Alright... I'm surprised this thread hasn't already been started, but I figure it's high time for it. This thread isn't about pimping the latest album from the band that most people already know. It's about sharing those chance discoveries of great music/bands you've never heard of before.

Here's one to start you off:

Caravan Palace - Album came out in 2008 in France, but was just released here in the US a few weeks ago. They were playing a concert at the Oregon Zoo, that I went to. Fusion of swing jazz and electronic beats.

I totally came across these guys by chances while reading about custom levels for the recently open-sourced Gish.

Artist:
Diablo Swing Orchestra

Albums:
The Butcher's Ballroom
Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious

These are the albums I've listened to this year. Sadly, I've not listened to music as much as I used to, because podcasts keep me calmer in the ridiculous DC traffic that I'm driving in constantly.

Anyway, here's what I'm listening to:

[Artist - Album - Comment]

Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me - easily my favorite album of the year, it's a challenging listen (due to the length of the album and depth of the music), but well worth it if you're in a music listening mood (warning: people seem to either love or hate Newsom's vocal style and music in general, I happen to fall into the "love it" camp)

Band of Horses - Infinite Arms - Band of Horses is one of my top three favorite currently playing groups. When I first heard this album I dismissed it as boring and lacking what made their first two albums great. Fortunately I've gone back to it, and while it's definitely different, it's such a relaxing listen that I'm a big fan of it now and have listened to it about a dozen times. If you've never heard Band of Horses before, please check out their first album, Everything All the Time and check out the song "Monsters." It's gorgeous. Seeing this group at the 9:30 club might be my favorite live show of all time.

Yeasayer - Odd Blood - I'm not into the whole album, particularly the first song, but it's some really catchy indie stuff.

Miike Snow - Miike Snow - This seems to be pretty popular at the moment. I'm especially fond of one of the lowest-key songs on the album, "Sans Soleil," which I actually Shazamed from an episode of Chuck. This is the first time I've gotten into a band because of Shazam!


I've always been an album guy, but lately I've started listening to singles, probably because my Zune Pass makes it easy to check anything out. Here are a few songs I'm listening to:

[Artist - Song - Album - Comment]

Fever Ray - When I Grow Up - Fever Ray - I like this song a lot. My wife cannot stand this group.

The Little Ones - There's a Pot A Brewin - Lovers Who Uncover - got into this one because of the Kick-Ass soundtrack

Wheat - These Are Things - Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second - Love their album titles, and this is the most recent group I've been listening to. My best bud is super excited about them because he may be doing a photo shoot for their next album release.

Here is an artist you've never heard of who deserves better. Much better.
Follow the linky. On the upper right hand of the window there is a player and list of tracks. Scroll down to track #9 ("Tell Me a Story"), and play it.

I am not a fan of contemporary music ("contemporary" defined as anything newer than Mozart ) but this song blew me away. The production (in the words of a professional musician who occasionally frequents this bbs) is... perfect.

tanstaafl.

Singles are the gateway drug to albums Matt. You're going backwards.

I have a few items to throw in here. I'm assuming it doesn't matter how old the music is...

Sure, as long as it is "just discovered" music 2010

tanstaafl.

I'm assuming that means "new to me." I'm going to cheat, only because The main ones I want to mention I discovered last year and a couple the year before last. BUt I haven't told anyone else about them yet.

Uhh.. I just realized that the song I linked to is five years old. So, yeah - New to me!

tanstaafl.

I'm going for "new to me," not necessarily "released in 2010." But at the same time, here's an example of what I'm not looking for...

A friend of mine and I were riding in an elevator on our university campus (1993-ish?). A pair of kids got on, discussing music. Unfortunately, we missed the earlier part of the conversation, but the next line was "Have you heard that new band Queen?"

Sure, it's newly discovered to them, but at the same time, Queen is hardly a band toiling away in obscurity. Odds are that most people on the board here, even if they don't listen to rock, have probably heard of them.

