A short list of interesting bands/musicians you probably haven’t heard, but definitely should:

• The Dent is a pop trio out of the northeast that has a great sound, and incredibly catchy lyrics. Available on CD Baby!
• Noe Venable is a solo female pop singer with a knack for spacey soundscapes in kind of the same vein as early Tori Amos or Kate Bush. Available on CD Baby!
• Rachel Sage is another solo female pop singer but with some great piano rib’s. The tune “Trouble” from her album llusion’s Carnival really caught my ear. The rest of the album is sadly not much like that track, but grew on my quite a bit. Available on CD Baby!
• T.I.S.M is an Australian odd-pop band that my friend Adam turned me on to. Their album Machiavelli and the Four Seasons has such memorable track names as “I’m on the Drug (That Killed River Phoenix)” and “Phillip Glasses Arse”. King Missile and They Might Be Giants fans should definitely have a listen. The albums can be a bit tough to get here in the States so I had to order mine from Australia.
• Iris, another band that Adam pointed out, is kind of like Depeche Mode but better. Being not nearly as much about examining every millimeter of their own belly buttons really makes a huge difference. Available on CD Baby!
• Youngblood Brass Band is a bit difficult to describe in a way that people believe. Think of what would have happened if Rage Against the Machine had gone Dixieland instead of Industrial. No, really! You HAVE to hear them to believe it. Buy their music direct from their site.
• Mama Digdown’s Brass Band is a band I heard first on KBEM a couple of years ago that really hooked my interest in the modern Dixieland brass phenomena. Who would have thought that the Midwest would produce sounds like this? Available on CD Baby!
• Jack Brass Band is a local (Twin Cities) Dixieland brass band that, while not quite as polished as either Mama Digdown’s or Youngblood, is quite a bit of fun to listen to. They’ve got a lot of spirit, even if they’re still a bit rough around the edges. Available on CD Baby!
• Spiros Exaras is a jazz/world combo that has a really cool Mediterranean sound with some unconventional instrumentation. Available on CD Baby!
• County Road X is a jazz combo from Colorado with some really strong country influences, and yet I don’t hate them for it. All the great bits of having a steel guitar in a band without the crappy twang to drag it down. Available on CD Baby!