It’s rare to find music and musicians that really sticks with you over the years. What is especially special to me is finding those types of artists before the rest of the world has. To this note, below is a list of some of my favorite artists who are still mostly unknown to the general public. A few of them have only released a single EP, while others have multiple full albums under their belts. Either way, I hope that one of these days they get the recognition they deserve:
Jamie T – this young Brit flawlessly mashes hip hop, punk and sing-along pub rock into songs that demand repeat.
Listen To: Sheila
Dessa – this Minneapolis chanteuse has the heart of a beat poet with a flow that Eminem would respect. And she can sing pretty damn well too.
Listen To: Fighting Fish
Dirty Gold – a sunny CA trio who crafted the excellent, calypso-tinged beach pop.
Listen To: California Sunrise
Royal Headache – four-piece Aussie garage rockers who compose soulful energy bursts of music.
Listen To: Girls
Smalltown Heroes – this long-defunct British group should have gotten huge with their album Human Soup, but somehow flew under the radar of almost everyone. These songs were arena ready.
Listen To: Moral Judgement
Ted Hawkins – this late folk/soul/blues/rock singer only left us with a few albums, but there’s more heart, sorrow and soul in them than most of his contemporaries who outlived him.
Listen To: Big Things
You Won’t – a Boston duo who compose quirky, clever indie pop songs.
Listen To: Three Car Garage
The Go! Team – this large collective makes joyous indie rock, 80’s hip-hop, and 70’s action movie theme music, and seems to still coalesce into a cognizant band with a real identity.
Listen To: Huddle Formation
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