Europe on Music Theory Print

2-step garage

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

A typical 2-step drum pattern features syncopated kick drums that skip a beat, with shuffled rhythm or triplets applied to other elements of the percussion, resulting in a sound noticeably distinct to those present in other house or techno music. Although rhythms with two kicks to a bar may be considered less energetic than the four on the floor pattern, 2-step rhythms maintain the listener’s interest with off-beat snare placements and accents in the drumlines, scattered rimshots and woodblocks, syncopated basslines, and the percussive use of other instruments such as pads or strings. Instrumentation usually includes keyboards, synthesizers, and drum machines. Other instruments are added to expand the musical palette, often in the form of acoustic recordings, which may be sampled. The primary synth basslines used in 2-step are similar to those in the style’s progenitors such as UK garage, drum and bass, and jungle. Influences from funk and soul can also be heard. Vocals in 2-step garage are usually female (similar in style to those prevalent in house music and contemporary R&B), although male vocals in 2-step became just as prevalent. Some 2-step producers also process and cut up elements of a cappella vocals and use it as an element of the track. Much like other genres derived from UK garage, MCs are often featured, particularly in a live context, with a vocal style reminiscent of old school jungle.

Acid house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Acid house’s minimalist sound combined house music’s ubiquitous programmed four-on-the-floor 4/4 beat with the electronic squelch sound produced by the Roland TB-303 electronic synthesizer-sequencer. The sound is commonly produced by raising the filter resonance and lowering the cutoff frequency of the synthesizer, along with programming the 303’s accent, slide, and octave parameters, to create variation in otherwise simple bass patterns. “Exploration of texture” is preferred over melody; “a refusal of the metaphysical priorities of western music discourse”. Other elements, such as synthetic strings and stabs, were usually minimal. Sometimes tracks were instrumentals, such as Phuture’s “Acid Tracks”, or contained full vocal performances, such as DJ Pierre’s Pfantasy Club’s “Fantasy Girl”, while others were essentially instrumentals complemented by the odd spoken word “drop-in”, such as Phuture’s “Slam”.

Acid jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The genre’s name was likely coined by Gilles Peterson, and the record label with the name was started by Chris Bangs, Eddie Piller, and Gilles. However, acid jazz is not an electronic music genre and has no relationship with the music genres named “acid” (acid house, acid trance, acid techno, etc.), which are heavily based on the “acid-like” sound, produced by the Roland TB-303 electronic music synthesizer. DJs Femi Williams and Marco Nelson from Young Disciples claimed in a recently unearthed 1992 TV interview that they coined the term because they had a club with acid playing downstairs and jazz upstairs, so they thought it would be amusing to name the upstairs room “The Acid Jazz Room”. The veracity of this claim predating Peterson’s is dubious, as the interview in question took place five years after the Acid Jazz label was created, and Young Disciples were first active three years after the formation of the label.

Afro/cosmic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Descriptions#

The Afro/cosmic mixing style is freeform in that it allows for short hip-hop style transforms as well as long, beat-matched segues; it sometimes incorporates added percussion and effects; and it permits major speed variations to force songs into a 90–110 BPM range. Baldelli would also play 45 RPM records at 33 and vice versa. The cosmic sound included a very diverse range of musical styles, from electro and funk to jazz fusion and Brazilian music. Peter Shapiro described Baldelli’s music as a “combination of spaced-out rock and tribal percussion.” One genre that was usually not part of this mix was Italo disco, which Baldelli believes was generally too mainstream and commercial. In a 2005 feature on Daniele Baldelli, one of the style’s founding DJs, music journalist Daniel Wang describes Baldelli’s style as “psychedelic, churning, hypnotic.” In the interview, Baldelli emphasizes playing diverse selections of classical, African and Brazilian folk, and synth-pop at improper speeds, mixed with effects and drum machines: Cosmic music has been cited as a “touchstone” for contemporary “space disco” artists like Lindstrøm collaborator Prins Thomas and Andy Meecham of Chicken Lips. It has also been cited as an influence on some later Italian house songs, such as Sueño Latino.

Afroswing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Afroswing is largely defined by its melody rather than a specific tempo. Martin Connor, an expert in vocal melodies and rap analysis, described the characteristics of the genre as being " … technically in , what you will hear over and over again is this recurring pattern made up of three notes that are still repeated in the framework of a time signature … You can hear the inspirations of Jamaican music in the rhythm except Jamaican music doesn’t have a bass kick and the snare – that’s hip hop, that’s traditional rap. So this is that translation of cultures happening subtly in the instrumentation. Yet it still has a hip hop sensibility in terms of lyrical focus and music videos: cars, money, authenticity, hardness".

Albanian iso-polyphony

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Geographic distribution#

The Albanian polyphonic traditional music is performed in two dialects of Albanian: Tosk and Lab. The Tosk musical dialect comprises the Albanian ethnographic regions of Toskëria, Myzeqeja, and Chamëria, while the Lab musical dialect comprises Labëria.

Origin#

Albanian Iso-Polyphony is considered to have its roots in the many-voiced vajtim, the southern Albanian traditional lamentation of the dead. Many scholars who have studied the Albanian iso-polyphony and in general the polyphonic music of the Balkans consider it an old tradition that dates back to the Thraco-Illyrian era. There is a lack of historical documentation of the Albanian polyphonic traditional music. However, since it is considered the product of oral transmission down many generations, scholars came to their conclusions by analyzing this musical tradition that continues to be performed in modern days. There are found many specific features of the Albanian polyphonic tradition that indicate its ancient origin: the pentatonic modal/tonal structure, which is widely thought by scholars to represent an early beginning to the musical culture of a people; the presence of recitative vocals, because when the melody of the vocals is not developed, the tradition is thought to be in a more primitive phase; the presence of calls and shouts, which indicates a primitive phase of development in the musical culture of a people; the a cappella singing style, which suggests an old age of a musical tradition since it lacks of instrumental accompaniment. Although the region was under the dominion of the Byzantine Empire for many centuries, the Balkan polyphonic traditional music had a different development than medieval Byzantine music. The Balkan tradition was non-institutionalized and has been continually collectively formed, while the Byzantine music was created by individual composers and was institutionalized. The Balkan tradition has been transmitted orally down the generations, and its performers were common people musically illiterate, while the Byzantine music was widely documented, and has been performed by professionals who were trained and educated. The two musical traditions lived side by side for centuries, therefore they would have had a mutual influence on each other. However, it is thought that the interaction between the Albanian polyphonic traditional music and the Byzantine music has been relatively small.

Alpine folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bibliography#

Marcello Sorce Keller, Tradizione orale e tradizione corale: ricerca musicologica in Trentino, Bologna, Forni Editore, 1991.
Marcello Sorce Keller, “Gebiete, Schichten und Klanglandschaften in den Alpen. Zum Gebrauch einiger historischer Begriffe aus der Musikethnologie”, in T. Nussbaumer (ed.), Volksmusik in den Alpen: Interkulturelle Horizonte und Crossovers, Zalzburg, Verlag Mueller-Speiser, 2006.
Marcello Sorce Keller, “Costantino Nigra und die Balladen-Forschung. Betrachtungen über die Beziehung zwischen Nord-Italien, Frankreich und der Suisse Romande”. Bulletin. Gesellschaft für die Volksmusik in der Schweiz, X(2011), 33-40.

External links#

Volksmusiknet, all about Swiss Volksmusik with 24/7 Nonstop Music-Radio and CD Novelties

Alternative dance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

AllMusic states that alternative dance mixes the “melodic song structure of alternative and indie rock with electronic beats, synths and/or samples, and club orientation of post-disco dance music”. The genre draws heavily on club culture for inspiration while incorporating other styles of music such as electropop, house, and EBM. The performers of alternative dance are closely identified with their music through a signature style, texture, or fusion of specific musical elements. They are usually signed to small record labels.

Alternative rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Record companies usually sign contracts with those entertainers who are thought to become the most popular and generate the most sales. In the past, these bands were able to record their songs in expensive studios, and their works were then offered for sale through record store chains that were owned by the entertainment corporations, along with eventually selling the merchandise into big box retailers. Record companies worked with radio and television companies to get the most exposure for their artists. The people making the decisions were business people dealing with music as a product, and those bands who were not making the expected sales figures were then excluded from this system. Before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sorts of music to which it refers were known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term alternative to describe the groups he was writing about. In 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled “Rock and Roll Alternative”. “College rock” was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture. According to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called “Alternative Charts”. The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980; it immediately succeeded in its aim to help these labels. At the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than simply distribution status. The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-1980s; at the time, a music industry term for cutting-edge music was new music. In 1987, Spin magazine categorized college rock band Camper Van Beethoven as “alternative/indie”, saying that their 1985 song “Where the Hell Is Bill” (from Telephone Free Landslide Victory) “called out the alternative/independent scene and dryly tore it apart.” David Lowery, then frontman of Camper Van Beethoven, later recalled: “I remember first seeing that word applied to us… The nearest I could figure is that we seemed like a punk band, but we were playing pop music, so they made up this word alternative for those of us who do that.” DJs and promoters during the 1980s claim the term originates from American FM radio of the 1970s, which served as a progressive alternative to top 40 radio formats by featuring longer songs and giving DJs more freedom in song selection. According to one former DJ and promoter, “Somehow this term ‘alternative’ got rediscovered and heisted by college radio people during the 80s who applied it to new post-punk, indie, or underground-whatever music.” At first the term referred to intentionally non-mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by “heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave” and “high-energy dance anthems”. Usage of the term would broaden to include new wave, pop, punk rock, post-punk, and occasionally “college”/“indie” rock, all found on the American “commercial alternative” radio stations of the time such as Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM. Journalist Jim Gerr wrote that alternative also encompassed variants such as “rap, trash, metal and industrial”. That summer, Farrell had coined the term Alternative Nation. In December 1991, Spin magazine noted: “this year, for the first time, it became resoundingly clear that what has formerly been considered alternative rock—a college-centered marketing group with fairly lucrative, if limited, potential—has in fact moved into the mainstream.” In the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. However alternative music has paradoxically become just as commercial and marketable as the mainstream rock, with record companies using the term “alternative” to market music to an audience that mainstream rock does not reach. Using a broad definition of the genre, Dave Thompson in his book Alternative Rock cites the formation of the Sex Pistols as well as the release of the albums Horses by Patti Smith and Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed as three key events that gave birth to alternative rock. Additionally, Rhys Wiliams of Loudersound observed, “musical genres collided more in the 90s than in any other decade, making ‘alternative’ rock ever harder to define.” Until the early 2000s, when indie rock became the most common term in the US to describe modern pop and rock, the terms “indie rock” and “alternative rock” were often used interchangeably; while there are aspects which both genres have in common, “indie rock” was regarded as a British-based term, unlike the more American “alternative rock”.

Amanes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term amanes derives from the interjection aman, an exclamation used in both Greek and Turkish expressing pain, sorrow, or supplication. The frequent occurrence of the word aman in the lyrics gave the genre its name.

Characteristics#

Amanes is typically: * Slow and mournful * Heavily melismatic (ornamented) * Based on makam (modal) structures * Non-metric or featuring free rhythm * Focused on themes of pain, exile, love, and nostalgia The genre is considered a vocal form of lament or spiritual improvisation, comparable to the Arabic mawwal and Turkish gazel.

Ambient house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Genre#

AllMusic describes “ambient house” as an “early categorical marker” for music “appropriating certain primary elements of acid house music – midtempo, four-on-the-floor beats; synth pads and strings; soaring vocal samples – used in a dreamier, more atmospheric fashion”. Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World noted common elements: repeated synthesizer arpeggios that are gradually modulated; reverbed snippets of dialogue from film, radio, or relaxation tapes; and samples of other musical works drifting in and out of the mix. and AllMusic acknowledges that the term “ambient house” is now rarely used, replaced by a morass of more specific genres and terms.

Ambient music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

As an early 20th-century French composer, Erik Satie used such Dadaist-inspired explorations to create an early form of ambient/background music that he labeled “furniture music” (Musique d’ameublement). This he described as being the sort of music that could be played during a dinner to create a background atmosphere for that activity, rather than serving as the focus of attention. In his own words, Satie sought to create “a music…which will be part of the noises of the environment, will take them into consideration. I think of it as melodious, softening the noises of the knives and forks at dinner, not dominating them, not imposing itself. It would fill up those heavy silences that sometime fall between friends dining together. It would spare them the trouble of paying attention to their own banal remarks. And at the same time it would neutralize the street noises which so indiscreetly enter into the play of conversation. To make such music would be to respond to a need.” In 1948, French composer & engineer, Pierre Schaeffer coined the term musique concrète. This experimental style of music used recordings of natural sounds that were then modified, manipulated or effected to create a composition. Schaeffer’s techniques of using tape loops and splicing are considered to be the precursor to modern day sampling. In 1952, John Cage released his famous three-movement composition 4'33 which is a performance of complete silence for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. The piece is intended to capture the ambient sounds of the venue/location of the performance and have that be the music played. Cage has been cited by seminal artists such as Brian Eno as influence.

Ambient techno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics and influences#

AllMusic states that ambient techno, building off the ambient house scene, blended the “soaring, layered, aquatic atmospheres of beatless and experimental ambient” with techno’s “well-produced, thin-sounding electronics.” Ambient techno artists returned to the instruments of the Detroit techno and Chicago house scenes, including analogue synthesizers, the Roland TB-303 bass machine, and the TR-909 drum machine. The Orb’s 1991 album Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld would inspire dub-influenced ambient techno.

Anarcho-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Forerunners#

During the 1960s to early 1970s, some artists who were later retroactively described as “proto-punk” became influenced by New Left or anarchist ideology, which included David Peel who was associated with the Yippie movement, alongside bands such as the MC5, the Fugs, the Edgar Broughton Band, Mick Farren’s the Deviants, Pink Fairies and Hawkwind. These bands set a precedent for mixing radical politics with rock music and established the idea of rock as an agent of social and political change in the public consciousness. Other influences include avant-garde art and political movements such as Fluxus, Dada, the Beat Generation, Youth International Party, England’s angry young men (such as Joe Orton), the surrealism-inspired Situationist International, the 1967 March on the Pentagon, the May 1968 uprising in Paris, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys has cited the Yippies as an influence on his activism and thinking.

Ars nova

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Versus#

Stylistically, the music of the differed from the preceding era in several ways. Developments in notation allowed notes to be written with greater rhythmic independence, shunning the limitations of the rhythmic modes which prevailed in the thirteenth century; secular music acquired much of the polyphonic sophistication previously found only in sacred music; and new techniques and forms, such as isorhythm and the isorhythmic motet, became prevalent. The overall aesthetic effect of these changes was to create music of greater expressiveness and variety than had been the case in the thirteenth century. Indeed, the sudden historical change which occurred, with its startling new degree of musical expressiveness, can be likened to the introduction of perspective in painting, and it is useful to consider that the changes to music in the period of the were contemporary with the great early Renaissance revolutions in painting and literature. The most famous practitioner of the new musical style was Guillaume de Machaut, who also had a distinguished career as a canon at Reims Cathedral and as a poet. The ars-nova style is evident in his considerable body of motets, lais, virelais, rondeaux and ballades. Towards the end of the fourteenth century, a new stylistic school of composers and poets centered in Avignon in southern France developed; the highly mannered style of this period is often called the , although some scholars have chosen to consider it a late development of the rather than separating it into a separate school. This strange but interesting repertory of music, limited in geographical distribution (southern France, Aragon and later Cyprus), and clearly intended for performance by specialists for an audience of connoisseurs, is like an “end note” to the entire Middle Ages.

Ars subtilior

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Overview and history#

Musically, the productions of the are highly refined, complex, and difficult to sing, and probably were produced, sung, and enjoyed by a small audience of specialists and connoisseurs. Musicologist Richard Hoppin suggests the superlative ars subtilissima, saying, “not until the twentieth century did music again reach the most subtle refinements and rhythmic complexities of the manneristic style.” compares avant-garde and modernist music of the 20th century’s “emphasis on generating music through technical experiment” to the precedent set by the movement’s “autonomous delight in extending the kingdom of sound.” He cites Baude Cordier’s perpetual canon Tout par compas (All by compass am I composed), notated on a circular staff. Albright contrasts this motivation with “expressive urgency” and “obedience to rules of craft” and, indeed, "" was coined by musicologist Ursula Günther in 1960 to avoid the negative connotations of the terms manneristic style and mannered notation. (Günther’s coinage was based on references in Tractatus de diversis figuris, attributed to Philippus de Caserta, to composers moving to a style “post modum subtiliorem comparantes” and developing an “artem magis subtiliter”.) One of the centers of activity of the style was Avignon at the end of their Papacy and during the subsequent Great Schism (1378–1417), the time during which the Western Church had a pope both in Rome and in Avignon. Avignon had developed into an active cultural center, and produced a significant surviving body of secular song in the late fourteenth century. The style spread into, or was simultaneously developed in northern Spain, Italy (especially Pavia) and as far east as Cyprus (which was a French cultural outpost at the time). French, Flemish, Spanish and Italian composers used the style.

Art pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Art pop draws on postmodernism’s breakdown of the high/low cultural boundary and explores concepts of artifice and commerce. The style emphasizes the manipulation of signs over personal expression, drawing on an aesthetic of the everyday and the disposable, in distinction to the Romantic and autonomous tradition embodied by art rock or progressive rock. Sociomusicologist Simon Frith has distinguished the appropriation of art into pop music as having a particular concern with style, gesture, and the ironic use of historical eras and genres. Central to particular purveyors of the style were notions of the self as a work of construction and artifice, The Independents Nick Coleman wrote: “Art-pop is partly about attitude and style; but it’s essentially about art. It is, if you like, a way of making pure formalism socially acceptable in a pop context.” Cultural theorist Mark Fisher wrote that the development of art pop evolved out of the triangulation of pop, art, and fashion. Robert Christgau wrote in The Village Voice in 1987 that art-pop results “when a fascination with craft spirals up and in until it turns into an aestheticist obsession.”

Art punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

On December 12, 1977, writer Stanley Mieses of Melody Maker used the term “art-punk” to describe the American band Devo. In 2004, music historian Ian Gittins noted that the term “art-punk” began to be used prominently by several music publications during the post-punk era primarily to describe artists deemed too sophisticated and out of step with punk’s dogma, though some critics used it as a pejorative. Gittins stated: In the rock music of the 1970s, the “art” descriptor was generally understood to mean either “aggressively avant-garde” or “pretentiously progressive”. Musicologists Simon Frith and Howard Horne described the band managers of the 1970s punk bands as “the most articulate theorists of the art punk movement”, with Bob Last of Fast Product identified as one of the first to apply art theory to marketing, and Tony Wilson’s Factory Records described as “applying the Bauhaus principle of the same ’look’ for all the company’s goods”. Wire’s Colin Newman described art punk in 2006 as “the drug of choice of a whole generation”.

Art rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

In the academic perspective of music critics, such as those for The New York Times, high art and pop music had increasingly engaged with each other throughout the second half of the 20th century. Historically, the term has been used to describe at least two related, but distinct, types of rock music. One usage refers to groups who rejected psychedelia and the hippie counterculture in favour of a modernist, avant-garde approach defined by the Velvet Underground. Essayist Ellen Willis compared these two types: Art rock frequently intertwines with “serious music”. Critic John Rockwell described the term as referring to wide-ranging and eclectic tendencies in rock music. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that “art rock” was frequently applied to strains of experimental rock music, including work by Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Brian Eno, the Velvet Underground, and Frank Zappa. According to AllMusic, art rock is “more challenging, noisy and unconventional” and “less classically influenced”, with more of an emphasis on avant-garde music, depending on what was considered avant-garde at the time of the term’s use. “Art rock” is used synonymously with progressive rock They both describe a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility, Common characteristics include album-oriented music divided into compositions rather than songs, with usually complicated and long instrumental sections and symphonic orchestration.

Austrian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History and acts#

Falco is often seen as the first successful Austrian rapper, but in fact Falco didn’t want to be seen as rapper, but as a pop/rock musician. Nevertheless, the first songs from Austria to be known of featuring rap verses were sung by Falco. The first “official” Austrian hip hop album to be released was Sound Vibes by The Moreaus in 1990. Then again, The Moreaus were not very defining for hip hop in Austria. The most well-known acts in the 1990s were Schönheitsfehler, Fünfhaus Posse and Texta. From the beginning, the hip hop culture in Austria was being dominated by East Austrian acts. There have been only a few acts from the west of Austria who got wider attention. In 2000, Schönheitsfehler had their first commercial success. Their album SexDrugsAndHipHop reached rank 20 of the Austrian Longplay Charts, with the single Fuck You charting in Germany. With the rise of Gangsta rap in Germany in the middle of the 2000s, more and more Gangsta rappers in Austria appeared. Most notable are Chakuza, Nazar and RAF Camora who also had commercial success. Chakuza and Raf later moved on to changing their sound, leaving Gangsta rap behind. In 2008, the Viennese rap group Die Vamummtn got famous over YouTube. Their amateur video Krocha Hymne in which they are referring to the youth culture “Krocha” currently has over 1 million views. The song was released by Universal Music Austria only a few months after the hype and was the first hip hop single to reach the Charts since over five years. Only two years later, other YouTube hypes lead to a success – the song Kabinenparty by Skero, a member of Texta, reached rank 4 of the Austrian Single Charts after having become a viral video on the internet. The hip hop duo Trackshittaz succeeded in reaching rank 1 of the Single Charts with their song Oida Taunz, also shortly after having a video going viral. This was the first time that an Austrian hip hop act reached rank one of the Charts. The probably most successful female hip hop artist is Mieze Medusa, who also organizes the monthly poetry slam textstrom. A Carinthian crew called The Icon made waves in the Austrian Hip hop scene in 2021 by reaching 200.000 international streams on the music streaming service Apple Music.

Avant-funk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Artists described as “avant-funk” or “mutant disco” have blended elements from styles such as funk, punk, disco, freeform jazz and dub. Reynolds described avant-funk as “difficult dance music” and a kind of psychedelia in which “oblivion was to be attained not through rising above the body, rather through immersion in the physical, self loss through animalism.”

History#

Early acts who have retrospectively been described with the term include German krautrock band Can, American funk artists Sly Stone and George Clinton, and jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Herbie Hancock’s 1973 album Sextant was called an “uncompromising avant-funk masterpiece” by Paste. Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman led the avant-funk band Prime Time in the 1970s and 1980s. Guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer, who performed with Coleman in the 1970s, was described by The New Yorker as “one of avant-funk’s masters.” According to Reynolds, a pioneering wave of avant-funk artists came in the late 1970s, when post-punk artists (including A Certain Ratio, the Pop Group, Gang of Four, Bush Tetras, Defunkt, Public Image Ltd, Liquid Liquid, and James Chance, as well as Arthur Russell, Cabaret Voltaire, Talking Heads, DAF, and 23 Skidoo) embraced black dance music styles such as funk and disco. Reynolds noted these artists’ preoccupations with issues such as alienation, repression and the technocracy of Western modernity. The artists of the late 1970s New York no wave scene, including James Chance, explored avant-funk influenced by Ornette Coleman. The 1981 album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Brian Eno and David Byrne was described as a masterpiece of avant-funk by Paste. The New York label ZE Records released the influential compilation Mutant Disco: A Subtle Discolation of the Norm in 1981, coining a new label for this style of hybridized dance music blending punk and disco. Later groups such as Skinny Puppy, Chakk, and 400 Blows represented later waves of the style. By the mid-1980s, avant-funk had dissipated as white alternative groups turned away from the dancefloor.

Avant-garde metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

“Avant-garde metal” is interchangeable with “experimental metal” and “avant-metal”, Avant-garde metal is related to progressive metal, but avant-garde metal often has more experimentation, while progressive metal usually has a tighter focus on traditional metal instrumentation and higher levels of technical complexity. Avant-garde metal also uses unusual sounds, breaks conventions, and often includes new elements. The lyrics and visual presentation of the genre are eclectic as well. The Canadian group Voivod also influenced future bands in the genre, pioneering technique such as robotic vocal effects, unusual time signatures, and fractured, dissonant, unorthodox guitar sounds.

B-Town

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Details#

Some local commentators have suggested the term is an invention by London-based journalists to talk the wider Birmingham music scene up as a fad, pointing out that “there have been bands going strong in Birmingham for years” and highlighting the variety and strength in depth of the music being created in the city. Evil Alien—a band who have been identified with the scene—have criticised it as “just media hype and a silly name somebody has given it all”, commenting that “B-Town is the worst nickname for this great city I have ever heard and it makes me cringe every time I hear it”. In July 2013 Cavan McCarthy of Swim Deep claimed that the term started off as a joke, invented by himself and Harry Koisser of Peace while driving back into Birmingham from outside the city, and that “now everyone says it and we’re a bit embarrassed about it”. Critics have pointed out that many of the scene’s leading bands don’t sound very similar, The NME has commented how “nonchalance courses through the scene’s veins like quicksilver … some scenes come roaring out of the traps; B-Town seemed to roll out of bed, insular and uncontrived, smirking at its own in-jokes, smelling faintly of K cider and intent on nothing loftier than the pursuit of a laugh.”

Baggy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The genesis of indie-dance was the Balearic beat scene (where there were DJs playing an eclectic mix of records including such rock/dance crossovers like “Jesus on the Payroll” by Thrashing Doves and producers like Paul Oakenfold ) and the indie music scene in the north west of England, which featured Tony Wilson’s Factory Records and former post-punk band the Stone Roses in Manchester. Even though the Stone Roses were not signed to Factory Records, instead signing to Paul Birch’s Revolver Records in Wolverhampton (before taking a deal with Jive Records’ Silvertone), the band did have links to Tony Wilson, Martin Hannett and Peter Hook, with the New Order bassist scheduled to produce their debut album before John Leckie took over. It was Leckie who produced the Stone Roses single “Fools Gold” (an indie-dance record which had a prominent ‘shufflebeat’ which came from a four-bar loop based upon Clyde Stubblefield’s “Funky Drummer” drum pattern, as well as Bobby Bird’s “Hot Pants” beat) and it was mainly fans of the Stone Roses who started to wear the fashions that gave the genre/scene its alternative name.

Bal-musette

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Auvergnats settled in large numbers in the 5th, 11th, and 12th districts (arrondissements) of Paris during the 19th century, opening cafés and bars where patrons danced the bourrée to the accompaniment of the cabrette (a bellows-blown bagpipe locally called a “musette”) and often the vielle à roue (hurdy-gurdy). Parisian and immigrant Italian musicians who played the accordion adopted the style and established themselves in Auvergnat bars especially in the 19th arrondissement. When Italians began introducing new rhythms like the waltz and polka into the traditional musical form and began playing it on the recently introduced hybrid accordion, conflicts arose, and the Italian and Auvergnat styles split. By the end of 19th century, there were three kinds of bals-musette establishments: *bal des familles – Auvergnat *bal musette populaires – Italian *guinche or bal de barrière – seedy hangouts frequented by low-lifes and so-called bohemians. These places often were frequented by members of the French upper classes looking for excitement among the poor and downtrodden. Some establishments even staged mock police raids for their patrons’ benefit. Performers of this era include Antoine Bouscatel, Émile Vacher, Martin Cayla, Charles Péguri, and Gus Viseur. Musette dance forms arose from people looking for easier, faster and more sensual dance steps, as well as forms that did not require a large hall. “Musette-forms” that established themselves as variations to popular dances of the day include: * tango-musette * paso-musette * valse-musette, with a special variation called la toupie (“the top”), where dancers are very close and turn around themselves very regularly. An original musette dance also appeared, known as java. Admission to most bals was free, but dancers bought dance tokens at the cash-desk. These tokens were made of metal in various shapes, with the name of the hall stamped on one side. In the middle of the dance, the bal director walked between the couples with a bag and the dancers turned in a token. In the 1930s, gypsy jazz, a rhythmic form of swing music, drew on musette styles. By 1945, the bal-musette became the most popular style of dance in France and its biggest stars were widely known across the country. Its popularity declined drastically beginning around 1960. A revival of bals has begun, especially in larger cities, and a modern form of the musette is establishing itself.

Balearic beat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

This style was popularized at Amnesia, an Ibizan nightclub, by DJ Alfredo from Argentina, who had a residency there. DJ Alfredo, whose birth name is Alfredo Fiorito, has been credited as the “Father of the Balearic beat”. Alfredo played an eclectic mix of dance music Trevor Fung, Danny Rampling and Electra’s Paul Oakenfold are commonly credited with having “popularised” Balearic beat, especially in the UK, with Fung said to be the originator of the term. In 1987, after a holiday in Ibiza, Oakenfold, Fung and Ian St. Paul returned to London, where they unsuccessfully tried to establish a nightclub called the Funhouse in the Balearic style. Returning to Ibiza during the summer of 1987, Oakenfold rented a villa where he hosted a number of his DJ friends, including Danny Rampling, Johnny Walker, and Nicky Holloway. Returning to London after the summer, Oakenfold reintroduced the Balearic style at a South London nightclub called the Project Club. The club initially attracted those who had visited Ibiza and who were familiar with the Balearic concept. Fueled by their use of Ecstasy and an emerging fashion style based on baggy clothes and bright colors, these Ibiza veterans were responsible for propagating the Balearic subculture within the evolving UK rave scene. In 1988, Oakenfold established a second outlet for Balearic beat, a Monday night event called Spectrum, which is credited with exposing the Balearic concept to a wider audience. It was 1988 when Balearic beat was first noticed in the U.S., according to Dance Music Report magazine. Jose Padilla was an Ibizan DJ best known for his residency at Café del Mar. Also Jon Sa Trinxa, a British DJ and Producer best known for the longest residency on Salinas Beach at Sa Trinxa defines his style as being Balearic Music. Pitchfork traces back elements of Balearic beat music to the 1982 Indian album Disco Jazz, sung by Rupa Biswas and composed by Aashish Khan. According to Pitchfork, the Bengali language song “Aaj Shanibar” from Disco Jazz contains “touches of what would now be considered Balearic beat music, with its expansive and hypnotic musical interludes.” However, the album was largely unknown until its rediscovery in the late 2010s.

Balkan brass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Records show that trumpeters were part of the Serbian army of prince Stefan Vojislav, which defeated the Byzantines in the Battle of Bar on the Rumija mountain in 1042. Together with the drummers, they are mentioned being in the armies of prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and his successors, despots Stefan Lazarević and Đurađ Branković in the 14th and 15th century. During that period, the trumpet was only used as a military instrument. The music’s tradition stems from the First Serbian Uprising led by Karageorge in 1804 (Serbian revolution) when Serbs revolted against the occupying Ottoman Empire, eventually liberating Serbia. The trumpet was used as a military instrument to wake and gather soldiers and announce battles, the trumpet took on the role of entertainment during downtime, as soldiers used it to transpose popular folk songs. When the war ended, the soldiers returned to the rural life; the music became common, accompanying births, baptisms, weddings, the slava (family patron saint day), farewell parties for those joining military service, state and church festivals, harvesting, reaping, and during funerals of family members in the community. As Serbia was liberated from the Ottoman Empire after the Second Serbian Uprising in 1815, Serbian prince Miloš Obrenović formed the band at his court in Kragujevac. As the new state was still under heavy Ottoman influence, the band played oriental music. It was headed by violin and zurna player, Mustafa. He was titled oberlautar (chief singer) or in Serbian, bukadžija, which literally means the “noise maker”. To westernize the state, prince Miloš dismissed Mustafa in 1831 and invited Josif Šlezinger (1794-1870), a musician and composer from Sombor, to form the first military orchestra, with the European instruments, so the trumpet was returned to the orchestras. After the World War I it became the most popular folk instrument, suppressing the previously dominant gaida and violin (in folk music called ćemane). The amateur players were originally taught by the former professional military trumpeters, like Momir Miletić, Momir Subotić and Dojčilo Đukić. The village orchestras were mostly disbanded during the World War II, but after 1945 they were renewed. In time, three schools of brass music developed: eastern (Zaječar, Boljevac), southern (Vranje, Surdulica, Vladičin Han) and western (Užice, Čačak, Požega).

Balkan music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Byzantine medieval music#

Byzantine music (Greek: Βυζαντινή Μουσική) is associated with the medieval sacred chant of Christian Churches following the Constantinopolitan rite. Its modal system is based on the ancient Greek models. The development of large scale hymnographic forms begins in the fifth century with the rise of the kontakion, a long and elaborate metrical sermon, which finds its acme in the work of Romanos the Melodist (sixth century). Heirmoi in syllabic style are gathered in the Irmologion, a bulky volume which first appeared in the middle of the tenth century and contains over a thousand model troparia arranged into an octoechos (the eight-mode musical system) and the whole system of Byzantine music which is closely related to the music of ancient Greece.

Bambera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition#

The bambera or bamba derives from the cante de columpio, meaning “song of the swing”, which is one of the traditional Andalusian song forms associated with flamenco. These songs were known as bambas or mecederos (from a Spanish word meaning ’to sway’), because they were sung to the rhythm of a swing. Jose de Bisso in his Chronicle of the Province of Seville (1868) describes it thus: The Vampas or Bambas is a double swing that is suspended from a heavy tree, the walnut tree, and crossed with a quite resistant plank; the pair that are rocked are placed in it while the group sings and pushes the swing. Each song sung by one of those in the group, is answered by one of those on the swing; but the unique thing about these occasions is that lovers get a chance to hear each other’s complaints, jealousies, disdain, tenderness, gallantries, resentments, snubs etc. expressed through an improvised song with lively imagination and perspective and the release of contained passion.

Barcarolle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

A barcarolle is characterized by a rhythm reminiscent of the gondolier’s stroke, almost invariably in metre at a moderate tempo. While the most-famous barcarolles are from the Romantic period, the genre was known well enough in the 18th century for Burney to mention, in The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771), that it was a celebrated form cherished by “collectors of good taste”.

Notable examples#

The barcarolle was a popular form in opera, where the apparently artless sentimental style of the folklike song could be put to good use. In addition to the Offenbach example: Paisiello, Weber, and Rossini wrote arias that were barcarolles; Donizetti set the Venetian scene at the opening of Marino Faliero (1835) with a barcarolle for a gondolier and chorus; and Verdi included a barcarolle in Un ballo in maschera (i.e., Richard’s atmospheric “Di’ tu se fidele il flutto m’aspetta” in Act I). Arthur Sullivan set the entry of Sir Joseph Porter’s barge (also bearing his sisters, cousins and aunts) in H.M.S. Pinafore to a barcarolle, as well as the Trio “My well-loved lord and guardian dear” among Phyllis, Earl Tolloller and the Earl of Mountararat in Act I of Iolanthe. Schubert, while not using the name specifically, used a style reminiscent of the barcarolle in some of his most famous songs, including especially his haunting “Auf dem Wasser zu singen” (“To be sung on the water”), D.774. Stephen Sondheim uses a barcarolle for the two princes’ song “Agony” from his 1986 musical Into the Woods. Bob Dylan’s song “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You” from his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways uses Offenbach’s “Barcarolle” as a riff.

Baroque pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

In classical music, the term “Baroque” is used to describe the art music of Europe approximately between the years 1600 and 1750, with some of its most prominent composers including J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. Much of the instrumentation of baroque pop is akin to that of the late Baroque period or the early Classical period, chronologically defined as the period of European music from 1690 to 1760 and stylistically defined by balanced phrases, clarity and beauty. Baroque pop, stylistically, fuses elements of rock with classical music, often incorporating layered harmonies, strings, and horns to achieve a majestic, orchestral sound. Journalist Bob Stanley uses the term “English baroque” to describe a subset that existed between 1968 and 1973, after the genre’s more widespread presence in rock and pop. “Baroque rock” may be invoked as a synonym of “baroque pop” or as its own distinct term.

Bassline (music genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Bassline generally places a strong emphasis on bass, with intricate basslines (often multiple and interweaving) characteristic of the genre. Bassline tracks typically use a four-to-the-floor beat.

Early bassline house#

Bassline grew from the sound popular in nightclubs in Sheffield during the late 1990s, in particular Sheffield’s Niche nightclub, which played speed garage mixed with melodic vocal house. According to Steve Baxendale, owner of Niche, the club’s DJs began to take the vocals out of speed garage and house music, and then pumped up the bass, from around 1997. The changes in the style of music at Niche led to a change from a predominantly white crowd to a predominantly Black British crowd. There are local variations in bassline music, with a “darker” style more popular in Sheffield and Manchester, It being mixed with organ house popular in West Yorkshire, while local scenes in cities such as Birmingham and Nottingham favoured a more upbeat style. Often, different “organ” and “bass” mixes of a track appeared on the same record, drawing on the genre’s different musical influences. The bass or “B-Line” mix would be more influenced by speed garage, featuring a synthesised, low-frequency oscillation bassline, known as a “warp” or “reese”. The organ track would instead feature sampled Korg M1-style organ leads, influenced by the house music of the 1990s.

Beat music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

The exact origins of the terms ‘beat music’ and ‘Merseybeat’ are uncertain. “Beat” alludes to the driving rhythms adopted from rock and roll, R&B, and soul music—not the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s. As the initial wave of British rock and roll was in height in the early 1960s, “big beat” music, later shortened to “beat”, became a live dance style and alternative alongside the British rock and roll balladeers like Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, and Cliff Richard who were dominating the charts. The German anthropologist and music critic Ernest Borneman, who lived in England from 1933 to 1960, claimed to have coined the term in a column in Melody Maker magazine to describe the British imitation of American rock’n’roll, rhythm & blues, and skiffle bands. The ‘Mersey’ of ‘Merseybeat’ refers to the River Mersey. Liverpool lies on the eastern side of the river’s estuary. The name Mersey Beat was used for a Liverpool music magazine founded in 1961 by Bill Harry. Harry claims to have coined the term “based on a policeman’s beat and not that of the music”. With the rise of the Beatles in 1963, the terms Mersey sound and Merseybeat were applied to bands and singers from Liverpool, the first time in British pop music that a sound and a location were linked together. The Beatles’ debut album Please Please Me (1963) is often cited as the record that most exemplifies the Merseybeat sound. The equivalent scenes in Birmingham and London were described as Brum Beat and the Tottenham Sound respectively.

Bećarac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Bećarac uses a strict form of couplet in trochaic decasyllable, always sung to the same music, played by a tamburitza orchestra, less common accordion or samica, and the best ones are spread and reused for later parties. Bećarci are often difficult to translate and to be understood by outsiders due to the use of puns, reference to local events and cultural allusions. For example, “Mala moja, visoki jablane / Je l’ ti mjesec vidio tabane?” literally translates to “My little one, tall apple tree / Has the moon seen your soles?”.

Bélé

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

As a dance#

The bélé dance formed from a combination of traditional African dance styles and Caribbean influences due to the changed landscape, musical instruments, and tumultuous lifestyle. It may be the oldest Creole dance of the creole French West Indian Islands, and it strongly reflects influences from African fertility dances. It is performed most commonly during full moon evenings, or sometimes during funeral wakes (Antillean Creole: lavèyé). In Tobago, it is thought to have been performed by women of the planter class at social events in the planters’ great houses, and the dress and dance style copied by the enslaved people who worked in or around these houses http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Birthplace-of-the-bele-112487054.html .

Bicinium

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

- Didactic two-part compositions of the Renaissance and the Baroque A large site dedicated to bicinia, includes lists of composers and works, scores and an extensive bibliography.

Big beat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style#

Big beat features heavy and distorted drum beats at tempos between 100 and 140 beats per minute, Roland TB-303 synthesizer lines resembling those of acid house, and heavy loops from 1960s and 1970s funk, soul, jazz, and rock songs. They are often punctuated with punk-style vocals or rappers and driven by intense, distorted synthesizer basslines with conventional pop, house and techno song structures. Big beat tracks have a sound that includes crescendos, builds, drops, extended drum rolls, and sounds such as spoken word samples, dialogues from film and TV, additional instruments such as Middle Eastern strings or sitars, explosions, air horns, sirens (usually police sirens) and gunshots. As with several other dance genres at the time, the use of effects such as filters, phasing, and flanging was common in the genre. Celebrated pioneers of the genre such as Fatboy Slim tend to feature heavily compressed loud breakbeats in their songs, which are used to define the music as much as any melodic hooks and sampled sounds. Based on the primary use of loud, heavy breakbeats and basslines, big beat shares attributes with jungle and drum and bass, but has a significantly slower tempo.

Biguine

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Two main types of French antillean biguine can be identified based on the instrumentation in contemporary musical practice, called the drum biguine and the orchestrated biguine. Each of these refers to characteristics of a specific origin. The drum biguine, or bidgin bèlè in Creole, comes from a series of bèlè dances performed since early colonial times by the slaves who inhabited the great sugar plantations. Musically, the bidgin bèlè can be distinguished from the orchestrated biguine in the following ways: its instrumentation (cylindrical single-membraned drum (bèlè) and the rhythm sticks (tibwa); the call-and-response singing style; the soloist’s improvisation, and the nasal voice quality. According to a study by Rosemain (1988), the biguine figured in fertility rituals practiced in West Africa, but its ritual significance has since disappeared in Martinique.

Biker metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Biker metal has been described as being influenced by punk rock, rock and roll, heavy metal and blues. Sleazegrinder, a writer at Classic Rock, described biker metal as “glam metal gone Mad Max”. Biker metal is characterized by its mid-tempo approach to metal, its “gritty and American” sound, and its alignment with biker culture as a whole. The genre has been contrasted with slower and more operatic forms of metal, such as Judas Priest’s work in the early 2000s. Similarly, biker metal eschews the speed and virtuosity that rose to prominence in the 1980s. Bands such as Black Moth, Orange Goblin, The Obsessed, Earthride and Black Label Society have been described as fusing the style with doom metal, whereas Clutch have been described as merging elements of biker metal and Southern rock into their stoner rock sound. Black Sabbath’s song “Paranoid” has been considered a classic of the genre. Biker metal has proven influential to genres ranging from speed metal to hardcore punk and crust punk, and was integral to the development of extreme metal.

Birmingham sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Black metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Although black metal now typically refers to the Norwegian style with shrieking vocals, the term has been applied to bands with widely differing sounds, such as the Greek and Finnish bands that emerged around the same time as the Norwegian scene.

Instrumentation and song structure#

Manish Agarwal of Time Out describes black metal as “a cult strain of ultra-thrash” characterized by “icy noise”. Norwegian-inspired black metal guitarists usually favor high-pitched or trebly guitar tones and heavy distortion. The guitar is usually played with fast, un-muted tremolo picking and power chords. Guitarists often use dissonance—along with specific scales, intervals and chord progressions—to create a sense of dread. The tritone, or flat-fifth, is often used. Guitar solos and low guitar tunings are rare in black metal. Even still, authenticity is still prioritized over technique. “This professionalism has to go,” insists well-respected drummer Fenriz (Gylve Fenris Nagell) of Darkthrone. “I want to de-learn playing drums, I want to play primitive and simple, I don’t want to play like a drum solo all the time and make these complicated riffs”. Black metal songs often stray from conventional song structure and often lack clear verse-chorus sections. Instead, many black metal songs contain lengthy and repetitive instrumental sections. The Greek style—established by Rotting Christ, Necromantia and Varathron —has more death metal traits than Norwegian black metal.

Blatnaya pesnya

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

In the post-Soviet era, blatnaya pesnya are marketed largely under the more generalized name “Russian chanson” (). Coined in the 1990s, “Russian chanson” has become a marketing neologism akin to world music. Some collections identify these songs as ulichnaia pesnia or “street songs” (), allowing for the inclusion of pieces that do not explicitly involve references to criminal behaviour. According to Robert A. Rothstein, this terminological fluidity: “reflects the fact that what makes a song blatnaia is more a question of style and tone than of literal content.”

Bleep techno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style#

Bleep techno is a sparse, cold subgenre of techno primarily defined by minimalistic electro-style synthesizer tones (the eponymous “bleeps”) and heavy sub-bass inspired by dub and reggae sound systems. combining acid house’s hypnotic pull with “skippy syncopation” that presaged jungle. Roland TR-909 drum machines with syncopation are frequently used.

History#

In the 1980s, the burgeoning British rave music scene was influenced largely by American house and techno records—music which came from cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New York. Original UK tracks were generally considered second-rate at that time. However, this changed with the release of 1988 single “The Theme” by Bradford-based group Unique 3—music characterized as the first bleep techno single owing to its unprecedented blend of Chicago house with elements of hip hop and reggae. The track featured deep sub-bass with “bleepy melodies, shuffling TR-909 rhythms and weird synth tones.” Following the release of “The Theme”, a wave of artists in cities like Sheffield, Leeds, Leicester, and Birmingham began making music inspired by this new sound. The newly founded Warp Records became the subgenre’s most prominent label in 1989, with artists such as Sweet Exorcist, Forgemasters, LFO, and Nightmares on Wax becoming important figures in the style. Warp’s first release was Forgemasters’ “Track With No Name”, funded by the UK’s Enterprise Allowance Scheme, a grant meant to help unemployed youths start businesses. LFO’s eponymous single reached no. 12 in the UK charts in 1990. Between 1989 and 1991, bleep techno would serve as one of England’s most popular rave styles. The Warp compilation Warp 10+2: Classics 89–92, released in 1999, contains much of the label’s early bleep material.

Blue yodeling

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yodeling in the United States#

Yodeling seems to be an Alpine tradition in Europe. However, it became popular in large cities such as Vienna from around 1830 as an entertainment interlude in the Viennese suburban theaters and Singspielhalles and was only subsequently brought to the countryside by guest artists. Various immigrant groups also brought it to the United States as a seemingly traditional means of identification. The first encounter with Anglo-American musical styles is said to have taken place in the early 19th century, when British and Irish settlers met German-speaking immigrants in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. In Emma Bell Miles’ (1879–1919) 1905 collection of essays The Spirit of the Mountains, in which she describes life in the Southern Appalachians, yodeling is mentioned in several places, such as in the description of the difference between men and women:: “His first songs are yodels. Then he learns dance tunes, and songs of hunting and fighting and drinking, … Triggered by successful guest performances by Austrian and Swiss artists who called themselves “Tyrolese Minstrels” or “Alpine Minstrels”, for example, a steady rise in popularity can be traced from the 1830s onwards. Yodeling performances were often advertised as a special curiosity. Tom Christian, known as the “Yodeling Minstrel”, first appeared in public around 1847; the first recordings of a yodeler were made by L.W. Lipp in 1892. In 1905, the Swiss tenor Arnold Inauen made the first commercial recordings for Columbia Records, albeit still in the Alpine style. At the same time, a yodeling style developed in the environment of roving Minstrel and Vaudeville shows, which was particularly supported by African Americans and was strongly influenced by elements of the Blues, especially the so-called Delta Blues and the Jazz predecessor Ragtime. Outstanding representatives were Monroe Tabor (“The Yodeling Bell Boy”), Beulah Henderson (“America’s Only Colored Lady Yodeler”) or Charles Anderson (“The Yodeler Blues Singer”). In fundamental research, historians Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff have proven the influence of African-American artists and traditions in this area. This influence is said to lie, among other things, in typical inarticulate calls with simultaneous breaking of the voice, the field hollers, from which the so-called “black falsetto” has developed. The term falsetto refers to the falsetto voice. The Texan country traditionalist and passionate yodeller Don Walser later released his “Dixie Blues” paid homage to this legacy. The “blue yodel syntax”, Milton Brown, one of the pioneers of Western swing, formed his first band with two friends in 1927: The Three Yodeliers. The repertoire consisted mainly of barbershop and contemporary pop songs, but also some yodeling songs, including Emmett Miller’s “I Ain’t Got Nobody”. The further Brown’s personal style shifted towards jazz, the less he devoted himself to yodeling. Fleming and Townsend helped pioneer the blue yodel duet through harmonizing with each other’s yodels. With regard to the 1920s and early 1930s, the music journalist Nick Tosches distinguishes between various yodeling styles, including the “archaic 19th-century yodel”, the minstrel yodel and the minstrel yodel. Century", the minstrel show yodel, which he calls “fake blue yodel” and characterizes as a “Swiss yodel with black content”, and the pop-country yodel, as used by Jimmy Long in “Yodel Your Troubles Away” (1929). The “revival experience” of Wilf Carter can be considered exemplary for the development of yodeling. Around 1915, when he was about ten years old, he saw a Swiss yodeller at a cattle drive who appeared as an additional attraction at a performance of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and called himself “The Yodeling Fool”. Here, the character of the yodelling performance as a novelty and curiosity was still clearly recognizable, which did not really fit in with the theme of the actual performance. At the same time, however, it hinted at the incipient transformation it would undergo in the traveling shows.

Blues rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Blues rock can be characterized by bluesy improvisation, extended boogie jams typically focused on electric guitar solos, and often a heavier, riff-oriented sound and feel to the songs than found in typical Chicago-style blues. Blues rock bands “borrow ed the idea of an instrumental combo and loud amplification from rock & roll”. It is also often played at a fast tempo, again distinguishing it from the blues. Blues rock songs often follow typical blues structures, such as twelve-bar blues, sixteen-bar blues, etc. They also use the I-IV-V progression, though there are exceptions, some pieces having a “B” section, while others remain on the I. The Allman Brothers Band’s version of “Stormy Monday”, which uses chord substitutions based on Bobby “Blue” Bland’s 1961 rendition, adds a solo section where “the rhythm shifts effortlessly into an uptempo -time jazz feel”. The key is usually major, but can also be minor, such as in “Black Magic Woman”. One notable difference is the frequent use of a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm instead of triplets usually found in blues. An example is Cream’s “Crossroads”. Although it was adapted from Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues”, the bass “combines with drums to create and continually emphasize continuity in the regular metric drive”.

Bolero (Spanish dance)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Classical music#

During its heyday, the bolero became a popular dance in ballrooms across Spain and was performed by Spanish troupes abroad along with other dances such as the cachucha. Over time, many classical composers wrote pieces inspired in the genre: * Frédéric Chopin wrote Boléro for solo piano (Op. 19) in 1834, but its rhythms are more those of the polonaise. He was a close friend of Pauline Viardot, the daughter of the famed Spanish tenor Manuel García, who had introduced the bolero to Paris. * Clara Schumann wrote “Caprice à la Boléro” as the second movement of her 4 Pièces caractéristiques for piano, opus 5, composed 1834–1836. *Giuseppe Verdi wrote a bolero, Mercé, dilette amiche, for his 1855 opera I vespri siciliani. * Charles-Auguste de Bériot wrote a bolero in his Scène de ballet (Op. 100), 1840s, for violin and piano (or orchestra), one of his most famous pieces. * Julián Arcas wrote several bolero pieces for guitar and greatly influenced both the bolero form and guitar playing in the context of classical music. * Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély wrote Boléro de Concert for organ in 1865. * Hervé wrote a bolero for his operetta Chilpéric in 1868, which was immortalized in painting by Toulouse-Lautrec. * Léo Delibes wrote a bolero in Tableau 2 of Coppélia, 1870. * Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a bolero for 2 voices and orchestra, El desdichado, 1871. * Moritz Moszkowski wrote a bolero as the last of his first set of Spanish Dances (Op. 12), 1876. * César Cui’s Bolero from 1881 was composed for solo soprano voice with accompaniment of orchestra or piano, and published with Russian, Italian, and French texts. The score is available at IMSLP/Petrucci. * Friedrich Baumfelder wrote Premier Boléro for piano (Op. 317) in 1883. * Joe Morley wrote a bolero for banjo titled “El contrabandista” (c. 1920) after noted banjoist and composer Alfred Cammeyer published a bolero in time for banjo. Morley composed his as a true bolero in time. * Maurice Ravel wrote Boléro (whose working title was Fandango) as a ballet score commissioned by Ida Rubinstein in 1928, but it is now usually played as a concert piece. It has inspired other classical works such as Fumio Hayasaka’s theme for Rashomon, 1950. * Richard Aaker Trythall wrote a bolero for four percussionists in 1979. It is based on the rhythm and structure of the traditional Spanish bolero. Trythall imagined the four percussionists as four dancers, intertwining their solos, duets, and trios with moments of group ensemble work in the same way a choreographer might have done. * John Serry Sr. composed his African Bolero for accordion and flute in 1950. * Keith Emerson composed his Abaddon’s Bolero for orchestra and synthesizer in 1972. * Zbigniew Preisner’s film score for Three Colors: Red (1994) employs the bolero rhythm in several cues. * Ryuichi Sakamoto composed Blu in 2014, for piano and orchestra. The piece starts with a dreamy piano melody that is followed by a four-minute bolero part. * Barry Gray composed Zero-X, an Incidental cue, for the score of the 1966 film ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’, using a bolero rhythm. Some art music boleros are actually based on the habanera, a Cuban adaptation of the French contredanse which was often featured in French opera and Spanish zarzuela.

Bothy ballad

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Subjects#

The farmlands around Aberdeen produced satirical songs, critical of working conditions. The best known is “The Barnyards of Delgaty”, (a pun on “The Barren Yirds o Delgaty” meaning “The Barren Soils of Delgaty”). Real names of farmers, supervisors and farms are given, and mocked. Other satirical attacks are “Rhynie”, “The Guise O Tough” and “Harrowing Time”. By contrast “The Bogheid Crew” is a celebration of the fine work done by the labourers, naming each one in turn. Some songs celebrate the countryside, including “Where The Gadie Rins”, “Bonny Udny” and “Arlin’s Fine Braes”. Some songs match a high-born with a servant. The most famous is “The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter” (Child Ballad 110), recorded by Steeleye Span as “Royal Forrester”. “The Laird o Dainty Doonby” is another. In 1951 Davie Stewart sang this song for American collector Alan Lomax. It is a version of a song published by David Herd in 1776, in “Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs”. Soldiers from Highland military regiments sometimes ended up working in bothies. Some ballads concern encounters between soldiers and innocent maids. “The Trooper and the Maid” (Child Ballad 299) is one. Most famous of all is “The Bonnie Lass o’ Fyvie” (Pretty Peggy-O), covered by Simon and Garfunkel and many others. “The Forfar Sodger” relates to the Peninsular War (1808–1814) and was recorded as late as 1951.

Bouncy techno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Antecedents: early 1990s#

The breakbeat hardcore style that dominated raves across England was generally not popular in Scotland. This is attributed to regional music, cultural and racial differences across the UK; with breakbeat regarded in Scotland as a “black English thing” and an “alien musical culture”. The few Scottish-based DJs who supported this music found it difficult to be booked locally. DJ Kid told the crowd to “fuck off” on the mic before he stormed off stage when ravers turned hostile towards him playing such a set. A divide in the United Kingdom rave scene occurred as a result with separate musical paths of development. Scotland instead favoured techno and vocal/piano music at raves. The Time Frequency (TTF) led the charge of local bands. After three chart hit records in the UK Singles Chart Top 40 across 1993, which peaked with “Real Love” at number eight, their commercial success in part resulted in a backlash against the band. With the vocal/piano approach now tainted, ravers turned their attention to an alternative form of underground music that had since materialised.

Breakbeat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The origin of the word “breakbeat” is the fact that the drum loops that were sampled occurred during a “break” in the music – for example, the Amen break (a drum solo from “Amen, Brother” by the Winstons) or the Think break (from “Think (About It)” by Lyn Collins).

1970s–1980s: Classic breaks and hip-hop production#

Beginning in 1973 and continuing through the late 1970s and early 1980s, hip-hop turntablists such as DJ Kool Herc began using several funk breaks in a row, using drum breaks from jazz-funk tracks such as James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” and the Winstons’ “Amen, Brother”, to form the rhythmic base for hip-hop songs. DJ Kool Herc’s breaks style involved playing the same record on two turntables and playing the break repeatedly, alternating between the two records. Grandmaster Flash perfected this idea with what he called the “quick-mix theory”: he would mark the points on the record where the break began and ended with a crayon, so that he could easily replay the break by spinning the record and not touching the tone arm. This style was copied and improved upon by early hip-hop DJs Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Wizard Theodore. This style was extremely popular in clubs and dancehalls because the extended breaks compositions provided breakers with more opportunities to showcase their skills. In the late 1970s, breakbeats had attained a large presence in hip-hop. In the 1980s, the evolution of technology began to make sampling breaks easier and more affordable for DJs and producers, which helped nurture the commercialization of hip-hop. Through early techniques such as pausing tapes and then recording the break, by the 1980s, technology allowed anybody with a tape recorder to find the breakbeat.

Breakbeat hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 1990s: origins#

The rave scene expanded rapidly in the early 1990s, both at clubs up and down the country including Labrynth, Shelley’s Laserdome, The Eclipse, and Sanctuary Music Arena, and large raves in Warehouses and in the open air attracting 10–25,000 whether put on legally from promoters such as Fantazia, Dreamscape, and Raindance, or unlicensed by free party sound systems such as Spiral Tribe. These events featured the popular rave DJs such as Fabio and Grooverider, Carl Cox, Top Buzz, and Slipmatt, as well as live PAs from rave acts including Shades of Rhythm and Bizarre Inc. Breakbeat hardcore drew its melting pot of sound from a vast array of influences – from new beat and Belgian techno that had for a short period been prominent in the UK rave scene, to house and acid house, and furthermore drawing on hip hop and reggae culture. Amongst the influences from within the rave scene itself upon which this strain of hardcore drew were such acts as Manix, The Hypnotist, Ravesignal, and T99. From outside of the rave scene, the sped-up breakbeats of UK rap acts such as Hardnoise, MC Duke, Demon Boyz, and Hijack were highly influential, with some of these including Duke, The Criminal Minds, and Liam Howlett (of Cut 2 Kill and who would go on to form the Prodigy), making the transition into hardcore. Pioneering the fusion of sounds from acid house, hip hop, and reggae were late 1980s UK hip house veterans like Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Blapps Posse, and Shut Up and Dance, becoming pivotal contributors to hardcore and its derivative genres like jungle. The huge increase in producers was also driven by the increasing availability of cheap home computer-based studio setups, particularly Cubase for the Atari ST.

Brit funk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Name and characteristics#

The term Brit funk evolved from the club DJs and James Hamilton of Record Mirror whose column had a major influence in launching new records. Brit funk was a fusion of R&B, funk, soul music rhythms. Pioneers of this sound, groups Hi-Tension and Light of the World, had a British twist to their instrumentation and vocals, avoiding American accents. The emerging punk rock scene has also been cited as an influence by Brit funk musicians: Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick, guitarist with Light of the World and subsequently leader of Incognito, said that the energy of punk and a lack of musical experience led to his attempts to emulate the “slick funk” of 1970s American soul and jazz-funk acts turning into a sound “somewhere between that and a guy that’s just thrashing a guitar”, whilst John Rocca of Freeez - who were signed by punk label Beggars Banquet Records - also drew parallels between the two scenes. Hi-Tension co-founder Paul McLean has also suggested that the Caribbean roots of many Brit funk musicians also influenced their music, resulting in “a looser rhythm (and) hints of reggae in the sound”.

British Black music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Awards#

Since 1996, the annual British MOBO awards ceremony has honoured achievements in “music of black origin”.

Genres#

2-step garage
Afroswing
Bassline
Britfunk
British black gospel
British blues
British hip hop
British jazz
British reggae
British soul
Drum and bass
Dubstep
Grime
Lovers rock
Jungle
Ragga jungle
Trip hop
UK garage
UK funky
UK gospel
UK drill
Progressive rap

Organisations and events#

African Society of Literati, Musicians, and Artists (established in 1897)
Music Of Black Origin Awards
Urban Music Seminar
Black Music Awards (BMA)

18th century#

Ignatius Sancho
George Bridgetower
Joseph Emidy

19th century#

Fisk Jubilee Singers

20th century#

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Southern Syncopated Orchestra
Ken “Snakehips” Johnson
Aswad
Loose Ends (band)
Junior Giscombe
Maxi Priest
Five Star
Jaki Graham
Heatwave (band)
The Real Thing (British band)
Imagination
Sade
Billy Ocean
Soul II Soul
Mica Paris
Musical Youth
Gabrielle
Shola Ama
Joan Armatrading
D’Influence
Beverley Knight
The Specials
Amazulu (band)
Labi Siffre
Omar
Lynden David Hall
Skin (Skunk Anansie)
A Guy Called Gerald
Cleopatra
Sonique

Early 21st century#

Wiley
So Solid Crew
Dizzee Rascal
Ghetts
Jammer
Lethal Bizzle
Skepta
Kano
Stormzy
FKA Twigs
Sampha
Michael Kiwanuka
Little Simz
Raleigh Ritchie
Lady Leshurr
Dave
Wretch 32
Krept & Konan
AJ Tracey
Tinie Tempah
J Hus
JME
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Arlo Parks
Shaznay Lewis
MNEK
Labrinth
Rizzle Kicks
Ms Banks
Jorja Smith
Kele Okereke
Jim Legxacy
Knucks

British blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

American blues became known in Britain from the 1930s onwards through a number of routes, including records brought to Britain, particularly by African-American GIs stationed there in the Second World War and Cold War, merchant seamen visiting ports such as London, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne and Belfast, and through a trickle of (illegal) imports. From 1955 major British record labels His Master’s Voice and EMI, the latter, particularly through their subsidiary Decca Records, began to distribute American jazz and increasingly blues records to what was an emerging market. Among these were guitarist and blues harpist Cyril Davies, who ran the London Skiffle Club at the Roundhouse public house in London’s Soho, and guitarist Alexis Korner, both of whom worked for jazz band leader Chris Barber, playing in the R&B segment he introduced to his show. To this point British blues was acoustically played emulating Delta blues and country blues styles and often part of the emerging second British folk revival. Critical in changing this was the visit of Muddy Waters in 1958, who initially shocked British audiences by playing amplified electric blues, but who was soon playing to ecstatic crowds and rave reviews. Davies and Korner, having already split with Barber, now plugged in and began to play high-powered electric blues that became the model for the subgenre, forming the band Blues Incorporated. came with John Mayall, who moved to London in the early 1960s, eventually forming the Bluesbreakers, whose members at various times included, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor.

