The Top Five Most Underrated Artists (That You've Possibly Heard Of)

You know, once I thought more about this, they're all one hit wonders, who were surprisingly awesome. The kind of bands that you buy the album because of your insane addiction to that one song that you heard and then couldn't get out of your head. Well, here's my ode to the underdogs...

5. Poe
Remember her? The "Angry Johnny" or "Hey Pretty" chick? Well yeah, she's awesome. And what's even better is that she's supposed to be making music again, which she hasn't done since 2000's Haunted, a semi-autobiographical album and outlet for her grief after her father's death. I listened to that album, went a read her brother, Mark Danielewski's book, House of Leaves, then went back and listened to it again and it was even better. Both of her albums are utterly fantastic in their own ways. Hello was edgier. It was gritty, angry, girl rock and I loved every minute of it. In the decade of her "disappearance", she did occasionally make her voice heard. Collaborations with Conjure One and Fastball, as well as a few solo tracks for soundtracks and what not, leaked their way out. Also, she was the voice of the "single mother" in Repo: A Genetic Opera. There's your weird trivia for the day. Also, she's fucking phenomenal live. Absolutely electric.

4. Joan Osbourne
The "What If God Was One of Us" lady. That song is a mere fluke. It's the only song on any of her albums that even remotely sounds like that and it's sad that that was the one famous song she got. And what's even more amazing is that she's made like, ten albums. I cannot even say that I know all of them, but the ones that I have listened to are amazing. The rest of Relish was phenomenal. She's not that one-hit wonder that you know from the radio, she full of soul and funk and blues. She came out around the same time as a slew of radio friendly female vocalists along the lines of Alanis Morrisette and Sheryl Crow, but never really got all the way there, which is a damn shame. She's opened for The Dead (not the Grateful Kind, but still), Phil Lesh, and The Funk Brothers. The girl's got soul and you certainly don't hear it on the one song that a record label thought would sound good on the radio and sell records to teenage kids. She was Amy Winehouse before Amy Winehouse was Amy Winehouse, except, you know, without the drug addiction and domestic abuse.

3. Gravity Kills
Ohhhh, being an early teen "goth kid". Gravity Kills still has a spot in my heart along with black lipstick and hair dye. Their best known album, and my favorite, their self-titled, is a classic. Their following albums, Manipulated, Perversion, and Superstarved were pretty damn good, too. Gravity Kills was every bit as good as other industrial bands who actually made it big, like KMFDM and Ministry, but they just never seemed to really make it big after their first hit single, "Guilty". Their lack of touring may have had something to do with this, but hey, they were different, dammit. And they were always so...elusive. They didn't tour, they didn't have crazy antics. They made music. And I think they were on "120 Minutes" on MTV once. Maybe. Even now, they don't have a website, they barely have a Wikipedia entry, and good luck with trying to find a decent biography on these guys. Everything is vague insinuations and rumors and assumptions, but that's just Gravity Kills for you.

2. Marcy Playground
Yup, the "Sex and Candy" guys. They've released four entirely different albums. Yes, people still make music after a one hit wonder. While minimalistic in style, they're always entertaining. And they're always looking out for number one...you're not going to see John Wozniak, or any other member of the band for that matter, playing the corporate rock game. Listening to their albums in succession is like getting a bird's eye view of Wozniak's life. You start with childhood on the 1997 self-titled album and work your way to the present with their 2009 release, Leaving Wonderland...In A Fit of Rage. They're awesome, catchy (but not annoyingly so), an genuinely cool dudes. Also, I think John Wozniak looks like Kyle MacLachlin in Blue Velvet and I find that terribly creepy, yet...sexy. I'm a huge Kyle MacLachlin fan in the sexy sense, but that movie's just so damn creepy, I have a hard time admitting that. Okay, well even minus the creepy/sexy factor, they're still an awesome band.

1. Third Eye Blind
I fucking love Third Eye Blind. Okay, so they were like a three hit wonder, but still, there's so much more to them than "Jumper" or "Semi-Charmed Life" (which is a fantastic song by the way, have you ever actually listened to the lyrics!?). Stephen Jenkins, the lyrical mastermind behind the band, is a seriously effed up dude, and I can appreciate that. With so many musicians out there these days that, well, quite frankly suck (Ex: Soulja Boy, he makes a song out of two words, and just repeats them for three minutes.), it's refreshing to see a band with actual lyrics. Even their most recent album, Ursa Major was good. How many bands can you actually say that about? They've managed to make four albums of heartfelt, intense music and no two songs sound the same. While describing a life of decadence, sleaze, and drug addiction, there's somehow a hopeful radiance that comes out of it. Like, "Hey, yeah this happened, but we're still here". They write and play songs that everyone can relate to, but not cheesy pop hits. If you've only ever heard the songs on the radio, go beg, borrow, or steal Out of the Vein. You can thank me later.

Twitter Mouseover Problems

Whoa! So really, I only have a Twitter because of blogging (okay, and I love a good one liner), but this shit is crazy today. I went to reply to an @, and then all of a sudden, it's telling me that I'm RT something from Unilever or something like that. Eek!

Apparently, Twitter's gone haywire with a spam-link generating bug, with the site getting about 140,000 new tweets of this variety every 10 seconds. Ouch, Twitter. Merely hovering over an affected link with automatically have you posting various smut sites in a matter of seconds, as my account is doing as we speak.

