The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins is one of the greatest 90's bands. They are sometimes referred to as a grunge band, but their sound is very different to bands such as Nirvana or Pearl Jam. These songs are much more melodic and Billy Corgan's nasal vocals do not carry same kind of growls as the other bands in this genre. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is the highlight of this band's career, but albums like Adore, Siamese Dream or Machina also have some amazing tunes.
Andrew Bird
As a singer-songwriter, Andrew Bird must be one of the talented ones. His folk songs have great melodies and great guitar picking, but it's all even further improved by his amazing clear vocals, violin picking and phenomenal whistling. The songs have excellent rhythms even if the melodies are at the forefront in most of the songs.
Wilco
Wilco is one of the best and most original modern Americana folk bands in the world. Their sounds take a lot of influences from The Beatles and this can be heard both in the great pop melodies and the experimental studio techniques. Albums like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born took the melodic folk songs to a different level, but the addition of strange noises and effects.
Ezra Furman
Ezra Furman makes excellent singer-songwriter music that combines some folk elements to a more rough edged rock influences. There are also some excellent horn arrangements made to many songs making them more funky. His voice is quite untrained, but it fits perfectly in to this kind of music.
Fruit Bats
Fruit Bats is a cult indie band. Their repertoire is quite uneven in my mind. Some of their songs are absolutely brilliant, but then again they have also made many quite indifferent songs. They mix together some folk influences with more funky indie rock tunes.
Matt Skiba
Matt Skiba plays melodic folk rock. The main sound is acoustic, but he stretches to louder sounds featuring a full band. His vocals are excellent with just a tiny hint of rasp. Guitar playing is skilful, but you can still hear the roughness, because of the authentic production.
Elephant Gun
Elephant Gun plays melodic indie rock with a variety of instruments. They use strings and horns to make their music sound very big. The sound is, nevertheless, not overly produced and there's great authenticity in the vocals and overall sounds, where you can hear all the individual instruments properly.
The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake plays airy and relaxed, yet quite fast indie rock. They use clean guitar sounds along with some smooth organ sounds on the background. The vocals are soft and pleasant. This is good Sunday music for cleaning the house.
Band Called Catch
This indie band makes melodic music that uses folky sounds together with louder full band bits. They also have both male and female vocals taking turns and singing in harmony. The drummer is exceptionally good.
Exit Ghost
Exit Ghost plays well produced but still very authentic indie rock. You can hear the roughness in the electric guitars and bass sounds like bass, which is great, because with other kind of production this could go to stadium rock quite easily. As it is, the melodies are great and the harmonic vocals are beautiful.
Ezra Furman & the Harpoons
Compared to Ezra Furman's solo career, the albums with the Harpoons have strong country and folk influences. There's some excellent use of harmonica and at best it all sounds like 60's Bob Dylan. The sounds are very authentic and attitude is great!
Liz Phair
Liz Phair is not that well known in Europe, but she was quite a phenomenon in the US in the 90's. There are similarities to bands like Hole. She uses some slight lo-fi stylistic methods in the music, which makes this sound very different from some of the 90's singer-songwriter women. Excellent roughness all in all.
Maps & Atlases
Maps & Atlases is an indie rock band playing alternative sounding non-alternative rock. What I mean by this is that the song structures and melodies are quite conventional, but the sounds are rough and interesting. The vocals are especially original sounding.
OK Go
OK Go is probably known to the big audiences because of their music video with the dance on the treadmills. Their fast and danceable indie rock is very typical of mid-00's. There is something quite British in the sounds with clear references to bands such as The Libertines.
Melissa Auf der Maur
This classic member of The Smashing Pumpkins has had a long and quite successful solo career. her songs are more modern in their sounds than The Smashing Pumpkins songs, but there are lots of similarities as well. Dark melodies with quite heavy guitars.
Hum
Hum is a 90's grunge band with all too familiar buzzing heavy guitars and authentic sounding drumming. The vocals are a bit laconic compared to grunge's more well-known masters. The drummer is exceptionally talented in this band.
The Orwells
The Orwells makes electric guitar driven indie rock. The songs are not that melodic and most of the emphasis has been put to attitude and sounds instead. There are some elements of garage rock, even if the general sound is quite polished.
Yoko and the Oh No's
This wittily named band plays guitar-driven indie rock. This is very typical music of the mid-00's. Combining garage rock sounds to more disco-like drumming and steady bass beat. The vocalist has soul in his voice.
Pelican
Pelican plays post-rock with heavy guitar sounds. Their songs are mostly instrumental. The interesting thing here is that unlike in many other post-rock bands, here the melodies come from riffs rather than solos.
