Why is the best music (usually) the stuff noone's heard of?

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Was having a chat with a friend with (IMHO) reasonably mainstream tastes - eg Evanescence, System of a Down etc. I was suggesting some other bands that she hadn't heard of - eg Skinny Puppy, Curve etc. Then I realised that it's almost a rule of thumb that the more obscure the band, the better the music. This applies all your indie stuff (Mew, Sigur Ros, Luke Haines whatever) as much as to the goth/industrial scene. So why is that?

― Mike Travis, Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:36 (twenty years ago)

"the masses are asses"

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:38 (twenty years ago)

This is actually rubbish.

Mew are good, though. Can't understand why all the praise lavished upon Sigur Ros isn't diverted their way.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:40 (twenty years ago)

oh this could get ugly

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:40 (twenty years ago)

this thread's future doesn't look pretty

― jmeister (jmeister), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:41 (twenty years ago)

you beat me to it gear

but yeah mike, might i suggest lurking longer before posting a question like yours. i posted a rather ridiculous question months ago and got lambasted. it wasnt fun. maybe youre drunk, i was.

― jmeister (jmeister), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:44 (twenty years ago)

[not gonna argure thread premise]
there are thousands of obscure bands that are awful, but because they're awful they don't have word-of-mouth advertising and are truly "stuff no one's heard". so for a band to even survive and propogate its material without mainstream promotion, it almost has to be good...at least to a sizeable minority.
also see: mcdonald's versus that great family-owned italian joint down the road

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:44 (twenty years ago)

i adore galaxie 500, but they ain't fleetwood mac.

― jimmy glass (electricsound), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:45 (twenty years ago)

I sympathise with this view, really, I do. But its accuracy varies with your exact definition of "obscure".

Frequently: "The stuff nobody's heard of" = the stuff I've heard, but the cloth-eared mainstream hasn't.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:46 (twenty years ago)

Sometimes I chew up a couple of mainstream CDs and use the resulting paste as a spread between two intact obscure CDs.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:46 (twenty years ago)

I would agree with this to a degree based on the fact that so many people I've met don't know anything more obscure than Radiohead, and mainstream music is just the tip of a huge, huge iceberg.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:47 (twenty years ago)

also good mainstream artists' output is so omnipresent and their influence so pervasive that one tends to take it for granted, and then seek out more quirky stuff that perks their jaded ears. this new stuff often has a cool/rebel/outlaw/seeker/connoseur cachet to it that induces people to rate it more highly than the may have otherwise, eg "the best music".

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:51 (twenty years ago)

this is like the marissa marchant thread but way way less entertaining
-- latebloomer (posercore24...), August 7th, 2005.

THIS POST IS TRANSFERABLE

― PappaWheelie II, Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:54 (twenty years ago)

i agree that the best stuff is the stuff that peter noone has heard of. cuz he has boss taste. i also agree that the stuff that i have never heard is probably best. or maybe the stuff that i loathe best. or the stuff that i have heard that i have forgotten to hate.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:55 (twenty years ago)

i think marissa should go to that milonakis thread and scare every googler away. hes ripe for a marissa rant surely.

― jmeister (jmeister), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:56 (twenty years ago)

xpost to pappa

― jmeister (jmeister), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:57 (twenty years ago)

galaxie 500 -vs- a big mac

it's tougher than you might think. since i have easy access to galaxie 500 records - they are in the next room - and not to mcnuggets, fries, and mcdonalds shakes - due to the anti-chaingang laws of the island i live on - i would have to pick mcdonalds. mcdonalds - where i live - is much more obscure than galaxie 500 (whose entire recorded output is available for sale at the one and only record store here.)

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 01:59 (twenty years ago)

ts. galaxie 500 vs. beer

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:02 (twenty years ago)

i'm drinking beer right now! i should put on a galaxie 500 record and see how that works together.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:04 (twenty years ago)

now you are being silly. even bad beer beats nerdrock. even great nerdrock.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:04 (twenty years ago)

i would think a beer and a galaxie 500 record would sound good in april. i dunno about now. but keep us updated.

i am going to listen to rumors. or thriller.