I've read a variety of things, that it will be fixed in three hours, maybe five, but Twitter hasn't released anything on their official blog. Real nice, Twitter. Security firm, Sophos, detected the vulnerability earlier today, so we'll see how long this takes to fix.

That's one hell of a whale fail right there, and I imagine there's going to be some serious Twitter withdrawal going on worldwide today. Apparently, you can still get your fix by using any number of third party sites, including my favorite, Ping.

Good luck, Twitter users! Be safe out there.

UPDATE: Twitter has finally posted something on their blog. Even if it is short and useless.

Go Periscope - Mixtape

Yaaaay, new Go Periscope! Kinda.
And know what's super awesome about it? It's free and you can go download it here right now!

It opens with the anthem "She Gets Around The World", a party time mashup of the popular Daft Punk track, with the guys adding their own vocals, which sets the tone for the rest of the album. There's quite a few mashups actually, including a kick ass track featuring their hit "Crush Me" and Bass Kleph's "Spend My Money" as well as the sexy mashup of "Yesterday's Chemistry" vs. The Glitch Mob's "Drive It Like You Stole It". There's also quite a few remixes including "Binary Love" from Blake Lewis, "Fourth of July" by Kelis and "When She Turns 18" from Christian TV.

Definitely check it out. What have you got to lose? It's FREE! Make sure to check out the guys' website for all the latest news, tracks, and general fun. B!

"Spend My Money"

Morcheeba - Blood Like Lemonade

Finally, finally, FINALLY...the boys of Morcheeba have brought back Skye Edwards. While I'm also a Daisy Martey fan, there's just something about Skye Edwards and Morcheeba that can't be changed. It's like her voice was meant for the music and the other way around.

Not since bits of pieces of Charango, have I heard such soul out of Morcheeba. Fragments of Freedom rocked my world for the most part, but it just wasn't what I expected and it certainly didn't sound like the Morcheeba that I've come to know and love. And shit, Dive Deep was just a catastrophe. Who let them release that? It was incoherent at best and downright bad at the worst.

While listening to this album, it's hard to believe that it's new. I prefer to think of it as a lost album that should have been released after Big Calm. It's has the maturity of a progressive flow of music, it's just a bit (well, five years) past it's time. They say that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to be able to find your way up...well, Dive Deep was the bottom of that well and their new release, Blood Like Lemonade is the very first handhold for the climb back up. I hope we can only continue climbing from here on out.

This album's got some seriously eerie undertones, but they blend so, so well with Edwards' languid vocals. Everything from vikings to vampires to middle class murders oozes it's way into this album, making it the perfect addition to welcoming fall, in my book.

Oh god, oh god, OH GOD! "Mandala". There's not even Skye's vocals on this one, but it's like her seduction has worked it's way into the Godfrey brothers' souls. They've returned to the irresistible formula of jazzy, trip hop beats, lush vocals, a major lounge factor, and just enough funk to keep you coming back for more (as seen in another semi-instrumental, "Cut to the Chase"). The vocal tracks, well, they involve Skye Edwards, so I'm down. The only song that falls a little flat is "I Am the Spring", and for a 13 track album, that's a pretty good number. As a whole, the album does lack the faster-paced tracks of it's predecessors, but it's got it's own thing going on. It's cohesive, well rounded, and smooth. Oh, so very smooth. For long time listeners, you'll feel like you're right back in 1998. For the new listeners, this is just the album that will prompt you to dive head-long in the wonderment that is Morcheeba. It's really a win-win for everyone involved, so definitely check it out! B

You can actually check it out now, streaming for free on Myspace. Be sure to check the website for all the latest news, as well.

Angus and Julia Stone - Down the Way

Aussies Angus and Julia Stone actually released their sophomore, self-produced album, Down the Way back in March, but hey, I'm running a little behind. A brother/sister band, a la The White Stripes, they've spend the previous three years touring the world, promoting their debut album, A Book Like This, and finally made it back into the studio (and old sawmill on the river banks of Cornwall, and water tank in Coolangatta, and their second home in London, and Queens, New York, for that matter) to release this gem of an album.

Starting from a musical family including another older sister (who I guess didn't make the cut for the band?), Angus and Julia have been collaborating since the early days, including in their father's school band. They didn't really do it professionally until about 2006. Before then, they were both performing, but mostly solo acts at open mic nights. Actually, they still kind of do their own solo things. Angus released a solo album, Smoking Gun, under the name Lady of the Sunshine in 2009, and Julia's working on her own, The Memory Machine.

As for them together...well, it's awesome. It still has the minimal element of A Book Like This, though just ever so slightly fuller. With a new variety of instruments including banjos and harmonicas, more complex arrangements, and a boost of confidence, they fill over an hour with thirteen beautifully composed songs. Juxtaposed, yet complimentary, the siblings alternate vocals. From Julia's fragile, delicate vocals reminiscent of Emiliana Torrini or Karin Bergquist (Over the Rhine) to Angus' slightly tougher vocals. There's a sense of...roots, folk, whatever you want to call it to this album that I haven't really heard since The Decemberist's Hazards of Love, and it's just remarkable. It's quiet and introspective and really just quite beautiful. Definitely check it out. B

PS: Make sure to check out their website, because it's super awesome.