British dance band

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notable band leaders#

In the mid-1930s, Lambert & Butler issued a series of cigarette cards depicting dance band leaders. The British leaders included are listed below. * Bert Ambrose * Billy Cotton * Roy Fox * Geraldo * Carroll Gibbons * Nat Gonella * Henry Hall * Jack Hylton * Jack Jackson * Charlie Kunz * Sydney Kyte * Brian Lawrance * Sydney Lipton * Joe Loss * Ray Noble * Jack Payne * Harry Roy * Debroy Somers * Lew Stone * Maurice Winnick * Lou Preager See List of British dance band leaders for a more comprehensive listing.

British folk rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the success of “The House of the Rising Sun” by British band the Animals in 1964 was a catalyst, prompting Bob Dylan to go electric. In the same year, the Beatles began incorporating overt folk influences into their music, most noticeably on the song “I’m a Loser” from their Beatles for Sale album. The Beatles and other British Invasion bands, in turn, influenced the Californian band the Byrds, who began playing folk-influenced material and Bob Dylan compositions with rock instrumentation. The Beatles’ late 1965 album, Rubber Soul, contained a number of songs influenced by the American folk rock boom, such as “Nowhere Man” and “If I Needed Someone”. During this period, a number of electric bands began to play rock versions of folk songs and folk musicians used electric musical instruments to play their own songs, including Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in the summer of 1965. Folk rock became an important genre among emerging English bands, particularly those in the London club scene towards the end of the 1960s. The skiffle movement, to which many English musicians, including the Beatles, owed their origins as performers, meant that they were already familiar with American folk music As they emulated the guitar and drum based format that had crystallised as the norm for rock music, these groups often turned to American folk and folk rock as the focus of their sound and inspiration. Among these groups from 1967 were Fairport Convention, who had enjoyed some modest mainstream success with three albums of material that was largely American in origin or style, before a radical change of direction in 1969 with their album Liege & Lief, which came out of the encounter between American inspired folk rock and the products of the English folk revival. The first English folk music revival had seen a huge effort to record and archive traditional English music by figures such as Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The second revival in the period after the Second World War, built on this work and followed a similar movement in America, to which it was connected by individuals like Alan Lomax, who had fled to England in the era of McCarthyism. Like the American revival, it was often overtly left wing in its politics, but, led by such figures as Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd from the early 1950s, it also attempted to produce a distinctively English music that was an alternative to the American dominance of popular culture, which was, as they saw it, displacing the traditional music of an increasingly urbanised and industrialised working class. Most important among their responses were the foundation of folk clubs in major towns, starting with London where MacColl began the Ballads and Blues Club in 1953. These clubs were usually urban in location, but the songs sung in them often hearkened back to a rural pre-industrial past. In many ways this was the adoption of abandoned popular music by the middle classes. By the mid-1960s there were probably over 300 folk clubs in Britain, providing an important circuit for acts that performed traditional songs and tunes acoustically, where they could sustain a living by playing to a small but committed audience. This meant that there were, by the later 1960s, a group of performers with musical skill and knowledge of a wide variety of traditional songs and tunes. A number of groups who were part of the folk revival experimented with electrification in the mid-1960s. These included the unrecorded efforts of Sweeney’s Men from Ireland, the jazz folk group Pentangle, who moved from purely acoustic instrumentation to introducing electric guitar on their later albums, Eclection, who released one album in 1968, and the Strawbs who developed from a bluegrass band into a “progressive Byrds” band by 1967. However, none provided a sustained or much emulated effort in this direction. Also products of the folk club circuit were Sandy Denny who joined Fairport Convention as a singer in 1968 and Dave Swarbrick, a fiddle player and session musician who reacted positively to the electric music he encountered while working with Fairport in 1969. The result was an extended interpretation of the song “A Sailor’s Life”, which was released on their album Unhalfbricking. This encounter sparked the interest of Ashley Hutchings who began research in the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s library; the result was the band’s seminal Liege & Lief (1969) which combined traditional songs and tunes with some written by members of the band in a similar style, all played on a combination of electric instruments including Swarbrick’s amplified fiddle, setting the template for British folk rock.

British Invasion

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The rebellious tone and image of American rock and roll and blues musicians became popular with British youth in the late 1950s. While early commercial attempts to replicate American rock and roll mostly failed, the trad jazz–inspired skiffle craze, with its do-it-yourself attitude, produced two top-ten hits in the US by Lonnie Donegan. Young British groups started to combine various British and American styles in different parts of the United Kingdom, such as the movement in Liverpool known as Merseybeat or the “beat boom”. While American acts were popular in the United Kingdom, few British acts had achieved any success in the United States prior to 1964. Cliff Richard, who was the best-selling British act in the United Kingdom at the time, had only one Top 40 hit in the US, with “Living Doll” in 1959. Along with Donegan, exceptions to this trend were the US number-one hits “Auf Wiederseh’n, Sweetheart” by Vera Lynn in 1952 (Lynn also had a lower-charting, but more enduring, hit in “We’ll Meet Again”), “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” by Laurie London in 1958, and the instrumentals “Stranger on the Shore” by Acker Bilk and “Telstar” by the Tornados, both in 1962. Also on the Hot 100, “Manhattan Spiritual” by Reg Owen and His Orchestra reached number ten in February 1959, Hayley Mills’ “Let’s Get Together” from The Parent Trap peaked number eight in October 1961, and in 1962, “Midnight in Moscow” by Kenny Ball reached number two in March, the Springfields’ version of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” peaked at number twenty in September, and Frank Ifield’s “I Remember You” reached number five in October. Some observers have noted that American teenagers were growing tired of singles-oriented pop acts like Fabian and the “Bobby"s: Bobby Darin, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee etc. The Mods and Rockers, two youth “gangs” in mid-1960s Britain, also had an impact in British Invasion music. Bands with a Mod aesthetic became the most popular, but bands able to balance both (e.g., the Beatles) were also successful.

British jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 20th century#

Jazz in Britain is usually said to have begun with the British tour of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1919. That stated, British popular music aficionados in the 1920s generally preferred the terms “hot” or “straight” dance music to the term “jazz”. Jazz in Britain also faced a similar difficulty to Brazilian jazz and French jazz, namely it tended to be seen by figures of authority as a bad influence, but in Britain the concern that jazz was from the United States appears to have been less important than in France or Brazil. Instead those who objected to it did so more because they deemed it “riotous” or unnerving. One of the earliest popular jazz dance bands was that of Fred Elizalde, who broadcast on the BBC from 1926 to 1929. By the early 1930s, music journalism in Britain, notably through the Melody Maker, had created an appreciation of the importance of the leading American jazz soloists and was beginning to recognise the improvising talents of some local musicians. During the 1930s, most British jazz musicians made their living in dance bands of various kinds. Jazz became more important, and more separate as its own genre. Louis Armstrong played residencies in London and Glasgow in 1932, followed in subsequent years by the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Coleman Hawkins. But local jazz culture was limited to London where: “jazz was played after hours in a couple of restaurants that encouraged musicians to come in and jam for drinks”. The groups of Nat Gonella and Spike Hughes gained a profile within Britain early in the decade; Hughes was even invited to New York to arrange, compose and lead what, in effect, was Benny Carter’s Orchestra of the time. Carter himself worked in London for the BBC in 1936. West Indian swing band leader Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and Leslie Thompson, a Jamaican trumpeter, influenced jazz in Britain, with the band fronted by Johnson – “The Emperors of Jazz” – being the first large Black band of note. Johnson went on to form one of the top swing bands in the country, known as “The West Indian Orchestra”, which became the resident band at fashionable London venue Café de Paris, and it was here that Johnson was among those killed by a German bomb during the Blitz in the early days of the war.

British pop music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early British popular music#

Early British popular music, in the sense of commercial music enjoyed by the people, arose in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with the arrival of the broadside ballad, which were sold cheaply and in great numbers until the nineteenth century. Further technological, economic and social changes led to new forms of music in the nineteenth century, including parlour music and the brass band, which produced a popular and communal form of classical music. Similarly, the music hall sprang up to cater for the entertainment of new urban societies, adapting existing forms of music to produce popular songs and acts. In the 1930s the influence of American jazz and swing music led to the creation of British dance bands, who provided a social and popular music that began to dominate social occasions and the radio airwaves.

British rhythm and blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Commentators often distinguish British rhythm and blues bands from beat bands (who were influenced by rock and roll and rockabilly) on the one hand, and, from “purist” British blues (which particularly emulated Chicago electric blues artists), on the other, although there was considerable crossover between the three sets of musicians. However, vocalists such as Van Morrison, Mick Jagger, Eric Burdon and Steve Winwood did not attempt to emulate a particular singer and were seen by critics as able to sing the blues convincingly and with some power. In cover versions of R&B songs, riffs were often simplified or used less frequently. The object of the music was usually to whip up energy, rather than to produce musical finesse. and as a result arrangements tended to be guitar-oriented and at higher tempos than the originals. Amplification of guitars to the highest levels of underpowered amplifiers created the over-driven guitar sound that would become characteristic of rock music.

British rock and roll

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of American troops in the country, and, although not enjoying the same economic prosperity as the US, had many similar social developments, not least of which was the emergence of distinct youth leisure activities and sub-cultures. This was most evident in the rise of the Teddy Boys among working-class youths in London from about 1953, who adopted a version of the Edwardian styles of their grandfathers’ generation. British audiences were accustomed to American popular music and British musicians had already been influenced by American musical styles, particularly in trad jazz, which also exposed some to the precursors of rock and roll, including boogie-woogie and the blues. From this emerged the skiffle craze in 1955, led by Lonnie Donegan, whose version of “Rock Island Line” reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. Skiffle produced an Anglicised and largely amateur form of American folk song, chiefly notable for inspiring many individuals to take up music. These included many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat performers, among them John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who first performed together in the Quarrymen skiffle group in 1957 Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets hit “Rock Around the Clock” and helped it to top the UK chart in 1955 and again in 1956. It also set off a moral panic as young cinema goers ripped up seats to dance, which helped identify rock and roll with delinquency. This led to it being almost banned by TV and radio stations, making it something of an underground youth movement, which was widely adopted by the Teddy Boy sub-culture. In the 1950s, Radio in the UK was almost exclusively in the hands of the BBC. Popular music was only played on the Light Programme, and the playing of records was heavily restricted by “needle time” arrangements. Nevertheless, American rock and roll acts became a major force in the UK chart. Elvis Presley reached number 2 in the UK chart with “Heartbreak Hotel” in 1956 and had nine more singles in the Top 30 that year. His first number 1 was “All Shook Up” in 1957 and there would be more chart-toppers for him and for Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Jerry Lee Lewis in the next two years.

British rock music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early British rock and roll#

In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of troops in the country, and shared many social developments, including the emergence of distinct youth sub-cultures, which in Britain included the Teddy Boys. Trad jazz became popular, and many of its musicians were influenced by related American styles, including boogie-woogie and the blues. The skiffle craze, led by Lonnie Donegan, utilised mostly amateurish versions mainly of American folk songs and encouraged many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat musicians to start performing. At the same time British audiences were beginning to encounter American rock and roll, initially through films including Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Rock Around the Clock (1955). Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets hit “Rock Around the Clock”, which first entered the British charts in early 1955 – four months before it reached the US pop charts – topped the British charts later that year and again in 1956, and helped identify rock and roll with teenage delinquency. American rock and roll acts such as Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Buddy Holly thereafter became major forces in the British charts. The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce copies of American records, recorded with session musicians and often fronted by teen idols. British rock and rollers soon began to appear, including Wee Willie Harris and Tommy Steele. The bland or wholly imitative form of much British rock and roll in this period meant that the American product remained dominant. However, in 1958 Britain produced its first “authentic” rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard reached number 2 in the charts with “Move It”. British impresario Larry Parnes fashioned young singers to the new trend, giving them corny names such as Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and Vince Eager. At the same time, TV shows such as Six-Five Special and Oh Boy!, both produced by Jack Good, promoted the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde and Adam Faith. Cliff Richard and his backing band The Drifters, who quickly changed their name to The Shadows, were the most successful home grown rock and roll based acts of the era. Other leading acts included Joe Brown, and Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, whose 1960 hit song “Shakin’ All Over” became a rock and roll standard. The first American rock and roll artist to hit British stages and appear on television was Charlie Gracie, quickly followed by Gene Vincent in December 1959, soon joined on tour by his friend Eddie Cochran. The producer Joe Meek was the first to produce sizeable rock hits in England, culminating with The Tornados’ instrumental “Telstar”, which went to number one in both the UK and USA.

British soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Widespread British interest in soul music developed after the advent of rock and roll from the mid-1950s and the subsequent interest in American music. In the early 1960s, rhythm and blues, including soul, was particularly popular among some members of the beat music boom, including the Beatles, and among bands of who contributed to the blues rock, British blues boom, including the Spencer Davis Group, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Them and Van Morrison. Most of these were popular with members of the Mod subculture, out of which grew the Northern soul movement, in which northern English youths avidly collected and played rare soul records.

Britpop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style, roots and influences#

Though Britpop has sometimes been viewed as a marketing tool and more of a cultural moment than a distinct musical genre, there are musical conventions and influences the bands grouped under the Britpop term have in common. Britpop bands show elements from the British pop music of the 1960s, glam rock and punk rock of the 1970s, and indie pop of the 1980s in their music, attitude, and clothing. Specific influences vary: Blur drew from the Kinks and early Pink Floyd, Oasis took inspiration from the Beatles, and Elastica had a fondness for arty punk rock, notably Wire and both incarnations of Adam and the Ants. Regardless, Britpop artists project a sense of reverence for British pop sounds of the past. The Kinks’ Ray Davies and XTC’s Andy Partridge are sometimes advanced as the “godfathers” or “grandfathers” of Britpop, though Davies disputes it. Others similarly labelled include Paul Weller and Adam Ant. Alternative rock acts from the indie scene of the 1980s and early 1990s were the direct ancestors of the Britpop movement. The influence of the Smiths is common to the majority of Britpop artists. The Madchester scene, fronted by the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, James and Inspiral Carpets (for whom Oasis’s Noel Gallagher had worked as a roadie during the Madchester years), was an immediate root of Britpop since its emphasis on good times and catchy songs provided an alternative to the British-based shoegazing and American based grunge styles of music. In 1991, James’s song “Sit Down” reached number two in the UK charts, with Flavorwire writing the song “predates the Britpop label, but it presaged the quintessentially British sound that would explode in the ’90s. Entire festival crowds used to sit down during the chorus of this song”. Pre-dating Britpop by four years, Liverpool-based group the La’s hit single “There She Goes” was described by Rolling Stone as a “founding piece of Britpop’s foundation”. Naming it his favourite song from the 1990s (“There She Goes” was originally released in 1988), Noel Gallagher once declared that “Oasis want to finish what The La’s started”. Local identity and regional British accents are common to Britpop groups, as well as references to British places and culture in lyrics and image. Stylistically, Britpop bands use catchy hooks and lyrics that were relevant to young British people of their own generation. In spite of the professed disdain for the genres, some elements of both crept into the more enduring facets of Britpop. Noel Gallagher has since championed Ride and once stated that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was the only songwriter he had respect for in the last ten years, and that he felt their music was similar enough that Cobain could have written “Wonderwall”. By 1996, Oasis’s prominence was such that NME termed a number of Britpop bands (including The Boo Radleys, Ocean Colour Scene and Cast) “Noelrock”, citing Gallagher’s influence on their music. Journalist John Harris described these bands, and Gallagher, as sharing “a dewy-eyed love of the 1960s, a spurning of much beyond rock’s most basic ingredients, and a belief in the supremacy of ‘real music. The imagery associated with Britpop was equally British and working class. A rise in unabashed maleness, exemplified by Loaded magazine, binge drinking and lad culture in general, would be very much part of the Britpop era. The Union Jack became a prominent symbol of the movement (as it had a generation earlier with mod bands such as the Who) and its use as a symbol of pride and nationalism contrasted deeply with the controversy that erupted just a few years before when former Smiths singer Morrissey performed draped in it. The emphasis on British reference points made it difficult for the genre to achieve success in the US.

Broken beat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Broken beat first appeared in the late 1990s and was pioneered by Bugz in the Attic, IG Culture, and the release of the 4hero album Two Pages was influential on the emerging sound and scene. John Bush from AllMusic called it “about as fusion-soaked as it gets.” Appearing in the western parts of London, the genre is also referred to as “West London”, mainly because Goya Music’s offices were in London’s Ladbroke Grove, W11, as were most of the participating artists’ studios. Bugz in the Attic’s Neon Phusion, Mark Force, Afronaut and IG Culture are credited with kick-starting the scene with numerous releases under various monikers, and the New Sector Movements releases for People Music. The sound created combined a variety of music styles including funk, soul, and hip-hop. The transition was to a more abstract form of drum and bass. Many artists that started releasing through 4hero’s Reinforced label are now considered pioneers of broken beat. Simultaneously, established techno artists like Carl Craig and Stacey Pullen experimented with the music they were making, trying to add jazz elements and breaks to their sound. As the music is still based on classic Detroit techno and usually has a harder sound, it is sometimes referred to as “broken techno”. This eclectic mixture was picked up by the Detroit and jazz-affiliated UK techno producers Kirk Degiorgio or As One and Ian O’Brien, who tried to form it into a more soulful variation which further influenced the development of the broken beat genre.

Bulerías

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cante (singing)#

When sung, the bulería has three or four octosyllabic lines. It is sometimes subdivided into bulerías al golpe and bulerías ligadas. The former is slower while the latter is frantic. There are many styles of Buleria depending on the region of Spain from which it originated. For example: Buleria de Lebrija, Buleria de Jerez (possibly the most commonly used style), Buleria de Cadiz, Buleria de Utrera etc.

Bulgarian wedding music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The international marketing of wedding music includes Klezmer, Scottish, and Rom(an) music of Bulgarian roots. Ivan Paparov, the clarinetist, is considered the creator of the genre of wedding music in Bulgaria. In 1974, he established two bands as orchestral ensemble in the town of Stara Zagora in Thrace. He improvised the stylistic and eclectic forms of Narodna muzika, a Bulgarian form which incorporated music styles of Greece, Turkey, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Gypsies. This type of music is unlike concert music and involves participation by the dancers and the wedding party and hence it is “loose, spontaneous and dynamic” in structure. Solos are also part of the music which normally accentuates the final shape of the music. There is significant impact of American jazz (a feature noted in the music of Bulgaria since the 1950s) in the wedding music. Papasov termed this type of music also as of balkanski dzhaz (Balkan jazz). Todor Zhivkov, the autocratic dictator, during the period from 1954 to 1958, in his determination to preserve and promote Bulgarian folk music, took a particularly repressive approach against non-Bulgarian music of gypsy origin, which was the Bulgarian wedding music a genre of music well beyond the concept of traditional music. During his regime, in all official media, it was only folk music which was broadcast and promoted. In view of the external influence in this music the totalitarian regime (Leninist regime) in Bulgaria officially discouraged this music though it was very popular among the public. With the demise of the communist regime in 1989, this music form became even more popular.

Burban

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2000s: Urban Asian origins#

After years of stigma being associated with the term ‘urban desi’ and the confusion of it supposedly being a genre, which was used by the majority of national media, a select few artists decided to destroy, recreate and bring in the new term for the sub-culture, ‘burban’. However, the ‘B’ stands for ‘brown’ and there was criticism that it might prejudice against the universality of music. Many Asian artists have refused to use the term (notably Sam Kay), but a growing number have decided to rebrand themselves by the word burban. As the movement is in its infancy, there has been much confusion and deliberation of the semantics of burban.

Byzantine music

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Imperial age#

The tradition of eastern liturgical chant, encompassing the Greek-speaking world, developed even before the establishment of the new Roman capital, Constantinople, in 330 until its fall in 1453. Byzantine music was influenced by Hellenistic music traditions, classic Greek music as well as religious music traditions of Syriac and Hebrew cultures. The Byzantine system of octoechos, in which melodies were classified into eight modes, is specifically thought to have been exported from Syria, where it was known in the 6th century, before its legendary creation by Arab monk John of Damascus of the Umayyad Caliphate. The term Byzantine music is sometimes associated with the medieval sacred chant of Christian Churches following the Constantinopolitan Rite. There is also an identification of “Byzantine music” with “Eastern Christian liturgical chant”, which is due to certain monastic reforms, such as the Octoechos reform of the Quinisext Council (692) and the later reforms of the Stoudios Monastery under its abbots Sabas and Theodore. The triodion created during the reform of Theodore was also soon translated into Slavonic, which required also the adaption of melodic models to the prosody of the language. Later, after the Patriarchate and Court had returned to Constantinople in 1261, the former cathedral rite was not continued, but replaced by a mixed rite, which used the Byzantine Round notation to integrate the former notations of the former chant books (Papadike). This notation had developed within the book sticherarion created by the Stoudios Monastery, but it was used for the books of the cathedral rites written in a period after the fourth crusade, when the cathedral rite was already abandoned at Constantinople. It is being discussed that in the Narthex of the Hagia Sophia an organ was placed for use in secular processions of the Emperor’s entourage.

Canción melódica

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History#

Canción melódica appeared in the first half of the 20th century. Unlike the cuplé, its 19th century predecessor that was primarily strophic, canción melódica was defined through the emphasis it placed on the chorus. The orchestras with vocalists had a fundamental protagonism in the dance parties, which evolved from the popular verbena to “more refined circles” such as salons and cafés. The melodic compositions were accompanied by popular vocalists that appeared in magazines, films and live performances; “Musicologists describe canción melódica as the explanation for the birth of the singer stars in the 1920s.” Argentine singer Sandro was a popular canción melódica singer during that decade. Canción melódica became frowned upon as “light music” from the 1980s on, with the rise in popularity of other genres such as rock.

Cante flamenco

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Types of cante#

There are many variants of cantes or palos (song forms), each expressing a unique emotion (which shares noticeable resemblance to Indian classical music). The flamenco songs of today may be classified into one of three categories: cante grande, cante intermedio or cante chico.

Cante Grande#

Also known as cante jondo and sometimes referred to as cante gitano. Meaning “profound” and “deep,” this intensely sad form of cante deals with themes of death, anguish, despair, or religious sentiments and may be sung a palo seco (without guitar accompaniment). Major forms are the tonás, martinetes, seguiriya, soleá, and carcelera. It is said that cante jondo (deep song) is the heart and soul of flamenco: Sample Seguiria describing anguish in Caló, Spanish and English:

Canterbury scene

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Definition and history#

The Canterbury scene is largely defined by a set of musicians and bands with intertwined members. These are not tied by very strong musical similarities, but a certain whimsicality, touches of psychedelia, rather abstruse lyrics, and a use of improvisation derived from jazz are common elements in their work. There is variation within the scene, for example from pop/rock like early Soft Machine and much Caravan to avant-garde composed pieces as with early National Health to improvised jazz as with later Soft Machine or In Cahoots. Didier Malherbe (of Gong) has defined the scene as having “certain chord changes, in particular the use of minor second chords, certain harmonic combinations, and a great clarity in the aesthetics, and a way of improvising that is very different from what is done in jazz.” There is debate about the existence and definition of the scene. Dave Stewart has complained at the nomenclature as he and many other musicians identified with the Canterbury scene never had anything to do with Canterbury, the place. The former Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper, who lived in Whitstable, near Canterbury, said: “I think it’s a rather artificial label, a journalistic thing… I don’t mind it, but people like Robert Wyatt , he in fact hates that idea, because he was born somewhere else and just happened to go to school here. In the time when the Wilde Flowers started we hardly ever worked in Canterbury. It wasn’t until Robert and Daevid Allen went to London to start Soft Machine that anything happened at all. They weren’t really a Canterbury band … if it helps people understand or listen to more music then it is fine.”

Cantiñas

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Sources#

MARTÍN SALAZAR, Jorge: Los cantes flamencos, Diputación Provincial de Granada ÁLVAREZ CABALLERO, Ángel: La discoteca ideal del flamenco, Planeta, 1995

Cantu a tenore

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Etymology#

The word is not to be confused with the word “tenor” as a simple description of vocal register; it refers to the actual style of folk singing and is distinguished from other similar styles called by different names in different places on the island, such as in Gallura and in Logudoro . In the Barbagia region on the island of Sardinia, there are two different styles of polyphonic singing: , usually a form of sacred music, sung with regular voices, and , usually a form of profane music, marked by the use of overtone singing.

Canzone napoletana

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History#

Many of the Neapolitan songs are world-famous because they were taken abroad by emigrants from Naples and southern Italy, roughly between 1880 and 1920. The music also was popularized abroad by performers such as Enrico Caruso, who took to singing the popular music of his native city as encores at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the early 1900s. Caruso also recorded many of these songs, which subsequently became part of the standard repertoire for operatic tenors, and which were performed and recorded by such notable singers as Beniamino Gigli, Francesco Albanese, Franco Corelli, Mario Del Monaco, Giuseppe Di Stefano, and Tito Schipa. The Three Tenors also performed popular songs from Naples. Plácido Domingo recorded a full CD Italia ti amo of traditional and some more modern Neapolitan and Italian songs. Luciano Pavarotti recorded three albums of Neapolitan and Italian songs: The Best: Disc 2, (2005), Pavarotti Songbook, (1991), and Romantica, (2002). Mario Lanza recorded an acclaimed selection of 12 Neapolitan songs on his 1959 album, Mario! Lanza at His Best. Opera/pop crossover tenor, Sergio Franchi recorded his very popular Billboard Top 25 RCA debut album, Romantic Italian Songs in 1962, and continued to record Neapolitan songs on most of his albums throughout his career. Andrea Bocelli recorded an album in 2009 dedicated to the style, entitled Incanto. The most important native Neapolitan performers of Neapolitan songs in the last few decades include Roberto Murolo, Bruno Venturini, Mario Trevi, Mario Abbate, Mario Merola, Giulietta Sacco, Franco Ricci, Sergio Bruni, Renato Carosone, and Mario Maglione. Murolo is known not only as a singer and guitarist, but also as a composer, scholar and collector of the music; his collection of twelve LPs, released in the 1960s, is an annotated compendium of Neapolitan song dating back to the twelfth century. Representatives of different veins, but nevertheless leading the continuing tradition of song in Neapolitan, are the jazz-rock singer-songwriter Pino Daniele and the folkloric group Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare; Almamegretta and 99 posse are representative of a blend of Neapolitan songs and dub/trip hop, with the former appearing in a song with the Bristol duo Massive Attack. All Neapolitan songs are written and performed in the Neapolitan language. Although the music is sung by many non-Neapolitan singers, it is difficult to sing correctly without knowledge of the Neapolitan dialect, which is crucial in obtaining the correct inflection. The matter of dialect has not prevented a few non-Neapolitans from writing dialect versions of Neapolitan songs. The most famous examples of this are A vucchella by Gabriele D’Annunzio and Tu sì ’na cosa grande by Domenico Modugno. Since the second half of the 2010s, a new sub-set of Neapolitan music has begun to emerge which mixed various traditional elements with aspects of hip hop, electronic, techno and urban music. Among the major representatives of this “new school” we find Liberato, Geolier and Clementino.

Cape Breton fiddling

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Playing style#

Cape Breton- Scottish playing is accented, characterized by driven up-bowing. The tunes of other music origins (Irish, Canadian, French-Canadian, etc.) sound different when performed by Cape Breton- Scottish players. The downbeat pulse is driven by the fiddler’s heel into the floor. The pattern tends to be heel-and-toe on reels, the heel on strathspeys. Cape Breton fiddle music is influenced by the intonations of the Scots-Gaelic language, especially Puirt a Beul (mouth music) and strathspeys. The ornaments are adapted from those used on the Great Highland bagpipe. The ornamentation (cuts aka. trebles, drones and doubling) brings out the feeling of Cape Breton fiddle. A century ago the violin and pump organ were the common instruments; the latter has been supplanted by piano to provide a rhythmic accompaniment. Guitar is also used for accompaniment but it’s less prominent than piano.

Caramelles

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Origins#

No documentation has been found to prove when and where this custom begins, but it is known that in the 16th century, it was already celebrated in the rural world, and the oldest are the religious joys dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. Throughout the nineteenth century, choral societies adopted this tradition, introduced it to cities, and revitalized it with new elements and new musical pieces. For example, in the 1852 Clave Choirs statutes, caramelles was one of the activities of the institution. The earliest information regarding singing caramelles in Barcelona is from 1776, but it seems that the first gangs were not organized until the mid-nineteenth century and did not become widespread until 1880.

Caribbean music in the United Kingdom

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Trinidadian calypso#

Large-scale Caribbean migration to England recommenced following the Second World War in 1948. The Empire Windrush carried almost 500 passengers from Jamaica, including Lord Kitchener, a calypso singer from Trinidad. By chance, a local newsreel company filmed him singing “London Is the Place for Me” as he got off the ship. The 1951 Festival of Britain brought the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) and Roaring Lion to public attention. The smart set in Oxford and Cambridge adopted both calypso and steelband for debutante parties. In 1959, Trinidadian Claudia Jones started the Notting Hill Carnival. They brought Mighty Sparrow and others directly from Trinidad. Edric Connor had arrived in England from Trinidad in 1944. He starred in a West End musical called Calypso in 1948. A white Danish duo, Nina & Frederik, recorded several calypsos from 1958 to 1962, scoring in the charts. Cy Grant (from Guyana) sang a song by Lord Kitchener in the TV drama A Man from the Sun in 1956. It told the story of Caribbean migrants. From 1957 to 1960, Grant sang calypsos on the BBC TV news programme Tonight. In 1962, English comedian Bernard Cribbins had a hit with “Gossip Calypso”. In 2002, London Is the Place for Me: Trinidadian Calypso, 1950-1956 was finally released in Britain.

Catch (music)

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16th century#

The earliest secular round is the thirteenth century “Sumer is icumen in”. Other early survivals are in manuscripts devoted to topics other than music, and though there may well have been many more over the years, few survived. The first major collection is in the Henry VIII manuscript dated about 1515; but they are really courtly art-songs and too complex to be sung informally. The current catch repertoire dates from the Lant Collection copied around 1580 and containing 57 catches and rounds. This was followed by the first printed collections edited by Thomas Ravenscroft, which include most of the Lant pieces and most of those in the Melvil collection. Taking all three sources together this amounts to about 145 catches or rounds with a few part-songs. The contents list in all three Ravenscroft publications refer to “the songs in this book”. Pammelia has a running page header “Canons in the unison”, but the sections are headed “rounds or catches of 3 (&c) voices”. Deuteromelia introduces part-songs labelled as “Freemens songs”. Melismata divides the contents into City Rounds and Country Rounds as contrasted with part-songs labelled Court varieties, City Conceits and Country pastimes. The Ravenscroft catches have no identified composers save for two that are known to be by Lassus. There is no evident distinction between rounds and catches and no set terminology for part-songs. Though the catches are generally short, one or two take a whole page to print (four parts of 13 bars), and subject matter is varied, including pastoral, descriptive and devotional items, and none that might be described as bawdy.

Cello rock

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Celtic music

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Characteristics#

The term Celtic music denotes the music of the people that identify as Celts of the Celtic nations. Many notable Celtic musicians such as Alan Stivell and Paddy Moloney claim that the different Celtic music genres have a lot in common. These styles are known because of the importance of Irish and Scottish people in the English speaking world, especially in the United States, where they had a profound impact on American music, particularly bluegrass and country music. The music of Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Galician traditional music (Spain) and music of Portugal are also considered Celtic music. The tradition is particularly strong in Brittany, where Celtic festivals take place throughout the year, and in Wales, where the ancient eisteddfod tradition was revived and flourishes. Celtic music is prevalent abroad as well, especially in Canada and the United States. The provinces of Atlantic Canada are known for being a home of Celtic music, most notably on the islands of Newfoundland, Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island. The traditional music of Atlantic Canada is heavily influenced by the Irish, Scottish and Acadian ethnic makeup of much of the region’s communities. In some parts of Atlantic Canada, such as Newfoundland, Celtic music is as or more popular than in the old country. Some older forms of Celtic music that are rare in Scotland and Ireland today, such as the practice of accompanying a fiddle with a piano, or the Gaelic spinning songs of Cape Breton, remain common in the Maritimes. Much of the music of this region is Celtic in nature, but originates in the local area and celebrates the sea, seafaring, fishing and other primary industries. Instruments associated with Celtic Music include the Celtic harp, uilleann pipes or Great Highland bagpipe, fiddle, tin whistle, flute, bodhrán, bones, concertina, accordion and a recent addition, the Irish bouzouki. The mandolin has become increasingly common in Scottish folk ensembles during the 21st century, particularly within acoustic duos and contemporary folk groups drawing influence from both traditional dance tunes and modern Celtic arrangements.

Celtic punk

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History#

Celtic punk’s origins date back to 1960s and 1970s folk rock musicians who played Irish folk music and Celtic rock in the UK, as well as in more traditional Celtic folk bands such as the Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. The Scottish band the Skids were possibly the first UK punk band to add a strong folk music element, as they did on their 1981 album Joy. Around the same time in London, Shane MacGowan and Spider Stacy began experimenting with a sound that became the Pogues, which most consider to be the prototypical Celtic punk band. Other early Celtic punk bands included Nyah Fearties, Australia’s Roaring Jack and Norway’s Greenland Whalefishers. The 1990s gave rise to a Celtic punk movement in North America, centered around the likes of the Dropkick Murphys of Quincy, Massachusetts, and Chicago’s The Tossers – both from cities with particularly large population of Irish Americans – as well as LA’s Flogging Molly (founded by Irish emigrant Dave King) and The Real McKenzies of Vancouver, B.C.. North American Celtic punk bands have been influenced by American forms of music, and commonly sing in English.

Cerdd Dant

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History#

is a unique tradition of singing lyrics over a harp melody. Traditional Welsh language singers who sang in stately homes tended to sing in a verse form that had strict rules about metre, rhyme, and acceleration. is usually performed by a solo singer and a harpist; however, it is also performed by choirs and with several harps. A common form is have a harp melody written down or a well known tune, while the vocalist improvises their own harmony while singing a poem . When sung in a competition, there are strict rules about rhythm and cadences. When finishing a piece, the final verse has to end on a perfect cadence that is close to the home key so that the ending of the song is clear. In Wales, during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, two arts flourished side by side: (the craft of the tongue, poetical craft) and (the craft of string music). The poets and musicians were part of an all-embracing bardic system. The poets wrote verse of an occasional nature, praising the exploits and virtues of their patrons: the Welsh nobility and high-ranking clergy. They also provided elegies, devotional poetry, commemorated the generous acts of their patrons and satirised certain people in verses which might have the intensity of curses. The art of poetry was learnt orally, i.e. examples were learnt by heart and exercises given as spoken instruction. Part of the poet or musician’s craft was the ability to remember the important work of previous generations. One of the spurs to the active and generous patronage of poets must have been the prospect that one’s name and deeds would live forever. In descending social order came: poet, harper, player and the specialised singer of bardic verse, the . The crafts of poetry and instrumental music were interdependent and the performance of a new poem, at its most splendid, probably required the services of the , harpist and/or player; no doubt superintended by the poet. Between the beginning of the 14th century and the end of the 16th century Welsh poetical forms were brought to an extreme pitch of elaboration.

Chamarrita

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Azorean Chamarrita#

The chamarrita from the Azores is a dance to a rhythm traditionally played on the fiddle with or without accompaniment. Instruments often include the guitar, harmonica and accordion. Dancers, usually in pairs, wear authentic gaucho clothes reflecting Azorean culture. The dance itself is a lively dance done in a circle. There is a caller who sings out directions to all the dancers. The pairs of dancers gather in opposite rows, approaching and moving away as the music progresses. The following is an example of a Chamaritta verse with the English translation. A moda da Chamarrita Nã tem nada que aprender, E andar comum pé no ar E outro no chão a bater Quero cantar e bailar Com a moça mais bonita Bater o pé no terreiro Dar voltas a Chamarrita The old Chamarrita dance Is really easy to learn Just lift a foot in the air And stamp the other on the floor I want to sing and dance With the prettiest gal Stamp my foot on the ground In a Chamarrita round

Change ringing

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Technique and physics#

Today, some towers have as many as sixteen bells that can be rung together, though six or eight bells are more common. The highest pitch bell is known as the treble, and the lowest is the tenor. In some towers, a bell larger than a tenor that is present would be called a bourdon. The bourdon is not part of the change ringing peal; it is hung from a pivoted beam. For convenience, the bells are referred to by number, with the treble being number 1 and the other bells numbered by their pitch—2, 3, 4, etc.—sequentially down the scale. (This system often seems counter-intuitive to musicians, who are used to a numbering that ascends with pitch.) The bells are usually tuned to a diatonic major scale, with the tenor bell being the tonic (or key) note of the scale. Some towers contain additional bells so that different subsets of the full number can be rung, still to a diatonic scale. For instance, many 12-bell towers have a flat sixth, which if rung instead of the normal number 6 bell allows 2 to 9 to be rung as light diatonic octave; other variations are also possible. The bells in a tower reside in the bell chamber or belfry usually with louvred windows to enable the sound to escape. The bells are mounted within a bellframe of steel or wood. Each bell is suspended from a headstock fitted on trunnions (plain or non-friction bearings) mounted to the belfry framework so that the bell assembly can rotate. When stationary in the down position, the centre of mass of the bell and clapper is appreciably below the centreline of the trunnion supports, giving a pendulous effect to the assembly, and this dynamic is controlled by the ringer’s rope. The headstock is fitted with a wooden stay, which, in conjunction with a slider, limits maximum rotational movement to a little less than 370 degrees. To the headstock a large wooden wheel is fitted and to which a rope is attached. The rope wraps and unwraps on the rim of the wheel as the bell rotates backwards and forwards. This is full circle ringing and quite different from fixed or limited motion bells, which chime. Within the bell the clapper is constrained to swing in the direction that the bell swings. The clapper is a rigid steel or wrought iron bar with a large ball to strike the bell. The thickest part of the mouth of bell is called the soundbow and it is against this that the ball strikes. Beyond the ball is a flight, which controls the speed of the clapper. In very small bells this can be nearly as long as the rest of the clapper. Below the bell chamber there may be one or more sound chambers, (one of which is likely to house the clock mechanism if the church has one) and through which the rope passes before it drops into the ringing chamber or room. Typically, the rope’s length is such that it falls close to or on to the floor of the ringing chamber. About 5 ft m from the floor, the rope has a woollen grip called the sally (usually around 4 ft m long) while the lower end of the rope is doubled over to form an easily held tail-end. Unattended bells are normally left hanging in the normal (“down”) position, but prior to being rung, the bells are rung up. In the down position, the bells are safe if a person touches them or pulls a rope. A bell that is up is dangerous to be near, and only expert ringers should ever contemplate entering a bell chamber or touching a rope when the bells are up. To raise a bell, the ringer pulls on the rope and starts the bell swinging. Each time the bell swings the ringer adds a little more energy to the system, similar to pushing a child’s swing. Eventually there is enough energy for the bell to swing right up and be left over-centre just beyond the balance point with the stay resting against the slider to hold the bell in position, ready to be rung. Bellringers typically stand in a circle around the ringing chamber, each managing one rope. Bells and their attendant ropes are so mounted that the ropes are pulled in a circular sequence, usually clockwise, starting with the lightest (treble) bell and descending to the heaviest (tenor). To ring the bell, the ringer first pulls the sally towards the floor, upsetting the bell’s balance and swinging it on its bearings. As the bell swings downwards the rope unwinds from the wheel and the ringer adds enough pull to counteract friction and air resistance. The bell winds the rope back onto the other side of the wheel as it rises and the ringer can slow (or check) the rise of the bell if required. The rope is attached to one side of the wheel so that a different amount of rope is wound on and off as it swings to and fro. The first stroke is the handstroke with a small amount of rope on the wheel. The ringer pulls on the sally and when the bell swings up it draws up more rope onto the wheel and the sally rises to, or beyond, the ceiling. The ringer keeps hold of the tail-end of the rope to control the bell. After a controlled pause with the bell, on or close to its balancing point, the ringer rings the backstroke by pulling the tail-end, causing the bell to swing back towards its starting position. As the sally rises, the ringer catches it to pause the bell at its balance position. In English-style ringing the bell is rung up such that the clapper is resting on the lower edge of the bell when the bell is on the stay. During each swing, the clapper travels faster than the bell, eventually striking the soundbow and making the bell sound. The bell speaks roughly when horizontal as it rises, thus projecting the sound outwards. The clapper rebounds very slightly, allowing the bell to ring. At the balance point, the clapper passes over the top and rests against the soundbow. In change ringing where the order the bells are struck in is constantly altered, it is necessary to time the swing so that this strike occurs with precise positioning within the overall pattern. Precision of striking is important at all times. To ring quickly, the bell must not complete the full 360 degrees before swinging back in the opposite direction; while ringing slowly, the ringer waits with the bell held at the balance, before allowing it to swing back. To achieve this, the ringer must work with the bell’s momentum, applying just the right amount of effort during the pull that the bell swings as far as required and no further. This allows two adjacent bells to reverse positions, the quicker bell passing the slower bell to establish a new pattern. Although ringing up certainly involves some physical exertion, actual ringing should rely more on practised skill than mere brute force. Even the smallest bell in a tower is much heavier than the person ringing it. The heaviest bell hung for full-circle ringing is in Liverpool Cathedral and weighs . Despite this colossal weight, it can be safely rung by one (experienced) ringer. (Whilst heavier bells exist – for example Big Ben – they are generally only chimed, either by swinging the bell slightly or having the bell hung dead and using a mechanical hammer.)

Chanson

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Chanson de geste#

The earliest chansons were the epic poems performed to simple monophonic melodies by a professional class of jongleurs or ménestrels. These usually recounted the famous deeds (geste) of past heroes, legendary and semi-historical. The Song of Roland is the most famous of these, but in general the chansons de geste are studied as literature since very little of their music survives.

Chanson courtoise#

The chanson courtoise or grand chant was an early form of monophonic chanson, the chief lyric poetic genre of the trouvères. It was an adaptation to Old French of the Occitan canso. It was practised in the 12th and 13th centuries. Thematically, as its name implies, it was a song of courtly love, written usually by a man to his noble lover. Some later chansons were polyphonic and some had refrains and were called chansons avec des refrains.

Chanson réaliste

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Origins and influences#

Chanson réaliste grew out of the cafés-concerts and cabarets of the Montmartre district of Paris during the 1880s. Although chanson réaliste was a musical genre dominated by female vocalists, one of its earliest performers—and credited by some as “the creator” or “the father” of genre —was cabaret singer and comedian Aristide Bruant. Bruant began a career at Le Chat Noir in 1885 and his vaudeville-inspired mix of song, satire and entertainment became very popular with the bourgeoisie slumming in the poorer Montmartre district. His compositions were novel for the time because they included the everyday language and slang used by the commoners. Borrowing elements of the comédie en vaudeville, the chanteuses réalistes (realist singers female ) often wore black dresses, red lipstick and white face makeup—their faces highlighted with stark lighting, set against a modest, almost bare backdrop—all done to draw audiences’ attention to the singers’ emotive facial expressions. In contrast to the picturesque chanson which was popular in post-World War II France—with its songs of love, cobbled Parisian streets, and the sound of the accordion—the chanteuses réalistes sang songs of loss, hopelessness and abandonment; their songs dealt with life in the poorer Parisian faubourgs, and the thugs, pimps, prostitutes, and orphans who called them home; its themes of poverty and the criminal underworld, as well as its sociopolitical commentary, were influenced by the works of such literary realists and naturalist writers as Émile Zola, Jean Richepin and Paul Bourget.

Chap hop

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History#

Two leading exponents of the genre are Professor Elemental and Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer, who belong to the steampunk and Chappist factions of chap hop respectively. Other notable artists are Poplock Holmes & DJ WattsOn, and Sir Reginald Pikedevant, Esquire. In March 2013, UK Education Secretary Michael Gove said he was a fan of the genre. Mr. B noted the irony of this, since his music often pokes at members of the establishment, commenting: “As a non-Etonian and thus an outcast within the cabinet, this is perhaps a little snook cocked at his colleagues.”

Choral concerto

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Background#

Eastern Christian liturgical music has ancient Byzantine roots, with a particular focus on chants. Traditions such as Russian Znamenny chant, Ukrainian Kievan chant, and Carpatho-Rusyn Prostopinije are unique within Christendom, and are a distinguishing feature of Russian, Ukrainian, and Carpatho-Rusyn liturgical music. The sacred chants and the polyphony (multi-part singing) found in much folk and secular music were difficult to reconcile. The Eastern Churches eventually relaxed their restrictions on the performance of polyphonic chant, and multi-part church music began to develop in the seventeenth century. However, the Greek Orthodox Church ban on the use of musical instruments in church remained in effect. This prohibition was a result of a desire to remain faithful to the ancient Byzantine tradition of a cappella singing. In the long eighteenth century, Orthodox church music in the Russian Empire underwent a period of Westernisation; the near-ubiquity of Italian music contributed to this, as did the transmission of polyphonic singing from Catholic Poland and Lithuania to Orthodox Christians and Byzantine Catholics in Ukraine and Russia. The popularity of this music, as well as the widespread acceptance of polyphonic church music, led to an almost complete cessation in the use of traditional chant. Rising nationalism contributed to a deeper interest in folk music, from both ideological and aesthetic viewpoints. The eighteenth century saw the adoption of folk tunes into so-called “high genres”, such as symphonies, cantatas, oratorios and opera seria. However, the desire to create a high “para-liturgical” genre, comparable with Western European masses, requiems and passions, remained unfulfilled.

Chouval bwa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The Martinique bèlè is a legacy of the slave music tradition. The bélé itself is a huge tambour drum that players ride as though it was a horse. It is characterized, in its rhythm, by the “tibwa” (two wooden sticks) played on a length of bamboo mounted on a stand to the tambour bèlè. Added to the tambour bèlè and tibwa are the maracas, more commonly referred to as the chacha. The tibwa rhythm plays a basic pattern and the drum comes to mark the highlights and introduce percussion improvisations. It is organized in a certain way, the first entry of the singer ( lavwa ) and choir ( lavwa Deye or “answer”). Then the “Bwatè” (player ti bwa) sets the pace, followed by bèlè drum. Finally, the dancers take the stage. A dialogue is created between the dancers and the “tanbouyè” (drummer). The “answer” plays opposite the singer, the audience can also participate.

Classical music in Kosovo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Prior to any developments of classical music in Kosovo there were amateur activities preceding them that set the environment for later developments, such as the activities of the wind orchestra “Bashkimi” in Skopje, the wind orchestra of Gjakova led by Palok Kurti, the boarding school “Kosova” in Krumë, the fanfare band “Kosova” in Kukës and the Albanian Catholic Church in Prizren. The first radio station that opened in Prizren in 1945 is also important to the beginnings of professional music in Kosovo, as for a long time much of the musical life in Kosovo was tied to this institution.

Čoček

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Coimbra fado

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Colindă

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Although the text of all colinde is concerned with the events of the Nativity, certain elements of the folk rituals performed around Christmas are probably pre-Christian in origin, having their roots in the Roman Saturnalia and pagan rituals related to the winter solstice and soil fertility. Colinde are performed in all parts of Romania (including Moldova), with regional variations in terms of number of participants, exact timing of different melodies and lyrics. In terms of artistic mastery of verse and melody, colinde occupy an important place in the creation of the Romanian people. They form a unity with doine, popular ballads and songs of bravery, with tales, riddles, proverbs and sayings. Coming from the world of village communities, colinde preserve some of the oldest Romanian poetic achievements. They are inspired by the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, by the religious services and by the iconography. Colinde have had a role in preserving and defending the Orthodox faith when heterodox proselytizing tried to break the unity of the Orthodox faith, and to dismantle, at the same time, national unity. The Mother of God, who occupies a central place in piety and Orthodox worship, is present everywhere in Romanian colinde, together with her son, Jesus Christ. In traditional Romanian rural society, preparations for colinde started well in advance (sometimes weeks) before Christmas. The village youth (usually boys) would begin to form groups in different places and designate a leader in order to practice singing in unison. These groups are called cete de colindători, and their numbers vary from region to region. Then, starting on Christmas Eve, the groups would go to different houses and begin singing. In some villages, they go first to the mayor’s house, followed by the teacher’s house, whereas in other parts there is no pre-established order. The families would then invite them into the house, and give them different small gifts such as nuts, dried fruits and colaci. Examples of colinde with religious subjects are “Astăzi s-a născut Hristos” (Today Christ was born), “Moș Crăciun cu plete dalbe” (Santa Claus with white tresses) and “O, ce veste minunată!” (O, what wonderful news!).

Cool Cymru

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

The term Cool Cymru ( is the Welsh name for Wales) derives as a Welsh alternative to Cool Britannia (itself a pun on the British patriotic song “Rule, Britannia!”). Cool Britannia described the revival of British art and culture in the mid-1990s which was centred on London, emphasised British culture and used British symbols such as The Union Jack. The term Cool Cymru gained popularity for the cultural figures and phenomena which were specifically Welsh or Welsh in origin, and continued to be used by Welsh and British commentators long after the term Cool Britannia has fallen out of favour. By 1998 many Welsh cultural figures were gaining prominence across the UK, at a time when the use of Cool Britannia was being maligned by some cultural commentators as a ubiquitous term for any part of British culture.

Copla (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cornkister

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

*Bothy Ballads; Centre for the Scots Leid

Cossack songs

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cossack songs of Ukraine#

Cossack songs emerged in the 16–17th centuries among Zaporozhian and Registered Cossacks. Many of them have historical importance, mentioning the names and deeds of famous Ukrainian Cossack leaders such as Dmytro Vyshnevetsky (Baida), Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Petro Doroshenko, Ivan Sirko, Ivan Mazepa, Pavlo Polubotok, Danylo Nechai, Semen Paliy and others. Some Cossack songs have been adopted as patriotic anthems, for example Oi u luzi chervona kalyna. Characteristic topics of Ukrainian Cossack songs include heroism in battle, military routine and dangers met by Cossacks during their campaigns, sorrows of separation with relatives and loved ones, uncertainty of fate, imprisonment and escape, homesickness and death in foreign land. A special place in those songs is taken by horse—the main companion of a Cossack in battle and during marches. In terms of musical typology, Ukrainian Cossack songs can be divided into following types: marches, sometimes containing elements of heterophony and kant singing; lyrical songs similar to chants; polyphonic songs of Dnieper Ukraine; lyrical solo compositions. With the flow of time, many Ukrainian Cossack songs were adopted as chumak, haidamak, recruit and soldiers’ songs.

Country and Irish

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Country and Irish music emerged from Ireland’s showband scene, where local bands would play American pop standards tailored to Irish sensibilities. The showband scene was especially strong in Northern Ireland and border counties on account of restrictions on live music performances during Lent in the Republic of Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s. Johnny McCauley, who performed extensively for Irish expat audiences in London in the 1950s, is regarded as the first songwriter to compose songs in an American country music style with lyrics that specifically referenced Irish subject matter. His songs were covered by artists such as Big Tom and Larry Cunningham at a time when the showband business model was in decline, allowing these artists to pivot to selling recorded music.

Coupé-décalé

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Coupé-décalé derives its name from Nouchi. According to journalist Siddhartha Mitter, coupé means “to cheat” while décalé means “to run away”. Together, the phrase expressed a rebellious mindset linked to “beating the system” and escaping social or economic hardships, especially those associated with Western or colonial systems, in a way similar to the idea of “The Man” in American counterculture. Other interpretations of the genre’s name have been suggested as well. In Tradition et modernité dans la musique de l’Afrique occidentale, musicologist Olivier Rivera Micalef argued that DJ Jacob was the first person to use the words coupé (“cut”) and décalé (“shift”) to describe particular dance movements performed by the Jet Set collective. Even though DJ Jacob introduced the terms, Douk Saga is generally considered the central figure who organized, expanded, and brought coupé-décalé to international audiences.

Cowpunk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

The term “cowpunk” is first attested in 1979, as a blend of “cowboy” and “punk”. The term “country punk” has been proposed as an equivalent term. Both terms are sometimes hyphenated, especially in late 1970s or early 1980s sources (e.g., cow-punk or country-punk). In 1984, Robert Palmer wrote in the New York Times on the emerging aesthetic acknowledged “cowpunk” as one of several catch-all terms critics were using to categorize the country-influenced music of otherwise unrelated punk and new wave bands. The article briefly summarized the music’s history, at least in the United States, saying that in the early 1980s, several punk and new wave bands had begun collecting classic country records, and soon thereafter began performing high-tempo cover versions of their favorite songs, and that new bands had also formed around the idea. By 1984, there were dozens of bands in both the U.S. and England “personalizing country music and making it palatable for the MTV Generation.” A New York Times writer stated that one issue with the “cowpunk” term was that “…no single term really describes the music of all these bands.” A 2018 article looking back at the 1980s trends states that the “…diversity of styles beyond punk proper” in cowpunk, “…for some, made the category…suspect, or at least misleading.”

Croatian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

During the 1980s in Croatia and Yugoslavia, there was a mainstream surge of rock music called new wave which mostly suppressed other types of music from the mainstream. Electro-pop bands like Denis & Denis and funk musicians such as Dino Dvornik were unique at the time. It was Dino Dvornik that in 1989 launched his first album and started a revolution of electronic music in Yugoslavia. In the middle of the 1980s in Rijeka emerged the first Croatian rapper MC Buffalo who released the first and only hip hop album in Yugoslavia. During that time in Zagreb Slavin Balen formed a radio show that played hip hop music called Rap Attack.

Crust punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lyrics#

Crust punk lyrics generally discuss real-world issues as a means of activism. In particular, they discuss political and social themes such as class struggle, environmentalism, anarchism, and anti-capitalism. Sometimes these themes are hyperbolised to the point of discussing the apocalypse, religious control and nuclear destruction. Many bands also discussed feminism, animal rights and veganism or vegetarianism. In contrast, Amebix’s lyrics sometimes discussed mysticism and Gnosticism.

Instrumentation#

Crust punk is a derivative form of anarcho-punk, mixed with metal riffs. The overall musical sound was described by SFGate writer Loolwa Khazzoom as being “stripped down”. Drumming is typically done at high speed, with D-beats sometimes being used. In Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics, author Gabriel Kuhn referred to the genre as a “blend of 1977 British punk, roots culture and black metal”, with the genre often taking influence from death metal, grindcore and powerviolence.

Cumbia pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Influences and development#

The cumbia pop genre emerged in the mid-2000s when some musical groups from Uruguay and Argentina made covers of popular songs, mixing them with cumbia and pop elements, and published them on YouTube. One of the pioneers was the Uruguayan group VI-EM, followed by the Argentine group Agapornis. However, it did not gain as much notoriety, but at that time other subgenres such as cumbia villera were more popular. Beginning in 2013–2014, cumbia pop went mainstream with the formation in Montevideo of the Uruguayan bands Rombai and Márama, which became extremely popular in Uruguay, Argentina, and other Latin American countries. They adopted danceable rhythms and lyrics related to love and youth life, as both groups were composed of people in their 20s, and included elements of pop and electropop, giving the musical genre its definitive shape. These bands toured several seaside towns and released summer hits, which increased their notoriety among young people. Since the members of the most popular bands were youngsters from the upper-middle class or upper class, and since the lyrics and music videos showcased luxury, exclusive parties, and aspirational lifestyles, this subgenre also became known as Cumbia Cheta. “Cheta”—the feminine form of the word “cheto”—is a slang from Rioplatense Spanish used to describe someone or something associated with the upper class. Cumbia pop broke away from the traditional association of cumbia with working-class and middle-class people and aligned itself with the internationally popular pop and Latin pop music. Given the rise of the genre, other bands emerged that also achieved wide popularity, such as the Uruguayan Toco Para Vos, Canto Para Bailar and Dame 5, and the Argentine .

Cuplé

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notable cupletistas#

María Antinea (1915–1991), Spanish actress, vedette, dancer, cupletista and tonadillera
La Argentinita (1898–1945), Spanish-Argentine flamenco dancer (bailaora), choreographer and singer
Bella Dorita (1901–2001), Spanish cabaret singer, dancer, and vedette
Paquita Escribano (1880–1970), Spanish singer (cupletista and tonadillera)
Julia Fons (1882–1973), Spanish singer and cupletista
La Fornarina (1884–1915), Cuplé singer
Celia Gámez (1905–1992), Argentine film actress, icon of the Golden Age of Spanish theatre
Úrsula López (1870–1966), Spanish Zarzuela, variety singer, and businesswoman
Raquel Meller (1888-1962), Spanish diseuse, cuplé, and tonadilla singer and actress.
Lola Montes (1898–1983), Spanish singer
La Chelito (1885–1959), Cuban-born Spanish cuplé singer, and theater business owner
Preciosilla (1893–1952), Spanish cupletista
Olga Ramos (1918–2005), Spanish cupletista, violinist, and actress
Rosita Rodrigo (1891–1959), Spanish actress, vedette, dancer and songwriter
Teresita Zazá (1893–1980), Spanish tonadillera, cupletista, and actress

Czech bluegrass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Czech interest in things American dates to the nineteenth century, and is suffused with luminous conceptions of the Old West, cowboys, American Indians and other iconic images. Czech tramping emerged as its main vector after 1918 in the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic. Tramping in this sense is a Czech-specific blend of ideas taken from Scouting, the German wandervogels, and Americanist romanticism. The music that accompanied the movement (Czech tramping music) was a blend of Czech folklore, early jazz and other “syncopated music”, such as barbershop, harmony singing, and popular songs from the U.S., France, and elsewhere. Czech tramping enthusiasts quickly incorporated the sounds and “style” of Bluegrass when they first heard this music in the late 1940s.

D-beat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

One of the earliest examples of D-beat can be found in the Buzzcocks’ song “You Tear Me Up,” on their debut LP, Another Music In A Different Kitchen. It featured a fast, intense drumbeat which Discharge would later emulate in the distinctive drumbeat of D-beat. Discharge formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England, initially playing a basic variety of street punk inspired by the Sex Pistols and The Clash. In 1979, the group changed its line-up and began to develop a new, more aggressive style. At this time Terry “Tezz” Roberts of Discharge developed their characteristic drum beat, for which the D-beat subgenre is named. Roberts commented in 2004 that “I just wanna be remembered for coming up with that f-ckin’ D-beat in the first place! And inspiring all those f-ckin’ great Discore bands around the world!” Discharge’s inspiration for the style has led it to be referred to as “Discore”. Roberts’ beat is similar to the basic percussive backbone of songs by Motörhead, and many subsequent groups borrow from this group a great deal as well as Discharge. After 1982, the group changed its style to a more conventional form of heavy metal. However, their classic sound inspired other groups to emulate them; The Varukers, also from England, were the first of these. As punk historian Ian Glasper put it, “The Varukers were the original Discore band, the first and best of the hardcore punk acts to take the simple, yet devastatingly effective formula laid down by Discharge and play it as fast, hard, heavy as they could.” While the style was first practiced in England, it became especially inspirational to a number of groups in Sweden. D-beat was initially known as “kängpunk” (“boot punk”) in Sweden. The first Swedish D-beat song is “Marquee,” by Rude Kids, from Stockholm, recorded in 1979. They were followed by KSMB (En Slemmig Torsk), Missbrukarna, and more famously, Anti Cimex. Anti Cimex’s second 7-inch EP, Raped Ass, has been described as “one of the rawest and most violent hardcore releases ever.” and most prominently Mob 47. Mob 47, also from Stockholm, was known as the fastest of the kängpunk groups. The group also blended Discharge’s style with American hardcore punk, diversifying the style. The heaviest of Swedish crust bands was Crude SS

Daina (Latvia)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Poetic metre and its limitations#

The trochaic metre is the most popular, with around 95% of dainas being in it. Characteristic of this metre is that an unstressed syllable follows a stressed syllable, with two syllables forming one foot. Two feet form a dipody and after every dipody, there is a caesura, which cannot be in the middle of a word. The dainas traditionally are written down so that every line contains two dipodies. If a caesura is followed by three syllables, the last syllable – i.e. the one at the end of the line – is long; if four syllables follow it is short. A syllable is considered short if it contains a short vowel or a short vowel and S; all other syllables are considered long. This results in a rather limited vocabulary as a dipody can consist of either one four-syllable word, two two-syllable words, one one-syllable and one three-syllable word or two one-syllable words and one two-syllable word. Exceptions are mostly found in Eastern Latvian dialects, which allow words to start one syllable before or after where the caesura normally would be, thus allowing five-syllable combinations. This inconsistency is usually found only in one or two lines, most often in the second or fourth. The notion of short and long syllables at the end of lines is retained. However, the syllable after a lost caesura is often unstressed as it is in everyday speech. A sound may be added or removed to increase vocabulary there or elsewhere. The addition of sounds is explained with structural changes in the language itself (loss of vowels in word endings). The sound added at the end of a word is usually I, in some rare cases also A, U or E (the last of these mostly in some regions of Courland). Occasionally contractions occur and I replaces a diminutive ending in I – i.e. the ending is retained but separated from the rest of the word by a caesura. This can perhaps be explained by diminutives being so popular in dainas that people didn’t find it appropriate to replace one with the same word without it, which would be a syllable shorter. Sometimes a diminutive is added to increase the number of syllables even when the meaning of the word is the opposite of what is usually expressed with the diminutive. Similarly, the need to match the metric might cause disagreement in tenses.

