Foreign Music
Foreign Music
142 comments
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TBF English is an extremely common second language, so listening to English-language music as a German or French person doesn't have quite the same impact as an American listening to German- or French-language music.
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A couple of my favorite bands are Electric Callboy and Landmvrks who are from Germany and France respectively. They both sing in english (although Landmvrks does have a smattering of french here and there) and i can only assume that the higher likelyhood of commercial success in english markets factors in to why they dont sing in their native languages.
So a contributing factor may be not many native english bands would choose to produce music in another language but the opposite is true so the music pool of english is even more saturated.-
Yeah, another example of this is Tom's Diner by AnnenMayKantereit, which ended up pretty popular in the US, at least in online circles, and the majority of their music is in German.
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That's definitely a thing, too. I can only imagine how bad it must be in smaller nations like Netherlands or Czechia, considering how much fewer native speakers they have compared to German or French.
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This is an excellent time to mention my best friend The Eurovision Song Contest! It's the longest running international music contest show and it gets hundreds of millions of views.
Here's last year's crop of music videos. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmWYEDTNOGULUJYEhh-EUa32rEcHuNXO7
Croatia's Rim Tim Tagi Dim is a real banger. It's about the stress of moving to a richer country or city for work and losing your culture.
Italy's La Noia is amazing. Angelina Mango's live performances are stellar, and if she's not huge internationally in a few years I'll be super disappointed. Her new song (not part of the contest) Melodrama is exceptional too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqF0MSpPcj8
Switzerland sent Nemo, who became the first non-binary person to win the contest. It was said that if he could nail the vocals from the video in the live performance, there would be no stopping them. And they did! Amazing work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO8cQpGNplc
I have so many recommendations, if anyone wants more!
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Oh also: !lemmyvision@jlai.lu
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Oh nice, I only knew about !eurovision@lemmy.world. Subscribed
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Eurovision got in trouble last year for allowing Israel to join. Israel is in the middle east of Asia, not in Europe. The only thing European about Israel is that white people are committing a genocide to steal land.
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They didn't get "in trouble" though there was definitely some drama. I would argue that Israel should have been disqualified under the rules requiring independent national broadcasters, the way Russia and Georgia were.
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Well, Australia is also in the Eurovision.
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More the hypocrisy for having denied entry to Russia while allowing Israel's to remain.
The actual terms for entering are being a part of the European Broadcasting Union; which includes Israel and Australia, despite the "European" in the name.
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Israel being part of Eurovision isn't a new thing. The only difference is that they've been going mask off on their genocide aspirations lately.
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Israel has been part of Eurovision since 1973, has won four times, and hosted the contest three times. Dana International was the first trans winner.
This year's artist, Yuval Raphael, was attending the Nova Sukkot festival on October 7th 2023.
Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunesia, Algeria, and Morocco are eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. They have been mostly boycotting it because of Israel's participation.
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Holy shit that Nemo song was so good
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It is SO GOOD!
My inner city Philadelphia friends even like it.
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Updoot for ESC and Melodrama! I've had some of Mango's songs on rotation lately
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Will Ferrell did a Eurovision movie I enjoyed. Probably not everybody's cup of tea, but it was fun.
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It's fun! Gotta say there's not much Eurovision in the movie. Would have been fun to see more of the rules and semi finals and stuff.
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The German version was #1 in America. The English version was #1 in Germany.
Guess the song?
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99 Luftballoons?
checks link Yes!
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French hip-hop and Norwegian doom metal are pretty good though.
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Krav boca anyone?
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Growing up a weeb ripped that bandaid off pretty early. If I like it, I like it. 👍🏾
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Babymetal and The Hu are fantastic gateway artists.
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I sometimes joke that BMTH is mid unless they have a feature. Kingslayer is probably my favorite overall.
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I love some random foreign artists that I don't speak the language of and can't understand at all - Saian Supa Cru, Dengue Fever, Kent, Sigur Ros, Vicentico.
