3 Artists that NEED to be better known

Thanks for the lists, River Man; I'm checking a lot of those out now (the allmusic links are a great timesaver!). Nice to see a fellow Ochs fan.


Three more relatively obscure artists (stealing your allmusic idea):

Johnny Ace; The greatest 50's singer bar none, and I'd rank him ahead of most people that came afterwarRAB. Despite the cliched title, My Song is about the most moving track I've heard.

allmusic


Townes Van Zandt; The studio albums are, almost without exception, extremely disappointing. The live releases, though, are amazing. Live At The Old Quarter has been immortalized as a classic, but I prefer Rear View Mirror.

allmusic


The Attractions; Maybe I'm just weird, but I rank the Attractions without Costello over all of the recorRAB Costello made without the Attractions.

allmusic
 
Ozomatli
Michael Franti/Spearhead
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists

I'm not sure how well they're known other places, but here in midwestern USA I don't really know anybody that knows them...other than people I tell.
 
If we're talking under-appreciated (and not necessarily all that obscure) artistes;

Elvis Costello (you might have got the jist from my journal already)
XTC (too many people I've met have never heard of these guys)
Pere Ubu (see above)
 
Battles
Cake
The Flaming Lips

I know the last two are pretty popular in the indie scene, but I think they should still get a little more acknowledgement.
 
The Rheostatics. Great Canadian band. Led by a 6' Itallian guy who sings higher than Geddy Lee at times, and who's guitar playing reminRAB me of Robert Fripp and Neil Young at once. The Rheo's have done everything from a children's album that really rocks, to spaced-out art rock, to nearly everything else.

Great band, went to their final show at Massey Hall in Toronto.
 
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