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Putting the quirky back in the Afterwordy. Time for those wonderful none-hit wonders that are so dear to your heart!

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Mr Saucecraft has spent the last week compiling an excellent Afterword-Friendly elpee which maps out the artists that we are all largely in agreement on. Hats off to him for all his efforts!

But now, perverse bastard that I am, I want to hear about the opposite: those artists who you hold very dear but have a diminutive following here.

When we have the poll of the year, I enjoy rummaging through those artists who have only had one or two enthusiastic mentions. DuCool’s’s annual list is invariably a cracker. Magnificently obscure!

I am also very keen to read when one of our contributors returns full of enthusiasm from Celtic Connections, Coachella, Ronny Scott’s Club, Jazzclub Fasching, a bar on the beach in Bahia, the Festival Interceltique in Lorent, Britanny, an Early Music Festival in Paris, a tiny folk club in the Faroe Islands, Cropreddy, the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans etc etc. There is always news of some wonderful artists who are not on the Afterword radar.

I’m not asking for obscurity for the sake of it. But I won’t turn my back on niche artists either!

Just to get us started, here are a few of my favourites who didn’t make it onto Hp’s sample.

Stile Antico, Ernest Ranglin, Cesaria Evora, Al Green, Adriana Calcanhotto, Madredeus, Gal Costa, Mariza, The Triffids, Feist, Men I trust, Ketama, Pino Daniele, Sailif Keita, Air, Lhasa de Sela, Caetano Veloso, Les Arts Florissants, Bill Frisell, Fatback Band, The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican, Indila, Orchestre Baobab, Tiken Jah Fakoley, Khaled, Olavi Virta, Kings of Convenience, The Congos, The Bamboos, etc etc

I’m so mainstream, it’s embarrassing. But I know you are not!

Surprise us! Delight us! It’s nice to be Niche!

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Comments

  1. I’ve been listening to Brazilian music all week, so let’s kick off with Caetano Veloso singing a duet with Maria Gadu. Magic!

    I discovered João do Vale yesterday! A new favourite.

      • I saw Spinach for the Masses and Boffalongo at an all-nighter at the Roundhouse back in the 60s. What a a bill! Edgar Broughton, Pink Fairies, Nirvana, Acker Bilk, Soft Machine, The Singing Nun, Tir Na Nog, MC5… and only 10 shillings to get in!

        Boffalongo never really got over their bongo player getting busted at JFK on their first US tour. And the Spinaches decamped to a vegan commune in Pantypwdyn and were never heard of again. What a waste!

  3. I wouldn’t say he’s obscure but Josh Rouse doesn’t seem popular around here but I’ve been a big fan for the last twenty odd years.
    One that might fit the criteria better is Kevin Tihista. He’s not very prolific but Modern Standard is the one to listen to first.
    Described by wikipedia:
    Kevin Tihista is a singer-songwriter and musician. He is a former bassist for the Chicago group Triple Fast Action and contributed songs to the Veruca Salt album Resolver. Tihista’s solo music is a mixture of pop and rock combining orchestration, electronica, vamping, and multi-tracking. Much of his solo work has been released under the eponym, “Kevin Tihista’s Red Terror,” a musical collaboration between Tihista and brothers Tom and Ellis Clark of the band “Epicycle.”

    • I’m also a big fan of John Rouse, from Dressed Up Like Nebraska and Nashville to the more recent stuff. I prefer his earlier albums – his move to Spain had the effect of turning him from mellow into soporific, but he’s still worth a listen.

      • Somebody burned me a Tihista compilation years ago. I’ll have to dig it out as I remember enjoying it at the time (no idea where it is and a lot of CDrs have been dumped or lost during various house/country moves)

      • Yeah, quality control really dipped for a while then, I think it coincided with him leaving Rykodisc and putting stuff out himself, but then it picked back up but without quite reaching those heights again.
        I was replying to Boneshaker…

  6. I know I’m not alone in my deep and long-held affection for Hank Wangford, but he doesn’t come up often. He’s still plugging away making lovely music at the age of 83. Here he is in his pomp in 1983, with Brad Breath, Irma Citas and the rest of the gang.

