Good Songs by Non-famous Bands
 

Please post and discuss, if you wish, songs you like by non-famous bands or musicians, any genre (classical, punk, etc.).

Every once in a while I find a song by a band that doesn't seem well-known, and I think, "Hey, that's a pretty good song! Why aren't more people listening to it?"

What is non-famous? Good question. Use your own judgment, but if I find a musician where her or his YouTube video has fewer than 1000 hits, and no wikipedia entry, I conclude "Not famous."

Here's an example of a song I like by a non-famous musician:

A Brokeheart Pro (Jeannette Kantzalis) - "Bleed On"
I was listening through Jeannette Kantzalis' songs, most of which are light and wispy, and none made an impression on me until I listened to this one. I thought, hey, that's pretty good! It has attitude and pep, but only 470 YouTube views. Then I thought of all the songs I've heard but don't like that have 13,000,000 views, and that irked me. So here you go, Jeannette Kantzalis, whoever and wherever you are, I like your song, and especially these lines: "I'm pretty sharp, so I'll cut to the quick."

I like this. We really don't have many venues for the discussion of largely unknown entities. It's free promotion without being excessively so.

I found this through stumbleupon labeled as Techno/Trance-like song on acoustic guitar. He's very clever, although I realize he's got a butt-load of hits (he basically got to meme status, it's been put through Stumbleupon...)

This is a great thread idea, but I'm glad the idea of non-famous is open-ended. Even one of my regular customers at my work that dropped me a very good demo has 11,000 hits on his one youtube appearance...

So I'm going to post it anyway. I thought it was very insightful and well done for local dudes:

http://www.myspace.com/claraklein

The two songs on here are pretty good. Love her voice.

My friend´s band deserves more succes with their music:


Promised Land ... Sand Animation ... b.probanza - YouTube

Clara Klein's "Got Me" is really catchy with clever lyrics plus interesting instrumentals (an accordian sound and piano with dissonance). Her voice is lovely, so silky, warm and light. I liked that song very much. I could find no YouTube video of it, unfortunately.

What the heck is this singer doing, not making more songs than these two??? "Got Me" definitely got me. The music sounds like "ice cream and marshmallows," just like she wrote about it on her MySpace, but I'd add "with a dash of hot pepper or bittersweet chocolate." I listened three times to "Got Me." "Madman" was too quiet and mellow, in my opinion, but it seems to have attracted more attention.

Ewan Dobson's guitar piece is terrific. I didn't realize how lush the sound from a single acoustic guitar could be. I'd call him "famous-ish," though, because he has his own Wikipedia page! :p: Ewan Dobson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

P.S. Lucifer, I'm glad you like the thread idea. :)

Kaizers Orchestra - Hjerteknuser [HQ] - YouTube

Maybe not a good representation of their sound, but magnificent nonetheless.

Yeah, I prefer that one myself. She goes to school with my brother which is the only reason I know of her. I think she has more stuff, but I have no idea where to find it.

Please tell your brother to tell Clara Klein to put more of her music up on her MySpace and make a YouTube video of "Got Me"! Her fans are waiting. :) I'd also like to know who was playing the instruments. I couldn't find that information.

Clara Klein is a really cool name, BTW. If it's a pseudonym, it's a good one. If it's her real name, she's lucky!

The Romantics - What I Like About You (original version) - YouTube

Oh dear. This is a great song, Monkey, but I'd say the Romantics are definitely famous.

The reason I say so is that I knew about "What I Like About You" long before I joined MusicBanter, when I only knew songs or groups that were played often on mainstream radio. And "What I Like About You" has been played so often on the radio here over the last several decades that even I know all the words by heart!

Maybe they didn't or don't play the song often in Sweden?

I like this comment I read by a viewer and fan of this single on youtube.

quote: This hidden gem always rests in the back of my mind. A piece of the soundtrack of my life. Days of youth and unfettered happiness. The youngest of four watching the world unfold before him. Parents still young and hip, unmarked by time unvisited by tragedy. Guiding and gliding us along the road of life. The table always set for fun. Sounds of Miles, Monk and Ella float in the air, Sunday mornings stretched out forever in the light of the sun. The wind was our love..

