. Were incredibly funky, now just defunct.

Over the Rhine is a cincinatti based band that signed with Virgin a couple of years ago. Their stylings change a bit on every album, as the band keeps restructuring itself - but worth listening to on any occasion due to their hearty lyrics. Great female vocalist~

EDIT: For all of you out on the west side of the world, they have been doing a west coast tour and a european tour for the last couple of years. Their shows are unbelievable, and usually fairly cheep tickets!

dexter danger, mindless selfindulgence and glassjaw three great bands from all around country i like punk and that general type of music an that is what it

Laughing Colors - Great straight-ahead rock band out of Annapolis, MD. They regularly tour the Mid-Atlantic region, but really haven't broken out further than that. I've been to atleast 10 of their shows, and every one was amazingly energetic and professional. Their guitarist, Cory Hall, and drummer, Will Dorsey Jr, are both particularly impressive. Check out www.laughingcolors.com for a few sound clips.

The Black Keys - well, they've been on Conan and got great reviews from Rolling Stone, but you still probably havne't heard of them. they're a blues duo (singer/guitarist and drummer) that absolutely rock. think white stripes but good and add in some authentic mississippi delta blues. www.theblackkeys.com

PasaMala - Local band with whom I am friends. People have compared them to Rusted Root, if you know who that is.

Swervedriver.

90's band with a sound of their own. Should've have been huge.

(www.swervedriver.com)

Bella Fleck == awesome. Good call.

I don't think too many people have heard of the Kabalas, and I don't think many will. They were featured on a few compilations, and released three CD's of there own. Very good music, fun to watch live. I would definitely say pick up one of their cds if you see it.

I was gonna say them! They are definetely one of my favorite groups of all time, and almost nobody around here has heard of them. You either love em, or you hate me, I don't think there's any middle ground. And I sure as hell don't know how to categorize their sound.

I've heard of Over the Rhine.

Thrush Hermit, a really great Halifax band. They're broken up now, but everything they put out is excellent. Couldn't find an official site, but here's a fan site.

http://houseofhermit.tripod.com/main.html

well quite a few people have heard of glassjaw but great choice anyway.... they're my all-time favorite band

some other lesser-knowns that i love:

snapcase (melodic hardcore)
modest mouse (emo-ish indie)
himsa (hardcore)
kyuss (stoner metal, they spawned queens of the stone age)
dillinger escape plan (math/grindcore)
blood brothers (hardcore-ish)
the locust (grindcore)
desparecidos (emo mostly)
norma jean (hardcore)
black dahlia murder (straight-edge death metal... odd but true)
the faint (techno-emo)
da vinci's notebook (a-capella comedy)
the apex theory (mediterranean alt-metal)

oh and chingal0, i love the mentors

The Flaming Sideburns!

Woo Hoo!!!

Totally agree about Frank Black. Great stuff.

I'm not sure if these all count as bands nobody's heard of but here goes:

I'll start with the Supersuckers because I just saw them live last night and they rocked hard. It's pretty hard to classify their music though, they're anywhere from Punk to Hard Rock to Country and everything in between. Best bet is to check out some tracks from the multimedia section on their site: www.supersuckers.com

Another great band that nobody's heard about (at least outside of Canada) is The Tragically Hip. Their music has really changed a lot from album to album but their roots are bluesy rock. Great live band. www.thehip.com

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm a little dazed from the concert last night. They put on a great show, but man was it loud.

Nightwish (superb gothic metal)

I've heard of Modest Mouse, Supersuckers, Davinci's Notebook, and the Tragically Hip.

Nodes of Ranvier (good ole' hardcore)

I recently discover The Spill Canvas. One dude with an acoustic guitar. Awesome awesome stuff.

Sleestak! Awesome band out of SC in the late 80's.

Alright, I'm not sure if anyone here is really into the genre, but here goes my list of not-too-famous-ass-kicking-metal-bands:

Atreyu: Got a screamo vibe, it's some good stuff. Their lyrics are what will keep you coming back for more.

From Autumn to Ashes: Another screamo band but they lean more towards to "emo" side of the genre. First off, their drummer is a.maz.ing. He's got some amazing double-kicks and his fast beats are just trance-causing. The vocals don't lack at all and sometimes you're treated to a female singer on some of their songs. Her voice is just gorgeous.