    And here’s a recent effort with slideist Noel Dashwood.

    • We sometimes drive near Wangford, where I believe he got his stage name from, and his name always pops into my head when I see the road sign even though until now I don’t think I’ve heard any of his music.

      • He did indeed. I published his book Lost Cowboys and got to know him quite well in the 90s. He used to go to Sarajevo on a Hercules to do emergency gynaecology during the war, and I said to him once, ‘Keep your head down, Hank.’ He replied, ‘I’m a gynaecologist , that’s what I do.’ 🙂

        Bobby Valentino, the fiddle player, had a lucrative side hustle as a Clark Gable lookalike.

        • When I worked in Wembley, in the late 80s, one of the ladies had known Hank for many years and said he wore a little gold badge on his white coat that said “fuck”. All his patients loved him.
          Bobby Valentino plays live with The Men They Couldn’t Hang, an essential part of their sound now. Also, the brother of Anne Dudley of.The Art of Noise, he had a hip replacement a year or two back. Still recognisable, if a little crumpled looking. I exchanged a few words with him once and he has the deepest voice I’ve ever heard.

  7. I’ll tell you an artiste who I rate really, really highly but no one here or elsewhere is bothered about: Mishka. I’ve banged on about him before, but no one ever takes any notice of my opinions when it comes to culture and the arts. (Quite the opposite when it comes to politics, a field wherein I feel my expertise has been successful in converting most of the AW away from their inbred fascism.)
    Mishka is a stoner and a surfer from Bermuda. He’s made loads of albums, but two particularly stand out for me on account of my not having heard the others. Above The Bones and its acoustic companion album Guy With A Guitar. His music is very much in the Bob Marley vein, only better. (Except not better than Exodus or Legend, cos they’re my favourites, but almost.) I challenge anyone to go on Spotify, listen to any track on either Above The Bones or Guy With A Guitar and not come away thinking their life has been wasted.

    • Sorry, Gar! I blacked out somewhere about “no one ever takes any notice of my opinions” which isn’t exactly true. Like Lodestone, your taste in anything is a roadmap of places I don’t want to go, and I respect your opinions as highly as that stripy tape police put around crime scenes.

    • Just the sort of personal recommendation I was hoping for, @Gary. You stick to your guns. I’m playing him now and it’s really hitting the spot.

      When I finish my playlist for this thread, I think I’m going to remember exactly who made each suggestion. That will make it all far more personal and interesting to revisit.

  14. Spanish indie/shoegaze anyone? Thought not. But I’m very fond of Linda Guilala. They’re even obscure in Spain but they do what they do very well. A couple of examples here.

    • Nice work, @Guiri! I’m definitely on for some “mirando los zapatos”.

      One pleasant surprise for me this summer was to see what an enormous, enthusiastic crowd Rosalia attracted at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. She treated us to a remarkable live show and it was all in Spanish, except for a few words in English to the audience.

      Another superstar from Spain who hits the spot for me: C Tangana.

  15. Some for thought – Govt Mule – Mojo Fury – Bam Bam – Azure Wolf – Diamanda Galas – Airbag – Wobbler – Aunt Mary – Soup – Tongue – Nodens Ictus – American Blues Exchange.

    My latest vibe is THE JOLLY BOYS “GREAT EXPECTATION” – great versions of Passenger – Rehab – Do It Again – I Fought The Law & Ring Of Fire. & MORE. All sung/Played in a Old Fashioned “JAH MON” accents – a sort of cross between blue beat – Ska – Reggae.

    • Lots of great suggestions there, Jack. All new to me!

      The Jolly Boys Great Expectation have really brightened my snowy, misty Stockholm afternoon.