Disappears
Disappears plays quite heavy sounding post-punk with modern sounds. Dark melodies get that industrial sound from buzzing electric guitars and treble-filled bass. The vocalist sings laconically, which fits in with this sound quite perfectly.
Empires
Empires makes quite typical 00's post punk revival disco. beats are fast and steady, while the vocals are melodic and clear and guitars rely on ticking riffs that change into long strums in choruses. Pleasant, yet not that original songs.
Elsinore
Elsinore plays fast and melodic indie rock with strong emphasis on electric guitars. What gives the sounds nice extra flavour is the smooth sounding organ in the background. The choruses are very catchy and the kind that makes you jump up and down on the gigs.
Big Science
Big Science plays dark and industrial indie rock with echoey guitars and fast disco drums. The vocals are sung in deep baritone, while it has all been doubled with high notes. There are even some hints of grunge in the vocalist's voice.
Common Loon
Common Loon plays buzzing shoegaze with rough electric guitars and chiming synth sounds. They have a good sense of drama, lifting the songs from quiet and subtle riffs to huge guitar walls. They know how to keep the suspension up.
Tortoise
Tortoise is one of the first bands that can rightfully be called post-rock. Their sounds have inspired numerous other bands going for similar progressive overdriven guitar riffs. Their album Millions Now Living Will Never Die is a classic album that everyone should hear at least once.
American Football
This band plays airy post rock with clean electric guitars. Many of their songs are just instrumental, but whenever there are vocals, they are sung with a subtle grunge voice. This is good music for walking around in the city with headphones on.
Lissie
Lissie plays melancholic and beautiful indie rock. Her voice is extremely beautiful with just the right amount of edginess in brilliantly sung melodies. I'm glad the backgrounds sound very cool, because with other kind of production this might sound a bit MTV.
Wild Belle
Wild Belle makes soulful indie pop. They're at their best when they keep the show relaxed and let the bass bounce merrily with the aid of stingy rock organs. They also know how to make great vocal harmonies. As compositions, some of the songs are masterpieces.
Liam Hayes
Liam Hayes makes ambitious singer-songwriter music. His album Korp Sole Roller is a masterpiece, even if his later albums have received more wide audiences. Proper baroque pop compositions with a bit more edgy attitude.
Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke makes relaxed indie rock where all the emphasis is given to sounds and the only goal seems to make it all sound cool rather than enthusiastic. They make a fantastic version of Spice Girls classic Viva Forever.
Smith Westerns
Smith Westerns represents the more modern age of indie rock where the sounds are more playful experimenting with strange organ sounds, while the electric guitars riff in quite conventional way and the rhythm section focuses on keeping it all together.
Harlan Flo
Harlan Flo plays bluesy guitar riffs with airy and clean vocals. There's some funkiness in the rhythms while the guitars riff skilfully. Composition-wise, these may not be the most exciting songs, but the sounds are cool and the players are true professionals.
The Handsome Family
The Handsome Family plays dark and impressive Americana folk with some latin influences. The vocals are sung in a deep baritone voice that makes you want to listen to every word. They also use a contrasting smooth female voice in some of their songs.
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo is a fantastic Americana folk trio playing beautiful acoustic guitar driven country songs. Jeff Tweedy was part of this band as well and he uses his all too familiar voice in some of the songs. They really know how to break some hearts.
Tweedy
In addition to all of his excellent bands, Jeff Tweedy has also starred in his own solo projects. Tweedy follows the excellent songwriting he does in Wilco, but the experimentations have been left out. What's left is a bunch of excellent alt-country songs.
Hollows
Hollows plays dreamy indie pop with strong emphasis on whizzing rock organs. It actually all sounds a lot like the Scottish band Camera Obscura. There are some apparent shoegaze influences as well from bands such as Mazzy Star even if the general sound is more upbeat.
NE-HI
This indie band takes their sound influences from 60's surf rock. The guitars are sharp and have some authentic echo. The vocals sing psychedelic melodies and the drums do not spare symbal use. The overall sound is not very melodic and it's all more focused on rhythms and riffs.
Twin Peaks
This modern sounding indie rock band uses echoes and airy clean guitar riffs. The vocals sound a bit otherworldly. I guess some kind of vocoder has been used to make it sound like that. Sound seems to be a more important factor than the melody.
Mazes
This band is not to be confused with another American band called Mazes. This Mazes plays upbeat and sunny indie pop with peppy melodies. The vocals are kind of lo-fi, but the instruments sound great.
