One OK Rock - Liar

Last year my friend who's a fan of this Japanese band showed me the music video for this song, and I was surprised by how good the singer's voice was (I'm used to low quality of vocals from male singers, especially in rock music, and especially in Japanese music).  His singing reminds me a bit of that of Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park--it's kinda high-pitched for rock, he can actually sing well, and he can scream in-key.  Also, I just really like the energy of this song.

One OK Rock - Liar:

Julia Savicheva - Если в Сердце Живёт Любовь

I honestly can't remember how I first came upon this song (I suspect it was from some sort of fanvideo), but I'm glad I did.  This singer has a really good voice, and for years prior to my discovery I had been on the lookout for good Russian pop music with little success, so this came as a welcome addition to my collection.

Julia Savicheva A.K.A. Юлия Савичева - Если в Сердце Живёт Любовь [Yesli v Syerdcye Zhivyot Lyubov' - If Love Lives in the Heart]:

Lupe Fiasco feat. Sarah Green - Intruder Alert

Oh man, so many great songs by the brilliant Lupe Fiasco to choose from.  I eventually went with this one because I think it's the most widely-accessible, but you can pick pretty much anything by him at random and it will be gold.  I especially love the third verse, how he takes the concept of the alarm, which is established in the first two verses as a positive element, and then turns it on its head.  Even if you don't like hip hop, listen to this track.
Note:  Available in super HD!  And it looks like YouTube is back to letting people change the quality of embedded videos.

Lupe Fiasco feat. & Sarah Green - Intruder Alert:

Angel Haze - 6'7 Freestyle

OMG OMG OMG, I think I'm in love.  This girl has SKILLS!  I just discovered her through a recommendation on a blog I frequent.  This is the first track I heard by her and I was immediately impressed.  And don't get it twisted; she can spit rhymes that are inspiring and conscious as easily as those that are venomous and lethal like in this track.  This is hip hop, and it has profanity, so you have been warned.

Angel Haze - 6'7 Freestyle:

Arash feat. Shaggy - Donya

This song is pretty catchy, but then I saw the music video I knew I had to post it, even though it's not in HQ.  I must admit I don't understand why the MV involves a Jamaican guy and a Persian guy stealing all the white womenz from the Japanese guys, but OK.  Anyway, "donya " means "world" in Farsi, and it's also a Persian girl's name.
Note:  The first video is the song in HQ, the second is the music video.

Arash A.K.A. آرش feat. Shaggy - Donya:

And the music video:

Vienna Teng feat. Alex Wong - Antebellum

This is a very pretty song by the very talented Vienna Teng, whose music I first discovered on an mp3 rotation site years ago, then shortly after saw her performing live on PBS.  My friend sent me this song, and it quickly became one of my favorites by this artist.

Vienna Teng feat. Alex Wong - Antebellum:

Yang Pei An - 這該死的愛

My friend showed me music by this Taiwanese singer back in high school, and I was immediately impressed by his awesome voice.  A pretty high pitch with extraordinary control rarely found in Taiwanese pop music.  So when I first started listening to this guy, it seemed like he was relatively unknown, he only had one album, and I couldn't find almost any information on him in English.  Now he has 3 more full-length albums and a fairly detailed English Wikipedia page.  Wooo!  Anyway, I love this song; it's SO PRETTY and shows off his gorgeous, powerful voice.
Note:  I am also posting the actual music video because I LOVE IT and it's obviously inspired by the intro credits of the Park Chan Wook film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

Yang Pei An A.K.A. 楊培安 - 這該死的愛 [Zhe Gai Si de Ai - This Cursed Love]:

And here's the music video:

Ayako Ikeda - Prism

From the first sung note of this song, I knew I had to have it.  Seriously, the singer's voice is that pretty.  I heard this first when I saw the anime Dennou Coil being screened, since this song is the opening theme to the series.  I admit that I never finished watching the series, but this did lead me to look into more of this singer's music (which, like this song, is very pretty).

Ayako Ikeda A.K.A. 池田 綾子 - Prism:

Sixx: A.M. - Life is Beautiful (Acoustic Version)

I found this song through an AMV.  Call this song dark, but I think it's actually pretty uplifting.  I love its meaning (and not just because it reminds me of one of the best TV series ever, Six Feet Under): witnessing the death of others can be a wakeup call to live your own life to the fullest and can lead you to appreciate the life you have.  (I really like the original, non-acoustic version of this song too, and recommend it; I just went with this version because it's "prettier.")
Note:  Available in HD!  BTW, it appears that now embedded YouTube videos don't allow you to change the quality unless you watch them directly on YouTube, so you may have to watch it there to listen to it in HD.