Dance-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Many groups in the post-punk era adopted a more danceable style, with dance-punk emerging as a compromised genre originally referred to as “disco-punk” or “punk funk”. Its first wave emerged from a communal and alternative scene as a critique of social standards. New York City bands who were core to this wave were ESG, Liquid Liquid, James Chance and the Contortions, Defunkt, Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Material. In addition, the Slits contributed to the genre in Britain, emphasizing the influence of reggae. These bands were influenced strongly by funk, avant-funk trends, disco, dub reggae, ska, new wave, and other dance music forms popular at the time. More culturally prominent acts from the late 1970s into the 1980s included Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd., New Order and Gang of Four. Emerging from the convergence of disco and punk influences, dance-punk exhibits a strong affiliation with urban environments, particularly in the way they are romanticized and portrayed. These spaces, whether they exist in the realm of imagination or reality, conjure up a sense of cosmopolitanism, artistic liberation, and a spirit of defiance against the confines of conventional mainstream culture.

Dance-rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definitions#

Michael Campbell, in his book Popular Music in America, defines the genre as “post-punk/post-disco fusion”. Campbell also cited Robert Christgau, who described dance-oriented rock (or DOR) as an umbrella term used by various DJs in the 1980s. However, AllMusic defines “dance-rock” as 1980s and 1990s music practiced by rock musicians, influenced by Philly soul, disco and funk, fusing those styles with rock and dance. Artists like the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Simple Minds, INXS, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, the Clash, New Order and Devo belong, according to AllMusic, to this genre. Dance-rock embraces some experimental funk acts like A Certain Ratio, Gang of Four, and also mainstream musicians, for example Robert Palmer, Billy Idol and Hall & Oates.

Danish traditional music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Through the Middle Ages and into the 19th century there are reports of “chain dances”, processions and ceremonial dances accompanied by pipes, drums and singing. In the 17th and 18th centuries, throughout Denmark the practice of music was under the monopoly of the appointed city musicians (stadsmusikant), who with their journeymen and apprentices were the only musicians allowed to play for a salary within an assigned territory. Since the city musician was trained in the cities, this meant that courtly repertoires made their way into the countryside, and that most areas did not maintain local musical traditions during this time. Only a few areas, such as Bornholm and Amager, never had the stadsmusikant monopoly, and a few others such as Fanø maintained a local tradition by an arrangement whereby local musicians leased the right to perform on the island from the city musician of Ribe. Since city musicians frowned on the use of instruments deemed impure such as drums, bagpipes and hurdy-gurdies, this period also saw the rise of the fiddle as the main instrument for dance music. From around 1500, medieval chain dances were displaced by pair dances. The oldest known pair dance in Denmark is the pols, an adapted variant of a Polish dance that was popular in Sweden as early as the 16th century. It is assumed that the pols was prevalent in the Danish countryside by the second half of the 17th century, and in the 18th century it was the most common popular dance along with the minuet. These Polish dances were usually performed in two parts: a slow march and a faster 3/4 second part. Often in the oldest hand-written tune books only the first part was written, as the fiddler improvised the second half based on the first. From the end of the 18th century English-style contra and square dances became popular. In the 19th century the waltz became the most popular dance in the cities, after having been known in the countryside for a while. Other dance types of the early 19th century are hopsa, rheinlænder, galop, sveitrit and schottish all of which were integrated into the popular English style dances, and later developed their own local dance forms. Around 1850 the polka and mazurka entered the popular repertoire. At the end of the 19th century the earlier dance tradition began to lose its place to modern dances from England, Southern Europe and America. From the local tradition of the island of Fanø the tune types sønderhoning and fannik have made their way into the standard repertoire of Danish traditional music, and are remnants of the early tradition of Polish derived dances. To counter the loss of traditional dances, the Association for the Promotion of Folkdancing was founded in 1901, focusing on the preservation of popular dances from the period 1750-1850. Many local chapters of such preservation societies appeared during the first decades of the 20th century, and in 1929 there were as many as 16,000 members. These dance associations had a homogenizing effect on the popular dances, creating a standard repertoire of Danish folk dances. They often danced in folk dress. In response to this homogenizing effect of the folkdancing guilds, informal dance organizations working to keep local dance traditions alive in informal settings were also developed, under the name of “Old Dance”. Certain rural areas of Denmark such as Fanø, Læsø, Ærø and parts of Western Jutland maintained living traditions of dancing from the late 18th century well into the 20th century.

Dansband

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lyrics#

Dansband lyrics are often upbeat, and are mostly about love, friendship and peace. Other lyrics are about dancing. Some lyrics are inspired by national romanticism, with lyrics about things such as old memories from the past, nature, or native districts. Romantic dansband lyrics are reminiscent of pop, where the singer declares his or her love for the person being sung to, but are often more focused on growing old together and living together until one of them dies. The Norwegian dansband Ole Ivars has also, with much humour, written lyrics that are more about society than traditional dansband lyrics. The lyrics are often in Swedish in Sweden, and in Norwegian in Norway. In the 1990s, special “dansband songwriters” broke through, among them Lasse Holm, Gert Lengstrand and Torgny Söderberg. For many years, the same persons wrote songs for most of the major names, but soon dansband musicians became more involved in songwriting.

Dark wave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1980s: Origins in Europe#

Since the 1980s, the term “dark wave” has been used in Europe by the music press to describe the gloomy and melancholy variant of new wave and post-punk music. At that time, the term “goth” was inseparably connected with gothic rock, whereas “dark wave” acquired a broader meaning, embracing bands and solo artists that were associated with gothic rock such as Bauhaus, Joy Division, the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode, French cold wave groups such as Clair Obscur and Opera Multi Steel have also been associated with the dark wave scene; Simultaneously, different substyles associated with the new wave and dark wave movements started to merge and influence each other, e.g. synth-wave ) with gothic rock, or began to borrow elements of post-industrial music. Attrition, Die Form (France), Pink Industry (UK), Psyche (Canada), Kirlian Camera (Italy) and Clan of Xymox (Netherlands) performed this music in the 1980s. Other bands such as Malaria! and the Vyllies added elements of chanson and cabaret music. This sort of dark wave music became known as cabaret noir (or “dark cabaret”, a term popularized by U.S. dark wave label Projekt Records). German dark wave bands were partially associated with the Neue Deutsche Welle (i.e. German new wave), and included Xmal Deutschland, Mask For, Asmodi Bizarr, and Pink Turns Blue.

Darkcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

By late 1992, breakbeat hardcore was beginning to fragment, and darkcore was one of the subgenres to emerge, in contrast with 4-beat. Darkcore is often characterised by dark-themed samples such as horror movie elements, cries for help, sinister sounding stabs and synthesizer notes, along with syncopated breakbeats in addition to 4-to-the-floor beats and low frequency basslines. It also saw the introduction of effects such as pitch shifting and time stretching to create mood.

Desgarrada

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Linked to festive occasions, such as romarias, fairs, desfolhadas, In desgarradas, for several minutes, however it was rejected due to the application being deemed as “too broad”.

Organizations#

Associação de Cantadores ao Desafio e Tocadores de Concertinas da Beira Alta, in Castro Daire.
Associação de Tocadores e Cantadores ao Desafio Famalicense, in Gavião.
Associação Cultural Desportiva Recreativa dos Amigos Tocadores de Concertinas do Concelho de Ponte de Lima, in Ponte de Lima.
Associação Popular de Cantares ao Desafio de Vila Nova de Famalicão, in Vila Nova de Famalicão.

Die anderen Bands

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bands#

Dekadance
Dritte Wahl
Feeling B
First Arsch
Herbst in Peking
Die Skeptiker

Sources#

Ronald Galenza, Heinz Havemeister (eds.): „Wir wollen immer artig sein…“ Punk, New Wave, Hiphop und Independent-Szene in der DDR von 1980 bis 1990. (2nd revised and expanded edition, including a virtually complete discography of all recordings of alternative DDR bands on state and independent labels) Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2005
Alexander Pehlemann, Ronald Galenza (eds.): Spannung. Leistung. Widerstand. Magnetbanduntergrund. DDR 1979–1990. Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2006
Mirko M. Hall, Seth Howes, Cyrus M. Shahan: Beyond No Future: Cultures of German Punk. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2016
Juliane Fürst, Josie McLellan: Dropping out of Socialism: The Creation of Alternative Spheres in the Soviet Bloc. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016

External links#

:(mostly in German) * http://www.die-anderen-bands.de * http://podcast.parocktikum.de * https://web.archive.org/web/20070604023056/http://www.generationpunk.de/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20070328211016/http://www.aggeige.de/ (AG Geige) * http://www.dekadance.de (Dekadance) * http://www.die-art.de (Die Art) * http://www.freygangband.de (Freygang) * http://archiv.digitalcraft.org/is-berlin/isb/_awolter/HIP/STERN.html (Herbst in Peking) * http://www.kirsche-co.de/ (Kirsche & Co.) * http://www.muellstation.de/ (Müllstation) * http://www.sandow.de/ (Sandow) * http://www.dieskeptiker.com/ (Die Skeptiker) * http://happystraps.de (Happy Straps)

Disco polo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Classic disco polo songs are characterised by simple chord progressions and melodies, and take further influence from the steady rhythms found in folk music. The genre is dominated by compositions in the time signature. Lyrics are often sentimental and playful, written around themes of love and sometimes holidays.

Roots of the genre#

The genre originates from music played at weddings by bands with a repertoire of Polish folk music and wedding songs. Later, electronic instruments were adopted over traditional acoustic instruments. The most common lyrical themes included melodramatic lyrics about unrequited love. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, more bands emerged, such as Akcent, Atlantis, , and . Scenes were centered in Białystok and other cities in the province of Podlaskie, with regional scenes in Żyrardów and Sochaczew.

Doina

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and characteristics#

Béla Bartók discovered the doina in Northern Transylvania in 1912 and he believed it to be uniquely Romanian. After he found similar genres in Ukraine, Albania, Algeria, Middle East and Northern India, he came to the belief that these are part of a family of related genres of Arabo-Persian origin. He particularly linked the Romanian doina to the Turkish/Arabic Makam system. Bartók’s conclusions were rejected by some Romanian ethnomusicologists, who accused Bartók of anti-Romanian bias. Similarities between the Romanian doina and various musical forms from the Middle East have been subsequently documented by both non-Romanian and Romanian scholars. Until the first half of the 20th century, both lăutari were recorded using a taksim as an introduction to a tune. The taksim would be later replaced by the doina, which has been described as being similar, though not totally identical to the taksim. Romanian ethnomusicologist and musician Grigore Leşe, after performing with a group of Iranian musicians, noticed that the doinas of Maramureş have “great affinities” with the Arabo-Persian music. The doina is a free-rhythm, highly ornamented (usually melismatic), improvisational tune. The improvisation is done on a more or less fixed pattern (usually a descending one), by stretching the notes in a rubato-like manner, according to the performer’s mood and imagination. Usually the prolonged notes are the fourth or fifth above the floor note. The peasant doinas are mostly vocal and monophonic and are sung with some vocal peculiarities that vary from place to place: interjections (măi, hei, dui-dui, iuhu), glottal clucking sounds, choked sobbing effects, etc. Instrumental doinas are played on simple instruments, usually various types of flutes, or even on rudimentary ones, such as a leaf. The peasant doina is a non-ceremonial type of song and is generally sung in solitude, having an important psychological action: to “ease one’s soul” (de stâmpărare in Romanian). Grigore Leşe believes that, while scholars describe in great detail the technical aspects of the doina, they fail to understand its psychological aspects. Doinas are lyrical in aspect and their common themes are melancholy, longing (dor), erotic feelings, love for nature, complaints about the bitterness of life or invocations to God to help ease pain, etc. The doina is an integral component of the archaic Romanian pastoral poem When the shepherd lost his sheep, where it expresses the shepherd’s sorrow and lamentation for his lost flock. Unlike peasant doinas, lăutar and klezmer doinas are usually accompanied and played on more complex instruments (violin, pan-pipe, cymbalom, accordion, clarinet, tarogato, etc.). Also, unlike peasant doinas, lăutar and klezmer doinas are mostly played as an introduction to another tune, usually a dance. In the regions of Southern Romania, Romani lăutari developed a type of doina called cântec de ascultare (meaning “song for listening”, sometimes shortened to de ascultare or simply ascultare). The cântec de ascultare spread to other regions of Romania, with local particularities. Klezmer Doinas are influenced by Hassidic niguns.

Downtempo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Downtempo music is a broad genre but is united by several characteristics: *Atmospheric sound: artists focus more on layered sounds and mood than on catchy melodies or riffs *Slow beats: songs typically feature beats around 90 BPM *Gentle melodies: artists typically include more melodic phrases than straightforward ambient music

History#

Downtempo emerged from the UK’s late-1980s Bristol sound, which developed a slow, psychedelic fusion of hip hop with electronic music known as “trip hop” and birthed artists such as Massive Attack, Portishead, and Tricky. UK act Nightmares on Wax helped to pioneer downtempo electronica in the early 1990s, drawing on dub reggae and hip-hop. Downtempo music also started to surface around Ibiza, when DJs and promoters would bring down the vibe with slower rhythm and gentler electronic music upon approaching sunrise. At the end of the 1990s a more melodic instrumental electronica incorporating acoustic sounds with electronic styles emerged under its own umbrella name of downtempo. In the late 1990s, the Austrian duo Kruder & Dorfmeister popularized the style with their downtempo remixes of pop, hip-hop, and drum and bass tracks with influences of the ’70s soul jazz. Britons Steve Cobby and Dave McSherry, producing under the name Fila Brazillia, released a handful of downtempo, electronica and ambient techno albums that propelled the style further. Meanwhile, the Washington, D.C. locals Eric Hilton and Rob Garza, better known as Thievery Corporation, have introduced the Brazilian sound into the style after discussing the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and enriched it further by combining elements of Jamaican dub and reggae. In 2010, “downtempo pop” was described by The Atlantic as a variety of music styles from the 2000s characterized by mellow beats, vintage synthesizers, and lo-fi melodies. In other words, an umbrella term that includes chillwave, glo-fi, and hypnagogic pop. Later in the decade, another form of downtempo music, tagged as “lo-fi hip hop” or “chillhop”, became popular among YouTube music streamers.

Dream pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

“Dreampop” was coined by Alex Ayuli of A.R. Kane to describe the duo’s sound in the late 1980s. Although distinct from shoegaze, both terms have sometimes been used interchangeably, and the style overlaps with much indie rock, indie pop and synth pop. According to Pitchfork editors, the term “was always more of a descriptor than a proper genre” and its defining features are “atmosphere, intimacy, a light coating of psychedelia, and, yes, dreaminess.” It is thought to relate to the listener’s “immersion” in the music. The AllMusic Guide to Electronica defines dream pop as “an atmospheric subgenre of alternative rock that relies on sonic textures as much as melody”. According to Paste staff, the genre emphasizes mood and sonics over lyrics, so that “chords and tracks blur seamlessly into one another so frequently that it can be difficult to even decipher when one song ended and another has begun.” Common characteristics are breathy vocals, guitar effects, and a densely produced sound, Effects such as reverb and echo are ubiquitous, with tremolo and chorus also heard on recordings to achieve the style’s “floaty, surreal, cloud-like haze”.

Dreampunk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Dreampunk emerged in the mid-2010s. Many early dreampunk artists drew influence from film scores, vaporwave, and drum and bass. Dreampunk originates from the debut of 2814, the ambient duo composed of Luke Laurila () and David Russo (Hong Kong Express). The name is derived from the word cyberpunk because of its frequent use of imagined metropolitan spaces in its sound design, evoking the experience of walking through a futuristic city.

Drill 'n' bass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

AllMusic referred to the genre as “a spastic form of breakbeat jungle that relied on powerful audio software and patient programming to warp old midtempo beats and breaks into a frenzied, experimental potpourri of low-attention-span electronic music.” Critic Simon Reynolds described it as “jungle by non-junglists for non-junglists,” stating that producers are “free to take the idiomatic features of jungle — fucked-up breakbeats, mutant bass, sampladelic collage —and exacerbate them away beyond any conceivable use-value to DJ or dancer.” Author Peter Shapiro called it “double-time drum ’n’ bass with impossible-to-dance-to rhythms and toilet humor.”

Drill music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lyrics#

Drill lyrics tend to be adversarial and aggressive, sometimes with a “combative energy”. Drill lyrics strongly contrast with the subject matter of earlier Chicago rappers and contemporary mainstream hip hop which at the time of drill’s emergence tended to glorify and celebrate a rise to wealth. Drill rappers use a grim, deadpan delivery, often filtered through Auto-Tune, influenced by the “stoned, aimless warbling of Soulja Boy (one of the earliest non-local Keef collaborators) and Lil Wayne before him.” Atlanta-based rappers Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame were important influences on the early drill rappers.

Drum and bass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins (late 1980s – early 1990s)#

Drum and bass traces its roots to the UK rave scene and breakbeat hardcore of the late 1980s. Tracks such as Lennie De Ice’s We Are I.E. (1991) combined breakbeats with reggae-influenced basslines and are often cited as precursors to jungle and drum and bass. Early producers including 4hero, Doc Scott, LTJ Bukem, Goldie, and Grooverider began shaping the sound by stripping away elements of hardcore rave music and emphasising bass and complex drum patterns.

Dubstep

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The music website AllMusic has described dubstep’s overall sound as “tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals.” According to Simon Reynolds, dubstep’s constituents originally came from “different points in the 1989—99 UK lineage: bleep ’n’ bass, jungle, techstep, Photek-style neurofunk, speed garage, and 2 step.” Dubstep is generally instrumental. Similar to a vocal garage hybrid – grime – the genre’s feel is commonly dark; tracks frequently use a minor key or the Phrygian mode, and can feature dissonant harmonies such as the tritone interval within a riff. Compared to other styles of garage music, dubstep tends to be more minimalistic, focusing on prominent sub-bass frequencies. Some dubstep artists have also incorporated a variety of outside influences, from dub-influenced techno such as Basic Channel to classical music or heavy metal. A softer and more melodic offshoot of dubstep, known as chillstep, also emerged in the late 2000s. It incorporates elements of ambient and chill out music.

Duma (epic)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

First mention of the term “Duma” in the meaning of epic song comes from a Polish translation of the Bible published in Kraków in 1561. The word duma originates from Polish rather than from Ukrainian (or Ruthenian). The word duma was already used in Old Polish literature (Old Polish literature spanned from the medieval period through the Baroque era). Polish Dumas typically told of the deeds of a historical hero or an otherwise unknown person who had achieved something noteworthy. Its action was usually set in an atmospheric landscape and included reflections on the past. The style of the duma was simple, often drawing on elements of everyday speech. Later, Polish dumy were also written with elements of the supernatural—centered on meditations over knights’ graves, ruins, or nocturnal settings—as well as romantic dumy recounting the amorous adventures of knights. Poles used the word duma for their own ballades as well as foreign ballades (including Ukrainian ones), from very early on, Mikołaj Rej calling Ukrainian epics dumy. Some popular Polish dumy include “Duma o Żółkiewskim”, “Duma o Chodkiewiczu”, and “Duma Kamieniecka.” While the name ”duma” for Ukrainian epic songs is a Polonism (a word borrowed from Polish), the songs themselves do not derive from Polish literary or musical traditions. Ukrainian dumy constitute an indigenous oral-epic form rooted in the historical and social experience of the Cossack Hetmanate and transmitted by itinerant bards known as kobzari and bandurysty. In the early 19th century, the Russian poet Kondraty Ryleyev applied the term duma to historical or heroic songs in East Slavic culture, following his translation of Niemcewicz’s “Duma o Michale Glińskim” (“Duma about Michał Gliński”). This adaptation popularized the word across the Slavic literary world, where it came to denote epic or patriotic songs associated with national history and heroism. The relationship between the military and the religion with dumy originated in the times of the Cossack rebellion of 1648. Ukraine fell under the control of the Catholic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, that imposed discriminatory measures on the Eastern Orthodox Church. This rebellion was followed by “partition and eventual subjugation of the Ukrainian lands and the Ukrainian church. The Cossacks rebelled against the religious oppression and their lands were eventually lost to the oppressor. This causes a great dilemma in the church because the Cossacks were defenders of the faith, and since they lost, and the faith is infallible, the Cossacks themselves must have done something sinful. This is why a duma has a great religious undertone and is a song that tells of death and defeat, not of victory. Pavlo Zhytetsky suggested that the style of duma’s evolved as a unique combination of folk and educated cultures. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine describes dumy as lyrico-epic works of folk origin that arose in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries out of the military and social life of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and frontier communities, only later acquiring the name duma. Filaret Kolessa’s classic study of the genre’s genesis argues that their style developed through the interaction of older historical songs, church chant and the syllabic verse of early modern school drama and religious poetry. Some scholars push the roots of the genre further back. Drawing on comparative metrics and motifs, Kolessa and later authors have pointed to similarities between dumy and earlier East Slavic chant and lament traditions, including the medieval Slovo o polku Ihorevi, and have suggested lines of continuity between Kyivan-period epic forms and the Cossack-era dumy. In a different line of argument, Natalie Kononenko notes that many Western researchers understand dumy, together with South and East Slavic heroic songs, as regional survivals of a broader, hypothetical Proto-Slavic epic tradition rather than isolated creations of the seventeenth century.

Dumka (musical genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Examples#

Major examples in the classical repertoire include:

Stanisław Moniuszko#

Jontek’s aria from the opera Halka (1858)
Jadwiga’s aria from the opera The Haunted Manor (1865)

Antonín Dvořák#

Dumka in D minor (Elegy), Op. 35 (1876) for piano solo
String Sextet in A, Op. 48 (1878), mvt. 2: “Dumka: Poco allegretto”
String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 51 – B. 92 (1878–79): II. Dumka. Andante Con Moto
Dumka in C minor, Op. 12a No. 1 (1884) for piano solo
Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (1878) and 72 (1887), (Three of the sixteen)
Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53 (1879/80), mvt. 3 – though based on a Furiant, the middle part is a dumka
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Op. 81 (1887), mvt. 2: “Dumka: Andante con moto”
Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 (1891) — the Dumky-Trio

Leoš Janáček#

*Dumka for violin & piano

Dutch Punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The beginning of punk in the Netherlands (1977-1979)#

A seminal event for punk in the Netherlands was the Sex Pistols’ concert on January 6, 1977, at the Amsterdam Paradiso. The Sex Pistols played three shows in the Netherlands on that tour, along with the Heartbreakers and the Vibrators. On May 1, 1977, the Damned gave a concert in the Paradiso. On May 11, 1977, the Ramones and Talking Heads gave a concert in the Rasa in the Pauwstraat in Utrecht. In October 1977, Iggy Pop performed on the popular television show TopPop with Ad Visser. On November 19, 1977, Blondie played at the Amsterdam Paradiso. At the end of 1977, the VARA television program Wonderland also highlighted punk in a theme broadcast including performances by the Stranglers in the Paradiso in Amsterdam and the Sex Pistols in Maasbree. These concerts and performances by bands from the UK and USA led to an explosion of interest in punk in the Netherlands in 1977. Dutch punk bands and fanzines were rapidly established. In the audience of the Ramones’ Utrecht concert were Rob and Erik de Jong, who formed the band Blitzkrieg, sometimes hailed as the first punk band in the Netherlands (Blitzkrieg quickly changed their name to The Duds ). Two rock bands that predated punk, Ivy Green (formed in Hazerswoude-Dorp in 1975) and Flyin’ Spiderz (formed in Eindhoven in 1976), shifted to playing punk rock; these bands are often also discussed the first punk bands in the Netherlands. The lead singer for the Flyin’ Spiderz, Guus Boers, had not heard punk before a concert of the Vibrators in early 1977 at the Technical University of Eindhoven. In August 1977, the popular fanzine KoeCrand was founded, inspired by the UK fanzine Sniffin’ Glue. A second early Dutch fanzine Raket, associated with the Rotterdam punk scene and featuring the cult comic Red Rat, soon began being published, initially as a wall newspaper. The first punk single released by a Dutch band was the song “Van Agt Casanova,” released by Paul Tornado on the record label 1000 Idioten in 1977. This single was frequently played on the radio by the VPRO. This song references the Dutch Catholic politician Dries van Agt, who in 1977 required that pornographic films only be shown in cinemas with less than 50 seats, as a way to limit who could see such films. The first Dutch punk LP released was the self-titled album of the Flyin’ Spiderz, who opened for the Damned at their May 1977 show. Dutch punk bands from this period that were well known in the scene include the Speedtwins, Soviet Sex, Ivy Green, Jesus and the Gospelfuckers, Neo Punkz, Helmettes, the Filth, Tedje en de Flikkers, the Ex, The Suzannes, the Rondos, Panic, Subway, The Boobs, and Two Two 79. The first Dutch punks gathered around record labels and clubs. One of these was Rotterdam’s Huize Schoonderloo. The record label Plurex Records, founded by Wally van Middendorp (of the band the Tits, and later Minny Pops) in 1977, was also a hub of the early punk scene. A third important Dutch punk record label, Torso Records, was also founded in this period by Dick Polak, Hans Joustra, and Peter Dispa.

Early British popular music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Broadside ballads#

Broadside ballads were arguably the first form of commercial popular music in Britain. They were a product of the development of cheap print from the 16th century. They were generally printed on one side of a large sheet of poor quality paper. This could also be cut in half lengthways to make ‘broadslips’, or folded to make chapbooks. They were produced in huge numbers, with over 400,000 being sold in England annually by the 1660s. Many were sold by travelling chapmen in city streets or at fairs. The subject matter varied from what has been defined as the traditional ballad, although many traditional ballads were printed as broadsides. Among the topics were love, religion, drinking-songs, legends and early journalism, which included disasters, political events and signs, wonders and prodigies.

Early Norwegian black metal scene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ideology#

The Norwegian black metal scene was vehemently opposed to Christianity and organized religion as a whole. In interviews during the early 1990s, Euronymous and other members of the scene portrayed themselves as militant misanthropic devil worshippers who sought to spread hatred, sorrow, and evil. They criticized the Church of Satan for being too “humane.” The theistic Satanism they advocated was an inversion of Christianity. Euronymous was the key figure behind this ideology. When asked why such statements were made to the press, Ihsahn of Emperor stated, “I think that was very much to create fear among people.” He added that the scene “wanted to be in opposition to society” and “tried to concentrate more on just being ’evil’ than having a real Satanic philosophy.” Vikernes claimed that the reason they professed to advocate “evil” was to provoke. According to the book Lords of Chaos, many who knew Euronymous claim that “the extreme Satanic image he projected was, in fact, just that – a projection which bore little resemblance to his real personality.” Those making this assertion include Necrobutcher, Kjetil Manheim, while Metalion, who had known Euronymous since 1985 and considered him his best friend, remarked that Euronymous “was always telling what he thought… worshipping death and being extreme.” Regarding other members of the scene, Samuel Fridh suggests that there is no evidence to support their early claims of being devil worshippers, and Leif A. Lier, who led the police investigation following Euronymous’s death, stated that he and his team had not encountered a single Satanist. Tenebris from the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, a Swedish Satanic order, noted that the Norwegian scene “meant a lot as long as it lasted. Back then, in 1991, things mainly concerned black metal and ideological Satanism (not so much practical Satanism, but anyway…)… It grew quickly to become a sort of black metal army… and kind of stood and fell with Euronymous and his shop. Therefore, it vanished with his death in ‘93… Sadly enough, many people involved at the time betrayed their ideals and lost their interest when things fell apart. Like it was nothing more than a hype of temporary nature.” Regarding the term “black metal,” Euronymous stated that it applies to any heavy metal band that identifies as theistic Satanists and writes Satanic lyrics. At the time, bands with a style akin to Norwegian black metal but lacking Satanic lyrics tended to use alternative terms to describe their music. Some bands within the scene were intrigued by pre-Christian Norway and its traditions, and there was an undercurrent of romantic nationalism present. Additionally, some scene members engaged with Nazi imagery, primarily as a means of provocation. In a private letter written in the early 1990s, Euronymous asserted that “almost all” Norwegian black metal bands at the time were “more or less Nazis.” He expressed an interest in totalitarian communist states, claiming he wished to see people “rot under communist dictatorship.”

El vito

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Electronic body music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term electronic body music was first used by Ralf Hütter of the German electronic band Kraftwerk in an interview with British music newspaper Sounds in November 1977. In June 1978 Hütter reused the phrase in an interview with WKSU radio (Kent, Ohio) to explain the more physical character of the Kraftwerk album The Man-Machine. Although the term originated in the late 1970s, it was not until the 1980s when it reappeared and started to come into popular use. In 1981, DAF from Germany employed the term “Körpermusik” (body music) to describe their danceable electronic punk sound. The term “electronic body music” was later used by Belgian band Front 242 in 1984 to describe the music of their EP of that year titled No Comment ; in the documentary Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records, Jean-Luc De Meyer explained that the band tried to have a more distinct, aggressive stage presence as opposed to what they perceived as the “stiff” electronic acts who stood still behind their keyboards: “We’re doing electronic music, but it’s also talking to the body.”

Electropop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 1980s#

Depeche Mode’s composer Martin Gore said: “For anyone of our generation involved in electronic music, Kraftwerk were the godfathers”. During the early 1980s, Japanese artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ryuichi Sakamoto and British artists such as Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the Human League, Soft Cell, John Foxx and Visage helped pioneer a new synth-pop style that drew more heavily from electronic music and emphasized primary usage of synthesizers.

English art song

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

English art song in the 17th century#

The composition of polyphonic music was at its peak in the late 16th century. By that time, however, the lute started to gain popularity, and was very successful among educated people by 1600. The Italians were trying to recapture a simpler vocal style, to mimic Greek models. Giulio Caccini and the Florentine Camerata developed the monody, for solo voice with lute accompaniment, around 1600. Caccini traveled around Europe, other countries begin developing their own solo songs with lute, especially the English composers. John Dowland (1563–1626) and Thomas Campion (1567–1620) emerged as the best-known and most respected of the composers of lute song. Later in the 17th century, Henry Purcell (1659–95) composed many solo songs for his semi-operas, and his songs are also generally considered among the best early English art songs. Other English art song composers in the 17th century * William Byrd (1543–1623), composed “consort songs” with viol consort accompaniment, 1588 collection of Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs * Thomas Morley (1557–1603), his songs may have been used in Shakespeare’s plays, well-known song “It was a Lover and his Lass” from his First Book of Ayres, 1607 * Michael Cavendish (c.1565-1628), published one volume of madrigals and lute songs in 1598 * Francis Pilkington (1582–1638), lute song composer * Robert Jones (fl. 1597-1615); 5 books of ayres, 1600–1610 * Tobias Hume (d. 1648), serious and comic songs * Philip Rosseter (c.1567-1623), prolific song composer and friend of Campion, a few of his lute songs are still performed * Henry Lawes (1595–1662); prolific song composer, set texts by court poets (Herring, Suckling, and Carew) for his vocal works * John Playford (1623–1686), London bookseller, publisher, and minor composer * Thomas d’Urfey (1653–1723), prolific song composer, playwright, and poet

English folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

In the strictest sense, English folk music has existed since the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon people in Britain after 400 AD. The Venerable Bede’s story of the cattleman and later ecclesiastical musician Cædmon indicates that in the early medieval period it was normal at feasts to pass around the harp and sing ‘vain and idle songs’. Since this type of music was rarely notated, we have little knowledge of its form or content. Some later tunes, like those used for Morris dance, may have their origins in this period, but it is impossible to be certain of these relationships. We know from a reference in William Langland’s Piers Plowman, that ballads about Robin Hood were being sung from at least the late 14th century and the oldest detailed material we have is Wynkyn de Worde’s collection of Robin Hood ballads printed about 1495.

Ensalada (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Works#

Prague 1581 # El Fuego (the fire) – Flecha # La Bomba (the pump) – Flecha # La Negrina (the black girl) – Flecha # La Guerra (the battle) – Flecha # El Bon Jorn (the good day) – Vila # La Justa (the joust) – Flecha # La Viuda (the widow) – Flecha # La Feria (the fair) – Flecha (the younger) # Las Cañas (the pan-pipas) – Flecha (the younger) # La Trulla - Càrceres # La Lucha (the struggle) – Vila # Los Chistes (the jokes) – Flecha # Las Cañas II (the pan-pipes II) – Flecha # El Molino (the mill) – Chacón Supplement # El Jubilate – Flecha # La Caza (the hunt) – Flecha # El Toro (the bull) – Flecha # La Negrina (the black woman) – Cárceres # Las Cañas III (the pan-pipes III) – Brudieu Francisco de Peñalosa # Por las sierras de Madrid, for 6 voices. # Tú que vienes de camino, for 2 voices. Garcimuñóz (attributed) # Una montaña pasando, for 4 voices Anon. * Quien madruga Dios le ayuda. Romancero 1612

Éntekhno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

As opposed to other forms of Greek urban folk music, éntekhno concerts would often take place outside a hall or a nightclub in the open air. Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis were the most popular early composers of éntekhno songs. They were both educated in classical music; the lack of a wide public for this kind of music in Greece drove them to the invention of éntekhno, in which they transferred some values of Western art music, such as ballad tunes. Other significant Greek songwriters included Stavros Kouyoumtzis, Manos Loïzos, and Dimos Moutsis. Significant lyricists of this genre are Nikos Gatsos, Manos Eleftheriou and poet Tasos Livaditis. By the 1960s, innovative albums helped éntekhno become close to mainstream, and also led to its appropriation by the film industry for use in soundtracks.

Epadunk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Epadunk has been described as a cross between electronic dance music (EDM) and könsrock, a Swedish term for a type of Swedish rock music characterized by humoristic and irreverent lyrics that often include sexually explicit lyrics, innuendos, toilet humor and positive descriptions of alcohol consumption and drunkenness. Among the precursors and sources of inspiration for the genre are the Norwegian genre russemusikk Dansband and hiphop music have also been cited as sources of inspiration.

Ethereal wave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

In the mid-1980s, several Cocteau Twins/This Mortal Coil records were described as “ethereal”, “etherealism”, and “ethereal romanticism”. Billboard, and Option music magazine, started using the term “ethereal goth” more frequently, whereas European music magazines, primarily German zines such as Glasnost, Aeterna, Entry, Black, and Astan, had named the genre “ethereal wave” in the same vein as new wave, dark wave, and cold wave. Historically, the term was mostly applied to the roster of 4AD label − not only referring to music, but also regarding aesthetics of the graphical visualization. The “ethereal” designation has been taken over by authors such as Mick Mercer and Dave Thompson to delineate the same musical phenomenon in their books, while Simon Reynolds began using the term “goth-lite” (or “post-goth”, a term he coined in 1987 ) to describe the music of Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and related 4AD artists. “Goth-lite” first appeared in 1995 in magazines such as CMJ New Music Monthly (Douglas Wolk) and SPIN (Jody Press) as a retroactive description of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Tinderbox album, which heavily relies on the use of guitar pedals and studio effects in songs such as “92 Degrees” and “Land’s End”.

Eurobeat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Use of the term#

British record producer Ian Levine’s Eastbound Expressway, released the single “You’re a Beat” in recognition of the slower tempo of hi-NRG music emerging from Europe. Many European acts managed to break through under this new recognition, namely the likes of Modern Talking, Bad Boys Blue, Taffy, and Spagna. The term “Eurobeat” was subsequently used commercially to describe the Stock Aitken Waterman–produced hits by Dead or Alive, Bananarama, Jason Donovan, Sonia, and Kylie Minogue which were heavily based on the British experience with Italo disco. During 1986–1988, it was used for specific Italian 1980s Eurodisco imports, such as Sabrina Salerno, Spagna, and Baltimora but was also used in the United States as a catch-all term for UK-based dance and electropop groups of the time such as Pet Shop Boys, purported to have a “European beat”, hence Eurobeat. By 1989, with the advent of Eurodance and Euro house, the term was dropped completely in the UK. In Japan, starting in the mid-1980s, the term Eurobeat used to refer to Italo disco imports from Italy. When Japanese label Alfa Music offered a deal with Italo disco singer, songwriter and producer Mauro Farina, he happily accepted and thus the That’s Eurobeat compilation series was born. Its name comes from Farina’s answer to a question by a spokesperson of Alfa’s. The spokesperson asked in English the name of the genre in which the songs Alfa was interested in belonged, but because they chose songs that Farina’s team tucked away worried that they would not sell well in Italy, he did not have an answer ready and so in a hurry he improvised a reply by combining the fact that he was located in Europe and the word beat, which he though was appropriate with the style of those songs, and answered to the spokesperson with that’s Eurobeat.

Eurodance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Eurodance songs are typically created by independent groups of European producers, accompanied by hired singers and rappers who serve as frontmen for these groups. These frontmen are often English-speaking performers of color from the United States and United Kingdom. Eurodance fuses late-1980s hip hop music and electronic dance music. Among dance music styles, Eurodance takes particular influence from disco, Hi-NRG and techno. and focusing more on creating popular singles rather than albums. with a bass drum on each beat and a quiet snare on the second and fourth beats. Musicologist Nico Thom describes the lyrics as “characteristically hedonistic”, being simplistic and often revolving around romance and partying. He also describes the production as heavily condensed, which he says leads to a “compact, superficial listening experience”.

Eurodisco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The term “Euro-disco” was used during the mid-1970s to describe the non-UK based disco productions and artists such as D.D. Sound, West Germany groups Arabesque, Boney M., Dschinghis Khan and Silver Convention, the Munich-based production trio Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer and Pete Bellotte, the Italian singer Gino Soccio, French artists Amanda Lear, Dalida, Cerrone, Hot Blood, Banzai (single “Viva America”) and Ottawan, Dutch groups Luv’ and Eurovision song contest winners Teach-In. In Spain, disco took off after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, with Baccara. Swedish group ABBA gained the big hit “Dancing Queen”. 1970s Eurodisco soon had spinoffs and variations. The most notable spin-off is space disco. Another popular variation, with no specific name, appeared in the late 1970s: a “Latin”-like sound added to the genre, which can be heard in Italy’s Raffaella Carrà, La Bionda (D. D. Sound), Easy Going and France’s Gibson Brothers. German pop duo Modern Talking was an icon of Eurodisco between 1985–1987 and became the most successful Eurodisco project. That style became very popular in Eastern Europe and remained popular until the early 1990s. Next to the numerous productions of Modern Talking member Dieter Bohlen, further German-based group and artists including Arabesque, Sandra, C. C. Catch, Bad Boys Blue, and Fancy enjoyed international success. In Poland, disco polo, a local music genre relying heavily on Eurodisco was developed at the verge of the ’80s and ’90s. Meanwhile, a sped-up version of Eurodisco with dance-pop elements also became successful in the US, under the term “hi-NRG”. By the early 1990s, Eurodisco was influenced by the emergence of genres such as house, acid house and the electro music styles, and replaced (or evolved) by other music styles. Technically, the last form of Eurodisco is French house, a music style that appeared in France during the mid-1990s and slowly became widespread in Europe. French house is more of a “back to the roots” music style with 1970s Eurodisco influences.

Europop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

During the 1970s and early 1980s, such groups were primarily popular in continental countries, with the exception of ABBA (1972–1983). The Swedish four-person band achieved great success in the UK, where they scored twenty top 10 singles and nine chart-topping albums, and in North America and Australia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Europop became very popular. Roxette and Ace of Base led Europop in American mainstream audiences. In the 1990s, pop groups like the Spice Girls, Aqua, Steps, Right Said Fred, Backstreet Boys and singer DJ BoBo were strongly influenced by Europop. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Italian dance group Eiffel 65 were highly active in this genre. In the 2000s, one of the most popular representatives of Europop music was Swedish pop group Alcazar and German pop group Cascada.

Fado

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The word fado possibly comes from the Latin word fatum (“fate”, “death” or “utterance” ). The word is linked to the music genre itself, although both meanings are approximately the same in the two languages. Nevertheless, many songs play on the double meaning, such as the Amália Rodrigues song “Com que voz”, which includes the lyric “Com que voz chorarei meu triste fado” (“With what voice should I lament my sad fate/sing my sad fado?”). Perhaps shedding light on fadista are the Proto-Celtic *wātis (prophet, poet; see Proto-Celtic language), the English-Latin vates (Celtic bard, prophet, philosopher), and the Old French fatiste (poet), evolving to the Middle French fatiste (actor in a medieval mystery play).

Fandango

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The earliest fandango melody is found in the anonymous “Libro de diferentes cifras de guitarra” from 1705, and the earliest description of the dance itself is found in a 1712 letter by Martín Martí, a Spanish priest. The fandango’s first sighting in a theatrical work was in Francisco de Leefadeal’s entremés “El novio de la aldeana” staged in Seville, ca. 1720. By the late 18th century it had become fashionable among the aristocracy and was often included in tonadillas, zarzuelas, ballets and operas, not only in Spain, but also elsewhere in Europe. Widely varying claims have been made about the origin of fandango: its relation to the jabera, the soleá, and the petenera; to the Andalusian malagueña, granadina, murciana and rondeña; to the canario and gitano; to the jota aragonesa.

Finnish opera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Finnish tango

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early history#

Brought to Europe in the 1910s, and to Finland itself in 1913, by travelling musicians, Finns began to take up the form and write their own tangos in the 1930s. The first Finnish tango was written by Emil Kauppi in 1914 for a film called Salainen perintömääräys (meaning The Secret Testament). It features a typical Finnish rhythm pattern with habanera.

Popularity#

In the 1920s the tango was danced exclusively by Helsinki’s bohemians. Finnish tango peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

First-wave black metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

During the first wave, black metal was not a distinct genre, but was part of a broader extreme metal umbrella alongside the earliest death metal, grindcore and thrash metal groups. It was not until around 1987 that these styles began to distinguish themselves from each other, and the borders of what now constitutes black metal were drawn. Music historian Joel McIver called Satanic lyrics and imagery the defining characteristic of the first wave of black metal. However, most bands in the wave were not Satanists; rather, they used Satanic themes to provoke controversy or gain attention. One of the few exceptions was Mercyful Fate singer and Church of Satan member King Diamond, whom Lords of Chaos authors Michael J. Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind called “one of the only performers of the ’80s Satanic metal who was more than just a poseur using a devilish image for shock value”. Metal Injection writer J Andrew cited “the speed and attitude” of punk rock and hardcore punk as what separated the style of the first wave of black metal from earlier styles of heavy metal.

Flamenco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Historically, the term flamenco was used to identify the Romani people (gitanos) of Spain. The English traveller George Borrow who travelled through Spain during the 1830s stated that the gitanos were also called Flemish (in Spanish, ‘flamenco’) due to German and Flemish being erroneously considered synonymous. According to flamencologist Cristina Cruces-Roldán, a year prior to Borrow’s account, there already existed a gitano party in Madrid that was clearly identified as flamenco. This equivalency between gitano and flamenco is also noted by Manuel Fernández y González, Demófilo, and the scholar Irving Brown who stated in 1938 that “flamenco is simply another term for gitano, with special connotations.” Other less successful hypotheses include those of Felipe Pedrell and Carlos Alemendros who state that while the term flamenco is Spanish for Flemish, it is actually synonymous with cantador (professional singer) in reference to the group of Flemish singers brought by Spanish King Carlos I in 1516. Another hypothesis that is not widely accepted is the Arabist theory of Blas Infante, which in his book Orígenes de lo flamenco (Origins of flamenco) presents flamenco as a phonetic deformation of Arabic fellah-mengu (runaway laborer) or was derived from the Arabic terms Felah-Mengus, which together mean “wandering peasant”. For example, in the 1860s-70s this versatility was exemplified through its use to refer to a musical style and a certain aesthetic, manners, and way of life that were perceived to be gitano. At that time, flamenco was not a strict genre but a way of performing music in a gitano-Andalusian style.

Folk baroque

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition#

Particularly notable in the folk baroque style was the adoption of DADGAD tuning, which gave a form of suspended-fourth D chord, usefully neither major or minor, which could be employed as the basis for modal-based folk songs. It is uncertain who first developed this tuning, as both Davy Graham and Martin Carthy attributed it to each other, but it has been speculated that Graham may have acquired it from the oud while visiting north Africa.

Folk punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Folk punk is related to and/or influenced by various styles such as Celtic punk, gypsy punk, anti-folk, and alternative country. Folk punk is also linked with DIY punk scenes, and bands often perform in house venues in addition to more traditional spaces. Folk-punk musicians may perform their own compositions in the style of punk rock, but using additional folk instruments, such as mandolins, accordions, banjos, and/or violins. Folk punk possesses a rich history of progressive and leftist political views, involving topics like race, class, feminism, anti-fascism, animal rights, queerness, and anarchism.

Folk songs of Lithuania

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The word “dainos” may come from meaning “song” or or , meaning “folk song, often with sad music or contents.”

Song festivals#

Lithuania is home to many folk music festivals. The “Dainų šventė” (literally Song Celebration) a state-supported festival, is perhaps the most famous. First held in 1924, it has taken place every five years since then, and helps to keep the folk and choral music tradition alive. Other major folk festivals include the Skamba skamba kankliai and the , both held annually. Of historical importance is the , which was held in the 1980s and was the first major festival of its kind. The Baltica International Folklore Festival is held in one of the Baltic states every year. The tradition of mass Song Festivals was inscribed in the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.

Folktronica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The 1991 album Every Man and Woman is a Star by Ultramarine was described in a 2014 PopMatters article as a progenitor of the genre; it featured a pastoral sound and incorporated traditional instruments such as violin and harmonica with techno and house elements. The term folktronica was coined in the late 1990s, presumably first by the British press in reference to the musician Kieran Hebden (Four Tet). In the early 2000s, indie electronic acts such as Múm, Four Tet, Isan, Bibio and the Books began releasing formative music in the genre. According to The Sunday Times Culture’s Encyclopedia of Modern Music, essential albums of the genre are Four Tet’s Pause (2001) and Rounds (2003), Tunng’s Mother’s Daughter and Other Songs (2005), and Caribou’s The Milk of Human Kindness (2005), some of which had a cross-genre influence on artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead and J Dilla. In addition to its roots in underground indie and electronic music, some commentators have noted that elements of folktronica entered the mainstream through pop artists who experimented with blending acoustic textures and electronic production. Madonna incorporated aspects of folktronica into her early-2000s work, particularly on her 2003 album American Life, after starting to explore a similar genre-crossing by blending country and dance-pop on Music (2000). She has been credited with helping to introduce the hybrid sound to a broader audience beyond the indie scene.

Freakbeat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

In 1986, English music journalist Phil Smee would coin the term “freakbeat” when compiling the Rubble series of compilations. AllMusic writes that “freakbeat” is loosely defined, but generally describes the more obscure but hard-edged artists of the British Invasion era.

Compilations#

Much of the material collected on Rhino Records’s 2001 box-set compilation Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 can be classified as freakbeat. The English Freakbeat series is a group of five compilation albums, released in the late 1980s, that were issued by AIP Records. The LPs featured recordings that were released in the mid-1960s by English rock bands in R&B and beat genres. The series served as a follow-up to the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP, itself subtitled The Roots of Mod, which was the only album in the Pebbles series that was devoted to English music. When the English Freakbeat series was reissued as CDs in the 1990s, the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP was adapted into the English Freakbeat, Volume 6 CD.

French classical music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition#

Classical music usually refers to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times. The central norms of this tradition became codified between approximately 1600 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period. Classical music, including that from France is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century. Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices, such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music (compare Indian classical music and Japanese traditional music), and popular music.

French electronic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Phonautograph (1857)#

The earliest known sound recording device was the phonautograph, patented in 1857 by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville.

Ondes Martenot (1928)#

In 1928, the Ondes Martenot was invented by Maurice Martenot, who debuted it in Paris. This electronic musical instrument was most famously used in the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen as well as other works by him. The Ondes Martenot was also used by other composers such as Andre Jolivet, Pierre Boulez, Arthur Honegger, Charles Koechlin, Darius Milhaud, Gilles Tremblay and Edgard Varèse.

French hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginning of French hip-hop: 1970s–1980s#

By 1982 and 1983, a number of hip-hop radio shows had appeared on Paris radio, including “Rapper Dapper” (hosted by Sidney Duteil) and “Funk à Billy” (hosted by DJ Dee Nasty). In November 1982, the New York City Rap Tour traveled around France, featuring Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmixer DST, Fab 5 Freddy, Mr Freeze, and the Rock Steady Crew. When Afrika Bambaataa came to France, he was overwhelmed by the great importance of African culture coming from Africa and the Caribbean. The first major star of French hip-hop was MC Solaar. Born Claude M’Barali in Dakar, Senegal, he moved as a child to France in 1970 and lived in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. His 1991 album, Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo, was a major hit. The European Music Office’s report on Music in Europe said that the French language was well-suited for rapping. He set many records, including being the first French hip-hop recording artist to go platinum. Some artists claim that the French language hip-hop style was influenced by the music of French singer Renaud. Following MC Solaar’s breakthrough, two broad styles emerged within the French hip-hop scene; artists such as Solaar, Dee Nasty, and Lionel D championed a more mellow, sanguine style, while more hardcore performers such as Assassin and Suprême NTM assumed a more aggressive aesthetic. Many such artists found themselves at the heart of controversies over lyrics that were seen as glorifying the murder of police officers and other crimes, similar to outcries over violent lyrics in American gangsta rap. The cases include Ministère AMER’s “Sacrifice de poulet”, NTM’s “Police” and later Lunatic’s “Le crime paie”.

French house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History and influences#

French house was influenced by American dance music, Euro disco, and the space disco music styles. Space disco was popular in France during the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially with artists such as Cerrone and Sheila and B. Devotion. American P-Funk also influenced the genre’s sound, especially the work of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. P-Funk was played alongside disco in many French discothèques, notably after Disco Demolition Night took place in the United States. The French duo Motorbass were among the first in France to produce house tracks largely based around samples and filtered loops and released their seminal album, Pansoul in 1996. Parisian producer St. Germain also produced jazz-inspired house tracks. Other known French producers during this time period, such as François Kevorkian and Laurent Garnier, remained distant from the emerging French house label. UK dance music and European DJs first recognized French house experiments in the mid-1990s with commercial success occurring in 1997. The emergence of the French sound coincided with dance music’s popularity in the UK market, which was also experiencing a surge of interest in general electronic music.

French opera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The birth of French opera: Lully#

The first operas to be staged in France were imported from Italy, beginning with Francesco Sacrati’s in 1645. French audiences gave them a lukewarm reception. This was partly for political reasons, since these operas were promoted by the Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin, who was then first minister during the regency of the young Louis XIV and a deeply unpopular figure with large sections of French society. Musical considerations also played a role, since the French court already had a firmly established genre of stage music, , which included sung elements as well as dance and lavish spectacle. When two Italian operas, Francesco Cavalli’s and , proved failures in Paris in 1660 and 1662, the prospects of opera flourishing in France looked remote. Yet Italian opera would stimulate the French to make their own experiments at the genre and, paradoxically, it would be an Italian-born composer, Lully, who would found a lasting French operatic tradition. In 1669, Pierre Perrin founded the Académie d’Opéra and, in collaboration with the composer Robert Cambert, tried his hand at composing operatic works in French. Their first effort, , appeared on stage on 3 March 1671 and was followed a year later by . At this point Louis XIV transferred the privilege of producing operas from Perrin to Jean-Baptiste Lully. Lully, a Florentine, was already the favourite musician of the king, who had assumed full royal powers in 1661 and was intent on refashioning French culture in his image. Lully had a sure instinct for knowing exactly what would satisfy the taste of his master and the French public in general. He had already composed music for extravagant court entertainments as well as for the theatre, most notably the inserted into plays by Molière. Yet Molière and Lully had quarrelled bitterly and the composer found a new and more pliable collaborator in Philippe Quinault, who would write the libretti for all but two of Lully’s operas. On 27 April 1673, Lully’s – often regarded as the first French opera in the full sense of the term – appeared in Paris. It was a work in a new genre, which its creators Lully and Quinault baptised , a form of opera specially adapted for French taste. Lully went on to produce at the rate of at least one a year until his death in 1687 and they formed the bedrock of the French national operatic tradition for almost a century. As the name suggests, was modelled on the French Classical tragedy of Corneille and Racine. Lully and Quinault replaced the confusingly elaborate Baroque plots favoured by the Italians with a much clearer five-act structure. Each of the five acts generally followed a regular pattern. An aria in which one of the protagonists expresses their inner feelings is followed by recitative mixed with short arias () which move the action forward. Acts end with a , the most striking feature of French Baroque opera, which allowed the composer to satisfy the public’s love of dance, huge choruses and gorgeous visual spectacle. The recitative, too, was adapted and moulded to the unique rhythms of the French language and was often singled out for special praise by critics, a famous example occurring in Act Two of Lully’s . The five acts of the main opera were preceded by an allegorical prologue, another feature Lully took from the Italians, which he generally used to sing the praises of Louis XIV. Indeed, the entire opera was often thinly disguised flattery of the French monarch, who was represented by the noble heroes drawn from Classical myth or Mediaeval romance. The was a form in which all the arts, not just music, played a crucial role. Quinault’s verse combined with the set designs of Carlo Vigarani or Jean Bérain and the choreography of Beauchamp and Olivet, as well as the elaborate stage effects known as the machinery. As one of its detractors, Melchior Grimm, was forced to admit: “To judge of it, it is not enough to see it on paper and read the score; one must have seen the picture on the stage”.

French pop music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The first distinct French pop music styles that emerged were the French rock and the yé-yé, which originated in France during the 1960s. They were influenced by the American rock & roll of the 1950s. In the early days, this style of French pop music was easily distinguishable from the earlier category of French music called chanson in English. Eventually the early French pop music and the chanson styles crossed over and combined.

French popular music

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Frenchcore

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History#

Frenchcore is a product of the rave and freetekno scenes in France dating back to the mid-1990s. The first frenchcore act, Micropoint, was founded by DJ Radium and Al Core in 1992. In 1994, DJ Radium focused on his solo career and became known as the most significant contributor to the genre in the late 1990s. He founded Psychik Genocide, one of the first frenchcore labels. Radium eventually became a touring artist and performed across Europe and in the United States. The genre remained underground for many years, being based mostly in France and Italy with artists as Androgyn Network, The Sickest Squad, Psiko, Maissouille, X-Fly and DOM. In the second half of the 2000s the genre, which initially relied on industrial loops, percussion, vocal chops and rhythmic effects, started to develop an alternative melodic and psychedelic style, influenced by UK hardcore and trance music. This trend, initially experimented with by artists such as The Speed Freak, Hunterwolf and Roms, took a different direction from the classic frenchcore sound pioneered by DJ Radium. The 2010s saw the reinvention of frenchcore, the rise of new artists, and a heavy Dutch influence as the genre became increasingly more popular in the Netherlands. In 2011, the first edition of “Frenchcore S’il Vous Plait” took place in Culemborg; 2012’s edition of Thunderdome, the world’s biggest hardcore festival, had an area dedicated exclusively to frenchcore. In 2014, Defqon.1, the world’s largest hardstyle festival, added a frenchcore stage for the first time. The releases on Peacock Records deepened the shift in the genre to an even more harmonic and modern sound created by younger producers. In 2016, modern frenchcore’s popularity expanded beyond Europe for the first time when Dr. Peacock toured through the United States with performances in New York City, Denver, Phoenix and Pittsburgh. Dr. Peacock also performed in Sydney, Australia, that same year. Several members of Peacock Records started taking more inspiration from hardstyle artists and calling their genre “Euphoric frenchcore” around the year 2016. With the new melodic influence in the genre, the style began to appeal to listeners of hardstyle. Many frenchcore artists began experimenting with the integration of live instruments in their performances, as opposed to performances only using DJ equipment. The genre’s popularity grew rapidly when Dr. Peacock’s 17 year old protégé Sefa released his first album “Leven is Lijden” in 2018. The album introduced many hardstyle fans to frenchcore, and Sefa began to perform at major hardstyle festivals regularly. Frenchcore’s presence at harder styles festivals grew in the year 2018. Dr. Peacock performed on the main stage of Defqon.1 and closed out Qlimax, Q-dance’s yearly indoor event at the Gelredome. He was the first artist to play a frenchcore set in the event’s history. In 2019, Sefa was responsible for the first frenchcore Defqon.1 anthem, and performed the closing set of the festival. The music industry suffered significant losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, causing many events to happen virtually. Dr. Peacock performed with live musicians at the Pyramid of Austerlitz as part of the virtual edition of Defqon.1, and Sefa performed in a hot air balloon as part of Mysteryland’s virtual edition. That summer, Masters of Hardcore launched a new euphoric frenchcore label in collaboration with Re-Style, Rapture Records. In the fall of 2020, Q-dance released their first film Qlimax: The Source, which features a frenchcore section produced by Sefa. The film was added to Netflix on December 22. In 2021, Dr. Peacock and Sefa performed with several live musicians on the Dutch sailboat De Vrijheid on the IJsselmeer as part of Defqon.1 at Home. A few days later, they played a 30 minute frenchcore set on Dutch national radio station SLAM!. In the end of the summer, Sefa performed frenchcore sets at multiple Unmute Us protests in Amsterdam in protest of the Dutch government’s treatment of the entertainment sector during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The protests filled the streets of Amsterdam with 70,000 protestors. At the Leiden edition of the protests in September, frenchcore and uptempo event organization BKJN Events organised a full lineup of frenchcore and uptempo music at the protest.

Funkstep

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Since the dubstep movement in 2001, funkstep has gained more listeners and therefore more record producers to produce this music style. Funkstep took shape since 2012 by blending the genres of dubstep, drumstep, drum and bass, UK funky and electro house.

Characteristics#

The changes of speed in funkstep are evident, since drumstep will register at anywhere from 150 to 170 BPM as a result of its 2-step beat and French and electro house by contrast between 120 and 130 BPM. This problem is usually solved by playing the song during its drumstep or even dubstep parts in half speed, as compared to the occurring house in similar parts. Most funkstep songs start with calm intros, which can sometimes be mixed up with drumstep because of its dubstep and drum and bass-like drums. But after starting with a typical funkstep riff and changing the bassdrum to a consistent four on the floor, it is easy to recognize the bridge to more complex house music, which is typical for a funkstep song. A song can contain these bridges and changes repeatedly, which mostly indicate the drops and highlights. Funkstep is also often associated with glitch because of its arsenal of distorted sounds. Since funkstep contains parts sounding similar to different variations of house, drum and bass and drumstep, it is attractive for listeners of several styles of music and pretty diverse. Since 2009, notable scene reports were trying to simply explain the idea of funkstep to the audience, posting headlines like “Dubstep + Funky House = Funkstep”.

Future bass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The genre was pioneered by Scottish producers Rustie and Hudson Mohawke, who began producing future bass tracks in 2010. One of the first popularity-fueling releases in the genre was Rustie’s album Glass Swords, released in 2011. Later, in 2013, the Flume remix of Disclosure’s song “You & Me” brought the genre into the mainstream, and through the mid-2010s future bass became popular in the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, China, Korea and Australia.

Future garage

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Details#

Future garage incorporates a variety of influences from UK garage and softer elements from 2-step garage. The name was coined by Whistla before the appearance of Future Garage Forum in November 2009. In Issue 108 of MusicTech Magazine from March 2013, it was suggested that future garage should employ re-pitched vocals, soft leads with a round attack or an acoustic lead, subbass or a square wave bass with a modulating filter, and a four-to-the-floor or 2-step garage drum beat with off-the-grid hi-hats. The distinct swing in future garage drum beats is the focus on “late” or humanized hi-hats between the kick and snare patterns.

Future house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “future house” was coined by French DJ Tchami and was first used to categorise his 2013 remix of Janet Jackson’s “Go Deep” on SoundCloud. Tchami used the term without considering it a genre saying in a 2015 interview “Future house was meant to be ‘any kind of house music that hasn’t been invented yet,’ so I never considered it as a genre. I guess people made it what it is because my music was specific and leading to build a bridge between house and EDM, which isn’t a bad thing”. Later, in 2016, the popular online music store for DJs Beatport added Future house as one of three new genre tags. The genre has been credited as also being pioneered by Oliver Heldens and Don Diablo.

Future soul

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Gabber

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Origins#

Gabber is a style of electronic music and a subgenre of hardcore. It was derived from house and techno in the early 1990s. blended with house-style breakbeats and hi-hat fillers. The music is generally between 140 and 190 beats per minute with samples taken from films or other tracks. The word gabber comes from an Amsterdam Bargoens slang, based on the Hebrew chaver meaning “mate” or “friend”, loaned through Yiddish. The word gained popularity in the Rotterdam music scene and people started to call themselves “gabbers”. Some, however, state that ‘gabber’ derives from usage at house clubs which gabbers visited, where ‘gabber’ became an insult that club security used to collectively describe these people, with often raucous and hooliganish behaviour, that were often seen as undesirable.

