4d ago

What hidden song gems would you recommend people check out?

Include the year it was released.

44 comments

Default by Atoms for Peace. I was recently reminded of how good that song is, hadn’t listened for years 😃 (am a big Radiohead fan, but tend to forget side projects)

Cuntry Boner - Puscifer (2008?). This was a silly side project from the frontman of Tool (Maynard James Keenan). Maybe not a "gem" but it definitely is hidden and the song pops into my head roughly once per week.
- Puscifer is still around and is currently the most active of his projects. This song is an outlier in the discography.
  The latest full studio album Existential Reckoning is fantastic, check it out! Actually I think I'm going to put it on right now as I get ready for work :)

Yasuyuki Suzuki - Discovery
From NOTAM of Wind, a 1997 hot air balloon sim for the PlayStation that didn't have to slap this hard.
I'm looking forward to playing all these tracks at work today.
- Whoa, I was not expecting that song to be so good. Thank you for this.

I keep coming back to Chimera by Polyphia (2022). If you’ve never heard of Polyphia, you’re welcome.
- I can't get behind Polyphia. I admire the crazy guitar skills, but while Tim is an amazing guitarist, they forget that music should be catchy.
  
  Very true. I think Tim sometimes makes the most intricate riffs just for him. Not necessarily a bad thing, but mass appeal it may not make.

Incident on 57th Street by Bruce Springsteen, live at the Main Point '75
It's always hard to gauge, with Bruce (obviously not an unknown but, also, lots of people who've only casually listened to him, if even that), but this one's a live performance for a track that doesn't get a lot of radio play.
Also a great example of his early storytelling work and great use of violins, to boot. The whole original album is a classic but this one's great as a one-shot.

Sang Real - Dredg (2005)
I believe Dredg are an alt rock band but they are hard to describe. Some tracks are more like math rock (not this one) and others are more like straight indie. This is probably their catchiest track.

Basically the whole, 'How I Learned To Love Our Robot Overlords" album by Raggedy Angry. (2010) here's my favorite song from the album:
YouTube link, Easter Island Radiation
Also very good, but German, also much more popular: "Du stirbst aus" (2011) by Straftanz, which I'm currently obsessed with.
YouTube link

No Money by Wild Ones 2017. This song is really good but the whole album just has this cohesive vibe that I wish more people knew about.

Trippin Like I Do - Blackfeet Braves (2011). They changed their name to Mystic Rabbit for releasing their first album but I don't think they ever found mainstream success. This is a really good 60s revival band. I think their first LP as Mystic Braves suffered from being over-produced but their older stuff as Blackfeet Braves is all sensational.

Playtone - Sleep on Sunday (2006?)
An excellent song that I first came upon downloading a demo album from download.com back in the day when they hosted music albums. I can't find anything about this song online anymore except for this YouTube upload and in my personal mp3 archives. If you know more about it, I'd love to hear it!

John Butler, Ocean - 65m views isn't all that hidden but I'm sure there are a lot of people who haven't heard it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdYJf_ybyVo

Crazy Fuckin' Robot Body by Snowblood [2020] https://g.co/kgs/T1jQWzG
Maybe 'gem' is a bit of an overstatement (depending on your level of musical snobbery 😋) but I stumbled across this song/artist through Spotify at one point and ended up really digging it/them. They have another song I'd give honorable mention to as well, 'Freaky Freaky' I think is the name.
These certainly aren't what I'd call 'masterpieces' or anything, but they're fun songs I enjoyed and you might too if you can listen without thinking about it all too hard

I’ve been slightly obsessed by Love Endeavour (Maurice Fulton Remix) by Alice Smith from 2014, Golden Fool by Gnome (and indeed the whole album), and Cabin Fever by Slomosa (and indeed almost everything they’ve done), both released last year
https://open.spotify.com/track/0oGM4LIuCrXG5aYOAu6ANJ
https://open.spotify.com/track/6Bc3ADDXY0JKUPPJ3AXYBp
https://open.spotify.com/track/4lmnpR0Z7kc7ktKOwlPFsi

Whirlwind - The Gits (recorded in 1993 released in 2000)
The Gits are one of the best bands to come out of Seattle in the early 90s. I feel like they could have been up there with the greats if their lead singer Mia Zapata wasn't murdered.
This song in particularl is a perfect example of how awesome they were. It has that early 90s Seattle grunge sound but with a more punk edge. They never officially recorded this song and this live recording wasn't officially released until 2000.

Imagine my surprise that shoegaze is still thriving after 35+ years and is harder than ever.
- Were you intending to link a song, or reply to someone besides OP?
  
  The markup works in fedia, weird it doesn't work on Lemmy, https://youtu.be/uhQhiIVjNf8

An oldie, but one few people seem to know about.
The Cult - The Witch from the Cool World soundtrack. Fuck me that song jams out.

I like this little known gem called Anthropocene by Samsa, I like the message of how even tho we fucked the planet up, we can still do stupid shit together.