New Zealand

In recent years, it seems there has been sort of an intrigue with up and coming New Zealand musicians like last year’s Kimbra, and this year’s (and my new obsession) Lorde. So it was only fitting for me to begin the semester focused on this interesting country.

The number of well known New Zealand artist in the US is kind of surprising. Everyone’s favorite ‘80s pop band, Crowded House, originated from the country, and The Naked and Famous (who had a hit with “Young Blood” in 2010) are also natives.

The New Zealand music scene welcomes many styles including blues, jazz, pop and hip-hop, but rock music has always been a strong staple for the country’s musicians. More specifically, kiwi rock is the names used by natives to describe rock music.

Rock sprung up in New Zealand in the ‘60s with the most popular bands being The La'De'Da's and The Fourmyula. In the ‘70s, following suit with the American music scene, punk music began to influence the masses. One of the most popular New Zealand punk bands was The Enemy, which also introduced lo-fi to the music scene.

In the last 30 years, hip-hop has slowly infiltrated New Zealand popular culture. Much of the country’s hip-hop music has been consistently politically charged and nationalistic, but in recent years, it has become more lyrical and friendly. One of the first hip-hop artists to achieve international fame was Savage, which featured the American musician Akon on an album that sold over 1.8 million copies in the US in 2005.

Other than popular musical styles, other aspects of New Zealand’s musical culture have become widespread, such as the country's many famous opera singers including Simon O’Neill and Anna Leese.

One of the most well known and popular theatre performances was also originated by a New Zealander. The Rocky Horror Show musical was written by Richard O’Brien, a native of the country, and it was first performed in London in 1973.

Flight of the Conchords

The comedic folk duo from New Zealand have made it big since they debuted with a television show on HBO in 2007.

The group is made up of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, who both studied film and theatre until they formed their band in 1998. Before the creation of their television show, Flight of the Conchords, the duo held a radio series for BBC Radio 2.

The radio series for McKenzie and Clement was sort of a precursor for the television series, not ironically holding the same title as the band. The show features the two men trying to find success in New York City using both dry and goofy humor in their music, which helps tell the story of their day-to-day lives.

Other than having a popular show on television, completion of  a successful tour and a string of albums, Flight of the Conchords have many other achievements under their belts.  For example, the duo has been nominated for multiple Emmys and was ranked the number 2 new television show by Time after their debut in 2007.

South Africa

A Western Influence

The music of South Africa has changed and adapted over the years, bringing influence from other countries to create its own cultural identity in music. Beginning in the 17th century, South Africans began using Western-influenced instruments such as the ramkie, a guitar-like instrument, and the mamokhorong, a one-stringed violin.

Cape Town in South Africa was considered the melting pot of many different cultures and influences. A carnival that still is popular today runs in Cape Town yearly, and it features many different musical forms. In the early carnival days, Western-style music was popular, and after British domination in the early 1800s, South Africans would march the streets in British military style playing marching tunes.

Also around this time, South African missionary music became popular, starting a gospel movement. This type of music was drawn from church hymns and spiritual chants. Choirs and a capella groups became very prominent during this time as well. 

This a capella style did not come and go with the gospel movement, however. Music in South Africa today relies heavily on vocal music sans instrumentals. 

In the early 20th century, new styles of music began to spring up. Marabi was a style of music that relied on the keyboard and resembled American ragtime and blues styles, which were also becoming popular overseas.  This music form developed into South African-style jazz over the years, making it one of the most popular music forms in the country and adding to its distinct musical style.

By the second half of the 20th Century, music in South Africa was beginning to develop a distinct blend of sound. By this time, South Africans embraced yet another style of music that was classified as part of the black urban culture. The "African stomp" became a very popular musical style, along with the use of more and more percussion instruments.

Unfortunately, this black urban style of music was short-lived, and in the late 1950s, new styles of jazz sprung up, such as the Western style of bebop. 

In the '60s and '70s, South Africa faced years of severe repression, and music was the only thing that some had to turn to. Many South African jazz musicians were forced into exile during this time. Yet African jazz bands grew increasingly popular among the country's people. 

In the later decades of the 20th century, South Africa was introduced to other Western styles of music, as white musicians began coming over to share their styles. In the '60s, acid rock bands began spreading their hippiness, the '70s welcomed boy bands and the '80s introduced punk and alternative rock. And finally, in the 1990s, South Africa was introduced to the ever-growing genre of pop. 

Today, South Africa enjoys an eclectic blend of traditional African jazz music and more Western styles of pop, rock and electronic.

Mandoza

The South African musician Mandoza is known for kwaito, a South African style of music that is very similar to the Western style of house music. It can also be compared to garage music or electronic hip-hop. 

As a young adult, Mandoza's talents were first realized by Arthur Mafokate, otherwise known as the King of Kwaito. The artist and his band, Chiskop, was first aired on the Durban Youth Radio by DJ Sipho Mbatha.

Chiskop signed a record contract and released two albums, Klaimer and Zonke Bonke, gaining them national recognition and popularity among the music scene. Mandoza, however, broke away from the band to start a solo career. 

His first album in 1999, 9115 Zola South, was widely popular and earned Mandoza a 2000 FNB South African Music Awards Best Newcomer nomination. Through the years, the singer has released many other albums, gaining him even greater popularity and notoriety in the kwaito music scene. 

Mandoza sings solely in South Africa's many languages, switching it up between English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa. Although kwaito music is typically dance and electronic oriented, its lyrics are not lacking in depth. Mandoza, however, is known for introducing an atypical style of kwaito music that focuses more on sending an inspirational message to South African people.

Egypt

Music of the Pharaoh

Egypt is another country that finds its musical identity in blending sounds from other countries. Most Egyptian music comes from the early Indian musical styles and other African countries.

