The purpose of the thread is for people to hopefully expand their taste in music and their musical library.

As the thread title suggests, post a link or two of not very well known musical artists that you think are great.

My contribution; Parov Stelar

"Parov Stelar aka Marcus Füreder (born November 27, 1974) is a musician who lives and works in Linz, Austria. He performs with his Band - the Parov Stelar Band - and as a DJ worldwide. Parov Stelar is the head of Etage Noir Recordings."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a58-ZDG5j1k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDMQy1h_OI4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQzVtWqhD0g

I like what's normally called "downtempo" which can vaguely be described as techno that is not about dancing and thumping beats and more about using computers and turntables to put out interesting, melodic music. So none of them are very famous, but I love:

Prefuse 73
Fila Brazillia
Pepe Deluxe
Freeworm (now in a group called National Parcs that I don't care for).

MrElegenza - Nice description and has me interested.

Everyone, if this thread is going to continue then at least provide some reason why you think the band is awesome and/or what kind of music it is. Most people aren't in the mood to click one unlabeled youtube link after another.

Sigur Rós

Why:

Songs range from ambient to post rock to acoustic rock to nearly heavy metal

Very original arrangements

Non traditional instrumentation (e.g. vibraphones and guitars played with cello bows, lots of interesting percussion, lots of sampled sounds, bass guitars played with drumsticks, etc, all lend themselves to a very unique sound)

Songs have a linear quality to them, they are mostly divided into movements rather than verse/chorus/verse/chorus

Lead singers voice is just incredible - soaring falsettos that last for 30+ seconds at a time in some cases, also, sings in Icelandic which is good if you need to use it as background music for studying or just want to hear something unique

It's just really interesting stuff - some people might think that is a turn off because they say 'experimental music sucks because it deviates from tried and proven formulas of pop' but SR is able to combine these experimental bits with rock/pop bits and make it work.

Link:

Sigur Rós - Hoppipolla (one of their more easily digestable songs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkP_NaMsrMM

Fortune Family, I Really Like Their Music

hint:each word is a link to a song

Sigur Ros is pretty decently known. They're not exactly as well known as Katy Perry but I think it's a stretch to call think of them as "lesser known."

FWIW, this is my favorite Sigur Ros from the awesome HBO show Reverb (so sad they don't have it anymore)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MasDkV7_XeU

I mean, the definition of "lesser known" is very, very loose depending on how active you are in searching out new music, even if they're not "radio friendly" Sigur Ros could sub headline nearly any festival in the world and has had records reach top 20 and top 5 in the US/UK respectively. Jonsi alone sub headlined last year at Coachella and can draw 20,000 person crowds. For a band that rarely uses any English, that's pretty impressive.

Sigur Ross is like somebody that has the ability to make scratching a chalk board sound good.

Candiria

Yes, I'm biassed, but I don't think that matters. They fused metal, hardcore, jazz, hip-hop, techno, even traditional latin horn sections. And they did all while still sounding like themselves. I always wanted to put together a "Zappa influenced metal band" and not have it be cheesy or self-indulgent. This band was a dream come true.

And the drummer.....OMFG! There are tons of drummers who might be faster or more technical, but I don't think there are too many who are as creative. Listen to 7 or 8 of their heavy songs and then realize that he's playing on a 4 piece kit. The bassist can Jaco like Jaco and the guitarists are tight as all hell. Vocally is where a lot of people might tune out. I understand, but I personally love it. The staccato and polyrhythmic approach is really incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TYxGiR0M0s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plz6yTbw-pQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpC0AfWMTcA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJnLUrcTlMw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRrfGV9QBIg

Just want to +1 Prefuse 73, I always thought those guys would get more popular... MrElegenza is now one of two other people on Earth I've seen mention them

Scarfy Dogwhistles is the holy ghost of this thread.

Feel like this is gonna derail into a lol @ ________ being lesser known fest real quick. Or ****ty level type name jokes.

Exactly. An artist that can easily draw a 20k'ish crowd somewhere is pretty decently known I think.

In the U.S. they aren't going to draw 20k. But it's almost a cliche for anyone who somewhat digs the indie music genre to list them among their favorites in their facebook profile.

speaking of which: just checked facebook and they have over 700k people who "like this."

Guess I could provide some links since I got at least one person interested

"Robot Snares Got No Cadence Or Balance," which got me into Prefuse 73:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF9v-z2EkeA

Pollo de Palo by Fila Brazillia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E67J8XdtbW8

Cruel Youth by Pepe Deluxe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1c_S4NJ74s

Steeps by Freeworm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq4VvXhz3mo

Of the four, Freeworm is by far the most obscure....but he has a nifty player on his site (freeworm.ca) where you can scroll through and listen to most of his songs....I particularly recommend "Grow Grass on Cars" (almost ethereally relaxing), "Praise For My 3 A's," and "Zero Gravity Love."

Yuck is a nice lesser known but kind of hyped new band. Kind of a Sonic Youth feel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz7vyrFhFE8

The Weeknd has put out a pretty awesome mixtape recently and I'm not sure how much hype it got outside of music blogs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ex38L8xtNI

Basically I'm just re-sharing what people have posted in the EDF thread and what people would like over there, but w/e.

Awesome! But you've brought out the pedant in me: Prefuse 73 is one guy, not a group.