Underrated or obscure artists and bands you discovered by accident?

velvetmarlin472 said:RCA Records, 1978.

👍🙏

Here’s a band out of California that’s been around for about 15 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhBE...QT_IEB77kJNWd9

I don't know if they're actually big time or whatever, but most people probably haven't heard of them, though I think they're killer. Basically, Breaking Benjamin—killer music, at least if you ask me.

Has anyone actually heard of Liberty x lately, or have they just slipped from everyone's memory?

"Gimme just a little bit more"

American Minea 👍

Minea teenager

Kristina train




don Brownrigg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwFeD52RHoE

Agnes Obel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32kYH6XZrIo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjncyiuwwXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NmjJeNFUVU

Michael Nyman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW7Ef9BSTP0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htK3W0Acjsg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8WVYCN3zZQ

Craig Armstrong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTK0e1cSyPY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMBma08Br8g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSEl82m6NHY

Natalia Walker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVlvRTqEEB4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guy_B8VneZ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlfgvUOJNlQ

Loreena McKennitt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM5ABrBy7g8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYrKQbQ1Aok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4rvcZMY37I

Well, Loreena isn't exactly some unknown name.

Chris Myers said:Well, Loreena isn't exactly a stranger to most people.

I wouldn't say that's true for everyone. Sure, names like Michael Nyman or Craig Armstrong aren't unknown—they're massive figures in the music industry—but you don't really hear people chatting about them the way they would about someone like Bruce Springsteen, Hans Zimmer, or Led Zeppelin.
In this thread, it feels like most folks are only familiar with musicians or bands that fit into some sort of post-apocalyptic garage hip-hop punk vibe.

Raymond Walker5 said:To plenty of people, yeah. Obviously, names like Michael Nyman or Craig Armstrong aren't exactly obscure—they're huge figures in the industry—but they aren't exactly household names you'd discuss in the same breath as someone like Bruce Springsteen, Hans Zimmer, or Led Zeppelin.
In this thread, it seems people are mostly familiar with artists who fit into some specific post-apocalyptic garage-hip-hop punk niche.

My dear young man, why on earth do you feel the need to assert your musical superiority over everyone else in every single discussion? This whole thread was started with the intention of sharing those "hidden gems"—those underrated artists that span all sorts of genres.

Specifically, since you were busy listing genres, I included everything from blues and AOR rock to alternative, punk, and post-rock... Some people will dig it, most won't, and that's just how it goes.

Whether you want to admit it or not, Zeppelin is bigger than Elton—let's be real, it is—but you're entitled to your own opinion. I support your take, and that doesn't mean I don't know my music. If we all thought exactly the same way, we’d probably all be listening to the exact same song.

For instance, I was looking through the lineup for this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival yesterday and stumbled upon an Indigenous artist who has picked up a ton of awards in Canada, yet I'd never even heard of him before. William princ - Breathless.

Then there's a band from Canada called Soulsavers, featuring Mark Lanegan on vocals. Check out the track revival. They later recorded another album where David Gahan handled the vocals.

And then there's Antony (born Antony Hegarty), a Grammy Award winner in the UK. Listen to their cover of Leonard Cohen's If it be your will.

@Old Soul, thanks for those links to Michael Nyman. I’ve always considered Peter Greenaway one of my absolute favorite directors—though I haven't paid enough attention to who actually composed his scores—and Prospero's Books is easily one of his best, right up there with The Pillow Book and Drowning by numbers.

brightwolf48 said:Listen, kid, why on earth do you feel the need to act like your musical taste is superior to everyone else's in every single thread? This whole discussion was set up so we could share those hidden "gems" based on our own individual vibes, regardless of what genre they fall under.

To be specific, since you were busy listing off genres, I included everything from blues and AOR rock to alternative, punk, and post-rock... Some people are going to love certain tracks and others won't, and honestly, that's just how it goes.

Whether you want to admit it or not, Led Zeppelin is objectively bigger than Elton, let's be real about that—but hey, it’s totally your right to disagree. I support your take, and that doesn't mean I think you don't know your music. If we all thought exactly the same thing, we'd probably all just be listening to the same one song over and over.

For instance, I was browsing the lineup for this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival yesterday and stumbled upon an artist from North America who has picked up a ton of awards in the States, yet I'd never even heard his name before. It's William princ - Breathless.

Then there's another band from Canada called Soulsavers, featuring Mark Lanegan on vocals. Check out the track revival. They actually recorded another album later where David Gahan handled the vocals.

There's also Antony (born Antony Hegarty), a Grammy Award winner in the United Kingdom. You should hear their cover of Leonard Cohen's If it be your will.

