share jo favorite songs and albums from throughout the world! I want to listen to what all countries got to offer.

rule of the thread is to not recommend anything from the USA, since its already such a cultural behemoth

i would also appreciate if you showed the genre and translated the song/album title for the sake of a botbrs curiosity :-D

-

i go first with four rly cool albums from my country

Manual Prático para Festas, Bailes e Afins
(Practical Guide to Parties, Balls and Related)
Ed Motta - Disco, Jazz

Lilás
(Lilac)
Djavan - Disco, New Wave

Tribalistas
(Tribalists)
Tribalistas - Tropicalia

O Ritmo do Momento
(The Rhythm of the Moment)
Lulu Santos - Rock

i cld share half of all of the albums i own here, but i guess the most obvious to share in my case are seeed.

especially the three first albums:

new dubby conquerors
music monks
next!
(Reggae/Dancehall)

they do german/english mixed lyrics - there are full english/international versions of their albums so make sure to pick the original ones, because otherwise its boring

I'm french, i supposed to listen to french-language tracks but i did and i found my favorites :

- Vincent Lagaf' - Bo le lavabo (WC Kiss) [a french funny song, but cringe] [Eurodance/House]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKSk-3yiVx0

- Despo Rutti - Arrêtez [one of my favorite French hip-hop track] [Hip-hop]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h6IeZSYypA

- Eddy Mithcell - Sous la route de Memphis [a French cover of a country song, i liked it] [Country rock]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-W4VgQtLNA

- Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygène IV [one of the pionner songs of electronic music] [Ambient]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58EOZgfmq6w

- Johnny Hallyday - Hey Joe ! [Johnny is one of the legendary French singer, he covered a rock song from Jimi Hendrix] [Rock]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYGiSK14TXM

i have others French tracks to present you but i need to take a time and focus

Holy shit! Vincent Lagaf'!?!? FIRST RECOMMENDATION HAVE YOU STOPPED YOUR MEDICATION OR WHAT?

I'd just like to stress that nations and music are not much related. Borders are arbitrary lines that serve geopolitical purposes and music is way beyond such nonsense. Celtic music for instance can be found in many nations, and most nations have a diversity of musical cultures. If we drew borders according to cultures rather than political influence, we'd end up with a map that only has natural borders, if any ;)

With that out of the way, my somehow French recommendations:

Gaël Horellou (Jazz) - Pour la Terre: obviously based on Giant Steps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKyUAnvYie4

Roland Dyens (Classical guitar) - Libra sonatina: fuoco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO9AhMqXs_s

Georges Brassens (French song) - Au bois de mon coeur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jopKPQSoRo0

Suprême NTM (Rap) - Ma Benz: most iconic French rap instru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4uOM7s38XA

La maison Tellier - Second souffle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DFkG82lKSQ

Boris - Flood

A Japanese Experimental Progressive Doom Noise Ambient Post Metal Minimalism Concept Album.

excuse me @YQN, i didn't pay attention :(

i did though

A few Indonesian songs I like:

• CJR (Coboy Junior) - Terhebat (The Greatest)
• CJR - Demam Unyu-Unyu (Cute Fever)
• CJR - Eeaaa *
• Citra Scholastika - Everybody Knew *
• Supergirlies - Aw Aw Aw
- Also its pop punk cover by Semut Merah
• Juicy Luicy ft. Adrian Khalif - Sialan (Damn It)
- To search this song, you need to search "Sial," as of "Sialan" is a vulgar word.
• Weird Genius - WKWK Land *

^{* has English in the chorus ^^}

Not sure it counts; these songs were in English but sung by an Indonesian singer:
• NIKI - High School in Jakarta
• NIKI - Every Summertime
• Stephanie Poetri - I Love You 3000
• Pamungkas - To The Bone

in addition to english music, personally banning myself from linking japanese music here as well

my selections (some from a youtube playlist i made a long time ago called "music i can't search for because i don't know the language")
russia
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FurefLDIas0
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6J253b9r8I
korea
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsRKHZkAbKY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZJ1hnLdyM0
mongolia
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2NUnbQl8XM
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-lwv1L-GoM
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIZbywdU-RU
germany
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BrfbXFBlRU
china. i have a lot of passive exposure to chinese vocaloid but i never bothered to ever actually look into specific songs so here's a random playlist
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_vdmUqgn18UDnAOkx3Bu4w8kkz9ewiGv
france. saw this guy live when he did a tour in atlanta in 2021. had a WILD night.............
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa35jTdSbAM

a bit of my favourite band:
Smak - Daire

if you want a proper GROOVE go here
Smak - Zajdi Zajdi

very touching. strong rec. it's a cover of a Macedonian folk song
Smak - Zasto ne volim sneg

the best song from the best album ever
Smak - Ponocni lovac (Biska 18)