On a side note, I saw BTS on UK TV once and thought it was some kind of comedy pastiche act. What I heard and saw was really terrible, yet the panel on the show were lauding them when it was over, and I just didn't understand. K-pop is likely not for me, I figure.
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K-Pop is for eight-year-olds. It absolutely seems like a joke the first time you see it.
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K and J pop is absolutely grating to my ears, but they're billion dollar industries for a reason. They took the west's version of boy and girl bands from 30 years ago and turned it up to 11.
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I'm not a fan either, though in terms of musicianship and songwriting quality most of it is far above contemporary american pop. I completely understand why kids would prefer that to the endless "three chords and autotune without a hook" slop.
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I'm curious what you saw. Was it their Graham Norton show appearance? I didn't like that performance either. Afaik they were at their worst.
One of them couldn't be there and another had a hurt foot, and they've said how self conscious the rest of them were to be missing those two.
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k-pop fans are very toxic and some of them even harbour Anti-Japanese sentiment which is a racist & misinformed sentiment
I'm not accusing the entire k-pop fandom of being like this but their are obviously factions within the fandom who can be very vocal and very hateful fueled by anger & negativity
Edit: typo that changed the meaning of what I was saying
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Some non-English music I enjoy, though not at the same time:
Lisa Ekdahl - Vem Vet (Swedish) Nice catchy Swedish tune, maybe jazz?
Samain et Shuait - Les Nomades (French and Anishinaabe) First Nations hip-hop
Gwenno - Chwyldro (Kernewek) Folky dreamscapes in a functionally extinct language (they're bringing it back, though).
Moonchild Sanelly - Gwara Gwara (English and Xitsonga) Pop-funk-dance mixing international and indigenous traditions.
Majid Soula - Win Terram (Tamazight) Electronic beats from a Berber.
Jacques Dutronc - On nous Cache Tout, on nous Tout de Rein (French) A classic of French rock and roll.
Manu Negra - Mala Vida (Spanish) Punk styled music by folks who like their anarchist forebears.
San Salvador - Quau te Mena(Occitan) Occitanian folk traditions given new life.
TUDI-VOICE - 囡仔你甘知 (Hokkien) - Socially active Taiwanese band in Chinese folk tradition with a modern spin.
Beyond - Glorious Years (Hong Kong Cantonese) Cantopop legends.
Sorry for the YouTube links.
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This is just an awesome list- thanks!
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Yes, I imagine listening to all of this at the same time would be rather unpleasant.
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😅 I'll set 'em up, you knock' em down.
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LOL!
My short story about foeeign music
Wife and 6-year-old get back from dance class:
6yo: I want to add that song we heard in the car to my playlist
Wife: oh what was that song again
Me: do you remember any words, we can search for it
6yo: no Wife: no
Me: what station was it on?
Wife: satellite, TikTok radio
Me: ohh ok, I guess we just need to wait or maybe if you find it on TikTok...
Days go by
Wife: It came on in the car but the title of the song was all weird characters
Me: was it like little stick figures or big slashes or just weird drawn characters?
Wife: just wierd
Me: Google: Russian songs on tik Tok
Moreart
Ohh!
I listen to it. It absolutely slaps
Google then mentions controversy
Then I translate the song's name.
LMAO. 'I will fuck"
Then I go to look for lyric translations
It's so fucking cringe and not in a naughty or dirty way, it's just lame cringe.
The beat of the music still slap though.
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Reminds me of this funny commercial (nsfw language).
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Rofl, That's awesome.
Another short story: My GF (now wife) was doing event planning. This was an outdoor dog event. Everything was very rural, very unsanctioned. The company they were dealing with brought in all of the stages and equipment. One of her tasks was to provide the music.
I helped her make a nice lengthy playlist that would easily last the entire event. I did however have all of my mp3s with us.
About 30 minutes into the all day event, someone came up and made a request for a song. We were just using winamp, She didn't see the harm in it so she just grabbed whatever they requested and shoved it in the playlist a couple of songs down. All of a sudden there was a line to make requests.