Who are you even arguing with here? 🙂
And yeah, buddy, Elton is better than Zeppelin. It is what it is, just a matter of fact.😒

Dickon Hinchliffe, once part of Tindersticks before diving headfirst into solo projects and film scoring... Ever stop to ask yourself why
, Baby, Acceptance, Ripper in the Belly, Father

Resurrecting an old topic here...

Mdou Moctar—basically the Tuareg lovechild of Hendrix and Knopfler. YouTube threw him up in my recommendations. He's a self-taught guitarist hailing from Nigeria. Below is the full concert from Portland back in 2019.

granje - Hainin released a new album relatively recently.

granje - Hainin

I have no clue where they sit on the fame scale. They're just some psych-rock outfit out of Scranton. Anyway, go check out what kind of branches Dalibor is growing. 😁

Hi there. I felt like sharing a few thoughts about my favorite singer. I stumbled upon him quite by accident, and now he’s basically permanent on all my playlists. The guy has these incredible abilities—honestly, people say he might be one of the best vocalists on the planet right now. Just a bit of background from Wikipedia: Dimash Kudaibergen, known professionally as Dimash Kudaibergen, is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has a university background in both classical and contemporary music, which explains why he's famous for having such an insanely wide vocal range. He even performs songs in twelve different languages.
Anyway, his repertoire is incredibly diverse, so I’ll drop a few of my personal favorites here. I really hope you can look past any potential language barriers; I know it might be a bit strange since he doesn't always sing in English, though I did include two tracks where he does.

Here are a few more tracks, just so you can get a better sense of his vocal range and the overall scope of his work.









So, there you go; if anyone actually feels like finding the time, I suppose I’d be interested in hearing what you all think.

Elizabeth Jones71 said:Here’s a few more tracks, just so you guys can get a feel for his vocal range and the kind of stuff he puts out.

So yeah, if anyone actually feels like sitting down and listening, I’d love to hear what you all think.

I first stumbled upon him when he was doing an Adagio cover of that genius Lara Fabian track (Dimash Kudaibergen's version), https://youtu.be/jKtNuLG5jAo (Lara herself). Honestly? The guy absolutely butchered the song.
Setting aside that terrible interpretation for a second—look, there's no denying the dude has a massive vocal range. But personally? His actual tone is super uninteresting to me, almost even grating after a while. Technically, sure, he might be singing perfectly, but he's missing the one thing that matters most to me. Emotion. At least, I'm just not feeling it. 🤷

I get that you aren't a fan of his vocal tone—everyone has their own thing when it comes to preferences—but I honestly can't wrap my head around your take on the emotional depth here. There are so many tracks of his where you just... feel it, whether it's pure sadness, heartache, or even moments of genuine joy. If you're up for it, maybe give this a listen, and then tell me you don't feel anything at all:

Elizabeth Jones71 said:Look, I get that you aren't feeling his vocal tone—everyone’s got their own thing when it comes to music—but I honestly don't get this whole "zero emotion" argument. There are so many of his tracks where you can just sit there and feel the raw sadness, the pain, or even a sense of pure joy. If you're feeling brave, give this one a spin and then try telling me you don't feel a damn thing:

I mean, sure, I can hear some emotion in there, but it's just not hitting me. It’s probably just his voice—it clearly isn't my cup of tea—and the songwriting itself doesn't grab me. It’s just not my style.
It’s also pretty likely that my first real introduction to him was through that cover of the Lara song mentioned earlier. Honestly, Lara took that track to a level of vocal and emotional perfection that's hard to beat, so I guess any cover of it is bound to feel like a step down. Seems like the guy is getting blamed for something that isn't even his fault, thanks to 🙂

I’ve listened to a fair amount of Dimash over the years, including his cover of Adagi—I wouldn't call it bad, per se, but it just doesn't hit the way Lara does.
Look, the guy is a genius. He's incredibly well-trained, technically at the top of his game, and I totally get why people are obsessed with him. Personally, I think he's brilliant too.
But I kind of see where Kimberly Jackson8 is coming from. There are certain tracks I love, and you can definitely feel the emotion in some of them (especially Autumn Leaves, if you ask me), but with most of his stuff, I get this impression that everything is so technically flawless and polished that you have to stop and wonder: how much of this emotion is actually real, and how much of it is just part of a highly rehearsed performance?

I'm not saying that makes it a bad thing, but for me, the feeling in most of his songs doesn't strike me as something pouring out of him because he's lost in the music. It feels more like a meticulously planned part of a show. (There are exceptions, obviously; maybe qaraǵym-aı is one of them, or Daididau. To my ears, you can actually tell which pieces touch him personally...)