Gabberpop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginnings and Success#

The genre emerged in the 1990s. The rise of gabberpop is exemplified by groups like Hakkûhbar and Party Animals, which capitalized on the popularity of happy hardcore. These groups gained fame by combining elements of hardcore with more accessible pop music and even children’s nursery rhymes. This approach helped them attract a broader audience. However, some members of the gabber scene viewed this evolution negatively. They saw the rise of “sold-out” artists, such as Gabber Piet and his parody hit Hakke & zage (which mixes children’s pop with gabber), as an attack on the original core of gabber culture.

Gaelic folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Relation with Brythonic music#

The six Celtic nationalities are divided into two musical groups, Gaelic and Brythonic, which according to Alan Stivell differentiate “mostly by the extended range (sometimes more than two octaves) of Irish and Scottish melodies and the closed range of Breton and Welsh melodies (often reduced to a half-octave), and by the frequent use of the pure pentatonic scale in Gaelic music”.

Gaelic music in the Americas#

The emigration of Scottish Gaels to Cape Breton has also resulted in a unique strain of Gaelic music evolving there. A number of fiddle tunes of Irish and Scottish Gaelic origin have entered the American bluegrass and country repertoires.

Gaelic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Famous Gaelic songs#

Amhrán na bhFiann (“The Soldier’s Song”)
Óró Sé do Bheatha ‘Bhaile (“Oh, Welcome Home”)
Ailein Duinn (“Dark-haired Alan”)
Chì mi na mòrbheanna (“I See the Great Mountains,” also known in English as “The Mist-Covered Mountains of Home”)
Fear a’ Bhàta (“The Boatman”)

External links#

Amhráin as Gaeilge at Omniglot.com
Gaelic songs on Education Scotland website ga:Ceol traidisiúnta na hÉireann gd:Ceòl

Gaelic psalm singing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure and style#

The psalms are sung unaccompanied, in a style known as “lining out” or “precenting the line,” in which the leader of the performance, or “precentor,” sings a line, after which the rest of the congregation follows, with each member allowed to embellish the melody as they wish, in a free heterophonic fashion. The style of Gaelic psalm singing is influenced by piobaireachd music native to the Scottish Highlands, with frequent and distinctive use of ornamentation and grace notes.

Galician chant

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The tradition of Galician chant arose as part of the broader East Slavic chant heritage and was influenced by both the Byzantine and local Ukrainian musical idioms. Printed collections and regional anthologies of Galician chant began to appear in the late 19th century; the first Ukrainian regional compilations of church chant were published in 1894. The repertoire preserves older Kyivan-style melodies as well as Western-influenced harmonizations that developed under the Austro-Hungarian cultural sphere.

Galician rumba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

According to Miguel Pérez Lorenzo, there are testimonies about the inclusion of the “Rumba” in the Galician bagpipe’s (gaita) repertoire since the 19th century. He also says in reference to the bagpiper from Ourense, Xoán Ferreiro: “He played, we imagine, those pieces that he heard from his father, other bagpipers, and the band… Jerónimo (father of this bagpiper, who passed away in 1940) emigrated to Cuba, where he lived until five years before his death… those years in Cuba served him to include “rumbas and “boleros” in his repertoire… which now Don Xoán plays. With the exception of the processional pieces that Don Xoán used to play; sometime in the mass and other times walking behind the “Saint” in the procession, the rest was mainly for the people to dance in the fests and romerías.

Ganga (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Ganga is an expressive form of singing. Although both men and women regularly perform ganga, it is extremely unusual for them to perform together, although it was not unusual for Catholic and Muslim men to perform together. Ganga is culture is mainly situated in small towns and villages. Ganga is a dissonant form of singing, using two clashing notes to project sound over long distances. For example, if one person is singing a C note, a second person sings either a half-step above or below (B or C). Ganga is traditionally sung by sheepherders across stretches of valleys, for long-distance communication with each other.

Geisslerlieder

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

First outbreak, 13th century#

The first period of Geisslerlied began in 1258 in response to the breakdown of civil order in northern Italy. Permanent warfare, famine, and an apparent demise of the moral order in contemporary life gave rise to a movement of public flagellation accompanied by singing; the penitents implored the help of God to ameliorate their sufferings, but never formed a specific sect, and neither did they attempt a social revolution. Initially, the flagellants were members of the mercantile and noble classes, but as the movement spread outside of Italy, lower social classes took part. Of the first period of activity, only a single song has survived, although many of the words they sang have been recorded. Typically the texts were imploring, penitential, and apocalyptic.

Género chico

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Historical context#

Zarzuela was developed during the reign of Philip IV (1605–1665, reigned from 1621), who during the 1640s began to commission musico-theatrical entertainments on mythological themes mixed with popular peasant song and dance, from the writer Calderón de la Barca working with composers such as Juan de Hidalgo. These were performed at the Royal hunting lodge, the Palacio de la Zarzuela. During the next two hundred years, zarzuela, as these mixed entertainments swiftly became known, became the native-language alternative to the Italian operatic form nurtured by successive monarchs. In the 19th century, the country’s tense political circumstances affected zarzuela. Isabella II fell from power during the liberal revolution of 1868, and the country found itself submerged in a crisis at all levels: economic, political, and ideological (with various strands of socialism coming to prominence). Instability increased with the 1870 assassination of Juan Prim, President of the regency council and Marshal of Spain. For economic and other reasons, there was a sharp drop in theatre box-office sales, as most people could not afford the average fourteen reales for non-necessities. Such high prices, plus the national uncertainty, brought most Madrid theatres into crisis, and many - including the Teatro de la Zarzuela itself - came close to ruin.

German electronic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Musical elements#

Electronic music is itself a broad term, characterised only by the specific use of electronic or digital musical instruments. German electronic music hence lacks distinctive musical characteristics other than varying usage of circuitry-based technology. Generally, polyphonic synthesisers, electronic drums, turntables and drum machines were frequent. The musical elements of German electronic music are very specific to the style and artist. Krautrock, a genre of electronic rock, involved experimental mixes of psychedelic and progressive rock with ambient music, electronic sounds, minimalist avant-garde musique concrete and jazz. Kraftwerk, a famous German electronic band, utilised metronomic melodies, while Faust, another musical group, maintained minimalism by using one or two chords or riffs played at high volumes. In contrast, electroclash fused musical elements of electro, techno, new wave, punk, synth-pop and performance art to form their sounds.

German jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The 1920s#

One of the first books with the word “jazz” in the title originates from Germany. In his book Jazz – Eine Musikalische Zeitfrage (Jazz – A Musical Issue) of 1927, Paul Bernhard relates the term Jazz to a specific dance. When dancer Josephine Baker visited Berlin in 1925, she found it dazzling. “The city had a jewel-like sparkle,” she said, “the vast cafés reminded me of ocean liners powered by the rhythms of their orchestras. There was music everywhere.” Eager to look ahead after the crushing defeat of World War I, Weimar Germany embraced the modernism that swept through Europe and was crazy about jazz. In the dancing mania of the post-war period, there were not only modern dances such as the tango and foxtrot, but in 1920 also the Shimmy and in 1922 the Two-step. In 1925 the Charleston dominated the dance halls. Even when under great criticism Bernhard Sekles initiated the first academic jazz studies anywhere at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1928 – the first courses in the United States were started in the mid-1940s. The director of the jazz department was Mátyás Seiber. The jazz studies were closed by The Nazis in 1933. The first mass-produced jazz records came out in the United States in 1917. By January 1920, “Tiger Rag” had already been marketed by a German record company. In the early 1920s, the clarinetist and saxophonist Eric Borchard was making recordings in Germany. Borchard’s first recordings show a heavy influence of Alcide Nunez; he soon developed his own style. By 1924 his band was comparable to good American bands such as the Original Memphis Five. Borchard’s band included New Orleans trombonist Emile Christian. From 1920 to 1923, due to both economic turmoil and inflation, larger German jazz orchestras that played the new jazz dances were a rarity. Initially, a trio with a pianist, a drummer and a “Stehgeiger” (standing violinist), who also played the saxophone, was most common. Only after 1924 an economic stability was achieved, and an economic basis for larger dance orchestras was possible, like those founded by Bernard Etté, Dajos Béla, Marek Weber, Efim Schachmeister, and Stefan Weintraub. It was the predominant element of improvisation that was met with a lack of understanding in Germany, where people had always played concrete written notes; Marek Weber, for example, demonstratively left the podium if its nightly band played jazz interludes. In 1920–23, there was a period of economic turbulence and inflation in Germany, until 1924 when the market stabilized and money was invested in entertainment. Consequently, the mid-1920s brought forth a growth of larger bands who agreed to play jazz music. The two most popular German bands that showed the influence of American jazz were Eric Borchard’s small combo, and Stefan Weintraub’s Syncopators. Radio also had a role in jazz. In 1926, the radio began to regularly play jazz music, and as time progressed, by 1930, artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Paul Godwin’s band, Red Nichols, and Peter Kreuder became popular with German audiences. The listeners were particularly partial to American black musicians such as Armstrong and Ellington, instead of their own German jazz musicians. Jazz was found as an uncommon link between the blacks and Jews. Jews at that time were recognized in jazz, not just as musicians and composers, but also as commercial managers, serving as the middlemen of the music. After the Great War in Germany, Negrophobia coalesced with the preexisting anti-Semitism and flourished, especially since Jews were often depicted as having a racial affinity with blacks, possessing similar objectionable qualities. Jews were prevalent figures in new art forms such as jazz, cabaret, and film. Often, a great number of jazz band leaders were Jews, many from Eastern Europe, including Bela, Weber, Efim Schachmeister, Paul Godwin, and Ben Berlin.

German punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1976 to 1981 (Origins of punk in Germany)#

The first punk bands in Germany were strongly influenced by U.K. and U.S. bands like the Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash, The Stooges, and the Ramones. Among the first wave of German bands were Big Balls and the Great White Idiot (from Hamburg, founded in 1975), Male (from Düsseldorf, founded in 1976), Tollwut (from Munich, founded in 1976), PVC (from West Berlin, founded in 1977), Fred Banana Combo (from Düsseldorf, founded in 1978), Clox (from Dortmund, founded in 1977), and Pack (from Munich, founded in 1978). Early German punk groups were heavily influenced by UK bands, often writing their lyrics in English. For example, Big Balls, PVC, Clox, Pack, and the Fred Banana Combo wrote lyrics in English. Male is generally considered to be the first punk band to write lyrics in German. “The significance of the shift cannot be understated: as Male vocalist Jürgen Engler pointed out even at the time, ‘German lyrics led to the development of a new genre.’ " This first wave of German punk bands tended to be made up of people who were musicians before they encountered punk, rather than people motivated by political activism to form bands and learn to play instruments. Notable early Germany punk bands also include Charley’s Girls, S.Y.P.H., Mittagspause, Din-A-Testbild, Strassenjungs, Stuka Pilots, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF), Weltaufstandsplan (der Plan), Hans-a-plast, Kriminalitaetsfoerderungsclub (KFC), the Buttocks, ZK, Materialschlacht, and Minus Delta t. Although they played music in the punk style, Big Balls and the Great White Idiot (Hamburg) and Strassenjungs (Frankfurt), were strongly promoted by the music industry as the first German new wave groups, and were not generally accepted as part of the punk scene. This was associated with the LP compilation S.O.36 Sampler - Live 13.8.78. The SO36 became a well-known fixture of the punk music scene in Germany. One of the first scandals in the German punk scene happened in 1979, when singer Nina Hagen discussed masturbation techniques during an appearance on the discussion program Club 2, produced by the radio broadcaster ORF. This controversial appearance quickly made her famous. Her debut album Nina Hagen Band (1978), which had just been released, achieved international recognition. This album included a German version of the classic song from The Tubes “White Punks on Dope” (published under the title: “TV-Glotzer”). At this point in history, at least in Germany, there were not many ways to release records outside of the standard music business. This included a business-run music press, and limited possibilities for performances. The only nationally distributed music journals that were inclusive of the new punk scene were Sounds (largely to the credit of music journalist Alfred Hilsberg), the magazine Spex (founded in 1980) which consisted most of photos, and Musikexpress. These labels included Rock-O-Rama, ZickZack Records, as well as a number of short-lived record labels. Der Ostrich from Düsseldorf is generally considered to be the first punk fanzine from Germany; its first issue was released in March 1977, and its last issue was released in 1979. The people running Ostrich also founded the band Charley’s Girls. Other early German punk zines from West Germany included: Heimatblatt, Der Arsch, Preiserhöhung, KZ-Rundschau, and Der Aktuelle Mülleimer. Around 1980, several different sounds diverged in the German punk scene. Centered in Düsseldorf there was a larger movement toward electronic music. These bands originally performed alongside punk bands but became the precursors of Techno music. This included bands like DAF and Weltaufstandsplan (der Plan). Other bands began experimenting with sound using synthesizers and computers, developing a sound that was a precursor of the Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW). This included bands like Fehlfarben, Ideal, The Nina Hagen Band, Östro 430, Abwärts, and Trio. This sound was influenced by punk but oriented toward the commercial pop-music scene. NDW would develop further and reach the highpoint of its commercial success in the 1980s. Around 1979, people began to differentiate between the early punk sound, music that was evolving into NDW, and a sound developed by younger punk bands that had a harder, more aggressive style. Bands like S.Y.P.H., der KFC, and Mittagspause were also viewed as a different genre from more commercial bands like Hubert Kah and Nena. At the same time a new set of bands were being founded, for example ZK and Soilent Grün, that developed a sound and marketability which would lead to commercially oriented punk bands like Die Toten Hosen and Die Ärzte.

Glam rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Glam rock can be seen as a fashion as well as musical subgenre. Glam artists rejected the revolutionary rhetoric of the late 1960s rock scene, instead glorifying decadence, superficiality, and the simple structures of earlier pop music. In response to these characteristics, scholars such as I.Taylor and D. Wall characterised glam rock as “offensive, commercial, and cultural emasculation”. Artists drew on such musical influences as bubblegum pop, the brash guitar riffs of hard rock, stomping rhythms, and 1950s rock and roll, filtering them through the recording innovations of the late 1960s. Ultimately, it became very diverse, varying between the simple rock and roll revivalism of figures like Alvin Stardust to the complex art pop of Roxy Music. Visually, it was a mesh of various styles, ranging from 1930s Hollywood glamour, through 1950s pin-up sex appeal, pre-war cabaret theatrics, Victorian literary and symbolist styles, science fiction, to ancient and occult mysticism and mythology; manifesting itself in outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots. Glam rock is most noted for its sexual and gender ambiguity and representations of androgyny, beside extensive use of theatrics. It was prefigured by the flamboyant English composer Noël Coward, especially his 1931 song “Mad Dogs and Englishmen”, with music writer Daryl Easlea stating, “Noël Coward’s influence on people like Bowie, Roxy Music and Cockney Rebel was absolutely immense. It suggested style, artifice and surface were equally as important as depth and substance. Time magazine noted Coward’s ‘sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise’. It reads like a glam manifesto.”

Goregrind

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Despite the early impact of albums such as Repulsion’s Horrified and Impetigo’s Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, the origins of the genre lie with British band Carcass, who began their career in the late 1980s. In their Reek of Putrefaction era, Carcass used pitch shifters, medical imagery and several visceral associations—all of which would become synonymous with goregrind.

Characteristics#

According to Matthew Harvey, Zero Tolerance described goregrind as being defined by “detuned guitars, blasting drums (sometimes with a high-tuned, clanging ‘biscuit tin’ snare drum sound), sickening lyrics and often heavily processed/distorted vocals.” Goregrind bands commonly use extremely low or pitch-shifted vocals. The lyrics’ subject matter often features violent themes including gore, forensic pathology, death, and rape. Lyrics sometimes have a clear tongue-in-cheek Z-grade horror-movie feel and are not expected to be taken seriously. The medical pathophysiology terms of many later bands have earned the genre the occasional name of “medicore”.

Gothic metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Some musicians have disputed the gothic label associated with their bands, including Rozz Williams of Christian Death and Andrew Eldritch of the Sisters of Mercy. In the gothic metal subgenre, members from such groups as After Forever and Nightwish have similarly downplayed or dismissed the gothic label from their music.

Sonic traits#

The music of gothic metal is generally characterised by its dark atmospheres. The adjective “dark” is commonly used to describe gothic music in general while other terms that are less frequently used include deep, romantic, passionate and intense. Gothic metal has also sometimes been viewed as “a combination of the darkness and melancholy of goth rock with heavy metal”. Allmusic defines the genre as a fusion of “the bleak, icy atmospherics of goth rock with the loud guitars and aggression of heavy metal” and further notes that “true goth metal is always directly influenced by goth rock — ethereal synths and spooky textures are just as important as guitar riffs, if not more so”. Gothic metal is a varied genre with bands pursuing many different directions, from “slow and crushing variations” to “orchestral and bombastic”. The doom metal background of early pioneers like Anathema, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride has been taken up by groups like Artrosis, Ava Inferi and Draconian. The black metal approach of Cradle of Filth, Theatres des Vampires and early Moonspell can be found in such subsequent bands as Graveworm and Samsas Traum.

Gothic rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “gothic rock” was originally coined by critic John Stickney who used the label to describe the music of the Doors in October 1967, in a review published in The Williams Record. Stickney wrote that the band met the journalists “in the gloomy vaulted wine cellar of the Delmonico hotel, the perfect room to honor the gothic rock of the Doors”. On 4 November 1978 Record Mirror’s Tim Lott described Pere Ubu’s 1975 debut single “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” as “discordant gothic rock”. In a review of a Siouxsie and the Banshees’ concert in July 1978, critic Nick Kent stated, “parallels and comparisons can now be drawn with gothic rock architects like the Doors and, certainly, early Velvet Underground”. In 1980, Joy Division’s album Closer was noted for its “dark strokes of gothic rock” by Sounds.

Grebo (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Derived from “greaser”, the word “grebo” began being used in the 1970s as a slang term for bikers with long hair. The word was re-fashioned by the group Pop Will Eat Itself that represented a brand of United Kingdom subculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, largely based in the English Midlands.

History#

Fronted by Pop Will Eat Itself, the Wonder Stuff and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, the bands quickly gained attention: Pop Will Eat Itself’s 1989 singles “Wise Up! Sucker” and “Can U Dig It?” both entered the UK Top 40 and Stourbridge briefly became a tourist attraction for young indie rock fans. The seminal albums from the scene were released between 1989 and 1993: the Wonder Stuff’s Hup and Never Loved Elvis; Ned’s Atomic Dustbin’s God Fodder and Are You Normal?; and Pop Will Eat Itself’s This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This! and The Looks or the Lifestyle?. In this period, the scene’s bands became fixtures, sometimes headliners, at Reading Festival, sold millions of albums and were frequently featured on the covers of magazines like NME and Melody Maker. Grebo bands were distinct from prior indie rock groups not only because of their broad influences, but their subversion of the twee or unhappy moods of most other bands in the genre, and their pursuit of a heavier sound and aesthetic. The scene came to include the stylistically similar bands of nearby Leicester: the Bomb Party, Gaye Bykers on Acid, Crazyhead, the Hunters Club and Scum Pups. The term has also been used to describe Jesus Jones from Wiltshire. A younger subset of grebo bands emerged around 1991, who were in turn labelled “fraggle” bands. During this movement, the dominant sound was a style of indie rock that was heavily indebted to punk and Nirvana’s Bleach album, while also occasionally making use of drum machines.

Greek traditional music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notable folk songs#

Some notable folk songs include: * “Itia” * “Milo mou kokkino” * “Kontoula lemonia” * “Mou parigile to aidoni” * “Enas aetos” * “Kira Vangelio” * “Gerakina” * “Saranta palikaria” and Nisiotika (the songs from the islands) * “Ikariotikos” * “Samiotisa” * “Thalassaki” * “Armenaki” * “Amorgos Sousta” * “Ela Na Pame S’ena Meros * “Dari Dari * “Dirlada” * “Lygaria” * “Psaropoula”, such as “Tilirkiotissa” and “Psintri Vasilitsia mou” (Cyprus).

Grime music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Grime emerged in the early 2000s in East London. It has origins tied with UK pirate radio stations such as Rinse FM, Deja Vu, Major FM, Delight FM, Freeze 92.7 and Mission. In the late 1990s, UK garage grew in popularity and also found crossover commercial success with shows on Kiss 100 and BBC Radio 1. Whilst much of the popular UK garage sound fused soul and R&B influences, a ‘darker garage’ sound was also appearing which was more instrumental and less vocal, which allowed MCs to lay down lyrics over them. The role of MCs became more prominent on radio shows, and collectives such as So Solid Crew (on Delight FM), Heartless Crew (on Mission), and Pay As U Go (on Rinse FM) would begin to pave the way for what would eventually be called “grime”. Members of these crews would begin to experiment with accessible music creation software such as Fruityloops to write their own instrumentals which were cut to dubplate for shows. The first definitive grime release is often debated. Some will credit Pay As U Go’s “Know We” or So Solid Crew’s “Dilemma” (both were released in 2000), however, “Eskimo” by Wiley (produced in Christmas 1999 or early 2000, but released in 2002) and “Pulse X” by Youngstar (released in 2002), a member of Musical Mobb, are also often considered to be contenders. Dizzee Rascal personally claimed his song “Crime”, released in 2000, was the first grime song. DJ Slimzee and DJ Karnage have also suggested “Year 2000” (released 2000) by Wiley as a contender. Other tracks that were among the first to be labelled as “grime” include “Ice Rink” and “Igloo” by Wiley, “Creeper” by Danny Weed, and “Dollar Sign” by Sticky featuring Stush. Several earlier electronic music tracks have been noted for sharing elements of what would later become grime music. “Bamboo Houses” (1982) by Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian “accidentally predicted” grime and was “the earliest example of proto-grime” according to Fact, with a “gleaming synth lead, syncopated drumming and the type of vaguely Asian motif that would go on to define much of Wiley and Jammer’s early work” in Sinogrime. It later appeared on Kode9’s DJ sets and was remixed by Slackk, becoming “a grime touchstone” by the early 2010s. Also of note is the 1994 Super Nintendo video game soundtrack Wolverine: Adamantium Rage, composed by Shahid Ahmad and Dylan Beale. According to Fact, it features “all the hallmarks of early grime instrumentals: staccato strings, eski bleeps and square wave bass”. It predates the first recognized grime instrumentals by eight years. Wiley at the timed dubbed the sound ’eskibeat’ rather than “grime”, which had yet to gain popular usage. At this point, the style was known by a number of names, including 8-bar (meaning eight-bar verse patterns), nu shape (which encouraged more complex 16-bar and 32-bar verse patterns), sublow (a music style and movement created by Jon E Cash with Dread D (T Williams) and crew “The Black Ops”, the name sublow being a reference to the very low bassline frequencies, often around 40 Hz) and eskibeat, a term applied specifically to a style initially developed by Wiley and his collaborators, incorporating dance and electro elements. This indicated the movement of UK garage away from its house influences towards darker themes and sounds. Wiley’s song “Wot Do U Call It” was released in 2004 and was made to address the identity problems grime was experiencing at the time, and to establish its separation from garage. there are other contributing factors to its rapid and widespread growth in popularity. The MCs producing current grime music are overwhelmingly young as a group, the most well known names in the industry, Dizzee Rascal and Kano, both getting their first hits at the age of 16 with “I Luv U” and “Boys Love Girls” respectively, and the resultant package of “youth making music for youth” is seen as a crucial factor for grime’s success. Grime producers often battle in so-called “war dubs”. Clashing between MC’s is generally considered to be an important part of grime culture.

Grindcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Known for being “among the noisiest, fastest and rawest kinds of metal,” grindcore is influenced by crust punk, thrashcore, as well as noise musical acts like Swans. The name derives from the fact that grind is a British term for thrash; that term was prepended to -core from hardcore. Grindcore relies on standard hardcore punk instrumentation: electric guitar, bass and drums. A characteristic of some grindcore songs is the “microsong,” lasting only a few seconds. In 2001, the Guinness Book of World Records awarded Brutal Truth the record for “Shortest Music Video” for 1994’s “Collateral Damage” (the song lasts four seconds). In 2007, the video for the Napalm Death song “You Suffer” set a new “Shortest Music Video” record: 1.3 seconds. Beyond the microsong, it is characteristic of grindcore to have short songs in general; for example, Carcass’ debut album Reek of Putrefaction (1988) consists of 22 tracks with an average length of 1 minute and 48 seconds. It is common for grindcore albums to be very short when compared to other genres, usually consisting of a large track list but having a total length of only 15 to 20 minutes. Many grindcore groups experiment with tuned-down guitars and play mostly with downstrokes of the pick, power chords and heavy distortion. While the vinyl A-side of Napalm Death’s debut, 1987’s Scum, is set to Eb tuning, on side B, the guitars are tuned down to C. Their second album From Enslavement to Obliteration and the Mentally Murdered EP were tuned to C ♯. Harmony Corruption, their third full-length album, was tuned up to a D. Bolt Thrower went further, dropping 3½ steps down (A). The bass playing is often overdriven.

Grindie

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In 2004, music journalist John Doran coined the term “grindie” as a joke. It was later adopted by grime producer Statik and the NME. The genre initially received some criticisms by grime fans who perceived it to be a fad created by magazines, rather than a fully fledged scene. Akira the Don, who signed to Interscope Records in 2004, released multiple mixtapes sampling rock and indie artists, including the “Third Hand Wire Riffs” mixtape featuring Elastica, Big Narstie, Lethal Bizzle, Martin Carr of the Boo Radleys and others. Jack Nimble and Marvin the Martian / Marv the Marsh have been credited for creating the first grindie song, “Stay Off the Kane”, released in 2005. The song was a remix of Art Brut’s song “Emily Kane”. Art Brut later invited Why Lout?, the group Marvin and Jack Nimble were members of, to be the opening act for them at Koko. In 2006, the group released Hoods & Badges EP on the Universal Digital record label. Akira the Don produced tracks for grime star Big Narstie’s “What’s the Story Brixton Glory” mixtape that sampled Oasis and Arctic Monkeys, that was later cited as an influence by Ed Sheeran. Grime artist Lethal Bizzle became a prominent artist in the subgenre, releasing multiple top 40 hits produced by Akira the Don that sampled the Clash, the Breeders and Sham 69, also collaborating with Statik, the Rakes, Babyshambles, Bloc Party, and Test Icicles. Lethal Bizzle was at the time struggling due to clubs banning him from performing. Grindie allowed Lethal Bizzle to find a new, indie, audience and platform. Charli XCX was dubbed the “Grindie Princess” during her early career. Hadouken! was also associated with the scene.

Grunge

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “grunge” is American slang for “someone or something that is repugnant” and also for “dirt”. In 1988, it was first recorded as being applied to Seattle musicians in a Sub Pop mail order catalog, when Bruce Pavitt described Green River’s Dry as a Bone EP as “Gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps. Ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation”. Although the phrase “grunge” has been used to describe bands since the 1960s, this was the first association of grunge with the sound of a Seattle rock band. Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain, in one of his final interviews, credited Jonathan Poneman, cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining the term “grunge” to describe the music. The term “Seattle sound” became a marketing ploy for the music industry. Seattle musician Jeff Stetson states that when he visited Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a touring musician, the local musicians did not refer to themselves as “grunge” performers or their style as “grunge” and they were not flattered that their music was being called “grunge”. Robert Loss acknowledges the challenges of defining “grunge”; he stated that, while he can recount stories about grunge, they do not serve to provide a useful definition. Roy Shuker states that the term “obscured a variety of styles.” Stetson states that prominent bands considered to be grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney and Hammerbox) all sound different.

Gwo ka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The Gwo Ka musical practice emerged in the 17th century during the transatlantic slave trade, as a result of a creolization process: adaptation to surrounding context and assimilation of European cultural elements. African slaves of Guadeloupe used to gather to play drums, sing and dance. The use of any kind of drum was at that time forbidden by the Code Noir. As a consequence, slaves used a vocal technique called bouladjèl, which imitates drums. At that time, Gwoka practice was directly linked to agricultural work, especially sugar cane, coffee and banana cultivation. Post 1946, along with anti-assimilation and anti-colonialism movements, Gwoka spread throughout the island, which marks the beginning of its rehabilitation process. As a consequence, in 1988, lawyer and nationalist activist Félix Cotellon created the Festival de Gwoka Sentann in the city of Sainte-Anne without the support of the municipality. Studies and symposiums were held on the occasion. In 1981, local musician Gérard Lockel published the Traité de Gwoka modên, the first attempt to formalize this musical genre. He claimed that Gwoka was atonal, breaching with western conventions and tastes. By affirming the modality of Gwoka, he situated this music style within the realm of African musical traditions. Paradoxically, under Lockel’s leadership, Gwoka was transformed from a participatory music played outdoors to a presentational music played on stage with European and North American instruments. Musical research show that the instrument can find its roots in the drums and songs of the West African countries (Guinea gulf, Congo…). From the diverse music and dance of their homelands, the slaves elaborated a communication tool, a new form of art, like the creole language: the Gwo Ka. This musical genre is characterised by an African typology: - repetitive form - improvisation - physical movements linked to music - a response between a soloist and choir - a syncopation weak times

Hamburger Schule

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction#

As the name indicates, the movement was initially carried by Hamburg based bands like , Kolossale Jugend, Ostzonensuppenwürfelmachenkrebs, Die Erde, Blumfeld, Tocotronic, Die Sterne, , and Die Goldenen Zitronen. Their music didn’t necessarily sound similar, but was characterised by lyrics in German language (not a given in Germany) that gave voice to social criticism and were based on post-modern theory. Consequently, it was lauded by the leftist trade press (especially Spex magazine). The artists themselves didn’t initially perceive these similarities to be particularly important and denied the existence of a homogeneous movement. However, social links and political cooperations suggest that it wasn’t unreasonable to view it as that. Furthermore, it could be surmised that the term Hamburger Schule is a pun on the so-called Frankfurter Schule (‘Frankfurt School’) which is a school of neo-Marxist social theory, social research, and philosophy, centered at the Institute for Social Research (Institut für Sozialforschung) of the University of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. However, it seems more likely to be simply a clever knock at the need for legitimacy, by referencing the way all art movements are titled in German (e.g. Wiener Schule, Berliner Schule, Österreichische Schule, New Yorker Schule, etc.).

Happy hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The breakbeat hardcore rave scene was beginning to fragment by late 1992 into a number of subsequent breakbeat-based genres: darkcore (tracks embracing dark-themed samples and stabs), hardcore jungle (reggae basslines and influences became prominent), and 4-beat also known as “happy hardcore” where piano rolls and uplifting vocals were still central to the sound. DJs such as Slipmatt, DJ Sy , DJ Seduction , Clarkee , Wishdokta, DJ Dougal, DJ Vibes , and Billy Daniel Bunter continued to play and put out music of this nature throughout 1994 – notably Slipmatt’s ‘SMD’ releases, Wishdokta recording as the ‘Naughty Naughty’ pseudonym, and Seduction on his Impact Records label, as well as the labels Hectic, Homegrown, Kniteforce, and Just Another Label. Dreamscape, Helter Skelter, and Fusion were among the raves where the music was played.

Hard NRG

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1980s–early 1990s: Roots in UK hard house and EU techno#

Acid house of the late 1980s was the ‘happier’ (playful/fun) side of dance music exemplified by Italian piano-house (Italo disco/hi-NRG of the early 1990s) and this began to progress into a scene of its own. Throughout the first half of the 1990s, house music which was more akin to the soulful, disco influenced dance music of the 1980s, continued to flourish. By the mid-1990s, uplifting house music in this vein was in abundance and producers in the UK such as The Sharp Boys were providing their own interpretation of the sound. They upped the BPMs a little, chopped up the disco samples into bite size loops, chucked a load of filters in and created music that was pure dance floor business. This was the sound that provided the basis for the origins of UK hard house. At the time, it was exclusive to the gay scene in the UK and for a while known as “Hand Bag House” or “Hard Bag”. Hard house as a style was epitomized in the early days by producers such as Paul Janes, The Tidy Boys, Pete Wardman, Steve Thomas, Ian M, Alan Thompson, Captain Tinrib, DJ Ziad and Tony De Vit. Some of the above-mentioned names were heavily involved in the club night ‘Trade’, which is widely regarded as the home and birthplace of UK hard house with Tony De Vit as the ‘godfather’ of UK hard house. In the early 1990s, producers like Joey Beltram had transposed the sound of U.S. techno to Belgium, and added their own twist to it. This new brand of techno was darker, harder, and generally nastier than anything that had preceded it. The techno that had emerged from Detroit in the US had the seemingly paradoxical quality of somehow being soulful while at the same time being 100% electronic. The Belgian techno sound ripped out this soul, and replaced it with something altogether more sinister. It was this style of music that gave birth to the sound of the “Hoover”, a gritty sound produced by the Roland Alpha Juno 2 synthesizer and so called because of its apparent similarity to the noises made by vacuum cleaners.

Hardbag

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Examples#

The following releases are considered notable examples of the genre: *1992: “Don’t You Want Me” – Felix (Deconstruction label, UK No. 6) *1994: “La Luna” – The Ethics (produced by Patrick Prins) (Effective label, UK No. 13) *1994: “Crazy Man” – Blast (Media label, UK No. 22) *1994: “The Ultimate” – Antic (Hooj Choons, UK No. 71) *1995: “Burning Up” – Tony De Vit (:VC: label, UK No. 25) *1995: “Hooked” – 99th Floor Elevators feat. Tony De Vit (Labello Dance, UK No. 28) *1995: “To the Limit” – Tony De Vit (:VC: label, UK No. 44) *1995: “Play this House” – BB Club (Positiva label, UK No. 65) *1994: “Bits & Pieces” – Artemesia (Hooj Choons, UK No. 46) *1995: “Let’s Whip it Up” – Sleaze Sisters Feat. Vicki Shepard (UK No. 46) *1995: “Listen to the Rhythm Flow” – Diva Rhythms (Tripoli Trax) *1995: “Fee Fi Fo Fum” – Candy Girls (:VC: label, UK No. 23) *1995: “Wham Bam” – Candy Girls (:VC: label, UK No. 20) *1995: “Oh! What a World” – Sister Bliss (Go! Beat label, UK No. 40) *1995: “U Girls” – Nush (:VC: label, UK No. 15) *1995: “Passion” – Amen UK (Deconstruction label, UK No. 15) *1995: “Joanna” – Mrs Wood (React label, No. 34; “Joanna” was remixed by Sash! in 1997, peaking at No. 31) *1996: “Forever Young” (Red Jerry remix – Interactive, UK No. 28) *1996: “There’s Nothing I Won’t Do” - JX (Hooj Choons, UK No. 4)

Hardbass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Hardbass first began to emerge in the late 1990s, mainly in the Saint Petersburg electronic dance music underground, when the pumping house genre, built around the bamboo bass, or donk bass (a type of metallic bass synthesizer sound, first invented by Klubbheads in 1997), became a staple in local raves. To increase the energy of the parties, Saint Petersburg producers and DJs started to increase the BPM of the pumping house they played and produced, eventually reaching 150 BPM and beyond. Saint Petersburg producers would include distinct whistles and other samples into their production, which would later crystallize into the hardbass sound as it is generally known. At the same time the characteristic lingo of hardbass formed, such as terms for hardbass music itself, like; kolbasa meaning sausage, a derivative of kolbasitsya, a jargon verb meaning hard partying; pump, or pamp, short for pumping house; nasos, the literal translation of the word pump into Russian. In 2010, XS Project, a group of four music producers from Saint Petersburg, released a satirical movie on YouTube, together with radio presenters of Gop FM station, accompanying their Bochka, Bass, Kolbasyor (kick drum, bass and kolbasyor) track, which was released in 2003. In the movie, several artists, DJs, and radio presenters, disguised as gopniks, danced in gopnik style on a Saint Petersburg children’s playground. The movie was intended to mock the so-called subculture of rave gopniks – young people in tracksuits who would go to rave parties in Russia not to have a good time, but to get intoxicated and cause trouble. The dance moves for hardbass dancing mostly included disorganized feet stomping, jumping and specific hand gestures, with hands clenched in fists with thumb and pinky fingers protruding.

Heavy metal music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud, distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. Heavy metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes. In a 1988 article, The New York Times critic Jon Pareles wrote, “In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force.” The typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purple’s Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ. In 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III; by the 1990s, synthesizers were used in “almost every subgenre of heavy metal”. The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of high volumes and heavy fuzz. For classic heavy metal guitar tone, guitarists maintain gain at moderate levels, without excessive preamp or pedal distortion, to retain open spaces and air in the music; the guitar amplifier is turned up loud to produce the “punch and grind” characteristic. Thrash metal guitar tone has scooped mid-frequencies and tightly compressed sound with multiple bass frequencies. Most heavy metal songs “feature at least one guitar solo”, which is “a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity”. Some exceptions are nu metal and grindcore bands, which tend to omit guitar solos. With rhythm guitar parts, the “heavy crunch sound in heavy metal … is created by palm muting” the strings with the picking hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more precise sound and it emphasizes the low end. The lead role of the guitar in heavy metal often collides with the traditional “frontman” or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two “contend for dominance” in a spirit of “affectionate rivalry”. Critic Simon Frith claims that the metal singer’s “tone of voice” is more important than the lyrics. The prominent role of the bass ‍is also key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music “heavy”. The bass plays a “more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock”. Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica’s Cliff Burton with his heavy emphasis on bass ‍solos and use of chords while playing the ‍bass in the early 1980s. Lemmy of Motörhead often played overdriven power chords in his bass lines. Heavy metal drumming is defined by a loud, consistent beat that drives the band, relying on the “trifecta of speed, power, and precision.” Heavy metal drumming “requires an exceptional amount of endurance”, and drummers have to develop “considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity … to play the intricate patterns” used in heavy metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music. In live performance, loudness – an “onslaught of sound”, in sociologist Deena Weinstein’s description – is considered vital. Following the lead set by Jimi Hendrix, Cream and the Who, early heavy metal acts such as Blue Cheer set new benchmarks for volume. As Blue Cheer’s Dick Peterson put it, “All we knew was we wanted more power.” A 1977 review of a Motörhead concert noted how “excessive volume in particular figured into the band’s impact”. Weinstein makes the case that in the same way that melody is the main element of pop and rhythm is the main focus of house music, powerful sound, timbre and volume are the key elements of metal. She argues that the loudness is designed to “sweep the listener into the sound” and to provide a “shot of youthful vitality”. until at least the mid-1980s, with some exceptions such as Girlschool. and PopMatters’ Craig Hayes argues that metal “clearly empowers women”. In the power metal and symphonic metal subgenres, there has been a sizable number of bands that have had women as the lead singers, such as Nightwish, Delain and Within Temptation.

Hi-NRG

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Whether hi-NRG is more rock-oriented than standard disco music is a matter of opinion. Hi-NRG can be heavily synthesized but it is not a prerequisite, and whether it is devoid of “funkiness” differs among the opinions of listeners. Many artists perform their vocals in R&B and soul styles on hi-NRG tracks. Lyrics tend to be overtly camp, kitschy, tongue-in-cheek, sexually suggestive with double entendres but also occasionally sentimental or maudlin. The sound of high energy dance tracks, particularly electronic dance or disco, is immediately identifiable by its iconic basslines, pioneered by producer Giorgio Moroder, often programmed in repeating bass sequences, particularly 16th notes, which is characteristic of the hi-NRG electronic dance sound as in “I Feel Love” performed by Donna Summer and produced by Moroder. The rhythm is characterized by an energetic, staccato, sequenced synthesizer sound of octave basslines or/and where the bass often takes the place of the hi-hat, alternating a more resonant note with a dampened note to signify the tempo of the record. There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines. One form of hi-NRG, as performed by Megatone Records artists and Ian Levine, is any uptempo disco and dance music, whether containing octave basslines or not, that often features covers of “classic” Motown hits (Boys Town Gang) and torch songs, and is often “theatrical” in performance, featuring female (and male) musicians with facetious diva personas and male musicians sometimes in “drag” (Sylvester, Divine), cabarets/musical theater (Vicki Sue Robinson, Sharon Redd). This style, that Stock Aitken Waterman were influenced by, had a large cult following among gay club-goers in the 1980s, especially San Franciscan black and white gay men. and early Chicago house, primarily focuses on its characteristic sequenced “octave-jumping basslines” above anything else and in this form hi-NRG managed to surge into the mainstream with Stacey Q, Kim Wilde, and Laura Branigan. The octave basslines are also found in electroclash and in both cases may be traced to synth-pop and even further back to Giorgio Moroder (“I Feel Love”).

Hip house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

A British collaboration between the electronic group Beatmasters and the rap duo Cookie Crew entitled “Rok da House” is cited as one of the first hip house tracks. Minor controversy ensued in 1988 when a U.S. record called “Turn Up the Bass” by Tyree Cooper featuring Kool Rock Steady claimed it was the “first hip house record on vinyl”. The Beatmasters disputed this, pointing out that “Rok da House” had originally been written and pressed to vinyl in 1986. The outfit then released “Who’s in the House?” featuring British emcee Merlin, containing the lines “Beatmasters stand to attention, hip house is your invention” and “Watch out Tyree, we come faster”. More claims to the hip-house crown were subsequently laid down by Fast Eddie in “Yo Yo Get Funky!”, Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock with “It Takes Two”, and Tony Scott’s “That’s How I’m Living”. After successful releases by the Beatmasters, Deskee, Tyree, KC Flightt, Doug Lazy and Mr. Lee, hip-house became popular in the acid house warehouse scene and nightclubs. Hip house also garnered substantial chart success. The style complemented sample-based records of the period, produced by British artists such as S-Express, Bomb the Bass and MARRS. Hip house tracks featured on popular dance compilations including Telstar’s Deep Heat compilation series and was championed by DJs such as Chad Jackson. As house music emerged as a worldwide industry by the late 1980s, U.S. acts such as C+C Music Factory would use the hip house formula in hits such as “Gonna Make You Sweat”, as well as the Eurodance particularly with hits by the Belgian group Technotronic and the German groups Snap! and Real McCoy.

Hip-hop tuga

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History Of Hip Hop Tuga Concert 2019#

On March 8, 2019, a large concert took place called “A História Do Hip-Hop Tuga” (The History of Portuguese Hip Hop) at the Altice Arena, part of the Parque das Nações complex, in Lisbon. The show, produced by Música no Coração, featured many of the founding fathers of hip hop in Portugal, many with their roots directly from Africa. Performers included General D, Boss AC, Black Company, Chullage, NBC e Sir Scratch.

Humppa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dances#

Three different dances are typically danced to humppa music. They existed long before the word “humppa” was coined. One form of Humppa dance is related to one-step, which arrived in Finland 1913. In this kind of humppa, both dancers take a step on each first beat (on “hump”) and progress to the direction of dance. This is danced making turns in closed position or making figures by changing various open positions. The second Humppa form is related to two-step, which came to Finland in 1910. This Humppa has some rhythm and movement from samba and waltz. A third form of dance, Nilkku, is based on a slow, slow, quick, quick rhythm. The first quick step hardly takes any weight and gives the dance an appearance of limping. In the early 1970s, pop music and dancing almost killed social dancing, but the revival of humppa keeps traditional social dancing alive. The revival meant that humppa had become the most popular music and dancing form for older people and for the countryside’s youth in the Eastern and South-Eastern parts of the country. Popular humppa artists from the 1970s include male singers Erkki Junkkarinen, Henry Theel, Mikko Järvinen, Eino Valtanen, Eero Aven, female singers , Eija-Sinikka, and bands Tulipunaruusut, Kaisa & Kumppanit, and Mutkattomat. The most popular humppa festivals were in Lappeenranta.

Hungarian metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gallery#

File:Mayhem - Jalometalli 2008 - 10.JPG Attila Csihar performing with Mayhem File:FreshFabrik prague.jpg FreshFabrik performing live in Prague, 2001, supporting AC/DC and Rammstein File:Ektomorf RockTheLake2007 01.JPG Ektomorf performing at Rock the Lake Festival in 2007

Hungarian pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1930s#

One of the early acts is associated with Rezső Seress who composed the worldwide hit Gloomy Sunday while living in Paris, in an attempt to become established as a songwriter in late 1932. Seress composed the song at the time of the Great Depression and increasing fascist influence in Hungary, although sources differ as to the degree to which his song was inspired by personal melancholy rather than concerns about the future of the world. In the 1930s and 1940s Pál Kalmár was one of the most celebrated singers in Hungary. He was also noted for singing the song Gloomy Sunday. He also appeared in the 1935 film St. Peter’s Umbrella, directed by Géza von Cziffra.

Hyperpop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Hyperpop artists embody an exaggerated, eclectic, and self-referential approach to pop music and typically employ elements such as brash synth melodies, Auto-Tuned “earworm” vocals, and excessive compression and distortion, as well as surrealist or nostalgic references to 2000s Internet culture and the Web 2.0 era. Common features include vocals that are heavily processed; metallic, melodic percussion sounds; pitch-shifted synths; catchy choruses; short song lengths; and “shiny, cutesy aesthetics” juxtaposed with angst-ridden or ironic lyricism. According to Vice journalist Eli Enis, hyperpop is not so much about following music rules, but “a shared ethos of transcending genre altogether, while still operating within the context of pop”. The movement is often associated with the LGBTQ+ community, drawing primary influences from queer culture. The microgenre’s emphasis on vocal modulation has allowed artists to experiment with gender presentation and androgyny in their voices, Joe Vitagliano, writing for American Songwriter, said hyperpop is an “exciting, bombastic, and iconoclastic genre – if it can even be called a ‘genre and has “saw synths, auto-tuned vocals, glitch-inspired percussion and a distinctive late-capitalism-dystopia vibe”. According to Kieran Press-Reynolds writing for Pitchfork, artists in this style mix the avant-garde and pop music, often balancing between being addictively fun and a bit too much. He added that in 2024, hyperpop had become a “Frankensteinian macro-genre”. The Atlantic said the genre “swirls together and speeds up Top 40 tricks of present and past: a Janet Jackson drum slam here, a Depeche Mode synth squeal there, the overblown pep of novelty jingles throughout,” but also said “the genre’s zest for punk’s brattiness, hip-hop’s boastfulness, and metal’s noise”. According to Rolling Stone magazine, collectives such as Novagang and Helix Tears “feature artists of variously different styles and sounds, but find community with each other in their shared rejection of stylistic limits.”

Icelandic folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Icelandic folk music#

was originally the name of a kind of dance, but the name has since been transferred to a form of Icelandic song designed for people to dance to. poems (Icelandic ) are characterised by having a refrain that rhymes with the following line. Such poems usually open with an introductory stanza one of whose lines becomes the refrain. New refrains can, however, be brought into the poem. The content of the poems is very varied and can be narrative, descriptive, or dialogic, and secular or religious. According to Margrét Eggertsdóttir, “the precise origin of the tradition is unknown, but it has been observed that it shows a relationship to foreign chorus poetry, especially the English carol”. saw a decline at the beginning of the 20th century, although efforts are being made to keep it alive.

In Nomine

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

This “most conspicuous single form in the early development of English consort music” originated in the early 16th century from a six-voice mass composed before 1530 by John Taverner on the plainchant Gloria Tibi Trinitas. In the Benedictus section of this mass, the Latin phrase “in nomine Domini” was sung in a reduced, four-part counterpoint, with the plainchant melody in the meane part. At an early point, this attractive passage became popular as a short instrumental piece, though there is no evidence that Taverner himself was responsible for any of these arrangements. Over the next 150 years, English composers worked this melody into “In Nomine” pieces of ever greater stylistic range. In Nomines are typically consort pieces for four or five instruments, especially consorts of viols. One instrument plays the theme through as a cantus firmus with each note lasting one or even two measures; usually this is the second part from the top. The other parts play more complex lines, often in imitative counterpoint. Usually they take up several new motifs in turn, using each one as a point of imitation. However, there are In Nomines composed for solo or duo keyboard instruments and even one for the lute: a fantasy titled Farewell by John Dowland. Examples of the genre include compositions by Christopher Tye (the most prolific composer of In Nomines, with 24 surviving settings), Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, John Bull, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Tomkins, William Lawes, and Henry Purcell, among many others. They can vary in mood from melancholy to serene, exultant, or even playful or hectic (as in Tye’s In Nomine “Crye”, in which the viols seem to imitate the call of a street hawker). Composition of In Nomines lapsed in the eighteenth century but was revived in the twentieth century, an early notable example being Richard Strauss’s opera Die schweigsame Frau, which quotes a keyboard In nomine by John Bull. Later examples are found in works by Peter Maxwell Davies and Roger Smalley. Starting in 1999, the Freiburg new-music organization ensemble recherche began commissioning an ongoing series of short In Nomine compositions for the festival Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik. The series is dedicated to , director of the festival since 1989, and is collectively titled the Witten In Nomine Broken Consort Book. Some of the notable composers who have contributed pieces to this series to date include Brian Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa, György Kurtág, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Gérard Pesson, Robert H.P. Platz, Rolf Riehm, Wolfgang Rihm, Salvatore Sciarrino, Hans Zender, and Walter Zimmermann. In 1995, for the 300th anniversary of the death of Purcell, Gavin Bryars composed In Nomine (after Purcell) for the viol consort Fretwork. Graham Waterhouse composed In Nomine for cello solo in 2013.

Indie folk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The staff of Paste Magazine said in 2020: “No music genre is particularly easy to define, but “indie folk” is about as nebulous as they come.” Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The lyrical style commonly includes raw emotional experiences, social commentary and an introspective lens. The genre blends the ethos and experimental nature of indie music with the storytelling of folk music. Instruments frequently used in the genre include guitars, banjos, mandolins, and ukuleles.

Indie pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Indie pop is defined by its DIY ethos, upbeat melodies, and an overarching sense of “authenticity.” It primarily takes influences from post-punk, jangle pop, and its counterpart, indie rock. While sharing overarching similarities, indie pop is more melodic, simplistic, and accessible, eschewing the more abrasive and conventional aspects of indie rock. Music journalist Nitsuh Abebe noted in Pitchfork that: Music critic Simon Reynolds says that indie pop defines itself against “charting pop”. Abebe explains: Indie pop was an unprecedented contrast from the gritty and serious tones of previous underground rock styles, as well as being a departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music. Distinguished from the angst and abrasiveness of its indie rock counterpart, the majority of indie pop borrows not only the stripped-down quality of punk, but also “the sweetness and catchiness of mainstream pop”.

Indorock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The guitar was imported to the East Indies by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. The traditional Portuguese song styles, saudade and fado, played with guitar accompaniment, later became kroncong music. Many Indorock musicians had a predilection for Hawaiian music, which was popular in the Netherlands at the time. Other significant influences include American country & western, and the rock & roll repertoire played on radio stations in Indonesia via American (AFN) stations from the Philippines and Australia. While Dutch audience were interested in Rock & Roll, white Dutch musicians did not perform the genre in the mid-1950s, and Indonesians and Moluccans filled the void at that time, and bands such as the Bellboys, the Room Rockers, the Hap Cats, and the Hot Jumpers performing to a mixed audience in venues such as pubs. Since the Dutch music industry offered few venues for Indorock artists, many of them went to Germany where it quickly became highly popular, at least until the advent of British beat music. The Indorock scene had largely faded in the Netherlands by the mid-1960s, as it was superseded in popularity by British rock as a result of the British Invasion. However, it would continue to be an influence in Indonesian rock music. Indorock has also been considered by some to be an early form of proto-punk, as some of its stylistic elements are similar to those in the punk rock movement of the 1970s.

Industrial music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the genre was first named in 1942 when The Musical Quarterly called Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1927 Symphony No. 2 “the high tide of ‘industrial music’.” Similarly, in 1972, The New York Times described works by Ferde Grofé (especially 1935’s A Symphony in Steel) as part of “his ‘industrial music’ genre that called on such instruments as four pairs of shoes, two brooms, a locomotive bell, a pneumatic drill and a compressed-air tank”. Though these compositions are not directly tied to what the genre would become, they are early examples of music designed to mimic machinery noise and factory atmosphere. Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo laid the groundwork for industrial music with his book and work The Art of Noises (1913), which aimed to reflect “the sounds of a modern industrial society”.

Industrial techno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The origins of industrial techno date back to the early 1980s with the work of Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, then a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. According to Fact and Louder Than War, Sakamoto’s solo album B-2 Unit (1980) anticipated the sounds of industrial techno. Some of the earliest musical projects in the genre include the band Final Cut, formed by Jeff Mills and Anthony Srock in Detroit during the late 1980s. Their 1989 debut industrial-techno album Deep into the Cut was described by The Wire as “a significant moment in the convergence of the classic industrial aesthetic and the emerging sound of Detroit techno”. Forward Strategy Group, Jeff Mills, Regis, Dominick Fernow and Mike Banks. Perc Trax record label has been credited with the revival of the genre in the UK, with artists such as Perc, Truss, Happa and Ansome. Some revival artists have subsequently been criticized for making the new music in the genre that “sounds old, that it’s overly indebted to a sound invented and thoroughly exhausted in the ’90s”, but despite this, innovation derived from the post-dubstep and garage scene have been highlighted. As a result, it has gained a significant fanbase from the post-dubstep audience.

Intelligent dance music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Intelligent techno and electronica#

The origins of IDM date back to the early 1980s with the work of Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). In 1980, YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto’s solo album B-2 Unit anticipated the sounds of IDM. According to NME, “the entire album eschewed traditional song structures for atmosphere and tone, anticipating the rebellious wave of 1990s IDM” a “full decade beforehand.” According to Vice, the B-2 Unit track “E-3A” offered “a hint of the decade to come with its IDM-leaning cut-up complexities.” YMO’s 1981 album BGM was also a foundation for IDM. According to Analog Planet, the BGM track “Ballet” has an IDM-like electronic soundscape that combines “electronic drums, persistent hi-hats, and sustained synths” with a “melancholic emptiness.” In the late 1980s, ensuing from acid house and early rave party scenes, UK-based groups such as the Orb and the KLF produced ambient house, a genre that fused the pulses of house music, particularly acid house, with ambient music and sample-based soundscapes. By the early 1990s, the increasingly distinct music associated with dance music-oriented experimentation had gained prominence with releases on a variety of mostly UK-based record labels, including Warp (1989), Black Dog Productions (1989), R&S Records (1989), Carl Craig’s Planet E, Rising High Records (1991), Richard James’s Rephlex Records (1991), Kirk Degiorgio’s Applied Rhythmic Technology (1991), Eevo Lute Muzique (1991), General Production Recordings (1989), Soma Quality Recordings (1991), Peacefrog Records (1991), and Metamorphic Recordings (1992). In 1992, Warp released Artificial Intelligence, the first album in the Artificial Intelligence series. Subtitled “electronic listening music from Warp”, the record was a collection of tracks from artists such as Autechre, B12, Black Dog Productions, Aphex Twin and the Orb, under various aliases. This would help establish the ambient techno sound of the early 1990s. Steve Beckett, co-owner of Warp, has said the electronic music that the label was releasing then was targeting a post-club, home-listening audience. Following the success of the Artificial Intelligence series, “intelligent techno” became the favoured term, although ambient—without a qualifying house or techno suffix, but still referring to a hybrid form—was a common synonym. “armchair techno”, and “electronica”, but all were attempts to describe an emerging offshoot of electronic dance music that was being enjoyed by the “sedentary and stay at home”. At the same time, the UK market was saturated with increasingly frenetic breakbeat and sample-laden hardcore techno records that quickly became formulaic. Rave had become a “dirty word”, so as an alternative, it was common for London nightclubs to advertise that they were playing “intelligent” or “pure” techno, appealing to a “discerning” crowd that considered the hardcore sound to be too commercial.

Irish fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Contemporary performers#

Modern performers include: Liz Carroll (All-Ireland Junior and Senior Fiddle Champion); John Carty; Brian Conway; Matt Cranitch; Desi Donnelly; Martin Fay; Frankie Gavin; Cathal Hayden; Kevin Burke; Martin Hayes; Eileen Ivers (9-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion); Seán Keane (fiddler); Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh; Maurice Lennon; Andy McGann; Sean McGuire; Dónal O’Connor; Brendan Mulvihill; Gerry O’Connor; Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh; Tommy Peoples; Bridget Regan; Marie Reilly; Paul Shaughnessy; Sean Smyth; John Sheahan; Fergal Scahill. Sligo fiddlers like James Morrison and Michael Coleman did much to popularise Irish music in the United States in the 1920s. More recently Michael Gorman was also a huge influence. Donegal fiddler John Doherty came from a large family of fiddlers. He travelled all over Ireland, developing an encyclopedic knowledge of fiddle tunes. He was one of the last of the travelling fiddlers. He had a large body of knowledge of Scottish (especially marches and highlands) music as well.

Irish rebel song

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The tradition of rebel music in Ireland dates back to the period of English (and later British) crown rule, and it describes historical events in Irish history such as rebellions against the Crown and reinforces the desire for self-determination among the Irish people and the Irish diaspora. Although they have a deep-rooted sense of tradition, rebel songs have nonetheless remained contemporary, and since the end of the Irish Civil War in 1923, the focus has moved onto the nationalist cause in Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State, including support for the Anti-Treaty IRA, the Provisional IRA, the INLA, and Sinn Féin. However, the subject matter is not confined to Irish history, and includes the exploits of the Connolly Column, who fought for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, and also Irish Americans who participated in the American Civil War. There are also some songs that express sorrow over war (from a Republican perspective), such as Only our rivers run free, and some have been covered by bands who have modified lyrics to be explicitly anti-war, such as the cover of The Patriot Game by Scottish band The Bluebells. In August 1971, the Irish Independent reported that RTÉ, the Irish state broadcaster, had decided to restrict the broadcasting of an album of Irish rebel songs entitled “Up The Rebels” (featuring the Wolfe Tones), which had been recently re-released by Dolphin Records. A spokesman for RTÉ said that the broadcaster had made the decision not to “play records which could create tension in Northern Ireland”, but assured that the decision would be rescinded once the problems in Northern Ireland had subsided. Over the years, a number of bands have performed “crossover” music, that is, Irish rebel lyrics and instrumentation mixed with other, more pop-oriented styles. Damien Dempsey is known for his pop-influenced rebel ballads, and bands like Beltaine’s Fire and Kneecap combine Rebel music with political hip hop and other genres.

Irish traditional music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Women#

In Irish traditional music, women were historically underrepresented in public performances as instrumentalists. Fiddler Julia Clifford stated that women instrumentalists were rarely seen performing publicly between the establishment of the Irish Free State during 1922 and the late 20th century. She also recalled being the only regular female musician performing in London pub sessions during the 1950s and early 1960s. Some performers, including Clifford, performed in competitions discreetly in order to pursue musical activity. This limited visibility has been linked to the political and social structures in Ireland. In 1932, the Marriage Bar was established requiring women to leave their civil service jobs upon marriage, while the 1937 Irish Constitution emphasized women’s role to stay at home with their family. Cultural standards, influenced in part by the veneration of the Virgin Mary in the early 20th century Irish society, reinforced expectations that women prioritize domestic responsibilities over public artistic careers. Scholars such as Slomanski described women who continued playing music during this period as “tradition bearers”. Despite these challenges, a number of women were active in the tradition before the 1950s, including Elizabeth Crotty, Aggie Whyte, Eleanor Kane Neary, Sarah Makem and Julia Clifford. Patterns of emigration also formed women’s participation. Between the period of 1926 to 1936, more women than men left Ireland, contributing to the spread of Irish Traditional Music abroad. An estimated number of 46,000 women left Ireland while only 30,000 men left. Clifford later received recognition as a leading figure in the Sliabh Luachra music tradition. Her collaboration with Denis Murphy resulted in the 1969 album The Star above the Garter, which has been described as a significant recording of regional Irish music representing Country Kerry. Tunes associated with the pair, such as “Julia Clifford’s Polka” became a part of the repertoire. Her playing style has also been noted for its ornamentation, including subtle pitch variation sometimes referred to as the “C-Supernatural”. From the late 20th century forward, the visibility of women in Irish traditional music increased. In 1984, musicians including Ursula Kennedy, Mary Clare Breathnach, and Seosaimhín Ní Bheaglaoich organized a concert in Dublin featuring exclusively women performers, emphasizing the gender imbalance in public performance spaces. The success of the event led to the formation of the group Macalla, which released the album Mná na hÉireann in 1984. Between 1985 and 1990, nine bands with women musicians were released. Between 1990 and 2000, the numbers increased to forty-six. In 2024, Macalla reunited for a 40th anniversary concert on International Women’s Day in Dublin. The careers of performers such as Julia Clifford and ensembles such as Macalla illustrate the challenges women in Irish Traditional Music have experienced and their continuous contributions.