Smak - Maht tema

my favourite jazz fusion song that I know.
Smak - Maht pustinja

listen to this one at 2am for a proper experience.

now that we got that out of the way.
Macha Gharibian - Saskatchewan

Eastern Europe meets jazz
Macha Gharibian - Marmashen

more Macha is never bad
Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan

this one's a classic, you probably know this one
Ekathe - Niños Galaxy

Argentinian jazz fusion
The Koxx - A Fool Moon Night

Korean
Rambo Amadeus - Mango Chutney Jungle

the weirdest Serbian music I've heard in a while
Luiz Bonfa - Enchanted Mirror

classical, brazillian, impressionist. wonderful!
One Shot Lili - Breathe

found this one on a random open dir
MAZCA - Glu

Italian post-rock instrumental

The album Modern Thrills

by Tesla Boy was described at the time as "the best thing to come out of Russia since Tetris?".

I have to thank Mk7 for sharing with me, what is now a personal favourite album of mine:
Warmth of Earth by Edward Artmiev, also coincidentally from a Russian songwriter. Absolutely love the whole thing, but tracks 2, 4 and the finale are personal favs.

Kent - Vapen & Ammunition (from Sweden, could be translated as Weapons and Ammunition)

Casiokids - Topp Stemning På Lokal Bar (from Norway, could be translated as Good Vibes at the Local Bar)

Omar Souleyman - Leh Jani

Legendary Syrian singer, with an electronic style that draws from Middle Eastern musics. He's great, supremely charismatic live performer.

@OminPigeonMaster: wow, the guitar parts in that album are great!

@RevvoBolt: got grunge vibes from the first track of Kent's, but the whole thing feels a bit eclectic overall.

@Mibri: the phaser effect in that song is so cool.

I have some Tangerine Dream albums I got in a box set a while back
Ricochet

, Rubycon

, Phaedra

(Ambient electronica/krautrock, German, instrumental)

...and a bossa nova cover album titled--well, Bossa Nova--by... (checks notes) Ana Caram that's really well-done:
Bossa Nova

(bossa nova, Brazilian, Spanish-language)

I also own Ravi Shankar's "Sounds of India" on CD. Very neat album with a spoken-word intro to some songs explaining the music's structure.
Sounds of India

(Indian folk music, India, commentary in English)

Obviously you don't need to own music to recommend it, but whatever

I've been a lot into j-jazz lately, but one band that really impressed me is Dezolve. They're like Casiopea on steroids.

I've been hearing their music for about a year, but this album

showed me that they have 10 years rolling around in the business.

mah playlist is a total mess, i'll share some hidden pearls

No Guerra - Some Hardcore Metal from Argentina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBHGap0DxrY

Rytmihäiriö - That comes from Finland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUNBWn3iD9I

Everybody's Enemy - a French title song, with a Spanish album name, with an English band name, from Japan with love. "Tes yeux noirs" = "Your black eyes".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tB_FOC8rHM

Babylon Pression - Some love from mah country. The title says "Alone amongst the others".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYcdGwvXYDQ

Pestpocken - Some punk from Germany
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YMWlYB_7Cc

Ska-P - Okay, this Spanish band is well-known but my punk catboy persona comes from this song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHf4nlWX-Zk

Siberian Meat Grinder - Some Hardcore from Russia. Think Biohazard making a child with Municipal Waste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aufciXLAElM

Desarme - A full album from Metal from Chile. I got this as a gift from a French underground distro and I loved it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRCtrwPzoyI

5MDR - Same as above but from Italy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEGLBWGWNx0

t+pazolite - This hardcore techno from Japan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJdO4Wmuf0E

Violator - Some revival Thrash from Brazil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGZ2iM7T4dw

Poesie Zero - Love from mah country (again!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Tm4hW31Jw

Let's end this playlist with some Chinese Punk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRcfF58-h_0

Okay, enjoy!