I guess part of what prompted this thread was that I recently spent a fairly substantial amount of time listening to the last four years worth of SXSW tracks. While there were some gems in there, ultimately they all kind of sound the same after a while. Last night's concert left me wanting to go out and find every album these guys have made, and I haven't felt that way about music in a long while. That's what I want... those accidental discoveries that make you sit up and go "wow, I have to share this!"

Matt beat me to Fever Ray. I haven't been listening to it a lot, but I like the album. For the life of me I can't recall where I first heard them though.

I'm not going to spend any time describing the music, but I'll mention where the artists hail from and where I heard or discovered them if I can. I can fill a larger list of stuff that I doubt anyone else has heard of, so this is just a tiny sampling and geared toward music in English. Of course I'm also listening to a lot of stuff that a ton of other people are also listening to, or that more people are listening to more recently. You should be able to preview the music on sites like Last.FM

MAU - (Man and Unable) from Portugal, perform in English, French and Portuguese (sometimes all three in one song). Discovered through RateYourMusic.com I believe. Electronic rock.

Mazgani - from Portugal, performs in English - RateYourMusic.com discovery. Rock.

Slimmy - Also from Portugal, recording out of the UK, in English - rateyourmusic.com discovery. Electronic rock. Low RYM reviews but I quite like the music.

Fingertips - from Portugal, perform in English, heard on the radio while vacationing in Portugal. alt.Rock.

Loto - from Portugal, perform in English, have recorded a few songs with Peter Hook from New Order, discovered on Last.fm. Electronic rock.

Bulllet - from Portugal, in English, can't remember where I discovered, maybe rym.com. Trip-hop/electronic. That's three "Ls" in Bulllet.

Champion - From Canada - first heard single "Alive" on the radio, which was a fluke because I don't normally listen to the radio. I've only ever heard of a single station locally playing the latest album. Might get more college play. DJ, mixed tracks & rock.

Tiga - From Canada, first heard a track on a mix CD my wife bought. Electronica, dance.

Mute Math - from New Orleans - first heard on neighbor's iPod. Rock

The Junction - local boys from Brampton, Ontario Canada. Heard a single track on the radio. alt.Rock.

Jes Brieden - New York, performing under "JES" - can't recall where I first heard her. Electronica/dance.

Gabreilla Cilmi - from Australia, first heard on the radio in Portugal while on vacation. Doesn't get any radio airplay here from what I've heard. Released first album at 16, very mature voice, syrupy, Amy Winehouse -ish. But different.

Archive - from the UK (signed in France). Found via Last.FM - electronic/progressive.

My big discovery this year was Show of Hands, an incredible UK modern-folk duo whose work is more or less unknown in the USA.

They're utterly brilliant, their bassist is the cutest thing ever, and Vixy and I immediately began covering some of their songs. Our personal favorite is The Napoli, a song about the locals in Branscombe "going feral" a few years ago because a cargo ship was beached, and its containers washed ashore.

We discovered them because a Filk friend took us to one of their shows at a club in London during our last visit there. I love being able to discover great new artists, meet them in person, buy CDs from them directly, and get their autographs.

Going to listen to more. Tony, you might like Levellers and Great Big Sea.

Already familiar with Great Big Sea, I will check out Levellers. Thanks!

Did you see them in Seattle last week? They put on a great show in Portland, on Wednesday.

I knew they were playing, and I know some people who went, but did not go myself. Had other stuff going on at the same time.

I discovered Editors this year. Their hit Papillon is very refreshing and of the best stuff I've heard in ages. Maybe because of the use of eighties synths, I don't know...

I'm probably late to the game on this one, but Mono: Japanese instrumental post-rock/ambient/minimalist/shoegaze.

I'm not a huge fan of the synth-oriented-ness of the most recent Editors album. (Not that it's bad, but I am a huge fan of the sound from their first two albums.)

That said, you might want to check out VHS or Beta. They have a similar '80s synthrock vibe, and I think they do it better than Editors do.

Not a big fan of the Japanese Mono, but I love the defunct trip-hop duo with the same name out of the UK.

Never too late for the game.