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The Best Music You've Never Heard

One of my favorite things to do on my Pocket PC is listen to music, so I figured if I'm going to tell you what I use on my Pocket PC, I might as well tell you what I listen to, right? It won't take you long to figure out that 100% of the music in my playlist are from female vocals. I just find it soothing. Very few of these are ever played on the radio. How in the world did people find good music 30 years ago when everything was force fed by your local DJ?

I'm just getting started so there isn't much here yet. Most of these are available at Amazon.com or your local record store, though I have starting to purchase more of my music at CD Baby. CD Baby specializes in independent artists. To put it another way, more of the money for these CDs goes to the artist and exactly 0% goes to the RIAA. You should spend a few hours there keying in some of your favorite artists into their search engine. You won't find any of them there, but the people at CD Baby do a great job of pointing you to similar independent artists that generally put together a better CD anyway. Most CDs have 3-4 high quality sample tracks lasting two minutes each.

Album Cover Artist
Adrienne Pierce - Small Fires: I picked this one up in October of 2003. If you like Sheryl Crow, you owe it to yourself to listen to a few tracks from Adrienne's CD. I especially like Arizona, Insectgirl and Every Sprinkler.

Adrienne has a new song, It's You, that is on her updated release of "Small Fires." I was lucky enough to get the freebie download around Valentines day from her site. If you missed out, you can still buy the "Small Fires" CD using the link at the right. The album art (CD art?) has been updated as well. I'll upload that when I get a big enough image. Her new store at Maple Music doesn't have samples of her tracks yet, so check them out at her personal site under the music link.

  Aimee Mann - Lost In Space: You remember Aimee Mann. She was the lead singer in 'Till Tuesday from the early 80's! Well, her new stuff doesn't sound much like those days, which is ok. You can stream all of her songs from the Lost In Space CD. I am particularly fond of Invisible Ink. You'll have to navigate through her flash animations though to get to the listening section. Ms. Mann has forgone the record industry and is selling her stuff directly to her fans, so if you like what you hear, be sure to buy the CD and support her!  
  Anagram - Songs from Far Away: I just picked this up a recently and love most of the tracks on it. Has some techno-sounds to it. If you like some of the music from the 80's like Thompson Twins, you'd probably like this. This was released in 2004. They have a more recent 2006 release I haven't had a chance to pick up yet. Available at CD Baby!
  Azure Ray - Hold on Love: Another group, this a female duo, that has a great sound. They don't really sound like anyone I've heard. You need to listen to some of the samples at Amazon to get a feel for their sound. I've since purchased November, Burn & Shiver and their self titled Azure Ray CDs.
  Baxter - Baxter: This is an older CD from the late 90's that I picked up about a year ago and for some reason never put it on the web site. Same vein as Anagram, some Azure Ray or Sugarplum Fairies. They came out with a second CD several years later called About This but it was in very limited distribution. I found a copy at MegaStore.se but they no longer stock it. It was much more dance oriented and only had a few good songs on it, so even if you really like the first CD, you aren't missing too much by not having the second, except for the song Didn't Have A Choice, which is a great song. And On My Own. And... maybe one or two others.
  Beautiful Mind soundtrack - The movie was pretty good but the soundtrack is phenomenal! The vocals of Charlotte Church are just amazing.
  Conjure One - Conjure One: Windows Media Player shows this as "Electronica & Dance" which I think is a stretch. This sounds more like a cross between Poe and Enigma with a touch of Enya thrown in than what I think of when I hear dance music you'd hear in a club.

