ok..each post hast to be a band from a different country... let's leave UK and USA and work from there... maybe could discover some good stuff :)

I'll start with Orange Range (Japan)

Kind of a mix of Sum 41, Offpsring, Beastie Boys & Zebrahead but with really punchy Pop Rock choruses.... featuring 3 vocalists :P The album '1st Contact' is recommended.

check out track 4 'shanghai honey'
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=82639101

Ok then, i've been listening to Asher Lane quite a bit lately, they hail from Germany. First heard about them when i saw the nivea ad they do the music for. Give them a try

www.myspace.com/asherlane

i reccommend westlife, not sure if youve heard of them?

theyre from ireland and do ballad type stuff

:hihi:

i reccommend westlife, not sure if youve heard of them?

theyre from ireland and do ballad type stuff

:hihi:

wow.. what a discovery... its so unpredictable what they will do next...will they get off the stools for the key change or not...:hihi:

Sigur Ros - amazing atmospheric music, very different,makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end (also more famous for having one of their tracks on the BBC branding!)

ooops- they are from Iceland!

Ace of Base from Sweden, they were poptastic back in the day :D

Spice Girls were from the Planet Venus... Well, they were all women! :D

*hides*

Note to female Mods - I kid! I kid!

TURBONEGRO FROM NORWAY FOR ANYONE THAT DESERVES TO LIVE!
Balzac from Japan for anyone that likes Misfits.
Die Toten Hosen from Germany are good.
The Peacocks from Switzerland for anyone that likes Living End type stuff.
****ed Up from Canada for anyone that likes rock n roll tinged hardcore.
Mad Sin and Nekromantix from Denmark for anyone that likes psychobilly.
Dimmu Borgir from Norway for anyone that likes Cradle of Filth.

CSS or Cansei de Ser Sexy
from Brazil

Very funky!! and very sexy!!!

M from France
Yes just the letter M

Everyone will have heard them, but Air from France are also very good. If you like floaty electronica.
And let's not forget the Proclaimers from Scotland!

I'll second Nekromantics, and Air, and add Daft punk.

Die Toten Hosen from Germany are good.

wow are they still going? Not seen or heard anything about them for years

Dimmu Borgir from Norway for anyone that likes Cradle of Filth.

i should get off my ass and get a cd, got one song thats really cool.

My vote goes for Strapping Young Lad from Canada.

Blew Arch Enemy (sweden) away in december 2005, in my opinion:)

Been two of my fav bands for about 18 months now....maybe i should change:confused:

Azure Ray are from America and well worth checking out

Royksopp, from Norway. Contemporary pop music (ie electronic rather than tired old guitars) that has one foot on the dancefloor but has melody and song structure.

The Cardigans and the lasses from Kill Bill - 5,6,7,8's wasnt it

I like Royksopp a lot, and also the 5,6,7,8's who are a very good band. Most people will know the 'whoo hoo hoo hoo hoo' song. I think it was on an advert. Opeth from Sweden are also good. Now I think about it, most of the music I listen to is European.

Europe from Sweden
Rammenstein from Germany

Cerrone from Holland.

Try the Supernature album...

Opeth are from Sweden (already mentioned)
Mad Capsule Markets were from Japan
Boris are from Japan
Breed 77 are from various places

Opeth are from Sweden (already mentioned)
Mad Capsule Markets were from Japan
Boris are from Japan
Breed 77 are from various places

Agree with all them. Great bands. Apart from Breed 77. Terrible band. I think I've seen them about 100 times. They always get on at festivals, even though they're rubbish. I don't understand.

