Australia

A Country Sound


Australia has a strong history of folk music, and it became revolutionary in the late 1800s with a genre called "bush band music," which would later become country. This musical style began with convicts who were sent to Australia during the British colonization, and these people would sing mainly of the harsh conditions, using worker slang. Some of these popular songs within the working class include "The Wild Colonial Boy" and "The Drover's Dream."

Going into the 1900s, a huge wave of European immigrant music hit Australia. Celtic, English, German and Scandinavian sounds mixed in with the old ones and created new genres and new musical traditions in the country. The mid- to late 1900s welcomed a folk revival movement. One of the most prominent musicians from this period was Paul Kelly, who sang mostly about the vast and empty landscape of the country.

Country music is actually a major genre in Australian culture, but the Australian country sounds are quite different from the ones heard in America. Australian country has been influenced by folk traditions of the United Kingdom and Celtic folk sounds. Australians typically call country music, which is mainly based on Australian life and culture, bush band music.

Along with bush band music, there are more Americanized forms of Australian country music. This style adopted Western influence and was pioneered in the '30s by Tex Morton and Slim Dusty, who was famous for a song called "A Pub With No Beer."

Americanized country music is still popular in Australia today, and some of it has even seen international success. Musicians like Olivia Newton-John and Keith Urban, for example, got their start in their native Australia and went on to become world-wide stars.

Other genres of music are also quite prominent in Australia, including rock, alternative and electronic. Australia has a rich history in rock music, which became popular in the '50s and closely followed suit with America's rock history. Many Australian musicians and rock bands gained influence from America's Elvis Presley and Little Richard.

Rock bands in Australia in the '60s and '70s pulled influence from The Beatles, and some of the most famous–and even international–acts included Jethro Tull, The Easybeats and The Bee Gees.

Natalie Imbruglia


When discussing '90s music in America, Natalie Imbruglia is probably a name that will come up, but it doesn't really venture out of that decade. Well, in Australia it does. Imbruglia, born in Sydney, is probably one of the most prominent pop musicians of the last 20 years.

The musician/actress/model got her start in the early nineties, playing a character on an Australian soap opera called Neighbors. After that gig, she decided to pursue music and dropped her first album, Left of the Middle, in 1998 which included the hit single "Torn."

In her first few weeks as an up-and-coming pop star, Imbruglia's album went platinum, her single was number one on many charts (including Billboard) for multiple months, and her album broke the record of any female pop/alternative/rock artist in its first week.

After her successful debut, Imbruglia released three additional albums, of less notoriety, but she still manages to remain a household name in Australia today.

Other than her music, Imbruglia has also achieved many other successes. The natural beauty has modeled for L'Oreal and Sass and Bide to raise money for cancer research. She is also a strong supporter of many charities, as she is the ambassador for Virgin Unite and has publicly spoken to raise awareness about depression.

In 2004, the star was ranked sixth most naturally beautiful woman of all-time "inside and out," a poll topped by the late actress and icon, Audrey Hepburn.

Finland

Folk Lives On

Folk music in Finland consisted of an element called "runonlaulanta," which had a rhythmic, chanting sound. The musical form was revolutionary in Finland's early days of music and led to a similar, more melodic form of singing called "rekilaulu." Although the style dates all the way back to the 1600s, the 1920s pop musicians began to include hints of rekilaulu in their music. 

The birth of rock music was in the 1960s, with popular musicians singing protest songs. The monumental decade also saw musicians translating American pop songs into Finnish. Even today, rather than singing song in broken English that is incomprehensible to most fans, Finnish artists prefer to sing in their native language. 

With the popularization of pop and rock, Finland still celebrates folk music as a large part of its culture. Folk music groups that are still popular today include Frigg and Troka. 

The styles that Finland is most well-known for today are punk and metal, which emerged in the country somewhere in the late '70s. Like all musical revolutions, these styles predominantly influenced and were influenced by the youth in Finland. 

Just like in the US, Finland took part in an '80s pop wave of music, some of the more popular artists being Dingo and Yö. Accordingly, that style of music died down and electronic/dance forms took over in the nineties and remain popular today. 