Shoes
Shoes is an old-school indie rock band that has played music for decades. There's something similar in their sounds to Teenage Fanclub. Excellent melodies and vocal harmonies, amazing bass lines and sparkly guitars.
Shellac
Shellac mixes garage rock with some post-rock riffs and country music style singing. The melodies are not that important in this music, it's all about the riffs and attitude. There's some experimentation as well.
Naked Raygun
Naked raygun is a post-punk band that plays fast first wave punk songs with some sounds that seem to be more familiar from post-punk tradition. They use horns that remind me of Dexy's Midnight Runners.
Soddy Daisy
Soddy Daisy is a punk band that uses some sound influences from 60's surf rock. The melodies are quite innovative for a punk band, but don't be fooled, it's still very straightforward and simple. It's all about attitude.
Melkbelly
Melkbelly is almost too noise for my taste, but there's something appealing in the sounds. The guitars are sharp and play out of tune riffs with overdrive. On top of that there are some bubblegum pop sounding female vocals, that don't really seem to fit the mix, but makes this still very interesting sound.
Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock is a very well known jazz musician. In the 70's he delved into funk big time and in my opinion, his best era is this funk era filled with raunchy sounds and experimentation. The bass lines are always amazing on his albums, even though the rock organs probably take the main stage, because they're after all played by Hancock himself.
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield is one of the greatest soul/funk artists of all times. His smooth singing voice bends to very high notes as well. The rhythm section is always amazing in his songs and the bass has to be given a special mention. Even though he's a guitarist, to me his main genius is in his singing and songwriting.
The Chi-Lites
The Chi-Lites make classy and ambitious funk music with excellent bass lines, and danceable feel. They use a big band of a variety of instruments, which makes their sound very big as well. The vocal harmonies are also excellent combining many different voices.
The Five Stairsteps
This funk band makes kind of laid-back funk with raunchy and seductive sounds. They do use horns like many other funk bands of the time, but here I think guitars have more emphasis than usually. The bass lines, again, are quite phenomenal.
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is almost more disco than funk, but their sound still fits perfectly in the midst of all these funk artists. The melodies are catchy and the straight beat makes you want to dance along. The vocals are fantastic, yet a bit too clean for my taste.
Buddy Miles
buddy Miles makes heavy sounding funky blues. The groove is quite amazing. Bass and drums work together seamlessly while the horns and sharp guitars play on top of the vocals. This is all about the enjoyment of playing.
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis makes funk music with a strong emphasis on piano. I don't really know that many other funk bands that would use authentic piano sounds in the forefront in a similar way. The bass is slapping and sliding and sounds very raunchy indeed.
Rufus
Rufus plays excellent crime funk. The bass lines are excellent and bouncy, while the guitars tick along the playful drums. They don't use quite as many instruments in their music as the other funk bands, so you can actually hear the individual instruments better.
Chicago Transit Authority
This band plays funky disco music with a huge emphasis on different percussion and obviously on bass. The guitars are also a lot more active than in many other similar bands. The guitar plays wild solos as well.
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan is one of the soul legends. She's sung very cheesy ballads and R&B at some point in her career, but I think she's at her best with fast funk songs. Her voice is quite excellent. Quite high, but with lots of soul and some raspiness.
Rotary Connection
Rotary Connection combines 60's style psychedelic rock sounds with some 70's funk elements. The bass is quite melodic on the background, but the guitar is quite active as well and special mention has to be given to use of flute.
The Ides of March
This funky soul band plays excellent dark melodies with the aid of a full horn section and deep and raspy vocals. The bass doesn't stand out in a same way as with other funk bands on this list, but it's still doing its job well.
The Buckinghams
The Buckinghams is a 60's pop band with some psychedelia influences. The main sound is very poppy though. They use some horns in the background giving it somewhat of a show band sound. The compositions are varied and well written.
Styx
Styx may be mostly known as a hard rock band, but they have also made much more mellow songs with excellent melodies and even folky qualities. I like that side of them a lot more, but if you're a friend of 80's hair metal you may disagree with me.
Chicago
This list obviously couldn't be complete without a band called Chicago. They have made some really cheesy songs in their career, but I really like some of their songs that take the more funky approach. They use excellent vocal harmonies in their songs.
The Congregation
This gospel band really knows how to lift the atmosphere. Clapping hands, bouncy bass and raunchy rock organ accompanies amazingly rock-styled female vocals. Even I would go to church if they had music like this on.
Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé makes bluesy soul music. Her deep and raspy vocals do not aim to impress, but they end up doing that anyway, because the voice is just amazing. The band sounds a bit like a house band, but in a good way. Everyone really knows what they're doing.