Update: Now I know partially why I like this so much. Poe herself is doing the singing on two of the tracks.
  Diane Arkenstone - Aquaria: I found this CD at the Seattle Aquarium, which is more of a kids aquarium, something the $11 entry price should have tipped me off to. Anyway, it was in the gift shop and I listened to a few tracks. Her voice is incredible. If you like Enigma, you'll like her, no question. Some of the lyrics are cheesy I admit, but you can still enjoy the overall feel and sound.  There is no link besides the Amazon one at the right because she has no page or even a fan site that I could find.
Evanescence - Fallen: This CD is heavy metal compared to the rest of my selection. I heard the single Bring Me To Life and was hooked. Amy Lee's vocals are incredible and she has a good range. You can sample all of the tracks on their web site.
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Bavarian Fruit Bread: Hope is the lead singer of Mazzy Star. Bavarian Fruit Bread is her first full length CD after Mazzy Star broke up. It is a bit softer and uses the glockenspiel in most tracks. Best tracks are Clear Day and the hidden track. Not sure why CDs have hidden tracks. It isn't like my CD player can't find them. It is really just an un-named track, so maybe the artist is just lazy when it comes down to that last song and rushes the CD to the printers without naming it
  The Innocence Mission - Glow - This is about as close to folk music as I want to get, but I really enjoy their music. I have all of their CDs and the only one I don't care much for is Small Planes. I'll wait until I've had a chance to stream some from their new CD Befriended. If it is Small Planes part 2, I'll pass, but if it is anything like their earlier stuff, especially Glow or Birds of My Neighborhood, consider it purchased. There are no bad songs on this CD, but none really stand out either. Just a great CD overall.
  The Innocence Mission - Birds of My Neighborhood - An excellent follow up to Glow. The best song from Birds of My Neighborhood is Where Does The Time Go? followed closely by Lakes Of Canada.
  Ivy - Realistic - This is Ivy's first full length CD. Before this, they released Lately, which had 5 tracks. I first heard Ivy last fall when I tripped up on a free download of Edge of the Ocean on a CD called Chillout 2002. The free download is no longer there unfortunately. Anyway, I immediately purchased Apartment Life and Long Distance. About a month later, I got Guest Room and In the Clear, the latter being their latest release in 2005. They are all great CDs, and if you like one, you'll like them all. That isn't to say they are all the same, just that they are consistent and when you hear them, you know it Ivy. Too many artists change too much over time, to the point where you can't even tell it is the same artist across 3-4 CDs. I managed to pick up Realistic through one of Amazon's Z-Shops as it is no longer available. If you like Ivy, you must try to get this CD. It is the best of all of them in my opinion. There are tons of "listen" links at Amazon for these CDs, so it is easy to see if you'll like it, but suffice it to say, if you like some of the other music on this page, you'll like Ivy as well.
Jasmine Star - Jasmine Star: I picked this one up in October of 2003. It has 19 tracks and if you like anything Mazzy Star or Hope Sandoval puts out, you'll like this CD. She has several full length tracks on her site you can download or stream before buying. Available at CD Baby!
  Jenn Beast and the Burdens - Promotional Use Only: Don't let their web site scare you. The music is much better than the site. I would say this music would be right at home in the late 80's with some of the girl bands that got a bit heavier than the Go Gos or Bananarama. Available at CD Baby!
Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See: I purchased this in the mid-90's as part of one of those deals where you get 10 CDs for a penny. This one CD was worth that penny and the $50 I had to spend to complete my membership. I have no clue what else I purchased. You've probably heard Fade Into You. It was in a Diet Coke commercial in 2001 and was in "Starship Troopers" in one of the indoor scenes. Into Dust is easily the most relaxing song I've ever heard. If you are laying down, empty your mind and close your eyes when you listen to it, you can feel your breathing slow down and your body get heavier. You can find out more about this great band at this Mazzy Star fan site.
  Mazzy Star - Among My Swan: This is the last CD from Mazzy Star though I still see rumors on the internet that they may get back together. Fortunately, the lead singer, Hope Sandoval, is continuing to record. There are a number of good songs on this CD. Roseblood is excellent and in my opinion, should have been the background music during those final scenes of American Beauty. Look On Down From The Bridge is excellent as well. It was played in the final 3 minutes of the final episode of season one of the The Sopranos. Still Cold, Take Everything and Cry, Cry are also fantastic. Heck, the whole CD is fantastic!