I already had a lot of the low hanging fruit like who let the dogs out in the queue.
Well apparently, five or six request later they asked for Nine Inch Nails - closer, oh yeah great dog themed song...
I didn't have my phone with me. I was all the way at the other side of the event. I hear that familiar synth bassline queue up. Buum Dom Bop be boom boom de dibidibi.
I start running toward the stage. Trying to grab her attention to stop the song.
Buum Dom Bop be boom boom de dibidibi, you let me violate you
I'm running some more but I'm out of shape. The music is quite loud there's no way I could scream loud enough for her to hear me.
Buum Dom Bop be boom boom de dibidibi, you let me desecrate you
I get a stitch in my side and shin splits at the same time... I have to slow down.
A couple more lines go by, I'm not going to make it in time
Buum Dom Bop be boom boom de dibidibi, you let me complicate you
Oh we're almost through the precourse now
Boo dooo booodooo booOOODOOdeedee help me I broke apart my insides
I'm about 30 ft away but I am desperately out of breath.
Boo dooo booodooo booOOODOOdeedee. Help me get away from myself
A lot of the guys in the crowd around me are laughing their asses off because they know what's coming
I want to fuck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
Volume off
Scandalous! Mother's holding their children's ears, hundreds of bros sitting around thumbs up in the whole event.
We learned a few valuable lessons that day. Don't take requests for Media that you're not ultimately familiar with, Don't bring any media with you that you don't want the public to hear.
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Zappa's Bobby Brown topped the charts in several European countries, with most people oblivious to the lyrics, people thought it was just some pop song :)
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I listen to Japanese music but I'm also learning Japanese
But music shouldn't be relied upon for learning Japanese because the pitch accent can be changed and wording is not standard in music because it can be changed to fit with the song
It can also be hard to hear words clearly unless you know them
Id personally consider foreign music you don't understand to be instrumental only music like the voice was an musical instrument which it can technically be considered a musical instrument
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I'm also trying to learn Japanese. I've been enjoying Atarashii Gakko. Any other musical recommendations?
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Sigh.
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Fujii Kaze, Yama, or Eve maybe.
If you dig Japanese music, take a look at The First Take yt channel. They showcase a wide range of artists.
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Kpop girls are usually hot though. So great MVs at least.
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I listen to music for sounds. I don't listen to music to look.
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And why do you think they are hot ?
Trying to figure out the intentions behind your comment
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There is some really, really cool non-English music out there.
Jaan Pehchan Ho - I imagine this is what it was like for non-English speakers discovering Elvis for the first time.
Prisencolinensinainciusol - Artist wanted to make a song that sounds like English to people who don't speak English. It doesn't make sense in any language but still sounds amazing.
Ievan Polkka - Finnish song from 1928. Used in the gag site "leekspin".
The lyrics are unintentionally hilarious.
https://genius.com/Eino-kettunen-ievan-polkka-english-translation-lyrics
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Jaan Pehchan Ho - I imagine this is what it was like for non-English speakers discovering Elvis for the first time.
And here's Indian rendition of Mozart's Symphony no. 40.
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Prisencolinensinainciusol
Paradichlorbenzene - A chemical.
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Jaan Pehchan Ho
They used this in Ghost World, which was a great film early-ish in the careers of Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch.
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Can somebody hook me up with some good Japanese alternative music?
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Moksori's playlists on YouTube, really great collections
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Wow! That's great! Thank you very much
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I am deeply convinced that the music of Ado is the best music in the world.
Just listen to うっせぇわ. I've started listening to her after starting to learn Japanese, but now it's pretty much my main motivation to continue learning the language (through there are quite a lot).