Sam Cooke
Sma Cooke's clear and airy voice stands out from other early R&B singers voices. The songs are quite commercial, but his voice is the main attraction and the simplicity of compositions doesn't really matter that much.
The Impressions
This soul combo sounds like they would have made proper funk music, had their career started in the end of the 70's. Now the main attraction is the excellent vocals that also make excellent harmonies. The songs are quite commercial though.
Abbey Lincoln
Abbey Lincoln makes soul-style blues music with some latin rhythms. I guess this could be called Afro-blues, like one of her songs suggest. I'm really bad at categorising music like this though. Her voice is excellent.
Miles Davis
Miles Davis is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, jazz musician of all times. his most well-known, and probably the best album Kind of Blue is one of the most legendary albums of all times. Like Q-Tip said, "it's like the bible--you just have one in your house". He got famous for using the trumpet very sparingly. But every note he makes, counts.
Johnny Griffin
Johnny Griffin is an amazing saxophone player. His music ranges from bebop to hard bop and post-bop. The rest of the band stays in the shadow even though they sound great as well, but with Griffin, it's all about the sax.
Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman is known as the king of swing. His clarinet playing is phenomenal, but he is also a band leader that can lead amazing performances by a big band. This is the proper kind of old time jazz of the prohibition.
Tom Paxton
Now that I've presented so many fantastic jazz, soul and funk artists, i'm glad to be able to present you one of the absolute best folk artists that ever came from the US. Paxton's guitar and banjo playing is amazing, while his vocals are also very pleasant. Excellent storytelling Americana folk, which has no doubt influenced hoards of other artists later.
Ryley Walker
Ryley Walker is a young folk musician that sounds (and looks) like he should've been born in the 60's during the great years of folk music. His songs are beautifully written with some 60's psychedelia in the influences. His guitar playing is phenomenal.
John Prine
John Prine plays country music with some soul influences. The guitars slide beautifully sounding still very authentic, while the humming rock organs walk pleasantly in the background. His voice is not that special, but it's still good for storytelling.
Urge Overkill
This band is mainly known for their hit song Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon that the film Pulp Fiction lifted to the consciousness of everyone everywhere. There's something extremely American in these sounds. I really like the raspy vocals.
Californe
California makes quite traditional sounding country music with slide being used with the guitar. The vocals are quite untrained and rough, but it gives the air of storyteller for the singer. The pianos give a nice little extra to the sound as well.
Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon is one of the legends of blues. his deep baritone voice with extreme roughness is just amazing. There are some excellent guitars and harmonicas in his songs as well. The piano needs to be given a special mention.
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples plays ominous and beautiful blues music that relies on minimalism and the effect of the vocals. The guitars are just playing very minimal riffs and give all the space for amazing vocals. When the band creeps in, the sound is just perfect.
Honey and the 45s
This modern blues band bows deeply to the great blues masters of old, but their sounds are very modern. The singer is absolutely amazing, there are so many colours in her voice and she really knows when to use that voice of hers to surprise and impress.
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick makes kind of cheesy and commercial rock music, but there's just something quite appealing in this kind of music, because you know how serious they are about it even if the result sounds quite cheesy. If you like Journey, you may want to check this out.
Off Broadway
Off Broadway's sounds are straight from the 70's first wave of punk, but their songs are much more melodic making them more clearly connected to artists like Elvis Costello. There's a catchy pop-quality to this music even if the sounds go towards punk.
California Wives
California Wives play huge sounding and echoey rock music with echoes from the 80's. Their sound is not as cheesy as some of the similar bands of that era, which makes their sound actually quite interesting.
Veruca Salt
Veruca Salt plays garage rock with some angry female vocals. The melodies are catchy and interesting. There's something very 90's about their sounds. It sounds a lot like Hole. Excellent party music as well.
The Lauren Wolf Band
The Lauren Wolf Band plays fast and quite commercial rock music. her voice is quite amazing stretching to inhumane heights. There are some blues influences in the music even if the general sound is more straightforward.
Shy Technology
This band is actually a bit too commercial to my taste, but I still decided to include them in this list because of their good songwriting. They should just really try to cut down on the overproduction of their instruments.
Bring Your Ray Gun
This rock band uses some blues influences and some 80's style space organs in their music. The general sound of the compositions is closer to garage rock, but the sounds themselves are much cleaner.
Strawberry Jacuzzi
This lo-fi band sounds very original. A overdriven electric guitar with untrained vocals and percussions that sound like they weren't necessarily made on proper instruments at all. The nice shoegaze feel makes this worth listening though.
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