Sixx: A.M. - Life is Beautiful (Acoustic Version):

Rihanna - G4L

This song is about as far away from the previous entry as it can get: lacking in sentimentality and acoustic instruments, vengeful and ominous.  Rihanna is not one of my favorite music artists, but I like a some of her songs (Unfaithful and Umbrella, for example)--although some of them are pretty annoying (Only Girl (In the World) and S&M).  I really like her attitude in this song; it just sounds so cool.  This whole album got a reputation for being her "edgier" side and this song is a pretty good example.
Note:  This song has profanity.  A surprising amount of it, coming from her music, I guess.

Rihanna - G4L:

Nell - Thank You

I heard of the Korean formerly-indie band Nell back when my TV had Channel AZN instead of the International Channel, and when they had a show that aired current Korean music videos.  They sound pretty unlike all the other Korean artists I've heard, yet they've managed to become increasingly popular over the years.  I think Kim Jongwan's voice is pretty and emotive, and their music strangely bittersweet.  This is one of my favorite songs by them.

Nell - Thank You:

Jem - Keep On Walking

This song by the Welsh singer-songwriter was used in the finale of the second season of Damages, which is where I heard it.  Very niiiiiice!  It keeps getting stuck in my head lately.  It sounds like a modernized version of gospel or something.
Note:  Wow, so, my YouTube upload of the song was blocked in the U.S. and Germany because Sony is a biznitch, and the ONLY copy I could find on YouTube was a Damages fanvideo that cuts off part of the song, so I have resorted to a different source.

Jem - Keep On Walking:

Something a la Mode feat. Adam Joseph - Little Bit of Feel Good

This song was originally sung by Jamie Lidell but I prefer the R&B-style vocals of Adam Joseph, and the gangsta violins as employed by the French group Something a la Mode definitely enhances the song too.  (If you're looking for an interesting music video, though, go for the original Jamie Lidell version.)

Something a la Mode feat. Adam Joseph - Little Bit of Feel Good:

Tan Dun feat. Jane Zhang - 我用所有报答爱

This is the theme of the Ang Lee film The Banquet, and the first song I heard by this Chinese singer.  Her other music is more pop/R&B-oriented, but this song is so gorgeous and epic I had to post it first.  Also, you may recognize Tan Dun's name/style because he's composed music for other movie soundtracks, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Fallen, and Hero.

Tan Dun A.K.A. 谭盾 feat. Jane Zhang A.K.A. 张靓颖 - 我用所有报答爱 [Wo Yong Suo You Bao Da Ai - I'll Use Everything to Repay Love]:

Ryuichi Sakamoto feat. David Sylvian - Forbidden Colours

This is the main theme from the Japanese film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (which I've never seen but probably should, even if only because of it starring both David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano).  The famous composer Ryuichi Sakamoto composed this piece, and British singer David Sylvian sang it.  This is one of very few songs that was made before I was born that I actually like!

Ryuichi Sakamoto A.K.A. 坂本 龍一 feat. David Sylvian - Forbidden Colours:

Eisblume - Eisblumen

I found this German band through someone's YouTube channel, where the music video for this song was posted.  I don't know much about them except that they're kinda gothy (which I like), but I like the lead singer's voice; it's very pretty and clear.

Eisblume - Eisblumen [Frost Flowers]:

Letto - Insensitive

I found this artist years ago when I was looking for more Indonesian music to add to my collection.  I came across a website with music by a bunch of different Indonesian music artists, including this group.  This is one of my favorite songs of theirs--the lead singer's voice is very soothing to me, and for some reason I really like the opening lines of lyrics.  I normally don't even pay attention to lyrics, but these caught my attention.

Letto - Insensitive:

Ane Brun - To Let Myself Go

I discovered this Norwegian singer when I heard one of her songs in a commercial and instantly loved her style, and I discovered this rather haunting song by the same singer when I watched a fanvideo that used it.
Note:  This video is available in HD, and accompanied by some really awesome photographs!