      Instant party!
      They must be wonderful live.

        • Yes Steve a couple of nah tracks admittedly – Hanging On The Telephone – Blue Monday – Golden Brown – BUT to me it is the voice/cadence/accent whatever that makes smile – even if not best cover versions – just think of Old Retirees 75+ have a sing-a-long while puffing on a reefer & chugging Jugs of Jamaican rum – JAH MON that is Lubberlee.

          • I completely agree with you @Jack Kelsey. They are just so much fun.

            I don’t expect a definitive cover version. They just created a wonderful party atmosphere. I would have really loved to see them live.

            If they had played Roskilde, the crowd would have gone bananas. That Sydney audience is so very sedate.

      • Looked up the Jolly’s wiki profile – been around since 1945 – YES – 1945 – have put out a fair swag of albums including “Live In Tokyo” & “Live In Sweden” – both audiences would have needed interpreters – BUT would have enjoyed the vibe.
        In answer to your “all new to..” my S-I-l (sisterinlaw) just rolls her eyes & says very Eclectic when I mention or play my music – especially when I let rip with Chance McCoys Appalachian String Band – a great YEE HAW hoedown Fiddly Fiddly Dee, on my mobile.

      • Which Tongue did you mean, @Jack Kelsey?

        Believe it or not, there are four or five bands with that name on Spotify!

        Almost all the names on your list, other than Diamanda Galas, are new to me. Yet further proof of the wonderful diversity of the AW.

        • G’Day KFD – The “TONGUE” I was referring to is/was American band around late 60’s early 70’s – I checked Spotty for them BUT no luck – they appear in/on You Tube via a video version – which even paying Premium I can’t get the album (music only) into my download folder????????
          As for “new names to U..” Govt Mule has put out over 20 albums -Warren Haynes major axe man in the Americana/Jam Band/TedeskicTrucks/Allman Bros/Grateful Dead genre – The other newbies are a mix of punk/new wave/prog/electronica etc – very eclectic – No!

          • I’d heard of Gov’t Mule @Jack Kelsey but not heard much by them. I must give them a listen. No joy tracking down anything about Tongue. Can you name one of their songs or their albums? I hate to give up! Greetings from soggy Stockholm.

            • Will This Do ?? Hope it helps you
              Artist / Group:
              Tongue
              Title:
              Tongue
              Available Format:
              cd
              Price:
              CD:$13.50 U.S. dollars
              Track List:
              1) Homely Man Blues
              2) Get Your Shit Together
              3) The Earth Song
              4) The Prophet
              5) Sidewalk Celebration
              6) Slap Her Down Again Paw
              7) Every TIme
              8) Get Down
              9) Morning Dew
              10)Jazz On The Rag
              11)Keep On Truckin’
              12)Hashish
              13)Stained Glass Window
              14)Hey Hey Moma
              Total Time- 47:11

              The great and extremely rare 1969 LP from this Wisconsin band that toured extensively with SOUP!! Their 1969 fuzzed-out hard rocking Lp plus never before heard bonus tracks from 1970!!Man, their Re-Union gig at UW Stout in Menonomie 20 October 2001 was a real blast!!

              Unfortunately the Dude (a re-issue mob) does NOT post beyond the U.S. – I’m looking for it via Germany – Netherlands – I have to self justify the $$$$ cost for a re-issue after currency conversion to OZ $$.
              Govt. Mule do some top stuff such as “Stoned Side of the Mule” “Dark side of the Mule” “Dub Side Of The Mule” – paying homage to bands & other genres.

  16. female artists without a top 40 hit LIz Phair, A Girl Called Eddy, Jenny Lewis … none of the obscure but not a success with the usual record buying public

  18. There’s an album I’m very fond of called Dreams That Rhyme by RJ Jones and the Nectarthugs (shame about the name). As far as I know, it’s the only album he/they made. The best track for me is this one (which has been covered (it’s on YouTube but nowhere else) by the much better known Molly Tuttle and Jack Tuttle).

