Friday, March 29, 2013

Greece

Greek (Music) Life

Popular music in Greece began in the 19th century with Athenian serenades. These songs were like musicals, where performers would perform comedic, tragic or satirical opera-style songs on stage. In the 1930s, the Greek music scene began to borrow Western styles of music and combine them with the Athenian serenades.

The tango, waltz and foxtrot made their way into the Greek music culture, and musician Giorgos Mouzakis brought in some jazz elements with the trumpet and saxophone.

Rebetiko was a musical form developed in the early 1900s during the Greco-Turkish war. The style was originally associated with the lower class and urban outcasts. Greeks who were scorned by society would get together and sing of prison, violence and drugs.

The musical form was popularized when musically educated Greeks began experimenting with the sounds. By the 1940s, Rebetiko was a mainstream music genre and was popularized further by musicians such as Vassilis Tsitsanis and Marika Ninou.


By the middle of the century, the popularity of Rebetiko had hit its peak, and it was replaced with Éntekhno, which means "art song." The genre mixes orchestral elements with traditional Greek music and folk sounds. With growing popularity, Éntekhno made its way into mainstream music culture and was used extensively in popular films.

Finally, Laïkó is one other well known Greek music form. This genre stays further away from Western styles and maintains Greek lyrics and and has a more traditional sound.


Today, Éntekhno and Laïkó are still two of the most common musical genres in Greece. Pop music associated with Western culture has only recently gained popularity in the country. Many of the traditional musicians will incorporate these contemporary sounds, but still maintain a sense of traditional Greek flair.

Nikos Mihas


This alternative rock musician is one of the more popular Greek stars of the decade. Nikos Mihas is known for combining traditional Éntekhno sounds with Western pop sounds to create his brand of music.

Much of Mihas' music is largely electronic and percussion-based. In addition to being a talented singer and songwriter, Mihas is a talented guitarist and plays throughout his performances.

Mihas' career began in 2004 when he decided to enter the talent show Fame Story 2, which was a popular Greek television show on ANT1. After making it to the finals, Mihas was eliminated, but he still made history by being the first talent show musician to perform an original song.

The following year, Mihas released his first album, Sti Hora Tou Pote (Into Neverland), which produced a number of hit singles and launched Mihas into Greek popularity. His second album, Trehei Tipota?, was released in 2007. The album had a bit more pop influence than his first, and it received mixed reviews.

Although Mihas has had an extended break between albums, the musician is working to release a third album this year.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Israel

Musical Melting Pot


Like many countries, Israel views music as a prominent national identifier--the different sounds from different cultures blend together, creating a distinct Israeli sound.

Solely Hebrew songs created a foundation for Israeli music. Jewish immigrants who traveled to Israel brought sounds from Russia, Asian countries and Middle Eastern countries.

Russian immigrants brought with them folksy sounds with instruments like the accordion and string guitar. Eastern European countries like Poland brought over more sounds, and Israelis would keep the folk sounds but translate the words to Hebrew.

Middle Eastern countries introduced oriental sounds with the oud and kanun instruments, while combining them with existing Israeli instruments. This created a whole new hybrid of European, Middle Eastern and traditional Israeli sounds.

It wasn't until the late 1960s that Israeli music began to integrate with other countries. Israeli rock and underground bands gained popularity in the country and started playing over the radio. Israeli musicians began touring Europe and musicians from other countries came to tour in Israel.

This further influenced Israeli music, and a sense of national identity was lost in the country's newest mixtures of sound.

During this time, rock became the staple musical style of Israel. One of the most recognized Israeli rockers is Shalom Hanoch.


The other popular musical style of Israel is dance music, which didn't gain popularity until the 1980s. Dance music of Israel is basically a combination of pop (influenced by American and European musicians) and rock.

Rita


One of the most famous singers in Israel, Rita was born in Iran and sings the majority of her songs in Persian.

After gaining musical popularity in the 1980s, Rita helped propel the pop music movement in Israel. In her first years as a musician, Rita released both Persian language albums and even an English language album titled Breaking Those Walls.

By 1988 and 1989, Rita was awarded Singer of the Year and became known as Israel's most popular singer.

In addition to being a singer, Rita is also known in Israel as a talented actress. She got her start performing in theatre productions of My Fair Lady and Chicago.

In 2006, the singer put on a musical show that ran for a month. The show, called One, was an exuberant production that including many special effects, dancers and acrobats.

In many of her more recent albums, Rita abandons some of her pop/dance sounds and has incorporated more folk and other traditional sounds, gaining her popularity in Iran where pop music is prohibited.

Recently, Rita released an album called All My Joys, which is sung in Persian and is widely popular in both Israel and Iran. This past year, the singer performed at the U.N. General Assembly.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Brazil

Do The Samba

Brazil's main music identifier is the samba, a cultural dance and music genre. Founded in Bahia, Brazil, the genre has become a symbol of Brazil's cultural identity.

Samba originated as a form of expression during the West African slave trade rooted in Rio de Janeiro. Since then, it has spread throughout the country, but didn't become the country's most popular form of music until the 1930s when the radio sprung up throughout Brazil.

Originally, samba had a rhythmic sound and used various string and percussion instruments, but with little versatility. By the 1950s, popular American music genres such as jazz and funk melded their ways into the samba. This new hybrid genre was called bossa nova, which is more expressive than original samba music. In the 1960s, funk became especially popular creating a genre called samba-funk.

The seventies brought yet another version of samba music called partido-alto. This type of samba is much more percussion-based and is usually in a higher pitch, hence the alto.

Recently, Brazil's music scene has gone in a number of directions. Since the nineties, Brazilian rock 'n roll has become very popular, and other genres such as rap, hip-hop and pop have taken over the Brazilian radio stations.


Many artists, however, have adhered to samba traditions. Marquinhos and Teresa Cristina are two artists who have upheld these traditions. In addition, samba is still celebrated at a number of Brazilian festivals, one of the biggest being the Brazilian Carnival which is celebrated the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

Los Hermanos


This Brazilian rock quartet hails from Rio de Janeiro and its music is sometimes described as indie samba.

Los Hermanos formed in 1997 when they were asked to perform at one of the biggest Brazilian alternative music festivals, Superdemo. The band released its first self-titled album in 1999 and thus they became a huge success.

Their first single, "Anna Júlia," is a catchy pop-rock ballad and is still one of the band's most recognized tunes, having been covered by a number of artists.

After their debut album, Los Hermanos abandoned their angsty punk sound and replaced it with a smoother rock sound, which incorporated more traditional samba elements. By its third album, the band had developed an even more traditional sound, incorporating not only samba, but also quite a bit of bossa nova.


Although Los Hermanos has only released four studio albums, the band has had great success for its caliber. Two of their albums made Rolling Stone's "Best 100 Brazilian Albums of All Time" and they have generated a solid fan base.

Los Hermanos has been on a "temporary hiatus" since 2007, but the band have not stopped making appearances. In 2009, they played the "Just a Fest" music festival alongside Kraftwerk and Radiohead, as well as the SWU Music and Arts Festival in 2010.