International

We enjoy exploring music from different countries. This June, we are listening to music from Finland, Europe. Join in by posting songs and thoughts about the music on this post…

So why Finland? There are nearly 290 territories and countries in the world. We created a master list of countries and territories and then rolled dice and that’s how we ended up with Finland.

So, how do you find music from Finland. One option is Bandcamp. You can use this link which will show all music tagged as coming from the country of Finland. In theory. However, take note, that people will tag their music based on a variety of factors so it’s good to verify it’s actually from Finland or if it is influenced by Finnish music or from a Finnish label. Anything is an acceptable contribution to this effort though. So if it’s from a Finnish label but it’s Lithuanian music – why not? Also I noticed that Finland has multiple tags so that’s just one of them. And you may want to search by certain cities as well, such as Helsinki.

You can use other sites too such as Spotify, Soundcloud, Last.FM or YouTube. However, most of those sites don’t have a geo-tag to search by. So it can be harder to find stuff. At the same time, most artists are on Spotify, but not everyone is on Bandcamp. And there is always Google searches. Since not everyone is on Bandcamp, it’s good to diversify how we find music.

Between now and the end of June, we’ll post music that we or others find and include appropriate commentary. Feel free to comment, suggest music to include, etc… This is most effective as a group effort.

Saturday, June 1 @ 1:30am

The first find in listening to Finnish music is the lovely Jazz from Linda Fredriksson.

Sunday, June 2 @ 12pm

Some Finnish post-rock from Tampere, Finland. This has an ambient touch to it. It’s very solid.

Monday, June 3 @ 1:30am

This is my favorite find so far. Some dreamy electronic indie pop.

Monday, June 3 @ 12:30pm

This is so interesting. Elokuu is inspired by Humppa – “Humppa is a type of music from Finland. It is related to jazz and very fast foxtrot, played two beats to a bar“. Enjoy! And thanks to Lorelai for this contribution!

Tuesday, June 4 @ 2pm

The music from Kauan is labeled as doom, folk, progressive rock, and ambient. And to be honest, it all fits. Plus this album has an associated RPG that you can get! Well worth the listen.

Wednesday, June 5 @ 11am

Teini-Pää is great. This music makes me so happy. Indie Pop that sometimes sounds like surf rock, sometimes like pop punk, and sometimes like Best Coast. Well worth the listen. All lyrics in Finnish.

Thursday, June 6

Today’s contribution comes from Eleanoora Rosenholm – a band from Pori that is probably best described as a weird bit of indie pop. This recent album is focused on a Soviet Union based storyline.

Thursday, June 6 @ 12pm

Today we get two posts. From the same Finnish label as Eleanoora Rosenholm we have Olimpia Splendid. Now I should have remembered how much I like them as I actually have a 7″ from them. But wow are they good! I guess this is Indie Noise? Who cares, I love it!

Friday, June 7 @ 11:30am

Today’s pick was described by Kim Gordon, “Islaja’s music is a dream, abstract and enchanted but grounded in the earthiness of a Finnish forest floor.” I mean, who am I to argue with Kim Gordon? Besides, she is not wrong.

Tuesday, June 11 @ 1:30pm

Jarse is interesting music. Sometimes melodic, other times experimental.

Wednesday, June 12 @ 12pm

Of course, Finland may be best known for its Metal. I am not an aficionado of metal. But I thought this was decent. I’ve barely delved into the metal yet though so don’t be surprised if I find much better.

@1:30pm

This post-rock is really good. Occasionally heavy, occasionally dreamy, always instrumental.

Thursday, June 13 @ 11:30am

Got some real good suggestions from my friend Julian yesterday for Finnish metal. Here are two of my favorites.

Friday, June 14 @ 12:30am

This is so good. Especially the first track. Maybe Tar meets Pissed Jeans? Whatever. It works.

Saturday, June 14 @ 12pm

This is interesting. I really like it. Definitely an indie sound, a bit electronic at times, experimental for sure. In the end it’s just interesting…

Whereas this one is straight up indie rock.

And this may be best classified as indie pop rock?