Chisu

The young, Finnish pop artist is one of the most recognized musicians of the country today. She released her first album, Alkovi, in 2008, peaking at #5 on music charts. In following years, the artist has gained increasing popularity, her most recent album having gone multi-platinum and peaking at #1 on music charts. 

Chisu has also had many hit singles, one of them having appeared in the film Sooloilua, the recognition that began her fame. The musician is most recognized for her superior vocals, having earned her the title of Best Finnish Vocalist in previous years. 

Mexico

Bamba, Bamba

Traditional Mexican folk music is classified by many different styles and ensembles. Although Mexican music pulls from its indigenous roots, some of the classics have become popular across the globe.

“La Bamba” is one of these classics that was traditionally a folk song, but was then made popular by Ritchie Valens, hitting US charts. 

One of Mexico’s traditional music styles is corrido, a narrative, ballad-like music. Corrido songs are usually based on old legends and tell some kind of story. 

Ranchera is another style, which is characterized by a single performer playing a guitar. A major theme that runs through ranchera pieces of music is the Mexican Revolution. The most popular ranchera musician was José Alfredo Jiménez, who had composed over 1000 songs in his lifetime.

Mariachi is one of the major Mexican folk ensembles, and is considered representative of Mexican music and culture. It includes the most stylistic variety, including ranchera, corrido and many other forms. 

The average mariachi band includes the guitar, the violin and the trumpet, sometimes adding additional instruments. 

Having originated in Mexico, mariachi has moved into US culture and popularized traditional mariachi songs. One of the most well-known of these songs is "La Cucaracha." The song became popular during the revolution, but there is no known lyricist. It has, however, been recorded by many American artists including Gipsy Kings and Louis Armstrong.

Modern Mexican music spans across many different genres, such as Latin alternative, rock, pop and electronic. 

Most Latin alternative music refers to popular artists that play on mainstream American radio. This music steers away from traditional Mexican songwriting and instrumentals. Although there are still hints of Mexican roots, most of the music is overproduced and the lyricism is more risqué. 

Mexican rock music first became popular in the 1950s and it stuck closer to its roots than other forms of modern music. More often than Latin alternative musicians, Mexican rock bands include traditional themes and instruments in their songs. 

The famous Mexican guitarist Carlos Santana became popular around this movement with his band Santana. His music is a combination of original Latin music, new age rock and a little bit of jazz. 

Even some pop music today still includes some of Mexico’s traditional musical elements. Although popular artists are becoming more produced and experimenting with more mainstream instrumentals and themes, Mexican musicians are more known for some of their raw, folksy sounds.

Paulina Rubio

The popular singer known for her rich vocals and sex appeal has been an active Latin musician since the early 1980s. Her debut began as the front woman of the pop band, Timbiriche. 

After about 10 years, Rubio left the band to pursue a solo career in music and released her first solo album, La Chica Dorada, in 1992. The single “Mío” has been understood to be Rubio’s signature song, hitting No. 2 on Mexican charts. 

Her sophomore album, 24 Kilates, gave her the status as one of Mexico’s most successful musicians, as the album reached No. 1 status in Mexico.

The artist’s most successful album ever was Paulina, which gave her three nominations for the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2009, the album was named one of the Top 10 best-selling albums ever in Mexico. 

With her 2002 album Border Girl, Rubio took her first steps into American pop culture, as the album was almost entirely in English. This was a defining year for the singer since it gave her overwhelming international recognition.

After her American debut, Rubio went back to recording mostly Spanish albums, but continued performing internationally. Some other acclaimed Latin American superstars she performed with were Enrique Iglesias and Shakira.

Rubio’s most recent album Brava! is what she calls a Spanglish album, mixing the Spanish and English languages. However, only three of the songs are in English, while seven are in Spanish.

In her music, Rubio is the sole singer and that is all she does musically. Along with her voice, traditional Latin sounds and heavy percussion are very evident. In her more recent albums, Rubio has followed suit with many other popular musicians, incorporating more and more electronics.