You just described half of my collection.
Just a random offering: TImbuk 3. Great music, and nicely recorded, too.
Hidden Treasure
What albums do you have that the band or artist just never got the attention or airplay to take off. But you still play all the time. A couple of mine are Henry Gross Plug Me Into Something, Elf Elf, and Robert Johnson Close Personal Friend. Not “The” Robert Johnson. Love these albums are play them at least once a month. What are your Hidden Treasures?
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The album Tantilla by House of Freaks. Bare-bones rock duo with some incredibly vivid lyrics and some inspired musical composition and energetic performance. Tragically the guitarist and lead singer Bryan Harvey was brutally murdered along with his family in a random attack, cutting the group’s work far shorter than it should have been. |
Supertramp - "Brother Where You Bound?" Easily my favorite Supertramp album, for both music and sound quality. This album has drive and dynamics that are missing from the other Supertramp albums. It sounds absolutely fantastic. And it doesn't have that girlie voiced, whiney, wimpy sounding Roger Hodgson, so that right there is an improvement. Anyway, It rocks! and It's just a great record. If you can find the 45 rpm 12" direct to disk single of Cannonball, get it! It's truly remarkable. |
@jafant - I love Jack johnson. He's just so natural........ @slaw @bander - The BoDeans live album is a true gem. I think I prefer every one of the live versions to the original studio track. But, I heard the live versions first, so that might be the reason. Here's a good one for you - The Rainmakers - "The Good News and the Bad News". I love Americana and this is one of my favorite Americana/Midwestern records. And here's one of my all -time favorites that did not gain major exposure - dada - "Puzzle" Just a fantastic rock album. |
Here are a few: :-) Clem Snide Lambchop Bardo Pond Jason Molina The White Fronts David & David Stereolab Sea and Cake A Minor Forest Acid Mother Temple Grandmothers Starless and Bible Black Do Make Say Think Windsor for the derby Mono The Barr Brothers Brightblack Morning Light Barn Owl Green on Red Jack Waterson Akron Family Apse Climb Up Monroe Mustang Lone Justice The Lucksmiths Hangedup The Knitters Maximilian Heckter High Places The Gentle Waves Sue Garner Pavement Opal Tanakh Kiln The Baptist Generals Fluke Dig Frente French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson Eddie from Ohio |
The Blue Nile - Men With Hats The whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=(PLgtOYAIvc8d3ll0OzJHU-TzL2WigTsJsq The Good Rats - from their S/T debut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-mCsE4fhuM&frags=pl%2Cwn The Standard - Swimmer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kshmTeZy1Rc&frags=pl%2Cwn (also their albums Albatross and Wire Post to Wire) @boxer12 - Thanks for bringing this thread back to the surface. Agree with your David & David. Lived in Houston when Boomtown was getting some airplay. Talk about timely social commentary. Great song too. |
@boxer12 FWIW (you might already know)...one of the Davids (Baerwald) has some solo stuff that is worth checking out. The other David (Ricketts) has been musically active (as per Wikipedia) but more of a behind the scenes guy with some impressive production and co-writing credits to his name. You are right, however, no follow up to their excellent Boomtown album. |
A great topic! I could name a few hundred, but off the top of my head: - Julianna Raye: Something peculiar. An album of great pop songs produced by Jeff Lynne. Really cool. - Michael Kelsh: Well Of Mercy. A great singer/songwriter, produced by Rodney Crowell. - The Fraternal Order Of The All: Greetings From Planet Love. The group name and album title is a tip-off to the tongue-in-cheek nature of this incredible album. A really well done pastiche’ to the unintentionally laughable late-60’s Psychedelic period of Rock music. Expertly done by Andrew Gold. - The Flamin’ Groovies: Shake Some Action. Not that obscure, but if you haven’t heard this album, you NEED to! The Groovies combined the basics of 50’s Rock ’n’ Roll and 60’s British Invasion to create a sound all their own. Produced by the incredible Dave Edmunds. - Speaking of Edmunds, his early albums are insanely great. Rockpile (album title, not his later band with Nick Lowe) is pure 50’s Rock ’n’ Roll, Subtle As A flying Mallet a collection of delicious Pop (and some R & R) produced in Phil Spector Wall-Of-Sound style. His 3rd album---Get It (the title, not an order ;-)---is his masterpiece. Absolutely fantastic, in my Top 10 albums of-all-time list. - The Dwight Twilley Band: Sincerely. Their debut album, the best melding of Elvis and The Beatles you’ve (probably) never heard. The great trio of Twilley on vocals and rhythm guitar and piano, Phil Seymour on vocals and drums, and Bill Pitcock IV on incendiary lead guitar (playing a Gibson 335 into a pair of Fender Deluxe Reverb’s on 10. FANTASTIC tone!). If you like Tom Petty, you should love this. Tom can be seen playing bass in the videos The DTB made for the album. |
I’m not surprised ghosthouse, you’re one hip music lover! Hanging around hi-fi stores as I have since discovering component audio when I was 18 (I met a guy who had a Rek-O-Kut transcription table with a Shure M44 cartridge, H. H. Scott integrated amp and 2-way bookshelf speakers. I put together an AR table with M91e cartridge, Fisher X-100 integrated amp, and AR 4X speaker system), I soon realized that though I shared a passion for the high quality reproduction of music, my taste in music didn’t much align with many of the guys I met in hi-shops. My taste was that of a musician, and none of the players I knew/know gave/give a damn about hi-fi. For me, the greatest thing about AudiogoN is that it’s participants are not just passionate about the high quality reproduction of music, but also very sophisticated and informed about music itself. I don’t like to see audiophilia referred to as a hobby; high performance gear is---for me at least, the means to an end. The deeper, more profound connection with and appreciation of music, not toys to play with. |
In observance of the passing Aretha Franklin, I heartily recommend an album produced by her early Atlantic Records-period producer, the great Jerry Wexler. Wexler took Lou Ann Barton down to Muscle Shoals to record her Old Enough album, and it is mighty fine. Wexler was aided by an unlikely partner, Glenn Frey. Lou Ann is a white singer who has a real feel for Rhythm & Blues, and she works quite a bit with Jimmie Vaughan. |
@ghosthouse , I bought The Blue Nile "Men With Hats" when I flew to Texas to visit my brother a long time ago. I had to visit record stores while I was there, of coarse. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Orenda Fink "Blue Dream" Tanita Tikaram "Closer To The People" Starflyer 59 (anything) Joan As Policewoman (anything) Amanda Shires (anything) |
Other Lives. An interesting band. I own three of their lps. I’m listening to "Rituals" now. Hard to describe them. I’ll say this, when you sit down to listen, you my be tempted at first to take the lp off, but before you know it, the side is finished and you wonder what just happened? On "Rituals", you become immersed in the music as it washes over you. |
Thanks slaw, Rituals sounds like the type of music I love & is now on my "must purchase" list. Another hidden gem is a band called "Forest for the trees". I just bought this one yesterday afternoon & it is incredible if you're into a "kind off" psychedelic alternative rock band. Unfortunately it looks like they only put out one album. |
Thanks everyone for the ideas, I have ordered two of them. My suggestion, Jonatha Brooke, any album at all. I saw her on a whim a few years ago and along with Shawn Colvin, it was one of the best concerts I've been to. great songwriter and voice, sings with real heart. She started life as a ballet dancer, believe it or not. |