[xnothingpoetic]

There is something special about listening to an album in a language you don’t understand. "Truth is, I don't want to know. . . Some things are best left unsaid. I like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it."- Morgan Freeman, Shawshank Redemption.

Please use this thread to recommend some of your favorite albums which are sung in a language other than English (at least for the most part). That is the only rule. Also, please give us some information on the album/artist- like genre and language, and maybe why you choose it.

 

[acidbasement]

Finntroll - Ur Jordens Djup
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Vocals are growled out in Swedish. Humppa (Finnish traditional music similar to polka) and brutal metal mixture that sounds evil as hell and really happy about it. I think it's what Gargamel would listen to while eating smurfs.

 

[Brian loves music]

sigur ros - takk or med sud

 

[YiddishHamburgla]

serge gainsbourg-la histoire de melody nelson. in my opinion this is his best work. he is considered to be the french bob dylan as far as songwriting goes and this is somewhat of a disturbing and tragic concept album. the album is about an underage girl that is riding a bike when he hits her in his rolls royce. he then seduces and falls in love with the girl. in the end her plane crashes and and she dies and he curses the gods that took his melody away. the instrumententatin on this album is far ahead of its time. it is a very raw and sexy album. the album came out in 1971. when beck put out "seachange" he sampled quite a bit of this album in some of his songs.

you might also want to check out some os mutantes albums. tropicalia music in general is a beautiful thing. soul jazz records presents "tropicalia: a brazilian revolution in sound" is great place to start on the genre. huge bang for your buck on that compilation.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Does Stereolab count? How about Bob Dylan?

I do love them. Also love Dungen, Ali Farka Toure and Charles Aznavour. Good stuff and each highly recommended for something a little out of the ordinary.

 

[tiantan]

"World Music" Recommendation Thread

 

[Ninja13ear]

takk-sigur ross

 

[aaron313]

Ta Det Lugnt -Dungen; Swedish classic rock revival. Apparently the lyrics are mostly simplistic, but they sound cool to a non-Swede. The music is flat out genius stuff.

Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros; Of course, they're Icelandic, and on this album they speak their native tough. But the meaning of the words is irrelevant anyway; it's all about atmosphere here.

 

[WorldsEndWombat]

language is not a barrier in music. there are 'best music' all around the world, but if we try to define 'best non-English music', are we too Anglo-centric?

 

[Maxvla]

its not necessarily a barrier, but I know exactly what the OP is getting at, at least I think I do...

I absolutely love good foreign music because the biggest DISTRACTION I find myself dealing with in most music is the involuntary comprehension of the english language. I come from the background of playing the viola in an orchestra and being forced to understand english severely detracts (in most cases) from my ability to focus purely on the sonic qualities of the voices.

Of all things musical the most beautiful is the human voice. I want to hear it naked without the added effort of understandable lyrics. Call me crazy, but I could be listening to some teenybopper song in japanese or russian but if I enjoy the song and the quality (or character!) of the singer's voice the song is perfect for me regardless of the 'content'.

 

[arteom]

I am Armenian, this is some music I think most anyone could enjoy.

If you like vocals try: Zulal - Notes to a Crane

Without vocals, try: Erkan Ogur & Djivan Gasparyan - Fuad

 

[spookygonk]

Rammstein - Mutter (or is that a bit too commercial for this thread).

 

[krmathis]

Probably this one...
Kari Bremnes - "Gåte ved Gåte"

 

[leveller1642]

[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Quote:

Originally Posted by YiddishHamburgla /img/forum/go_quote.gif serge gainsbourg-la histoire de melody nelson. in my opinion this is his best work. he is considered to be the french bob dylan as far as songwriting goes and this is somewhat of a disturbing and tragic concept album............

Serge was way out there. Check out Lemon Incest (aka Charlotte for Ever) which was on his daughter's Charlotte's 1st album made in 1986, when she was 15. Charlotte's 2nd album, 5.55, released in 2006?, was sung in English.

Also check out french singer, Camille's 3 albums (as well as Nouvelle Vague- before she went solo) and Francoiz Breut's "Une Saison Volee"

+ YouTube Video​

ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.

 

[jonathanjong]

Does Mozart's Requiem count?