I like to have Last.fm on during work sometimes, and occasionally it really does discover me an artist I actually like. Not as good as Pandora of course (RIP), but welcome nonetheless. I’ve decided to showcase some bands I’ve found over the years, some through LFM, others through luck and chance. Here then are a few bands you’ve never heard of.
Howards Alias – “Southampton based Howards Alias came to life at the tail end of 1999, and after a various self released demos and gigs, released their debut album “The Chameleon Script” (2002) on Good Clean Fun Records, to a very positive reaction. After touring the album relentlessly, in January 2004 the band recorded 3 songs for a split release with US band DESA, ready for the bands’ joint UK tour together.”
The wikipedia article has this to say about their split: “… Jon and Steve really felt that they didn’t really have any stability at home. Neither of them had a place to live, so they were sleeping on mates’ floors and things like that. They couldn’t afford to buy food a lot of the time. After a while it kind of got to them both. …”
Comeback Kid – Originally from one of the guys at work… “Comeback Kid (CBK for short) is a hardcore band from Winnipeg, Canada, formed in 2002 by Andrew Neufeld and Jeremy Hiebert, who were both members of the band Figure Four, currently on hiatus.”
Billy Talent – Staying on a Canadian theme, I first saw Billy Talent at Download Festival. “Billy Talent is a Juno Award-winning Canadian rock band formed in 1993. They performed and recorded together for about a decade before finding a wide mainstream following. Originally called Pezz, the group originates from Mississauga, Ontario, but now hail from Toronto, Ontario. The band, as of September 2007, finished 16 months of touring, and have returned home to work on their new album.”
Sonic Boom Six – A LFM classic… “Formed in Manchester, England in 2002, Sonic Boom Six represent the most compelling soundclash to rise from the underground in years.”
Jonathan Coulton – A geek favourite, more recently known for composing the end theme for the game Portal, Still Alive. “Every week for a year Coulton released a new song for free on his website as part of his Thing a Week podcast, on topics as diverse as vengeful nerds, self-loathing giant squid, partially-imagined historical figures, and devotees of a certain Swedish prefab furniture store.”
MC Frontalot – Geekier still, MC Frontalot is the founder of his own genre, Nerdcore. “MC Frontalot is the stage name of Damian Hess, a hip hop musician and self-proclaimed “world’s 579th-greatest rapper.” Many of his songs deal with things nerdy in nature, which has led him to be categorized as nerdcore, a word he himself coined in his first single, “Nerdcore Hip Hop”.”
Honourable mention: Captain Everything!, [spunge], Nouvelle Vague, Puffy AmiYumi, Rival Schools
Keep your ears open kids.
