Great Bands (new or old) you discovered last year

In addition to New Releases, what really gets me excited is discovering a new band/artist. Either current bands or that obscure 70s band you missed until now. I think 2014 was a great year for me in that respect. What were your great discoveries band-wise last year?

Mine were mostly non-prog, thus I put this in "General", please feel free to discuss and share any great finds. My list should be pretty sweet

Edited by TheGazzardian - January 05 2015 at 22:14

This is my quick list, arranged chronologically

January:

Goblin - finally got around to hearing em and they're awesome

15-60-75 (The Numbers Band) and Robert Kidney - unusual jazz-blues-band from Ohio in the 70s.

Fuji Grid TV and “vaporwave” - a curious genre featuring lo-fi sampling of commercials, cheesy bachelor pad music and elevator music.  Very interesting.

 

February:

Connan Mockasin - Austrialian indie musician with a strangely child-like sound

Volcano the Bear - avant garde madness, utterly weird.

Hoyry-Kone - Swedish prog band from the 90s saw a brief reissue this year and I jumped on it.

 

March:

Nihilist Spasm Band - Free form improv group with poetry vocals

Liars - possibly my Band of the Year.  Unlike anything I'd been into before, but still an instant favorite.

Rare Goat - ha ha.  My band who put out their debut album this year.

 

May:

Infinity Frequencies - more vaporwave

Belle and Sebastian - I already knew them and had a couple of albums but something really clicked this year and I bought up the rest of their albums and listened feverishly for a while.

The Blue Sign Factory - ha ha.  Another band project of mine, this one more experimental/Kraut.

 

June:

Klaus Schulze - around this time I really connected with this guy and began listening to him very obsessively.

Cleaners from Venus - imagine if Andy Partridge or Robyn Hitchcock never caught a break and recorded hundreds of songs on cheap equipment in utter obscurity.

Wolf Eyes - my first foray into "Noise".  Something about this group made total sense to me, and paved the way for a Noise Awakening through the rest of the year.

 

July:

Hair Police - Noise Noise Noise. Damn I love it so.

United Waters - Maybe my Album of the Year. A side project of Mouthus (see below), but not a Noise effort per se - more of a lo-fi psych affair, it sounds like it was recorded underwater.

Mouthus - Noise group with a bit of a Residents feel, if that makes sense.

 

August:

Drab Majesty - random Bandcamp artist in the retro-shoegaze-glam realm that really captured my heart for a while.

 

November:

The Chameleons UK - classic Brit post-punk band like early Church or Simple Minds. 

Harry Pussy - Incredible noise band. Some Beefheart and Stooges influences added in there.

 

December:

Captain Sensible (solo albums) - I've long been a fan of the Damned, particularly the 1979-1982 peak where they made 3 incredible albums, all with Captain Sensible as a primary songwriter. Never occurred to me to investigate his solo career until now.  It's wonderful.

Edited by HolyMoly - January 05 2015 at 20:40

A few of mine with samples and brief descriptions. 

Over the Earth - catchy as hell crossover band
Nomads of Hope - experimental folk, fans of Vashti Bunyan, Pererin, Samla Mammas Manna check it out
Nucleus Torn - Swiss woodlands folk metal
Mushroom Giant - muscular instrumental rock
Earth - desert psych for wild misadventures
Tacita Intesa - new RPI with impressive debut
Secret Tales - fantasy, folk, heavy, female vocals, good D and D soundtrack
Lowercase Noises - discovered them prior to this year but this is likely my album of the year pick
Seris - tight metal with unique female vocals
Mursic - theatrical symph metal with pop sensibilities
S91 - Italian symph metal with female vocals
Igayon - Israeli symph outfit with a friendly, intimate sound
Dying Sun - brutal extreme metal squall, not for the weak of heart
Kevin Geier - talented multi instrumentalist
Superfluous Motor - cool instrumental fusion concept album
Voice of Eye - rediscovered the trippy, experimental tribal ambient masterpiece called "Vespers"




Edited by Finnforest - January 05 2015 at 21:05

Finnforest wrote: A few of mine with samples and brief descriptions.  Over the Earth - catchy as hell crossover band Nomads of Hope - experimental folk, fans of Vashti Bunyan, Pererin, Samla Mammas Manna check it out Nucleus Torn - Swiss woodlands folk metal Mushroom Giant - muscular instrumental rock Earth - desert psych for wild misadventures Tacita Intesa - new RPI with impressive debut Secret Tales - fantasy, folk, heavy, female vocals, good D and D soundtrack Lowercase Noises - discovered them prior to this year but this is likely my album of the year pick Seris - tight metal with unique female vocals Mursic - theatrical symph metal with pop sensibilities S91 - Italian symph metal with female vocals Igayon - Israeli symph outfit with a friendly, intimate sound Dying Sun - brutal extreme metal squall, not for the weak of heart Kevin Geier - talented multi instrumentalist Superfluous Motor - cool instrumental fusion concept album Voice of Eye - rediscovered the trippy, experimental tribal ambient masterpiece called "Vespers"

Gazz, glad you're digging Joni now, she is amazing.  Don't miss Clouds, Blue, Court and Spark, and Hissing of Summer Lawns.  

Sounds like you're hooked!  Perhaps her most adventurous is Don Juans Reckless Daughter.  Also, one of her most incredible titles is Shadows and Light on DVD.  You get to see perform great material with Jaco Pastorius and Pat Methany.  One of my favorite live DVDs I own. 

Buon Vecchio Charlie

Edited by presdoug - January 06 2015 at 06:14

thanks to this place - Porcupine Tree

Got into Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Sun City Girls (thanks Steve!), XTC - just Skylarking so far, but defs gonna check out more of their stuff. Not sure if Vaporwave was a late '13 or early '14 discovery, but it's a notable one - Infinity Frequencies, Young Muslim and Fuji Grid TV