Italian beat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rock in Italy#

Italy is iconic worldwide for its mainstream “Neapolitan” melodic singing style, and historically, very xenophile but quite slowly receptive to musical influences from abroad. State (then monopolistic) radio and TV, and domestic show-business executives were lukewarm, or frankly hostile to the early rock’n’roll wave of the 1950s. Rock and roll was seen as a gimmick, or just noise for “teddy-boys” (actual term for young rogues) taste; only some mild-mannered “modern-style” singers (like Tony Renis of “When, when, when” fame) were allowed to be aired, publish records with main labels, and participate in the institutional “Festival di Sanremo” contest. The early pioneers of rock’n’roll (so-called urlatori) had some media coverage as novelties, but soon, those who wanted to pursue a career in music business had to switch toward the traditional mainstream. From 1961 to 1965, teenagers-oriented music was a mix of pretty-face pop, twist and French yé-yé influences. Situation changed slightly around 1965. Notably: Some visiting top acts, like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones The creation of “Whiskey-a-Go-go” or “Marquee” styled rock clubs (such as Rome’s Piper Club, Milan’s Paip’s, and Piper 2000 on the Tuscan Riviera), was soon imitated in smaller towns. The infamous “disc-eater”, a cheap 45 RPM player, that strongly boosted singles sales, and the massive diffusion of juke-boxes. The emergence of contests and festivals, friendly to new trends, like the Cantagiro, or Davoli Contest (sponsored by instrument manufacturers and distributors). The easy reception of powerful medium-wave foreign stations like Radio Luxembourg, Radio Montecarlo or Radio Koper allowed Italian youngsters to bypass the mediatic block, and stay updated to the latest anglosaxon trends (some radio enthusiasts even managed to catch the elusive Channel’s “pirate stations” like Radio Caroline, and German TV shows such as Beat Club). Under music executives’ pressure, the state broadcaster RAI reluctantly agreed to pay some attention to the “beat” hype, and the upcoming soul/R&B vogue.

Italian classical music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Plainsong#

Plainsong, also known as plainchant, and more specifically Gregorian, Ambrosian, and Gallican chant, refer generally to a style of monophonic, unaccompanied, early Christian singing performed by monks and developed in the Roman Catholic Church mainly during the period 800-1000 . The differences may be marginal—or even great, in some cases. These differences reflect the great ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity that existed after the fall of the Roman Empire on the Italian peninsula. Different monastic traditions arose within the Roman Catholic Church throughout Italy, but at different places and at older times. Even a musical non-specialist can hear the difference, for example, between the straightforward tone production in the Ambosian chants from Milan and the chants from Benevento, which display a distinct “eastern” ornamental quiver in the voice, reflecting the vocal traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church. Yet, in spite of the differences, the similarities are great. In any event, the formal Gregorian chant was imposed throughout Italy by 1100, although the music of Greeks rites continued to be heard at various places on the peninsula, especially in those places which Byzantium had once held, such as Ravenna or in the southern peninsula, which had been a refuge for those Greeks fleeing the great Byzantine iconoclast controversies before the year 1000. Obviously, where Greek rites were practiced, the chants were sung in the Greek language and not in Latin, as they were in the Roman Catholic liturgy.

Italian jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

James Reese Europe’s military concerts in France in World War I in 1919 are claimed to have introduced Europeans to a new, “syncopated” music from America. Yet, Italians had an even earlier taste of a new music from across the Atlantic when a group of “Creole” singers and dancers, billed as the “creators of the cakewalk” performed at the Eden Theater in Milan in 1904. The first real Italian jazz orchestras and ensembles, however, were formed during the 1930s by musicians such as Arturo Agazzi with his Syncopated Orchestra and Carlo Andreis with his Quartetto Andreis (CETRA, 1937-1941), enjoying immediate success. In spite of the anti-American cultural policies of the Fascist regime during the 1930s, American jazz remained popular. (Even Romano Mussolini, Benito’s son, was a great jazz fan and then prominent jazz pianist.) Also, in 1935, American jazz great Louis Armstrong toured Italy with great success. In the immediate post-World War II years jazz took off in Italy. All American post-war jazz styles, from be-bop to Free Jazz and Fusion have their equivalents in Italy. The most gifted exponents of jazz music in this period (from the 1940s to 1960s) are musicians like Gorni Kramer, Giorgio Gaslini, Lelio Luttazzi and Franco Cerri, the composer Bruno Martino and great singers like Natalino Otto, Jula de Palma, Nicola Arigliano and Johnny Dorelli. The universality of Italian culture ensured that jazz clubs would spring up throughout the peninsula, that all radio and then television studios would have jazz-based “house-bands,” that Italian musicians would then start nurturing a “home grown” kind of jazz, based on European song forms, classical composition techniques and folk music (for example, in Sicily, where Enzo Rao and his group Shamal have added native Sicilian and Arab influences to American jazz). The jazz recorded in Italy from 1912 to 1950 is practically unknown, though in those years a remarkable number of recordings were made by both Italians and foreign musicians in Italy. The records, all of them 78 rpm, are rarities for collectors, as their original matrixes were destroyed either in the devastating bombings of World War II (most of the record companies were located in Milan and Turin, two cities severely damaged by the war) or due to the foolishness of the many record company directors who sent to the rettery the remaining recordings of the period. Notwithstanding, thanks to few collectors, the best jazz recorded in Italy from 1912 to 1955 has been re-edited (by Riviera Jazz Records - www.rivierajazz.it). The story of Italian jazz, from the beginning, has been written by Adriano Mazzoletti : “Il Jazz in Italia. Dalle origini alle grandi Orchestre” and “Il Jazz in Italia. Dallo swing agli anni Sessanta”, published by E.D.T., Turin. (www.edt.it). A photographic book with all the Italian musicians from the origins, “L’Italia del Jazz” have been published by Mastruzzi Editore, Rone (www.slms.it).

Italian opera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Dafne by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. Peri’s works, however, did not arise out of a creative vacuum in the area of sung drama. An underlying prerequisite for the creation of opera proper was the practice of monody. Monody is the solo singing/setting of a dramatically conceived melody, designed to express the emotional content of the text it carries, which is accompanied by a relatively simple sequence of chords rather than other polyphonic parts. Italian composers began composing in this style late in the 16th century, and it grew in part from the long-standing practice of performing polyphonic madrigals with one singer accompanied by an instrumental rendition of the other parts, as well as the rising popularity of more popular, more homophonic vocal genres such as the frottola and the villanella. In these latter two genres, the increasing tendency was toward a more homophonic texture, with the top part featuring an elaborate, active melody, and the lower ones (usually these were three-part compositions, as opposed to the four-or-more-part madrigal) a less active supporting structure. From this, it was only a small step to fully-fledged monody. All such works tended to set humanist poetry of a type that attempted to imitate Petrarch and his Trecento followers, another element of the period’s tendency toward a desire for restoration of principles it associated with a mixed-up notion of antiquity. The solo madrigal, frottola, villanella and their kin featured prominently in the intermedio or intermezzo, theatrical spectacles with music that were funded in the last seventy years of the 16th century by the opulent and increasingly secular courts of Italy’s city-states. Such spectacles were usually staged to commemorate significant state events: weddings, military victories, and the like, and alternated in performance with the acts of plays. Like the later opera, an intermedio featured the aforementioned solo singing, but also madrigals performed in their typical multi-voice texture, and dancing accompanied by the present instrumentalists. They were lavishly staged, and led the scenography of the second half of the 16th century. The intermedi tended not to tell a story as such, although they occasionally did, but nearly always focused on some particular element of human emotion or experience, expressed through mythological allegory. The staging in 1600 of Peri’s opera Euridice as part of the celebrations for a Medici wedding, the occasions for the most spectacular and internationally famous intermedi of the previous century, was probably a crucial development for the new form, putting it in the mainstream of lavish courtly entertainment. Another popular court entertainment at this time was the “madrigal comedy”, later also called “madrigal opera” by musicologists familiar with the later genre. This consisted of a series of madrigals strung together to suggest a dramatic narrative, but not staged. There were also two staged musical “pastoral"s, Il Satiro and La Disperazione di Fileno, both produced in 1590 and written by Emilio de’ Cavalieri. Although these lost works seem only to have included arias, with no recitative, they were apparently what Peri was referring to, in his preface to the published edition of his Euridice, when he wrote: “Signor Emilio del Cavalieri, before any other of whom I know, enabled us to hear our kind of music upon the stage”. Other pastoral plays had long included some musical numbers; one of the earliest, (1480) by Poliziano had at least three solo songs and one chorus.

Italian popular music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Fascist period: affirmation of a national Italian culture#

Music and the artistic production of this period reflected the need of the political class to affirm its ideological statement of a united and strong Italian identity on both the political as well as cultural basis. Regional languages and independent cultural inheritances began to be slowly eradicated through the school system and the advent of the mass media which, at the time, were entirely controlled by the Italian government. The slow process of the industrialization which begun during the fascist period had strong effects on the lower classes; it helped in forming the contemporary Italian society, in particular in the economical separation between the north and the south, which is reflected in the different references to the traditional background in the contemporary popular music. Emigration contributed to the exportation of the Italian musical background to other countries such as Argentina, Australia, and the United States.

Italo dance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Influences#

The sound of the genre evolved directly from Eurodance. Italo dance displays a great influence from Italo disco, a genre which was very popular in Italy during the 1980s. Italo disco was a direct continuation of disco music (which would never experience a rejection wave in Italy), incorporating the new sounds that had begun to emerge from the late 1970s. Another main influence comes from Italo house, an Italian-based form of house music also influenced by Italo disco.

Italo disco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

The term “Italo”, a generic prefix meaning Italian, had been used on pop music compilation albums in West Germany as early as 1978, such as Italo Top Hits on the K-Tel label and the first volume of Italo Super Hits on the Ariola label. There is no documentation of where the term “Italo-Disco” first appeared, but its origins are generally traced to Italian and other European disco recordings released in the West German market. Examples include the phrase “Original Italo-Disco” on the sleeve of the West German edition of “Girls on Me” by Amin-Peck (Rome) and “Ask The Boss” by Flowchart (Bologna) in late 1982, and the 1983 compilation album The Best of Italo-Disco. These records, along with the Italo Boot Mix megamix, were released by Bernhard Mikulski on his ZYX label, who was therefore credited with coining the term “Italodisco”. The Best of and Boot Mix compilations each became a 16-volume series that culminated in 1991. Both series primarily featured disco music of Italian origin, often licensed from independent Italian labels which had limited distribution outside Italy, as well as songs in a similar style by other European artists. The presenters of the Italian music show Discoring (produced by RAI) usually referred to Italodisco tracks as “rock elettronico” (electronic rock) or “balli da discoteca” or “musica dance”. The term “Italodisco” was not really used in Italy until the 2000s.

Italo house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

While the name was not yet developed, early notable Italo-house acts would include Klein + M.B.O. and Alexander der Robotnick. The genre reached mainstream popularity in 1989, with Ride on Time reaching the top ten in all of Europe except Itality. “Italo-house” as it became known in the early 1990s was a happy, euphoric sound; pioneered essentially by the production stable of Gianfranco Bortolotti, whose alter egos included Cappella, R.A.F., East Side Beat, and the 49ers. Records produced in Italy dominated the UK dance charts of 1990/91 with tunes including Asha’s “JJ Tribute” (lead vocals by Joyce Chung), DJ H’s “Think About”, Last Rhythm’s “Last Rhythm”, and Jinny’s “Keep Warm” signifying the uplifting, happy vibe. Artists such as K-Klass, Bassheads, and Felix built on the Italian piano sound to create uplifting tunes still played out today, although the pioneers of the sound such as DJ Sasha have long since left the happy vibe of piano house to concentrate on other styles.

Jangle pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

In the late 1970s and 1980s, prominent early jangle pop groups included Big Star, R.E.M., the dB’s, 10,000 Maniacs, and the Smiths. In the early to mid 1980s, the term “jangle pop” emerged as a label for an American post-punk movement that recalled the sounds of “jangly” acts from the 1960s. Between 1983 and 1987, the description “jangle pop” was used to describe bands like R.E.M. and Let’s Active as well as the Paisley Underground subgenre, which incorporated psychedelic influences.

Jig

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The term jig was probably derived from the French giguer, meaning ’to jump’ or the Italian giga. The use of ‘jig’ in Irish dance derives from the Irish jigeánnai, itself borrowed from the Old English giga meaning ‘old dance’. It was known as a dance in 16th-century England, often in time, and the term was used for a post-play entertainment featuring dance in early modern England, but which ‘probably employed a great variety of dances, solo (suitable for jigs), paired, round, country or courtly’; in Playford’s Dancing Master (1651) ’the dance game in “Kemps Jegg” is a typical scenario from a dramatic jig and it is likely that the combination of dance metre for steps and non-metrical passages for pantomime indicates how a solo or ensemble jig might have been danced by stage players.’ Later the dance began to be associated with music particularly in time, and with slip jigs time.

Joik

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

As the Sami culture had no written language in the past, the origins of joik are not documented. According to oral traditions, the fairies and elves of the arctic lands gave joiks to the Sámi People. Just Qvigstad, who recorded the Sami oral tradition, has documented this legend in several works. Music researchers believe joik is one of the oldest continuous musical traditions in Europe. with joiking said to resemble magic spells. In the 1950s, it was forbidden to use joiking in Sami area schools. In 2014, a parish council discussed “if they should implement a total ban against music other than church hymns in the churches in Kautokeino and Maze. The proposal was shot down, but many still wonder why joiking in church is such a controversial issue”. Despite this suppression, joiking was strongly rooted in the culture and its tradition was maintained. Joiking is still practiced and is used as a source of inspiration. Recently, joiks are sung in two different styles: a traditional style, known as the “mumbling” style; and a modern style sung mostly by young people, and used as an element in contemporary Sami music.

Jota (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The medieval word “xiota” (pronounced or ), derives from Mozarabic šáwta “jump”, ultimately from Latin saltāre “to jump”. Due to phonetic changes, it has become jota (pronounced ) in modern Spanish (reborrowed to Valencian as , or ) and (pron. ) or (pron. ) in Aragonese; ; ; .

Aragonese jota#

The Aragonese jota is the best-known expression of Aragonese folklore. It dates as far back as the 18th century, and reached the pinnacle of its splendor in the 19th century. Due to the complexities of the dance steps and manner of singing, the jota has evolved. Since the end of the 19th century, heavily choreographed versions have often been made for zarzuelas, movies, contests, festivals, and other entertainments. The most pure forms of the jota can still be found in Calanda, Alcañiz, Andorra, Albalate, and Zaragoza. Nowadays there exist many modern varieties of the jota which are performed by various folkloric groups. Among the most popular can be found: Jota de San Lorenzo (Huesca), Jota Vieja, Aragón Tierra Bravía, Gigantes y Cabezudos, La Dolores (these two are taken from the zarzuela and opera respectively of the same names), and the danza de la Olivera.

Jumpstyle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Late 1990s–early 2000s: Origins#

Jumpstyle is sometimes described as having roots in Chicago hard house, though it developed its distinct identity in Europe. The style emerged in Belgium around 1997–1998, where artists such as Da Boy Tommy helped popularise the term “jumpstyle”. In its early form, the genre remained relatively niche. During the early 2000s, further stylistic development in Germany and the Netherlands contributed to its growing popularity across Europe.

Jungle music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The breakbeat hardcore scene of the early 1990s was beginning to fragment by 1992 and 1993, with different influences becoming less common together in tracks. The piano and uplifting vocal style that was prevalent in breakbeat hardcore started to lay down the foundations of 4-beat/happy hardcore, whilst tracks with dark-themed samples and industrial-style stabs had emerged from late 1992 and named darkcore. Reggae samples and reggae-influenced tracks had been a feature of many breakbeat hardcore tracks since 1990, particularly from producers such as Shut Up and Dance; however, Paul Ibiza and the Rebel MC were arguably the first to bring the sound system influence solidly into releases. The track “We Are I.E.” by Lennie De Ice is often credited as being the track that laid down the foundations for jungle with its ragga bassline. During 1992 and 1993, the terms “jungle techno” and “hardcore jungle” proliferated to describe that shift of the music from breakbeat hardcore to jungle. The sound was championed at clubs such as AWOL, Roast and Telepathy, by DJs such as DJ Ron, DJ Hype, DJ Randall, Fabio & Grooverider, Micky Finn, DJ Rap and Kenny Ken, record labels Moving Shadow, V Recordings, Suburban Base and Renk, and on pirate radio stations such as Kool FM (regarded as being the most instrumental station in the development of jungle) but also Don FM, Rush and Rude FM. Tracks would span breakbeat styles, with notable releases including “Darkage” by DJ Solo, “Valley of the Shadows” by Origin Unknown, “Set Me Free” by Potential Bad Boy, “28 Gun Bad Boy” by A Guy Called Gerald, “Crackman” by DJ Ron, “A London Sumtin” by Code 071, “Finest Illusion” by Foul Play, “Learning from My Brother” by Family of Intelligence, “Lion of Judah” by X Project, and “Be Free” by Noise Factory. Techniques and styles could be traced to such a vast group of influencers, each adding their own little elements. According to Simon Reynolds, jungle was “Britain’s very own equivalent to US hip-hop. That said, you could equally make the case that jungle is a raved-up, digitised offshoot of Jamaican reggae. Musically, jungle’s spatialised production, bass quake pressure and battery of extreme sonic effects, make it a sort of postmodern dub music on steroids.” This is an example of the effects of the sonic diaspora and the wide influence musical genres have; Jungle is where these different Black Atlantic genres converge. Reynolds noted the audience of the genre evolved alongside the music itself; going from a “sweaty, shirtless white teenager, grinning and gurning” to a “head nodding, stylishly dressed black twenty-something with hooded eyes, holding a spliff in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other”. Jungle also served as “a site for a battle between contesting notions of blackness”.

Kângë majekrahi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

This type of singing is already documented in the region about 2000 years ago, being first heard by the Romans when they entered Shkodra in Illyria. The type of war cries were also common in the time of Skanderbeg. Swedish traditional herding-cries known as locklåtar or ‘valley music’ are probably close related to the Albanian mountain cries, although they have not the wild force of the kengë malsorqe, which go back right at the beginnings of melody. This type of mountain singing was acceptable among sworn virgins in Albania.

Kanto (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

Italian opera and theater had a profound effect on Turkish culture during the early 20th century. The terminology of music and theater derived from Italian. In the argot of the improvisational theater of Istanbul the stage was called sahano, backstage was referred to as koyuntu, backdrops depicting countryside as bosko, the applause as furi, and the songs sung as solos or duets between the acts and plays were called kanto. As was the case with their Italian counterparts, the Turkish troupe members played songs and music before the show and between the acts to pique people’s interest and draw in customers. Kanto were based on traditional eastern makam but performed with Western instruments.

Keening

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

“Keen” as a noun or verb comes from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic term (“to cry, to weep”), and references to it from the 7th, 8th, and 12th centuries are extensive. Probably at the origin of “couiner” in French.

Melody and text#

The tune and lyrics rely on the repetition of a couple of basic motifs which can be variably extended or shortened. It seems that there was never an established keening ‘text’; the singer is expected to improvise as feeling dictates. Despite the keen varying between performances, keeners worked within the same body of motifs and diction. Words of lament were interspersed with non-lexical vocables, that is sounds that are without meaning. The keen can be formed of three motifs: The salutation (introduction), the dirge (verse), and the gol (cry).

Klapa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

A klapa group consists of a first tenor, a second tenor, a baritone, and a bass. It is possible to double all the voices apart from the first tenor. It is usually composed of up to a dozen male singers. In recent times, female vocal groups have been quite popular, but in general male and female groups do not mix. Although klapa is a cappella music, on occasion it is possible to add a gentle guitar and a mandolin (instrument similar in appearance and sound to tamburitzas). Klapa can also be accompanied with synthesizer keyboards, usually simulating percussion instruments.

Könsrock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Könsrock is commonly produced using the same line-up as punk rock, often including post-punk influences with drum machines, keyboards, and other electronic devices. Some bands use heavily distorted instrument similar to extreme punk, and some use a more experimental sound deliberately made to sound unpleasant. The lyrics are usually offensive and deal with topics such as handicapped people, homosexuality, pedophilia, bodily functions, Nazism, drugs, and violence. Könsrock has been popular in schools in Sweden and has on some occasions caused public outrage.

Kontradans

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The “contredanse,” the French-renamed country dance as indicated in a 1710 dance book called Recuil de Contredance, began in the English courts and was imported to Haiti via France (Brittany) through colonial rule and had been incorporated with African influences in Saint-Domingue. Contredanse flourished as it took on this creolized form establishing strong traditions in Haiti that would later influence variant forms throughout the Caribbean.

Origins#

The usage of the drums, poetic song, antiphonal song form, and imitations of the colonial elite dance were the elements that had already begun to transform the contredanse.

Kosmische Musik

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Kosmische Musik was often instrumental and characterized by “spacy”, ambient soundscapes. Artists used synthesizers such as the EMS VCS 3 and Moog Modular, as well as sound processing effects and tape-based approaches. They often rejected rock music conventions, and instead drew on “serious” electronic compositions.

Etymology#

The term “kosmische Musik” was coined in 1971 by Edgar Froese and later used by record producer Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser as a marketing term for bands such as Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze. The following year, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser’s Ohr Records used the term when he released the compilation Kosmische Musik (1972) featuring tracks by Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel, and Popol Vuh. The style would later lead to the development of new-age music, with which it shared several characteristics. It would also exert lasting influence on subsequent electronic music and avant-garde rock.

Kosovan folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Genesis#

In the past, epic poetry in Kosovo and northern Albania was sung on a lahuta (a one-string fiddle) and then a more tuneful çiftelia was used which has two strings – one for the melody and one for drone. Kosovar music is influenced by Turkish music since the entire region spent 500 years as part of the Ottoman Empire but the Kosovar folklore preserved originality. Archaeolog ical researches tells about how old this tradition is and how it was developed in a parallel way with other traditional music in Balkan. Many roots were found in the 5th century BC like paintings in stones showing singers with instruments (In the famous the portrait “Pani” was shown holding an instrument similar to a flute).

Krautrock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Until around 1973, the word (“German Rock”) was used to refer to the new groups from West Germany. Other names thrown around by the British and American music press were “Teutonic rock”, “Überrock” and “Götterdämmer rock”. The British music press initially used as a pejorative, but the term lost its stigma after the music gained success in Britain. The term derives from the ethnic slur “kraut”. “Kraut” in German can refer to herbs, weeds, and drugs. The term was originally used by Virgin records in 1972. Various sources claim that “krautrock” was originally a humorous term coined in the early 1970s, either by British disc jockey John Peel or by the UK music newspaper Melody Maker, in which experimental German bands found an early and enthusiastic following. The first use of the term however, was found in a full-page advertisement from Popo Music Management and Bacillus Records promoting German Rock in the UK, in April 1971. The music emerging in Germany was first covered extensively in three concurrent issues of the UK music paper New Musical Express in the month of December 1972, by journalist Ian MacDonald. Its musicians tended to reject the name “krautrock”. This was also the case for “kosmische Musik”. Musicologist Julian Cope, in his book Krautrocksampler, says “krautrock is a subjective British phenomenon”, based on the way the music was received in the UK rather than on the actual West German music scene out of which it grew. For instance, while one of the main groups originally tagged as krautrock, Faust, recorded a seminal 12-minute track they titled “Krautrock”, they would later distance themselves from the term, saying: “When the English people started talking about krautrock, we thought they were just taking the piss… and when you hear the so-called ‘krautrock renaissance’, it makes me think everything we did was for nothing.”

Kuduro

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The roots of kuduro can be traced to the late 1980s when producers in Luanda started mixing African percussion samples with zouk béton (“hard” zouk) and soca to create a style of music then known as Batida (“Beat”). European and American electronic music had begun appearing in the market, which attracted Angolan musicians and inspired them to incorporate their own musical styles. Young producers began adding heavy African percussion to both European and American beats. In Europe, western house and techno producers mixed it with house and techno. Kuduro is primarily an electronic music genre. In addition to the aforementioned influences, Kuduro also incorporates regional styles that are based on global and local influences that highlight sonic expressions of personal and collective identities. These collective and personal identities were formed due to Angola’s turbulent history. The history of kuduro has come about in a time of Angolan civil unrest, and it provided a means of coping with hardship and positivity for the younger generation. Scholar Inês Cordeiro Dias describes how kuduro “became a popular form of artistic expression for Angolans, especially those living in the slums, to claim their space in the city, and to criticize society.” Angola experienced periods of war, repression, and some instances of political tranquility. The origin of Kuduro came from and due to this political instability. There was significant anti-colonial resistance to Portuguese rule and influence which created a transitional government composed of two political parties. These two parties engaged in power-based struggles and tensions that led to the Angolan Civil War. Such shift in attitude away from optimism was reflected through Kuduro’s increasing distortion in timbre and hardened aesthetics, while lyrics of the genre often reflected experiences of life in the musseques (Luanda’s informal, unpaved and marginal neighborhoods). After Angolan independence in 1975, the ruling party, the MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola or the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) adopted the musical genre for use in political campaigns, recognizing its popularity. As Vivian Host points out in her article, despite the common assumption that “world music” from non-Western countries holds no commonalities with Western modern music, Angolan kuduro does contain “elements in common with punk, deep tribal house, and even Daft Punk.” And although Angolan kuduro reflects an understanding and an interpretation of Western musical forms, the world music category that it fits under, tends to reject the idea of Western musical imperialism. Kuduro also was birthed out of the political climate that was taking place at the time of its origins. When looking at certain dance moves within the Kuduro genre, one can notice that the moves emulate that of a disabled person and their stature or movements. Given that there was a civil war taking place during the birthing of Kuduro and there were actual mine fields that blew off people’s limbs, it is discernible to see why Kuduro dance moves mimic an amputee’s movement. Kuduro as a dance genre is different than most in the fact that expands it inclusivity to disabled bodies and rewrites notions and narratives of Black disabled sexuality, given the erotic heteronormative nature of the dance moves. Kuduristas use body movements that often emanate movement/stillness, incoordination, falling, pop & lock, and breakdancing. This style of dance seems to “break down” body parts into isolations and staccato movements, serving as a reflection of debility and the mixture of abled/disabled bodies in performance. Kuduro is usually performed in the streets, where groups gather in circles and one by one come into the center and perform their movements while impressing the crowd. Usually, participation is open to everyone, and the audience claps and cheers on the dancers. Kuduristas contort their bodies in direct response to their spatial environments: “Kuduristas, acutely aware of the six to twenty million landmines still waiting to be detonated, as well as the fact that one out of every 334 Angolans has lost a limb as a result of landmine detonation, emulate to various degrees the movements of the land mine victims around them, and are themselves victims.” Young also argues that kuduristas use their dancing “to signify on the normative landscape of the black body,” and by extension, their spatial order. Acts of oppression (colonialism) and violence have composed their environments as sites of subjugation, but these dancers influence the essence of their settings by taking up space and recasting it through their bodies and movement.

Kulning

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Acoustic characteristics#

The song has a high-pitched vocal technique, i.e. a loud call using head tones, so that it can be heard or be used to communicate over long distances. It has a fascinating and haunting tone, often conveying a feeling of sadness, in large part because the kulokks often include typical half-tones and quarter-tones (also known as “blue tones”) found in the music of the region. Linguist and phonetician Robert Eklund, speech therapist Anita McAllister and kulning singer and speech therapist Fanny Pehrson studied the difference between kulning voice production and head voice (sometimes also somewhat erroneously referred to as falsetto voice) production in both indoors (normal and anechoic rooms) and in an ecologically valid outdoor setting near Dalarna, Sweden. The song analyzed was the same in all cases, and was performed by the same kulning singer (Pehrson). Comparing kulning to head voice, they found that partials were visible in far higher registers in kulning than in head voice (easily observed up to 16 kHz) and that they were also less affected by an increased distance from the source than head voice, with more or less unaffected partial patterns when comparing a distance of 11 meters from the source, compared to 1 meter from the source. In the outdoor setting, they also found that head voice production exhibited a 25.2 dB decrease at 11 meters from the source, compared to 1 meter from the source, while the corresponding amplitude decrease in kulning was only 9.4 dB, which is a clear indication that kulning is well-suited to carry over long distances in an outdoor setting. Or, as the authors summarize the findings: It was shown that kulning fell off less with distance from an intensity point of view, and also that partials in kulning—but not in head voice—remained more or less unperturbed 11 meters from the singer, as compared to 1 meter from the singer. Both results help explain why kulning as a singing mode was developed for calling cattle that might be at considerable distance from the singer.

Laïko

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rebetiko and elafro tragoudi#

Until the 1930s the Greek discography was dominated by two musical genres: the Greek folk music demotica and the elaphro tragoudi. The latter was represented by ensembles of singers/musicians or solo artists like Attik and Nikos Gounaris. It was the Greek version of the international popular music of the era. In the 1930s the first rebetiko recordings had a massive impact on Greek music. Markos Vamvakaris stated that they “were the first to record laïka songs”. In the years to follow this type of music, the first form of what is now called laïko tragoudi, became the mainstream Greek music.

Latin alternative

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Rock music has been produced in Iberian America since the late 1950s. Some rock bands started to use unusual instruments such as maracas and quenas. In the late 1960s, artists like Santana started using a different technique to make rock music; by incorporating influences of Latin jazz. Its sound was incorporated by young Latino-players in the US, as an answer to the rock en Español movement in Americas and Spain led by bands like Héroes del Silencio, Caifanes or Los Prisioneros. In the early 1990s, it was used by Mexican bands such as Maldita Vecindad and Café Tacuba, they were accepted on the Latino circuit in the US, especially by the Mexican community. Subsequently, experimental musician Lynda Thomas earned recognition and commercial success with alternative music in the same decade. With the passage of time and many musical styles in the US-Latin, Latin alternative has become as diverse as the rock music genre itself. Today, many music journalists and fans regard Latin alternative as a subgenre of rock en Español, and like rock en Español, it may be further divided into more specific genres of music.

Latin ballad

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin and evolution#

Music fans can find roots of “Ballads” in pre-war years. Blues and jazz in the United States underwent transformations that were brewing since the 1930s and 1940s and that led to the origin of new rhythms. Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich’s “Lili Marleen” and Dooley Wilson’s “As Time Goes By” were examples of early Ballad singers. Rock and roll in the mid-1950s transforms contemporary types of music in terms of how to sing them and instrumentation, which includes electric instruments in addition to the traditional balladism. Ballads spread in the acetates records and in American cinema to the world also influencing. One of the main diffusers was Elvis Presley, when he diversified his music, in addition to rock and roll, cultivating the new ballad, influencing the romantic Sentimental ballad of the late decade (led by Paul Anka “You are my Destiny”,1958, “Put your Head on my Shoulder”,1959, and Neil Sedaka ). Postwar years 1950s, Latin America, Europe and the other continents received American musical influence and produced reissues of American ballads with new lyrics in native languages for more than a decade. Trio Los Panchos gained latin ballad hits such as “Besame Mucho”, “Sabor a Mí”, “Solamente Una Vez”, and “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas”. The Latin or romantic ballad has its origin in the Latin American bolero in the 1950s (Lucho Gatica, Leo Marini), but also in the romantic song in Italian (Domenico Modugno) and French (Charles Aznavour, George Mustaki) in the 1960s and 1970s. In Mexico, the ballad recorded as such is “Sonata de Amor” (Sonata of Love) of Mario Álvarez in 1961. In 1965 the famous bolero singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero, sang his ballad, “Pobres besos míos” (My Poor Kisses). Latin ballad was popular during the 1970s in Latin America, where artists such as Mocedades, Emmanuel, Julio Iglesias, José José, José Luis Rodriguez, Camilo Sesto, Raphael, Roberto Carlos, Rocío Dúrcal and others released hits. The main hits of Mocedades “Eres Tú”, José José were “El triste” (The Sad One), “La nave del olvido” (The Ship of Forgetfullness), “Te extraño” (I Miss You, also written by Manzanero), “Amar y querer” (To love and To want). By Roberto Carlos(singer) the songs “Amigos” (Friends) or “Detalles” (Details). By Camilo Sesto the hits “Algo de Mí” (Something from Me), “Perdóname” (Forgive Me), “Si Tú Te Vas” (If you leave), “Melina”, “Jamás” (Never), “Todo por Nada” (All for Nothing), “Fresa Salvaje” (Wild Strawberry) . Rocío Dúrcal enjoyed Latin America success and was known as “La Dama de la canción” (The Lady of Song). These songs gained hit in Latin America. The heyday of the ballad was romantic in the 1980s, where artists such as Julio Iglesias, Amanda Miguel, Ricardo Montaner, Diego Verdaguer and others released a big number of hits. The main hits of Julio Iglesias “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before”, Amanda Miguel were “Así no te amará jamás” (This Way He Will Never Love You), by 1984 among many others that were released in Los Angeles. These songs are widely known today in Southern California. In the course of their existence the genre merged with diverse rhythms to form several variants, such as romantic salsa and cumbia aside others. From the 1990s, globalization and media internationalization processes that integrated contributed to the ballad’s spread international spread and further homogenize around a common Latin identity. As part of the Latin Americanization of the United States and the dominant presence in the genre of multinational record labels, Miami has become the main producer of ballads which in turn has fed back trends of migration of Latino and Hispanic performers, producers and musicians to that city. By the turn of the 2010s however, Latin ballads have begun to lose popularity as uptempo Latin genres such as bachata, reggaeton, and Spanish-language electropop music have gained popularity with the Hispanic audience in the radio.

Latin Christian music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Latin American artists#

Notable artists include Brazilian singers Ana Paula Valadão and Aline Barros http://www.billboard.com/artist/278612/aline-barros/chart , Panamanian musician Santiago Stevenson (d. 2007), Jaime Murrell, Luis “Funky” Marrero, Puerto Rican rapper in the genre of hip-hop, reggaeton, and Christian contemporary music, Willy Redimi2 González Dominican rapper in Latin hip-hop, trap, and Christian contemporary music, Venezuelan pop singer José Luis Rodríguez, Daniel Calveti and Christian Sebastia, Mexican singers/pastors Jesús Adrián Romero, Marcos Witt, and Armando Flores, and singers Alejandro Alonso (musician), Marco Barrientos, Ecuador’s Paulina Aguirre, Salvadorian Álvaro Torres, Colombia’s Alex Campos and Ericson Molano, and Mexican band Rojo. Other artists include Samuel Hernández, Roberto Orellana, Annette Moreno, and Christian singers like Daniela G Mangrum.

Latin metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

An early mention of the term comes from critic Robert Christgau, who referred to Carlos Santana’s music from the 1970s as “Latin-metal pop,” making it a possible forerunner in the genre. Latin metal started in the 1970s and 1980s, originating in many countries of Latin America, thanks to the increasing worldwide popularity of heavy metal and heavy rock from Europe (obviously including Spain, with bands such as Baron Rojo and Angeles del Infierno singing in Spanish and reaching international success in the 1980s) and United States, with Argentina having an important scene as well (Rata Blanca, V8). It may also have profited from the “Latin explosion” in the United States of the 1990s, though some critics contend that the gap between Ricky Martin-style pop and metal is too great for Latin metal to have profited greatly. Still, record companies in the 1990s sought to profit from the rise of Latin pop, as evidenced from the Metalo compilation of Latin metal bands by the Grita! Records label, which included songs by Ill Niño and Puya, and bands from the 1990s such as Sepultura and Soulfly are cited as predecessors in the genre. In the United States, Ill Niño is probably the best-known exponent of the genre; their first two albums (with “philosophical and bilingual lyrics” about such topics as growing up fatherless) were commercially successful and got them strong radio play in for instance the San Antonio area.

Latin music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology and categorization#

Because the majority of Latino immigrants living in New York City in the 1950s were of Puerto Rican or Cuban descent, “Latin music” had been stereotyped as music simply originating from the Spanish Caribbean. The popularization of bossa nova and Herb Alpert’s Mexican-influenced sounds in the 1960s did little to change the perceived image of Latin music. In 1969, the first international organization which attempted to define Latin music was the Festival Mundial de la Canción Latina which included Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian-speaking countries across Latin America and Europe. However, the event only lasted for two years. Since then, the music industry classifies all music sung in Spanish or Portuguese as Latin music, including musics from Spain and Portugal. Enrique Fernandez wrote in Billboard that the lone category for Latin music meant that all Latin music genres had to compete with each other despite the distinct sounds of the genre. He also noted that the accolade was usually given to performers of tropical music. Eight years later, the organization debuted three new categories for Latin music: Best Latin Pop Performance, Best Mexican/Mexican-American Performance, and Best Tropical Latin Performance. Latin pop is a catch-all for any pop music sung in Spanish, while Mexican/Mexican-American (also to referred to as Regional Mexican) is defined as any musical style originating from Mexico or influences by its immigrants in the United States including Tejano, and tropical music is any music from the Spanish Caribbean. In 1997, NARAS established the Latin Recording Academy (LARAS) in an effort to expand its operations in both Latin America and Spain. In September 2000, LARAS launched the Latin Grammy Awards, a separate award ceremony from the Grammy Awards. Its organizers stated that the Latin music universe was too large to fit within the Grammys. Michael Greene, former head of NARAS, said that the process of creating the Latin Grammy Awards was complicated due to the diverse Latin musical styles, noting that the only thing they had in common was language. As a result, the Latin Grammy Awards are presented to records performed in Spanish or Portuguese, while the organization focuses on music from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. Since the late 1990s, the United States has seen increasing growth in its population of “Latinos”, a term popularized since the 1960s due to confusing the wrong term “Spanish” with the more proper but less popular term “Hispanic”. The music industry in the United States began to refer to any kind of music featuring Spanish vocals as “Latin music”. Under this definition, Spanish sung in any genre is categorized as “Latin”. In turn, this has led to artists from Spain being labelled as “Latin” because they sing in the same language. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Billboard magazine use this definition of Latin music to track sales of Spanish-language records in the United States. Billboard however considers an artist to be “Latin” if they perform in Spanish or Portuguese. The RIAA initiated the “Los Premios de Oro y Platino” (“The Gold and Platinum Awards” in Spanish) in 2000 to certify sales of Latin music albums and singles under a different threshold than its standard certifications. Billboard divides its Latin music charts into three subcategories: Latin pop, Regional Mexican, and tropical. A fourth subcategory was added in the mid 2000s to address the rise of Latin urban music genres such as Latin hip hop and reggaeton.

Latin pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Latin pop first reached a global audience through the work of bandleader Sergio Mendes in the mid-1960s, although artists like Carmen Miranda popularized Latin samba music in Hollywood decades before this. In later decades, it was defined by the romantic ballads that legendary artists such as Julio Iglesias or Roberto Carlos produced in the 1970s. Latin pop is one of the most popular Latin music genres today. Popular artists include Los del Río, Jennifer Lopez, Alejandro Sanz, Thalía, Luis Miguel, Selena, Paulina Rubio, Shakira, Carlos Vives, Ricky Martin, Gloria Trevi and Enrique Iglesias. Ricky Martin is considered to be the King of Latin Pop.

Lauda (song)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin and spread of the lauda#

Originally, the lauda was a monophonic (single-voice) form, but a polyphonic type developed in the early fifteenth century. The early lauda was probably influenced by the music of the troubadours, since it shows similarities in rhythm, melodic style, and especially notation. Many troubadours had fled their original homelands, such as Provence, during the Albigensian Crusade in the early 13th century, and settled in northern Italy, where their music was influential in the development of the Italian secular style. A monophonic form of the lauda spread widely throughout Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries as the music of the flagellants; this form was known as the Geisslerlied, and picked up the vernacular language in each country it affected, including Germany, Poland, England and Scandinavia. After 1480, the singing of laude was extremely popular in Florence, since the monk Savonarola (and others) had prohibited the dissemination of any other style of sacred vernacular music. Many of Josquin’s motets and masses are based on melodies he heard in laude during his sojourns in Italy around this time. Laude had a resurgence of popularity again at the time of the Counter-Reformation, since one of the musical goals of the Council of Trent was to increase the intelligibility of text, and the simple, easily understood laude provided an ideal example. The significance of the lauda diminished as the oratorio evolved. However, tunes and lyrics continued to influence later music.

Leçons de ténèbres

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Spelling#

In the original French sources “Leçons de ténèbres” is more common; the spelling “Leçons des ténèbres” is increasingly common in later resources, but modern sources still use “de”, as seen in Sébastien Gaudelus’s Les offices de Ténèbres en France, 1650–1790(2005). The capitalisation of “ténèbres” varies.

Liturgical function#

The tenebrae service uses the text of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, originally deploring the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC) and subsequent desolation of the city, but applied allegorically to the three days of mourning for Christ between his crucifixion and resurrection. However the context of the French Leçons de ténèbres was often private performance. Delalande’s 15-year-old daughter sang for Louis XIV first in his living rooms and then in chapel, becoming the praise of all Paris. Philidor’s catalogue indicates that Delalande’s three surviving virtuoso solo Leçons de ténèbres were composed for such occasions. A complete set of Leçons de ténèbres for the full three days of Holy Week (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday; played for practical reasons on the eve of each mentioned day, so: Holy Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday), would have included nine lessons, with each of these leçons requiring the setting of specific texts from Lamentations, although the conventions of exactly which texts to set varied slightly from the Renaissance to the Baroque, and by local custom. The following represents the typical French baroque schema set by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, which follows the order of the Roman Breviary of St. Pius V as it was promulgated after the Council of Trent in 1568. :Holy Wednesday * Première leçon pour le mercredi Saint – 1:1–5 * Deuxième leçon pour le mercredi Saint – 1:6–9 * Troisième leçon pour le mercredi Saint – 1:10–14 :Holy Thursday * Première leçon pour le jeudi Saint – 2:8–11 * Deuxième leçon pour le jeudi Saint – 2:12–15 * Troisième leçon pour le jeudi Saint – 3:1–9 :Good Friday * Première leçon pour le vendredi Saint – 3:22–30 * Deuxième leçon pour le vendredi Saint – 4:1–6 * Troisième leçon pour le vendredi Saint – 5:1–11 However, in practice composers rarely supplied a complete group of all 9 settings. A notable exception was Charpentier, who authored a complete set Les Neuf Leçons de ténèbres (H. 96–110) and duplicated all the settings several times over. In addition the services required antiphons and supplementary motets – 9 for each day, 27 in total. Charpentier again produced extensively in this genre, such as his Les neuf répons du mercredi saint (H. 111–119, 120–125, 135–137). As with the lessons the French répons are stylistically differentiated from the Renaissance responsories for Holy Week of Victoria and Gesualdo.

Lento violento

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The first tracks with the lento violento sound were “Anima Ladina” by Ottomix (1991), “Panic Mouse (stress mix)” by Gigi D’Agostino (1996), “Ibiza” by Ottomix (1998) and Alex Castelli’s “Enjoy”, that was co-produced by Ottomix. Although at that time, they were not called “lento violento” yet. These tracks were influenced by the more techno and trance-oriented tracks like Mauro Picotto’s “Lizard”, “Iguana”, “Pulsar”, “Tuttincoro” or “Raggattak” by Joman (Joy Kitikonti), all from the Italian BXR label. While some individual tracks were popular in the clubs, the style itself was not established until DJ/producer Gigi D’Agostino started with a series of productions in 2003, like “Ripassa”. Indeed, he coined the name for this style, and he releases most of his lento violento songs on his own label Noise Maker, using aliases like Dottor Dag, Lento Violento Man, Uomo Suono, Orchestra Maldestra, or La Tana Del Suono, to distinguish these songs from his Italo dance work. Other artists started to create similar tracks after the success of this style. Also several compilation CDs are released with lento violento music, like the Movimentolento series.

Levenslied

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Artists#

Notable Dutch levenslied singers: *Willy Alberti *Willeke Alberti *Frans Bauer *Peter Blanker *Renée de Haan *André Hazes *Stef Bos *Johnny Jordaan *Pierre Kartner *Tante Leen *Imca Marina *Manke Nelis *Dries Roelvink *Sieneke *Jan Smit *Zangeres Zonder Naam Notable Flemish levenslied singers: *Eddy Wally *Laura Lynn *Will Tura

Light music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Before Late Romantic orchestral trends of length and scope separated the trajectory of lighter orchestral works from the Western Classical canon, classical composers such as Mozart and Haydn won as much fame for writing lighter pieces such as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik as for their symphonies and operas. Later examples of early European light music include the operettas of composers such as Franz von Suppé or Sir Arthur Sullivan; the Continental salon and parlour music genres; and the waltzes and marches of Johann Strauss II and his family. The Straussian waltz became a common light music composition (note for example Charles Ancliffe’s “Nights of Gladness” or Felix Godin’s “Valse Septembre”). These influenced the foundation of a “lighter” tradition of classical music in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the UK, the light-music genre has its origin in the seaside and theatrical orchestras that flourished in Britain during the 19th and early 20th century. These played a wide repertoire of music, from classical music to arrangements of popular songs and ballads of the time. From this tradition came many specially written shorter orchestral pieces designed to appeal to a wider audience. Composers such as Sir Edward Elgar wrote a number of popular works in this medium, such as the “Salut d’Amour”, the Nursery Suite, and Chanson de Matin. Influenced by the earlier “promenade concerts” held in London pleasure gardens, a similar spirit embued many of Henry Wood’s early Queen’s Hall Proms concerts, especially the “Last Night of the Proms”. With the introduction of radio broadcasting by the BBC in the 1920s the style found an ideal outlet. This increased after the launch of the BBC Light Programme in 1945, featuring programmes such as Friday Night is Music Night and Music While You Work. In the United States, “pops orchestra” such as the famous Boston Pops Orchestra began to emerge in the 19th century. The Boston Pops was founded in 1885 as a second, popular identity of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), founded four years earlier. They commissioned light pieces by composers such as Leroy Anderson, Ferde Grofé, and George Gershwin to write original works, along with theatre music, film music and arrangements of popular music and show tunes.

Lilting

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Features#

Lilting often accompanies dancing. Features such as rhythm and tone dominate in lilting and in the case of Irish lilting in particular, is intended to evoke the characteristic ’lilt’ of traditional Irish music and specific instruments such as the Celtic harp. The lyrics thus are often meaningless or nonsensical.

History#

The origins of lilting are unclear. It might have resulted in part from the unavailability of instruments, whether because they were seen as too expensive or were banned. However, similar use of non-lexical syllables also feature in various traditional musical styles worldwide, including tralling or trallning in Sweden and Norway. According to modern folk musician Rowan Piggott, there is an unverified legend about lilting that claims it originates from the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland from 1649–1653 where bans on musical instruments required old songs to be passed down orally via singing or lilting. At the turn of the 20th century lilting found increased popularity in local dance events known as “house dances” and “crossroads dances”. Beginning the mid-1900s, lilting was increasingly performed as a recital or stand alone performance instead of accompaniment for dancing. Recital lilting is currently one of the multiple events performed at the annual traditional Irish musical festival, , held by the non-profit organization (CCE).

Liquid drum and bass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

In 1999, Fabio alongside Sarah Sandy began championing a new form of drum and bass they called “liquid funk”, with a compilation release of the same name on their Creative Source label. This was characterized by influences from ambient, funk, disco, house and trance music, and widespread use of vocals. Although slow to catch on at first, the style grew massively in popularity around 2003–2004, and by 2005 it was established as one of the biggest-selling subgenres in drum and bass, with labels like Good Looking Records (although this label is strongly cross-genred with atmospheric drum and bass), Hospital Records, Liquid V, Creative Source, Shogun Limited, Fokuz Recordings, and artists like Calibre, Netsky, LTJ Bukem, High Contrast, Logistics, London Elektricity, Nu:Tone, Shapeshifter, DJ Marky, Makoto, and Solid State among its main proponents. Liquid drum and bass is very similar to intelligent drum and bass and atmospheric drum and bass, but has subtle differences. Liquid drum and bass has stronger influences from soca, Latin, jazz, disco, breakbeat, and funk music, while intelligent D’n’B or atmospheric D’n’B creates a calmer yet more synthetic sound, using smooth synth lines, deep bass and samples in place of the organic element achieved by use of real instruments.

Lovers rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The roots of lovers rock lie in the last days of the rocksteady era and early days of reggae, with Jamaican and American singers such as Ken Boothe, Johnny Nash and John Holt enjoying international hits with versions of well-known love songs. A style suited to the London reggae scene, lovers rock represented an apolitical counterpoint to the conscious Rastafarian sound dominant in Jamaica at the time, a continuation of the soulful and commonly love-themed rocksteady style, based on singers like Alton Ellis, who were not very optimistic about the rise of Rastafarian reggae. Rooted in the sound systems of South London, the style had particular appeal amongst women and produced many female stars including Carroll Thompson. Louisa Mark was aged 14 when she had a major lovers rock hit with her version of Robert Parker’s “Caught You in a Lie” in 1975. This spawned the distinctive young girl female sound associated with early lovers rock. Simplicity formed in 1975 and released their first hit “To Be in Love” produced by Coxson; the B-side was the Emotions’ US R&B song, “A Feeling Is a Feeling”. They were headhunted by Neville King who produced their UK reggae chart hit “Black Is Our Colour”. This was followed by the husband and wife production team of Dennis and Eve Harris who then had a big hit with T.T. Ross’s “Last Date”. Dennis Harris then set up a new record label, Lover’s Rock, at his South East London Studio on Upper Brockley Road along with John Kpiaye and Dennis Bovell, which gave the new genre a name. Beres Hammond, Horace Andy, Kofi, Sanchez, Samantha Rose, and Marcia Aitken. Maxi Priest gained lovers rock hits such as “Wild World”(1988) and “Close to You”(1990). Seminal punk/rock/ska/reggae crossover band the Clash popularised the term, introducing it to a wider mainstream audience, by including a song called “Lover’s Rock” on their 1979 signature double LP, London Calling. The popularity of lovers rock continued through the next decade. In the 1980s, the Fashion label was successful with UK audiences, and the Revue label had a chart-topper in 1986 with Boris Gardiner’s “I Wanna Wake Up with You”. In the 1990s, artists such as Mike Anthony, Peter Hunnigale and Donna Marie enjoyed success with the genre, and several British stars performed at Reggae Sunsplash.

Madchester

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pre-Madchester#

The music scene in Manchester immediately before the Madchester era was dominated by the Smiths, New Order, and the Fall, who became significant influences on the Madchester movement. The opening of The Haçienda nightclub in May 1982, an initiative by Factory Records, was also instrumental in shaping Manchester’s popular culture. During its early years, the club primarily featured club-oriented pop music and hosted gigs by artists such as New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, Culture Club, Thompson Twins, and the Smiths. DJs like Hewan Clarke and Greg Wilson contributed to the club’s prominence. By 1986, The Haçienda shifted its focus from being a live venue to a dance club. The Festival of the Tenth Summer in July 1986, organised by Factory Records, reinforced Manchester’s reputation as a hub for alternative pop culture. The festival featured film screenings, a music seminar, art exhibitions, and performances by the city’s leading bands, including an all-day concert at Manchester G-Mex with A Certain Ratio, the Smiths, New Order, and the Fall. According to Dave Haslam, the festival showcased how “the city had become synonymous with larger-than-life characters playing cutting-edge music. … Individuals were inspired and the city was energised; of its own accord, uncontrolled.” In addition to these venues and events, the warehouse parties organised by Steve Adge were crucial in the development of the scene. The Stone Roses’ warehouse parties, first held in 1985, were significant, with DJ Dave Booth supporting the Stone Roses’ live performances. These parties, including the notable “Warehouse 1, The Flower Show” event on 20 July 1985, played a vital role in establishing the band’s following and the burgeoning music scene in Manchester. Booth was an influential DJ in Manchester’s music landscape. He co-created the Playpen nights and the Blood Club and was a resident DJ at several key venues in Manchester’s alternative club network. He began his career at the Roxy Room in Pips and performed at other clubs like Devilles, Berlin, Cloud 9, and Legends, helping to create a network of venues that fostered the growth of Manchester’s alternative music scene. The city’s emerging bands, including the Stone Roses, frequented these clubs and drew inspiration from the diverse music played by DJs. The Haçienda transitioned from making a consistent loss to selling out by early 1987. During that year, it hosted performances by American house artists such as Frankie Knuckles and Adonis. Other clubs in the Manchester area began embracing house music, including Devilles, Isadora’s, Konspiracy, House, Soundgardens, and Man Alive in the city centre, as well as Bugsy’s in Ashton-under-Lyne and the Osbourne Club in Miles Platting. Another key factor in the rise of Madchester was the sudden availability of the drug MDMA in the city, starting in 1987 and increasing in the following year. According to Haslam, " MDMA use changed clubs forever; a night at the Haçienda went from being a great night out to an intense, life-changing experience". The British music scene was such that The Guardian later stated, “The ’80s looked destined to end in musical ignominy”. The Madchester movement flourished as its sound was fresh and innovative, quickly gaining popularity. Music by artists such as the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays began to chart highly in 1989, with New Order releasing the acid house-influenced Technique, which topped the UK Albums Chart.

Mainstream hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The mainstream hardcore sound derives from early hardcore (still called gabber at the time). In the late 1990s, early hardcore became less popular than Hardstyle. After surviving underground for a number of years, in 2002 Gabber regained some popularity in the Netherlands, although the sound is more mature, darker, and industrial. Some producers started embracing a slower style characterized by a deeper, harder bass drum that typically had a longer envelope than was possible in the traditional, faster style. In this aspect, this new form of gabber obviously cannot be considered less powerful than its precursor. This newer sound was referred to as “New Style” or “Mainstream” and as the tempo got slower and slower it began to become similar to Chicago hard house. Many hardcore enthusiasts hated Chicago hard house and the club scene it typified, and frequently DJs would be booed by one group of fans and cheered for by another at the same party, depending on the tempo and style of music they were playing. This is similar to the rivalry and mutual dislike that surfaced earlier between fans of “regular” hardcore and happy hardcore. Eventually the two styles met in the middle, and most gabber today is produced in a range of 160-180 bpm. This style is typically a bit slower than the Rotterdam style of the mid-1990s.

Maloya

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Compared to séga, which employs numerous string and wind European instruments, traditional maloya uses only percussion and the musical bow. Maloya songs employ a call-response structure.

Instruments#

Traditional instruments include: *roulér – a low-tuned barrel drum played with the hands *kayamb – a flat rattle made from sugar cane tubes and seeds *pikér – a bamboo idiophone played with sticks * sati – a flat metal idiophone played with sticks *bob – a braced, struck musical bow

Manele

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Early references to the terms manea and manele appear in Romanian texts from the late 18th and early 19th century, during the period of Turkish suzerainty over the Romanian principalities, as a genre of dance music brought by Roma from Istanbul. In the 1960s a type of lăutarească manea appeared, by adding texts to the geampara, a type of lăutaresc genre of Turkish origin. The modern manele originated in the 1980s and early 1990s as translations and imitations of Turkish and Arabic songs. A well known Romanian manele singer, Adrian Copilul Minune traces it to a genre known as “turceasca” (Turkish). The genre has been rocked by accusations of plagiarism a number of times, with manele singers adapting popular songs from Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey, without giving due credit. The accusations increased especially after the hit “De ce mă minți” (“Why are you lying to me?”) proved to be a mere cover of Despina Vandi’s song “M’agapas”/“Ah kardoula mou”. Further plagiarism accusations surrounded a well known manele singer’s track called “Supărat” (“Upset”) which was proven by third parties to be plagiarized from a Croatian song (Umoran by Jasmin Stavros). Although this song was not technically a manea, it furthered the controversy surrounding this music genre and Romania’s image. Most radio and television channels or media boycott manele music.

Mazurka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The folk origins of the Mazurka are three Polish folk dances which are: * mazur, most characteristic due to its inconsistent rhythmic accents, * slow and melancholic kujawiak, * fast oberek. The mazurka is always found to have either a triplet, trill, dotted eighth note (quaver) pair, or an ordinary eighth note pair before two quarter notes (crotchets). In the 19th century, the form became popular in many ballrooms in different parts of Europe. Mazurka as a term denoting a music piece originated in France, and is connected to the name of the mazur dance. Until the mid-20th century, Mazur also signified an inhabitant of Mazovia, while Mazurka meant a Mazovian woman in the past. Mazurek is a diminutive and masculine form of Mazur. In relation to dance, all three words (mazur, mazurek, mazurka) underline the connection to Mazovia. Several classical composers have written mazurkas, with the best known being the 59 composed by Frédéric Chopin for solo piano. In 1825, Maria Szymanowska wrote the largest collection of piano mazurkas published before Chopin. Henryk Wieniawski also wrote two for violin with piano (the popular “Obertas”, Op. 19), Julian Cochran composed a collection of five mazurkas for solo piano and orchestra, and in the 1920s, Karol Szymanowski wrote a set of twenty for piano and finished his composing career with a final pair in 1934. Alexander Scriabin, who was at first conscious of being Chopin’s follower, wrote 24 mazurkas. Chopin first started composing mazurkas in 1824, reaching full maturity by 1830, the year of the November Uprising, a rebellion in Congress Poland against Russia. Chopin continued composing them until 1849, the year of his death. The stylistic and musical characteristics of his mazurkas differ from the traditional variety because Chopin in effect created a more complex type of mazurka, using classical techniques, including counterpoint and fugue. By including more chromaticism and harmony in the mazurkas, he made them more technically interesting than the traditional dances. Chopin also tried to compose his mazurkas in such a way that they could not be used for dancing, so as to distance them from the original form. However, while Chopin changed some aspects of the original mazurka, he maintained others. His mazurkas, like the traditional dances, contain a great deal of repetition: repetition of certain measures or groups of measures; of entire sections; and of an initial theme. The rhythm of his mazurkas also remains very similar to that of earlier mazurkas. However, Chopin also incorporated the rhythmic elements of the two other Polish forms mentioned above, the kujawiak and oberek; his mazurkas usually feature rhythms from more than one of these three forms (mazurek, kujawiak, and oberek). This use of rhythm suggests that Chopin tried to create a genre that had ties to the original form, but was still something new and different. The mazurka began as a dance for either four or eight couples. Eventually, Michel Fokine created a female solo mazurka dance dominated by flying grandes jetés, alternating second and third arabesque positions, and split-leg climactic postures.

Medieval metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Precursors#

The medieval folk band Corvus Corax was formed in 1989 and released a debut album in the same year. The group relies on period instruments that include the cister, hurdy-gurdy, biniou, buccina, davul, riq and cornetto curvo with the most prominent being the shawm and bagpipes. They describe their approach as “louder, dirtier and more powerful than any interpretation of medieval music before.” The result has been associated more with medieval taverns and pubs rather than the royal courts or church. one of the inspirations for the genre is the English folk metal band Skyclad. Formed in 1990 as a thrash metal band, they added violins from session musician Mike Evans on several tracks from their debut album, The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth, with the song “The Widdershins Jig” was acclaimed as “particularly significant” and “a certain first in the realms of Metal”. The band added a full time violinist to their ranks and has since been credited not only as the originators and pioneers of folk metal but also as a direct inspiration for medieval metal bands.

Međimurska popevka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Međimurska popevka is a form of folksinging widespread throughout the northern part of Croatia bordering Slovenia and Hungary. It has historically been performed by solo female vocalists, although in modern times it is performed both individual and in groups, and both men and women. The songs can be performed in vocal, vocal instrumental, or instrumental as well as monophonic/multipart renditions, as musical genre, or incorporated into dance. Popevka commonly takes place in social and community gatherings, such as weddings, religious gatherings, annual holidays, and in modern times, folk festivals.

Medway scene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Of Medway musicians, the best known is Billy Childish (from Chatham) who formed punk band the Pop Rivets in the late 1970s, and later formed the Milkshakes, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Headcoats, the Buff Medways, the Musicians of the British Empire and the Chatham Singers, among others. His inspiration has led to many other bands forming who now have a worldwide cult following. Other notable bands include the Prisoners, the Dentists, the Claim and Thee Headcoatees. The music often draws heavily on the tradition of garage/punk/rock’n roll/raw-blues music from the 1950s and 1960s, hence references to the “Medway Delta”. Records have been released on Big Beat, Media Burn and other small indie labels, as well as Childish’s own Hangman Records and Hangman’s Daughter, and latterly Damaged Goods Records.

Melodic death metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Melodic death metal combines death metal with elements of traditional heavy metal ranging as far as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, especially melodic or harmonized guitar riffs, with the heavily distorted guitars, fast double-bass drum patterns and occasional blast beats of death metal. Alternative Press Magazine describes the style as “incorporat ing stylistically ‘pretty’ and epic sounds” into the death metal formula, augmented by “blazing” guitar solos and “buzz-saw”-like guitar tones. The vocal style typically features harsh screams or low-pitched growling (similar to traditional death metal) but often features clean sung vocals as well. Melodic death metal is said to be more musically diverse than traditional death metal. According to Vlad Nichols of Ultimate Guitar, the boundaries of melodic death metal " grant much more artistic freedom" to artists as opposed to traditional death metal, and enables enjoyment of death metal sounds by a wider audience. He assessed, “the heaviness was still there, but it was now made all the more enjoyable by the diversity of musical and thematic expression it provided.” Some melodic death metal bands fuse the style with other styles of heavy metal and extreme metal. For example, Finnish band Children of Bodom is known for incorporating strong elements of power metal into their style.