  19. I really like Kacy & Clayton who are a Canadian folk duo. Kacy’s voice is very distinctive, with a bit of a Shirley Collins timbre to it. Her 2nd cousin Clayton is a fine guitarist. An acquaintaince of mine gave me a copy of their 2015 album Strange Country a few years ago and I was very taken with it. To me it’s reminiscent of early Fairport. Earlier this month on Bandcamp Friday I bought their 2 follow-ups, one of which is produced by Jeff Tweedy. They’re sounding good so far. During the pandemic they were contacted by New Zealand singer / songwriter Marlow Williams, possessor of a fabulous Roy Orbinson-like croon. He and Kacy wrote a bunch of songs together and he 3 of them got together at first post-Covid opportunity to record Plastic Bouquet which is a terrfic record and my favourite album of 2020. 11 short songs, mostly in classic country & western style. What I love about it is that it almost timeless and sounds like it could have been recorded anytime within about the last 75 years. Here’s a live version of the title track from Kacy & Clayton’s Strange Country:

  21. My list would include : Lewis Taylor, Dubtribe Sound System, Eddi Reader, Young Gun Silver Fox, Melanie Di Biasio, Fat Freddy’s Drop, James Hunter, Michael Franks, Jorma Kaukonen, Boozoo Bajou, Chip Wickham, Tenderlonious. Nothing too wilfully obscure but all worth checking out.
    Oh, and a mention for Manfred Mann Chapter Three. Obviously, his original band and the Earth Band were much better known but Chapter Three are, to memory interesting than either.

    • A wonderful list @jazzjet. Thanks! Several old favourites like Jorma. Bless its pointed little head was one of the first LPs I bought.

      I didn’t know that song was a Fred Neil cover.

      And Eddi, such a glorious voice!

      And lots of new names.

      You are very welcome to be wilfully obscure if you want to be! I have a fondness for the roads and paths less travelled.

  22. I’ll get some progressive bands out of the way first, since the pendulum has swung once more and prog is niche again on these boards. So VdGG, Gentle Giant, Henry Cow , etc – all mentioned in dispatches, but often (not always) accompanied by some double-edged comment to demonstrate…something or other.

    But apart from that: my list might include Big Hogg, Välvē, Zopp, Antique-Seeking Nuns, The Anchoress and Art Bears. And Dagmar Krauss. And everything Eno has ever recorded.

    And Field Music – I seriously love Field Music and their spin-off music. Apart from an occasional mention by Mr Fenton, they seem to have dropped off the radar here. Shame.

        • You certainly may @fitterstoke! That’s what I am here for!

          This does sound intriguing!

          https://valvemusic.bandcamp.com/

          What an interesting door you’ve opened here!

          https://budsandspawn.co.uk/valve-and-persona/

          “V Ä L V Ē originally started out as the outlet for composer/performer Chlöe Herington’s (Chrome Hoof, Knifeworld) compositional work using text and image as the starting point for scores. She collects sounds and diagrams, composing predominantly for bassoon, saxes, electronics and found sounds to explore synaesthetic memory and collective experience.

          The band has morphed – from what originated as a solo project, performing mainly in art galleries, it grew to include Elen Evans on harp. After moving from galleries back into music venues, they were recently joined by Chlöe’s Chrome Hoof comrade, Emma Sullivan on bass, microkorg and vocals. Live, the music traverses the realms of noise and improv into songs, punctuated with found sounds and eases into spacey soundscapes. Highlights to date include having the honour of closing the Barn stage at Supernormal (2017) and, equally, being played by John Doran on BBC R3’s Late Junction.”