Once they were put on above Turbonegro at a festival. That was the day that all the world's logic was lost.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=36904484

Pete, Bjorn and john

From Sweden

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=56433658

The Honeymoon from Iceland

Air as some have already mentioned.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=24769773

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=42689110
The mighty Sugarcubes.
From Iceland.

and who can neglect
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=149426451

Ooh new profile song coming on...:hihi:

Aavikko from Finland
polysics from Japan
Also AIR and Avalanches.

roxette from sweden

Mugison - Iceland
Kaada - Norway

Hmm.. GREAT THREAD

The Hold Steady - Brooklyn, NY. If you like Husker Du type pop try these guys out.
Johan - The Netherlands. Great jangly melodic pop music.
Soulwax/2ManyDJs - Belgium. Amazing Electronic/Alternative/Mashup
dUES - Belgium. Rock/Alternative/Experimental

Orishas - sort of Cuban hip hop
Kodo - Japanese players of big ass drums!

denkji groove, japs
my favourite, nyc
von bondies, ? probably us

I'm on a bit of an Icelandic tip at the moment:

Hafdis Huld is all lovely melodies and dreamy voice but with enough quirky bits to keep dullness at bay

Jakobinarina play jump-around-the-room pop music like early Ash

Ampop do floaty electronic yumminess

Leaves are a bit like Muse but with less of the sub-metal vocal histrionics

Wir Sin Helden aren't from Iceland at all but they still make this list for being a jolly good German band who's "Von Hier An Blind" single always makes me smile (especially when it's accompanied by the Tintin style video)

There's a whole raft of ace Swedish bands around too who all seem to play off-kilter giddy pop songs. My two faves at the moment are:

Architecture In Helsinki (um...I think they're Swedish anyway)
Envelopes

I really should be holidaying and skiing right now but I couldn't resist a bit of a gush about ace bands :)

I'm from Barcelona : form Sweden
Great band especially after there toilet gig on the Geoff show.

M from France
Yes just the letter M

Very wise choice. :thumbsup:

I'll add:

S-Kape from Spain (especially El vals del obrero)

I Am from France (although I don't think they've had an album out for a while)

Bebe from Spain (Pafuera Telaranas)

oh and Manu Chao from France/Spain

Kings of Convenience - from Sweden. Very mellow tunes to chill to.

Wow another Kings of Convenience fan - great albums. Do you have the remix album they did with lots of scandanavian producers and DJ's?

Australia is a fine country for great music- far too many to mention, perhaps on another thread.
Sweden: Merrymakers, Starmarket, Pushtwangers, Dolkows, Watermelon Men and Playmates.
Finland: Nights of Iguana.
Germany: Well Well Well and Strangemen.
France: The Shifters, The Shredded Ermines and The Surrenders.
Quite a few of these are long gone but their music is worth checking out.
Would also agree with Kerri-Johan are very good.

I am sure there are many more in my collection but having an appalling bout of flu has dulled my already damaged senses.:hihi:

Jaga Jazzist (Norway)
from wikipedia
Jaga Jazzist is an experimental jazz band that rose to prominence when the BBC named their fourth album, The Stix (Ninja Tune/Smalltown Supersound), the best jazz album of 2002. In their native Norway, Jaga Jazzist became well known in 2001 after their third record, A Livingroom Hush (Warner Music) sold unexpectedly well. The core of the band are brothers and main songwriters Lars and Martin Horntveth, who formed Jaga Jazzist while still in their teens in 1994. They are also prominent figures of the Norwegian pop act The National Bank.
The band feature trumpets, trombone, electric guitar, bass, tuba, bass clarinets, Fender Rhodes, vibraphone and a rack of electronics, as well as strong melodies and rhythms. Talk Talk, Soft Machine, John Coltrane, Don Cherry, Aphex Twin, Stereolab, Squarepusher and Tortoise are frequently mentioned as sources of inspiration. Jaga Jazzist is widely considered to be one of the premier acts of the so-called nu-jazz movement of Scandinavia. Also, The Mars Volta cites Jaga Jazzist as one of their favourite bands.

baka beyond- they're from all over the place and sound kind of like AfroCelt Sound System with added Maori.

