this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2026
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[–] jaschen306@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago
[–] Brewchin@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

The takeaways here are:

  • Listen to music from any/every country. If you've only listened to music from your own country (or only commercial broadcast radio), oboy... have I got world to show you.
  • You don't need to understand the lyrics. Good music is good music. It's not "Satanic" or whatever your bogeyman is, trust me. (Unless it is, in which case... πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ)

Denying yourself the breadth of world music is like believing your country is and has the best of everything while never having travelled abroad once. Objectively laughable.

[–] saigot@lemmy.ca 6 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

And then theres me who can't understand the words of a song no matter the language.

"Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a leopress above the Serengeti." I spent most of my adult life thinking a leopress was a female leopard because of that fucking song.

[–] Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I entirely unironically love mongolian throat singing.

... its fucking awesome.

[–] Zorg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 hours ago

I've been enjoying Ummet Ozcan's stuff for a month or so. EDM with throat singing, tickles something happy in my brain.

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

K-Pop?

I guess I'm a bit more old school, but, with a twist.

[Click above link NOW for $$60,000,000,000!]

[–] Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 15 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

I'm quite partial to J-rock. I'm not really even a weeb.

[–] Geobloke@aussie.zone 2 points 9 hours ago

Used to live them, but switched up into hanabie and paledusk

[–] knatschus@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 9 hours ago

Same, the youtube algorithm got me there now NEK! is my favourite band.

Who knew a Japanese girl group would perfecting american college rock 20 years after its prime?

[–] Broadfern@lemmy.world 37 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Jokes on you, it’s actually J-Metal

[–] Dagnet@lemmy.world 7 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Babymetal is the only metal band I listen to haha

[–] YetAnotherNerd@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 hours ago

Ladybeard, thanks.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Fact: this is the best thing that either Japan or Germany has ever achieved.

[–] Dagnet@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

Love that song haha the clip is awesome soo

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[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 10 points 14 hours ago

I love how comments are immediately flooded with recommendations.

(I cannot connect with kpop at all, even after spending several years carpooling to work with avid fans who would play all kinds every morning and evening.)

French New Disco is amazingly uplifting, also sometimes I came up what they're saying so it turns even better.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 hours ago

NANA-NANANANANA-NA-NA-NA, katamari damashii!

[–] tjsauce@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Yellow Magic Orchestra and anyone associated with that group are of high quality, check them out for Japanese electronica

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 14 hours ago

They're deeply connected to City Pop history too, as I recall.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 15 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (3 children)

This is the perfect time to introduce my friends The Eurovision Song Contest !eurovision@lemmy.world and the Lemmy version !Lemmyvision@feddit.org !

Every year I hear a bunch of songs from other countries than my own, many in different languages. It's pretty awesome.

I'm boycotting the finals of the ESC this year for political reasons, but that's my decision. There are 60+ years of entries to watch or listen to!

Lemmy know if you want recommendations.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

This is the perfect time to introduce my friends The Eurovision Song Contest

Actually it's one of the worst times ever, what with them refusing to ban the fascist apartheid regime and several countries boycotting it in response.

Even IF you don't care enough to boycott it yourself, you're bound to get a diminished show with 5 countries missing and the rest walking on egg shells not to get thrown out for angering the apartheid delegation.

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[–] addie@feddit.uk 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Lemmyvision song contest? Then that means it's time to link Feddit UK's original submission, the Northern Boys with the phenomenal Sexy Train:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4VXKhJfRQ7k&list=RD4VXKhJfRQ7k&start_radio=1&pp=ygUYbm9ydGhlcm4gYm95cyBzZXh5IHRyYWluoAcB

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[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

The most interesting thing is who different countries vote for. There are whole university departments dedicated to studying this. The music itself is very meh. It's specific type of music that doesn't really reflect any differences between the countries. Interesting entries happen but most of it just sounds the same.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

I disagree entirely my friend, though there are trends just like in popular music in general.

You might enjoy skipping the ballads and the "pop girlies", and focus on the Ethobops. They have more obvious roots in the country's musical traditions, and they're all interesting, and often quite good.

Here's the Eurovangelists' (Eurovision podcast) ethnobops playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2XgmR5xfepPxChKq6H5xYL

From that playlist, I recommend in particular:

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I still disagree. If you skip pop girlies you're skipping most of it. Yes, the rest can sometimes be interesting but it's still bland version of what each country has to offer. Blanca Paloma is ok but check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayrDdxs48wQ&list=PL0VTLQWtqr3_4bYYgDK7cii6ixuzJVGNy&index=1 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtFRcJpzEwA&list=RDOtFRcJpzEwA&start_radio=1

From Ukraine for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsNKSbTNd5I&list=RDhsNKSbTNd5I&start_radio=1 is so much more interesting. I think it was different 20-30 years ago but countries no longer send their best to Eurovision.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

RozalΓ©n sounds cool, thanks for the tip. She has apparently indicated she'd be interested in participating in Eurovision, RTVE, the national broadcaster, usually does an internal selection (as opposed to a public competition), so there aren't many Spanish artists who have had the opportunity to go to ESC if they wanted to.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

As far as I know Spain now selects artist from one of TV talent shows like Idol or The Voice. They used to let people vote but this happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfeCIvOxXBo After that the artist is selected by some jury. Established artists like Rosalen don't go to Eurovision since many years.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Their history with selection processes is fun reading for an ESC head.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest#Selection_process

Baila el Chiki Chiki got 16th out of 25, which isn't terrible. It's a joke song, and there's a long history of them at Eurovision. They occasionally do well, though not usually.

