Who's your favorite obscure band, musical artist?

I've been to see Kara Suzanne and the Gojo hearts a couple of times in smaller venues around town. Very talented singer.

http://www.karasuzanne.com/

 

The Darling Buds. A couple fantastic albums from the early 90s.

Oh, and also 4 Jacks and a Jill....

 

Aren't they playing a Ramada Inn in Kansas City?

 

A lot of my favorites seem to be getting un-obscure in recent years, which is a bit of a dilemma.
Some I enjoy who are still under-the-radar (as near as I can tell):
You Am I
Radio Birdman
Sun Kil Moon (Mark Kozelek)
Midlake
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
The Broken West
Catfish Haven
Ladyhawk
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
The Black Angels

 

One of the best shows I ever saw with Toxic Reasons, Zero Boys and Angry Red Planet at the Howard Johnson's East in Indianapolis in 1988. You wonder who or how three punk bands got booked in a hotel conference room, but then again, the biggest danger to guests from this show is whether the bands might have spooked their hookers.

The marquee outside also was the best I ever saw:

TOXIC REASONS
ZERO BOYS
FISH BUFFET $5.95

I was so disappointed when Fish Buffet $5.95 didn't take the stage that night.

 

For you AC/DC fans, Mark Kozelek put out an album a couple of years ago that was him doing acoustic versions of AC/DC songs. It sounds like a joke, but it's great, and you realize how good that band was at songwriting.

 

He did the same last year with Modest Mouse. I thought it was just OK.
The SKM record is just amazing, though. I've had it for a couple years and still am blown away by it.

 

For you Elliott Smith fans, Ben Folds' "Too Late" on Songs for Silverman is a tribute to him.

 

Stuck Insider

 

Neil Sedaka

 

So is "The Believer" by Rhett Miller. ("Too Late" is better, but they're both pretty good.)

 

I had no clue that Kristian Bush was half of Sugarland. I'll have to add 'em to my interlibrary loan list immediately! I'm amazed that <i>anyone</i> has heard of Billy Pilgrim, but then again, I don't exactly live in the band's target market.

I didn't even think of The Connells. I've got the "Boylan Heights" CD. It's so odd for me to think of anything in my (mostly mainstream and classic rock) collection as obscure.

Now that you've got me spinnin' my CD racks...
The Hatters (who I always thought of as a local frat-party band until I saw a CD in a secondhand store)
Lucio Maramba
Michael McDermott
Julian Coryell (who I think I met once... which is why I own the CD)

Do Dar Williams or Vonda Shepard still count as obscure because they're folky?