We enjoy exploring music from different countries. This May, we are listening to music from Guyana, South America. Join in by posting songs and thoughts about the music on this post…

So, how do you find music from Guyana. One option is Bandcamp. You can use this link which will show all music tagged as coming from the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. But you can use other sites too such as Spotify or Soundcloud though there isn’t a tag to search by. And there is always Google.

Between now and the end of May, we’ll post music that we or others find and include appropriate commentary.

ETA. Read about Guyana here. The Wiki on Guyana Music is interesting. Did you know Mad Professor is from Guyana? I did not know this.

Saturday, May 18 @ 11pm

The first music of note so far is Research Kitchen.

Sunday, May 19 @ 12pm

This calypso with the drums and jazzy sound is quite delightful!

Sunday, May 19 @ 1pm

If you like industrial I am actually quite enjoying The Vulture Drones…

Monday, May 20 @ 1pm

I wouldn’t say this is great punk, but I like that it exists. A split 7″ with bands from Guyana and neighboring Suriname.

Monday, May 20 @ 6:30pm

This I thought was going to be ambient but it’s something else. It’s a pleasant listen.

Tuesday, May 21 @ 10:30am

I’m trying Youtube music playlists to find music from Guyana. This playlist is of Guyana folk music.

Tuesday, May 21 @ 2:30pm

Creole Rock is an interesting project. Gavin Mendonca is the artist behind this pop punk infused Guyanan music. He also features in a heavy metal band I’m going to give a listen to. And he has a folk project as well.

Wednesday, May 22 @ 12:30pm

Death Metal from Guyana. I know I tend to like everything sometimes but I do actually like this and I’m not usually a big death metal person.

Wednesday, May 22 @ 1:00pm

Just some simple acoustic offerings from a guitarist in Guyana…

And here is some more traditional Guyana music…

Saturday, May 25 @ 10:30PM

This isn’t exactly my thing but it’s lovely in its way. Singer-songwriter Juke Ross from Guyana.

Sunday, May 26 @ 12:30am

I haven’t listened to Iron Maiden in ages so I was surprised how quickly I recognized this cover. Anyhow, some metal from Guyana from Ettu Brutus.

OK we’re here. A little late but starting in a few minutes…

Let’s start with some ambient electronics…

Well that was low key… we’re apparently old and rusty. Next song coming shortly…

Ooh words half way through… drink up friends… here is some Småland

Sweden is really fun but we need something with some step. THis may not do that…

Oh man this is bad but fun! Omg it’s video game 80s music…

LADY METAL!!! CRUCIFIED BARBARA

That was fun. A little Maiden-esque for those of us lacking better references…

That was fun. Let’s destroy it with some Crematory Stench!

Who are you calling horse face?

and now for some sports to go with spring training baseball which starts tomorrow…

sports sports sports….. omg fun. More kvinna stuff, with a bit of riot grrrrrllll.

That was very good. Kraut rock now?

That was also excellent. If you have a hang up about it (eyes roll)…

poppy punky and fun…so lets see what’s next…

That got boring. Some pink noise?

I imagine being exiled in Stockholm is like parking in Stockholm…

Ok lets slow it down a minute…

Truck fighting!

Ok that was solid… our gang is growing here. And now for the Ditches…

this is a Swedish song about something

Jen is now showing discipline by waiting to tomorrow before purchasing the above. That was out of order but here is where we are now…

Ok we got sidetracked by videos of kiss cover bands…

and something about baboon shows?

loving this marauder!

and now this…

ok some Viking folk or something such…

This could be iffy…

The moon coven…

Thanks for listening. Or whatever you call it. Good morning to Sweden when you wake up!


So, as readers may not know, we do this thing called Drunk Radio Shower where we pick a country and listen to music from that country and drunkenly comment on the music (for better or worse). But we’re only able to do that every couple of months and we enjoy the excuse to discover new music (to us) from varied places around the globe. So here is a new thing where we do a post, maybe once or twice a month, where we pick randomly pick a country, and our contributors go out and research and pick a favorite track/band to share. The dice have been rolled, and for issue #1 it’s Uruguay.

