I see we have a 'recommend a movie' thread, why not music? Music plays a bigger part in most of our lives than movies I'd imagine. So, recommend a band you've discovered or seen lately. Anything (any genre) goes.
Literate, slightly nasal fusion of hip-hop and the best aspects of indie rock/psychedelia. Sounds (to the ears) a lot better than it sounds on paper. Pretty incredibly good lyrics.
Best songs: A Dagger Thrust, Death From A Lover's Hands
Symphony X
Power metal. Still has the symphonic parts and soaring vocals of most power-metal, however the singer's voice is more gravelly than most PM singers, and some of the riffs wouldn't be out of place in a Pantera song.
Best songs: Set The World On Fire, Serpent's Kiss, Eve Of Seduction
Arnocorps
Funny, punk-tinged metal. Although they insist their songs are taken from 'austrian folk tales', each of Arnocorps' songs is based on a different Arnold Schwartzenegger film, with the band dressing in combat fatigues and speaking in fake austrian accents.
First I heard of them was when the MotoGP documentary, "Faster", used "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll" in the film's intro. It's such an awesome video sequence and the song fits it so well. I don't remember much of their other stuff, though. I'll have to look them up again.
Saw 'em live a couple of months ago, and it was definitely worth it. They sounded just as great live as they did on their albums, and they have great stage presence & energy.
If you're familiar with the term "dubstep," you'll have a good idea of what this sounds like. If you like Burial you're almost certain to like this. Very laid back, dubby, almost club-ready but not quite.
@DWB, listening to some of your choices makes me think you might like this http://www.myspace.com/baikonour you might recognise the first track 'Hoku To Shin Ken' it's erm, from a car ad (ten bonus points if you know which ad)
As to the rest of the stuff already posted i'm surprised that the only one i really like is Kevs Grinny Grandad. Especially the first two tracks, utterly fantastic production, whoever did it has some talent. But it doesn't half remind me of an artist from the 80's, especial her voice. Can't for the life of me remember who it was, as she only had a couple of hits, but give me a few days and i'll have a think.
Not sure the Peaches cover works so well, although it is still a demo so needs a bit more work. Can't mess with one of the greatest bass lines of all time to much yunno.
I'm pretty sure it's all done in a bedroom somewhere. He does have a good ear for a mix I agree.
I should really pester them more about having a bass player (like you can have a drummer and a guitarist and no bass player - I mean really!). I can cover pretty much everything they've got tracked with my Pedal Board Of Sonic Awesomeness (+3) and they'd be fun tunes to play. I've got another thing lined up that I'm going to check out this weekend though so not sure how much time I'll have for buggering off to festivals at weekends and so on.
You could do a lot worse, might be worth a punt ? Who needs a full time job anyway ?
Got to say i've been playing the first two tracks on a loop since i posted that one above -almost an hour -, and the more i hear them the more i like it. Which i'm genuinely surprised at to be honest, as it's really not the kind of stuff i would go looking for. The second track "Monty" seems to have everything including the kitchen sink thrown at it. And a producer who can mix a song and seamlessly intertwine what sounds like something from the Indiana Jones theme to classic Fleetwood Mac and a Theremin has to be some sort of genius. Kinda reminds me of - and your really gonna hate this - kinda reminds me of a smooth chilled out version of the Go Team .
Still can't remember the name of that bird from the 80's though, but give me time