Architecture In Helsinki (um...I think they're Swedish anyway)


They're actually from Australia, funnily enough. No idea where they came up with the name.

Sweden is the home of too many great bands to mention, especially if you're into metal. :D

Germany

Kraftwerk: Computer World, Trans Europe Express, Tour De France, Man/Machine are all incredible albums.


Poland

Bogdan Raczysnki: Samurai Mathu Bitsu


Italy

D'Arcangelo: Diagram


Finland

Brothomstates: Claro, Qtio


Iceland

Bjork: Debut, Post

I'm getting drawn to the odd Sigur Ros track lately too

IAM are a wonderful hip-hop band who happen to be French who I'd strongly adivise people to check out.

O Rappa - Brazil. Best band in ze vorld.

Nightwish, Finland

pre 2006 stuff the best as lead singer from then has now left, Some great guitar work an imo one of the best soprano vocalists around

Also Lacuna Coil, Italy

H.I.M (finlands finest)
http://www.heartagram.com/
tour dec 9th manchester apollo and I'M GOIN!!!!:banana::banana::love:

yeah HIM are great again with finland Sonata Arctica

therion
nightwish
hammerfall
dimmu borgir

I can't believe that with all the metal bands mentioned, you all seem to have forgotten the likes of Helloween from Germany (classic power metal at it's best), Sepultura from Brazil, AC/DC from Australia, Apocalyptica from Finland (metal on cellos anyone? Their first release was an album of Metallica covers and the album Reflections featured Dave Lombardo of Slayer playing drums on a few tracks. They also did the half time show at this years Eurovision, and were by far the best thing on).

Also, there's the Gotan Project who are a French band with an Argentinian rapper/mc.

also see
Within Temptation Dutch
Evanescence Dutch
Leaves Eyes German
Sirenia German (i think pls correct if wrong)

also see
Within Temptation Dutch
Evanescence Dutch
I love these, their voices go through me

yeah metal with female vocals works vwell

It's odd, perhaps, that so many scandinavian acts are listed here. Is that a local preference borne of Yorkshire/Viking cultural familiarity, or do the Scans have a digit on the collective pop pulse? Or what?

I like lots of American music, and there's a large amount of it, but I suppose that's a separate category somehow.

I still like Moon Safari and it's endless exposure hasn't really tarnished it in my ears at all.

Afrobeat music from Nigeria (and Brooklyn), Great albums from Fela Kuti, and his son Femi.

Jim Thirwell from Australia (Foetus, Wiseblood, Steroid Maximus etc)

Ex-Girls (Japan) make striking listening.

Negresses Vertes (France?)

Germany

Atari Teenage Riot: 60 Second Wipeout


Sweden

Misery Loves Co: Not Like Them


Brazil

Sepultura: Roots

yeah metal with female vocals works vwell

It's ok, but I do fear that they tend to just be a bit of eye candy for the men as I find the music to be very generic and "samey" between these types of bands. The only real exception is Arch Enemy where Angela doesn't try to be just a singer, she's the front (wo)man and relies on presence.

Bands like Evanesence and Nightwish musically, for me anyway, just seem geared towards an audience with easy listening guitar lines, keyboards that play along with them, a drummer who is only there to keep the beat and doesn't seem to have any individuality and a bass player who just pounds the root notes while some wannabe opera singer chimes over the top of it all. Don't get me wrong, I think they have decent voices, I just find the actual music itself bland and boring.

But tht is just my most humble of opinions...

Midnight Oil - Australia

Hundreds of quality Reggae, Ska & Dub acts from the comparatively small Island of Jamaica!

Also:

Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Arcade Fire and many more - Canada

Dungen - (Sometimes pastoral, sometimes blistering rock from Sweden)

Can, Neu - Germany

Nick Cave - Australia

Serge & Charlotte Gainsbourg - France

Nancy Ajram lebanese singer loads of vids on youtube amazing

ps sarah brightman rocks