1967


This particular single just "grew on me" after hearing it a couple of times. You can actually hear the cutting into and out of tracks in the original recording itself, witch makes it even more unique in its own way.

Arrah and the Ferns - Tokyo, Tokyo


I was sent this by a friend several years ago, and fell in love. I have no idea how known they are...because I've never met a single person HERE who's heard of them, but I'm sure someone has to know of them.

The concept "non-famous" is relative (as everything in this World). Do you mean non-famous spatially or non-famous chronologically? :laughing: You know, some artists were famous once, but nobody remembers them now....

Sorry, I was just kidding. :o: I don't know what "degree of fame" the following have, but I think they are not very well known. Luka Bloom: Ciara. Nightnoise:A Different Shore (instrumental).



Apart from that, I'd like to "rescue" some samples from the unknown mine of Spanish musicians singing in English:

Los Iberos: Summertime Girl (1968). L.A.: Hands (2009).

Thanks, everyone, for your contributions.

Zaqarbal, in answer to your good question about what I mean by non-famous, when I created the thread I was intending for "non-famous" to mean *never* famous (chronologically or spatially).

I was hoping this thread would be a kind of "The World's Got Talent" thread, where really unknown artists get "discovered."

By "unknown," I mean someone or some band who are, oh, making music in their basement, posting some songs on YouTube, and receiving fewer than 1000 views, until YOU listen and you think, "WOW! This guy's great!!! Why aren't more people listening to him?"

The second Red Feathers video, for example, has over 300,000 hits! Lourdes Hernández is famous in my book. Of course, maybe it just means one person (you? :p:) is listening to her song 300,000 times! :laughing: Then she wouldn't be famous, just really really popular with that one person. :D Let me check Wikipedia, though. Yep, there is an entry for Russian Red. I learned she is sometimes called the "Spanish Feist." It's nice to learn of her music, though, because I'd never heard of her before.

P.S. This (below) was a disturbing (and enticingly original!) video, Zaqarbal. I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe. It's like the embodiment of Satre's quote, "Hell is other people."

L.A. - "Hands"

:laughing: True. I guess that's what happens with certain bands: they don't mind making seedy videos because they're "not famous" enough. :laughing:

My older sister went to school with this kid - Noah Gundersen.
I have some burnt copy of his EP in my car and it makes me weep.
He is pretty incredible.

This thread has far, far, far better content than MTV.

Although I abandoned MTV years ago.

Matt Stevens- "Big Sky" from his album "Ghost."

Stevens is the new king of looping guitar techniques. He is a one man show, but he sounds like a full on band, and he can create everything live. Here is "Big Sky." Listen at the 4:45 mark, where everything is sampled on top of each other all at once. Quite amazing...

kidkanevil - The Hours


L.A - Gabriel Kahane

^Came to my school last year and held a mini performance for the music classes. Great performance. Went to go see him live again the next day too.


Caves - 200 miles


Colour - Over the Moon


Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) - They will throw us to the Wolves

One of my favorite unknown artists for sure. She's not quite famous and shes got a really great voice and a nice refreshing sound. She kind of reminds me of Ingrid Michaelson.

Oh, she doesn't have any music videos, albums or even an EP so these youtube links are just picture contemplations that someone put together.

Whores. - Straight Down


i would love to see this band (and this music) gain more popularity....but i doubt they ever will

Becky Daly does have a nice voice.

Your middle video isn't working, and I couldn't find the video that matches the number-letter sequence, and so in its place I am posting Becky Daly's "Camden Street," which I feel is one of her stronger songs:

Becky Daly - "Camden Street"
I'm glad she is using electric guitar in addition to her acoustic guitar, because this adds more variety and shape to the song compared to ones in which she uses only acoustic guitar. The one recommendation I have for Becky Daly is that I wish wish WISH she wouldn't just repeat the same verse melody again and again and again. The songs start to sound kind of amorphous to me, like wave after wave of the same notes lapping at me. Each wave is pleasant by itself, but when they hit me again and again on the same spot, it starts to irritate. I know with my own songs that whenever they go past 3 minutes, I start to irritate mySELF :p: so it is good for me to feel my reaction to other people's songs that are longer than 6 minutes and have a lot of melody repetition.