Poe - Haunted: Poe is, well, Poe. Very strange. Most of the songs from this CD would be right at home in some of the darker scenes in The Cell. If you like dark and sometimes disjointed music, this CD is for you.
  Petracovich - Blue Cotton Skin: I heard Nighttime in an episode of "Over There" last week and knew I had to track down this artist. It actually took some time as the FX network saw fit not to list or even acknowledge any songs in the credits other than the theme. I finally found a web board that listed the artist name and ordered both this CD and their new one, "We Are Wyoming" from CD Baby. If you like Lisa Germano, you'll love this group. You can listen to a few tracks, including Nighttime at their site, plus most major music sites have their Blue Cotton Skin CD available for streaming and/or download, like Napster, Yahoo! Music and eMusic. Available at CD Baby!
  Sugarplum Fairies - Country International Music: This is the latest CD from Sugarplum Faries. If Introspective Raincoat Student Music or Flake was enjoyable to you, then this CD is another slam dunk for your collection. Velcro Girl is the killer song on this CD, but as usual, there isn't a bad song on the CD. They even did a cover of U2's All I Want Is You, and honestly, I like Silvia Ryder's voice better than Bono's. At a bare minimum, head over to the CD Baby site (link at right) and listen to samples of most of these songs. Available at CD Baby!
  Tori Amos - Under The Pink: This was the first Tori Amos CD I purchased, mainly because of Corn Flake Girl. I never really cared for the piano much until I heard this CD. Within a few weeks, I picked up "Little Earthquakes" which is her first serious CD. Even though both of these are well over 9 years old, I still listen to them several times a year. About 3 years after buying "Under The Pink" I found a double CD import version in a used CD store. The "B sides" of the set has quite a few songs, some that have never been released on any other CD that I know of.
  Tori Amos - Boys For Pele: This was Tori's 3rd CD and she took a slightly different direction. The piano took a back seat to her new found fondness for the harpsichord. Songs like Blood Roses and Caught A Light Sneeze are quite different than anything you would picture from other music with pianos and similar instruments. If you like Tori's other works, don't assume you'll like this. Don't assume you won't either. Give some of the samples at Amazon a try. As a side note, you heard Talula (Tornado mix) playing in the opening scenes of Twister.
  Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel: Once again, in Tori's fourth outing, she changed directions. The style is closer to "Under The Pink" but this one makes very heavy use of keyboards and electronic percussion instruments. I enjoy this CD, but doubt it will have the lasting power that "Under The Pink" and "Little Earthquakes" does.
Trespassers William - Anchor: I found this one at CD Baby in May 2003 looking for Mazzy Star/Hope Sandoval style music. This CD and their other one, "Different Stars" are perfect! If you only get one, I recommend their other album, "Different Stars". It is a bit smoother than this one. Nah, go without a few meals. Get both. Available at CD Baby!
Trespassers William - Different Stars: This is Trespassers William's second CD released in 2002. I like it better than their first CD, which is saying a lot. Last time I checked, you could download the full track of lie in the sound from the music section of their home page. Full CD lyrics are there as well. Available at CD Baby!
  Kathy Ziegler - Kathy Ziegler: In looking for more music by Adrienne Pierce and Trespassers William, I ran across this CD. No one song stands out but it is a good CD. I do like Sweet a bit more than the rest of the CD. If you like Sheryl Crow's voice but not necessarily her style of music, which seems to get too country for me, you should check out this CD. Available at CD Baby!

About the links on this page: Some of these are affiliate links with Amazon.com, partly to make it easy for you to find and buy the CDs and partly to recoup just a tiny bit of money for my time in maintaining these pages. If you don't want to buy through the affiliate links for whatever reason, you can go to Amazon.com and search for the artist and CD title or go to the music store of your choice. My feelings won't be hurt. My main reason for doing this particular page is to let people know about some fantastic music that you don't hardly ever hear on the radio, on MTV or any other mainstream outlet. If you like what you hear, buy the music and encourage the artist to keep recording! I think all of the CD Baby links will have an email address for the artist as well.