These days we are forced to listen to awful 'artists' like Nikki Minaj on the radio. What happened? What are some great artists/bands who we don't often hear?
Rules:
That 'awesome' band you saw in the underground does not count. We're talking major artists. One hit wonders do not count. They need a portfolio of good music. A band/artist that writes music for a small group of people (e.g. Dubstep and electro-swing) does not count. Their music needs to be relevant to a large number of people. It helps if they're writing in a well-established genre.
Clearly this! Tony Diver (Maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot, Vaura, and much more) is a really great musician but it takes time to get into it. But if you do you will find treasure after treasure!
Tom Waits is terribly underrated. He's an amazing singer (debateable) and songwriter. You will not find a single Waits song that is bad, he has defined and created genres, he has done so many styles and themes in his songs that I probably couldn't describe them to you even if we talked for hours and hours and his lyrics are simply amazing. Check out his complete discography, you will not be disappointed.
Ok, so we are talking established acts with small followings? Well it really depends on locality. To give an example, Bush are quite big in North America (from what I've heard) but are practically unheard of in the UK.
Anyway here goes. These acts are unheard of where I come:
Death Grips - Hardcore hip-hop, almost punk/metal esque (because of their energy.) "Death Grips is a group from Sacramento formed in 2010. The group consists of rapper Stefan “MC Ride” Burnett and production from Zach Hill and Andy “Flatlander” Morin. Death Grips' live performance setup consists of Burnett on vocals, Hill on drums, and Andy Morin on keyboards/sampler" (Rapgenius.)
This is their song Full Moon www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFmZ6WDkuj0
and their song No Love (possibly their darkest effort, lyrically.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe6hHnHUQVk
I would seriously consider looking up the lyrics here before babbling about how you can't understand him: http://rapgenius.com/artists/Death-grips
I love Tom Waits but I don't think he's underrated. For a guy who's kind of out there he's had a very long and acclaimed career.
A few picks of the top of my head:
Dinosaur Jr. I don't know why Pearl Jam fill arenas and these guys don't. J Mascis' guitar playing is awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayj0dZ5EK1M
Broken Social Scene. This band have so many good songs from epics to lil' ditties, as exampled here. They cover a lot of ground stylistically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVb8uapeKNk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDqNL0js0iU
Unfortunately, Elliott Smith stabbed himself to death so we won't get anymore tunes out of him but give this a listen. Amazing guitar player who should be up there with Dylan, Waits, Young etc, but still doesn't get the recognition he deserves. He did manage to get nominated for an Oscar but was beaten by Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' (smh).
I know it's hard to realize that an artist that you personally really like is underrated, it is the same with me. I absolutely adore Tom Waist and my brain can't accept that most people haven't even heard about his music, but sadly that's the case for the most part. It is a fact that Tom Waits' music, except for Swordfish Trombones, never was commercially successful. Sure, he earns his living with his music (mostly), but he never had a "breakthrough" or made ludicrous amounts of money with his art. Personally I'd still say that he is terribly underrated, but it also depends how you define "underrated" of course.
Comus comes to mind immediately. If you like Steven Wilson or Mikael Akerfeldt/Opeth you will probably like Comus. They are a folk-style band but it sounds like if you played death metal with folk instruments and pagan themes.
No way! thats really awesome! I wish I could see them live, but they never play anywhere near me lol. I love wearing my Blood Command T shirts and having people ask me who they are lol.