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I'm not entirely sure what you mean by alternative music (I'm not at all versed in musical styles). But in case you're looking for music made by individuals (indie music?), may I interest you in vocaloid music (music made with a voice synthesizer)? It's has quite much variety. And by snowballing (look e.g. at recommendations, other works by the producer, covers (usually by a so-called "utaite" (tried-to-sing-er)), other songs covered by a person, and various other ways) you can find more and more small-ish and small musicians. It all forms a network.
Here's a little (quite arbitrary) start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWOvhZBS9IA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsLxB_3ReL4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODKIyzSVLTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl2qPxLlOFI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m10mNB8L9Kw-
Thank you for the reply, I will definitely check this out!
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Hmm do you just mean not pop/boy/girl band type of stuff?
Shiina Ringo was pretty popular back when I was listening to a lot of Japanese stuff. She can do a lot of styles but I remember her being punk rock jazzy. In the other direction, I was also into Pizzicato Five who are more retro 60s French vibes.
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Thank you for your suggestions! They're right up my alley
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No buses band
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This is SO good! Thank you!
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Tricot and Toe are great math rock, Tricot is a bit more energetic and Toe a bit more chilled, but both are amazing.
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Thank you very much! Great artists!
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I’m not sure if this fits for what you are looking for, but The Pillows are a great rock group from Japan. Some of their songs being portrayed in the anime FLCL.
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The Pillows is the reason I asked for this kind of music!! They are the best!
I stumbled across their music when I was watching SoulEater. Recently I went through my old mp3-player, remembered the band and was curious about similar music, which sparked my comment.
I watched FLCL out of love for the band and, for me, this kind of anime hits just the right spot.
If I wouldn't have known about either, FLCL or The Pillows, I would have kissed your feet for this recommendation. Spot on!
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I mainly listen to pop with YOASOBI coming to mind but commenting for anyone else's reference's
Sorry but I can't help with recomendations
But I can link you this automatically playlist from YouTube for top 100 songs in Japan that might help you with finding them
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4fGSI1pDJn4-UIb6RKHdxam-oAUULIGB
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Maybe some Mongol 800 (although I guess they're more punk than alt)? They also sometimes do English lyric songs which are off enough to be funny but they still sound good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuu0sY6ho0g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SulBWEgSZus-
Haha sounds great! Thank you!
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Absolute banger. Love Bloodywood
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yeah Im not even into metal but Im a sucker for more instraments in rock and I love the message if I understand it right.
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I dunno, I'm not a fan of this sentiment. Music tastes are personal, it's okay to think, "nah, music of this country isn't really for me," because music of a given country will often have certain elements that won't appeal to everyone. It's not like you're uncultured or being unfair for it. And you don't necessarily have to give it a good try first because you're probably exposed to it anyways. Any stranger on the street can probably think of an example (though not necessarily a whole song) if you bring up Spanish music, Indian music, K-pop, etc..
The language bit I get, but some people prefer songs where they can understand the lyrics, and that's also okay. I'm sort of one of those people, though in my case it's more "I want to have a general idea what's being said because if it's a good song I'll want to sing along and I don't want to unknowingly say something obscene," so it doesn't stop me from listening to foreign songs as long as I can screen the lyrics.
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For me, the issue tends to be that while I don't mind listening to music where I don't understand the lyrics, I do mind listening to music that might be outright anti-LGBT, misogynist etc.; I mostly stopped listening to Jamaican music because of that - not saying that it's all like that, but the chance of a given song being like that is higher than I'm comfortable with. Also, Rastafarian is whack.
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Recently I watched the Kneecap. A biopic of a north Irish hip hop / rap band, performing in Irish and English. Now they have entered my playlist.
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WFMU (a radio station in New Jersey) has a weekly show on one of its web streams. It's called Continental Subway, presented by an American called David Dichelle, who lives in Germany.
He plays all kinds of music in many different languages, as well as different versions of folk songs in English - he's working through the Roud Folksong Index and has reached Roud 350, The Topman and the Afterguard / The Sailor and the Soldier. However, most of what he plays isn't in English and as well as music from many different countries each week he will play 8 or 10 songs from a particular country chosen at random. This week it was Chad.