Heh heh...I was just going to comment on a previous post in this thread, when it got deleted due to being self-promotion, but I am going to mention the song because after watching the video, I'm *still* chuckling about it.

I don't ever think I've heard a song before that talks about someone's ass squeezing. :laughing:

I hope hope HOPE this song was intended to be funny, because it is. I'm glad "no boot in the ass has been delivered in this storytelling." ;)

"Ground Bottom Up" - Song written by Delré and performed by country singer Trent Jeffcoat.
A professional-sounding country song, apparently about a dad threatening to kick his slacker son, a smart ass, in the ass to straighten him out and get him on the right path. The song made me chuckle, since it sounds so traditionally "country" but is about a humorous topic. My favorite lyrics: "You better run, boy, run for your life...I see knees up, and your ass squeezing, and your mind racing for the first time in a while." I'm glad Trent is able to walk after his accident. He's got a great, low "country" voice.



There, Delré, now it isn't self-promotion. :p:

Delré, you might want to go down to the songwriter section and make a thread there entitled "Delré's Collection" to share lyrics, if you wish. I'd like to hear more of them, because while listening to this song I had some suggestions, and so of course then I want to tell you them in case they are helpful!

For example, one issue with this song, I think, is that "lost" and "ass" don't rhyme. Perhaps you did that for humor's sake...but I think if I had written the song, I would have written, "Let me tell you, I'm tired of your sass. Yeah, you surely deserve a kick in your smart ass." You could have played with the idea of a smart mouth and a smart ass. If you only mentioned "boot" in the chorus, then you wouldn't have to use "boot" so often in the song, and the word would have more power and humor, I think. However, maybe part of what makes the song so funny to me is that you do use "boot" so frequently! It's nice to have a song to listen to in order to get myself to smile. :)

Everyone loves The Kin! :D

I listened to more of their songs on MySpace and was surprised to hear that the same duo who played this ^ acoustic song also played the one below:

The Kin - "Nowhere to Now Here" (with an odd, distracting interpretative dance video)
This song has a much more sweeping, powerful sound than their acoustic songs, especially because of the didgeridoo. Somewhat trite lyrics, although heartfelt. Song was used by NBC for a superbowl XLIII (43) promo spot. Overall, I liked it and preferred it to their acoustic songs.

EDIT: Doh! I just realized the cleverness of the title. Going from being "nowhere" to "now here" simply takes the word "nowhere" and splits it in two in an unorthodox way. I didn't realize the significance of the title until now here, half a day later! I also never realized that "now here" is hidden in plain view in a word that is its conceptual opposite. I never noticed it there before.

I'm glad for the open idea of 'not-famous'. My favourite band are virtually unheard of in England and yet they top the Finnish Chart. Check out Poets of The Fall, they're amazing. (and sing in English if that makes it seem more attractive).

I'm listening to Poets of the Fall now, Tobylotoczko (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poets_of_the_Falland), and I must say that after listening to just two songs I am enjoying their music and wish to hear more because:

(1) The two videos I watched were fascinating and very well done. They tell stories but incompletely, such that the videos trigger my imagination and make me try to piece together the meaning behind what is happening in them, which isn't completely obvious. The videos are like dreams.

(2) The music is slick with the instruments combining to create a lush sound. I like the occasional odd sound. I wish the two songs I heard would use even more unusual sounds and song patterns to make the songs less generic and predictable. Since most popular songs use a lot of repetition, my quibble isn't a strong one; I'm just thinking here of what I'd feel would create "The Perfect Song." I wish the two songs I've heard used as much inventiveness as I see in their videos.

