A Musical Tour of the World: All Countries A-Z One Per Day

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by HitAndRun, Jun 7, 2020.

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  1. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Here's a proposed thread. It's not like the other 'song a day' threads, and I don't know if enough people would be interested.

    The plan would be to go through music of all countries in the world, alphabetically, from A-Z. One country per day, with people posting videos (or other links) to songs from that country. The idea would be to find songs that people like, rather than some official 'best' or songs from any era, or whatever. It would be interesting if there were different people looking for music of different styles/eras/levels of obscurity.

    I did search for 'prior art' in threads, and I can't find anything identical. This thread asks about major artists from non-English speaking countries.

    There may need to be a bit of discussion as to what is a country, and non-country level areas with their own cultural identity could be added. I put forward the following list as a first draft that can be modified.

    I'll post something for Afghanistan, as that's the first country alphabetically. If no-one's interested, then this thread will fall down the list of threads and vanish :D

    OK. Here goes nothing. Initial list of countries:

    Afghanistan
    Albania
    Algeria
    Andorra
    Angola
    Antigua and Barbuda
    Argentina
    Armenia
    Australia
    Austria
    Azerbaijan
    Bahamas
    Bahrain
    Bangladesh
    Barbados
    Belarus
    Belgium
    Belize
    Benin
    Bhutan
    Bolivia
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Botswana
    Brazil
    Brunei
    Bulgaria
    Burkina Faso
    Burundi
    Cabo Verde
    Cambodia
    Cameroon
    Canada
    Central African Republic
    Chad
    Chile
    China
    Colombia
    Comoros
    Congo
    CostaRica
    Croatia
    Cuba
    Cyprus
    CzechRepublic (Czechia)
    Côte d'Ivoire
    Democratic Republic Congo
    Denmark
    Djibouti
    Dominica
    Dominican Republic
    Ecuador
    Egypt
    El Salvador
    Equatorial Guinea
    Eritrea
    Estonia
    Eswatini
    Ethiopia
    Fiji
    Finland
    France
    Gabon
    Gambia
    Georgia
    Germany
    Ghana
    Greece
    Grenada
    Guatemala
    Guinea
    Guinea-Bissau
    Guyana
    Haiti
    Holy See
    Honduras
    Hungary
    Iceland
    India
    Indonesia
    Iran
    Iraq
    Ireland
    Israel
    Italy
    Jamaica
    Japan
    Jordan
    Kazakhstan
    Kenya
    Kiribati
    Kurdistan
    Kuwait
    Kyrgyzstan
    Laos
    Latvia
    Lebanon
    Lesotho
    Liberia
    Libya
    Liechtenstein
    Lithuania
    Luxembourg
    Madagascar
    Malawi
    Malaysia
    Maldives
    Mali
    Malta
    Marshall Islands
    Mauritania
    Mauritius
    Mexico
    Micronesia
    Moldova
    Monaco
    Mongolia
    Montenegro
    Morocco
    Mozambique
    Myanmar
    Namibia
    Nauru
    Nepal
    Netherlands
    New Zealand
    Nicaragua
    Niger
    Nigeria
    North Korea
    North Macedonia
    Norway
    Oman
    Pakistan
    Palau
    Panama
    Papua New Guinea
    Paraguay
    Peru
    Philippines
    Poland
    Portugal
    Qatar
    Romania
    Russia
    Rwanda
    Saint Kitts & Nevis
    Saint Lucia
    Samoa
    San Marino
    Sao Tome & Principe
    Saudi Arabia
    Senegal
    Serbia
    Seychelles
    SierraLeone
    Singapore
    Slovakia
    Slovenia
    Solomon Islands
    Somalia
    South Africa
    South Korea
    South Sudan
    Spain
    Sri Lanka
    St. Vincent & Grenadines
    State of Palestine
    Sudan
    Suriname
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Syria
    Tajikistan
    Tanzania
    Thailand
    Timor-Leste
    Togo
    Tonga
    Trinidad and Tobago
    Tunisia
    Turkey
    Turkmenistan
    Tuvalu
    Uganda
    Ukraine
    United Arab Emirates
    United Kingdom
    United States
    Uruguay
    Uzbekistan
    Vanuatu
    Venezuela
    Vietnam
    Yemen
    Zambia
    Zimbabwe
     
  2. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    And sample first post. Here' the Afghan band 'Kabul Dreams'. They are said to be the first modern Afghan rock band, formed in 2007. (I imagine there would have been bands in the pre-Taliban era as well.)