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:05 (twenty years ago)

i'm drinking beer right now! i should put on a galaxie 500 record and see how that works together.

i'M going to try this experiment myself.

― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:07 (twenty years ago)

i do agree that almost anything is better than system of a down and evanescence. even busch beer.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:08 (twenty years ago)

wow am i drunk or is this band really slooow

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

i would rather drink warm pils than listen to sigur ros

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

i love the idea of the great unheard music of the world being skinny puppy and curve. that is truly rad.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:10 (twenty years ago)

sigur ros' music evokes majestic imagery!

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:10 (twenty years ago)

wow am i drunk or is this band really slooow

a little from column A and a little from column B

― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:11 (twenty years ago)

http://www.moviepostershop.com/item_img/fa291.jpg

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:11 (twenty years ago)

i saw sigur ros drunk on beer. they made me feel woozy.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:11 (twenty years ago)

the singer looks like a bug with long tentacles on stage cuz he is holding a violin bow and his arms are really long and skinny. it's creepy.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:12 (twenty years ago)

when i went into my living room to put on a record i was shocked to find i dont actually own rumors or thriller. so i put on minor threat.

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:15 (twenty years ago)

I love all of you right this second. (I am currently listening to the Fall and have no beer.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:18 (twenty years ago)

i have never heard rumors

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:19 (twenty years ago)

man, dean wareham sure sounds nasal, doesn't he?

― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:19 (twenty years ago)

i don't like mew, lock thread.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:20 (twenty years ago)

i may actually put on g500 after this

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:20 (twenty years ago)

minor threat sound GREAT with beer, ironically enough.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:21 (twenty years ago)

all straightedge sounds better with beer. LOTS of beer.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:21 (twenty years ago)

even JUDGE?

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:23 (twenty years ago)

fuck, that solo on "snowstorm" rules. so do the drums on "strange". fucking awesome album. is there a thread to revive?

― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:24 (twenty years ago)

i wonder if i still have that gorilla biscuits record

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:24 (twenty years ago)

Yes, even Judge!! I so want that new Judge comp.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:25 (twenty years ago)

There is a new Bold comp too. I want that! I broke my wrist at a Bold show once. I was drunk on Rumpelmintz though, not beer.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:26 (twenty years ago)

hXc

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:28 (twenty years ago)

*HiC*

(that would be my tattoo)

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:31 (twenty years ago)

a lot of hardcore band names sounded like detergents

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:32 (twenty years ago)

well, BOLD, IS a detergent name, no?

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:34 (twenty years ago)

it's gppd thois galaxie 500!

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:35 (twenty years ago)

and JUDGE is a classic muscle car. Paul Revere & The Raiders did a song about it. I think it's just a GTO, right? I know nothing about cars. My neighbor had one. It was ungodly loud and cool looking.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:36 (twenty years ago)

There is so totally a U2 cover band playing in town either tonight or this weekend. Talk about unjustly obscure. I saw their poster today and they looked very serious.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:38 (twenty years ago)

what era U2?

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:38 (twenty years ago)

i think they are called Joshua Tree.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:39 (twenty years ago)

if it was machphisto, that'd be some good watchin

― strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:39 (twenty years ago)

okay, according to their web-site, it's totally tonight, but i'm not going out now. i'm too lazy:

http://www.joshuatreeband.com/

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:42 (twenty years ago)

here are the songs they do:

Joshua Tree song list:

I will follow
11 o'clock tick tock
gloria
pride
bad
new years day
running to stand still
cry / the electric co.
sunday bloody sunday
two hearts beat as one
an cat dubh / into the heart
where the streets have no name
i still haven't found what i'm looking for
bullet the blue sky
40
In God's country
out of control
one
a sort of homecoming
in a little while
with or without you
exit
even better than the real thing
trip through your wires
beautiful day
stuck in a moment
elevation
Party Girl
All I Want Is You
desire
walk on
Vertigo
City of Blinding Lights
All Because of You

