obscure music

[dougbrown93]

whats the criteria for obscure?

[tomtom]

one of the most obscure records i had was "traveling people of ireland" not folk more industrial field recordings, lots of banging of oil drums and the like. in my" find a nice record a nice home" i give it away to a very deserving home.

[kelbow]

I saw Gordon Gano do a solo gig here in Melbourne in April (Violent Femmes are still unusually big down here, and they were in town at the same time, funnily enough). Anyhow, the audience indulged him as he went through that solo album track by track and he was -- fabulous. Didn't think he'd hold everyone's interest like he did. To top it all off, he did a killer Folsom Prison Blues to finish off with, which was pure tears. Well worth the $25 I couldn't afford to get in.

Obscurely speaking, I watched the gig with Richard, the keyboard player from The Stems (60s revivalists big in the 80s, from Perth) and Sean and Sean from Perth band No Flowers (formerly No Flowers, No Wedding Dress). Wow.

[Narodnaia Volia]

N.V wrote "of course, they guy is great"

What do it mean, ............"they guy"
Maybe a question for Paco or his amigo

fucking hell... totally paco!

I'm dyslexic tho... i have an excuse

[Narodnaia Volia]

Thanks Kelbow... i was interested in the album before, but now i think i'll ad it to my list.
I stopped buying Violent Femme ages ago... but they are classic. The 80s had some good stuff in the end. Their 1st album had a deluxe edition released last year with some live tracks.
I didn't know they were big in australia...

I could be wrong, but I think he's about as obscure as bread and jam

for me he isn't obscure at all... but most people never heard of Calvin Johnson and for me he is much more known than Gordon.

whats the criteria for obscure?

Something that most people haven't heard of but not because it's shit, but because it's... let's say... ecentric. Or something you can't find at most record shop cos people probably don't know it exists

[dougbrown93]

obscure in that you LIKE it cos its good or cos noone else has heard it and it makes you look cool?

[Narodnaia Volia]

obscure in that you LIKE it cos its good or cos noone else has heard it and it makes you look cool?

cos it's good, please. I'm too old to listen to obscure music only because it's cool.

[bob scure]

obscure is relative.

to a robbie williams/TOTP fan everyone on this board is into obscure music...bmx, pastels, tfc, tyde etc.

but if your starting point is tfc/pastels/beat happening then obscure is further out. and if your staring oint is further out...etc etc.

there is good music being made today that 99.99% of the population will never hear and it is cool to dig deeper and unearth these gems.

it's cool to be cool but once again being cool is also relative.

[dougbrown93]

good point well made bob scure.....your kewl

[Narodnaia Volia]

but if your starting point is tfc/pastels/beat happening then obscure is further out. and if your staring oint is further out...etc etc.

that's my starting point of course. Something lo-fi, experimental but melodic and pretty or more artistic, like Jad. 'Homemade' honest stuff... you know.

[Dented dwellings]

There is a band who were on the radio recently who only play vegetables, and i think they are Austrian. It sounded fine. That might be obscure? They also cooked the vegetables afterwards and shared them with audience. I like that. Thats not obscure, but quite friendly.

Obscure can also be dark or hidden (not deliberately so). Further research, Beckett meanderings and lots of shoe leather can be both rewarding and frustrating.

[the viaduct]

hey maui!

maher shalal hash baz is not wilfully obscure, but more people need to know about their music. the group leader tori kudo lives in rural japan and works as a musician and potter - his pottery his beautiful too. maher make beautiful, melodic, melancholic pop music that is really like nothing on earth. tori started the group with the intention of combining his own syd barrett influenced cutting guitar style with the inexpert euphonium playing of his friend, hiroo nakazaki. tori is a virtuoso pianist and can score out music faster than anyone i've ever seen. his choice is often to play with non-musicians in order to avoid cliche.

it's a contradiction if say they sound like nothing on earth and then give you a big list of groups they sound like, but in reviews they've been compared at different times to moondog, red crayola, the beach boys, captain beefheart and the magic band, the shaggs, the pastels, vernon elliot's clangers music, but almost never the same thing twice. they're my favourite group and the reason why we started geographic.

they're coming over the the uk at the end of october and you should definitely try to check them out. if you're looking for a starting off point you could try maher on water or wait around for their beautiful new ep, open field.

[land]

hullo narodny volia, you should risk life and limb for maher, not that you'll have to hopefully. i got a record by reiko kudo today, called "rice field silently riping in the night". she plays in maher. some of the songs are muscly mingus like, and others are like a gentle, cool wind on your forehead. they are top.[/b]

[Narodnaia Volia]

they're coming over the the uk at the end of october and you should definitely try to check them out. if you're looking for a starting off point you could try maher on water or wait around for their beautiful new ep, open field.

I just got a call from Eduardo and he said 30th October with The Pastels? Correct? I'll definitelly go and will definitelly check on maher shalal hash baz (if only i could pronouce that). If worth starting a record label, i bet it worth at least checking it out.

I heard good things about reiko kudo album, Land, so i'll add you suggestion as well

thanks