July 26, 2016 @ 01:16 PM

Jim here with my pick for Uruguay. After much deliberation and listening I settled on the eclectic mix that is Power Chocolatin Experimento. First of all, solid name. And interesting mix of sounds. Some metal-esque guitars. Sometimes punk and sometimes indie pop. Some Pink Floyd-esque stuff. Some jazz fusion. And all well done. A really great mix of sounds.

And I had a couple of other close choices. I really liked the indie minimalism of hombre común.

And I liked this from Oneill too. Though technically tagged as pop punk I really liked it. I don’t think it’s really pop punk at all. More indie.

August 14, 2016 @ 05:24 PM

Matt here checking in with my pick, as Delouners rides two chords and some Black Lips attitude in “Family”, the title track to an album they put out just about this time last year.

And since that only took up two minutes of your time, here’s some bonus tunes: Los Shakers and Los Mockers seem to have formed some type of Uruguayan Beatles vs. Stones rivalry soon after the British Invasion swept across the pond, though I’d argue that the latter band had more of an Animals vibe about them. Judge for yourself below.

August 14, 2016 @ 07:13 PM

and now, it’s time for david to make his Uruguay choice!  my listening, during an unusually busy august, has been more spread out in multiple casual backgroundish hearings, rather than any concerted effort to find *the* one band or song.  it turned out, though, that i kept coming back to one of the first bands i’d found:  Laura y los Branigan.

the minor key melodies, soft but driving female vocals, and ever-building rhythmic intensity (and, really, probably the reverb and echo-y delay) bring me back to my college days, listening to 1999-ish radiohead or portishead, or any other -head, really.  it’s the music that got me to branch out into other styles, to look for something new that i might like but not yet know; and what better kickoff of a series meant to force us to do just that?

August 14, 2016 @ 09:30 PM

My pick is Carmen Sandiego. They are essentially español Belle and Sebastian. Good for a pensive hungover radio shower (i.e. late summer). Here is their video for Agustín from 2010’s Joven Edad :

The album’s lyrics are pretty solid, with themes including  promiscuous Christians, Tamagotchi, and that garden variety subsect of gremlin boyfriends with a penchant for belching the alphabet. Worth translating.

While their latest Ciudad Dormitorio came out in 2013, they still seem pretty active, so if you’re around Montevideo on September 3 go check them out !

August 14, 2016 @ 09:45 PM

OK Sam again with a song for when you and your dildo are just tryna go to the discotheque…

 

Herein we listen to music from Indonesia. And Drink. And live blog and tweet about it. Join along from home. Share what you think or what you like. Apologies to the good people in Indonesia who don’t drink.

8:00pm Let’s do this. Indonesia has tons of good music. This is a fun love ditty.

8:10pm That was pretty damned great! How about a Swervedriver cover?

And tons more after the jump… Continue Reading

Herein we listen to music from Poland. And Drink. And live blog and tweet about it. Join along from home. Share what you think or what you like.

8:00pm Let’s start this out with some stoner rock. With an EP titled “Weednight”, sorry to tell you coppers, we’re clean here. But this music is pretty good.

8:10pm How about some lady rock? One thing we noticed in our initial perusals is that musicians in Poland are very sad. Even these ladies seem somewhat sad. Oh this band makes me thing mazzy star.

8:20pm not drunk yet. but more music from Poland is coming. Here is a song called Alice from a band named Thesis.

8:30pm The masses unanimously insisted on this track. drunk’n’roll for the drunk radio shower.

8:40pm David picked this one. MORE POLISH MUSIC!!! What do you think? Check out #drunkradioshower below. They are on facebook.

8:50pm Going with this one for the artwork and the fact that they’re signed to Bat Shit Records. Can’t imagine being disappointed with it.

9:00pm our first completely random pick of the night. Mikroorganizmy. One of those names…

9:10pm if ANXIETY is your thing. A pick from the Jennifer machine. The band is Folder. Yes, it’s from Poland.

9:20pm That escalated nicely at the end of dreaming. Shawn has connected remotely. Shit now getting real. Here is some Torn Shore.

9:30pm ok time to move on. Lisa on the plate. Something different I presume.

9:40pm That was solid. Here is a random pick. Deep thoughts to follow.

