Where have all the music lovers gone?

Vomitorial Corpulence: Skin Stripper (Heaviest band I've ever heard.)
Commit Suicide: Synthetics (One of the best drumers in death metal. And, no, despite the name, they don't encourage or condone killing one's self.)
Michael Hedges: Oracle (Greatest steel-string, finger-style guitarist ever.)
Madison Greene: Nowhere Near Nashville (Really good folk-percussion band. They put on a very good live show too.)
Tortured Conscience: Every Knee Shall Bow (Well done death-grind, fronted by Jeff Lenormand of Vulgar Pigeons fame.)
Frost Like Ashes: Tophet (Good black metal from Kansas City.)
Mike Knott: Strip Cycle (I don't think Mike Knott needs an introduction.)
Calibretto 13: From the Secret Files of the Danger Brigade (Although not around anymore, these guys played a unique blend of hyped-up acoustic-rock that will be greatly missed.)
Raft of Dead Monkeys: Joey… (Half of Ninety Pound Wuss and half of Roadside Monument formed to make this cult classic of a band.)
Earl Scruggs: The Essential Earl Scruggs (The greatest banjo player ever and the originator of the three finger picking style, or "Scruggs-Style Picking".)
Decahedron: 2005 (Shelby Cinca of Frodus / The Cassettes; Jason Hamacher of Frodus; and Joe Lally of Fugazi, later Jonathan Ford of Roadside Monument / Unwed Sailor, formed to make this great, unique band. Although I completely disagree with their lyrical approach and beliefs--anti Bush, anti-War-on-Terror--I respect their music and their passion.)
Stretch Arm Strong: Engage (Great hardcore from South Carolina.)
Necrophagist: Epitaph (The best death metal I've ever heard. These guys are not just your average metal heads, they are absolute virtuosos on their prospective instruments. Some of the most technical stuff I've ever heard. And all four of the band members live quite a distance apart from each other. So when they write, they'll e-mail the different parts they've written back and forth, and then, during the few times they get together to practice, they can all play these ridiculously technical songs. The lead guitarist taught himself how to play guitar, in secret, even though his parents forbade him to learn the instrument in their house. I would put him right up there with some of the best guitar players in the world. Amazing!)
Alethian: Dying Vine (Decent metal from Lebanon, PA.)


G.