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Djam Karet
This Southern California band plays a mixture of hard-driving guitar-based instrumental rock, and rich ambient sound sculptures. Their highly progressive music is entirely instrumental, and features lots of improvisation. Reflections from the Firepool is a great introduction to the band, exhibiting both their hard rock and ambient sides. Burning the Hard City is their heaviest album, an all-out shred session. Still No Commercial Potential is a limited-edition album which was completely improvised in the studio. This album is a great introduction to the spontaneous side of the band.
http://www.djamkaret.com

Squonk Opera
I first became a fan of Squonk Opera through their recordings. Their music is a wonderful combination of progressive rock, "world" percussion and woodwind sounds, ethereal vocals, and a little bit of humour. I think their most recent album, Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk is their best. It is now being widely distributed on Angel records; there were several copies at Tower Records in Dallas when I went to pick one up, so it shouldn't be too hard to find now. This album is a well-integrated collection of songs which take the listener on a stirring musical journey. But the music is only half of the Squonk Opera experience. They put on incredible stage performances while they play this wonderful music, and use an impressive array of props. Their tendency to come down off the stage and interact with the audience makes the shows especially fun. Their performances are usually in the Northeastern U.S., though we had the fortune of having them perform in Fort Worth in 1999. If you get the opportunity to see them perform, don't miss it. They will be touring extensively in 2001, so check their web site for a performance near you. (And go to it!)
http://www.squonkopera.com

Not Drowning, Waving
This Australian band created lots of excellent, intelligent "pop" music. The melancholy atmosphere of their music is so perfectly crafted that I can't help but feel good listening to it. I think Circus is their best album, and it is the easiest to obtain in the U.S. Their soundtrack from the film Proof is also quite good, though much harder to find.

Brave Combo
I have probably seen more live performances by Brave Combo than by any other band. They know over 500 different songs, so no two concerts are ever alike. They are often described as "nuclear polka", and while polkas are a major portion of the music they play, I think "world dance music" would be a more accurate description. Their performances are so much fun that you might not notice just how much incredible music is happening up on stage, because you're too busy dancing. But if you stop dancing long enough to listen and watch what is happening on stage, you'll realize that these are some of the best musicians around. The band is constantly evolving, fueled by the utterly unique musical vision of Carl Finch, so every performance is a unique and uplifting experience. Go see them live the next time you have the chance, but in the meantime, check out the albums No No No, Cha Cha Cha (which exhibits the band's Latin sound), and Polkas for a Gloomy World (which focuses on the band's polka side).
http://brave.com/bo/

Ten Hands
If the musical universe was fair, Ten Hands would be as widely known as Sting. Leader Paul Slavens has a unique animated voice, and superb songwriting skills. The group played witty rock-n-roll that is exciting and fun, and reveals plenty of progressive rock influences if you listen closely. Check out The Big One That Got Away for an excellent musical snapshot of this superb band in action.

Carlos Guedes
Carlos Guedes is probably the world's best player of the arpa llanera, a Venezuelan folk harp with a wood body and nylon strings. The instrument has a much more earthy sound than a classical harp, and Carlos's careful placement of numerous piezo pickups on the instrument gives it striking sonic depth when amplified. It is a diatonic instrument, meaning it has no sharps and flats. Even though he is working with a more limited set of notes, he produces amazing and wonderful music, that could best be described as Caribbean jazz. His harp has a very wide range; he generally plays melody and chords with his right hand, while his left hand plays bass lines that resonate with the richness of an upright bass. In live performances, I'm always amazed by the way he can lay down an infectious, unwavering bass groove with one hand, while improvising freely with the other. He typically performs in a trio, accompanied by drums and percussion. He performs frequently around the Dallas area; Terilli's on Lower Greenville is one of the most common places to find him playing in public. Check out the album Toda America for a good sampling of his songs; go see him live to hear the fifteen-minute versions of them.

Charles Neville
Many people are familiar with Charles Neville as the saxophonist for the Neville Brothers; however, most do not realize that he also leads a jazz ensemble based in New Orleans. I discovered this group at the 1997 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and have been a fan ever since. His album Safe in Buddha's Palm is an excellent showcase for his expressive and lyrical saxophone playing.
http://www.nevilles.com/side/charles/charlessides.html

Geggy Tah
You might have heard Geggy Tah's radio-friendly "Whoever You Are" back in the Summer of 1996. You know, the song where the singer thanks somebody for letting him change lanes. While this song is excellent in its own right, it is merely the doorway into the musical universe of this incredible band from Southern California. So far, the band has only released two albums, both of which are great. The first, Grand Opening, has a very "homemade" sound to it, using lots of samples and multitracking to turn thier soluful and witty compositions into complex audio collages. The second, Sacred Cow, sounds more polished, but still presents a musical experience unlike any other. The only other band I'm aware of that sounds like anything like Geggy Tah is Cake, and vice versa. Geggy Tah completed another album in 1999, but as of this writing, it has yet to be released.

Apocalyptica
Apocalyptica's first album consisted entirely of Metallica songs, played entirely on four cellos. Their second album includes several more Metallica songs, as well as songs by other groups and several original compositions. Both albums rock much harder than anything Metallica has put out since the 1980's. What more do I need to say?

frente!
The Australian band frente! enjoyed mild success in the mid 1990's when their cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" caught the attention of the newly emerging "alternative" radio stations. Their version, consisting of just acoustic guitar and vocals, was a stark contrast to the original. The rest of their first release, Marvin the Album, follows the same tendency towards acoustic music and vocals, and is a lot of fun once you get used to the fairly high pitch of singer Angie Hart's voice. In 1996, they released their second album, Shape, which accelerated the band's sound into hyperspace, so to speak. The great songwriting is still present, but the album has a much more psychadelic feel, using more layering, effects, and occasionally synthesizers to add another dimension to the music. Listen to both albums in chronologic order to experience the full range of this band's capabilities.

Kevin Gilbert
Kevin Gilbert was a musical genius who never quite got the recognition he deserved. You may have heard him on the radio in the early '90's, when the song "Last Plane Out" by his band Toy Matinee got some airplay. That song appears on the self-titled Toy Matinee album, which is a brilliant work of audio craftsmanship. Thud, his only solo album released during his lifetime, is also an excellent collection of melodies, harmonies, and lyrics that are both cynical and hopeful. His music is so personal and compelling that when I heard he died, I felt like I had lost a friend. Kevin was a light that burned twice as bright but half as long.
http://www.kevingilbert.com/