    As above, if this is not the kind of thread anyone wants, I apologise :D
     
  3. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    I'd be interested for sure! :)
     
  4. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks. How about you post something Afghan today then? :)
     
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  5. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Sure thing:



    Safar is a project initiated by the Weimar University For Music. Originally, it was concepted as a concert where five musicians from Afghanistan presented music that has been forbidden under the taliban regime for decades. Since 2012, it has evolved into a big research project, sparking a fruitful cooperation between german music historians and afghan musicians.
     
  6. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    That's really interesting. From a rock band (? I'm never sure where power pop ends and rock starts) to something traditional. I've noticed quite a lot of Indian influence or shared culture in Afghan music, and if someone played me your track blind I think I'd mistake it as Indian.

    Another song I know of from Afghanistan is 'Bosaye Eshgh' which has what sounds to me quite a Bollywood influence - and the video clip which now seems to have disappeared from the internet had reasonably Bollywood style dance routines. I have only the audio version of the song that I purchased legally before it vanished. The band, including singer/rapper Paradise often claimed to be the first Afghan female rapper, have had problems with the reaction from fundamentalists. And, I wonder if that's why some of their material has been removed from online.

    This track from them has what seem to me to be a mixture of influences. Some of this sounds and looks a bit South American to me, but that may be just my cultural ignorance.

     
  7. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    If you join in, then I'll add Kingdom of Hawai'i to the list. I added Kurdistan as I holidayed there recently, so that's one place I definitely would like to cover.

    If this thread can build a sufficient amount of steam to continue, then I guess that research would be needed for many countries. Before I posted the OP I did check a few countries, and was able to google something that I personally appreciated fairly quickly. E.g. Mayra Andrade from Cape Verde. And, there is music from the Holy See. Though, so far, what you'd expect :D
     
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  8. Rick Robson

    Rick Robson

    Location:
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    I think the OP features a great idea for a thread but agree it's fairly complicated...
    And I guess some nations missing on the list: South and North Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the latter not sure whether it's an autonomous region in China, like Tibet.
     
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  9. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I found the Koreas. I've added Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Tibet. Not in the OP yet. I'm going to do a big edit of that. Wait a second - isn't there a time limit on edits?

    EDIT: Yes, there is. I'll wait to see if there are more suggestions. If so, I'll post a new list in the thread.
     
  10. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Vatican City is missing. the Pope ROCKS!!!!
     
  11. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    On a more serious note, here is a song from the great Ahmad Zahir (14 June 1946 – 14 June 1979), considered an icon of Afghanistan music and is widely regarded as the "Greatest Afghan Singer of all time" or the "Elvis of Afghanistan".

     
  12. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The Holy See is there. I'm now confused as to which of the Holy See and Vatican City is the country, but I think we need only one of them. I'll rename it. :D

    Thanks for the post of Ahmad Zahir. I wasn't familiar with him, and it's interesting to have music from different political eras. Listening now.
     
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  13. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Officially it is the Vatican City State in English, which is governed by the Holy See. But Vatican City is fine. And yes, only one of them.
    Ahmad Zahir is still beloved by many older Afghans. His songs have been covered by artists all over the Persian-speaking world.
     
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  14. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    There are going to be some choices to be made. Both Koreas need to be included. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China, just as Macao. Tibet is an Autonomous Region within China, but so are Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. Their status is the same. Taiwan is a special case. For all practical purposes it is an independent country, but it doesn't have a seat at the United Nations and only a handful of countries have full diplomatic relations with Taiwan. So you need to ask yourself how far you want to go in terms of including autonomous or self-governing territories. If you want to include them, you are looking at easily another 50 entries if not more. By the way, Kosovo is not on the list, but has diplomatic relations with far more countries than Taiwan for example.
     
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  15. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I've got both Koreas in. I can't edit the OP now, but after more discussion I can post a new, modified, list. Do you think I should include Macao? I've added Tibet because I think it's musically interesting. I have an album somewhere by a Tibetan singer recorded for RealWorld records, so that would be an impetus to find her music again. ... searches ... Ah, yes, Yungchen Lhamo. Listening now.

    We don't need to include all distinctive regions. Only those people have an interest in. I.e. by request/suggestion.
     
  16. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Up to you, my friend. I'm not getting into that political quagmire.
     
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  17. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    We can avoid politics by choosing locations based on the music. Adding Tibet is independent of my beliefs as to whether or not it should be independent. There is interesting and distinctive music from there that I would like to discuss.

    Anyone who wants politics can PM me and I'll tell them what I think about the question of independence for Tibet.
     
