(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
Today’s blog entry is a little different. I’ve decided to share some music that I’ve encountered while travelling in Europe. No photos and no detailed commentary…just some YouTube links that you can check out if you are interested in some fun music from other countries.
While it is tempting to sightsee as much as possible while travelling, some down time is inevitable. Whether it is on account of bad weather or simply because I need to take a break, I occasionally take it easy by watching the local music video channel. As a former radio broadcaster, I’m intrigued by seeing how things work in other countries (the cover” photo for this post is from a museum in Rome – it is a recreation of a vintage television studio at RAI, the state broadcaster). However, watching local music video channels is also a great way to hear music that I haven’t encountered at home.
A couple of years ago, Italy’s RTL station played a soulful and unabashedly retro song called “Moneygrabber”. I never thought I would discover an American group (“Fitz and the Tantrums”) on Italian television, but that’s exactly what happened. Here’s the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggbNKKDTBNA
Italy has been a good source of new music for me. Last year, RTL played a fun Italian-language track by a singer named Max Gazzè. See if you can figure out what this song is all about by watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej0ME8xdiF8
An English-language single that I never encountered in Canada is “Jungle Drum” by Emiliana Torrini. She’s from Iceland but I first saw the quirky video when a Swiss friend shared it on Facebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ9vkd7Rp-g
You may remember that I picked up a Croatian new music compilation when I visited Split. I wasn’t expecting to find a ska-influenced song that was punctuated with some interesting passing chords. Here’s “Savršen Film” by the unusually-named “Justin’s Johnson”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLJPJ7uhv7w
Reggae seemed to be lurking in the background of a few Croatian songs this year. Is Dalmatian Reggae the next big thing? Perhaps in anticipation of such a craze, here’s a baffling (a donkey and a seagull?) video by Jasmin Stavros called “Reggae Dalmatino”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysYYrc3mdgk
All of this music flows nicely into the final hints about my next destination. I will be visiting a very musical island that has produced an impressive number of traditional and popular musicians. I also have high hopes for music shopping while there. Find out this weekend when I publish my next post!
Hi Pierre so enjoyed the videos. I loved the music. I stopped watching videos a long time ago as I was sick of naked women a men grabbing their crotch and the music was lost . These videos were fantastic, thanks for sharing .
Regards Lynda
Hi Lynda,
Glad you liked the links. I found the videos in both Italy and Croatia to be generally positive and fun, as if they were living in a more innocent time. Perhaps I’ll post some more international videos during my travel break at Kingston Base Camp – I’ve found some good ones from South America and Africa as well.
Aha – you are off to Jamaica! I caught up on your blog posts today – very enjoyable.
I love the idea of a Croatian reggae craze taking the country by storm….
Good guess, but….no, not this time. The “big reveal” will happen shortly. I didn’t hear any reggae on the streets in Croatia, but that unmistakeable rhythm was all over the Croatian Music Channel.