Since a new year has begun, it seems like the best time to start on a particular goal:
029. Listen to 2 new musical acts every week for 1 year(When I say 'new', I mean 'new to me').
Hopefully I'll manage to stick with this goal throughout the year--it's somewhat more challenging than my reading goal, because I have to remember it on a weekly, not monthly, basis!
The first week of the year is almost over, so here are the acts I've listened to:
Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein
Pop music from Myanmar!
This musician appeared on a BBC travel program about Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). Intrigued, I got online to find out more (and listen to a full song)
I really like the strength and emotion in her voice, so despite being unable to understand the lyrics, I can still enjoy her songs!
A lot of her costumes are also visually stunning--the program she appeared on called her 'Myanmar's answer to Lady Gaga'.
Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein Official Site
FEMM
Japanese Electropop
This duo's video 'PoW!' was on YouTube's suggested videos, so I checked it out. It has a really upbeat, fun sound, which took me a while to get used to. When I clicked on the first video, I didn't know what to expect!
Despite being from Japan, this act sings in English. The vocals in a lot of their songs are given a synthetic, electronic sound, which really enhances the effect of their music.
Their costumes are somewhat quirky--lots vinyl/latex, sometimes in familiar or traditional styles (the 'Dead Wrong' video features the duo in vinyl kimono).
FEMM, by the way, stands for Far East Mention Mannequins :)
FEMM Official Site
I'm always looking for new music, so if you have any suggestions - any genre, any language, so long as I can find somewhere to listen online! - please let me know!
Thanks for posting about Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein. I saw that travel show about Myanmar on the BBC too (if it was the one with Rajan Datar presenting it) and was curious about her music too! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for more suggestions, here are some (though you don't have to listen to all of them, obviously!):
● Lumen - Russian rock/alternative band with male vocals (they have a lot of music, so if you want to try them, the songs 'Беги' [Begi/Run], 'Волк'[Volk/Wolf], & 'Лабиринт'[Labirint/Labyrinth] are some I like. They have pretty interesting lyrics from what I can make out, but I've only heard songs in Russian).
● Poeina - 'Gasoline' is the only song by this artist I know, except for a Christmas song with a zombie themed video, but it's good! The song is sort of acoustic rock and she's from the US (I think?).
● Still - Japanese goth/new wave band from the 80's with female vocals (mostly in Japanese with random bits in English). The link is to their whole 'Pale Face' album/mini-album, but the first song, 'Sweet Warm Rain', is my favourite track from it.
● ZAZAZOZO - A mix between electronic, sort of "tribal" music and music boxes, from Greenland, with female vocals in English. (Recommended songs by them: 'Secret Robot', 'Private Life of Animals', and 'Plato').
● GOLD ZEBRA - French-Canadian synthpop/electro with female vocals, sung mostly in English with a bit of French. (Recommended songs: 'Invisible Disorder', 'Dark Musique', 'Love, French, Better').
Ah, well I'm not sure what else I've already mentioned before/what you've heard before & that's probably enough now, haha! Hope some of those are at least a little bit enjoyable :)
Also, I meant to say, Akord you can listen to artists by genre/country/language etc. so it might be a good place if you're looking for music to listen to randomly.
DeleteUm, I know I've already commented on this post, but I just wanted to leave some more artist suggestions, as they're interesting (to me anyway!). Leaving them here so as not to clutter up your other entries with random comments :)
Delete● Klaus Schulze - German electronic/ambient music. You might have heard him before because he's been around for ages and also worked with Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance, who I seem to remember you listen to already.
● Oöphoi - Dark ambient/experimental from Italy. He had tons of solo releases from 1995-2013 (when he passed away), as well as working with various other artists.
● Phurpa - This is a Russian group that do Tibetan Buddhist Bon chanting, or a version of it at least.
● Sui Generis Umbra - I know I've mentioned this band before a lot, because they're one of my favourites, but I don't know if you've actually listened to them, haha. Electronic/dark ritual ambient, originally from Poland.