A World of Music

About a year ago I was on YouTube watching various videos when I ended up watch a Russian music video. Before I knew it I was hooked. I also found a great online store here in the US to buy the Russian CDs from and bought a boatload of CDs (much to the consternation of my daughters).

From those I then discovered Eurovision, the European song contest. Even more incredible songs. (If you're in a hurry for music, click here for my YouTube playlists of Russian songs, Eurovision 2004, 2005, 2006, & 2007.)

Here in America it seems like we have 4 or 5 genre's of music (rock, rap, country, ???) where everyone likes one of those genres and in that genre wants to listen to maybe 10 different artists. And for many, especially teens, they limit themselves to just 1 or 2 artists.

There is a world of additional music out there, in America and in the rest of the world. The range and level of talent throughout is amazing. And language is not a barrier - I don't speak a word of Russian yet find the songs incredible and in some of the videos I can even figure out the story (music videos are not big on subtlety - here in America or elsewhere). And about 40% of the Eurovision song's are in English.

Latest News:

I discovered a new Russian pop group - Gruppa Koroleva. Definitely worth looking at.

Russia should have their 25 finalists for ESC 2008 soon. Details here once I find it.

On to the Music

The one large problem is - where can you buy the music. Apparently Apple (ie the iTunes store) has determined that the only music anyone wants is from groups in America and England. I have not found anyplace that sells down-loadable music from anywhere else. (And British music is no big treat - the Eastern bloc tends to rule in European music.)

So here are the places I have found. Please post a comment below if you know of others:

country	download	CDs	my favs
Eurovision	Eurovision Shop	{none}	{coming soon}
Greece	{none}	www.greekshops.com	music videos
Israel	{none}	{none}	music videos
Russia	{none}	www.russiandvd.com	music videos
Slovenia	{none}	www.mimovrste.com	music videos

There are so many songs that would be a great introduction to all of this music. But showing everything is showing nothing because someone new to this music is not going to watch 40 videos to see if they like something. So here are 5 videos to give you a good sampling.

This is the Slovenian finalist in Eurovision 2006. I think it's the best song of that year. And look at Anžej Dežan's face at the end - he's trying to hold it in but he has this giant smile knowing he nailed it in the biggest performance of his life in front of all of Europe.

I've got to have a Russian clip here both because their breadth of music is amazing (I think the best in all of Europe) and this is what got me started on all of this. This group is ВИА Гра (Via Gra) and they are sort-of the Destiny's Child of Russia - the members of the group change over time but the assembled talent is incredible.

Now we travel down to warm and sunny Greece. As with Slovenia and Russia there were several incredible groups to choose from in Greece. I like this one from Sarbel because the video makes you smile - it's a celebration.

I always figured that Country Music was God's way of proving some people have no musical taste. But I have to admit that this one is good. And it's also a good example of the breadth of styles available in the rest of the world. Keep in mind this is a German group - Texas Lighting.

And finally, we have an example of one of the things that makes the Eurovision so special. This is Anjeza Shahini who is the Albanian entry. It's one of the poorest countries in Europe and her outfit, her dancers, all of that is no where close to what you find not only in Western Europe but even in Russia where it is a much larger market. But then she starts to sing and it's incredible...

So expand your horizons a little. Take a hour or so and watch the videos. You might find yourself getting hooked.