The majority of Egyptian instruments are stringed or woodwind such as the kemengah, which is similar to the viola and the nay which resembles a flute. One of the more popular instruments is called the rabab, which has a deep and monotonous sound, and it is often accompanied with the reciting of poems and romances.

One of the most identifiable forms of Egyptian music is singing and chanting in unison on top of a backdrop of diverse percussion instrumentals.

Western classical music was introduced to Egypt in the 19th century along with more modern instruments like the piano and violin. Opera also became a popular form of art and entertainment. 

Other than traditional folk music, Egypt also deems religious music as very important. Coptic music is a popular Egyptian style of music of the Coptic Church. The music is comprised of chanting hymns accompanied by cymbals.

In the early 20th century, Egypt was introduced to recorded music, and in 1909, the first record label, His Master’s Voice, was created. Shortly after, the gramophone became popular for listening to music. In the next decades, Egyptian music evolved with both Arabic and Western influence.

Egyptian music today is comprised of many different musical elements, including rock, techno and Top 40 pop music. However, many Egyptians still hold true to traditional music styles which are still performed live and broadcasted on the radios.

Amr Diab

The most renowned musician in Egypt, Amr Diab is also the best-selling Arab musical artist of all time. The singer and composer is most known for his el-geel pop music, which is an Egyption form of pop music that borrows elements from Western rock ‘n’ roll and pop music. The genre also combines elements of dance music and reggae. 

Diab is very popular both in his country and around the world. He was awarded the World Music Award three times along with many other different awards for various reasons. In addition to Arabic music, Diab is also known as the Father of Mediterranean Music, having created his own genre of music dubbed “Mediterranean Sound,” which mixes elements of Egyptian and Western sounds. 

Diab’s music career began in the mid-eighties with his album Ya Tareeq. The singer gained quick recognition and especially became popular for his Mediterranean/Arabic music, which mixed Western sounds with traditional Arabic sounds, a style that was new in the music world.

In addition to his music, Diab is also well known for his pop-star image. He is considered by many as being “rebellious” with his more fashionable hairstyles and clothing. The singer had a brief film career in the early ‘90s, but he has more recently focused solely on his music.

The musician also introduced music videos to the Egypt music scene, appearing in his own videos and collaborating with renowned music video directors from the Middle East. One of the most popular videos is 2007’s “Ne'oul Aih,” which was successfully broadcasted on Egyptian television. 

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.

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.

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.

Sweden

Dancing With the Dansband

What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the music of Sweden? If it’s Swedish House Mafia, you are going to want to read this blog post.

Many popular artist have come from Sweden including '80s bands like ABBA and Ace of Base as well as newly popular musicians such as Miike Snow, Shout Out Louds and José González.

But before Sweden became the starting point for these chart-topping bands and musicians, the country struck its first chords in traditional Nordic folk music along with the other Nordic countries, Scandinavia and Finland.

Nordic folk music began as the dance music for European nobility and is made up of dance rhythms usually in the minor keys. This music was traditionally not simply for listening, but mostly for dancing along with. Most of these dances are accomplished with a partner, but some dances, namely the minuet, can be danced solo. 

The most common instrument used in Nordic music is the fiddle. Other instruments include accordions and clarinets. One of the most widely used instruments in Sweden was the nyckelharpa (a type of fiddle), which has since gone out of fashion and is rarely used in contemporary folk music.

Swedish folk music went through little changes throughout the years until the 1960s, when radio and the television become extremely popular. The Swedish youth propelled a roots revival in Swedish folk music by establishing folk music clubs and bring folk music to the radio and television.

During this time, popular folk music was comprised of mainly instrumental music and focused on the polska, using more contemporary instruments.

Sweden in the 1970s became exposed to dansbandmusik, which is used mostly for dancing in pairs. The Swedish were influenced by the pair dances that had popularized American culture in the 1950s and ‘60s such as the jitterbug and foxtrot. These dances are normally to swing, jazz and rock music, which was a different musical sound for Sweden.

Throughout the decade, dansbandmusik became popular not only for pairs dancing, but also for pure enjoyment. Many dansband musicians and bands began popping up throughout Sweden and included bands like Wizex and Forbes.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that pop began infiltrating the country’s music scene. ABBA is the most popular band to come out of Sweden by gaining international success and becoming the second most successful group ever following The Beatles.

Although many other bands coming from Sweden have gained international recognition in the last two decades, Sweden also has a great underground music scene. The Knife and Jens Lekman are both popular Swedish musicians.

Lars Winnerbäck

Yes, the most popular Swedish musicians sing in English, but I made it a point to find a Swedish-singing musician. Lars Winnerbäck fit the criteria, and I couldn’t be happier that my search led me to this singer/songwriter.

Born in Stockholm, but having grown up in Linköping, Winnerbäck has released 10 studio albums and sings only in Swedish. The solo artist released his first album, Dans med svåra steg, in 1996 and has since become one of the most popular singers in Sweden.

Unless you can understand Swedish, Winnerbäck’s lyrics are incomprehensible. But one thing I love about this artist is the emotion that rings in his lyrics. According to Swedish-speaking sources, Winnerbäck sings mostly of romance and issues in society. For you indie music fans, he is like a Swedish Ben Gibbard. Not bad.

Winnerbäck’s music is largely influenced by Swedish and American musicians of the like including Bob Dylan and the Swedish singer Ulf Lundell (who has non-coincidentally been considered Sweden’s Bob Dylan).

Much of Winnerbäck’s music is on acoustic guitar and has a mellow, contemplative tone to it. Since gaining popularity in the ‘90s, the singer has landed multiple spots on the official Swedish Albums Chart. 

The musician has been writing, releasing and performing music for about 15 years now, having released his most recent album, Utanför Album 1, in 2012.