Hidden Treasures | A Blog of Unknown Artists

Soul Pancake

December 5, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

So I know that I have been doing all mostly unknown musical artists, but this week I decided to change it up a little bit. SoulPancake is an artist of a different sort, he is a young boy who gives short, inspiring talks that are very similar to TED talks. This young boy, whether he writes the speeches himself or not, posts extremely inspiring videos that can completely change a person’s day. I originally heard about SoulPancake when I told my best friend that I was having a bad day, she sent me a link to one of his videos and it completely changed my mood. I began following his YouTube vidoes, and any time I am having a bad day, or one of my friends is, I find a relevant video to cheer them or myself up.

The video I most recently watched was Kid President’s 20 Things We Should Say More Often. I doubt that he wrote all of these things himself, but he delivers it in a genuine way and it really makes you think about becoming a better person.

Here is a sneak peek of some of Soul Pancake, Kid President’s, Best Moments.

I hope you all find this little boy as adorable and inspiring as I do. I thought this was worth sharing and could bring more joy through the most stressful two weeks of the semester than a new band or singer could. ENJOY

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Mish Mash of Artists!

October 31, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

ok so I know that I have been focusing on only one artist every week, but I decided to change it up this week! I am going to introduce you guys to three different bands that all have different styles.

The first one I want to show you is Family Force 5, they are a Christian band that I saw for the first time at ALIVE (alive is an awesome week long music festival in the woods of Ohio, kind of like Creation if you have heard of that). Family Force 5 calls their music style Krunk Rock. They say that God was awesome, so why sing quite, weak music in honor of him? They think that they should be loud and proud with their music.

The very first song I heard by them was Love Addict, when I was first listening to their music I was like you guys used to go warped tour, and listening to this, how are you a Christian band? So I decided to really listen to the lyrics. I realized that they were singing about their love for God, and how it is all they need in the world…

“What I’ve got in my soul gives me the highest delight
Oh yeah it’s better than drugs
In fact it’s sent from above”

This second song is called Superhero. It is much more laid back, and easier to tell that it is a Christian song.

So now that I have taken up so much time on them, I really like them if you did not notice, I am just going to add my favorite songs of each of the other two bands!

THE SHINS, Phantom Limb

WALL OF VOODOO, Mexican Radio

Let me know if you want me to go less in depth on three artists a week, or if you want me to stick with only one a week! HOPE YOU ENJOY!

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We Are the Physics

October 24, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

I know that some of you do not like indie bands, but I wanted to share We Are the Physics anyways. We Are the Physics is an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded in 2005 and since then they have released two albums. Their first album was received with mixed reviews, people either loved or hated their music. Even though there were some harsh critics out there they continued to make more music and released their second album in 2012.

I am one of the people who love their music, my favorite song is, Goran Ivanisevic.

Goran Ivanišević is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. I am completely confused on why they use this name in the song! But I like it anyways. They had never written out the lyrics to this song for the public to see until they were convinced to by some persistent fans. What do you think this could mean?

“Goran Ivanisevic, it’s time, I think, to make that switch
No masquerade in self-belief, Goran Ivanisevic
Goran Ivansisevic, you tried and failed, iconoclastic!
No masquerade for self-belief, Goran Ivanisevic”

Another good song by them is Cluedo.

This band tends not to share the lyrics of their songs with the public, so I was unable to find the lyrics to this song, and I was unable to understand enough of the lyrics to write any of them down for you.

This is an old band, that I am guessing many of you will not like, but I like them and wanted to share them with you anyways for something different. It is not often that a band from Scotland makes it into the charts in America. So I thought this was something different to share everyone.

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Neutral Milk Hotel

October 17, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

I was recently introduce to this band, even though my favorite album of theirs was released in 1998. This album is named, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. It is thought to be inspired by Anne Frank, since they refer to her birth and death dates and if you listen closely to the lyrics it seems as if they are talking about her life. Although, the band has never officially stated that she is their inspiration for this album.

Jeff Magnum, the primary songwriter of this album, does admit that Anne Frank’s Diary has had a large impact on how he thinks and writes. The song Holland, 1945 was written with inspiration from Anne Frank. I think it is a very interesting song and the accompanying instruments are quite unique.

This is the title track on my favorite album.

Another good song. I wanted to give a variety of songs, in case you decided you did not like one, another may interest you. Although many of their songs have a similar feel, the lyrics are all completely different.

Two-Headed Boy. This is beautiful song, but I have been unable to see a concrete meaning in it. I know that songs do not always have to have a specific meaning, but I like to look for one in all of them. This song gives me a feeling of grieving in a cruel world, but having someone there for you? Any ideas?

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Icon For Hire

October 10, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

Every year I go to a music festival in Atwood Lake Park, Ohio called ALIVE. One year when I was there, I heard a band playing and saw that their lead singer had dyed her hair neon pink and it looked awesome on her. I decided to go over to the stage and listen to them play. I immediately fell in love!

