Around The World In 80 Or So Days

[Hayden]

Bombs 1 by Nok From The Future

From: DJIBOUTI
Hip-hop EP from 2016, not bad, def some potential. Fresh, unique, just needs a bit of grooming and a couple tweaks with delivery and vocal production… and maybe lyrics… there’s also this strange pop-punk Blink-182-esque influence in the delivery that I didn’t really dig, but once it’s gone it’s fine.


The City by 四千九十七

From: NAURU
Drone/ambient/pointless? Listened to about two minutes out of 55… it’s the same tone for the entire thing. This was a flop, and usually I'd pick something else from the country, but it's all I could find… ah well, ticks it off the checklist. Nauru only has a population of about 13,000.


Kenza by Khaled

From: ALGERIA


Tropic Of Cancel by OOHS!

From: VANUATU

Pleasant, relaxing psych-rock/pop. Chill stuff, summery, light, overall quite good. Think Tame Impala/Animal Collective but on a beach. It's not a very long album, clocking in at around 30-min, streaming on Bandcamp. I'd give it a rec.


Maqamat Zíryáb: Desde El Eúfrates Al...eer Shamma

From: IRAQ

Oud (les of fun!). When diving into Iraq, I figured nobody else would fit the bill other than Naseer Shamma... just took me forever to find an album by him. He's their Django, their Shankar, their Ali Farka Toure, along those lines. Oud, solo (think Hamza El Din, who was quite close to being my Egypt entry, and someone I rec).

[Hayden]

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Na Cambança by Super Mama Djombo

From: GUINEA-BISSAU

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Xmetov by Bez Ladu A Skladu

From: SLOVAKIA

Slavic post-punk, excellent stuff. Brilliant basslines, harsh saxophone accents, funky grooves, gets you pumped up, driving music, dance music, etc… Some great versatility and musicianship between tracks. Wish I knew what they were saying though. If this were released by a British group around the same time, it’d be a classic. Sooooommmewhat similar to Wire.

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Black by Nino Katamadze & Insight

From: GEORGIA

Jazz-ish… well, it’s labeled as jazz, but it’s mostly on the rock side of things. Despite some great musicianship, I couldn’t quite get into it. Bit scattered, bit uninspired, not really sure what didn’t click. Might be for someone out there though. She has a handful of albums named after colours.

Learning From Falling by Lamya

From: OMAN (based UK/Cairo, born Kenya)

A 2002 release, it's a few years ahead of its time. Sounds like the stuff some people are trying to make nowadays (think Solange/SZA/Nao), especially Black Mona Lisa. Fresh R&B with heavy rock/pop elements and a smidge of trip-hop and middle eastern influence. Closes out with a decent cover of Nick Drakes Pink Moon. This was Lamya's only album before dying, but apparently something she was working on might be released in the future.

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Die Æsthetik Der Herrschaftsfreiheit by Rome

From: LUXEMBOURG

(Herrschaftsfreiheit = freedom from domination). Despite their name, this is a band from Luxembourg. Snug on the edge within RYM’s top 100 of the 2010’s, it’s a massive album, 3 discs (each about 50 minutes) and I’ve had to give each a listen over the course of a few weeks. It ranges in genre (heavy rock/industrial/ambient/poetry/folk/post-punk), Swans-esque in a sense, but German (and perhaps not as well-rounded). It’s truly a huge pile of mishmushed everything, stretching (3?) languages and probably 5 genres. Epic folk tracks were definitely my favourite of the album, and I’d gladly cut the record down to strictly those and enjoy that as an album quite a bit. Glad I gave it a listen, but I highly doubt I’ll revisit the album in its entirety ever again.

[Hayden]

*takes in deep breath*







...




...



and that's a wrap

200 countries, listened. Some were a struggle, some were a breeze. Picked up some new favs and landed on a handful of duds, but it's all good. That's what this was about. There's a few country that were scrapped (mainly tiny islands, or countries with absolutely no discernible music output), but I'm extremely happy with the amount I was able to cover. My original goal had a list of 190, so it's above expectations. I'm happy with what I've learned, a bit of old, a bit of new, and always hope to continue exploring what innovative music is out there. I was only half-confident that I'd be able to finish this project, but I'm glad it turned out for the best. Thanks to all of those who shelled out recs, they were always appreciated. Three charts listing all the albums in this project are available in the original post.

I might keep this thread open and occasionally post new or interesting finds from around the world, surely my new focus will be 2018, so hopefully that'll give people a few recs. Hoping people enjoyed the project, it's been a blast.

[Hayden]

I'll be undertaking this challenge again

I've thought about doing another round for a while now, and figure now might as well be the time. Looking forward to it. There'll be a bit of old and a bit of new, but every country will be revisited at some point for something or other.

[RoundTheBend]

I remember this thread - pretty awesome one and a welcome return.

[LedZep]

I had an idea to do a similar thing a few months ago, but forgot about it in the meantime. Thought I was very original Anyways I'd love to rec some regional stuff, if you haven't already picked albums from Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, etc. And maybe some others too. This thread should be a lot of fun.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[Hayden]

[LedZep]

[StefanR10]

For Germany i would recommend Kraftwerk - Radioaktivität

[Hayden]