Just added:
The Ocean
Touch
Another Time Another Place
Things to Make and Do
Stories For Boys
Twilight

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:44 (twenty years ago)

haha they completely ignore the '90s

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:47 (twenty years ago)

wait no, there's one tune

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:48 (twenty years ago)

pussies

― gear (gear), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:48 (twenty years ago)

A U2 tribute band should only cover Pop

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 11 August 2005 02:51 (twenty years ago)

All's good - the thread is getting a reasonable level of response and noone has ripped me a new one. Obviously the music I've listed won't meet everybody's standard of mainstream/obscure (and I know y'all can get a lot more mainstream/obscure) - they're merely meant to be indicative of (an admittedly broad) issue.

― Mike Travis, Thursday, 11 August 2005 04:24 (twenty years ago)

i kinda liked that u2 tribute band on "entourage" last week.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 11 August 2005 04:47 (twenty years ago)

We've got this far without any Herman's Hermits gags?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 11 August 2005 05:07 (twenty years ago)

Obscure != good and the reason it seems more "obscure" music is better is because you probably get a lot of your insight on music from people who have already paid the price of time and/or money to weed out the good obscure music from the bad. By the time you get recommended what will seem to be an "obscure" choice it will be because it was likely something noteworthy enough to stand out from the other 99% of music that will never get recommended to you. The cost of knowledge is so relatively low on ILM for what is a good choice of music from a genre that the success rate here will be much better than on a board where people haven't listened to as much. That's why such a simple list such as "Give me your top 100 songs right now" will turn out more amazing (obscure) gems on here than on a board where people don't have as much knowedge about pop music.

But this topic is about coke and Galaxie 500 now or something so maybe I'm just NERD'D this thing up.

― Cunga (Cunga), Thursday, 11 August 2005 05:08 (twenty years ago)

-- scott seward (skotro...), August 11th, 2005 12:55 PM. (later)

― jimmy glass (electricsound), Thursday, 11 August 2005 05:10 (twenty years ago)

Good point Cunga - OTM in fact. Now I just need someone to weed out the good mainstream music from the bad. That seems like a bigger ask.

― Mike Travis, Thursday, 11 August 2005 05:27 (twenty years ago)

Another answer (and probably better) would be that the reason recommended obscure music is unusually good is the exact same reason all the people you'll ever meet in life who've actually played Russian roulette will have suffered no injuries from the game. Both the bad obscure music (unless you're gimmicky bad like the Shaggs) and the dead R.R. players by nature won't have made it to stage two and can easily be forgotten to be considered by those looking at the numbers of those still around.

― Cunga (Cunga), Thursday, 11 August 2005 06:04 (twenty years ago)

it's like deja vu all over again

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 11 August 2005 06:16 (twenty years ago)

"also see: mcdonald's versus that great family-owned italian joint down the road"

that's a great analogy!!!!
it's odd, but i think age has a major factor in it. i keep meeting more and more people who've never thought about trying to scratch beyond the surface of what they listen to. they'll listen to stuff they liked when they were really young (nostalgia trip) and newer stuff (current hits) but they rarely try to dig up the "influences" of what they like. they just want more of it.
also, coming from a small town, it was WAY harder to get any obscure stuff because the record shops wouldn't stock much that didn't sell. tho, there was a camelot music that employed some rather dedicated peoples that would occasionally turn me onto to something good and relatively unheard of. then, if you were lucky (perhaps?) you got to hang around the older kids, whose tastes were usually more 'extreme' and more 'indie'-tinged. hence my love of early Butthole Surfers, Primus, Dino Jr., and a host of others that i might not've tried.
people get hung up on what's currently hawt, and not what made what.
end digression.

― eedd, Thursday, 11 August 2005 10:01 (twenty years ago)

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