When I brought back Tunes Tuesdays, Wendy from notthatwendy.com and I got to talking about bands and musicians and how we’ve come to love some music that may not be as well known to other people. Maybe they’re an international band, or an indie band or maybe they used to be a big deal, but aren’t on everyone’s must-listen playlist anymore. This gave me a great idea to share some of the musicians, bands or songs that I have discovered by chance and absolutely love.
First, I’ve got to talk about Lisa Mitchell. She is an Australian artist that got her big break on Australian Idol back in 2006. She was one of my favourites from that series and while she didn’t win, she did go on to make some amazing music. I had a hard time choosing exactly which of her songs to share here, but in the end, Clean White Love won out, from her first full studio album, ‘Wonder’.
The next band I’d like to mention is Wolfmother. They’re an Australian rock band from Sydney. Some of you may be more familiar with their song Vagabond that appeared on the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack, but I’m going to share their song Joker and the Thief from their 2005 self-titled album. It’s my favourite Wolfmother song and takes me back to warm, sunny days while I was in uni.
The last musician I’m going to mention from Australia (well, for this post, anyway) is Ben Lee. I stumbled across this artist during my time living in Australia. His musical career started when he was a young teenager and was part of the band Noise Addict. He ventured off on his own after the band broke up. I absolutely fell in love with him for his songs We’re All in This Together, Into The Dark and the goofy Catch My Disease, off his fifth album, ‘Awake is the New Sleep’. He has nine solo albums, so there is a lot of his music out there to check out, but Song for the Divine Mother of the Universe, from his 2009 album, ‘The Rebirth of Venus’ holds a special place in my heart. My brother, cousin and I performed a cover of this tune, and it’s one of those punch-you-in-the-feels songs for me.
I’ve talked about The Head and The Heart on my blog before, but I can’t help but talk about them again. I discovered them when I fell in love with their song Rivers and Roads, a song featured in the series finale of the TV show Chuck. The same song was featured a while later in an episode of How I Met Your Mother (Ugh, still too soon to talk about that show, guys. I’m still suffering from the series finale…). The Head and the Heart are an indie band from Seattle and their music has been featured fairly regularly in television and film, so while you may not know them by name, you may already be familiar with some of their work. Their song Lost in My Mind was featured in the trailers for The Silver Linings Playbook.
Lastly, let’s talk about Darelle London. If you’ve heard of this Canadian singer/songwriter, you may know her from all the love and support she’s had from Perez Hilton. That is not how I discovered her, though. Joey from itismejoey.com tweeted about her a while back and I had to check her out. I believe he shared Darelle’s song Bad, which is cute, catchy and poppy. Most of her songs are cute and catchy and they’re fun. But I absolutely love her song Two Roads. Unfortunately, I’ve only ever been able to find it on YouTube. But it’s such a pretty song.
What are your favourite lesser known bands and musicians?