Ane Brun - To Let Myself Go:

Placebo - Protège-Moi

This is the French version of the song "Protect Me From What I Want" by the world-renowned British band, but somehow it's wayyyyy better than the original.  I think this is the first Placebo song I ever heard, at least that made an impression on me and drove me to look up their other music (they're now one of my favorite music artists), and I heard it on a pretty popular Fullmetal Alchemist AMV (which you can see here)--which, now that I think about it, also convinced me to watch the anime series in its entirety, despite its length.

Placebo - Protège-Moi [Protect-Me]:

Gummy - 어른아이

Gummy, whose name can be written a number of ways and translates to "spider," is one of my favorite Korean artists.  While she's not completely obscure, she doesn't seem to get the fame & recognition she deserves.  Which is lame, 'cause she has the perfect R&B voice.  I first heard her when her music video for "기억상실" was played on a Korean music video show on the now-defunct Channel AZN.

Gummy A.K.A. 거미 - 어른아이 [Eoreunai - Childish Adult]:

Stanislas - Le Manège

This song sounds to me like it belongs on a soundtrack of a musical or... something, I dunno.  I have read that the lyrics of this song are clever.  Too bad I can't understand them, 'cause I know almost no French.  Even without understanding the lyrics, though, I like this song that I stumbled across on YouTube because of the pretty instrumentation and the singer's pretty voice.  The more I listen to this, the more I like it.
Note: I couldn't upload my own copy of the song, and the only HQ copy of this song I could find on YouTube was this video, which doesn't let me embed so I'm just posting the link.

Stanislas - Le Manège [The Carousel]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCW7VCskmXU

La Roux - Tigerlily

I heard this British artist before on her more popular singles, and didn't care much for the sound, but when I heard this song on a German soap opera I really liked its intensity.  I also kinda like the weird subject matter--stalking someone and deluding yourself into believing she likes it.  Creepy.  But interesting!

La Roux - Tigerlily:

Chevelle - The Red

Aaah, childhood memories.  I loved this song from the first time I heard it, many-a-year ago, when I was at my dad's house watching the rock music video lineup on MTV or VH1.  The anger in it is palpable, and I love it.  (You wouldn't believe how it difficult it was to find a HQ video of this song that had the correct lyrics, considering how many times this song was uploaded with lyrics.)

Chevelle - The Red:

Yuja Wang - Flight of the Bumblebee

This is not one of my conventional music posts, but I had to post it anyway because this is one of the craziest things I've EVER seen.

Yuja Wang - Flight of the Bumblebee:

Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death

This song was on the soundtrack of The Matrix, though I don't remember actually listening to it until after a high school friend recommended it to me, and at some point another high school friend burned the artist's music on a CD for me.  As you can imagine, this track is far from unknown since it was on the soundtrack of a really friggin' famous movie, but I'm posting it anyway.
Note:  This clip is in HD!

Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death:

Sia - My Love

SIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  *primal scream*  Apparently this song was used on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack, but I swear that is not how I heard it.  My friend recommended it to me.  I had already heard "Breathe Me" by this artist, which is gorgeous, and a few of her singles, which I had shown to my friend, who then discovered this song and showed it to me.  This is one of my favorite songs I've heard by this awesome Aussie artist.
Note:  HD quality!

Sia - My Love:

JJ Lin - 编号89757

Whoa, look!  Autotune before autotune was obligatory!  Back when it was cool and actually made sense in the context of the song!  And was implemented by singers who didn't rely on it for their careers because they could REALLY sing!  Anyway, I adore JJ's voice.  And--oh, whoa, a pop star who actually writes his own music?!  And has released an album every year since he started in 2003?   I'm afraid it's true.  Every time I hear this song I want to do a hip hop dance routine to it.  Umm...  This song is about a robot.  Obviously.

JJ Lin A.K.A. 林俊傑 - 编号89757 [Bian Hao 89757 - Number 89757]:

Zazie - Je Suis un Homme

When I first heard Zazie, on some random song with a silly music video years ago, I didn't think much of her--she just seemed like an average pop artist.  When, only recently, I bothered to listen to a different song by her--this one--I had no idea it was going to be a socially-conscious track.  But behold!  The lyrics basically talk about the mindless destruction mankind exacts upon the earth while only caring about material comforts and personal success.  The lyrics speak to me because sometimes I feel suddenly & inexplicably overwhelmed by the sentiments expressed in the song.

Zazie - Je Suis un Homme [I Am a Human]:

And in lower quality but with English translations of the lyrics: