music & us: our playlist
intro: I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring different cultures and their music throughout the course of this class! For our last blog entry, I have done some exploring on my own and it was pretty fun. I have two more modern selections from different cultures, and I have two more traditional style pieces from different cultures. I hope you enjoy reading this entry as much as I have enjoyed creating it! :)
song #1: Let's start off really strong with something I had to dig in the very back of my brain for. Let me preface this by saying I had unrestricted internet access in my early childhood, and therefore basically lived on YouTube. Though, this song and its video is one of the tamer things I came across as a chronically online child. I used to watch this YouTube channel where kids would react to different things, like videos or music, they haven't seen or heard of before. One of their videos were children that were my age at the time reacting to a Japanese song by an artist named Yasutaka Nakata called Pon Pon Pon. I am not quite sure what that means, or what any of the lyrics mean, but I remember being so amused by this music video because it was so different compared to any American pop music video I had ever seen at the time. It is very different than the music I would typically listen to, but as a child I was drawn to the bright colors and weird visuals. This came out about 14 years ago and is one of the two modern piece selections I would like to mention in my blog.
song #3: Now onto more traditional pieces! I had to actually do some research on these, rather than just pulling them from the archives of my brain. A culture I wanted to explore was the Norwegian culture. It has always been on my bucket list to go to Norway before I die. I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights there, and I also have a friend I met online (also during Quarantine coincidentally) that lives in Norway. It looks absolutely beautiful from what she has shown me. After doing some research, I've concluded that traditional Norwegian music involves both vocals and instruments. It is a part of everyday life as they tell stories of love, nature. and life through song. Some of the instruments they use are the Hardanger fiddle and the langeleik. Linked below is a song I found when I looked up traditional Norwegian songs. I hope you enjoy! There is a little bit of talking before the actual playing of the instrument begins, so feel free to skip that if you would prefer to.
song #2: For the second more modern pieces I would like to share, I looked back at some older Spotify playlists I had created in my late middle school - early high school days. This artist I think some of my classmates MAY be a little more familiar with? Hopefully? Depends what side of TikTok or Instagram you were on during quarantine days. This music artist goes by Cuco. He is a Mexican-American singer and song writer. Most of his songs combine both English and Spanish languages, with an indie - bedroom pop - dreamy instrumental mix behind the lyrics. His most popular songs are Lover Is a Day, Lo Que Siento, and Amor de Siempre. Though I am not fluent in Spanish, I payed enough attention in my high school Spanish classes to understand some of what he is saying in his songs. I am going to link 2 of his songs instead of 1 just because I cannot choose. Lo Que Siento has mostly English lyrics and some Spanish lines, while Amor de Siempre is entirely sung in Spanish. (Side note: another great artist that includes both Spanish and English lyrics are The Marias, who I also discovered during the quarantine era of my life.)
song #4: Another culture I was interested in exploring was Italian. From my understanding, traditional Italian music (also known as musica tradizionale italiana) has developed with influence from a wide variety of OTHER cultures. Some of those being Arabic, Slavik, Greek, and Celtic. Music from Northern Italy differs from Southern Italy which differs from Central Italy. This is due to "Italy's historical fragmentation into various states and principalities before it's unification in 1861". Some instruments that are vital to the traditional music of Italy include the mandolin, the accordion, and the zampogna. You may be familiar with the first two instruments listed, but personally I was unfamiliar with the third. The zampogna is like a traditional Italian bagpipe. After listening to a few traditional Italian selections, here is one I hope you enjoy. It is an Italian folk song, a common genre within the tradition.
The End