9:50pm ok, let’s try this now. Because we are into literal band names tonight.

9:53pm cutting off that horribleness. Let’s try this pick from David. Then we’ll get Mahogs in the mix.

10:00pm Mahogany album art picked this one. We need something really good so let’s hope…

10:10pm that was great! So, how about music recorded in your dad’s ass?

10:17pm okay we need to go lofi. That went a little too jam band after a bit. And who doesn’t like a dog driving a car?

10:26pm ok, now that we’ve farted out our souls. We need to ground ourselves with some field recordings.

10:33pm Lisa going hip hop tonight.

10:37pm and Tony walks in with a solid pick. Something less random.

10:43pm It’s a bit sketchy to from Poland and be named Deathcamp Project. But they know about Well-Known Pleasures. Good job Margot.

10:50pm Well we hope that music wasn’t too weird for ya. How about a brief glimpse into 8 bit remixes?

10:55pm Jen and Mahogany picked this. It has potential I think.

11:02 more from dj tony. yes, we are drunk. fuck you.

11:08 how about what we hear is a Polish classic? We’ve been more frustrated than usual with finding shit we like. Our divergent tastes in house might be contributing but here is a classic nonetheless.

11:12pm ok, the newcomer Sam picked it. So it’s gotta be good right?

11:15pm Is it us? Poland, why don’t you have better music? we are going one more time. Chile was much easier I must say. #worldwar3

11:20pm ok, that was better. Let’s try False Month. This has potential.

11:39pm we got distracted by foosball. wanted punk bad.

11:45pm This can go a lot of directions, but lets try it.

11:49pm and Nacht und Nebel!!!! That’s where our heads are. alcohol blesses.

11:55pm Matt and Jim have taken over. Therefore the music has gotten better. Sorry peeps.

12:03am oi oi polloi

12:06am government flu. because we’re ready for this.

12:11am ok maybe time to move on an awesome Polish label…

12:15am things are good and we’re rolling with Nikt Nic Nie Wie Records…

12:22am Ok let’s try pagan records.

12:30am the reviews on this one are good. So we thought we’d give it a shot. It has tangental potential.

Refresh for updates. Jump below the fold for the full conversation…

A continuation of my exploration into Greece music. Each month, the Discovering Interstellar Music feature will explore interesting (to us) music from around the world. This feature publishes every Friday. See also my posts on nefeli walking undercover (Part I), the εἰρκτή compilation (Part II), and Grecian Post Rock (Part III).

I found lots of Psychadelic rock in my brief Grecian foray. Here are some of the especially good ones.

Arrakis

Ammu Dia is their most recent release and it’s available on CD if you need the physical medium. The title track particularly caught my attention as it is almost math rock in substance. It has an almost metal sound happening that reminds me of Rodan. I really quite easily could have clumped some of Arrakis’ material in with last week’s post-rock post. But here it is.

More after the fold…

Craang

Now, this band is all in on the psychadelic with a strong metal influence. They are really quite good, but more purely psychadelic than Arrakis.

And that’s all for now. There is of course more where this comes from. Just me roaming about in the interwebs trying to discern what kinds of good music Greece had to offer. Hopefully yinz enjoyed it.

Coming Next Week: September Focus on … where?

Each month, in the International Radio Shower, we will explore interesting (to us) music from around the world. This feature publishes every Friday. This month will focus on music in Greece. Click on the following links to read Part I: Nefeli Walking Undercover and Part II: εἰρκτή compilation.

In my limited sample of music I combed through, I found a large amount of post rock, much of which could be classified as math rock. I tend to like this genre of music, so I found a lot of interest to me. Here are a couple highlights.

Afformance

First of all, I appreciate a good band name. Afformance works for me. It is a made up word with meaning behind it. And let’s face it, virtually all math rock is quite a bit emo and a touch intelligentsia. This actually has some similarities to Pittsburgh’s own My Captain, My Sea.

More after the fold…

Hope Thinks Infinite

Well, this band’s label is so very literal. They deliver a great brand of instrumental post-rock. Thousand Yard Stare is a phenomenal song. And Glacial Erratic is a great song title. Petrichor goes primarily ambient or something.