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  18. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Today the country is Albania

    I wasn't familiar with Albanian music, and I rapidly ran into problems. There are plenty of discussions online about Albanian music and recommendations of artists, but upon searching it seemed that the vast majority of these artists were actually ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. Or, in some cases North Macedonia. Others were expatriate acts such as 'The Bloody Foreigners' who are Albanian but the band is from the UK. The vast majority of bands and singers I found were actually from Kosovo, and it seems that even Albanians living in Albania point out these artists as

    I eventually settled on this song, Bilbili, sung by Silvana Licursi who is Albanian, but who lives in Rome. It is a traditional Albanian folk song, and I like the acoustic guitar and flute backing. This song dates to before the Ottoman conquest of Albania.

    I didn't intend for this thread to have tight rules to obey, so in some ways posting an expatriate artists is a good precedent.

     
  19. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    And as a 'backup' here is a pure Albanian song, by Pirro Çako and Xhensila Myrtezaj. Pirro is a well known singer and composer who has represented his country in Eurovision. Both of these singers are from the capital Tirana, and I couldn't (quickly) find evidence that they are expatriates.



    I would have preferred something more distinctive, but it seems that a lot of the good Albanian music (to my taste, at least) comes from Kosovo.
     
  20. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    I think you will run into this issue with a lot of countries. Many artists live and record in countries where there are good facilities, record companies, funding opportunities, etc. For example, Paris continues to be the main hub for a lot of Francophone African music, Los Angeles for Iranian music, Rome for Albanian music, etc. That doesn't mean these artists don't make authentic music. It's just that they either belong to the diaspora or simply were so successful in their own country that they moved to a place with better recording facilities than at home.
     
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  21. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    As a person originally from New Zealand: a lot of our musical artists would move to Australia as the market is much bigger there. There'll be much more of that. I remember going to Paris record shops and being disappointed that I couldn't find African and Middle Eastern music in the main shops. Eventually I found the small specialist shops where there was much more choice.

    Anyhow, today's country is Algeria. And for Algeria a rai artist is what pops up in my mind first.

    Cheb Khaled would be too obvious a choice, so, I'm going for Cheikha Rimitti with her song Nourr.

    Cheikha Rimitti had a long career. Orphaned at an early age and apparently living rough, she started singing in the 1930s, and in the 1940s joined a travelling musical troupe. Her fame spread after the war, and by the 1980s when rai was taking off, she was called 'la mamie du Rai', or, the grandmother of Rai.

    I regret that I didn't go and see her live in the 1990s when she performed in London. She has passed on now, so that chance has gone. She's not an artist I know incredibly well - I have one of her albums.

     
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  22. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I do note that the thread is not really building a head of steam. I'm not sure what I should do - I feel I'm learning a lot from research for it, but perhaps I could just do that privately.

    I did find tracks for all the countries starting with A, so perhaps I could continue that far at least.

    Today's country is Andorra

    I'm not too familiar with Andorra, having always thought of it as 'one of those tiny countries in Europe'. For some reason, I mistakenly thought that Canadian artist Caribou who released an interesting sounding album called Andorra was from Andorra. Fortunately spotted in time.

    This is some fairly generic but to my ears listenable pop/rock from Andorran singer Marta Roure. The song is called Jugarem a Estimar-nos

    Marta Roure - Jugarem a Estimar-nos

    But, that's a bit boring just to have a fairly standard song by a singer who has represented her country in the Eurovision song contest. I had to find something else as well that was a bit more challenging.

    So, Prog Archieves to the rescue. Here is Persephone, an Andorran prog-rock/metal band with their 20 minute prog epic 'Aathma Parts I-IV'. As a fan of Pink Floyd, I'm pleased that bands are still being this ambitious. It's an interesting track, combining more modern metal stylings with 70s prog. To my ears, at least.



    It was a bit confusing that there is also a German prog rock band called Persephone., and I hope there are no errors that I haven't caught in this posting :)
     
    ArpMoog and wore to a frazzel like this.
  23. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    This is cool! Never heard of them, but it is pretty OK prog-metal. I read there is a punk-rock band called Anonymous from Andorra, which also participated in Eurovision, but couldn't find a clip. I guess this thread could get some traction when you get to some better-known countries....
     
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  24. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Is this them?



    I think this is the song that they sang at Eurovision.

    Hmmm.... If I get as far as Finland, I wonder which Eurovision act could represent Finland? :D
     
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  25. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Lordi, of course. They won it in 2006! The first metal act in Eurovision history.
    And yes, that was the band and song from Andorra I was referring to.
     
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