          The support band looked interesting:

          “Support comes from Sheffield’s Persona aka Raquel Vogl and Claire Williams, a ‘duo of guitar and voice with songs from the attic’. Raquel Vogl comes from Washington, DC/New York, where she was a dedicated participant of the long-standing experimental punk music communities there, playing in bands such as The Crainium, Legends, and Meltdown. Claire Williams (aka Myrtle) sang in the Canyon Family and Former Lover (with Dorian Cox of the Long Blondes). They are also one half of Sheffield ghost-pop/post-ghost punk band People Here. ”

          I rally ned to et upp to speed with “post-ghost punk bands”

          • To be frank, I am very far from “up to speed” – it’s more a chain of coincidence.
            The weird punk/prog amalgam of Cardiacs led me (via Kavus Torabi) to Knifeworld. That led me to Välvē via Chloe Herington.

            I suspect that listening to Henry Cow and Lindsey Cooper gives you an ear for a bassoon!

            In a similar vein, I read somewhere years ago that, with regard to Field Music, “you can hear that the lads listened to Gentle Giant when they were teenagers”. How could I resist? Of course, they didn’t sound anything like the Giant – but there was just a glimmer in the vocals, the arrangements etc – and I was hooked in! Now the prog connection is completely irrelevant – they’re just a brilliant band, with an approach and a sound that I really enjoy.

  23. Fave artists too numerous to mention that seldom / never get a mention on the AW – Justin Rutledge, The Decemberists, Kathleen Edwards, Ronny Elliott, Dylan Leblanc, Neal Casal, Peter Bruntnell, The Avett Brothers, Tift Merritt and Cracker to name but a few.

  24. My boy David Ford. Twenty years making a living as a solo artist, never had a hit or a sniff of one, or even a recording contract for most of it. He pretends not to care but yeah of course he does. One of his tunes did get lifted for a massive No.1 in France, so there’s that I suppose.

  26. I listen pretty regularly to various guitar players predominantly playing jazz or jazz inflected music such as Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, Ralph Towner or Rob Luft but not exclusively so. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Terry Riley’s son Gyan Riley mentioned hereabouts. The following is from an album he collaborated on last year with Fosse and Ben Almén called Ground.

      • Kansas Smitty’s seem to have gone a bit quiet since that excellent album.

        I went to a gig at the Vortex Jazz Club last Saturday to see Gary Crosby, Dennis Baptiste and Mark Kavuma playing a selection of Wayne Shorter tunes, with Andrew McCormack on piano and Rod Youngs on drums. Superb interplay and all on top form. Rod Youngs and Andrew McCormack were particularly good together.

        • I think getting all of them in the same place at the same time is becoming increasingly difficult. The drummer, for a start, is playing with Judi Jackson, Damian Lewis, and (many) others.

  28. In UK cinemas from tomorrow, Getting It Back: The Story Of Cymande. “The most influential band you’ve never heard of”. So that’s what I shall be doing tomorrow evening.

    Here’s some examples of their music.

    The Message

    Bra (this is the equivalent of today’s ‘bro’, nothing to do with undergarments)

  29. The Mod Revival (or “Renewal” as Garry Bushell would describe it) ran from 1978 to 1982/3 – basically from The Jam’s All Mod Cons to their demise (a simplistic timeline, but about right).
    So releasing your first album on a small independent label in 1985 may not be a commercially viable return. And then releasing a second two years later using Spartan Records as the distributor (just before it starts going under) is not going to get you a wide hearing.
    I’m indebted to Detour Records for re-releasing both these albums in 2011, even if The Gents still never got a huge audience.

  30. Sorry KFD. Yesterday was an extraordinarily busy day, from my 0245 alarm for work, through to seeing the folk club committee out the door at 2200.
    My contribution in such circumstances, usually well received, is Inge Thomson, friend to Karine Polwart, and muse to Lau’s Martin Green (quite apart from being the mother of his children).

    I will cogitate further contribution during another stupidly busy day ahead of me.