(3) The music is extremely lyrics-driven. I find some of the lyrics sound quite melodramatic and a little too simple, too pop-like ("You lift my spirit, make it fly") but at other times they are very original, such as the idea of a "carnival of rust."

Since I love rhyming, I noticed quickly that they do, too. The drawback of rhyming is that it makes songs somewhat predictable, since only certain words rhyme; on the other hand, I enjoy the sound and the occasional unexpected rhyme, plus the way thoughts can be woven out of rhyming words. I like to see how freely they can express their thoughts given the bondage of the words they have chosen to use to create a rhyme. "Poets of the Fall" do sound like they enjoy poetry, so the name is appropriate.

(4) The songs definitely well with emotion. I'm curious what range of emotions they show through all their repertoire. For example, are they singing only of love relationships, or do they branch out to other, wider topics? I hope they branch out to other topics besides love relationships so that their subject matter isn't one-dimensional. The point is, after hearing two songs, I want to hear more. So they have successfully sucked me in.

Poets of the Fall - "Carnival of Rust"
A sad song of yearning accompanied by a dream-like video that I think I will find hard to forget because it is so unusual: it reminds me of a scene from the movie AI. Before watching the song, I had wondered what "Carnival of Rust" meant, and after watching I understand. I especially like the sound of a roller coaster incorporated into the song.



EDIT: I'm listening to more of their songs and after hearing around 5 more, this is the next one that caught my attention:

Poets of the Fall - "Psychosis"
A little rougher than some of their other songs, most of which seem to start with acoustic guitar and soft, rhyming singing, so I was glad to hear a change:

A pleasant discovery. Zeta Park: Lady Cappuccino and Love is Blind.

About "Ground Bottom Up" Video
 

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The La's - There She Goes

Camper Van Beethoven has a cult following but never gained mainstream success. I like their various music influences, punk attitude and tongue in cheek humour. The First video for instance is satirizing punks in the 80's.

I guess this doesn't meet all the requirements, but, given your fondness for stringed instruments and lovely musicians, I thought you'd like it:

One of my favorite artists ever who definitely deserves more attention. Madeline Ava.



Another artist from that same group that I love and I think deserves more attention, Max Weiss.



Brother Sister group Y Lime? More awesome folk.

baldheaded end of the broom by the dry city scat band

Thank you, Zaqarbal!

*****

Today I heard two songs by Alex the 4th, a new MusicBanter member. I liked their upbeat, peppy, pretty sound, which won me over even though I don't usually like dance songs. These two songs give me an '80s electro synth music dance vibe, which I like. More, Alex! :)

Alex the 4th -- "GO KACHO GO"
Nice synth tune...very pretty! I especially like the low, grumbling sounds in the instrumentals, and the slick harmony in the vocals. Upbeat song! The line "Never give up, never give in" reminds me of a cartoon of a frog that is using its hands to choke the neck of a heron trying to eat her or him as the frog is in the heron's mouth: the heron, being choked, can't swallow.



* * *

Alex the 4th -- "I Don't Stop"
Lyrics perhaps overly simple for my tastes, but catchy song! I especially like the line about eating the cup. I also like the vocal harmony and the background music. Fun! :)

Ahhh, thank you so much! More songs will be on the way, as I am now working with a team to record my stuff properly and such. I hope you had fun.

I especially liked your reference to the cartoon about the frog, as frogs are my favorite animal.

You're very welcome, Alex. :) MusicBanter has a pretty strict rule about "no self-promotion" (at least until one has posted here a while), but there isn't any rule that says we can't notice someone *else's* music! :p:

I imagine that working with a whole team to record your music properly will be very satisfying and an enjoyable way to share your creativity with other people who appreciate it.

Here's the frog cartoon, in case you, a frog-lover, haven't seen it:

http://familyrights.us/how_to/never-give-up-frog.jpg

@Vegangelica Thanks again, so much! I will make sure to let you and others know how it all turns out! So far, so good.

Hahaha, thanks for showing me the cartoon!! I will check out your music as well! I saw your myspace, but unfortunately I ran out of time to listen. Can't wait to hear.