Norma Jean: This metal-core (sometimes labeled as Christian as well) band has got a lot of talent. The're an extremely heavy band with some tid-bits of melody. Their lyrics are extremely mystical in a sense. "Leech with two daughters, give give they cry. Her name is She Is A Liar, she simply will not die." That's a little taste of the oddity that is their songwriting.

Chimaira: Oh. My. Fuck. The lead singer has got a voice that would blow the clothing off a woman's slender body. He's got this edge about him that's not quite screaming and not quite melody but then again, it is. He's just amazing. Their drummer is fast as all Hell on the double-kicks, too, and their guitarists are precise to every note. This is my most strongly recommended band... GO. GET. THEM!

Base 2, formerly Sci-Fi Lullaby
www.b2foundation.com

Some of the guys worked with my father and uncle.

This is from their website:
I wish mp3.com had their old stuff from before they changed their name. I never would have thought that a hard rock song would sound good with a violin solo, but it kicked serious ass

Maybe if the guys from the band remember me, they'll let me pu tup some of their old stuff here.

Maybe you've heard of them
Granddaddy- Space Rock
Bright Eyes - depressing folk (very busy music in the background)
Gerald Collier - Country Rock guitarist from best kissers in the world

i saw chimaira open for killswitch engage. they were damn brutal -- put on a good show.

some other top-notch metal bands:
shadows fall
nevermore
mastodon

Nice taste, all those bands are great. BTW, that Norma Jean quote is derived from a verse in the bible. A bit odd for a metalcore band to be devout Christians in a way... I suppose. Who cares really, they kick ass. Chimaira are AMAZING live. The lead singer gained the nickname Metal Moses on Ozzfest because he would part the crowd down the middle and have both halves charge each other at the strike of a chord. Fucking amazing, it was like something out of a modern metal version of Lord of the Rings. I was right in the middle :D

EDIT: Oh, and good on you for quoting Face:Face. That's my favorite NJ song.

BTW, ever heard of Luti-Kriss? That's Norma Jean's old name, they put out a couple albums under that moniker. Not as hard as Bless The Martyr material but still pretty nice.

I've heard of 'em and they were getting tired of being associated with the rapper or something of that nature. So that's why they're sometimes labeled as Christian... That's an odd quote.

I just barely got to see Chimaira the other night and there were damn near heart-attack inducing amazingness. I can't even tell you how ready I was to just die in a blaze of glory. That glory being that I was within 10 feet of the baddest-ass metal band this side of pop-culture.

Ah yes, Shadows Fall. Amaaazing instrumentals mixed with some pretty decent vocals. I love how they have this ability to sound so fluid. They've got some of the most original solos to ever grace the ears of their followers. Honestly, they're also a band that is extremely under-rated and should be rolling in far more cash than their retarded predecessors: Metallica.

creeper lagoon...MGB
 

Actually, some of you may have heard them before, but they are definately one of the better bands out there that aren't well known. Also Matthew Good out of Canada is an excellent band.

The Postal Service

haha yey for FATA/glassjaw (LI scene represent!), Desaparecidos/Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst is one hell of a lyricist), The Faint, etc.

To add to this fun thread...

Straylight Run - ex-members of TBS John Nolan and Shaun Cooper join Will Noon from Breaking Pangea and John's sister Michelle Nolan to create this piano driven indie rock band. They've only been together since August, don't have a label or record out, but are already headlining sold-out shows. They are playing Knitting Factory NY next Sunday and Monday. tix are $10. Their first 6 songs are up on their website for free download. They rock.
"so now faith is replaced with a logic so cold/i've disregarded what i was/now that i'm older/and i know much more than i did back then/but the more i learn/the more i can't understand"


The Mars Volta - experimental hard rock from ex-members of At the Drive-In, bass on the album played by Flea. Incredibly talented musicians, indecipherable lyrics, trippy, fast and loud.
"Transient jet lag ecto mimed bison/This is the haunt of roulette dares/Ruse of metacarpi/Caveat emptor....to all that enter here"

Ben Kweller - upbeat indie songwriting, kind of the antithesis to Conor's misery, but not lacking any talent. Ironic pop-culture influences.
"i got a bad flavor/i got dirty clothes/i got a strange neighbor/who doesn't have curtains on her windows/i got a pet hedgehog/drinkin' jaeger all day/you got me crate combo and a baby on the way/but it's ok"