Mélodie

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nature#

The mélodie is often defined by comparison with the lied. Pierre Bernac provides this comparison in The Interpretation of French Song: Debussy goes on to write that ‘clarity of expression, precision and concentration of form are qualities peculiar to the French genius.’ These qualities are indeed most noticeable when again compared with the German genius, excelling as it does in long, uninhibited outpourings, directly opposed to the French taste, which abhors overstatement and venerates concision and diversity. Bernac writes that “the art of the greatest French composers is an art of suggestion”, rather than explicit statement of feelings. The mélodie is noted for its deliberate and close relationship between text and melody. To compose or interpret mélodies, one must have a sensitive knowledge of the French language, French poetry, and French poetic diction. Numerous books have been written about the details of French pronunciation specifically for mélodie singers, often featuring IPA transcriptions of songs with further notations for French-specific features like liaison and elision.

Metal Mass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The concept of Metal Mass was thought up by five metal fans, three of whom worked at a church (pastors Haka Kekäläinen and Jukka Valkama and youth worker Mikko Saari) and the other two being musicians (Markus Korri and Juhani Palttala), after a 2005 seminar on the relationship of Church and heavy metal music. They gathered a team for service and began working on arrangements. The first Metal Mass was held around the time of the annual Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, June 29, 2006, in Temppeliaukio Church. Taage Laiho of the hard rock band Kilpi, was the lead singer in that Metal Mass. The service was reportedly a success, with 300 people being left out because of safety reasons. On August 26, 2008, the Metallimessu album was released, and the songs and interludes follow the pattern of the service. On the album, guest vocalists for the hymns include Taage Laiho (Kilpi), Ville Tuomi (Suburban Tribe), Tanja (Lullacry), Tuomas Nieminen (Adamantra), Juhani Muhonen (Sorrowind) and Heikki Pöyhiä (Twilightning).

Mod revival

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginnings#

The late 1970s mod revival combined musical and cultural elements of the 1970s pub rock, punk rock and new wave music genres with influences from 1960s mod jazz and power pop bands such as the Who, Small Faces and the Kinks. The mod revival was largely set in motion by the Jam and their fans. The band had adopted a stark mod look and mixed the energy of punk with the sound of 1960s mod bands. Their debut album In the City (1977), mixed R&B standards with originals modelled on the Who’s early singles. They confirmed their status as the leading mod revival band with their third album All Mod Cons (1978), on which Paul Weller’s song-writing drew heavily on the British-focused narratives of the Kinks. The revival was also spurred on by small concerts at venues such as the Cambridge Hotel, Edmonton, Hop Poles Hotel and Howard Hall both in Enfield, the Wellington, Waterloo Road, London, and the Bridge House in Canning Town. In 1979, the film Quadrophenia, which romanticised the original 1960s mod subculture, widened the impact and popularity of the mod revival across the UK. The original mod revival fanzine, Maximum Speed started in 1979 and spawned other home-produced fanzines from then until the mid-to-late 1980s. Bands grew up to feed the desire for mod music, often combining the music of 1960s mod groups with elements of punk music, including the Chords, Secret Affair, Purple Hearts and the Lambrettas. These acts managed to develop cult followings and some had pop hits, before the revival petered out in the early 1980s. More R’n’B based bands such as the Little Roosters, the Inmates and Nine Below Zero also became key acts in the growing mod revival scene in London. In 1979 the mod scene in Australia began and took off particularly in Sydney & Melbourne, led by bands such as The Sets, Little Murders, Division 4, The Introverts & The Go. There was a documentary made in early 1981 called The Go-Set about the mod revival scene in Sydney & Melbourne. There was also a book published about the mod scene in Australia from 1979 to 1986.

Muiñeira

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics of the muiñeira#

It is a dance of playful character, with a social component expressing gallantry. It is somewhat more permissive of improvisation than other folk dances; improvised in fiestas and exhibitions. Some interpreters have added increased complexity to its traditional choreography. It is played at a fast tempo. Dancers often form a circle or parallel threes. Often jumps are incorporated, synchronized with percussion accompaniment: a snare-drum known as the tamboril (a wooden natural-skinned drum with gut snares), and the bombo, a bass drum. Examples of the genre recommended by native Galician commentators include ’ ’ Muiñeira de Chantada’ ’ and to ’ ’ Muiñeira de Lugo’ ‘.

Music hall

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and development#

Music halls had their origins in 18th century London. They grew with the entertainment provided in the new style saloon bars of pubs during the 1830s. These venues replaced earlier semi-rural amusements provided by fairs and suburban pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall Gardens and the Cremorne Gardens. These latter became subject to urban development and became fewer and less popular. From the mid-19th century music halls spread to the provincial cities, such as Bristol. The saloon was a room where for an admission fee or a greater price at the bar, singing, dancing, drama or comedy was performed. The most famous London saloon of the early days was the Grecian Saloon, established in 1825, at The Eagle (a former tea-garden), 2 Shepherdess Walk, off the City Road in east London. According to John Hollingshead, proprietor of the Gaiety Theatre, London (originally the Strand Music Hall), this establishment was “the father and mother, the dry and wet nurse of the Music Hall”. Later known as the Grecian Theatre, it was here that Marie Lloyd made her début at the age of 14 in 1884. It is still famous because of an English nursery rhyme, with the somewhat mysterious lyrics: Up and down the City Road In and out The Eagle That’s the way the money goes Pop goes the weasel. Another famous “song and supper” room of this period was Evans Music-and-Supper Rooms, 43 King Street, Covent Garden, established in the 1840s by W.H. Evans. This venue was also known as ‘Evans Late Joys’ – Joy being the name of the previous owner. Other song and supper rooms included the Coal Hole in The Strand, the Cyder Cellars in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden and the Mogul Saloon in Drury Lane.

Music of Crete

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instrumental (dances, kondylies, kantadha)#

Much Cretan music includes the use of instruments (and usually singing, too). Lyra, violin, and laouto (Cretan lute) predominate, but other common instruments include the mandolin, mandola, oud, thiampoli (souravli), askomandoura, classical guitar (especially in Eastern Crete), boulgari, and daouli (davul). There is also an instrument known as the viololyra, a hybrid of the violin and lyra, which has enjoyed varying degrees of popularity at various times. Cretan music has been largely heterophonic in texture or accompanied by drones and fifth chords on Cretan lute, classical guitar, mandolin, boulgari, and so forth. Drones are also played simultaneously on melody instruments such as the lyra and violin by bowing a second string (usually open) simultaneously as one plays the melody notes on another string. Especially in earlier and more amateur settings where a second accompanying instrument was often absent, a lyra player accompanied himself by playing not only a drone string but also with a distinctively rhythmic bowing style in order to ring the gerakokoudhouna (small “falcon bells”) that were attached to his bow. It is much more common today for the lyra to be accompanied by one or more other instruments, and for lyra players to employ a violin bow. Like much Greek folk music, Cretan music is closely related to dance, and the most common musical forms correspond directly with the Cretan dances that may accompany them, such as the Syrtos, pentozali, siganos, pidikhtos, and Sousta. Certain traditional dances from other regions of Greece, most notably kalamatianos and ballos, are also widely performed by professional Cretan musicians, usually with Cretan-composed lyrics, in musical gatherings since at least the twentieth century. Like fiddle tunes in various other traditions, Cretan dance music often involves repeated melodies or repeated pairings of melodies, whose selection and concatenation is improvised in performance. Another musical construction common to Cretan music is the taximi (), a rhythmically free, improvised instrumental solo (e.g., on the violin, lyra, or lute) in a particular scale or mode preceding the dance-song proper. (Both the word taximi and the musical form itself are cognates with the Arabic taqsim.)

Music of Latin America

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Argentina#

While the exact origins of tango remain uncertain, Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges believed the genre to have originated in the brothels of 19th century Buenos Aires or Montevideo. Editors of World Music: The Rough Guide (2000) called Borges’ statement “a little presumptive” and pinpoint the early developments of tango to the bars frequented by porteños. Emerging from a melting pot of European immigrants, criollos, blacks, and indigenous peoples, the genre is believed to have been influenced by Andalusian flamenco, Spanish contradanse, Italian folk music, Cuban habanera, African candombe and percussion, German polkas, Polish mazurkas, and Argentine milonga. In its early history, tango music was associated with brawls at brothels and knife-wielding womanizing men, known locally as malevos or compadritos. By 1914, men outnumbered women in Argentina by 100,000, leading to an increased rate of prostitution and the brothel lifestyle that came with it. Men would often dance at cafes and bars and try to outdo one another with improvised dance steps in an attempt to attract a woman. Their dances were characterized by “showy yet threatening, predatory quality, often revolving around a possessive relationship between two men and one woman”. In its original form, tango music included the violin, guitar, and flute. By the late 19th century, the bandoneon had been introduced into the genre. The instrument, first developed in Germany for playing folk and religious music in churches that lacked organs, is believed to have been brought to the region by immigrants and sailors. One of its early pioneers, Eduardo Arolas, was nicknamed the “Tiger of the Bandoneón”. Arolas believed the instrument was made to play in tango. Vicente Greco is credited with standardizing tango with his group, Orquesta Típica Criolla, by using two violins and two bandoneons. The instrumentation of tango remained largely unchanged until the 1940s. Tango music began playing in populated areas such as fairgrounds and streets in Buenos Aires. It contained lyrics that were “sometimes obscene and deeply fatalistic”. Similar to families in the United States during the rise of rock and roll, families in the area tried to shield their children from tango. Upper-classmen began taking an interest in tango: writer Ricardo Güiraldes performed tango during a tour of Europe in 1910 and has been credited with introducing tango in Europe. Güiraldes’ introduction made tango the first Latin dance to gain popularity in Europe. Actor Rudolph Valentino performed the tango in his film The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (1926), with Hollywood taking advantage of " Valentino’s charisma, the magnetism of tango, and the attraction they both had on a huge public". Other styles of music in Argentina include the chacarera, milonga, zamba and chamamé. Modern rhythms include cuarteto (music from the Cordoba Province) and electrotango. Argentine rock (known locally as rock nacional) was most popular during the 1980s, and remains one of Argentina’s most popular music genres. Rock en español was first popular in Argentina, then swept through other Hispanic American countries and Spain. The movement was known as the “Argentine Wave”.

Music of Northumbria

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Local musical forms and styles#

Northumbria shares with southern Scotland the long history of border ballads, such as ‘The Ballad of Chevy Chase’. It is also known for local dances, namely rapper dancing and Durham and Northumberland style clog dancing. The dance music of Northumbria differs markedly in style from that of the rest of England. It has more in common with Irish dance music, and especially Scottish dance music, yet is to some extent unique. Many dances from the region have the characteristic rant step. Although many tunes are shared with other regions of England or other nations, there is often a distinct difference between a Northumbrian version of a tune and versions from elsewhere. For instance a simple Irish tune, ‘The Chorus Jig’, with three strains, appears in the Northumbrian tradition as ‘Holey Ha’penny’, an ornate five-strain variation set. A Scottish strathspey, ‘Struan Robertson’s Rant’ appears, stripped of the Scotch snap, as a smallpipe tune, ‘Cuckold come out of the Amrey’, a long variation set. These two examples illustrate the impossibility of ascribing a regional origin to an old tune; each can be played on a primitive instrument, and may have been played for as long before first publication, as they have been since. Assumptions of regional origins can bedevil the study of music undertaken by enthusiastic musicians (who may sadly follow partisan allegiances) however regional versions and styles (like Northumbrian) are quite a different matter, having reliable established sources. Tunes in hornpipe rhythm are much appreciated in the region, both for playing and for dancing, particularly clog dancing. One rhythm characteristic of the region is the rant, used for figure dances such as The Morpeth Rant with a characteristic step; musically it is similar to a reel, though somewhat slower, and with more of a lilt. During 1770–2 William Vickers made a manuscript collection of local dance tunes, of which some 580 survive, including both pipe and fiddle tunes, many of which are from Scotland, southern England, Ireland and even France, revealing the very extensive and varied repertoire of local musicians at that time.

Music of Spain

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Throughout its history, the Iberian Peninsula has received musical influences from around the Mediterranean Sea and across Europe. In the two centuries before the Christian era, Roman rule introduced the music and ideas of Ancient Greece. Early Christians, who had their own differing versions of church music, arrived during the height of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths, a Romanized Germanic people, took control of the peninsula following the fall of the Roman Empire, and later the Moors and Jews arrived in the Middle Ages. These more than two thousand years of internal and external influences produced a large number of unique musical traditions that continue to shape Spanish music today.

Music of the Trecento

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background and early history (to 1330)#

Little newly composed Italian music remains from the 13th century, so the immediate antecedents of the music of the Trecento must largely be inferred. The music of the troubadors, who brought their lyrical, secular song into northern Italy in the early 13th century after they fled their home regions—principally Provence—during the Albigensian Crusade, was a strong influence, and perhaps a decisive one; many of the Trecento musical forms are closely related to those of the troubadours of more than a century before. Another influence on Trecento music was the conductus, a type of polyphonic sacred music which had the same text sung in all parts; texturally, Trecento secular music is more like the conductus than anything else that came before, although the differences are also striking, and some scholars (for example, Hoppin) have argued that the influence of the conductus has been overstated. Some of the poetry of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was set to music at the time it was written, but none of the music has survived. One of the musicians to set Dante’s poetry was his friend Casella (died 1299 or 1300), memorialized in Canto II of Purgatorio. Poems of Dante set by others included canzoni and ballate; if they were similar to the other earliest ballate, they would have been monophonic. Though the pioneering music theory of Marchetto da Padova was written in this early period, the influence of his treatise on notation, the Pomerium, is largely seen in the manuscripts of the succeeding generations. Marchetto, building on (or in parallel with) the innovations of Petrus de Cruce, described a system of division of the breve into 2, 3, 4, 6,8, 9, or 12 semibreves (later minims) with dots (singular punctus divisionis ) indicating breaks at the end of a breve (however, Marchetto never used a term “punctus divisionis”). Although more Trecento music is written in the international system of notation descended from Franco of Cologne and Philippe de Vitry than in the Marchettian system (and there exist a few, mostly instrumental, works not of Italian origin that use the Marchettian system), nonetheless, Marchetto’s contribution to rhythmic notation is so connected with the Italian Trecento that it is often referred to as simply, “Italian Notation.”

Music of Thrace

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Types of dances#

Chelebinsko (Chain Dance of the Gentlemen): is a choreography by Belco Stanev with great music in an interesting meter. It’s 9/8 divided : 2 3 2 2. In the vocal part, the steps are exactly on the meter: QSQQ, but in the instrumental refrain, half a bar is added 2 3 (QS). The steps are in 2 2 2 3 (QQQS) and the missing half bar 2 2 (QQ) is added at the end so that is missing (mathematically).
Izgryala E Mesechinka (The moon has risen): A beautiful song from Northern (Bulgarian) Thrace that has inspired many choreographies, all of them with extensive arm work that is typical in dances from this region.
Jambolsko Paidushko: Pajdusko/Paidushko Horo/Baiduska, is a group of dances usually danced in a 5/16 or 5/8 (Q S) rhythm and found in a large area spanning Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, and beyond. It resembles the “aksak” (Turkish for limping) rhythmic system. Its various forms reflect local preferences. This one is from the Jambol region in Northern (Bulgarian) Thrace, and was first introduced in the United States by Dick Crum.
Krivo Sadovsko Horo (Twisted chain dance from Sadovo, Northern Thrace): is a very fast dance, in a 13/8 rhythm, this dance has many versions.
Pazardzhishka Kopanitsa: Pazardzhik Kopanitsa from Pazardzhik, Northern Thrace.
Pravo Trakiisko Horo: Pravo Trakiisko Horo (Straight Thracian chain dance) is from Northern Thrace. It has very little in common with the simple Pravo Horo (straight chain dance). It’s a challenging choreography by a performing group that was brought down from the stage.
Sedi Donka (Donka is sitting): One of the most unusual musical patterns in Bulgaria, Sedi Donka is in 25/16 meters. It is subdivided 7+7+11, which in turn can be subdivided 3 2 2, 3 2 2, 2 2 3 2 2.
Trakiiska Rachenitsa: Trakiiska Rachenitsa is a highly stylized rachenitsa from Northern Thrace with much arm work.
Trite Pati: Trite Pati (the three times) is a dance from Northern Thrace. Like some other Thracian dances, it is also danced in Western (Greek) Thrace. It has many similarities with stis treis dance from Manastir villages and Kavakli (Topolovgrad). Stis treis is the Greek version of the dance and it’s mentioned below.
Kuluriastos: Kuluriastos is a Greek dance from Western Thrace. It has a slower Zonaradikos part, and a faster part where the beginning of the line loops into the center and back out again. It’s a lot of fun to dance this, especially if the dancer is near the beginning of the line. As with many Greek dances, it can be danced to multiple songs.
Sfarlis: Sfarlis is a beginner’s dance from Western Thrace.
Troiro: A fast dance from Northern Thrace, from the Boyalik villages. It is one of the most difficult Greek dances of Thrace. Many Bulgarian dances from Northern Thrace have “cousins” (very similar dances) in Western (Greek) Thrace, and this is one of them: a Greek dance that sounds and feels Bulgarian.
Dostlar Bizim Halaya: This is a rom dance from Eastern (Turkish) Thrace. It is a reminder of the so-called “tsigansko horo” (gypsy chain dance), but the dances are not at all alike.
Hassapia: an ancient dance that simulates a stealth approach on any enemy camp, from beginning to victory. The hassapia dance has been dated back to Hellenistic times, before the time of Alexander the Great whose soldiers brought it to Macedonia. It is a warrior’s dance in which the movements represent the noiseless approach on the enemy camp, the encounter, the fight, and the victory. This dance is done in a circle using a shoulder hold. A similar dance called “kasapsko horo” (butcher’s chain dance) is performed in Bulgaria.
Kallinitikos: performed by three people (either two men and one woman or two women and one man), named after the kalines, or friends of the bride during her wedding, who escort her to the church performing this dance. Kallinitikos is a dance done by groups of three people: a man in the middle and two women at his sides or a woman in the middle and two men at her sides. The dance is named after the kalines, the bride’s girlfriends, who do this dance as they escort her to the church. Performed in Western Thrace.
Kouseftos: derived from kousevo (to run in the Ancient Thracian language), performed, not in a circle, but in the form of a labyrinth Kouseftos, with its characteristic quick running steps, takes its name from the word kousevo in Ancient Thrace which means to run. It differs from other Thracian dances in that, instead of being danced in a circle, its dance progression takes the form of a labyrinth. Performed in Western Thrace.
Mandilatos (Sygkathistos): a couples dance performed at weddings. Mandilatos is a couples’ dance which takes its name from the mandilia or handkerchiefs that the dancers hold while dancing. This dance is done at weddings as the guests escort the bride or the best man to the church. During the procession, some guests hold a mirror which symbolizes the purity of the bride and others hold brooms which symbolize her housekeeping ability. This dance is performed in Western Thrace. A similar dance called “rachenitsa” (from “raka” - an arm) is performed in Northern Thrace.
Stis tris: a slow but swift dance. Stis Tris means “in threes.” Each dance set is composed of three parts of four steps each. The arms are held down and move in a synchronized motion with the steps. This dance is performed under different names in Northern Thrace and Western Thrace. It has many similarities with Trite pati and technically they are versions of the same dance, one Greek and one Bulgarian.
Sygkathistos: performed as the bride and groom are escorted to and from the church during weddings. Syngathistos is a free style couples dance that is danced as the bride and groom are escorted to and from the church. The bridal party also dances as they display and exchange gifts with the bride and groom, particularly gifts of handkerchiefs and head scarves. This dance is performed in Western Thrace.
Xesyrtos: a circle dance with men performed at the front of the line. Xesyrtos is a circle dance in which the men dance at the front of the line, followed by the women, and do variations to the dance step with characteristic slaps, jumps, and kicks. This dance is performed in Western Thrace.
Zonaradikos: a circle dance in which the participants (usually men) hold each other’s belts. It is one of the primary dances of Western Thrace, where a variety of dance moves are performed. The Zonaradikos is dance in which the participants hold each other by their belts or zonaria (hence the name Zonaradikos). The three variations of the basic movements are: paties or stomps, monopatia or single stomp, and psalidia or scissors; usually followed by the koulouriastos or curling. A similar dance called “na poyas” (for belt) is found in Northern Thrace.
Dousko Zonaradiko-Tsestos: Dousko is the zonaradiko of Northern Thrace. Tsestos is the dance that comes after dousko and they are danced together. Tsestos is a challenging twelve-step dance from Northern Thrace, also known as Eastern Rumelia (today’s Bulgaria) that is performed by both men and women. It begins as a moderate tempo dance with very limited dance figures (this part is named Dousko, the steps are almost the same as in the Zonaradiko dance). As it unfolds, the men come in the front and they clutch each other by the belt (zonari). At this point, the dance becomes very swift and intense and consists of a plethora of dance figures. Its origins can be traced to an ancient Greek dance, Pyrihios, which is a twelve-step dance too. Bulgarian Trakiisko Pravo Horo has many similarities with Dousko Zonaradiko Tsestos.
Paydushko (Baiduska, Pajdusko, Pajduska, Payduska): a very aggressive dance, usually performed by men. It is associated with fierce and intense dance moves. Performed in all three regions of Thrace: Northern (Paidushko Horo), Western (Baiduska), and Eastern (payduska). The dance has some differences between regions.
Halay: Halay is a famous dance in the Middle East. It is a symbol of the tempestuous way of life in its place of origin, Anatolia. It is a national dance in Armenia and Turkey. The traditional form of the Halay dance is played on the Zurna, supported by a Davul. The dancers form a circle or line while holding each other by the little finger. From Anatolia, the Halay has spread to other regions, such as Armenia and the Balkans.
Karsilama: a dance found in both Western and Eastern Thrace.

Listen to#

Ancient Greek Bagpipe (Askaulos) Improvisation by Giannis Pantazis
Pazardjishka kopanitsa
Krivo sadovsko horo
Paydushko horo
Alexander and the King (Thrace) (feat. Vangelis Dimoudis)
Izgryala e mesechinka
Yambolsko Trite Puti
Eleftheria Arvanitaki - Do sta lianohortaroudia (Zonaradiko)
Pajdusko (Balkan Guzeli)
Tricked by the Birds (Thrace) (feat. Vangelis Dimoudis)
Pajdusko (Balkan Guzeli) - Turkish Lyrics
Alan Cayirlari
Musical Travelogue with Domna Samiou in Thrace, Evros
Trite Puti
Mandilatos(Mandra)
Hijaz Mandilatos(Hicaz Mandra)
Kazım Koyuncu - Tabancamın Sapını(Mandilatos-Mandra havası)
A Bre Suluman Aga
Dousko Zonaradiko-Tsestos Greek Dance

Music of Yugoslavia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Different music genres rose, evolved, and declined at different times and in different places across and throughout the component republics of Yugoslavia. For example, Yugoslav punk and new wave rose in the late 1970s; disco, both foreign and “Yu-disco”, was making inroads by the early 70s, with international stars such as Earth, Wind & Fire performing in Zagreb, Belgrade, and Ljubljana in 1975. The communist government confiscated Edison Bell Penkala and Elektroton, companies that had been active in the interwar period, and used them to create the state-sponsored, Zagreb-based record label Jugoton in 1947. It became the largest Eastern European label outside of the USSR and was instrumental in the development of pop music in SFR Yugoslavia. From its founding in 1947 to 1953, it was under the direct purview of the Yugoslav Communist Party and produced classical, revolutionary, and tradition folk music repertoires in the tradition of social realism.

Musique mesurée

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Pieces written as musique mesurée were settings of the poetical form known as vers mesurés. Beginning in the late 1560s in Paris, under the direction of Jean-Antoine de Baïf, a group of poets known as the Pléiade attempted to recreate the metrical effect of ancient Greek and Latin poetry in French, using the quantitative principles of those languages. The attempt was more than an academic one: Baïf and his associates, horrified by the barbarity of the age, including the bloody religious wars which raged throughout the last decades of the century, sought to improve mankind by bringing back the ancient diction, which was believed to have had a positive ethical effect on its hearers. For this attempt they had the approval of the current king of France, Charles IX, and they met in secret to plan their musical revolution. Baïf, with the royal patent, founded the Académie de Poésie et de Musique in 1570, along with his intimate musical associate Joachim Thibault de Courville. Poet Pierre de Ronsard was also involved in the group. As originally planned, the members of the Académie would be in a hierarchy of two grades: first, the composers and singers, known as the professionnels, and after that, the gentleman listeners, known as the auditeurs, who were also to provide financial backing for the enterprise. Aside from this small group of aristocrats, no one else was invited. The concerts took place at Baïf’s house in Paris: Charles IX himself, who provided much of the patronage, was often present. Some of the house rules have been recorded. There was to be no talking, or disturbances of any kind, during the singing, and anyone who came in late had to wait until the end of a piece to be seated – rather like modern concert-hall etiquette. Musicians were to rehearse every day, and no music was to be copied or taken away from the area of performance. The music was so closely guarded, at least during the early years of the Académie, that no music of the originating composer – Courville – is known to have survived. The Académie was short-lived, and probably did not survive after 1573, the year of the death of Charles IX. Another similar group, the Académie du Palais, which met at the Louvre after 1573 with the backing of the new king, Henri III, seemed to carry on some of the work of the previous group, but its aim seems to have been more to debate philosophical issues than to reform humanity through reviving Ancient Greek and Latin poetry and music. The activities, if any, of the original Académie after this time are poorly-documented: while the musicians continued to meet, it is not known if they met in a formal setting, as they had prior to the death of Charles IX. This was during a period of increasing religious turmoil, ending in the fighting in Paris in 1589, and the assassination of the king; associations of humanists such as the Académie, which included both Catholics and Protestants, became increasingly difficult (Baïf, a Catholic, even wrote a sonnet in 1572 praising the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre; Claude Le Jeune, a Protestant, was nearly murdered during the siege of Paris in 1589). Even though the original Académie had faded away within a few years of its founding, several prominent composers found the concept of musique mesurée to be so attractive as to make it their primary compositional method. The most famous of these was Claude Le Jeune, followed by Jacques Mauduit, Eustache Du Caurroy, Nicolas de La Grotte, and Guillaume Costeley.

Muzică populară

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Meaning of the term#

The Romanian term “muzică populară” has been used with different meanings. In the 1930s, for example, in the writings of Constantin Brăiloiu, it refers to Romanian folk music as the music of Romanian peasants. Later the term acquired a new meaning: since the 1950s it has been used in opposition to “proper” folk music to exclusively describe the more commercially produced music reminiscent of folk music.

Nederbeat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In the 1960s, The Beatles and the Merseybeat sound began to dominate the Dutch charts. The popularity of such music led to interest among Dutch musicians in forming bands to play this type of rock music, replacing a previous genre Indorock performed by Indonesian immigrants in the Netherlands. The interest was further spurred on by the Beatles concerts in the Netherlands in 1964 that drew large crowds, followed by a performance by The Rolling Stones at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen disrupted by an excited audience. The Hague was the country’s beat capital, where bands such as “the Golden Earrings” (the predecessor of Golden Earring), InCrowd, Q65, Het, Sandy Coast and The Motions were formed, along with its neighbouring coastal town Scheveningen. The clubs on its boulevard, from where Veronica’s pirate ship was constantly visible, became the locus for Dutch talent. Other bands such as the Outsiders also emerged in Amsterdam. These bands generally performed in English, with the exception of a few such as Het who performed in Dutch. Their guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen would later form Shocking Blue. Other popular groups were the Outsiders, Q65, Golden Earring, Ro-d-ys, The Shoes, and Cuby & the Blizzards. Nederbeat had association with the psychedelia and counterculture of the 1960s in the Netherlands. The beat sound was popular for a few years before the sound started to change, and the musical style of the bands evolved. Soul and Rhythm and blues became more popular, groups that performed in such style include Rob Hoeke Rhythm & Blues Group. The Cats shifted into the palingsound they created, while Cuby & the Blizzards developed their own distinct style of blues. The bands were mostly popular only in the Netherlands, but a few bands found success internationally. In 1970, Tee-Set had a top 10 hit with “Ma Belle Amie” in many countries, while Shocking Blue did better with “Venus”, which became the first ever No. 1 single by a Dutch band on Billboard Hot 100. Later in 1973, Golden Earring also had a worldwide hit with “Radar Love”. However, despite the successes, the genre had faded in the 1970s as popular music moved on to other genres and tastes such as Disco.

Nederpop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sixties Nederpop bands#

Golden Earring
The Motions
The Outsiders
Tee-Set
Cuby + Blizzards
Brainbox
The Cats
Sandy Coast
The Shoes
Peter Koelewijn
Boudewijn de Groot
Rob de Nijs

Seventies Nederpop bands#

Shocking Blue
Mouth & MacNeal
Focus
Earth and Fire
George Baker
Golden Earring
Ekseption
Luv'
De Bintangs
Supersister
Pussycat
Teach-In
Livin’ Blues
Kayak
Herman Brood
Gruppo Sportivo
Alquin
Normaal
BZN
Nits

Eighties Nederpop bands#

Aside from Doe Maar, the early eighties were good for, amongst others, Golden Earring, Time Bandits (band), Diesel (band), Vandenberg, the Frank Boeijen Groep, Het Goede Doel, the Amazing Stroopwafels, Toontje Lager, VOF de Kunst, Drukwerk and Noodweer. Female Nederpop bands of the time included the Dolly Dots and Mai Tai.

Neo soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

As a term, neo soul was coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell. The success of D’Angelo’s 1995 debut album Brown Sugar has been regarded by several writers and music critics as the inspiration behind the term’s origin. In a 2002 interview for Billboard, Massenburg said that genre classifications are often unpopular because they may be suggestive of a short-lived trend. However Massenburg felt there was a need to market artists of the genre for listeners to have an understanding of what they were listening to. Jason Anderson of CBC News compares the etymology of neo soul to that of “new wave” and comments: “neo-soul is still an effective tag to describe the mix of chic modernity and time-honoured tradition that distinguished the genre’s best examples. Neo-soul artists tried to look both backward and forward, acting in the belief that a continuum might exist.”

Neo-prog

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Neo-prog is characterised by deeply emotional content, often delivered via dramatic lyrics and a generous use of imagery and theatricality on-stage. The music is mostly the product of careful composition, relying less heavily on improvised jamming. The subgenre relies very much on clean, melodic and emotional electric guitar solos, combined with keyboards. The main musical influences on the neo-prog genre are bands from the first wave of progressive rock such as early Genesis, Camel, and to a lesser extent Van der Graaf Generator and Pink Floyd.

Neo-psychedelia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Neo-psychedelic artists primarily borrow a variety of musical, visual and aesthetic elements from 1960s and 1970s psychedelic music. Artists such as the Soft Boys, Spacemen 3 and the Church merged post-punk and jangle pop with psychedelic rock, pop, acid and folk music. According to AllMusic: Some neo-psychedelic bands were explicitly focused on drug use and experiences, and like the acid house movement of the same era, evoked transitory, ephemeral, and trance-like experiences. Several bands have used neo-psychedelic elements, or perform neo-psychedelia, to accompany surreal or political lyrics. In the view of author Erik Morse, “the sounds of American neo-psychedelia emphasized the cryptic margins of avant-rock, incorporating evanescent textures over an immutable bassline, producing a ‘heavy’ metallic ambience, contra-distinct to the sing-song filigree of British psychedelia”.

Neofolk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Neofolk blends elements of traditional and contemporary folk music with post-industrial and avant-garde influences, distinguishing it from mainstream folk traditions. It is commonly defined by the use of acoustic instruments. Artists incorporate influences from genres such as dark wave and dark ambient. Vocals may range from melodic singing to spoken word, with arrangements emphasizing atmosphere and mood over conventional song structures. Most neofolk artists stem from Nordic countries, Germany and Italy. The style often incorporates lyrical themes drawn from paganism, nature, and European history and mythology.

Neomelodic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style#

It is a peculiar borderland of aesthetics concerning music and everything else in the society in which it is created. Most artists that may be considered neomelodics often have more musical differences between them than common denominators. Neomelodic music is a celebration for those involved and a pejorative term with political implications for those outside. The geographical area that is its homeland consists of every suburb, smalltown, and province between Romanina (Rome, Lazio, Italy) and Catania (Sicily, Italy) with its absolute epicenter in the working-class inner-city and peripherical areas of Naples (Campania, Italy). Neomelodic music draws on Naples’ long history of street entertainment including Commedia dell’arte and La sceneggiata napoletana. The first wave of what is considered as neomelodic was a renaissance of the sceneggiata form, including its typical themes of betrayal, class society, and crime, in the early 1970s. The main pioneers of the neomelodica were the singers Mario Merola and Nino D’Angelo with their numerous collaborations and duets, in films and in pop songs, as well as in musicals, in the 1970s and 1980s. The duet is typical for the neomelodic form as it continues and develops the dramatic form of the sceneggiata in which a troubled main character always must struggle against an antagonist to make his way forward. Apart from the duet being a common form, there are chord progressions that are commonly used in neomelodica. The first wave of neomelodica (ca 1970–1985) often mixed traditional Neapolitan forms of music, like the neoclassical Neapolitan music including world famous songs such as “‘O sole mio”, “Tu si na cosa grande” and “O surdato nnammurato”, that itself is a combination of general European aesthetic, occasionally with Spanish and Arabic influences. The second wave (late 1980s until present) however has a fixation on the melodic progressions typically starting the verses on the VI chord in the major scale and progressing over the 4ths, and the choruses starting on the II chord in the major scale and progressing over the same 4ths. The complete dominance of a specific chord progression serves many purposes: # any bar pianist or busking guitar player can play 50% of modern-day neomelodica without ever before having heard the song that a singer requests # the crowds at the concerts can attend (and sing along to) any concert without having had to listen to the artists’ songs before as they already know which note that follows # professional musicians in the genre become interchangeable so it matters less if someone is absent at the time of a performance # the songwriters can focus on putting as much sentiment as possible into the lyrics, and decoration, since the chords and melody are already there # the singers can perform long medleys covering their whole careers, without barely changing chord progression The theme of a neomelodic lyric is always direct. The message is clear and there is little room for allegory or irony. A typical theme is that of betrayal, taking the recipe from la sceneggiata in which women are the ones that destroy decent families. (e.g. “Nun voglio fà l’amante” by Nancy and Nico Desideri). Other themes include forbidden love (e.g. “Maestra e pianoforte” by Nino D’Angelo and “L’amica e mammà” by Luciano Caldore), class betrayal (e.g. “Faje ammore cu Secondigliano” by Ida Rendano), celebrating love and the desire to marry (e.g. “Per sempre” by Raffaello and “Un ragazzo da sposare” by Emiliana Cantone), and numerous other themes that however always stick to a perceived reality of one or more young persons living in Naples. It is to a great extent the absence of conceptualism that is the trademark of neomelodica, and this absence, in turn, becomes an ever-present presence. Perhaps a good example of this non-ironic irony is the song (and the music video) “Nun t’ho negà” by Mimmo Dany. The more the singers manage to make their listeners suffer with them as they get to hear their private phone conversations (e.g. “Dammi un’occasione” by Emiliana Cantone and Alessio or “Basta” by Emiliana Cantone and Leo Ferrucci) or get to read their text messages (e.g. “Sms” by Alessio), the more they have succeeded in creating the cultural loop of “napolitanità” between people that already are Neapolitans.

Neue Deutsche Härte

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

describes a crossover style that is influenced by Neue Deutsche Welle, alternative metal and groove metal combining it with elements from electro-industrial and techno. The lyrics are generally in German. NDH uses the basic setup of instruments for metal: electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals, along with keyboard, synthesizers, samples and sometimes additional percussion. Emphasis is on a demonstration of predominance, by over-pronouncing certain syllables and sounds (such as the uvular or alveolar trill). The vocals are dominantly presenting in deep, male and clean voice. Some bands use screaming and death growls, which is also common, being heard in certain songs by Oomph!, Rammstein, Joachim Witt, Megaherz and Eisbrecher. NDH imagery is often strongly masculine and militaristic. Guitars are tuned low, usually to drop D or drop C, and are generally heavily distorted. The NDH style has crossed borders and its popularity has grown in recent years to such an extent that there are already bands outside Germany, such as the Spanish band Bloody Kitchen, who do not use German in their songs as usual and their lyrics are also entirely in Spanish.

Neue Deutsche Todeskunst

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In the late 1980s, a number of German musicians combined music in neo-classical, gothic rock, and darkwave styles with German philosophical texts and a highly theatrical stage show. The music was based on post-punk, cold wave, and gothic rock of bands such as Joy Division, The Cure, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the synthesizer-based new wave sound of bands like Depeche Mode. The words often paid deep homage to German philosophers like Andreas Gryphius, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche and Gottfried Benn, as well as international poets such as Georg Trakl, As part of this movement, a number of bands use classical Latin for their lyrics and album names. The greatest Neue Deutsche Todeskunst hits include “Gottes Tod” by Das Ich (1990), “Verflucht” by Relatives Menschsein (1991), “Der Ketzer” by Lacrimosa (1991), “Das Ende” by Goethes Erben (1992) and “Regentanz” by Endraum (1992). Many NDT artists gravitated to the Danse Macabre record label.

Neue Deutsche Welle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The history of Neue Deutsche Welle consists of two major parts. From its beginnings to 1981, the genre was mostly an underground movement with roots in British punk and new wave music. It quickly developed into an original and distinct style, influenced in no small part by the sound and rhythm of the German language, which many of the bands had adopted early on. Whilst some of the lyrics of artists like Nena and Ideal epitomized the zeitgeist of urban West Germany during the Cold War, others used the language in a surreal way, merely playing with its sound or graphic quality rather than using it to express meaning. This includes bands and artists such as Spliff, Joachim Witt, and Trio. The main centers of the NDW movement during these years were West Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Hagen, Zurich, and Bern, as well as, to a lesser extent, the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region, Limburg an der Lahn, and Vienna. From about 1980 on, the music industry began noticing Neue Deutsche Welle. However, because of the idiosyncratic nature of the music, focus shifted to creating new bands more compatible with the mainstream rather than promoting existing ones. Many one-hit wonders and short-lived groups appeared and were forgotten again in rapid succession. The overly broad application of the NDW label to these bands, as well as to almost any German musicians not using English lyrics, even if their music was apparently not influenced at all by the original NDW sound, quickly led to the decay of the entire genre when many of the original musicians turned their backs in frustration. A revival of interest in the style in the Anglophone world occurred in 2003, with the release of DJ Hell’s compilation New Deutsch. NDW has come to be acknowledged as a forerunner to later developments in dance-punk, electronic body music, and electroclash.

Neues Geistliches Lied

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The idea to reach young people by new songs for church services began in the 1950s. The first song in the genre was in 1955 Seigneur, mon ami by Père Duval who performed his religious chansons at the Protestant church assembly Kirchentag in 1962. Christians looked for an expression for reformation of thoughts and liturgy in the churches. The Protestant Evangelische Akademie Tutzing organised competitions, initiated by the minister for students (Studentenpfarrer) in Munich, Günther Hegele. The first competition in 1962 received 996 entries, the first prize went to “Danke” with text and music by Martin Gotthard Schneider. “Stern über Bethlehem” was written by Alfred Hans Zoller for the third competition in 1964, and became a common song of the star singers. Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber, in 1968 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and in 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar, nourished tendencies to write more new music for young people. In 1972, Peter Janssens introduced the term Sacropop to Germany, for a fusion of sacred texts and musical styles derived from pop and rock. A 2001 study, presented at the Überdiözesane Fachtagung Neues Geistliches Lied reported more than 1895 choirs and bands active in the field of NGL. The songs became an established medium in services. Christoph Kießig of a Berlin band noted: “Das NGL ist eine der wenigen Stellen, an denen Jugendliche und Erwachsene nicht nur konsumieren.” (The NGL is one of the few fields where adults and young people don’t only consume.) wrote in 2003 that only songs that congregations like to sing in services are truly NGL (“Denn nur was sich bewährt, bleibt in den Gemeinden lebenden und wird als Neues Geistliches Lied praktiziert.”). New elements compared to traditional hymns are rhythms with syncopes and stresses on the offbeat, contemporary lyrics, and melodies that can be easily learned.

New musick

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

On 26 November 1977, Sounds magazine published an issue entitled “New Musick”, the front cover was done by Steven Lavers with editorials by music journalists Jane Suck and Jon Savage. Savage wrote a piece on an emerging scene and style of music known as “new musick”, suggesting that punk rock was becoming stagnant and evolving into new, more experimental forms, which he noted as “post punk projections”. His editorial stated “New Musick is too many cigarettes, too much depression and too little heart.” Savage then remarked: He described the movement as “Clean teen beat groups cleaning up and minting millions from where the Groovies’ left off and starting where the Jam got boring. Synthemesc nouveau pop”. Music journalists Simon Reynolds, David Buckley, David Wilkinson, and Theo Cateforis retrospectively cited Savage’s editorial as the starting point for post-punk as a musical genre. During the late 1970s, the terms “new musick”, “new wave” and “post-punk” would all be used interchangeably by British music publications. Additionally, the subgenre “cold wave” would also be coined in the November 1977 Sounds “New Musick” article, with members of Kraftwerk, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, being displayed on the front cover. Writer Mimi Haddon suggested the term “New Musick” may have referred to the division of Germany into East and West and that the emphasis on “all things German in opposition to “American and rock ‘n’ roll,” that Reynolds identifies may also have inspired the quasi-Germanic spelling of “Musick,” which resembles the German word Musik, as well as the quasi-Germanic capitalization of the words.”

New pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Many new pop artists created music that blended less commercial and experimental elements with a pop appeal. The concept of entryism became popular among groups of the time, reflecting their attempts to infiltrate mainstream culture with unconventional styles. New Music acts were characterized by danceable rhythms, an androgynous aesthetic, heavy use of synthesizers and drum machines, and lyrical themes exploring the darker side of romance. These acts were predominantly British and drew inspiration from rockabilly, Motown, ska, and reggae, incorporating African rhythms to create what was described as a “fertile, stylistic cross-pollination.” Author Simon Reynolds observed that the new pop movement represented “a conscious and brave attempt to bridge the separation between ‘progressive’ pop and mass/chart pop – a divide which has existed since 1967, and is also, broadly, one between boys and girls, middle-class and working-class.” The terms “New Music” or “new pop” were used loosely to describe various styles and artists, including synth-pop groups such as the Human League, soul-disco acts such as ABC, new wave performers like Elvis Costello and the Pretenders, and jangle pop bands like Orange Juice. American MTV stars, including Michael Jackson, were also associated with the movement. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that New Music was more about the artists themselves than their specific sound. It attracted teenage girls and males disillusioned with traditional, “phallic” guitar-driven rock. New Music was a singles-oriented phenomenon, emphasizing both 7-inch and the then-new 12-inch formats, in contrast to the 1970s emphasis on album-oriented rock.

New rave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term was coined by Klaxons founder Jamie Reynolds, who later declared they were not new rave, describing it as a “joke that’s got out of hand”, stating that: The genre is a play on the term “new wave” as well as being a “new” version of rave music. During the late 2000s, music blogs and press such as NME and The Guardian further popularized the term. Though several artists associated with the scene rejected the label.

New Romantic

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The New Romantic movement is sometimes characterized as a reaction to the direction in which the punk rock movement was evolving, and was heavily influenced by former glam rock stars of the 1970s such as David Bowie and Roxy Music. In terms of style, it rejected the austerity and anti-fashion stance which was becoming increasingly predominant in punk. Both sexes often dressed in androgynous clothing and wore cosmetics such as eyeliner and lipstick, partly derived from earlier punk fashions. Russian constructivism, Bonnie Prince Charlie, French Incroyables and 1930s’ Cabaret, Hollywood starlets, Puritans and the Pierrot clown, with any look being possible if it was adapted to be unusual and striking. Common hairstyles included quiffs, and Helen Robinson’s Covent Garden shop PX, Unlike some other bands of the early 1980s, particularly those of the predominantly Midlands-based 2 tone ska revival (the Specials, the Selecter, the Beat) who wrote lyrics addressing social issues such as unemployment and urban decay, the New Romantics adopted an escapist and aspirational stance. With its interest in design, marketing and image, the movement has been seen by some as an acceptance of Thatcherism; style commentator Peter York even suggested that it was aligned with the New Right. Alan Bissett also made the connection, opining “Where New Wave and Ska still represented something of a challenge to the emerging Thatcherite creed, the New Romantics embraced it,” whilst Spandau Ballet were labelled “The sound of Thatcherism” by Guardian writer Michael Hann.

New wave music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, new wave music encompassed a wide variety of pop-oriented styles that shared a quirky, lighthearted, and humorous tone. as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock. The phrase also alluded to the French New Wave, a 1960s film movement known for its experimental approach and departure from traditional forms. Common characteristics of new wave music include a humorous or quirky pop approach, the use of electronic sounds, and a distinctive visual style in music videos and fashion. According to Simon Reynolds, new wave music had a twitchy, agitated feel. New wave musicians often played choppy rhythm guitars with angular riffs and fast tempos; keyboards, and stop-start song structures and melodies are common, with the use of jerky rhythms, and synthesizers. Reynolds noted new-wave vocalists sound high-pitched, geeky, and suburban. This rise in technology made the visual style of new wave musicians important for their success. In the early 1980s, virtually every new pop and rock act, particularly those that employed synthesizers, was tagged as “new wave” by the U.S. general public. New wave may be seen as an attempt to reconcile “the energy and rebellious attitude of punk” with traditional forms of pop songwriting, as seen in the rockabilly riffs and classic craftsmanship of Elvis Costello and the 1960s mod influences of the Jam. Paul Weller, who called new wave “the pop music of the Seventies”, explained to Chas de Whalley in 1977: Although new wave shares punk’s do-it-yourself artistic philosophy, the musicians were more influenced by the light strains of 1960s pop while opposed to mainstream “corporate” rock, which they considered creatively stagnant, as well as the generally abrasive and political bents of punk rock. who in particular used new wave influences to lay the groundwork for the Minneapolis sound.

New wave of British heavy metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In the second half of the 1970s, the United Kingdom was in a state of social unrest and widespread poverty as a result of the ineffective social politics of both Conservative and Labour Party governments during a three-year period of economic recession. As a consequence of deindustrialisation, the unemployment rate was exceptionally high, especially among working class youth. It continued to rise in the early 1980s, peaking in February 1983. The discontent of so many people caused social unrest with frequent strikes, and culminated in a series of riots, including one in Brixton and another in Toxteth. During this period, the mass of young people, deprived of the prospect of even relatively low-skill jobs that were available to the previous generations, searched for different ways to earn money in the music and entertainment businesses. The explosion of new bands and new musical styles coming from the UK in the late 1970s was a result of their efforts to make a living in the economic depression that hit the country before and during the governments of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The desperation and the violent reaction of a generation robbed of a safe future are well-represented by the British punk movement of 1977–1978, whose rebellion against the establishment continued diluted in the new wave and post-punk music of the 1980s. These self-proclaimed punks were politically militant, relishing their anarchic attitude and stage practices like pogo dancing. They wore short and spiked hairstyles or shaved heads, often with safety pins and ripped clothes, and considered musical prowess unimportant as long as the music was simple and loud. However, not all working-class male youths embraced the punk movement; some preferred to escape from their grim reality in heavy metal, which was equally effective in providing fun, stress relief, and peer companionship, otherwise denied because of their unemployment.

New wave of new wave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Writing about the new wave of new wave band Elastica, author Steven Wells summarised the scene: “The mid-’90s saw a clutch of new punky bands getting a lot of music press attention in the UK. Labelled the ‘new wave of new wave’, these bands looked back to The Buzzcocks and Blondie in much the same way that their Britpop compatriots (like Oasis and Blur) looked back to The Beatles and the Small Faces.” The new wave of new wave was short-lived. The NME played a major part in promoting and covering the genre, and promoted the On event, which featured many of the bands they had labelled NWONW. In a 1994 feature in Melody Maker, critic Simon Reynolds asserted that the new wave of new wave “resurrected punk’s ethics of drug use, ie. speed = good (cos it increases IQ, self-confidence, aggression), dope and E = bad (‘cos they make you mellow, quiescent and full of love).” Reynolds also observed that ambient techno was a “readymade enemy” for the NWONW bands, “the ’90s subcultural equivalent of the mid-70s hippies.”

New Yorkshire

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Response#

In the late 2000s, some Yorkshire bands showed their distaste for the cleanly produced style of New Yorkshire but instead incorporating elements of grunge. The forefront groups in this grunge revival movement were Leeds bands Dinosaur Pile-Up, Pulled Apart by Horses, Old Romantic Killer Band and Wonderswan, as well as nearby groups Above Them and the Tempus.

Noise pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Noise pop is characterized by a mixture of dissonant, abrasive noise and guitar feedback combined with pop-oriented songwriting. AllMusic describes the style as occupying “the halfway point between bubblegum and the avant-garde”. Accordingly, noise pop “often has a hazy, narcotic feel, as melodies drift through the swirling guitar textures. But it can also be bright and lively, or angular and challenging.”

History#

AllMusic cites the Velvet Underground as the earliest roots of the genre, with their experiments with feedback and distortion on their early albums. Scottish band the Jesus and Mary Chain’s 1985 debut, Psychocandy, is considered to be the earliest archetype for the noise pop genre, the band drew influence from the Velvet Underground, with their releases inspiring later prominent noise pop acts such as Meat Whiplash and The Flaming Lips. Many early noise pop artists were associated with the British C86 movement.

Nordic popular music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Denmark#

Alphabeat
Aqua
Aura Dione
Barcode Brothers
Christopher Nissen
Drew Sycamore
Emmelie de Forest
Infernal
Junior Senior
Kato
Lukas Graham
Martin Jensen
Medina
Michael Learns to Rock
MØ
Mercyful Fate
Safri Duo
Volbeat
Whigfield

Faroe Islands#

Eivør
Synarchy
Týr

Finland#

Alma
Anna Abreu
Apocalyptica
Benjamin Peltonen
Blind Channel
Bomfunk MC’s
Darude
Hanoi Rocks
HIM
Isac Elliot
Krista Siegfrieds
Lordi
Nightwish
The Rasmus
Sara Forsberg
Sunrise Avenue
LAMORI - from Åland

Iceland#

Björk
Emilíana Torrini
GusGus
Kaleo
Laufey
Of Monsters and Men
Sigur Rós
Skalmold
Svala

Norway#

A1
A-ha
Alan Walker
Ane Brun
Annie (singer)
Astrid S
Aurora
Bel Canto
Broiler
Cashmere Cat
Christine Guldbrandsen
Dagny
Dance with a Stranger
Dimmu Borgir
Donkeyboy
D’Sound
Espen Lind
Fra Lippo Lippi
Flunk
Highasakite
Ida Maria
Ina Wroldsen
Jarle Bernhoft
Jenny Hval
Katzenjammer
Kaizers Orchestra
Kate Havnevik
KEiiNO
Kings of Convenience
Kygo
Leaves’ Eyes
Lene Marlin
Lemaitre
Lido
Madcon
Mayhem
Marcus & Martinus
Maria Mena
Marit Larsen
Matoma
M2M
Moyka
Nico & Vinz
Röyksopp
Sandra Lyng
SeeB
Secret Garden
Sigrid
Sirenia
Sissel
Susanne Sundfør
Stargate
Theatre of Tragedy
Thomas Bergersen
TNT
Tungevaag & Raaban
Turbonegro
Tristania
Wardruna
Ylvis By 2016, Norway had the 20th largest global music market. Currently four Norwegian artists have achieved a Top 10 placement on the Billboard Hot 100, including A-ha’s “Take On Me” which went to 1st place in 1985, Ylvis’ “The Fox” which went to 6th place in 2013, Nico & Vinz’s “Am I Wrong” which went to 4th place in 2014, and Kygo’s “It Ain’t Me” which went to 10th place in 2017.

Sweden#

A
Teens
ABBA
Ace of Base
A.C.T
Agnes Carlsson
Alesso
Amon Amarth
Army of Lovers
Aronchupa
Avicii
Basshunter
Benjamin Ingrosso
Bladee
Blue Swede
Bosson
Boy In Space
Crazy Frog
Da Buzz
Darin
Dr. Alban
Eagle-Eye Cherry
Elliphant
Eric Prydz
E-Type
Europe
First Aid Kit
Felix Sandman
Galantis
Garmarna
Ghost
Hives
Icona Pop
John Martin
Little Dragon
Leila K
Loreen
Lykke Li
Meja
Mohombi
Miike Snow
Miss Li
Neneh Cherry
Opeth
Otto Knows
Play
Rednex
Roxette
Robyn
Sabaton
Seinabo Sey
September
Sahara Hotnights
Swedish House Mafia
Teddybears
The Cardigans
Therion
Tove Lo
Tove Styrke
Yung Lean
Zara Larsson

Nouvelle Chanson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Nouvelle Chanson, whilst influenced by the forefathers of French Chanson (cited above) has developed through modern influences such as rock and electronica. There is a tendency for theatricality and the adoption of personas, alongside intensely poetic lyrics incorporating surreal and metaphorical elements. Wry, intelligent humour is also often prevalent. However the defining characteristic of Chanson, both old and new, is that it focuses on the French language as vehicle and instrument. There is an emphasis on craftsmanship with many of the artists classically trained and/or having studied music academically (cf. Benjamin Biolay studied at the National Conservatoire, Lyon, Emilie Simon studied musicology at the University of Montpellier, and Ana Silvera has performed with the English National Opera and at the Royal Opera House) giving an intellectual aspect that sets this style of music apart from other genres such as pop, rock and ‘anti-folk’.

Nova Cançó

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Historical context#

The Nova Cançó movement originated at the end of the 1950s, twenty years after the installation of the Spanish State with its repressive policies against the Catalan language and Catalan culture. The late 1950s were a period of economic and political change in Spain: Spain ended its policy of economic autarky, and Francoist Spain was admitted to the United Nations, which required the government to improve its image abroad. In this new context, at the beginning of the 1960s, new cultural projects emerged in Catalonia. In 1961, the record label Edigsa and the cultural organization Òmnium Cultural were founded, and the first edition of the children’s magazine Cavall Fort was published. In April 1962, the publishing house Edicions 62 released its first book. Little by little, the Catalan language, the public use of which had been expressly forbidden after the fall of Catalonia in the Spanish Civil War, began to regain a public presence. A notable example is the magazine Germinàbit, published by the Abbey of Montserrat, which in October 1952 became the magazine Serra d’Or. In 1957, the writer Josep Maria Espinàs gave lectures on the French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens, whom he called “the troubadour of our times.” Espinàs had begun to translate some of Brassens’ songs into Catalan. In 1958, two EPs of songs in Catalan were released: Hermanas Serrano: Cantan en catalán los éxitos internacionales (“The Serrano Sisters Sing International Hits in Catalan”) and José Guardiola: canta en catalán los éxitos internacionales. They are now considered the first recordings of modern music in the Catalan language. These singers, as well as others such as Font Sellabona and Rudy Ventura, form a prelude to the Nova Cançó.

Nu gaze

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Pitchfork described nu-gaze as a diverse spectrum of bands from around the world who incorporated both analog and digital production in their shoegaze-adjacent sound and approach. In nu gaze, tempos were often faster than traditional shoegaze, and vocals were mixed more prominently. Often, bands showed an influence from 1990s shoegaze, blending jangly indie with layers of distortion.

2000s–2010s: Origins#

As early as 2001, My Vitriol vocalist Som Wardner had identified his band using the name “nu-gaze”. By 2005, it had been used to describe Ambulance LTD, and by 2006 to describe the Morning After Girls. In 2007, Jude Rogers of the Guardian noted the name as being used interchangeably with “stargaze” and “shoetronica”, crediting their popularity as due to a stigma around the name “shoegaze”. By the 2010s, nu gaze was largely used synonymously with the phrase “second-wave shoegaze”.

Nu metalcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Nu metalcore often makes use of both screamed and sung vocals, breakdowns, heavy guitar riffs, hip hop-influenced drum beats and electronic music elements. Metal Injection writer Max Heilman specifically stated the style of metalcore that nu metalcore bands draw on is the original 1990s “metallic hardcore” style. An editorial for Thrash Hits cited Contemporary R&B as a key influence on the genre, comparing it to the influence hip hop had on the original nu metal genre.

Nu skool breaks

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The term “nu skool breaks” is widely attributed to Rennie Pilgrem and Adam Freeland, who used it to describe the sound at their nightclub Friction, which was launched at Bar Rumba in 1996, with promoter Ian Williams. The tracks “Renegades” by Uptown Connection and “Double Impact” by Boundarie Hunters are considered to be the earliest produced to formally adopt the genre. In 1998, the term “Nu Skool Breaks” was used on two compilations, Nu Skool Breakz, Volume 1 and 2, mixed by Rennie Pilgrem and released through UK-based Kickin Records. The first volume of these was recorded live at the aforementioned London club night Friction. Labels that featured early Nu Skool Breaks releases included Botchit & Scarper, Fuel Records (UK), Hard Hands, Marine Parade Records, TCR, and Ultimatum Breaks.

Nu-disco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Disco edits: 1970s–early 1990s#

Disco edits or re-edits emerged at the same time as disco appeared in the early 1970s, when DJs were looking for ways to make music easier to mix. A disco edit is a modified version of the original master, edited by disco and house DJs to extend and emphasize the best and most dance-friendly elements. For example, Todd Terje’s edit of the Bee Gees hit “You Should Be Dancing” does exactly that, downplaying the old-school vocal riffs in favour of driving bass, lively percussion, and an overall sense of space. In the early days, edits were done with scissors and tape. Some edits became even more popular than the original records from which they were derived. The early editors (such as Walter Gibbons) earned a reputation and developed a studio career from their editing work. Given the popularity of edits, labels predominantly releasing edits and remixes began to appear. The first one to arrive was Disconet in 1977, followed by well-known DJ edits services and labels such as Hot Tracks, Rhythm Stick and Razormaid.

Occult rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The genre has been described as being influenced by hard rock, proto-metal, psychedelic rock, and blues, as well as commonly incorporating lyrics referencing the occult,

Origins (1960s-1990s)#

Occult rock emerged in the 1960s with groups such as Jacula, Black Widow Iron Butterfly’s 1968 track “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was very influential to the development of occult rock’s sound. Coven released their debut album Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls in 1969, which preceded later occult rock groups such as the debut album by Black Widow, titled Sacrifice. Blue Öyster Cult released their debut album Blue Öyster Cult in 1972, which had significant influence on later bands such as Ghost. Due to the association with the occult, around the time of the Manson Family murders, many occult rock albums were halted from distribution, which only helped increase the public’s fear of the music. When Black Sabbath first released their eponymous debut album in 1970, Rolling Stone’s Lester Bangs described it as “England’s answer to Coven”. Early occult rock bands such as Coven, Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Hawkwind and Blue Öyster Cult are considered by some critics to be extremely influential on the development of heavy metal music, or more specifically, styles such as stoner metal, doom metal and sludge metal. In 1976, Blue Öyster Cult released their fourth studio album Agents of Fortune; the album’s first released single, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The imagery of occult rock bands was eventually revived, with the rise of New wave of British heavy metal bands such as Venom, Satan and Hell.

Oi!

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

During the late 1970s, oi! was originally referred to as “new punk”, the term was coined by Sounds magazine writer Garry Bushell who published the article “Cockney Rejects and the Rise of New Punk” on 4 August 1979. The style would also be referred to as “real punk”. The movement emerged after the perceived commercialisation of punk rock and new wave. Although Oi! has come to be considered mainly a conservative or skinhead-oriented genre, the movement initially emerged purely as a reaction to the fracturing of the early UK punk scene and aimed to bring together disenfranchised working-class youth. In 1978, Bushell argued “New Punk” artists such as the Angelic Upstarts had more relevance than “New Musick”. Bushell would be an early supporter of Oi! as a reaction to the artistic intellectualization of punk, with “new punk” followers expressing appreciation for his support of “real kids” bands and his refusal to be an “intellectual snob”. First-generation Oi! bands such as Sham 69 and Cock Sparrer were around for years before the word Oi! was used retroactively to describe their style of music. In 1980, writing in Sounds magazine, rock journalist Garry Bushell labelled the movement Oi!, taking the name from the garbled “Oi!” that Stinky Turner of Cockney Rejects used to introduce the band’s songs. The word is a British expression meaning hey. In addition to Cockney Rejects, other bands to be explicitly labeled Oi! in the early days of the genre included Angelic Upstarts, the 4-Skins, the Business, Anti-Establishment, Blitz, the Blood and Combat 84. The prevalent ideology of the original Oi! movement was a rough brand of working-class rebellion. Lyrical topics included unemployment, workers’ rights, harassment by police and other authorities, and oppression by the government. ―and fans were involved in white nationalist organisations such as the National Front (NF) and the British Movement (BM), leading some critics to dismiss the Oi! subgenre as racist. Rock Against Communism (RAC) was a partial development from white power/white supremacist movements, which had musical and aesthetic similarities to Oi! Although due to Cold War fears the genre had appealed to some punk rock bands distinct from original Oi! in that they opposed all totalitarianism, it was not connected to the Oi! scene. Timothy S. Brown writes: Garry Bushell, the journalist who promoted the Oi! genre, argued that the white power music scene was “totally distinct from us. We had no overlap other than a mutual dislike of each other”. Before the concert, some audience members had written NF slogans around the area and bullied Asian residents of the neighbourhood. In response, local Asian youths threw Molotov cocktails and other objects at the tavern, mistakenly believing that the concert—featuring the Business, the 4-Skins and the Last Resort—was a neo-Nazi event. Although some of the concert-goers were National Front or British Movement supporters, none of the performers were white power music bands, and the audience of approximately 500 people included skinheads, black skinheads, punk rockers, rockabillies, and non-affiliated youths. In the aftermath of that riot, many Oi! bands condemned racism and fascism. These denials were met with cynicism from some quarters because of the Strength Thru Oi! compilation album, released in May 1981. Not only was its title a play on a Nazi slogan “Strength Through Joy”, but the cover featured Nicky Crane, a skinhead BM activist who was serving a four-year sentence for racist violence. Crane later disavowed his alignment with the far right after revealing he was gay. Bushell, who compiled the album, stated its title was a pun on the Skids’ album Strength Through Joy, and that he had been unaware of the Nazi connotations. In the 2000s, many of the original UK Oi! bands reunited to perform and/or record.

