Music in languages you don't understand

I've never really tried this but Qobuz's algorithms suggested Yelle's L'ère du Verseau and I liked it a lot. You can feel a singer's emotions through voice so it does make some level of sense.

Does anyone else make a practice of doing this and does anyone have any suggestions? Assume that for most of this forum will have the largest overlap with anything in something other than English.

I'm sure there is so much good music I'm missing out on restricting myself to music in English.

 

Hahaha, that used to be English for me . Had no clue most pop music are love songs!

 

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

 

Tinariwen.
I found these guys chasing down music that Warren Ellis has been involved in. He guested on a track on one of their albums. Tinariwen sounds like "roaming the desert for 40 years" music. I have no idea what they're saying, but reading lyrics from a CD booklet and the lyrics match the general pain in this dude's voice. And this band is legit for real wandering the desert type people.


I was at the record store today picking up something else and happened to pick up a CD copy of their album Tassili. I read through the booklet while listening. The album was recorded outdoors in the desert in South Algeria. The sound quality is impeccable but the music screams desert nomad or refugee. Highly recommend.

Oh, while they were recording the album it rained for the first time in five years in that part of the desert, and they put the sound of the rain at the end of one of the tracks. Wild.

 

I like how some Japanese hip hop sounds, and find the Language section of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_hip_hop fascinating.

Suggested:

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/JfRLXYrr3XZNixVe6

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/wWUM96UYanfP9tXUA

 

All the Carnatic (South-Indian Classical) concerts I go out to, some weeks most nights.

Languages: Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam, plus some more.

My understanding: zero.

Most of it is devotional, and I am not into gods: sometimes I wonder if I would enjoy it less if I did understand it! And, gods or no gods, I certainly find it spiritually uplifting, and on occasion, even soul-touching.

I'm guessing that many Western-classical-music opera lovers do not understand German, Italian, etc? I know I never much liked opera, but it wasn't being a linguistic dumbo that put me off: it is that kind of trained voice I don't like.

 

Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead, Israeli singer/composer Shye Ben Tzur and folk artists from north western India called Rajasthan express collaborated on an album called Junun. Has songs in Hebrew, hindi, urdu with sufi influences. Pretty unique and I love some of the tracks

 

I don’t speak Spanish, though many do. Buena Vista Social Club is my all time favorite foreign language album. Absolutely worth a shot if you’re not familiar with it.

 

I sadly do no have recommendations in the same genre, but I do enjoy a number of extreme metal bands who sing in non-English languages. The voice, even in English, is so distorted that it generally serves as another instrument rather than traditional “lead” vocals.