2022 - Norway - Subwolfer - Give that Wolf a Banana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_AvUlCQ_Cc comes to mind.

Did last year's swedish song count as a joke song? It's not very serious but it came in 4th. Third was very much a joke song, by an apparently well known Estonian artist Tommy Cash.

2025 - Sweden - KAJ - Bada Bada Bastu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK3HOMhAeQY

2025 - Estonia - Tommy Cash - Espresso Macchiato https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MS_Fczs_98

I dunno if we can make too many definitive statements. There are some biggish artists, some new ones without a single released song. Some dumb songs do well, some great songs do poorly.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I watched the entire final once and most of it was very forgettable. I like Iceland's entry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMhu-PrLME but I don't remember anything else.

Oh, I just remembered two of my favorite Spanish music videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76yRU9y32I&list=RDn76yRU9y32I&start_radio=1 - this is from a TV show where they travel around Spain, visit different cities and record songs with local artists. Everything about it great, the artists, the places, the versions of the songs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW6L_lTrIFg&list=RDSW6L_lTrIFg&start_radio=1 - one of the best NPR tiny desk concerts ever

If you liked Rosalen you should like those.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 hours ago

I'll check these out, thanks for the recommendations!

[–] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 6 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

Better yet, learn another language. I'm sad for all the people that won't ever be able to experience some of the french-canadian culture. So many great books, songs, movies that people who don't speak french will never know.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Of all languages, French? German's where it's at.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 5 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

I got quite into foreign rap for a while. I love the sound but have grown up enough to see what pricks actual rappers are. They're either full criminal scum who need to be locked away, or they're man-children desperately trying to act hard.

Foreign rappers though? They could be singing about nipping off to the shops to buy a pint of milk for their nan, I have no idea.

[–] synapse1278@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

Here goes my recommendation of the day: Vald - Bonjour | YouTube.com

[–] Ephemeral@feddit.org 2 points 10 hours ago

You didn't ask for it but I'll give you 3 recs from Belgium. The first is Yong Yello and probably made me realize that cohesive concept albums are a thing. Themes are alcoholism, cheating but not in a cool way, relationships and workaholism. He started out as a producer and you'll hear that in his melodic music.

Brihang, on the other hand, raps in West Flemish, a Belgian dialect, and has a more poetic style.

And if you want a hiphop artist to bop your head to you should probably look into Zwangere Guy. He is from Brussels and raps mostly in Dutch but combines it with French.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

KPop Demon Hunters converted a lot of people, but I was listening to BTS and Blackpink before, and K/DA before them (an earlier cartoon K-pop group, associated with Riot Games, makers of League of Legends, though I've never played League, just enjoyed the music, and the anime series Arcane), and before that, Psy with Gangnam Style.

A lot of K-pop has English lyrics. Some more than others. It's a joy to listen to regardless.

I listen to a bunch of Japanese rock and I love the sounds of the words. If you think about rap, the hardest thing is finding words to rhyme. But, Japanese is a syllable-based language and most of their syllables are "open" (end in a vowel), so this makes Japanese rap really interesting. At the forefront of it, IMO, is Creepy Nuts, whose DJ played the Olympics when they were in Tokyo, and their MC won a bunch of rap battles. (With AirPods and the Android equivalent talking about real-time translation, I'd love to see this guy battle Eminem.) The fun doesn't stop there. Their song Yofukashino Uta inspired a manga, which got adapted into an anime, which featured a couple guys hitting on and being rejected by the main girl. These guys were based on, and in the Japanese dub, voiced by the Creepy Nuts guys. The song itself is absolutely wild, and if you look it up on YouTube and turn on the captions, you can see what they're saying, as it has an official translation. Song title translates to "Stayin' Up Lullaby" and the anime/manga is called "Call of the Night" internationally (both kinda mean the same thing).

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[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 7 points 16 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 9 points 17 hours ago (5 children)
[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 17 hours ago (4 children)

False; Together Forever is the superior Rick Astley song. I say this as someone who unironically likes both songs and has since they were new, long before that one was a meme.

(Everyone knows what dQw4 means these days. You ain't foolin' anybody.)

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[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago

I have to admit a song is popular when I recognize the v= code. It certainly does get a ton of listens, year after year.

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[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago

Of course not. Now sit down and listen to the middle eastern pop

[–] Cloaca@mtgzone.com 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

If anyone is looking for a recommendation Fela Kuti's song Water No Get Enemy is a certified banger.

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Zombie oh Zombie!

Holy shit is Fela Kuti fucking awesome.

[–] Cloaca@mtgzone.com 2 points 6 hours ago

Always happy to see another fan!

[–] Cassa@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

if anybody wants to try something without an introduction

Try Dar disku self-titled album it's been on repeat for me for a while

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