Very highly recommended, not least because all the shows back to 2017 are archived, so you can listen again when you want, and it's listener supported so there are no adverts. Links to all the shows and playlists here: https://wfmu.org/playlists/CW
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Hey thanks for this rec, I love 7 second delay and HTRG already (and The Blues x3 when I can catch it but there's no RSS feed I can find), WFMU rules I'll def check this out.
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Excellent, you already know about WFMU! I need to listen to more shows - mostly I just stick to This is the Modern World and sometimes Clay Pigeon on the main broadcast channel, plus Irene Trudel and Continental Subway on the Drummer stream, but there's so much more on there it makes my head spin.
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I hope you get the help we need. :)
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WFMU is a great radio station, anyone can listen to online, for free, without ads. There are so many great shows, something for everyone.
Their schedule:
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listens to intl radio (radio.garden is amazing)
most songs are american/english
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If you are in the US, the National Arab Orchestra is technically domestic. Maybe this will trick someone into listening to this Arabic song
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French hip hop fucking slaps. Do people still say that? I don't know. Anyway, here's Keny Arkana.
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Artist is biased against k-pop.
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Here's something from Canada with French(?) lyrics: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1pJGH1OGRZI
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Real talk, there's a lot of music from Quebec with French lyrics that slaps.
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I remember Malajube touring in the US in the 2000s.
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Till The End by ReoNa is an absolute BANGER that I will die on a hill for. Its Japanese, but you really dont need to know the language to get the vibe.
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I'm listening to some Little Jesus right now even though I don't fully speak Spanish. The are really good!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2azy1D-yyWc
Lido pimienta - eso que tu haces
The whole song is pretty, but the chorus is incredible.
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I prefer J-pop but K-pop isn't all that bad.
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IMO, K-pop more often uses English in a nonsensical way, or a more glaring way.
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The problem I have with k-pop is that it sounds the same and it way to overtuned and in addition to that the rabid k-pop fandom factions, especially the ones that have Anti-Japanese sentiment
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Yeah anti Japanese would bother me as well if I caught it as I'm an anime and Jpop/Jrock fan as well. If Kpop artists wanted to encourage me as a fan they would develop positive rather than negative relationships with their Jpop counterparts.
As for Kpop all sounding alike how is that different than say American pop?
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KMFDM
German: Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid aka No Majority For Compassion (No Pity for the Majority)
American: Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode
Loved them in the 90s through early 2000s when I was in my teens. Including the extended family like PIG, En Esch, and Skold. Last decade and a half have been meh.
Though I'm pretty sure everybody has fondness for the music they liked from teens through early 20s.
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It's better than the best.
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Though I'm pretty sure everybody has fondness for the music they liked from teens through early 20s.
I definitely don't. I grew up without access to music, so I only started listening to stuff when I was 18, but it still took me several years to figure out what I liked.
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I think your German name is backwards
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Il Rovescio Della Medaglia - Contaminazione. Italian lyrics, based on the life of Bach and is a rock album that incorporates his “Well Tempered Clavier” pieces as well.
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I never got on the K-Pop train, but I do genuinely like a few vibey tracks by Neon Bunny, K-Soul artist.
But I love when native languages are mixed with English, especially in metal, as in the case of this tremendous anthem to the joys of food
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I've got a pet peeve of spotting French ads using English language songs that they would never think of using if most people listened to and/or understood the lyrics.
Some examples :
A car manufacturer using the same song for decades, Johnny and Mary. Hard to tell who the song is really about, but it's clearly about a broken, quite unhappy and mentally unstable couple.
A big mart chain using Prayer in C in its happy, "let's be optimistic" clips.
And see the children are starving / And their houses were destroyed / Don't think they could forgive you
Hey, when seas will cover lands / And when men will be no more / Don't think you can forgive you
A perfume ad with Sia's Chandelier blaring out. Yeah, suicide by booze, definitely what I want to feel classy.
142 comments