Stephanie's obscure music recommendations

So everyone knows The Flaming Lips, Pavement, of Montreal, and Andrew Bird. They're fairly popular. Here are bands I've discovered, mostly on my own (most likely through random downloading), whom I think are pretty good:

Fruit Bats - "experimental folk-pop combo" from Chicago.

Josh Rouse - Singer-song writer, "melodic folk / soft rock." In a way similar to Sufjan Stevens, his songs express a strong sense of place and a personal story to go with it.

Fly Pan Am - Often times just Fly Pan Am. A Canada experimental rock band best known for their collaborations with Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Servotron - ROBOT LIBERATION BAND! Need I say more? Their song "People Mover" should ring true to those of you from Detroit (or other areas with People Movers).

The Soviettes - A four-piece punk band with songs reminiscent of the best of Riot Grrl.

Beulah - Although I think they're fairly popular, I know only a few people who actually listen to Beulah. Straight-up indie pop/rock with powerful lyrics and haunting instrumentals.

Califone - Americana folk indie. The front man, Tim Rutili, paired up with Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse to create Sharpen Your Teeth under the band name Ugly Casanova, another favorite of mine. This is the type of band I would listen to after a rough night of drinking and drama, or on a slow Sunday afternoon.

The Hidden Cameras - I fell in love with this band after picking up the Shortbus soundtrack. A Canadian indie pop band with soft vocals that provokes a lot of feelings of nostalgia for me, for no reason I can discern, other than they just create the right type of mood.

M. Ward - Another artist discovered through the Shortbus soundtrack. Best described as "alternative country," similar to Nick Drake, but with a bigger ominous sort of atmosphere to it that just draws me in.

Jana Hunter - I watched her open for some local bands in Detroit -- not really the spot for an artist who has done many outstanding collaborations with Devendra Banhardt. "Houstan's underground folk/experimental-rock representative."

The Little Killers - "Garage rock" very reminiscent of Detroit favorites. Essentially, if The Hard Lessons and The White Stripes had a baby, they'd probably sound like this band.

Owl and the Pussycat - This might be the most obscure band on the list, Last.FM doesn't even have a profile of them. Owl and the Pussycat has one self-titled album with a female vocalist (a male vocalist appears on some tracks). Alternative folk worth checking out, if you can find it anywhere.

That's it for now. Open your copy of Soulseek and get downloading!

Note: This was cross-posted from my Last.FM journal. See original post.