  31. I’ve just scrolled through the whole thread, not easy with all those videos even on my spanking new ipad, and I have a sneaking suspicion that some people are just making it up. I mean, Slapdash Willy for example, that’s just a mate who can’t aim very well isn’t it?

    • True. I believe there is a certain poetic license in evidence on this thread, @BryanD.

      But not much. I was quite convinced that Saucecraft had invented all the bands he named.

      Not at all! I really got egg on my face. All of them are on Spotify and rather good too.

      I’m very pleased that bands like indie power-poppers Zumpano from British Columbia are now back in the glare of the Afterword limelight.

      We are definitely in a musical Twilight Zone. Often I’ve asked, does this band really exist? Or have I imagined it?

      On @fitterstoke‘s recommendation I’ve just been listening to bassoonist Chlöe Herington’s (Chrome Hoof, Knifeworld) band V Ä L V Ē.

      No sweaty rock clubs for her! It started as solo project where she played in art galleries.

      Here are Chrome Hoof who are a total surprise. Splendidly funky and intergalactic!

            • @Kaisfatdad
              Oh, yes indeed!

              Music for a New Society has been one of my favourite albums for many years. When he re-recorded the songs after Lou Reed’s death (released as M:FANS IN 2016) it was hard to imagine how he could improve on it. Of course, his motivation was less about improving it as lighting and framing it in a different way. It’s less broken, perhaps and more brutal.

              A quote from an interview with Cale:
              “ Losing Lou [too painful to understand] forced me to upend the entire recording process and begin again…a different perspective – a new sense of urgency to tell a story from a completely opposite point of view – what was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!!!”

  32. Skipping over my tall chum, Eddi Reader and A Girl Called Eddy have already been mentioned upthread, a few from me.

    The Fat Lady Sings. My future best man and I followed them round in the early 90s. I’m still pals with Nick Kelly.

    Furniture. Surely the unluckiest band in the biz? You’ve all heard Brilliant Mind, so here’s Love Your Shoes instead. I’m still pals with Hammy.

    Eileen Rose. She came so close to making it, a month residency at the Borderline backed up by the boys from Del Amitri. I’m still pals with Eileen. Here’s the near-title track of her debut album:

    Have we mentioned Maria McKee yet? She could sing, she could shred, and her label pulled the plug on her. Here’s the title track of ther third album, performed live on the telly, which still gives me goosebumps. Girls aren’t supposed to play the guitar like that, are they? I’m not pals with Maria.

  34. I struggle with this. I don’t think of them as being obscure if I know about them I guess this is the most obscure single I can think of:

    …And The Native Hipsters – There Goes Concorde Again

  35. Here’s another candidate for consideration. After some time with Manfred Mann, including the Chapter Three material mentioned above (which I heartly recommend too), Mike Hugg put out a couple of solo LPs. Both are great works and his first one, titled ‘Somewhere’, is an absolute joy, including this beautiful song:

  36. Off the top of my head, a few of my favourites who do not get the recognition they deserve : The Fleshtones, Brian Charles, Alice Coltrane, Bettye Swan, Mulatu Astatke and The Real Kids.

    The Fleshtones (I saw them in November 83 at Night Moves in Glasgow, and I still think that is the greatest gig I ever saw. Miles Davis, Ramones, Clash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Cramps, James Brown – saw them all, loved them all, but this was 100% authentic garage rock)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bbJDFxUAu8 “The Lyres and the Real Kids, The Modern Lovers…”

    Brian Charles – HAS NO ONLINE PRESENCE!! But if you like powerpop, please hunt down his wonderful album Sadderdaydreaming https://www.discogs.com/master/812139-Brian-Charles-Sadderdaydreaming

    Alice Coltrane has an entirely undeserved reputation as difficult listening. Wonderful spiritual jazz

    Bettye Swan – one of countless wonderful soul singers

    Mulatu Astatke – Egyptian Jazz King

    The Real Kids – genuine Boston roots rock and roll

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