Pretty Girls Make Graves - Andrea Zollo's pretty and intense voice lead this driving, inventive melodic punk band. Just get your hands on some of their stuff and listen.
"Tonight I want to make it real/Close my eyes feel it ride up my spine/Radiate out my limbs into air/Make it electric/I've got to know I'm still alive"
.
.
.
So just go check em out, okay?

xoJustine

Not so much of a band as a loose collective, but the Desert Sessions (headed by Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme) is definately worth checking out

''Blow'' Formed by the Dickinson brothers after the break up of the 'Little Angels' in the late 90s. A fine blues/soul/rock combo.
I think they've smoked themselves into non existence.

The Beta Band. Nobody in the states seems to have ever heard of them, and they're one of the most inovative bands around right now. They unfairly get compared to Radiohead a lot, but their sound is really a lot like a mix of turn of the 70s Pink Floyd mixed with Pet Sounds -era Beach Boys and current electronic music trends. Sounds like an odd combonation, but it really works well.

Major props to whoever mentioned Chimaira and Shadows Fall. Both are fantastic bands.

Lamb of God are also amazing. As are Killswitch Engage

Check out Cripple Mr Onion

I like to think of them as a metal version of Tool.


Havok Stan is my father.

Kasey Chambers
Holly Golightly
Heidi Saperstein
Dahlia Seed
Pretty Girls Make Graves
X Ray Spex
Superchunk
(international) Noise Conspiracy

Well I can’t be certain of just how not-known these bands are but most of the people I meet never know of them.

Thievery Corporation

Dot Allison

Amon Tobin

King Black Acid

Low

Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts

Hmmm..

Swimming is Floating is a favorite of mine, mixing Hardcore sounds with songs about gay sex and playing Nintendo.

Belle and Sebastian. I'm very hesitent to put this in here.. I would think more people know about them.. but I haven't meet a person yet who regonizes them. They have a sound that seems to harken back to childhood memories, but with an edge of bitterness.

My friend forced me to download a song of theirs. It was very odd, yet not too bad.

I LOVE BELLE AND SEBASTIAN!!!!!

if you're feeling sinister is one of the greatest albums ever, probably in my top 10

Had a chance to listen to many of the bands mentioned here. So far the ones that cought my attention are:

Wax Poetic
The Betterfly Effect
The Black Keys
N'dea Davenport

[Edit]
Adding Four Tet to the list.
[/Edit]

Thanks for sharing people

Mmm, Belle and Sebastian.

:)

Two you guys may not know about:

Elefant and The Shins

The Shins are kinda poppy but their lyrics are excellent. Elefant is more lovey, but I like 'em.

south african? they are english ;)

Drive by truckers...man they rock!!!

ryan adams...i know you have heard of him...but 99% of the public thinks he's bryan adams.


lyrics born...great rapper http://www.lyricsborn.com/

Iris - Synthpop band originaly from Texas, now mostly based out of Germany as far as I can figure. Used to go by Fading Iris, if you want to buy some of their stuff and you live in Canada, fat chance, but maybe they haven't been mentioned because they actually are big and well known in Europe? I have no idea. Reagan Jones has about the best voice I've ever heard. The more upbeat side of synthpop, compared to the Pet Shop Boys.

mesh - Another synthpop, influenced by Depeche Mode, a bit of a darker, more down side. Their lyrics deal mostly with failed relationships, and are usually put together extremely well, their latest album Who Watches Over Me? is my personal favorite.

Sky Cries Mary

Modest Mouse (some may have heard them)

Diamond Fist Werney

Slowdive

drive by truckers

Found them by accident on Kazaa, now I own all of their albums. Good sound.

happyendings, carbon leaf, south normal and shonuff ...

edit: added s'more...

what about jon spencer blues explosion

brought one of their cds the other day and really liked it, but nobody i talk to know who they are...

I found out about them from the movie High Fidelity - I would imagine many other Americans found out the same way I did. You've probably heard them being compared to Radiohead b/c they opened up for them last year.

But the Pink Floyd reference is accurate - they are an electronic 'Ummagumma' Pink Floyd era band. 'Dry The Rain' is among my all time favorite songs.