Ojkanje

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Geographical extent#

Historically, ojkanje is found in the regions of the Dalmatian hinterland, Velebit, Lika, Kordun, and Karlovac, belonging to the Dinaric area, along with several neighbouring micro-regions. Dalmatian hinterland area is considered as main home of the ojkanje style and from there was expanded to other parts of Croatia. Migrations from the Dinaric region during the 16th and 17th century probably introduced this style of singing to Adriatic islands as well migration of Bunjevci from same area to Vojvodina and Hungary. The solo singing type of ojkanje is associated most with the Lika region and surrounding Karlovac, while two-part singing is dominant in the wider area of the Croatian coast and its hinterland. Specific types of ojkanje singing can be found between the rivers of Krka and Cetina (Drniška Krajina), in the regions of Ravni Kotari and Bukovica, in the Cetinska Krajina between Svilaja and Moseč, and the hinterlands of Trogir and Kaštela. Similar styles of polyphonic singing can be found throughout the Dinaric region of the Balkans, such as ganga, found mainly in Herzegovina and inland Dalmatia, and izvika from the Zlatibor area in Serbia. These enduring musical traditions show a connecting link among the populations of the mountainous regions. Owing to emigration, ojkanje groups can now be found in western Serbia and to a smaller extent, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Opera in German

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Birth#

The world’s first opera was Dafne by Jacopo Peri, which appeared in Florence in 1598. Three decades later Heinrich Schütz set the same libretto in a translation by the poet Martin Opitz, thus creating the first ever German-language opera. The music to Schütz’s Dafne is now lost and details of the performance are sketchy, but it is known to have been written to celebrate the marriage of Landgrave Georg II of Hessen-Darmstadt to Princess Sophia Eleonora of Saxony in Torgau in 1627. As in Italy, the first patrons of opera in Germany and Austria were royalty and the nobility, and they tended to favour composers and singers from south of the Alps. Antonio Cesti was particularly successful, providing the huge operatic extravaganza Il pomo d’oro for the imperial court in Vienna in 1668. Opera in Italian would continue to exercise a considerable sway over German-speaking lands throughout the Baroque and Classical periods. Nevertheless, native forms were developing too. In Nuremberg in 1644, Sigmund Staden produced the “spiritual pastorale”, Seelewig, which foreshadows the Singspiel, a genre of German-language opera in which arias alternate with spoken dialogue. Seelewig was a moral allegory inspired by the example of contemporary school dramas and is the first German opera whose music has survived.

Organum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early organum#

The first document to describe organum specifically, and give rules for its performance, was the Musica enchiriadis (c. 895). The oldest methods of teaching organum can be found in the Scolica and the Bamberg Dialogues, along with the Musica enchiriadis. The societies that have developed polyphony usually have several types of it found in their culture. In its original conception, organum was never intended as polyphony in the modern sense; the added voice was intended as a reinforcement or harmonic enhancement of the plainchant at occasions of High Feasts of importance to further the splendour of the liturgy. The analogue evolution of sacred architecture and music is evident: during previous centuries monophonic Mass was celebrated in abbatial churches; in the course of the 12th and 13th centuries the newly consecrated cathedrals resounded with ever more complex forms of polyphony. Exactly what developments took place where and when in the evolution of polyphony is not always clear, though some landmarks remain visible in the treatises. As in these instances, it is hard to evaluate the relative importance of treatises, whether they describe the ‘actual’ practice or a deviation of it. As key-concept behind the creative outburst that manifested in the 11th and 12th centuries is the vertical and harmonic expansion of dimension, as the strongly resonant harmony of organum magnified the splendour of the celebration and heightened its solemnity. The earliest European sources of information concerning organum regard it as a well-known practice. Organum is also known to have been performed in several different rites, but the main wells of information concerning its history come from Gregorian chant. Considering that the trained singers had imbibed an oral tradition that was several centuries old, singing a small part of the chant repertory in straightforward heterophony of parallel harmony or other ways of “singing by the ear” would come naturally. It is made clear in the Musica enchiriadis that octave doubling (magadization) was acceptable, since such doubling was inevitable when men and boys sang together. The 9th-century treatise Scolica enchiriadis treats the subject in greater detail. For parallel singing, the original chant would be the upper voice, vox principalis; the vox organalis was at a parallel perfect interval below, usually a fourth. Thus the melody would be heard as the principal voice, the vox organalis as an accompaniment or harmonic reinforcement. This kind of organum is sometimes called parallel organum, although terms such as sinfonia or diaphonia were used in early treatises. The history of organum would not be complete without two of its greatest innovators, Léonin and Pérotin. These two men were “the first international composers of polyphonic music”. The innovations of Léonin and Pérotin mark the development of the rhythmic modes. These innovations are grounded in the forms of Gregorian chant, and adhere to the theoretical rhythmic systems of St. Augustine. It is the composers’ love for cantus firmus that caused the notation of the tenor line to stay the same, even when the methods of penning music were changing. It was the use of modal rhythm, however, that would make these two men great. Modal rhythm is defined clearly as a succession of (usually) unequal notes arranged in a definite pattern. The Notre-Dame composers’ development of musical rhythm allowed music to be free from its ties to text. While it is well known that Léonin composed a great deal of organum, it was the innovations of Pérotin, who spent much of his time revising the of Léonin, that caused generations of organum and motet composers to exploit the principles of the rhythmic modes.

Ottoman music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Naming conventions#

The naming conventions of the Ottoman’s Empire’s classical tradition are the cause of significant controversy, as naming schemes proposed by governments often place significant importance on the “nationalization” of music, resulting in contradiction. It is known that the Ottomans did not often distinguish between different musical traditions, calling them all by the name musikî, ultimately from Ancient Greek mousiké. This naming convention broke down during the Westernization of the Ottoman Empire, as Western cultural norms and practices were slowly integrated into the empire. The resulting dichotomy between Western and Ottoman classical music was referred to as alafranga and alaturka (European and Turkish) by the Ottoman elites. However, as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, new terms were employed for the Ottoman tradition, forming the current naming convention of Ottoman music. The controversies fueled by these changes are often further aggravated by an uncertainty of periodization; according to researcher on Middle Eastern music Owen Wright, starting from late 17th century, Ottoman music differed from its predecessors to such an extent that “if the two were juxtaposed, we would need to speak of musical diglossia.” Walter Zev Feldman, another researcher on Middle Eastern music, has therefore claimed that a uniquely Ottoman style emerged no earlier than the 1600s.

Palingsound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

The Cats (1964 -1985) are universally recognized as the originators of palingsound. The Cats were the first Volendamic band to record an album. Their music started off as beat music and over the years evolved to be more focused on melody and harmony. After the lead singer was replaced by Piet Veerman in 1968, the dramatic elements of his voice became sound-determining. With their lyrical, melodical and somewhat melancholic music, The Cats laid the groundworks for what would become known as palingsound. Further elements that would become influential for palingsound from this period in the music of The Cats would be the added arrangements of jazz musician Wim Jongbloed and the continental European mixing techniques of producer Klaas Leyen.

Parlour music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Many of the earliest parlour songs were transcriptions for voice and keyboard of other music. Thomas Moore’s Irish Melodies, for instance, were traditional (or “folk”) tunes supplied with new lyrics by Moore, and many arias from Italian operas, particularly those of Bellini and Donizetti, became parlour songs, with texts either translated or replaced by new lyrics. Many parlour songs of the time were derived from children’s folk tunes, and the history of the origin of these folk tunes are heavily debated today. Various other genres were also performed in the parlour, including patriotic selections, religious songs, and pieces written for the musical stage. Excerpts from blackface minstrel shows, arranged for voice and keyboard, were particularly popular. Also, a handful of the better-known art songs, such as Schubert’s “Serenade,” became part of the parlour repertory. Lyrics written for parlour songs often have sentimental themes, such as love songs or poetic meditations. Fantastical or exuberant themes were also common, as was commentary on incidents and events of the day, such as “Bryan Free Silver March”, “Homeless Tonight” or “Shootin’ Craps”. As the 19th century wore on, more and more songs were newly composed specifically for use by amateurs at home, and these pieces (written originally as parlour songs, rather than being adapted from other genres) began to develop a style all their own: similar in melodic and harmonic content to art songs of the day, but shorter and simpler in structure and making fewer technical demands on singer and accompanist. Stephen Foster’s “Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway” and “Come with Thy Sweet Voice Again” are early and elegant examples of the genre. The high point of the parlour song came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the Victorian era in North America and the British Isles. Songs of this genre became more complex and sophisticated in their melodic and harmonic vocabulary, and in addition to their continuing use in the parlour, they were also often sung in public recitals by professional singers. Characteristic and popular parlour songs include “Home, Sweet Home,” composed by Henry R. Bishop with lyrics by John Howard Payne, “The Old Arm Chair” by Henry Russell, “When the Swallows Homeward Fly” by Franz Abt, “Kathleen Mavourneen” composed by Frederick Nicholls Crouch with lyrics by Marion Crawford, “The Lost Chord” composed by Arthur Sullivan with lyrics by Adelaide A. Proctor, “Take Back the Heart” by Claribel (Mrs. Charlotte Barnard), “Oh Promise Me” by Reginald de Koven, “I Love You Truly” and “A Perfect Day” by Carrie Jacobs-Bond, and “The Rosary” by Ethelbert Nevin. “Just Awearyin’ for You” (see insets) exemplifies the parlor song. Note the sentimental lyrics by Frank Lebby Stanton, the plaintive but well matched tune by Carrie Jacobs-Bond, and the conscious artistry (including the operatic trilled “r"s) by singer Elizabeth Spencer. In addition to dissemination as individual pieces of sheet music, parlour songs were also collected into anthologies and sold in this format. The most notable collection was Heart Songs, first published in 1909 by Chapple Publishing Company of Boston and repeatedly revised and republished for the following several decades. The publisher claimed that this selection of songs “Dear to the American People” was selected from entries submitted by 25,000 people.

Partyschlager

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The term party music had already been used for popular music earlier, for example by a label called Party-Musik founded by Electrola in 1966. Tony Marshall is considered one of the first representatives of party mood music in the 1970s, and the group Die 3 Besoffskis was considered a forerunner of Ballermann music. Their biggest hit, “Puff von Barcelona” (1975), was covered by Mickie Krause in 1999. The style became known with pieces such as “König von Mallorca” (1999) by Jürgen Drews and “10 Nackte Friseusen” (1999) by Mickie Krause. Since the 1990s, schlager songs have also been released as party remixes, such as “Wahnsinn” (1983) by Wolfgang Petry and Die Lollies (1998), “Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht” by Drafi Deutscher (1965), or “Ein Stern (…der deinen Namen trägt)” by Nik P. (1998) and DJ Ötzi (2007). The song “Layla” by DJ Robin and Schürze became the official summer hit of 2022 and sparked a sexism debate. The song also brought the style of pop music to attention outside of the party scene. In 2023, several partyschlager songs made it into the charts.

Pasodoble

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

All pasodobles have binary rhythm. Its musical structure consists of an introduction based on the dominant chord of the piece, followed by a first fragment based on the main tone and a second part, called “the trío”, based on the sub-dominant note, based yet again on the dominant chord. Each change is preceded by a brieph. The last segment of the pasodoble is usually “the trío” strongly played. The different types of pasodoble – popular, taurino, militar – can vary in rhythm, with the taurino being the slowest and the popular being faster and often incorporating voice. Pasodoble as we know it started in Spain but is now played in a wide variety of Hispanic nations. Each region has developed its own subgenre and personal style of pasodoble, adjusting some formal aspects of the structure to fit their local musical tradition. In modern Spain, the most prolific composition of pasodobles takes place on the Valencian coast, associated with the festivals of Moors and Christians and the Fallas. The dance form is very free regarding figures. The dancers must remain one in front of the other, and keep their bodies parallel to each other at all times, leaning slightly to the left. They must give one step per tempo . The left hand of the male and the right hand of the woman must remain united almost permanently. Besides this, almost all motions and figures are accepted, which allows space for dramatization. The dance can be similar to the one-step, except for the speed and number of steps given.

Passacaglia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

The term passacaglia (; ; Italian: passacaglia, passacaglio, passagallo, passacagli, passacaglie) derives from the Spanish pasar (cross, pass) and calle (street). It originated in early 17th-century Spain as a strummed interlude between instrumentally accompanied dances or songs. Despite the form’s Spanish roots (confirmed by references in Spanish literature of the period), the first written examples of passacaglias are found in an Italian source dated 1606. These pieces, as well as others from Italian sources from the beginning of the century, are simple, brief sequences of chords outlining a cadential formula. The passacaglia was redefined in the late 1620s by Italian composer Girolamo Frescobaldi, who transformed it into a series of continuous variations over a bass (which itself may be varied). Later composers adopted this model, and by the nineteenth century the word came to mean a series of variations over an ostinato pattern, usually of a serious character. A similar form, the chaconne, was also first developed by Frescobaldi. The two genres are closely related, and since “composers often used the terms chaconne and passacaglia indiscriminately … modern attempts to arrive at a clear distinction are arbitrary and historically unfounded”. In early scholarship, attempts to formally differentiate between the historical chaconne and passacaglia were made, but researchers often came to opposite conclusions. For example, Percy Goetschius held that the chaconne is usually based on a harmonic sequence with a recurring soprano melody, and the passacaglia was formed over a ground bass pattern, whereas Clarence Lucas defined the two forms in precisely the opposite way. More recently, however, some progress has been made toward making a useful distinction for the usage of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when some composers (notably Frescobaldi and François Couperin) deliberately mixed the two genres in the same composition. The melodic pattern—usually four, six or eight (rarely seven) bars long—repeats without change through the duration of the piece, while the upper lines are varied freely, over the bass pattern serving as a harmonic anchor. The seventeenth-century chaconne, as found in Frescobaldi’s music, more often than not is in a major key, while the passacaglia is usually in a minor key. In eighteenth-century French practice, the passacaglia leans more strongly to the melodic basso ostinato, while the chaconne, “in a reversal of the seventeenth-century Italian practice, in various respects undergoes a freer treatment”.

Pibroch

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The Gaelic word literally means ‘piping’ or ‘act of piping’. The word is derived from (‘pipes’) via (‘piper’) plus the abstract forming suffix . In Gaelic, literally refers to any pipe music, not merely (literally: ‘big music’). Pibroch is a spelling variant first attested in Lowland Scots in 1719. Bagpipe societies, such as the Glasgow-based Piobaireachd Society, have commonly employed the term as a synonym for played on the Great Highland Bagpipes. The term or pibroch is also historically employed to describe -related repertoire played on instruments other than bagpipes, particularly the Scottish fiddle.

Pimba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The genre began to have a greater popularity in the 1980s and reached its apogee in the 1990s. Pimba bands and musicians or singers are influenced by the rural areas of the Portuguese countryside and the economic emigration phenomenon which was common place in Portuguese life and the society throughout the 20th century. The Pimba genre is characterized by humorous lyrics, usually charged with sexual metaphors (like Rosinha’s, Quim Barreiros’ and Toy’s songs), but it can also be used to refer to singers of overly sentimental lyrics (such as Marco Paulo, Tony Carreira, Dino Meira, Mónica Sintra and Ágata) who play in local festivities across the country, usually during the Summer season, where the overly vulgar or saucy music performances were also displayed. At the onset and for many years, Pimba music and musicians or bands were object of negative criticism by some music erudites and cultural authorities, although being often much more popular and profitable across Portugal and the Portuguese expat communities abroad than other more reputable genres. The origins of Pimba as a genre are hard to define with precision, but Portuguese singer Emanuel’s 1995 single called Pimba Pimba is regarded as a milestone in the genre’s popularity explosion even after Quim Barreiros’ 1991 and 1992 songs Bacalhau à Portuguesa (O Bacalhau Quer Alho) and O Sorveteiro (Chupa Teresa) have reached such a huge success that the genre started to be widely sought-after and appreciated nationwide by then, although still just known as Portuguese folk (or popular) music instead of Pimba music. The single Pimba Pimba eventually gave its name to this music genre. Always present in local festivities and holidays of villages and towns across the entire country, that are often connected with religious holidays in honor of a patron saint of a local community, almost always in the Summer, Pimba singers also became a must in several major university and college festivals or festivities, such as the Queima das Fitas. Other names who were highly successful throughout the glory days of the genre include Ana Malhoa and her father José Malhoa, the band Diapasão, Iran Costa, Fernando Correia Marques, Ruth Marlene, Micaela, Romana and Nel Monteiro. Actress Maria João Bastos character Liliane Marise, a pimba music singer in the Portuguese telenovela Destinos Cruzados (2013/14), was so remarkable that the actress, impersonating the character, released a CD that reached first place in the Portuguese album chart and performed in Lisbon’s MEO Arena in October 2013, and also in Guimarães on 2 November 2013. In 1998 and 1999, the pimba music scene, at its most mediatic point, was parodied in RTP’s sitcom Débora, starred by Ana Bola.

Plastic soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Usages#

Paul McCartney referenced the phrase as the name of the Beatles 1965 album Rubber Soul, which was inspired by the term “plastic soul”. In a studio conversation taped in June 1965 after recording the first take of “I’m Down”, McCartney says “Plastic soul, man. Plastic soul”.

Popularity#

David Bowie also described his own funky, soulful songs released in the early to mid-1970s as “plastic soul”. These singles sold well, and Bowie became one of the few white music artists to be invited to perform on Soul Train. In a 1976 Playboy interview, Bowie described his recent album Young Americans as “the definitive plastic soul record. It’s the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak, written and sung by a white limey.”

Polish hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The first Polish performer to use rap was the actor Piotr Fronczewski, who, under the pseudonym Franek Kimono, released an album of the same name in 1984. However, it did not feature the beats typical of hip-hop, but was rather conceived as a parody of disco music. Another pioneer of Polish rap was Kazik Staszewski, who released his first solo album in 1991, which partly featured rap. Staszewski also incorporated rap into his later work, often blending it with other musical genres. A year later, PM Cool Lee released the album East on the Mic, which featured two songs in Polish. Lee was from Kielce, but in Warsaw in 1991, the duo Trials X recorded the demo album “Fekalia”, which was released in the UZI store in 1992. Warsaw soon emerged as a center for hip hop, after KOLOR, a radio station, began broadcasting Kolor Shock, hosted by Bogna Świątkowska, Paul Jackson, an African American expatriate, Sylvia Opoku from London, and DJ Volt, whose crew, 1kHz, became performing stars in their own right in 1995. In 1994, the duo Trials X recorded the album “Prawda, Cel, Przesłanie” (Truth, Purpose, Message) in the S4 studio, which was released in the spring of 1995. Volt also founded the first Polish independent hip hop label, B.E.A.T. Records. Although the label did not last long, it did introduce groups like Trzyha and Molesta. In Poznań, PH Kopalnia’s Polski Rap - Zakazane Piosenki (Polish rap - Forbidden Songs). Now known as Liroy, the former PM Cool Lee released Alboom in 1995, which included the hit “Scyzoryk” (Penknife). The most recognizable Polish hip hop band abroad is Kaliber 44 which is definitely the most popular hip-hop band in Poland. This band was the first Polish music band to give concerts in the USA, including in Chicago and New York. One of the members AbradAb achieved numerous successes after the group’s suspension, winning 4 Fryderyk Awards or MTV Europe Music Awards.

Polish opera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

17th century#

Operas were first performed in Poland during the Baroque era in the reign of Sigismund III Vasa (1587-1632). The king himself had no interest in the arts, but his son Władysław IV (reigned 1632-1648) was an enthusiast and patron of opera while he was still a prince. In 1625 Francesca Caccini wrote an opera for Władysław when he visited Italy. This opera, La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, was also performed in Warsaw in 1628; this is the earliest verified performance of an Italian opera outside of Italy. Gli amori di Aci e Galatea by Santi Orlandi was also performed in 1628. When Władysław became king, he had operas staged in the hall of the royal castle and he invited Marco Scacchi’s opera troupe to Poland. A dramma per musica (as serious Italian opera was known at the time) entitled Giuditta, based on the Biblical story of Judith, was performed in 1635. The composer was probably Virgilio Puccitelli. During the reign of Władysław IV a dozen or so operas were performed whose music has not survived. https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235133/http://www.polmic.pl/historia_muzyki_desc.php?id=7&lang=en

Polish reggae

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Bob Marley’s music is credited as introducing reggae to Poland, and beginning a vibrant reggae movement there. According to reggae studies professor Carolyn Cooper, Marley’s lyrics of “resistance against the system” have been a basis of inspiration for some human rights demonstrations in Poland. Another influence was British Rastafarian band Misty in Roots, who played live in the country in 1983 and 1986. In the 1980s Polish Rastafarians appeared. The first Polish reggae song was performed by the band Budka Suflera in 1974 - Sen o dolinie, music by Bill Withers - Ain’t No Sunshine, Polish lyrics by Krzysztof Cugowski. The first homegrown Polish reggae groups started in the 1980s, and some even took on the reggae look, complete with dreadlocks. Some Polish reggae groups were included on the compilation album MUP: Reggae from Around the World, on RAS Records. an annual music festival in Żary, Poland. Polish-language reggae has retained its popularity over the years, and an all-Polish-language radio station in New York state is more likely to play reggae music than polka music (which might not come as a surprise, since polka music does not originate from Poland).

Polo (flamenco palo)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Poetic and musical structure#

The stanza of the polo is the cuarteta romanceada, typical of most flamenco songs and Spanish folklore: four octosyllabic verses, the second and fourth rhyming in assonance. It is usually sung with the following typical lines: Carmona tiene una fuente con catorce o quince caños con un letrero que dice: ¡Viva el polo sevillano! Translation: Carmona has a fountain With fourteen or fifteen jets And an inscription that reads Long live the Sevillan polo! Often, the last line is replaced by another saying: “Viva el polo de Tobalo” (“Long live the polo de Tobalo”). This is curious, as the melody used is not that of the polo de Tobalo, but that of the polo natural. Some lines are partially repeated, and there are also two series of melismas sung on one vowel in the middle and at the end of the stanza, which separate the song in two sections. The stanza is therefore rendered like this: Carmona tiene una fuente con catorce con catorce o quince caños oooh oooh oooh etc. (melismas) con un letrero que dice y que y viva el polo viva el polo de Tobalo oooh ooh ooh etc. As to the metre and musical mode, they are the same as for the soleá, that is 12-beat metre (or alternating 3/4 and 6/8) and Phrygian mode (for more information, see article on soleá). The guitar accompaniment and falsetas are also inspired by the soleá, although some special arpeggios are included after the second line of each section (“con catorce” and “y viva el polo”) and during the singing of the melismas. It is always accompanied in the guitar chord position of E for the tonic. Musicologist Hipólito Rossy stated that the song was in major mode and 3-beat metre (Rossy 1966 1998), but he was not very familiar with this palo, as all recordings show the typical soleá rhythm and Phrygian mode. He might have been influenced by the recording of singer Jacinto Almadén, in which guitarist Perico el del Lunar certainly uses some chords insinuating the major mode.

Polonaise

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Influence of Polonaise in music#

The notation alla polacca ( means “polonaise”) on a musical score indicates that the piece should be played with the rhythm and character of a polonaise. For example, the third movement of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto op. 56, marked “Rondo alla polacca,” the last movement in Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 2 is marked “Alla Polacca”, his Horn Concertino likewise ends with a polka movement, and the finale of Chopin’s Variations on “Là ci darem la mano” both feature this notation. In his book Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style, Leonard G. Ratner cites the fourth movement from Beethoven’s Serenade in D major, Op. 8, marked “Allegretto alla Polacca,” as a representative example of the polonaise dance topic (Ratner 1980, pp. 12–13). Frédéric Chopin’s polonaises are generally the best known of all polonaises in classical music. However, there had been a long tradition of polonaises in Western European music at least a century before Chopin. Händel wrote a famous one, and Wilhelm Fiedemann Bach wrote a number of in major-minor pairs. Other composers who wrote polonaises or pieces in polonaise rhythm include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Georg Philipp Telemann, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Danzi, Bernhard Henrik Crusell, Karol Kurpiński, Józef Elsner, Maria Agata Szymanowska, Henryk Wieniawski, Franz Schubert, Carl Maria von Weber, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johann Kaspar Mertz, Moritz Moszkowski, Modest Mussorgsky, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Alexander Scriabin. Another more recent prolific polonaise composer was the American Edward Alexander MacDowell. John Philip Sousa wrote the Presidential Polonaise, intended to keep visitors moving briskly through the White House receiving line. Sousa wrote it in 1886 after a suggestion from then-President of the United States Chester A. Arthur, who found it undignified, temporarily replacing Hail to the Chief as the presidential march under Sousa’s leadership of the United States Marine Band. Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin, an adaption of Alexander Pushkin’s novel in poetry verse, includes a famous polonaise.

Polyphonic song of Epirus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In Greece#

Among Greeks, polyphonic song is found in the northern part of the Greek region of Ioannina; in Ano Pogoni, (Ktismata, Dolo, Parakalamos) and some villages north of Konitsa), as well as in very few villages in northeastern Thesprotia (Tsamantas, Lias, Vavouri, Povla). Among the Greek minorities in southern Albania, polyphonic singing is performed in the regions of Dropull, Pogon (Kato Pogoni) (Poliçan) and the cities of Delvinë, Himara, Sarandë and Gjirokastër. Greek polyphonic groups can include six different parts: taker (partis), turner (gyristis), spinner (klostis), isokrates, rihtis (the one who “drops” the voice) and foreteller (prologistis). Songs are performed in two (taker and turner or taker and isokrates), three, four or five voices. In five-voice singing all parts are present, while the role of the spinner and the rihtis is performed by one part. The main voice, the taker, can be sung either by men or women, but it can also alternate between them. Greek polyphonic groups usually consist of 4 to 12 persons. Among Greeks a second kind of polyphonic singing differing in maximum roughness is also performed in Karpathos and Pontos. In 2020, the Polyphonic Caravan, which is a Greek project with the purpose of researching, safeguarding and promoting the Epirus polyphonic song since 1998, was inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List of Good Safeguarding Practices.

Pontic Greek music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cultural role#

When Pontian refugees came from the Pontos to Greece in the 1920s, they brought traditions of music and folklore with them. Between the 1950s and the 1980s, Pontian clubs used music, dance, and folklore to portray themselves as both patriotic Greeks and as a distinct group unto themselves. At the time, Pontian singers tended to censor songs with Turkish verses in order to assimilate into Greek society. In the 1980s, as the original generation of Pontian refugees began to die off, Pontian musicians focused on remembering the original refugees and their experience. Musicians began to openly perform Pontian songs with Turkish verses, such as “Tsambasin.” A , or , is an important form of social get-together for Pontians in the 21st century, describing “a banquet where music is the main activity.” gatherings feature music, including , or “tabletop melodies.” Tablemates go back and forth, singing original or remembered rhyming couplets to one another. The couplets are in iambic meter or trochaic meter. The provides instrumental support. The goal of a performance is to express emotions through the use of remembered verses, and to share these feelings with one’s community. Couplets may be used to communicate sorrow, to express longing, or to flirt. Scholar Ioannis Tsekouras argues that gatherings first emerged among refugees as ways to discuss their memories of genocide and deportation.

Pop music in Ukraine

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Emergence#

Development of Ukrainian pop music started in the late 1960s with the emergence of big-beat youth bands and vocal-instrumental ensembles such as Vodohrai, Hrono, Dzvony, Smerichka, Stozhary etc. During the Soviet era this type of music was known as “Estrada”.

1970s#

The 1970s saw the emergence of a number of folk rock groups in Ukraine. One of the most prominent was a group known as Kobza which included 2 electric banduras. It began as an instrumental group playing folk inspired cool jazz. Other groups gradually appeared on the scene primarily from Western Ukraine such as Medikus and Smerichka. Major contributions to Ukrainian pop music were made by songwriter Volodymyr Ivasiuk and singers Sofia Rotaru and Nazariy Yaremchuk. In a development the KGB defined as “radio hooliganism”, from the end of the sixties thousands of high-school and college students In Dnipropetrovsk became ham radio enthusiasts, recording and rebroadcasting western popular music. Annual KGB reports regularly drew a connection between anti-Soviet behavior and enthusiasm for western pop culture, but in 1980 conceded that all ideological and police efforts had failed to stem its spread.

Pop rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics and etymology#

Much pop and rock music has been very similar in sound, instrumentation and even lyrical content. The terms “pop rock” and “power pop” have been used to describe more commercially successful music that uses elements from, or the form of, rock music. Writer Johan Fornas views pop rock as “one single, continuous genre field”, rather than distinct categories. The term “pop” has been used since the early 1940s to refer to popular music in general, but in the mid-1950s, it began to be used for a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll. As of the 2010s, “guitar pop rock” and “indie rock” are roughly synonymous terms. “Jangle” is a noun-adjective that music critics often use in reference to guitar pop with a bright mood.

Pop-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition and characteristics#

Pop-punk is variously described as a punk subgenre, Writers at The A.V. Club described pop-punk as a punk subgenre that has “essentially been around as long as punk itself” with roots in the “classic pop of the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Beach Boys, often pitting sweet harmonies against bratty, rowdy riffs.” According to Ryan Cooper of About.com, “pop-punk is a style that owes more to The Beatles and ’60s pop than other sub-genres of punk”. There is considerable overlap between power pop and pop-punk, and the two styles are often conflated. In Brian Cogan’s The Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture (2006) pop-punk is characterized as “a catchy, faster version of power pop.” AllMusic defines “punk-pop” as “a post-grunge strand of alternative rock” that combines the textures and fast tempos of punk rock with the “melodies and chord changes” of power pop. In the 1990s, there was overlap between pop-punk and skate punk. Music journalist Ben Myers wrote that the two terms were synonymous. Rock writer Greg Shaw, who wrote extensively about power pop and took credit for codifying the genre in the 1970s, originally defined power pop itself as a hybrid style of punk and pop. Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, who described power pop as “the greatest music on Earth that no one likes”, whether it’s something like Cheap Trick or another band “. opined that the pop-punk term was an oxymoron: “You’re either punk or you’re not.” Writing in Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop (2007), actor Robbie Rist felt that much of the genre merely consisted of pop bands who “add the ‘punk’ moniker so the kids will think they are pissing off their parents.” Rolling Stone, in an article about pop-punk, wrote that the term was a retroactive label for punk bands who had “always championed great songwriting alongside their anti-authoritarian stance. And punk’s focus on speed, concision and three-chord simplicity is a natural fit with pop’s core values.” Bill Lamb, also from About.com, writes that pop-punk is a variant of punk music that features “a hard and fast guitar and drums base but powered by pop melodies like much of ’70s punk rock.” Lyrically, pop-punk often addresses adolescent themes of lust, romantic relationships, heartbreak, drugs, suburbia, and rebellion. Some pop-punk lyrics make an emphasis on jokes and humor. The New Yorkers Amanda Petrush summarized that the “rawness” of pop-punk “lies not in the music” but by conveying the “spectrum of human experience, all that longing and self-doubt.”

Popular music in Croatia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1940s and 1950s#

Ivo Robić was one of the first acclaimed popular music artists in Yugoslav Croatia. He emerged in the late 1940s and later launched a very successful international career as well, closely cooperating with the famous composer and Polydor producer Bert Kaempfert, whom he convinced to produce the then upcoming act The Beatles after seeing them performing in the Top Ten Club in Hamburg. Robić is the author of the famous schlager that was later popularized by Frank Sinatra as Strangers in the Night. The Croatian rock music began in the 1950s, and one of the first classic rock-n-roll performers was Karlo Metikoš from Zagreb. He moved to Paris, France where he started a successful international career under the pseudonym Matt Collins. He recorded for Philips Records and had an opportunity to meet legends such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Paul Anka.

Popular music in Yugoslavia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Although sometimes considered as an Eastern Bloc country, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and as such, it was far more open to western influences compared to the other socialist states. Yugoslavs enjoyed freedom of travel greater than that of other socialist states and had an easy access to Western popular culture. The western-influenced pop and rock music was socially accepted, the Yugoslav pop and rock music scene was well developed and covered in the media, which included numerous magazines, radio and TV shows. Numerous artists even played for president Josip Broz Tito himself, notably Bijelo Dugme, Zdravko Čolić and Rani Mraz. SFR Yugoslavia was the only communist country which was taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest. It joined in the 1961 contest even before some Western and NATO nations such as Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Turkey, which joined in 1964, 1965, 1974 and 1975 respectively.

Post-Britpop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Many bands in the post-Britpop era avoided the Britpop label while still producing music derived from it. The music of most bands was guitar-based, particularly the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Small Faces, with American influences. Bands from the era utilized specific elements from 1970s British rock and pop music. This, beside a greater willingness to woo the American press and fans, may have helped a number of them in achieving international success. They have been seen as presenting the image of the rock star as an ordinary person, or “boy-next-door” and their increasingly melodic music was criticised for being bland or derivative.

Post-dubstep

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The tempo of music typically characterised as post-dubstep is approximately 130 beats per minute. The drum patterns in post-dubstep take a more minimalistic and experimental approach, featuring eclectic, broken drum patterns derived from but not fitting dubstep, focusing on adding atmosphere and texture rather than driving energy.

History#

The production duo Mount Kimbie is often associated with the origination of the term post-dubstep, and James Blake as its “poster boy”. with the scene being largely absorbed later in the 2010s by genres such as UK bass, alternative R&B, and other developments in dubstep.

Post-metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Predecessors#

The groundwork for post-metal was laid in the 1980s and early 1990s by various artists (mostly in the US) combining heavy metal and punk rock sounds with an “avant-garde sensibility”, such as the Melvins (particularly on 1991’s Bullhead), The Flying Luttenbachers, Justin Broadrick of Napalm Death and Godflesh, Many of these artists emerged from hardcore punk and post-punk circles but their combination of sonic violence with experimentation and eclecticism made them difficult to categorize under any one genre.

Post-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Post-punk refers to an era and diverse music genre that emerged from the cultural milieu of punk rock in the late 1970s. In 1976, New York poetry magazine Contact published the earliest known use of the term “post-punk” in an interview with painter and poet Jack Micheline, the interviewer asked Micheline, “What are your thoughts moving in a post-punk beat period?”. On 26 November 1977, Sounds magazine published an issue entitled “New Musick”, with editorials by English journalists Jane Suck and Jon Savage. Savage wrote a piece on an emerging scene and style of music known as “new musick”, suggesting that punk rock was becoming stagnant and evolving into new, more experimental forms, which he noted as “post punk projections”. He mentioned Pere Ubu, while describing Throbbing Gristle and Devo as promoting “spontaneous physical reaction”. He described the style as exhibiting “more overt reggae/dub influence”, sounding “the same/manufactured in a factory,” and characterized Subway Sect, the Prefects, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Slits, and Wire as exploring “harsh urban scrapings/controlled white noise/massively accented drumming”. Music historian Clinton Heylin stated, “it would be a while before New Musick metamorphosed into post-punk, these cub reporters were already hoping to chart punk’s future course.” According to Mimi Haddon, writers such as Simon Reynolds and Theo Cateforis have cited Savage’s editorial as “the starting point for the emergence of the post-punk genre.” Writer David Wilkinson states, “there was a sense of renewed excitement about what would be dubbed ‘post-punk’”. According to writer Ian Gittins, some journalists opted for the term “art punk” to describe artists who “delivered garage rock’s adrenalin rush with a moderate degree of intelligence”, though it was sometimes used by critics as a pejorative. Heylin cites that in March 1979, Simon Frith proposed the term “Afterpunk” in an issue of Melody Maker, which stated “1979 is the year of Afterpunk”, though Heylin defined the term as a “non-starter”, further stating, “he Frith did recognize that punk was changing, nay evolving; and, like Paul Morley, he predicted that the battle would be between the chart-conscious and the art-conscious, or as he designated them, the populists and the progressives”. At the time, “post-punk” was used interchangeably with “new musick” and “new wave”, though the terms became differentiated as their styles perceptibly narrowed.

Power electronics (music genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

The name of the genre was coined by William Bennett of Whitehouse as part of the sleeve notes to their 1982 album Psychopathia Sexualis. Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine produced a compilation compact cassette tape called Power Electronics in 1986 that was curated by Joseph Nechvatal. Power electronics is generally atonal and, like most noise music, features a lack of conventional melody or rhythm. To match its sonic excess, it often includes thematic and visual content that might be considered extreme, whether in lyrics, artwork, or live performance. The genre sometimes involves screamed, distorted vocals, alongside the use of analogue synthesizers, and static screeches of feedback. It has been known to invite visceral reactions from both listeners and critics. Power electronics is related to the early Industrial Records scene, but later releases had more in common with noise music.

Power pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Power pop is an energetic variant of pop rock based on melodic hooks, encapsulated as “catchy tunes with an attitude”. AllMusic describes the style as “a cross between the crunching hard rock of the Who and the sweet melodicism of the Beatles and the Beach Boys, with the ringing guitars of the Byrds thrown in for good measure”. Virtually every artist of the genre has been a rock band consisting of white male musicians who engaged with the song forms, vocal arrangements, chord progressions, rhythm patterns, instrumentation, or overall sound associated with groups of the mid-1960s British Invasion era. An essential feature of power pop is that its cheerful sounding arrangements are supported by a sense of “yearning”, “longing”, or “despair” similar to formative works such as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (the Beach Boys, 1966) and “Pictures of Lily” (the Who, 1967). This might be achieved with an unexpected harmonic change or lyrics that refer to “tonight”, “tomorrow night”, “Saturday night”, and so on. Power pop was also noted for its lack of irony and its reverence to classic pop craft.

Progg

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Alternative bands began to form in the late 1960s, but the movement emerged in full in the summer of 1970. A big alternative music festival was held at the field Gärdet in Stockholm between June 12 and June 14. The festival was illegal, as a permission for it had not been obtained. The new independent record company Silence released a compilation record with music from the festival as their first record, and signed some of the bands that played, including Träd, Gräs och Stenar and Gudibrallan. In 1971 MNW was formed. During this decade the progg movement had a strong position in the musical landscape of Sweden. At the end of the 1970s, however, the movement started to decline, as many of the bands disintegrated and the music forums were closed. The left-wing ideals became less dominant among young people, and the rock and folk music also became less popular than new genres such as hard rock and electronic music.

Progressive house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

In the context of popular music the word “progressive” was first used widely in the 1970s to differentiate experimental forms of rock music from mainstream styles. Such music attempted to explore alternate approaches to rock music production. Some acts also attempted to elevate the aesthetic values of rock music by incorporating features associated with classical instrumental music. This led to a style of music called progressive rock, which has been described as “the most self-consciously arty branch of rock.” According to DJ and producer Carl Craig, the term “progressive” was used in Detroit in the early 1980s in reference to Italo disco. The music was dubbed “progressive” because it drew upon the influence of Giorgio Moroder’s Euro disco rather than the disco inspired by the symphonic sound of Philadelphia soul. In the late 1980s, UK music journalist Simon Reynolds introduced the term “progressive dance” to describe acts such as 808 State, The Orb, Bomb the Bass and The Shamen. Between 1990 and 1992, the term “progressive” referred to the short-form buzz word for the house music subgenre “progressive house”.

Progressive rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The term “progressive rock” is related to and sometimes considered synonymous with “art rock”, “classical rock” (not to be confused with classic rock), and “symphonic rock”. Historically, “art rock” has been used to describe at least two related, but distinct, types of rock music. The first is progressive rock as it is generally understood, while the second usage refers to experimental rock groups who rejected psychedelia and the hippie counterculture in favour of a modernist, avant-garde approach. Similarities between the two terms are that they both describe a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility. However, art rock is more likely to have experimental or avant-garde influences. “Prog” was devised in the 1990s as a shorthand term, but later became a transferable adjective, also suggesting a wider palette than that drawn on by the most popular 1970s bands. Progressive rock is varied and is based on fusions of styles, approaches, and genres, tapping into broader cultural resonances that connect to avant-garde art, classical music and folk music, performance and the moving image. Although a unidirectional English “progressive” style emerged in the late 1960s, by 1967, progressive rock had come to constitute a diversity of loosely associated style codes. When the “progressive” label arrived, the music was dubbed “progressive pop” before it was called “progressive rock”, with the term “progressive” referring to the wide range of attempts to break with standard pop music formula. A number of additional factors contributed to the acquired “progressive” label: lyrics were more poetic; technology was harnessed for new sounds; music approached the condition of “art”; some harmonic language was imported from jazz and 19th-century classical music; the album format overtook singles; and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening, not dancing. Critics of the genre often limit its scope to a stereotype of long solos, overlong albums, fantasy lyrics, grandiose stage sets and costumes, and an obsessive dedication to technical skill. While progressive rock is often cited for its merging of high culture and low culture, few artists incorporated literal classical themes in their work to any great degree, and only a handful of groups purposely emulated or referenced classical music. Writer Emily Robinson says that the narrowed definition of “progressive rock” was a measure against the term’s loose application in the late 1960s, when it was “applied to everyone from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones”. Debate over the genre’s criterion continued to the 2010s, particularly on Internet forums dedicated to prog. According to musicologists Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell, Bill Martin and Edward Macan authored major books about progressive rock while “effectively accept ing the characterization of progressive rock offered by its critics. … they each do so largely unconsciously.” Academic John S. Cotner contests Macan’s view that progressive rock cannot exist without the continuous and overt assimilation of classical music into rock. Author Kevin Holm-Hudson agrees that “progressive rock is a style far more diverse than what is heard from its mainstream groups and what is implied by unsympathetic critics.”

Prostopinije

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

By the end of the 18th century, the first attempt to systematize and write down the body of Prostopinije melodies was undertaken by cantor John Juhasevich (1741–1814). In 1793, a Preparatory School for Cantors and Teachers was established in Uzhhorod by Bishop Andrew Bachinskyj. After some of the Rusyn parishes converted from Byzantine Catholicism to the Russian Orthodox Church in America, inspired by Father Alexis Toth, the use of Prostopinije was discriminated against by Russian leaders, who replaced it with the Obikhod. Since the early 21st century, however, a gradual revival of this traditional singing has taken place, just as ancient chants have been reintroduced in other churches and denominations.

Proto-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term proto-punk has been defined differently by several writers and publications. In his essay Protopunk: the Garage Bands, music critic Lester Bangs applied the term to 1960s garage rock acts as well as Ritchie Valens’ 1958 cover of “La Bamba”. The book further states that “Although largely an American phenomenon, proto-punk can also be found in Britain. In Britain, however, it went under different names, and it is commonly referred to as either glam rock or pub rock”.

Psychobilly

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The evolution of psychobilly as a genre is often described as having occurred in waves. The first wave occurred in New York City in the 1970s and reached Britain in the early 1980s, the second wave took place at the end of that decade and spread through the rest of Europe, and the third crested in the late 1990s with the genre finding international popularity.

Precursors#

The wildly theatrical shock rock aesthetic of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins in the 1950s, and the outsider music of the Legendary Stardust Cowboy in the late 1960s have been cited as a precursor to what would become psychobilly. The members of the Meteors and the Cramps both cited the song “Love Me” (1960) by the Phantom as the first song in the genre.

Pub rock (United Kingdom)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Pub rock was deliberately nasty, dirty and post-glam. Bands looked menacing and threatening, “like villains on The Sweeney”. According to David Hepworth, Dr. Feelgood looked as if they had “come together in some unsavoury section of the army”. Pub rock groups disdained any form of flashy presentation. Scene leaders like Dr. Feelgood, Kilburn and the High Roads and Ducks Deluxe played simple, “back to mono” rhythm and blues in the tradition of white British groups like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, with fuzzy overdriven guitars and whiny vocals. While pub rockers did not have expensive stage shows, they took inspiration from early R&B and increased the dynamism and intensity of their live shows. Pub rock allowed a variety of singers and musicians to perform, even if they did not adhere to a clearly defined musical genre. This means that pub rock labels could afford to put out records with a tenth of the sales of mainstream bands. The pub rock scene was primarily a live phenomenon. During the peak years of 1972 to 1975, there was just one solitary Top 20 single (Ace’s “How Long”), and all the bands combined sold less than an estimated 150,000 albums. Many acts suffered in the transition from pub to studio recording and were unable to recapture their live sound. Pub rock’s small venue approach increased the importance of good songwriting and well-written lyrics, in contrast to mainstream pop which had marginalised both elements. The UK pub rock scene wound down by 1976. The record industry was already looking into early punk, thinking it might be the next “big thing”. In 1976, some pub rock labels were putting out both the harder-edged pub rock acts and early punk bands such as The Damned.

Puirt à beul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Term#

The Scottish Gaelic term port à beul refers to “a tune from a mouth—specifically a cheerful tune—which in the plural becomes puirt à beul”. In Scotland, they are usually referred to as puirt à beul but a variety of other spellings and misspellings also exists, for example port-a-beul, puirt a bheul, puirt a’ bhéil, etc. These are mostly because a number of grammatical particles in Gaelic are very similar in nature, such as the definite article a, the prepositions “of” and “to” which can both be a and the preposition á “from” which can appear without the acute accent. Modern Irish dictionaries give port (aireacht) béil, translated as “mouth music” also referred to as lilting. Older dictionaries, such as Dinneen, only give portaiḋeaċt, portaireaċt, or portonaċt. Puirt à beul are related to Irish lilting, Scottish diddling, New Brunswick chin music, and other “Celtic” forms of mouth music. However, whereas these latter forms of mouth music consist of improvised vocables, puirt à beul lyrics are fixed and almost always consist of “real” (i.e. lexical) words, although sometimes vocables are also present.

Punk funk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Punk funk emerged in the late 1970s, however, it was eclipsed in the 1980s by dance-punk, avant-funk, and funk metal later in the 1980s, all of which are also alternatively described as punk funk. Despite this, punk funk has been occasionally used in more recent years to describe bands such as CSS and their 2005 album Cansei de Ser Sexy.

1970s#

Ian Dury and the Blockheads, formed in 1977, have been described as punk funk. The earliest punk funk band is probably Talking Heads, having formed in 1975. Their track “Psycho Killer” opens with a funky bassline, and following this, they brought in Bernie Worrell from Funkadelic into their live band.

Punk in Sweden

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The most famous Swedish punk band was Ebba Grön, followed by KSMB; other notable bands were Asta Kask, Kriminella Gitarrer, Tant Strul, Pink champagne, The Pain and Göteborg Sound. In the 1980s hardcore punk, kängpunk and raw punk became popular in Sweden. The two most influential bands are Mob 47 and Anti Cimex, whose music has also inspired many foreign bands. Early punks in Sweden clashed with the youth movement Raggarna, which was working class and centered around cars, drinking, and rockabilly music. These conflicts were described in lyrics, for example by the Rude Kids and P-Nissarna. In the beginning, there were several venues and cultural meeting points associated with the Swedish punk subculture. One of the first of these was the Oasen in Rågsved, followed by Ultrahuset in Haninge, and Vita huset in Täby. Venues where a lot of punk is played today include the Kafé 44 on Södermalm in Stockholm, and Verket in Umeå. Punk in Sweden also connected with the hardcore scene that emerged in Umeå and other northern cities in the 1990s, with bands such as Refused (Umeå) and Raised Fist (Luleå) in the lead. Refused had a strong base in the genre’s traditional roots and may in part represent how it sounded then, but experimented and stretched the limits sufficiently to their most famous songs rather have come under the term post-hardcore. In the 1990s, the punk scene also turned more towards crust punk with bands like Driller Killer, Skitsystem, Wolfbrigade, and Disfear. In the 2000s many of the first and second wave Swedish punk bands such as Asta Kask, Dia Psalma, Mob 47, Moderat Likvidation and De lyckliga kompisarna reunited. They released new albums, with new songs. This decade many hardcore punk bands from Umeå and northern Sweden started to play more pop-influenced punk and the early Swedish punk like Ebba Grön and KSMB, for example Invasionen with Dennis Lyxzén from Refused and Knugen Faller with Inge Johansson from Totalt jävla mörker.

Punk pathetique

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

The name of the genre was coined by Sounds journalist Garry Bushell, who actively championed many of its exponents. Punk pathetique was initially an attempt to characterize a group of London bands that embodied Cockney culture with a Dickensian working class attitude. Musically, it was related to (and had crossover with) the Oi! subgenre. The cover of the 1980 Bushell/Sounds compilation album Oi! The Album described the record as featuring “ruck ’n’ rollers and punk pathetiques”. In contrast to harder-edged Oi! bands with more serious lyrics, punk pathetique bands focused on the naughty, silly and trivial. Max Splodge of Splodgenessabounds said: “The pathetique bands are the other side of Oi! We’re working class too, only whereas some bands sing about prison and the dole, we sing about pilchards and bums. The audience is the same”. Half Man Half Biscuit, the Shapes, the Gonads, the Adicts, Notsensibles, Auntie Pus, the Postmen, Desert Island Joe, the Hoopers, Pierre the Poet (Garry Butterfield), Paul Devine, Lord Waistrel & the Cosh Boys, Stephen Louis Knoche Jr & His Raging Cronies, the Alaska Cowboys, Patronage, Percy Throwers Man Eating Plans, SexyCows, the Orgasm Guerrillas, the Implications, and Doughnut & the Donor. Later, the mantle was inherited by the Bus Station Loonies, Monkish and Macc Lads, who performed comic punk singalongs in very much the same style. Toy Dolls, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, the Gonads, Splodgenessabounds and Auntie Pus & The Men From Uncle continue to tour and record.

Punk rock in Spain

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hardcore Punk#

In Spain, among the best known hardcore groups are HHH, Subterranean Kids, TDeK, GRB, 24 Ideas and X-Milk among others, which are characterized by also having parts of fast punk, which demonstrate the link between punk and hardcore. . Other groups to highlight would be El Corazón del Sapo, Nevergood, Nuevenoventaicinco, groups from the Aragonese scene. However, other groups, less known to the general public, but no less important, such as MG-15 and Último Gobierno, which played d-beat, forerunners of this genre in the State, must be named; or the wave of Catalan hardcore groups from the 1980s, such as Anti / Dogmatikss, GRB, L’Odi Social, Subterranean Kids, HHH, Rouse and, already in the 1990s, Corn Flakes, Innocents, Tropel Nat, 24 Ideas, X-Milk, Sowplot. In the Basque Country there were also classic groups related to this genre such as BAP !! (Anti Polizialak Brigade), Eskoria-tza, Soziety Alkoholika or Noise of Rage, influenced by metal. Also noteworthy at the beginning of the most hardcore metal scene with groups like Prap’s. Although it would be necessary to add bands that changed the scene a lot at different times, such as 24 Ideas, a Barcelona band that introduced New York Hardcore with a straight edge influence in the State; Alarma Social, a group from Burgos, one of the first to go out, Shorebreak with the signing in Good Life, seemed to open up the state scene to Europe, something that has hardly been seen since; and it would also be necessary to highlight all the number and enormous number of bands from within punk, hardcore, crust, etc. They are the ones that have achieved the most the state scene is present outside this country, bands like Answer, Ictus, Machetazo, Looking For an Answer, ZInc, Ekkaia, Disface, Disflesh, Defeat Proud’z, Insomnia, Über, Horrör, Antiplayax, Black Panda, Alert! and a very long etc.

Punk rock in Yugoslavia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The punk scene emerged in the late 1970s, influenced by the first wave of punk rock bands from the United Kingdom and the United States, such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Ramones. The DIY punkzine scene also began to develop. The Yugoslav punk rock bands were the first ones formed in a communist country. Punk rock spread across Yugoslavia in northwest–southeast direction, finding its earliest supporters in: Ljubljana, Rijeka, Zagreb, Novi Sad and other cities. The first punk rock bands in the country were Pankrti from Ljubljana and Paraf from Rijeka, both formed around 1977. Other notable acts were: Buldogi, Berlinski Zid, Grupa 92, Problemi, Termiti and others. Among this generation of bands was the early Prljavo kazalište, but they became a mainstream rock act later. These artists were featured on the compilation album “Novi Punk Val 78-80”, compiled by Igor Vidmar. Meanwhile, in Novi Sad, the notable band Pekinška patka emerged. The late-1970s and early 1980s bands from Belgrade included: Defektno Efektni, Urbana Gerila and Radnička Kontrola. Notable members of these bands were: Cane, who later came to prominence as a vocalist of Partibrejkers; Srđan Todorović, later a movie actor; and Vladimir Arsenijević, later a notable punk writer. This generation of bands was included on the Artistička Radna Akcija compilation. Električni orgazam was also a punk rock band during its early period, but it became a mainstream rock act later. During this period, the punkabilly artist Toni Montano emerged, first as a vocalist of the band Radost Evrope, but later became a solo artist. Also, the punk writer Ivan Glišić from Šabac emerged in this period. The first punk band in Skopje, is considered to be Fol jazik, formed in 1978. Other notable acts from Skopje included Badmingtons and Saraceni, both led by Vladimir Petrovski Karter. The bass player of Saraceni, Goran Trajkoski, previously played with Klime Kovaceski in the punk band Afektiven naboj from Struga. Later they went into post punk and gothic rock and together formed the bands Padot na Vizantija and Anastasia. In Sarajevo, the following acts emerged: Ozbiljno pitanje (which later evolved into the mainstream act Crvena Jabuka), Ševa (later Bombaj Štampa led by the internationally acclaimed actor Branko Đurić), and the cult band Zabranjeno pušenje. These bands formed the punk-inspired New Primitives movement. In the late 1970s, some punk bands were affiliated with the Yugoslav new wave scene, and were labeled as both punk rock and new wave. During a certain period, the term new wave music was interchangeable with punk. One of the most important compilations of the Yugoslav new wave era is Paket Aranžman. The 1980s saw the emergence of streetpunk and Oi!, followed later by: hardcore punk and other subgenres. Notable hardcore punk acts during the 1980s included: Niet, U.B.R., Ćao pičke, Odpadki civilizacije, Tožibabe, III Kategorija, Stres DA, Epidemija and Quod Massacre (all from Ljubljana); S.O.R. (from Idrija); C.Z.D. (Maribor); Blitzkrieg, Z.R.M., Patareni and Sköl (Zagreb); KUD Idijoti, Gola jaja, Besposličari and Pasmaters (all from Pula); Rukopotezno povlačilo (Slavonska Požega); The Dissidents (Prijedor) and Ženevski Dekret (Mostar); Solunski front, Distress, Necrophilia, Crist and Mrgudi (all from Belgrade); KBO! (Kragujevac); Nade iz Inkubatora, Giuseppe Carabino, Marselyeza and Process (all from Subotica); Incest (Novi Bečej); Napred U Prošlost (Banatsko Novo Selo); and the Oi! or streetpunk bands Dva minuta mržnje and Vrisak generacije (both from Novi Sad). A notable pop punk band during the 1980s was Psihomodo pop from Zagreb, which was very much influenced by the Ramones. Many foreign punk bands played concerts in former Yugoslavia in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s: The Ruts, Siouxsie and the Banshees, UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, The Exploited, Charged GBH, The Anti-Nowhere League, Discharge, Youth Brigade and Amebix. In 1983 The Anti-Nowhere League released their album Live in Yugoslavia, while Angelic Upstarts released a live album of the same title in 1985.

Rebetiko

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition and etymology#

The word (plural ) is an adjectival form derived from the Greek word (, ), which is construed to mean a person who embodies aspects of character, dress, behavior, morals and ethics associated with a particular subculture. The etymology of remains a subject of dispute and uncertainty. An early scholar of rebetiko, Elias Petropoulos, and the modern Greek lexicographer Georgios Babiniotis each offer suggested derivations, but leave the question open. where the word is defined as a ‘wanderer’, ‘blind’, ‘misguided’.

Reel (dance)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The reel is indigenous to Scotland. The earliest reference was in a trial of 1590, where the accused was reported to have “daunced this reill or short dance.” However, the form may go back to the Middle Ages. The name may be cognate with or relate to an Old Norse form, with Suio-Gothic rulla, meaning “to whirl.” This became Anglo-Saxon hreol and Gaelic ruidhle or ruidhleadh, which is the origin of the word now. Later it was introduced to North America by English, Scottish, and Irish colonists and immigrants. In the United States, reels remain central in the traditions of Anglo and African-American Old-time music and square dancing, as well as Cajun and Zydeco. In Canada, they are important parts of Cape Breton, Acadian, Québécois, and Métis repertoires.

Reggae punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1970s#

Reggae punk first appeared in the late-1970s in England by punk rock bands incorporating reggae (and even lovers rock) elements into their music. The most notable band to have done this was the Clash. When Clash bassist Paul Simonon was getting his start in the music business and learning to play the bass, he found it easier to play along to reggae songs rather than traditional rock songs. In 1977, the Police would form. Initially considered a punk rock band, they soon expanded their sound to incorporate pop, new wave and reggae. In a retrospective assessment, AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine argued that the notion of the Police as a punk band was only true “in the loosest sense of the term”, and stated that the band’s “nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock was punky” and had a “punk spirit” but it “wasn’t necessarily punk”. The Slits have also been described as punk-reggae by The Independent.

Riddim (genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and evolution#

The term “riddim” is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word “rhythm”. The derived genre originally stemmed from dub, reggae, and dancehall. Although the term was widely used by MCs since the early days of dancehall and garage music, it was later adopted by American dubstep producers and fans to describe what was originally referred to as “wonky dubstep”. As a subgenre, riddim started to gain mainstream presence in the electronic music scene around 2015. As all riddim works of music are dubstep, their histories and notable artists can be considered closely intertwined. Riddim can be traced back to several dubstep artists, including Jakes and Rusko. Although not considered a riddim artist, Rusko originally produced dubstep that featured riddim-esque bassline patterns. Jakes is credited by many as being the first riddim artist, and served as direct inspiration for the following wave of producers. From that wave, artists like Subfiltronik are credited for establishing what riddim is known as today. Various other artists have been credited for having contributed to the rise of the subgenre, including Bukez Finezt, Coffi, Deemed, Blankface, Drippy, The Monsters, Coki from Digital Mystikz, and Kromestar.

Rizitika

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Rizitika songs commonly have no conventional names, and are instead referred to by with their first verse, or with some other verse. Rizika are generally not danced, and additionally they are traditionally divided into songs and in his book , classified them in 32 melodies, and found 31 songs to have their own unique melodies, always on major scales. Their music is serious, typically a singer first sings a verse, which is usually repeated chorally. This does not always happen, however. The songs do not always need to rhyme, and the verse does not always have fifteen syllables.

Rock and roll revival

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

As the Sixties ended, several early rock and rollers like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Bill Haley & His Comets and Bo Diddley, who had been out of fashion since the British Invasion, experienced a resurgence in popularity, performing their old hits to a mix of old and new fans. Rock and roll revival festivals became popular, and anticipated the “oldies show” package tours of later years. Bo Diddley announced “I’m back and I’m feelin’ fine” in his comeback single titled Bo Diddley 1969, released by Checker Records. Sha Na Na performed “At the Hop” at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, in the revival spirit. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a surprise hit album in 1970 with Live Peace in Toronto 1969, recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969. Appearing on the spur of the moment, with a hastily assembled band (composed of Lennon, Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White), Lennon led off their set with familiar songs (like “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Money (That’s What I Want)”) that suited the mood of the program. In 1970, Dave Edmunds scored a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic with his cover of “I Hear You Knocking”, and Chuck Berry’s only song to hit #1 on the Billboard charts, his 1972 single “My Ding-a-Ling”, were both written in the 1950s by Dave Bartholomew. Elton John’s 1972 hit “Crocodile Rock” was an homage to early rock ’n ‘roll. In 1977 and 1978, British band The Darts scored three top-10 singles on the UK charts with covers of early rock/doo-wop oldies. Showaddywaddy, a rock and roll group formed in Leicester, England, in 1973. Specialising in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, while also issuing original material. They have spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and had 10 Top Ten singles, one reaching number one, “Under the Moon of Love”, in 1976. The popularity of the movement peaked with the release of the George Lucas film, American Graffiti, in 1973, with the soundtrack featuring rock and doo-wop hits from the late 1950s and early 1960s. By the mid-1970s, however, record sales of rock ’n’ roll reissues and retro releases had greatly declined as the music industry turned its attention to other musical trends.

