Local heroes

Every scene and every city has them: artists and bands that command a cult following but for whatever reason seem unable to break out and make an impact further afield. For this Guardian feature, Michael Hann asked a (fairly random) selection of musicians including Nabihah Iqbal, Courtney Marie Andrews, Cornershop's Tjinder Singh and Metric's Emily Haines to name the local acts they feel should have been massive.

Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite, perhaps predictably, picked The Yummy Fur for their "very funny songs, very witty and acerbic" and "almost cartoonish music, influenced by early Roxy Music and The Fall - quite angular and wonky". It's true that they never made it big outside Glasgow, but the talent of Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson has at least been subsequently recognised by the wider world in the success rightfully afforded to Franz Ferdinand.

Of course, this naturally led me to contemplate who I'd mention if asked about the various cities I've lived in. In Cardiff, I've had the privilege of being on hand to see Los Campesinos! blow up, and Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard have had plenty of exposure beyond the city limits through TV and touring, so it'd probably be Truckers Of Husk, whose mathy yet danceable Physical Education EP should have made them as big as Foals.

Which brings me neatly to Oxford, which, for a relatively small city, has a remarkable track record of producing bands and artists that take off - Radiohead, Supergrass, Ride, Young Knives and the aforementioned Foals, of course, but most recently Glass Animals and Willie J. Healey. But what of those who didn't make it? I'm going to say Maiians, the fucking incredible double-drummer analogue dance band whose flame burned briefly but brightly until three of them left, one (allegedly, in true Oxford style) to further his buttling career in the US. Try 'Lemon' on for size.

I'd also put in a word for The August List - but given they're still a going concern, there's still time for the world to belatedly wake up to their brilliance. Wax Cat is a fantastic album by any standards (and certainly mine).