As for:

what about jon spencer blues explosion

brought one of their cds the other day and really liked it, but nobody i talk to know who they are...


That's likely because they hit their peak 5 to 10 years ago. They were a very popular indie rock band, so they're not quite a band that no one has heard of. Jon Spencer was originally in the 80's band Pussy Galore which spawned Royal Trux & Boss Hogg.

Murderdolls. Some of you may have heard of them but they have a catchy sound. I would not consider them a great band but their album is pretty good.

84 Nash from Columbus, OH

Stylex from Bowling Green, OH

www.84nash.com
www.stylexohio.com

<a href="http://www.stepton.com">Stept On</a> is a great band from central Pennsylvania more people should know about. They play straight up hard edge rock. Go check them out if you get a chance.

Mentioned Already
The Shins and Belle & Sebastian are both great. The former I got into right away when I got their most recent album. The latter took me close to a year to get into, but now If You're Feeling Sinister is fast becoming one of my favorite albums.

Not Yet Mentioned
I'll go with Stew. Great, soulful, wierd folkish music. I recommend the following: "Love Like That" "The Drug Suite" "Giselle" "The Instrument Of Pain".

Supreme Beings of Leisure - muchos cool. very worldly with a good technoish beat. tasty.

Tinker's Punishment - Good classic rock band

Matthew Moon - Local band from Denver.

I'll second that, and add that many of the friends I've let listen to them hated it the first time - "What the fuck is this?!" - yes.. it's one of those 'acquired tastes' for many, but now I can't get enough of it.

people could go forever on a thread like this...but just a few off the top of my head..the BAND, CKY, (deron, chad, jess, vern) yes..just the BAND. dont get me started with you stupid uneducated people about cky who think its bam.
(i also HATE labeling music, but ill try so you not so bright people will understand)
thought riot, theyre any awsome hardcore kinda band, lyrics being alot politcal...but theyre great THOUGHTRIOT.com

The Secretions, their drummer sings the majority of the songs, i saw them in june 03, i really liked them, seeing as how i dont like stuff of their type usually, i dont know their site..but search for secretions music or somthing...kinda punky cool stuff. songs like... "sick of feelin like sh!t.." and so on and so forth...

The Shins.

They are pretty big here on the club scene in Manhattan. They sound like a mix between The White Stripes, Radiohead and the Beatles. Very good stuff.

The Birthday Massacre. Not many people know of them (not many I know, at least.) But they're a really great band. Probably one of the best I know of.

I have to recommend Marah, they're a rock band from Philly and they really kick it. They have three albums out now and a fourth coming soon. Their best record is their sophomore effort, "Kids in Philly."

They remind me and my parents quite strongly of the Beach Boys.

Joel Plaskett, former frontman of Thrush Hermit, is alive and well: The Joel Plaskett Emergency

Long live Halifax bands :)

blindside--but not their new corp shit--i mean the old skool stuff
their self titled and a thought crushed my mind--the guys voice is crazy

living sacrifice--broke up after drummer sold out to be with evanescence--wierd he went from death metal to corp rock

Rock bands:

white cowbell oklahoma- southern/blues boogie with a hard rockin sound. Illuminati/Tricky Woo with more skynyrd.

Bionic- Montreal based stoner rock. Very cool.

Puddy- Toronto based bass/guitar stoner rock duo.

The Unicorns- wacky indie rock

Cuff the Duke- country ish upbeat rock.

The Great Lake Swimmers- folk rock

The Burdocks- fun good rock with a new wave/indie edge

Les Savy Fav- Very strange hard jazz punk

Death From Above- heavy almost stoner rock, toronto based

Protest the Hero- political punk rock/post hardcore. Good guys too. Toured with raised fist, closet monster

Postage Stamps- melodic emo/indie

The Mark Inside- Saviours of rock!

Hardcore/Metal Bands:

Seven Angles Seven Plagues- Melodic hardcore

As the sun sets- spastic pig destroyer-esque hardcore

Psyopus- insane jazza rooted mathcore

Spastic Ink- Insanely technical metal

Floorpunch- old school west coast hardcore

Kayo Dot- Melodic death with horns and jazz breaks (formerly Maudlin of the Well)

The Mist and the Morning Dew- Swedish death metal, chick singer, violin

Isis- im surprised by how few people know this band. it's like dreamy ambient music, like mogwai or sigur ros, but heavy. very visual stuff.

Anonymus- "poppy" hardcore. it's hardcore, but it wraps it up it a neat little package.


Agalloch- (oregon?) based death metal. North America's Answer to Opeth.

Most of these have an indescribable sound, so I'll just list them:

Autechre
Amon Tobin
Astral Projection (technical dance)
ArmsBendBack (pseudo hardcore)
Bexarametric (IDM)
Boards of Canada (IDM)
the Future Sound of London
Hooverphonic (trip hop)
In Reverent Fear
Ion Dissonance (mega metalcore)
mod flanders conspiracy (fucked up weirdo core)
Paul van Dyk (technical dance/trance)
Phonem
Solvent
Tosca
Venetian Snares (not even going to try...)

The Rentals - Wonderful, I think they've only got the two albums out, but both are spectaular. Lots of moog, makes me want to dance. Check 'em out.

Kyuss - The innovators of the "stoner-rock" movement (which spawned other bands like Monster Magnet, Clutch, and more recently Queens of the Stone Age, which has former Kyuss members in it).

Songs I recommend: Asteroid, 50 Million Year Trip, Demon Cleaner, Catamaran.

Hell yeah! For several years I ran the El Duce Memorial website, although it went down a few months back when I dropped my old ISP. Had the pleasure of hanging with Duce a bit and an interesting old time it was. ;)

Another hell yeah, traveled to Montreal last September to see them only their second time in North America. :)

And now to add my own....

Lacuna Coil, although they are becoming a lot more well known now.

The Gathering
Tapping the Vein (I've got a thing about metal female singers lately)
Candlemass - waiting to see them live then I can die happy.
Genitorturers - mmmmmmmmm, S&M Metal, been front row center to ?7? of their shows.
Venom - the original Black Metal band, another I am dying to see live.

Pop(?):
The Divine Comedy

Synthpop/EBM:
S.P.O.C.K
Informatik
Evil's Toy
Beborn Beton
Icon of Coil
Elektrowerkz
Covenant
DAF
Terminal Choice
Second Decay

Goat Whore.

these guys might be pretty well known, i'm not sure (i've only ever met one person who heard of them and they're the one that introduced me to them) but i like the starlight mints.

local legends:
Abalienation
Yolk

slightly more popular:
Hickey
the bananas
this bike is a pipe bomb
matty pop chart
the dauntless elite
schlong
i farm

ill second the kyuss, venetian snares and amon tobin reccomendations, though theyre pretty well known to anyone interested in their respective genres, i thought

heres my 2 cents:
pelican (doom metal with a beautiful melodic flavor)
5ive (tool to the nth degree)
bogdan racynzski, hravatski (awesome drill n bass)
bonobo (epitome of chillout downbeat)
deerhoof, hella, lightning bolt: spastic, loud.. fun
explosions in the sky: beautiful, striking, touching post-rock
fatso jetson: kyuss: queens of the stone age what fatso jetson:kyuss
naked city: napam death meets john coltrane... fans of fantomas will cream for this
quasimoto, madvillian: madlib is a hiphop genius
king geedorah, viktor vaughn, mf doom: as is mf doom
m83: moving keyboard ambient pop
codeine, low: slow... pretty... touching... indie-rock
european folk-punk: alamaailman vasarat, taraf da haidouks, gogol bordello
nomeansno, pigment vehicle: the only punk bands other than DK that i can stand, punk with jazzy musicality
spacemen3: a spacemen3 + opiates = life changing
the bug: can only be described as hardcore dub
xiu xiu: abrasive and strange, but very personal and moving at the same time... fans of things like modest mouse and pixies will appreciate them


and the almighty melvins... godfathers of grunge, taking black sabbath and pushing it to the next logical level

Ah, I second The Melvins, great band.

And yes, Kyuss is indeed very well known to people interested in stoner-rock, but there are lots of people out there who don't even know this genre exists (ie: me about two years ago).

Hell yes! Both brilliant bands. Got to see them opening for Opeth last year. Loved it.

--jaded

Ultraspank
Bender

The Livid

www.thelivid.com

Downface

www.downface.com

summer dying

Cloud Nine is a pretty good group, comparable to a few bands I listen to, only "poppier" and more upbeat. The album is (I think) called Planes to Atlanta and the World.