The first song I heard them sing was Fight. It is about exactly what the title says, fighting. The lead singer is saying that she is going to fight for her life and what she loves as long as her heart is beating. “The sound of my heart pounding tells me that there is still hope…”

Another wonderful song by them is Get Well. This song is talking about how she is always sad, but she wants to be happy. And that she wants new friends who won’t judge her for her scars or past experiences.

“I meant it when I said I wanna get well, I wanna get well
Are the rest of you so content
Stay where you are but it hurts like hell
And I’m sure it’s fun at first
Test your pulse and check your vitals
If it’s only a game you lost me
I quit it with the suicidal recital”

These are both older songs, I thought I would share them because they are the songs I originally fell in love with. Their new music is also good! So if you decide you like them definitely look that up too.

I know that this band is more common, but I also fell in love with them at ALIVE. Their music has deep meaning and really speaks to me. I am just going to give you a few songs and I promise if you listen they will speak to you too.

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Want some Real Friends?

October 2, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

REAL FRIENDS. Who doesn’t always want to have real friends? Well by listening to the band Real Friends you can! Sorry, that’s me trying to be funny…but actually this band is good, they play some of the best acoustic music I have ever heard.

One of my favorite songs is floorboards, obviously the acoustic version.

The way this sung is sung, it is almost like the lead singer is talking to his best friend, telling him about his feelings and the troubles in his life. My favorite line is, “But I still got these sleepy eyes that have seen too much for me to handle.” To me, this line has many meanings, but I think that it is mostly saying he has had more unfortunate experiences in his time than he should have, and it is difficult to deal with these situations on his own.

Another wonderful song by them is Skeletons.

My favorite lines of this song are:

Way back then there were monsters in my closet
And now there’s just skeletons hiding in there
The clock is ticking away
The leaves are still falling every day

In this song, he is talking about growing up. When you are young you are afraid to go to sleep without the lights on, because you believe that there are monsters in your closet, but as you get older you know that there aren’t monsters in your closest. The monsters turn into skeletons, these skeletons stand for secrets that you want to keep hidden from the world.

Here is a mix of some more songs by them that you might like! Let me know what you think!?

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The Front Bottoms

September 25, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

The other day, I told of my friends that I was writing my blog for CAS on unknown artists, and he got really excited!! He told me that I needed to write about the band, The Front Bottoms. I was not very familiar with this band, but I looked them up and fell in love. They could be categorized as sort of indie, and definitely as a rock n roll band, but the mix of sounds in their music is what makes me like them the most.

Two of my favorite songs by them, that I want to share with all of you, are ‘Twin Size Mattress’ and ‘Maps’.

To me this song is about giving your friends a helping hand — similar to what I discussed in my rhetorical blog this week – and the difficulties in life. They seem to be saying enjoy life as much as you can, but it will not always be perfect, and to make sure that you watch out for your friends and family. Another meaning of this song could be that he is forced into changing to fit into the ‘cool crowd,’ but since he choose to change he is stuck staying the way he choose to change into.

Do you agree, or do you get a different vibe from the song?

o travel the world and make a name for himself, while his girlfriend has no plans in life, which makes her hate him because he is leaving her behind. Situations like this can be related to many different relationships in life, not only a boyfriend and a girlfriend.

Please let me know if you see any other meanings in these songs! It always interests me to look at an artist’s writing in a different way!!

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Tyler Ward and Eppic.

September 19, 2013 by Nicole Palombo

I have never been one to only listen to only mainstream music. I have always listened to the normal music that my friends listen to, but I also look for bands that are not well known. In many cases, the unknown band can be better than the mainstream ones, or their music has a better message. I plan on using this blog to let everyone know about some of the awesome bands I have discovered, you may or may not have heard about them before.

The first artists I would like to talk about are Tyler Ward and Eppic. They are very popular on YouTube and they graduated from a performing arts school in my city. I first heard about them from my close friend who went to school with them. They write their own music as well as covers of other songs. The songs that write have very deep meaning and are meant to touch their listeners, and help them through tough times. Some good original songs by Tyler are ‘All the Wrong Places’, ‘Pages of Life’, and ‘Paper Heart’. He also does a great cover of ‘Somewhere With You’.

“The Rescue” by Tyler Ward talks about the demons that regular people have to deal with in every day life and how it is possible to overcome them. The fan video that he made gives the song even more meaning, it touches me every time I listen to it.

“By No Means” by Eppic feat. Lindsey Stirling is a song about overcoming hardships in his life. Eppic is a fantastic rapper and a terrific song writer. This is just an example of my favorite song by him.

Tyler Ward and Eppic team up in one of my favorite songs, “Home”. Can you tell me what message they are trying to give?

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