Music you might have missed

Category: Music

I've been wanting to do this for awhile now. Everyone has in their music collection some real sonic gems that for whatever reason have remained relatively unknown. I've got several in my collection most people have never heard of and thought I'd share a few here. Hopefully others will let us in on some of their own little-known jewels as well. In no particular order...

Joanne Shenandoah--Matriarch
Overheard this gem in an audio store where a guy was auditioning some Wilson speakers. Joanne has taken Native American songs and polished them up for us. Fairly simple, straightforward and maybe a bit repetitive at times, but Joanne's lilting siren voice is wonderful. Check this one out.

Loreena McKennitt--The Book of Secrets
Ok, maybe this one is well known. But if you haven't heard it, you're missing out. In the same genus as Enya but is its own species (and probably better). Just discovered this one and have really enjoyed it.

Fred Benedetti and Peter Pupping--Here Comes the Sun
These two guitarists have put together all-guitar arrangements of popular songs from the 60's and 70's (Beatles, Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel and more). They have a couple different CD's out. This just happens to be one. Great guitar work and well recorded. And the songs are played straight up; they don't try to mess with a good thing.

John Denver--The Wildlife Concert
We've all heard Denver before, but this dual CD is something special. I wasn't a fan of his at all until I heard it. The backup musicians are all top drawer and these renditions of almost all his hits surpass the original versions in every way. This is also available on DVD. I've got both and have really enjoyed them.

Crash Test Dummies--God Shuffled His Feet
Don't let the quirky name fool you. This is good stuff. The lyrics are bizarre but lead singer Brad Robert has a rich baritone voice that makes it all work. I turned my fifty-something-year-old mother into a convert.

Mecano--entre el cielo y el suello
Mecano hail from Spain, and they're virtually unheard of in America unless you happen to speak Spanish. If you don't, you'll miss out on some very unique and poetic lyrics. But the music alone might make it worth it for you. Hard to nail them down, but in general they're sort of a sophisticated Pop sound. Mecano is one of my all time favorite bands.

Soundtrack to The Power of One
If you like Hans Zimmer's The Lion King, you'll enjoy his earlier work here. The Lion King was good, but this is considerably better. It's African choir music with a western touch. Very nice.

Of course, music is a very individual thing, so your mileage may vary. I recommend you log on to a site like amazon.com or cdnow.com and listen to snippets of these CDs before you lay down the long green. But I've enjoyed each of these quite a bit. Hopefully, some of you will find these right up your alley. I'd love to hear recommendations from others. Enjoy!