We Own the Sky

Again, literal in a name. This one a little more aggressive about it. And a lot more heavy metal influenced. I recommend Alterecho.



Coming Next Week: Part IV on Grecian stoner rock.

Each month, in the International Radio Shower, we will explore interesting (to us) music from around the world. This feature publishes every Friday. This is Part II in our series on Greece. To read Part I click here.


The εἰρκτή compilation

Now this is something very different from my last post on nefeli walking undercover. And the timing is right. The small Greece label εἰρκτή is releasing a compilation of largely previously unreleased material that is quite extensive. It features primarily artists from the 80s and features 3 full length LPs and 1 7″ of material covering a wide array of the Greek underground scene. The recordings are sometimes pretty raw, but the content is great. Below I highlight some of my favorites from each lp.

βιῶν ἐν εἰρκτῇ (eirme 04 . 1)

Side A features primarily post punk content. Every song is solid. My favorite might be the fifth song from stranded particles y-r, but I think this track from on purpose might have the most appeal. Check it out.

Side B focuses on punk artists from the Greek underground scene. I really liked this track from ήταν είναι και θα είναι. It has spunk.

More after the fold…

βιῶν ἐν εἰρκτῇ (eirme 04 . 2)

On the second lp, the C side focuses on the minimal synth scene. This side really kicks it off well with this track from χωρίς περιδέραιο.

And on the D side, which focuses more on dark wave electronic and experimental. Hang with this track from common sense.

βιῶν ἐν εἰρκτῇ (eirme 04 . 3)

This entire album continues to focus on dark wave material. This might be my favorite song on the comp. Reminds me of something Chris Knox would do and even gets a bit weirder.

The F side gets a bit more ambient and experimental. I really liked this track from κρυπτογράφημα.

βιῶν ἐν εἰρκτῇ (eirme 04​.​4)

Finally we get to the New Wave 7″. The A-side from film noir is a lovely poppy new wave ditty. It’s so 1980s.

And that’s all for this week. As you can see that’s quite a sampler. It’s available digitally from the bandcamp links, or you can buy the box set on vinyl directly from the label here.

Note: A lot of the info is in Greek so if I got anything grossly wrong let me know.

Coming Next Week: Part III on Grecian post rock.

Each month, in the International Radio Shower, we will explore interesting (to us) music from around the world. This feature publishes every Friday. This month will focus on music in Greece.

OK, so, lately i’ve fallen in love with clicking on a country tab on bandcamp and finding new music. This started with my self awareness that I have no idea what is coming out of most parts of the world. Sure, I know some music from some of the obvious places (hi UK and New Zealand). But what are they doing with indie, punk, post punk, or riot grrrl in Greece or Greenland or South Korea? Matt told me they have a great psyche rock scene in Chile. So it seemed obvious to spend more time exploring music internationally and to share what we find.

And so it was that a couple of weeks back I ventured into music from Greece. Aided by the fact that my girlfriend enjoys doing this too and she is fond of Greece. I already have an LP from Acid Baby Jesus. So I know there is goodness there. But all I know is that someone in Greece came up with the awesome band name, Acid Baby Jesus, and they make good garage rock.

Of course, not all Greek bands are available affordably on the US domestic front. Slovenly Records happens to have several from Greece. And keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive take on Greece music. It’s just me poking around and making note of interesting (to me) music on bandcamp.

More after the fold…

Nefeli Walking Undercover

Greece seems to have a lot of post rock and a lot of stoner rock (limited sample size aside). But it was an experimental folk rock album from Nefeli Walking Undercover that caught most of my attention. Nefeli Walking Undercover is the pseudonym for a musician and music teacher from Athens named Nefeli Liouta. She is a composer too which is something that explains the fine arrangements on many of these tracks. Some of my favorite songs are from her older ep. Here is a sample:

I really appreciate their cover art for the lp. It’s just great and probably what caught my attention in the first place. And if you are in Greece, or are ok paying the international shipping, the cd comes with a 60″x60″ poster of the cover art. Also, they have a bunch of great videos they have made for their music, such as this one.

Coming Next Week: Part II on Greek’s record label εἰρκτή.