What unknown musical artist would you like to share with your fellow audiophiles?


When it comes to music, about half of my friends are "collectors" and the other half are true audiophiles. It seems the collectors are so obsessed with the size of their collections, that they leave no room in their budget for quality audio equipment. I think the audiophiles, with their focus on quality over quantity, are the ones with their priorities straight. So, unless you are on an unlimited budget, I'm guessing that audiophiles are more selective in their musical purchases. That being the case, I'm curious about what "buried treasures" have you been able to find? Thanks for responding and I look forward to discovering some good music, based on your suggestions.

I'll lead off with the band Crack The Sky, most notably their first two albums: "Crack The Sky" (1975) and "Animal Notes" (1976). I would describe them as a cross between Be Bop Deluxe and Frank Zappa. Their music is unique and totally unmistakable with anyone else. Choice cuts from the debut album are: "Ice;" She's a Dancer;" "Mind Baby" & "Sleep." Choice cuts from Animal Notes are: "Animal Skins;" "Wet Teenager;" Virgin....No" & "Maybe I Can Fool Everybody."
mitchagain
@kacomess- On the Shore is a very good record. It fits in with some of the other early 'freak folk' including Comus, First Utterance and Mellow Candle’s Swaddling Songs. Meg Baird, who is prolific, had a group of out Philly called Espers- also in the same vein, but more recent psych-folk. The vinyl is out of print as far as I know, but The Weed Tree is an especially good album. 
@bdp24 - "hard country' used to be called "country" until the advent of 'modern' country, which is really '70s rock, re-hashed. Kind of like undecaffeinated coffee. :)

Exactly @whart. Modern "Country" became big business with that ass hat Garth Brooks, but is even worse now. How disgusting are Rascal Flatts? There’s a couple hundred phony Country acts now, one worse than the next. Johnny, Merle, Buck, and Hank are puking in their graves.

Oh, and for you young fellers who haven't heard (or even heard of) Dave Edmunds, do yourself a huge favor and pick up his Get It album. You will hear Rock 'n' Roll performed as Keith Richards wished he was capable of. Chuck Berry guitar, Everly Brothers harmonies, and Sun Records production. 100 proof, Grade A, All American Rock 'n Roll, baby. His 1970's and 80's albums (and productions of other artists) are absolutely essential listening.

I’ve worked with many astonishing musicians I otherwise would never have heard of (live sound mixing, not booking the artists), and one worth mentioning is a fave, Anais Mitchell...did some shows with her over the years and recently saw her again simply as an audience member (just like you!) and was blown away...again...a beautiful singer songwriter who is about to become actually famous when her musical "Hadestown" hits Broadway in April.

A note about Dave Edmonds...I thought Rockpile was a great thing and he's a prolific producer also, but somewhere in the late 60s I heard an album of this burning blues stuff from a band called Love Sculpture, and I was amazed to later find out it was Edmonds playing guitar. A monster musician.

Yeah wolf, Edmunds made two Love Sculpture albums, one sort of Progressive, one pure Blues, like Peter Greens’ Fleetwood Mac. But it was when he went solo that he really found his forte. His hit single of Smiley Lewis’ "I Hear You Knocking" in 1970 (on his debut album, ironically entitled Rockpile) provided him with the $ to invest in Rockfield Studios in Wales, where he spent the next few years teaching himself how to recreate the sound of both the Sun Records Rockabilly he loved, and the Phil Spector Wall Of Sound he used on his second album, Subtle As A Flying Mallet. My all-time favorite Rock ’n’ Roll guitarist/singer/producer.

Speaking of under-acknowledged guitarists, Danny Gatton is as great a player as the world has ever heard. Vince Gill, himself a fine guitarist, nicknamed him The Humbler. A Telecaster master.

I think that when we talk about new or different or 'unknown' those terms are relative. Probably not many quality recorded acts that no one here will have never heard of. But there will be lots of those that not many of us have heard of.

I mentioned The Struts. They've been on the late night shows and were sort of the anchor act for the Victoria Secret Fashion show recently. So hardly unknown and they've been touring for 4 years. Still, a lot of folks here probably haven't heard of them.

One of my favorite and much lesser known acts is the Teskey Brothers. Heard of them here on Audiogon. If you like R&B in the vein of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, etc, you'll like these white kids from Australia. Good stuff. I emailed their agent a few weeks ago and they will be touring the US this summer.