Rock en español

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginnings (1956–1964)#

Rock and roll is a musical style created by the Afro-descendant community in the United States following the end of World War II in 1945. In the 1950s, musicians such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry, along with white artists like Elvis Presley and Bill Haley, helped popularize the genre, which evolved into a global culture. Spanish-language rock production began in the second half of the 1950s, with musical bands that mostly performed American rock and roll hits translated into Spanish. Although it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when it began to develop, it’s true that the first rock recordings featuring Spanish vocals were released around 1956. However, the first major international hit came from saxophonist Danny Flores with the band The Champs, achieving great popularity in the United States (and much of the world) by reaching number one on the Billboard charts in March 1958 with the hit «Tequila». Shortly afterward, also in 1958, «La Bamba», a regional Mexican song performed in a rock rhythm and sung in Spanish by Ritchie Valens, entered the U.S. charts. The early years of rock en español were generally based on the emergence of groups that tended to cover Anglo-American rock hits by translating them into Spanish. During the transition to the new decade, bands like Los Llopis—who were actually focused on melodic songs and more standardized genres— or Los Teen Tops —who found success both in Latin America and Spain—adapted several early rock and roll songs into Spanish. During the early 1960s, rock began to spread widely, and the media started giving it increasing coverage across Spanish-speaking regions. Given its enormous appeal among young audiences, entertainment venues and music promoters began systematically organizing rock concerts; in a short time, the genre became a true mass phenomenon. However, as rock gained more attention, various groups and solo artists gradually emerged who performed original songs in Spanish, moving away from covering American hits and establishing themselves as songwriters, as Dúo Dinámico did. Also notable was the influence of other non-English-speaking European countries, with the arrival of the yé-yé phenomenon. Additionally, in some South American countries, the term Nueva ola (new wave) was coined to encompass artists who adopted the musical influence of rock from the United States and the pop culture patterns of Europe. This pop style, mixed with twist, beat, and rock, gained great popularity in Ibero-America. However, the explosion that came with the arrival of the British Invasion in the mid-decade would be decisive for the development of Spanish-language rock.

Rock music in Albania

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1960s#

American and British influence marked Albanian rock music in its first steps. The first known Albanian rock band was called Blue Star. They appeared in 1964 in Prishtinë and were later renamed as Modestët (The Modests).

1970s#

In the beginning of the 1970s, the rock scene present in Mitrovicë, Kosovo (then Yugoslavia) was made of Albanian and Serbian bands. Some of these bands, like MAK had both Albanian and Serbian musicians. Another bi-ethnic band was FAN also based in Mitrovicë. In 1978 the famous guitarist and composer Nexhat Macula formed one of the best Albanian rock bands of all time, called “TNT” in Mitrovica. Between 1978 and 2006 the band published ten albums.

Rock music in Belarus

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Censorship#

There is another side to Belarusian music life which is censorship. Researchers Maya Medich and Lemez Lovas reported in 2006 that “independent music-making in Belarus today is an increasingly difficult and risky enterprise”, and that the Belarusian government “puts pressure on ‘unofficial’ musicians - including ‘banning’ from official media and imposing severe restrictions on live performance.” In a video interview on the website, the two authors explain the mechanisms of censorship in Belarus. Another black list became known in 2011, when Krama, Krambambula, Lyapis Trubetskoy, N.R.M., Naka, Palats, Neuro Dubel among others were banned from performing concerts in Belarus. In January 2024, three members of the band Nizkiz, whose song “Pravily” was a protest anthem during the 2020-2021 Belarusian protests, were detained in Mogilev. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty later reported that the members were declared extremists and sentenced to freedom of movement restrictions for 30 months.

Rock music in Denmark

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Historical development#

While American rock and roll music was influential, it remained difficult to obtain in Denmark in the 1950s; Elvis Presley records were not officially released there until 1958. This left ample room for both Danish and British artists to gain mindshare. Danish jazz and dance bands and soloists like Ib Jensen, Otto Brandenburg, Peter Plejl and Ib Glindemann brought the style to Danish listeners. At the end of the decade, the English band The Shadows was a major influence on the first pioneers of the era, The Cliffters and The Rocking Ghosts. In the early 1960s, British R&B and beat bands inspired Danish counterparts like The Hitmakers, Sir Henry & His Butlers, The Defenders and The Beefeaters, as well as the breakthrough band Steppeulvene, whose 1967 LP Hip revolutionized the field of Danish rock by fusing American folk rock. Young Flowers was the first rock trio; some of their songs were in Danish language, but several others were adaptions of Walt Whitman lyrics. Alrune Rod and Savage Rose were among the popular bands in Denmark throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Still, Danish rock and pop music in those days resembled more of German schlager than American or British rock. Jazz bands like Blue Sun, Burnin Red Ivanhoe, Secret Oyster and Maxwells also moved towards rock. At the close of the decade, much of the rock world was incorporating sociopolitical lyrics, along with the rise of the counterculture. Denmark’s contribution to this field included Gasolin, Gnags, Jomfru Ane Band and Røde Mor. Among middle-aged and older Danes, schlager-resembling Danish folk rock was gaining popularity those days, chiefly artists like John Mogensen, Otto Brandenburg and Kim Larsen. By the 1980s, however, pop-rock bands like Sneakers, Anne Linnet, Sebastian and Lis Sørensen were popular, alongside punk-influenced Miss B. Haven, TV-2, Sort Sol and Kliché. Best selling was the cowpunk band, D-A-D, who in the late eighties turned into a Ronnie James Dio inspired Heavy Metal band. The following decade saw the rise of pop bands like Michael Learns to Rock, Safri Duo and Aqua, guitar rock bands like Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, Kashmir and Psyched Up Janis. The current Danish rock scene is dominated by indie influences in bands such as The Raveonettes, and Mew. Other popular Danish rock groups include Iceage, Sort Sol (Black sun), VETO, Figurines, Kira and The Kindred Spirits, Carpark North, Saybia, Tim Christensen, The Floor Is Made of Lava and the Danish folk metal band Svartsot. Some hard rock bands to come out of Denmark are Volbeat, Red Warszawa, Mercenary, Mercyful Fate (later King Diamond), Artillery, Pretty Maids, Freak of Nature / Mike Tramp (former singer of White Lion) and Royal Hunt. For alternative rock, Cryoshell started out in affiliation with LEGO, gaining it some market. A popular newer Danish band is Nephew, who play a blend of indie and electro rock and utilize a mixture of Danish and English lyrics. Famous Danish rock musicians are among other Lars Ulrich, the drummer and co-founder of Metallica, and Mike Tramp, the vocalist and co-songwriter of White Lion. More extreme Danish metal bands include Mnemic, Illdisposed, Illnath, Corpus Mortale, Panzerchrist, Konkhra, Hatesphere, Marodium, Nortt and Iniquity.

Rock music in Estonia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rock music in Finland

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Timeline#

Finnish rock followed the common trends during the 50s and 60s. Usually Finnish rock bands performed covers or hit songs translated into Finnish. Eero Raittinen and his brother Jussi Raittinen are among the earliest rockers of the 1960s, alongside groups such as Jormas, Topmost and Ernos. The British band The Renegades found their biggest success in the 1960s Finland. Helsinki was the centre of Finnish rock and pop music during this period. Love Records was one of the first domestic record labels dedicated to Finnish rock, even though the label’s roster also included jazz and political songs. Suomen Talvisota 1939-1940 represented Finnish underground, and their only album Underground-Rock (1970) is cited as a big influence among many current Finnish music-makers. Other Finnish underground/psychedelic bands of this era were The Sperm, Apollo and the ground-breaking Blues Section, which spawned Wigwam and Tasavallan Presidentti after its split. At the beginning of the 1970s new artists emerged. Singer-songwriters such as Hector and Juice Leskinen started writing songs in Finnish, combining shades of irony, poetry and introspection with rock sound. Later in the seventies the new wave and punk brought more artists such as Pelle Miljoona, Eppu Normaali and Hassisen kone. Finnish rock had by now become independent. Names such as Dave Lindholm, Tuomari Nurmio and Ismo Alanko continued with their own styles. Tampere became at the turn of the 1970s and 80s the most vibrant town in rock culture, spawning “Manserock” as rock music by the town’s artists was called. Hurriganes, fronted by Remu Aaltonen, was one of the best-known groups in Finland. This 1970s group played hard-hitting, boogie-based simple rock, and their song “Get on” is almost anthemic in Finland. Ex-Hurriganes guitarist Albert Järvinen would later collaborate with the likes of Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead fame, issuing the Countdown 12" single, with Lemmy featuring on lead vocals on the title track, under the name of Albert Järvinen Band. Other seminal groups were Dingo, a pop-rock group idolized by teenagers, and Yö, whose “Joutsenlaulu” remains to the day one of the most played songs in radio and karaoke. Kingston Wall was a cult band of the early 90s, combining psychedelic influences with hard rock, played by power trio and fronted by Petri Walli. J. Karjalainen has also remained popular since the early 1980s. Well-known Finnish band CMX also formed in 1985, transforming from a hardcore punk sound through progressive, metal, and hard rock sounds.

Rock music in France

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Singers and groups#

In the following lists, artists and groups are classified by their decade of origin, even if their career spans multiple decades, or if they took time to become famous.

1950s#

Magali Noël
Henri Salvador
Mac Kac
Chou Rave Hageur et ses Hot Dogs Note: Magali Noël and Henri Salvador’s output was parody.

1960s#

Les 5 Gentlemen
Frank Alamo
Richard Anthony
Antoine
Brigitte Bardot
Alain Bashung
Ronnie Bird
Les Blousons noirs
Georges Braudel
Danny Boy et ses Pénitents
Billy Bridge
Les Chats sauvages
Les Chaussettes noires
Long Chris
Christophe
Clothilde
Jean Bernard de Libreville
Delphine
Noël Deschamps
Jacques Dutronc
Nino Ferrer
Les Fleurs de pavot
Brigitte Fontaine
Claude François
Serge Gainsbourg
France Gall
Les Gam’s
Danyel Gérard
Johnny Hallyday
Françoise Hardy
Anna Karina
Herbert Léonard
Charlotte Leslie
Les Lionceaux
Dany Logan et Les Pirates
Gérard Manset
Martin Circus
Eddy Mitchell
Monty
Michel Paje
Michel Polnareff
Claude Puterflam
Dick Rivers
Sheila
Yves Simon
Les Sunlights
Le Système Crapoutchik
Jacqueline Taïeb
Michèle Torr
Stella Vander
Les Variations
Sylvie Vartan
Pierre Vassiliu
Dominique Walter
Zoo
Zouzou

Before punk#

Alpes (with Catherine Ribeiro)
Ame Son
Ange
Alice
Art Zoyd
Atoll
Au Bonheur des Dames
Michel Berger
Jane Birkin
Bonneville
Bottom Blues
Emmanuel Booz
Francis Cabrel
Jean-Patrick Capdevielle
Catharsis
Alain Chamfort
Chico Magnetic band
Pascal Comelade
Joël Daydé
Bill Deraime
Dynastie Crisis
Ergo Sum
Eskaton
Etron Fou Leloublan
Léo Ferré
Fille Qui Mousse
Forgas
The Frenchies
Gong
Dashiell Hedayat (aka Jack-Alain Léger)
Heldon
Jacques Higelin
Ilous & Decuyper
René Joly
Alain Kan
Komintern
Michel Kricorian
Catherine Lara
Lard Free
Bernard Lavilliers
Mahjun
Magma
Albert Marcœur
Jean-Pierre Massiera
Thierry Matioszek
Mona Lisa
Moving Gelatine Plates
Odeurs
Richard Pinhas
Potemkine
Présence
Pulsar
Red Noise
Renaud
Rhésus O
Véronique Sanson
William Sheller
Shylock
Alain Souchon
Taï Phong
Tangerine
Mama Béa Tekielski
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine
Trans Europe Express
Triangle
Volcania
Verto
Laurent Voulzy
Wapassou
ZNR
Téléphone

After punk#

Asphalt Jungle
Bijou
Cyclope
Dogs
Edith Nylon
Electric Callas
Extraballe
Jacno
Little Bob
Marie et les Garçons
Marie France
Marquis de Sade
Métal Urbain
Ocean
Les Olivensteins
Shakin’ Street
Starshooter
Stinky Toys
Strychnine
Suicide Roméo
Trust

1980s#

Les Ablettes
ADX
Agressor
Attentat Rock
Jean-Louis Aubert
Les Avions
Daniel Balavoine
Banlieue Rouge
Barbelés Cardiac
Axel Bauer
Louis Bertignac
Bérurier Noir
Blasphème
Bernie Bonvoisin
Buzy
Café Noir
Camera Silens
Los Carayos
Carte de séjour
Chagrin d’amour
Challenger
Charles De Goal
Chihuahua
Coronados
Patrick Coutin
Charlélie Couture
Étienne Daho
Daniel Darc
Elli et Jacno
Louis Deprestige
Gill Dougherty
Patrick Eudeline
Mylène Farmer
Fisc
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Gamine
Les Garçons Bouchers
Gogol Premier
Jean-Jacques Goldman
H-Bomb
High Power
Hot Pants
Indochine
Jad Wio
Kas Product
Killers
La Souris Déglinguée
Marc Lavoine
Lili Drop
Lio
Les Lolitas
Loudblast
Ludwig von 88
Mano Negra
Marc Seberg
Corinne Marienneau
Massacra
Mathématiques modernes
Elli Medeiros
Modern Guy
Morsüre
Jean-Louis Murat
Les Négresses Vertes
Minimum Vital
Niagara
Noir Désir
Norma Loy
Oberkampf
Orchestre rouge
OTH
Oui Oui
Parabellum
Vanessa Paradis
Passion Fodder
Paul Personne
Les Playboys
Raoul Petite
Pigalle
Les Porte Mentaux
Presence
Les Rita Mitsouko
Rockin’ Rebels
Satan Jokers
Les Satellites
Les $heriff
Sortilège
Les Soucoupes violentes
Squealer
Stocks
Taxi Girl
Tear of a Doll
Têtes Raides
Les Thugs
Tokow Boys
Treponem Pal
Tulaviok
Tupelo Soul
Arnold Turboust
Les Valentins
The Vietnam Veterans
Les VRP
Vulcain
Les Wampas
Warning
Wild Child
Wunderbach

1990s#

Dominique A
L’Affaire Louis’ Trio
Air (French band)
Anorexia Nervosa
Antaeus
Aston Villa
Autour de Lucie
Babylon Circus
Belenos
Belkètre
Billy ze Kick et les Gamins en Folie
Black Murder
Blacklodge
Blankass
Blut Aus Nord
Rodolphe Burger
Burning Heads
Calc
Manu Chao
Le Cri de la mouche
Daisybox
Daran et les chaises
Diabologum
Dionysos
Dolly
Doriand
Eiffel
Elend
Elmer Food Beat
Enhancer
L’Esprit du clan
Eths
FFF
Freedom for King Kong
Gérald de Palmas
Les Innocents
Kat Onoma
Philippe Katerine
La Ruda first known as La Ruda Salska
Lilicub
Lofofora
Louise Attaque
Matthieu Chedid also known as simply -M-
Marcel et son Orchestre
The Married Monk
Mass Hysteria
Matmatah
Mendelson
Mercyless
Merrimack
Mickey 3D
Miossec
Mütiilation
No One Is Innocent
Nuit-blanches
Les Ogres de Barback
Osculum Infame
Pleymo
Portobello Bones
Prohibition
Pull
Red Cardell
Rinôçérôse
La Rue Kétanou
Saez
Seth
Silmarils
Stormcore
Svinkels
Tagada Jones
Rachid Taha
Tanger
Torgeist
Ulan Bator
Ultra Orange
Uncommonmenfrommars
Vlad Tepes
Watcha
Weepers Circus
Welcome to Julian
Yan et les Abeilles
Zazie
Zebda

2000s#

10 Rue d’la Madeleine
AaRON
Albin de la Simone
Alcest
Alister
Aluk Todolo
Anaïs
Keren Ann
AqME
Arkhon Infaustus
Asyl
A.S. Dragon
BB Brunes
Bertrand Belin
Bénabar
Benighted
Benjamin Biolay
Black Bomb A
Black Rain
The Black Noodle Project
The Blueberries
Boxon
Bukowski
Café Bertrand
Cali
Calogero
Camille
The Cheeraks
Jeanne Cherhal
Crash Normal
Dahlia
Deathspell Omega
Debout Sur Le Zinc
Déportivo
devianz
Eiffel
Expérience
Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains
Freedom For King Kong
Frustration
Gojira
La Grande Sophie
Hacride
HushPuppies
Ipecacuana
Izïa
K
Kaolin
Kyo
The Little Rabbits
Les Fatals Picards
Lex Riders
The Limiñanas
Renan Luce
Luke
M83
Mademoiselle K
The Magnetix
Florent Marchet
Arman Méliès
Hubert Mounier
Music Is Not Fun
Mustang
Naast
J. P. Nataf
Nosfell
Nouvelle Vague
Nude
Pep’s
Peste Noire
Phoenix
Plastiscines
Pony Pony Run Run
Programme
Prototypes
Quidam
Olivia Ruiz
Raphael
Revolver
Sexy Sushi
Shades
Shaka Ponk
The Shapers
Sidilarsen
Spektr
Stuck In The Sound
Stupeflip
Subway
Superbus
Tahiti 80
Tarmac
Temple of Baal
Ultra Vomit
Vanity Case
Vegastar
Wäks
Wünjo
Yelle

2010s#

Jeanne Added
Aldaaron
Archimède
Bab L’ Bluz
Bazar et Bémols
Brigitte
Caravaggio
Détroit
La Femme
Forever Pavot
Fuzzy Vox
Grand Blanc
Granville
Éric Lareine & Leurs Enfants
Lescop
Mademoiselle K
Mars Red Sky
Melody’s Echo Chamber
Minuit
Moodoïd
Les Sans Culottes
Sutcliffe
We Were Evergreen
Woodkid

Rock music in Germany

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1960s and 1970s: Krautrock#

Mostly instrumental, the signature sound of krautrock mixed rock music and “rock band” instrumentation (guitar, bass, drums) with electronic instrumentation and textures, often with what would now be described as an ambient music sensibility. By the end of the 1960s, the American and British counterculture and hippie movement had moved rock towards psychedelic rock, heavy metal, progressive rock and other styles (from which Scorpions rose to prominence), incorporating, for the first time in popular music, socially and politically incisive lyrics. The 1968 student riots in Germany, France and Italy had created a class of young, intellectual continental listeners, while nuclear weapons, pollution and war inspired protests and activism. Music had taken a turn towards electronic avant-garde in the mid-1950s. These factors all laid the scene for what came to be termed krautrock, which arose at the first major German rock festival in 1968 at Essen. Among others, the political rock group Floh de Cologne from Cologne played there. Like their American and British counterparts, German rock musicians played a kind of psychedelia. That same year, 1968, saw the foundation of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab in Berlin by Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler, which further popularized the psychedelic-rock sound in the German mainstream.

Rock music in Greece

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1960s#

Greek rock (, ) originated in the early 1960s with the creation of several anglophone pop-rock bands such as The Forminx (which included composer Vangelis), The Charms, The Idols , The Olympians, Juniors, M.G.C. and many more. 1968 in Paris saw the formation of Aphrodite’s Child, (Vangelis, Demis Roussos and Loukas Sideras) one of the most important and successful Greek rock bands that achieved international fame with their albums It’s Five O’Clock (1969) and 666 (1972). Another aspect of Greek rock in the late ’60s saw the release of the first albums by Dionysis Savvopoulos, who combined Greek folk-music with rock elements. In the beginning of the ’80s there was a small but energetic number of punk and New Wave bands and in the 1990s hip-hop elements also entered the mainstream rock scene in Greece.

Rock music in Iceland

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Rock came to the island beginning in the mid-1950s. Rock’s popularity increased steadily over the next few years. This wave peaked with the tour by Tony Crombie & His Rockets in May 1957. A few bands with their own style did emerge, however, including City, Disco and Lúdó. From 1930 until the mid-1980s, radio broadcasting in Iceland was a state monopoly which did not allow much time for rock music. But despite this state of affairs, Icelandic popular culture was not completely isolated from the outside world. Crews of Icelandic fishing boats and commercial aircraft would buy rock records in America, England and Germany and bring them back home to Iceland. Also, the US Navy base in Keflavík, Iceland, operated a radio station for the troops (AFRS 1484 on the radio dial) that mainly played rock music and was very popular with young Icelanders in the Reykjavík area and remained important to Icelandic rock music until at least the mid-1970s. Some of the disc-jockeys from the early ’70s were Tom Wiecks, Jim Roark, Karl Phillips, Ron Smart, Tom Hughes and Mark Lazar. The British Invasion and Beatlemania arrived in Iceland in 1964, and the indigenous groups Hljómar from Keflavík and Dátar from Reykjavík arose as Icelandic counterparts to The Beatles, later followed by Flowers, Bendix and other bands. Beginning in about 1969, the English language period of Icelandic rock began, with bands like Trúbrot, Náttúra and Pelikan becoming popular. From 1973 to 1979, the Reykjavík rock scene was dominated by progressive rock and funk groups such as Eik and Cabaret (these two groups merged under the name Eik in 1977). The mid to late 1970s saw the rise of Gunnar Þórðarson and Magnús Eiríksson, who revitalized the field of Icelandic rock and created a more distinctive national style. A wave of punk rock based out of Reykjavík occurred in about 1981 and temporarily displaced more traditional rock music, much like rock had displaced jazz in the early 1960s. Notable mid to late 1980s Icelandic rock bands include Grafík and Tobmobile as well as the alternative rock band The Sugarcubes featuring Björk. Towards the end of the 20th century and continuing to the present (2005), the group Quarashi with its mixture of rock and rap has achieved international attention; the same applies to the hard rock group Mínus and the post-rock band Sigur Rós. From the late 1980s continuing to the present (2005) the band Sálin hans Jóns míns or just Sálin has had a strong presence on the Icelandic rock scene. Icelandic metal bands include Skálmöld and Auðn (took 3rd place at W:O:A Metal Battle at Wacken Open Air in 2016). Iceland has competed in Eurovision Song Contest with rock songs; the metal singer Eiríkur Hauksson has competed for Iceland many times, including with a rock song, and the first time Iceland competed with a non-rock song, and he’s a famous singer, for many types of music, also independently of Eurovision. The band Dimma was most recently voted second place in the national (Söngvakeppnin) selection process with a rock song, “Almyrkvi”, sung in Icelandic (but lost to a non-rock song sung in English, that went viral despite the 2020 contest actually being cancelled because of COVID-19). Bubbi (who almost exclusively sings in Icelandic with the exception of the 1988 English-language album Serbian Flower), one of Iceland’s most famous and prolific singer, starting with punk and rock bands, such as Egó, before going solo (and much later collaborated with Dimma) has said he would never compete in Eurovision, though he eventually did so in 2010 when he cowrote a song with Oscar Paul (who had written the song, sung by Yohanna, that placed second after Fairytale).

Rock music in Ireland

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1960s#

In the 1960s being part of a ‘Showband’ was essentially the only way a professional musician in Ireland could make a living. Van Morrison, Henry McCullough and Rory Gallagher started working in Irish showbands, but went on to put Ireland on the rock music map. Van Morrison, growing up on Hyndford Street, was inspired by fellow resident George Cassidy, a jazz musician. Cassidy taught Morrison how to play tenor saxophone and music notation lessons, which made them bond and become friends. Van Morrison achieved international success in the 1960s with the beat group Them before launching a very successful solo career. Rory Gallagher formed the blues rock trio Taste and went on to achieve critical acclaim in his solo career which lasted until his death in 1995. He is considered by many music critics to be among the greatest rock guitarists of all time. The Strangers from Balbriggan were also very popular and had a unique sound. Their record “Strangers” made # 6 in the Irish charts. Eire Apparent, a rock band from Belfast who formed in 1967 is noted for launching the careers of Henry McCullough and Ernie Graham, and for having Jimi Hendrix play on, and produce, their only album.

Rock music in Italy

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1960s and 1970s#

The first distinctively Italian singer-songwriter was Piero Ciampi, whose style was reminiscent of the French chansonniers. The United States and United Kingdom during the 1960s were in the midst of the psychedelic rock boom, which inspired Italian psychedelic bands such as Mario Schifano and Le Orme. At the time of the 1968 student uprisings, many young and educated Italians began to identify with the counterculture in France, Mexico, the US and across the world. Young Italians still had a well-educated familiarity with classical music composers like Bach. The result was an influx of classically influenced rock bands which fit right into the international move towards progressive rock. Italian progressive bands include: *Banco del Mutuo Soccorso *Celeste *Devil Doll *Goblin *Jacula *Latte e Miele *New Trolls *Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) *Reale Accademia di Musica *Saint Just *Le Orme Some bands, like Osanna, Area, Perigeo and Arti & Mestieri (Arti e Mestieri), fused progressive rock with jazz, fusion and world music. Il Balletto Di Bronzo’s YS is one of the most debated Italian prog-rock albums; Some calling it trash and others extolling it as one of the greatest progressive albums ever made. Another important album of the time was Arbeit macht frei by Area. They merged agit-prop lyrics, jazz-rock jamming, raw electronics, middle-eastern scales and psychotic warbling, creating an original mixture of different music styles. Area were fronted by Demetrio Stratos, one of the most original singers of his age, who recorded experimental albums entirely devoted to the human voice such as Cantare la Voce. The same period, the early 1970s, also saw the rise of Italian singers and songwriters like Lucio Battisti, Fabrizio De André, Franco Battiato, Paolo Conte and Francesco Guccini. By the end of the 1970s, Italian punk and comedy rock pioneers Skiantos had released 1978’s Monotono, which kickstarted the Italian punk scene. Later bands like The Confusional Quartet and Gaznevada fused new wave and Italian varieta with punk and other influences.

Rock music in Lithuania

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1960s-1970s#

During this period, the Communist government of the Lithuanian SSR confronted rock music, which was considered a decadent and corrupting cultural invasion from the West. The younger post-World War II Lithuanian generation under Soviet rule had few means to get acquainted with popular Western music. One was Radio Luxembourg, the only radio station available on Soviet frequencies that played current, popular rock. Another means was to smuggle LPs of popular Western bands into Lithuania and copy them onto magnetic tape. The Beatles were one of the first influences on Lithuanian rock musicians. The first local rock bands started to emerge around 1965 and included Kertukai, Aitvarai and Nuogi ant slenksčio in Kaunas, and Kęstutis Antanėlis, Vienuoliai, and Gėlių Vaikai in Vilnius, among others. Most of these bands did nothing more than play covers of The Beatles and Rolling Stones, sometimes adapting Lithuanian lyrics to these songs. The dominance of covers bands started to change around 1968, when local artists started to explore original songwriting. Such bands were popular at student parties, known as sessions. These parties were deemed illegal by the communist establishment, which considered them a corrupting influence. The most famous session of the time took place in Vilnius in 1971, when major local and Latvian bands performed before a crowd of several hundred - a huge number of people to attend such an event at that time. After the concert, its organizers were persecuted by the KGB. In addition, a distinct genre of song formed during this period. Musicians like Vytautas Kernagis and Vytautas Babravičius created intimate acoustic ballads featuring their own lyrics and those of other Lithuanian poets. Due to conditions imposed by the totalitarian regime, almost no records from this period survive to this day. Despite the regime’s stance against invasive Western culture, some musicals influenced by rock-and-roll managed to surface. For example, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock-opera ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ was staged by Lithuanian composer Kęstutis Antanėlis on December 25, 1971, at the Vilnius Academy of Art. It was the first staging of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in Europe. Lithuania’s first and most popular movie musical ‘Velnio nuotaka’ (‘The Devil’s Bride’), written by Viačeslavas Ganelinas, was released in 1975. Its catchy melodies combine traditional folk motifs with a rock-and-roll rhythm. Spirited and emotional, The Devil’s Bride tells the supernatural story of an impish devil who used to be an angel but got tired of singing Hosannah, and was thus condemned to live on Earth. From his home in a windmill, he pursued love and happiness in a hilarious and sometimes tragic tale of turmoil that affects the whole countryside. Shortly afterwards, in 1976, another musical was staged. ‘Ugnies medžioklė su varovais’, with the music of composer Giedrius Kuprevičius and participation of Vytautas Kernagis and Gintarė Jautakaitė. This musical proved to be a huge success - during the period from 1976 to 1983 it was performed 185 times in cities and towns across Lithuania and the Soviet Union.

Rock music in Norway

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1950s and 1960s#

The most known rock and roll performers in the 1950s were Per Granberg, Per Hartvig (Rocke-Pelle), Jan Rohde and Odd Gisløy (Smiling Tommy). Gisløy even penned his own rock and roll composition: “Dancing with My Rockin’ Shoes”. In the early 1960s the so-called Shadow bands (named after the British instrumental group The Shadows) were popular. Among the most notable were The Beatniks and The Vanguards. In the mid-1960s The Pussycats recorded two albums: one in Great Britain and one in West Germany, both produced by Sven-Erik Børja. Most of the songs were composed by group member Trond Graff.

Rock music in Poland

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1960s#

After the era of Big-beat, (aka “big-bit", a Polish style of simple rock’n’roll), one of the earliest pioneers of Polish rock was Tadeusz Nalepa, a singer, guitarist and songwriter who began his career playing pop music in his group - Blackout, before turning to blues rock and changing the band’s name to Breakout in 1968. Their debut album Na drugim brzegu tęcz", is often referred to as the “first Polish rock album”. Significant Big-beat artists include Czerwone Gitary, Niebiesko-Czarni, Czerwono-Czarni, Trubadurzy, and Karin Stanek.

Rock music in Portugal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1950s to 1970s#

In the late 1950s, singer Joaquim Costa was one of the first rock artists, but it was only during the 1960s that the genre’s popularity began rising, with bands such as “Quinteto Académico” and “Sheiks”, who played mostly in clubs and student associations. Most of these groups played covers of American and British bands or were influenced by artists such as the Beatles and The Shadows. The rock scene’s development was limited in its commercial and creative scope due to the country’s isolation, which was under a strict dictatorship until 1974. During the 1970s, and particularly after democracy was established after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, Portugal became home to an active progressive rock scene, which included bands like Tantra, Petrus Castrus, Banda do Casaco and the highly successful Quarteto 1111. During the latter part of the decade, José Cid, Quarteto 1111’s vocalist and keyboardist, pursued a solo career, releasing the landmark symphonic album 10,000 Anos Depois Entre Venus E Marte before turning to mainstream pop music. Portugal’s progressive rock epoch came to a close with the release of Ascenção e Queda, a rock opera by Petrus Castrus. Most of these records remain in short supply to this date. Until the end of the 1970s, Portuguese folk music and protest songs were generally the most popular types of music - but gradually more rock bands and styles began to appear, benefiting from the country’s new-found openness.

Rock music in Romania

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Rock music, which rapidly gained momentum during the 1960s in communist Romania, was a rather controversial topic, mainly because of the regime’s propaganda against Western culture. In 1971, this fear culminated with the famous July Theses. Thanks to its growing popularity, rock music was regulated, but allowed to flourish in Romania, often triggering a generation gap not dissimilar to that of the West or other Eastern European countries.

“Electric guitar bands”#

Rock and roll didn’t really gain solid ground in Romania until the early 1960s. During the 1950s, all art forms were highly influenced with proletkult. The 1950s’ vogue in music was latin jazz and tango. The music was sometimes thought of as inventive, but it mostly resembled kitsch. Little is known about the beginning of rock music in Romania; however, some of the earliest artists were: Uranus (founded in 1961, in Timișoara), Cometele (The Comets, 1962, Bucharest), Sfinţii (The Saints, 1962, Timișoara), Entuziaştii (The Enthusiasts, 1963, Bucharest). Such early bands survived for only a couple of years (Except for Sfinţii, who later became Phoenix and is still active), but the musicians carried on playing in other bands, soon to become famous. The rock trend started in Romania with The Young Ones (1961), a feature film starring singer Cliff Richard. Rock music was actually seldom called by its name in Romania (and in other East European countries); however, the term beat was sometimes used instead (this was also the name of an EPs series, released in the late 1960s). However, rock bands were much more often referred to as “electric guitar bands” (ro. formaţii de chitare electrice). The use of alternative names in the 1960s does not mean that the term “rock” was banned or avoided, but shows that there was a different perspective on the whole phenomenon.

Rock music in Russia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The early 1960s: Local bard music and first western influences#

By the mid-1960s, beat groups had formed in Moscow and Leningrad, at first performing cover versions of foreign hits on home-made equipment. Among these groups were “Sokol”, “Scythians”, “Buffoons” and “Slavs” (Alexander Gradsky’s groups), and “Forest Brothers”. In 1965, the band Sokol released the first rock song in Russian, “Gde tot krai?” (). The beat quartet “Integral” performed jazz music and compositions in the style of The Shadows and The Swinging Blue Jeans, and also composed their own twists and rock ’n’ rolls. With the spread of Beatlemania, almost every school had its own rock band. The movement was partly influenced by the ideology of the Western hippies. At the same time, Russian rock was partly influenced by bard music, a style referred to as avtorskaya pesnya (), mostly played on unaccompanied acoustic guitar. It was characterized by a strong emphasis on lyrics that sometimes carried a subversive meaning, as well as a lively and informal approach to the theme - romance, everyday life, military songs, patriotic songs, satire, irony etc. The most famous performers of the bard song were Alexander Galich, Vladimir Vysotsky, Bulat Okudzhava. Meanwhile, Western music was either being smuggled across the border or released by Melodiya as part of what was essentially state-run media piracy, with The Beatles taking a firm place in Soviet popular culture, and artists such as The Rolling Stones and Deep Purple completing a somewhat distorted picture of Western music.

Rock music in Serbia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rock pioneers (late 1950s – late 1960s)#

The first rock acts emerged in the late 1950s. Influenced by the rock and roll and rockabilly acts, many young people started performing the so-called “električna muzika” (“electric music”), naming themselves “električari” (“electricians”). One of the first Serbian rock and roll musicians who rose to fame was guitarist Mile Lojpur from Belgrade, often considered the first Serbian or even Yugoslav rock and roll musician. He rose to fame at the dances he and his band Septet M organized at Red Star basketball courts at Kalemegdan. Although Lojpur did not make any recordings, he had a great influence on subsequent development of the scene. Another notable rock and roll artist was Perica Stojančić from Niš, whose debut single was released in 1961. The singer Đorđe Marjanović became the first Yugoslav superstar. Despite essentially being a schlager singer, Marjanović also performed rock and roll songs. He is also notable as the first Yugoslav popular music singer who had an energetic on-scene appearance. He was the first pop singer to walk off the stage into the audience and perform songs in theatrical manner. His popularity led to the release of his album in 1959, the first popular music solo album released by PGP-RTB, the biggest Serbian record label. The media often promoted rivalry between Siluete and Elipse. Initially formed as a beat band, Elipse moved to soul music and added a brass section when they were joined by vocalist Edi Dekeng, an African student from Congo, in 1967. Crni Biseri featured the prominent musician Vlada Janković “Džet”, who later formed the band Tunel and became a well-known Radio Belgrade host. Sanjalice were one of the first former Yugoslav all-female rock bands. The members of Džemtlmeni, brothers Žika and Dragi Jelić, later formed the highly successful progressive/hard rock band YU Grupa. Although all of these bands released only 7-inch singles and extended plays – with the exception of Crni Biseri, which recorded their only studio album Motorok in 1976, and Bele Višnje, which recorded their old songs and released them on the album Pesme naše mladosti in 1994 – they had major influence on the subsequent development of the scene.

Rock music in Spain

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginnings (1950s–early 1960s)#

At first, rock music was influenced by the surrounding countries like France or Italy. Despite Francoist censorship, many albums were released and mass media started to introduce the new sounds of international music. The most important rock scenes were in Madrid, Zaragoza, Sevilla, Cádiz, Barcelona, and Valencia.

Beat, pop, psychedelia (1960s)#

Rock in Spain started to spread nationally. After the British Invasion, many artists such as Los Bravos, , Los Brincos and Miguel Ríos appeared. Los Brincos achieved some international success in France, Portugal and Italy. Los Bravos hit some international charts with their single “Black Is Black”, as did Mike Ríos with “A Song of Joy”.

Rock music in Switzerland

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Summary#

The first Swiss rock band of note were Les Sauterelles, formed in 1962 and often referred to as “the Swiss Beatles”. Their Shadows influenced all-instrumental 1965 single, “Hongkong”, was the first beat song to hit number 1 on the Swiss Hitparade. Even more successful, their 1968 single, “Heavenly Club”, topped the Swiss charts for seven weeks. After the group’s demise in 1970, members of Les Sauterelles would go on to other Swiss bands such as Krokodil, Toad and TEA; vocalist Tony Vescoli would launch a solo career as a singer/songwriter. Formed in 1969, Krokodil was an influential early Swiss progressive rock group, using exotic instruments such as the sitar. Comprising Zürich scene veterans Hardy Hepp, Walty Anselmo and Düde Dürst (ex-Les Sauterelles), with Mojo Weideli and English bassist Terry Stevens rounding out the line-up, Krokodil released a total of 5 albums through 1973. The Swiss progressive rock and psychedelia scene also produced bands such as The Shiver, Brainticket, Island, Ertlif and Flame Dream. Bern’s Sinus Studio was long the most influential studio in Switzerland. The commercially most successful Swiss rock band of the 1970s were Rumpelstilz, fronted by “the Bob Dylan of Switzerland”, Polo Hofer. Rumpelstilz were pioneers of Mundartrock preferring to sing in Bernese German rather than English. Their 1976 album Füüf Narre im Charre (five jesters in the wheelbarrow) produced the massive hit singles “Teddybär” and “Kiosk”, respectively. After the breakup of Rumpelstilz in 1978 Hofer would go on to a very successful solo career. His 1985 song “Alpenrose”, co-written with former Rumpelstilz bandmate Hanery Ammann, was voted “Biggest Swiss Hit” of all time in 2006 by a Swiss German television audience. Rumpelstilz and Hofer were highly influential on bands like fellow Bernese rockers Züri West and Patent Ochsner, Switzerland most successful Mundartrock bands today. Notable 1970s Swiss hard and heavy rock acts include Brainticket off-shoot Toad, a bluesy power trio perhaps best known for their debut single “Stay!”, Marc Storace fronted semi-progressive outfit TEA, and Krokus who quickly rose to become the most popular Swiss hard rock hand when they added the aforementioned Storace as their new lead vocalist in time for 1980’s more heavy metal influenced Metal Rendez-Vous, their international break through. Their Tom Allom produced 1983 album, Headhunter, peaked at #25 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts and was RIAA certified gold in the United States, making it the best-selling Swiss record in history. Other Swiss hard rock bands to emerge in the wake of Krokus included their Solothurn neighbors Killer, Black Angels, Crown, Steve Whitney Band, Stormbringer, Witchcraft, Bloody Six, Paganini as well as China, Satrox and Alison in the latter part of the 1980s and early 90s. At about the same period, there were a number of punk and pub rock influenced bands, including the Looney Tunes, The Swiss Horns, Red Devil Band, Circus and Irrwisch. In the early 1980s, extreme metal pioneers Hellhammer emerged from suburban Zürich before morphing into the more sophisticated Celtic Frost, a groundbreaking band whose pivotal early albums, Morbid Tales, To Mega Therion (with cover artwork by famed Swiss artist H.R. Giger) and Into the Pandemonium, revolutionized heavy metal musically as well as aesthetically. After the initial breakup of Celtic Frost, band leader Tom Warrior, a.k.a. Tom Gabriel Fischer, formed industrial rock outfit Apollyon Sun before successfully reforming Celtic Frost in 2001. As of 2008, Fischer was leading the CF spin-off Triptykon. Equally as influential and acclaimed as Celtic Frost are The Young Gods from Switzerland’s French speaking Romandy region. Formed in 1985 and debuting with their self-titled album in 1987, the experimental Industrial Rock trio, led by sole constant member Franz Treichler, a.k.a. Franz Muse, have released 8 studio albums to date and have been acknowledged as an influence by the likes of David Bowie, U2’s The Edge and Faith No More’s Mike Patton. Other Romandy acts of international repute are Valais extreme metal band Samael and Geneva’s futuristic cyber metalists, Sybreed. Another Zürich area band, with ties to Celtic Frost, are internationally renowned progressive thrash trio Coroner who released a string of highly acclaimed albums such as No More Color and Mental Vortex in the late 1980s through the mid 1990s. After the demise of Coroner, guitarist Tommy T. Baron, a.k.a. Tommy Vetterli, briefly joined German thrashers Kreator while drummer Marquis Marky, a.k.a. Markus Edelmann, became a member of Tom Warrior’s short lived Apollyon Sun. As of 2010, Coroner were active again doing live shows. Yet another Zürich area metal band that made an impression in the late 1980s were Uster based five-piece Drifter with two major label releases, Reality Turns to Dust and Nowhere to Hide, to their credit. Other notable Swiss extreme metal acts of that era include Messiah, Excruciation, Bloodstar and Calhoun Conquer. In the early 1990s, a very active neo-prog scene began to flourish in the Southern Swiss Canton of Ticino, primarily exemplified by two bands, Clepsydra (InsideOut Music) and Shakary (SHK Records). Another Ticino band, Lugano based Gotthard, emerged in 1992 with their eponymous debut album (their only album not to reach number 1 on the Swiss album charts) and, guided by former Krokus bassist Chris von Rohr, went on to become the most commercially successful Swiss hard rock group since the heyday of Krokus, with numerous gold and platinum certified releases in Switzerland during the course of their 25-year career. The group’s best selling album, Homerun, has been certified 3 x platinum for sales in excess of 90,000 copies in their home country. In the shadows of Gotthard, Bern natives Shakra, who first came on the scene with their self-titled 1998 debut album, have established a solid career with several of their releases entering the Swiss and German album charts. Switzerland’s internationally most success new band of the last 10 years have been Eluveitie whose eclectic folk metal style incorporates characteristics of melodic death metal combined with the melodies of traditional Celtic music. Their 2014 album, Origins, reached number 1 on the Swiss album charts.

Rock music in the Netherlands

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mainstream#

Pioneers of Dutch rock were the so-called Indorock bands from the late 1950s, like The Tielman Brothers and the Blue Diamonds. They played rock guitar instrumental music at a time when white Dutch musicians did not perform rock ’n’ roll. They stemmed from the Indo community in The Hague, which was also the center of the succeeding genre in the mid-1960s, Nederbeat, when Dutch musicians formed bands influenced by British beat groups and rock music. It earned the city the title of Beatstad (‘Beat city’) in later years. With 1960s bands like Golden Earring and Shocking Blue, Vandenberg in the 1980s, and Kane, Di-Rect and Anouk in the 1990s, 2000s The Hague became synonymous for mainstream rock. More progressive music emerged in the 1960s in Amsterdam. In 1964 (see 1964 in music), The Outsiders were the first Dutch psychedelic rock band to become successful. Well known was the ‘Haagse Scene’ - many of the popular bands of the 1960s came from The Hague, such as Shocking Blue, which topped the US charts in 1970 with Venus, Golden Earring, Q65, The Motions and Earth & Fire (“Seasons”, 1970). Shocking Blue released “Never Marry a Railroad Man” (1970) and “Inkpot”(1972). Other representatives from this period include the Cats, Tee Set, Bintangs, Sandy Coast, Cuby & the Blizzards and Brainbox. George Baker Selection acquired international fame with the songs “Little Green Bag” (1969), and “Una Paloma Blanca” (1975). From the late 1960s the post war generation gained political influence. Many state subsidised rock venues opened all over the country. These clubs, like Amsterdam’s Paradiso and Melkweg, were stepping stones for many alternative rock bands on their first European tour and the Dutch crowd stayed well informed about new British and American acts. In the 1970s some artists stood out. Mouth and MacNeal had a hit “How Do You Do” (1972) in the US chart. Herman Brood became the ultimate Rock ’n Roll icon. He even scored a hit in the US with “Saturday Night”. He became the epitome of the “rock’n’roll junkie” he sang about. As an artist he was in the media until his suicide in 2001. Other bands from the 1970s include Supersister, Gruppo Sportivo, Massada, Vitesse, Solution, the Nits, Kayak, Focus (who had a hit, “Hocus Pocus” in 1973) and Golden Earring with their biggest hit, “Radar Love” (1974), which hit the Top 10 in the US. The late 1970s and early 1980s gave many one hit wonders and some bands that lasted longer. Female bands Luv’ and Dolly Dots but also disco bands Spargo and Time Bandits were the most successful. Together with Golden Earring, which scored some of their biggest hits with “Twilight Zone” (1983) and “When the Lady Smiles” (1984). The Nits developed a large audience outside the Netherlands, including in Finland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Greece and Canada and in 1989 were the first Dutch band to play in the (then still) Soviet Union. Urban Dance Squad was a cross-over band, combining hip-hop with funk and rock. The band’s minor American success proved to be influential. Their music style (rapcore) influenced bands like Rage Against the Machine. Van Halen was created by Edward Van Halen who is of Dutch heritage. Dutch bands in the 2000s are Intwine, Kane, The Sheer, Krezip, Di-rect, Heidevolk and Johan. Current rock acts include Anouk, Voicst, Di-Rect, Kane, Destine, De Staat, Navarone, John Coffey.

Rock music in Ukraine

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginnings#

The history of rock music in Ukraine started in the second half of the 1950s with the spread of beat music among the youth in countries which were then part of the Soviet Union. This process resulted in the emergence of VIA youth collectives, which were a form of compromise between the official ban on “bourgeois” Western music by Soviet authorities and increased demand for modern entertainment during the Khrushchev Thaw era. Government pressure and frequent bans forced many musicians of that era to perform underground, and the Iron Curtain combined with censorship limited the possibilities of bands to adopt new musical styles. As a result, musical compositions tended to be eclectic and used elements of different styles in a selective manner. VIA songs lacked the traditional protest elements, and their topics were limited to lyrical and romantic images. At the same time, close connections with bard music, as well as the wish of young performers to underline their national identity, led to the integration of folkloric motives into Ukrainian rock music, which showed parallels to the folk revival trends in the West.

Rock urbano

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

References#

Rock urbano definition
Babas, Kike & Turrón, Kike; Maneras de vivir: Leño y el origen del rock urbano, Impresionarte, 2013,
Granados, Chema; La calle no calla!!, Quarentena Ediciones, 2009

Romo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Birth of Romo#

Club Skinny was created in spring 1995 by promoters Kevin Wilde and Paul “HiFi” Nugent as a club playing stylish 1980s pop as an antidote to the fashion for indie-derived Britpop. The club was originally located at Camden’s Laurel Tree venue, then the home of top Britpop clubnight Blow Up. Wilde and Nugent regarded it as a subversive and “punk” act to host their glamorous pop night at a major epicentre of the indie/Britpop movement they were opposing. Although initially forced to make the compromise of including concerts by upcoming Britpop bands in order to attract punters, the club gained momentum after members of Persecution Complex, a female David Bowie-influenced band noted for their flamboyant dress sense, became regulars at the club, attracting a flow of further flamboyant club-goers in their wake. A further development was the recruitment of two glamorous 1980s-styled bands Plastic Fantastic and DexDexTer. The former was a Brighton-based Roxy Music/Japan-influenced outfit fronted by former Scorpio Rising/Supercharger frontman Stuart Miller with bassist John Gold and German brothers Conrad and Shadric Toop on guitars/keyboards interchangeably. The latter were initially known as MkII featuring Basques Even and Gage on keyboards and bass, guitarist Gjeih and Irish singer Xav aka Xavior (born Paul Wilkinson, also formerly known as Paul Roide) a future Placebo keyboardist. The two Basques had been making synth-based music in Spain for several years before relocating to England and recruiting Xav and Gjeih. The two bands were duly scheduled to double-headline the 17 August edition of Club Skinny. In addition, one of the aspiring Britpop bands who had been playing at the club, Viva, led by Derek ‘Del’ Gray, were inspired by the club to reinvent themselves as a pure pop/disco outfit in the same vein as ABC circa The Lexicon of Love. Wilde would subsequently become the manager of both Viva and DexDexTer.

Rondalla

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The rondalla has its origins in the folk playing bands from Spain that were forerunners of the present-day rondalla and included four types: groups of young men who played and sang regularly in front of homes, bands of musicians known as murza or murga who begged for alms, a group of musicians known as comparza who played on stage, and groups of university musicians known as estudiantina, dubbed “tuna”. The usual musical instruments used by estudiantina members were mandolins, violins, guitars, flutes, cellos, basses, tambourines, castanets, and triangles. Estudiantina musicians in Spain and Mexico, before and during the age of musical romanticism, wore 16th century attire such as “short velvet breeches, ornate shirts and a short cape with multicolored ribbons”.

Rondeña

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The name rondeña is commonly connected with the town of Ronda, in the province of Málaga. Some writers have also related the word to the Spanish verb rondar, meaning to go round or to serenade, especially in the older custom of young men singing beneath a woman’s window. Flamenco writers differ on the relative importance of these explanations. The usual flamenco interpretation is that the style is linked to Ronda or to the wider Serranía de Ronda, although the association with rondas or serenading has also been noted in flamenco literature. The feminine form rondeña in Spanish can also mean a woman from Ronda, or something characteristic of Ronda. In the musical sense, however, it refers to a genre rather than to a person.

Russ music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Some notable artists#

;Russ music producers *Tix / The Pøssy Project *Soppgirobygget *El Papi *Dj Smellhodet *DJ Loppetiss *BEK & Wallin *Roc Boyz *BEK & Moberg *Kudos *Golfklubb *KANSELLERT *Truse Tarzan *Smörebua *Fjelltopp *Lurifaks *Spasme *Mackarinø *Hugge *Olav Haust *Solguden & Mannen *Sandmans *Ringnes-Ronny *Kuselofte *Öresus *Heux *B3nte *LIL FAT *Prells *J-Dawg *Lille Saus *Kobojsarna *FERDY / Sleiken ;Recurring producers *Skrillex *ItaloBrothers *Technikore ;Former producers *Mikkel Christiansen / Simen A *Kygo *DJ Walkzz *Ketz *K-391 *Tungevaag / Tungevaag & Raaban *Stian K *Russetunes *Lensko

Russian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1980s#

Hip hop culture in Russia began during the mid-late 1970s from the growing influence of the Eurodisco movement in Soviet Russia. However, breaking was one of the first elements of American hip hop culture to become popularized in the country, along with skateboarding, DJing, and MCing shortly after. The beginnings of Russian hip hop’s musical form, rap, can be traced back the 1980s. Regarded as the first ‘rap group in Russia, the group “Rush Hour” (Chas Pik) created one of the first attempts at rap in their 1984 album, “Rap.” The album contained a track called “Rap” which featured lyrics based on multiplication tables and letters and took its inspiration from the funk-based style of the popular track, Rapper’s Delight by Sugarhill Gang, released five years earlier. The 1980 Summer Olympics, held in Moscow, was one of the main catalysts for bringing hip hop culture to Soviet Russia, and by 1985 events like the 12th World Festival of Youth and Students and Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of Perestroika further brought Western culture into the country.

Russian jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early work in the 1920s#

Jazz music began to be played in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s, around the same time that it was gaining popularity in the United States. The introduction of the genre is often credited to Valentin Parnakh, a poet and choreographer inspired by American jazz performances he had seen during travels in Paris. Upon returning to the Soviet Union, Parnakh founded the RSFSR Eccentric Orchestra: Valentin Parnakh’s Jazz Band, considered the first official jazz band in the country. Their debut performance took place on October 1, 1922, sparking the gradual spread of jazz across the Soviet Union. Pianist Alexander Tsfasman, singer Leonid Utyosov and film score composer Isaak Dunayevsky also helped its popularity, especially with the popular comedy film Jolly Fellows that featured a jazz soundtrack. Eddie Rosner, Oleg Lundstrem, Coretti Arle-Titz and others contributed to Soviet jazz music. During this period, Utesov moved to Leningrad and set up one of the first Soviet jazz bands. In Leningrad, he began collaboration with the popular composer, Isaak Dunayevsky, which turned out to be a breakthrough for both artists. At that time, Utesov built a band of the finest musicians available in Leningrad, and created a style all his own – a jazz show with stand up comedy, which blended several styles, ranging from Russian folk songs to a variety of international cosmopolitan genres. In 1928, Utesov toured Europe and attended performances of American jazz bands in Paris, which influenced his own style. During the 1930s, Utesov and his band, called “Thea-Jazz” (a portmanteau of Theatrical Jazz) had a regular gig at the Marble Hall of the Kirov Palace of Culture in Leningrad. Utesov’s jazz band also performed at the Leningrad Maly Opera theatre, at the “Svoboda-teatr,” and at the Leningrad Music Hall. In his performances, Utesov delivered a variety of musical styles, including such genres as American jazz, Argentine tango, French chanson, upbeat dance, and Russian folk music.

Russian pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Since the mid-1970s and 1980s, Russian-language pop music has experienced development. Many musical compositions, such as “Lavender” and “Moon” (Sofia Rotaru), “Million Roses”, “Iceberg” and “Ferryman” (Alla Pugacheva), “I Want Change” (Kino), created during this period, will become signature a card of Soviet and then Russian pop music in the world. Russian music is becoming popular in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, Scandinavia and Central Asia. In 1990, the song “Moscow Calling” by Gorky Park became an international hit. From the mid-1980s, into the 1990s and 2000s, in addition to Russian performers in Russia, performers from other countries in Europe, Asia and America became popular, including Marylya Rodowicz from Poland, Army of Lovers and Roxette from Sweden, Gloria Gaynor from USA, Ricky Martin from Puerto Rico, In-Grid from Italy, Natalia Oreiro from Uruguay, Dan Balan from Moldova, Patricia Kaas from France, Laima Vaikule from Latvia, Thomas N’evergreen from Denmark, Svetlana Loboda and Verka Serduchka from Ukraine, A-Studio from Kazakhstan, Tarkan from Turkey, Arash from Iran, Avraam Russo from Syria and others. For several years, one of the most popular music programs on Soviet television was the show Melodies and Rhythms of foreign pop, which also showed the best performances from the Sanremo festival in Italy.

Russian romance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

By the early 20th century, several types of the Russian romance had emerged. An elite type of the Italianate opera-influenced song known as the “salon romance” is contrasted to the lower-class genre of “cruel romance” which features “sentimental courtship, illicit love, pained rejection, and often suicide”. The latter is supposed to have given birth to the Russian chanson. The Russian romance had its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s when the top performers included Anastasia Vyaltseva, Varvara Panina, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Tamara Tsereteli, Pyotr Leshchenko, and Alexander Vertinsky. A new generation of singers, such as Valentina Ponomaryova and Nani Bregvadze, emerged in the 1970s. Several vocalists from the pre-WWII era, including Izabella Yurieva (1899–2000), Vadim Kozin (1903–1994) and Alla Bayanova (1914–2011), also returned to prominence in the late Soviet years. Alexander Malinin, Sergey Zakharov and Oleg Pogudin are among the Russian romance singers active in the 21st century. In 1994, . Alexander Malinin received the World Music Award as best selling Russian artist. César Cui’s 1895 book Russian Art Song: A Study of Its Development was translated in J.R. Walker’s Classical Essays on the Development of Russian Art Songs (Northfield, MN, 1993).

Saeta (flamenco)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Performance#

The saeta is a song of Catholic Andalusia dating back many centuries. The saeta antigua old saeta probably arose from the recitation of psalms under the influence of liturgical music. “Saetas vary greatly in form and style, ranging from simple syllabic melodies to highly ornamented ones.” In the older tradition, solemn drums and horns might accompany the singer, or the saetero sang alone. Since the nineteenth century, however, the more favored saetas have incorporated distinct elements associated with Flamenco music, particularly the siguiriyas. The saeta is best known for its mournful power during Holy Week in Spain. The song is performed during the processions by religious confraternities that move slowly through the streets of cities and towns in southern Spain. Possessing a plaintive emotional intensity, and dramatic charge, the saeta is sung by the saetero, often from a balcony, and may be addressed to the statue of Jesus below, in his agony on the Via Dolorosa, or to that of his suffering mother Mary. These and other crafted statues are mounted on platforms and carried along the streets on the shoulders of several penitents who pass among the assembled public. The immediate emotional response to the saeta, often of intense sorrow, may be the reason for its name, as the Spanish word saeta can mean “arrow or dart”. One of the places with the most tradition and variety in the singing of the flamenco saeta in Spain is Jerez de la Frontera. Saetas are also sung at outdoor devotions throughout Lent, and may be sung during the Christmas season as well. Several of the cities in Andalusia have their own peculiar styles of the saeta. Four intentions or themes have been distinguished from the religious lyrics, which mark the music of Saeta: descriptive, praising, prayerful, and exhortative.

Sámi music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Musical instruments#

Some sources have commented on a supposed lack of musical instruments among the Sámi, with one 1885 work noting: “They cannot claim to possess a single instrument of their own, not even the most primitive.” Despite these beliefs, the Sámi employ a variety of musical instruments, several unique to them. Among these instruments are the fadno, a reedpipe made from Angelica archangelica stalks, and the Sámi drum. Late 18th century researchers also noted two bagpipes in Lapland: the sak-pipe and the wal-pipe. Other Sámi instruments of wider Scandinavian usage include the lur (a long horn trumpet), and the harpu, a zither to the Finnish kantele. Willow flutes are often made from the bark of the quicken tree or mountain ash. Modern bands use a wide variety of instruments, especially the fiddle, concertina, and accordion.

Sarabande

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance called zarabanda is first mentioned in 1539 in Central America in the poem Vida y tiempo de Maricastaña, written in Panama by Fernando de Guzmán Mejía. In 1596, Alonso López, “el Pinciano”, traces its origins even to the cult of Dionysus. The dance seems to have been especially popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, initially in Spain and in the Spanish colonies. The Jesuit priest Juan de Mariana thought it indecent, describing it in his (Treatise Against Public Amusements, 1609) as “a dance and song so loose in its words and so ugly in its motions that it is enough to excite bad emotions in even very decent people”. A character in an entremés by Cervantes alluded to the dance’s notoriety by saying that hell was its “birthplace and breeding place” (in ). It was banned in Spain in 1583 but was nevertheless still performed and frequently cited in literature of the period (for instance, by Lope de Vega). Bach sometimes gave the sarabande a privileged place in his music, where it is often the heart of his suites for cello or keyboard. And outside the context of dance suites, striking examples include the theme (aria) and the 13th and 26th variations from Bach’s Goldberg Variations; and the final movements of both the St. John and St. Matthew Passions. The anonymous harmonic sequence known as La Folia appears in pieces of various types, mainly dances, by dozens of composers from the time of Mudarra (1546) and Corelli through to the present day, custom perhaps influenced by its Spanish origin. The theme of the fourth-movement Sarabande of Handel’s Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437) for harpsichord, one of these many pieces, appears prominently in the film Barry Lyndon. The sarabande was revived in the 19th and early 20th centuries by the German composer Louis Spohr (in his Salonstücke, Op. 135 of 1847), Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (in his Holberg Suite of 1884), French composers such as Debussy and Satie, and in England, in different styles, Vaughan Williams (in Job: A Masque for Dancing), Benjamin Britten (in the Simple Symphony), Herbert Howells (in Six Pieces for Organ: Saraband for the Morning of Easter), and Carlos Chávez in the ballet La hija de Cólquide. The sarabande inspired the title of Ingmar Bergman’s last film Saraband (2003). The film uses the sarabande from Bach’s Fifth Cello Suite, which Bergman also used in Cries and Whispers (1972).

Sardana

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The origin of the Sardana is unknown. The oldest found reference to the word Sardana is from 1552. The invention served to symbolize the distinct Catalan ethos promoted by the then-newborn Catalan nationalism. These influences evolved into sardanes (plural of sardana) of different lengths. As a consequence, people started counting steps in order to finish at the same time. Shorter choreographies could be accommodated in longer melodies. The new melodies which progressively were made popular required new instruments, increasing the size of the cobla. This fact increased the identification of the sardana with Catalanism. In 2015 the Spanish parliament approved unanimously an initiative of the People’s Party of Spain to urge the Spanish Government to promote sardana for inclusion in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The same vote was done in 2002 in Spain’s senate and was rejected due to the negative vote of People’s Party of Spain.

Schlager music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Schlager is a loanword from German (from schlagen ’to hit’). It also came into some other languages (such as Bulgarian, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, Czech, Croatian, Finnish, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Serbian, Turkish, Russian, Hebrew, and Romanian ), where it retained its meaning of a hit".

Central Europe#

The roots of German schlager are old. Originally, the word meant a hit or a strike. The first use of the word applied to music, in its original meaning, was in an opening night critique in the newspaper Wiener Fremden-Blatt on 17 February 1867 about The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II. One ancestor of schlager music in its current meaning may be the operetta, which was highly popular in the early twentieth century. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Comedian Harmonists and Rudi Schuricke laid the foundations for this new music. Well-known schlager singers of the 1940s, 50s and early 60s include Lale Andersen, Freddy Quinn, Ivo Robić, Gerhard Wendland, Caterina Valente, Margot Eskens and Conny Froboess. Schlager reached a peak of popularity in Germany and Austria in the 1960s (featuring Peter Alexander and Roy Black) and the early 1970s. From the mid-1990s through the early 2000s, schlager also saw an extensive revival in Germany by, for example, Guildo Horn, In Hamburg in the 2010s, Schlager fans still gathered annually by the hundreds of thousands, dressing in 1970s clothing for street parades called “Schlager Move”. The Schlager Move designation is also used for a number of smaller schlager music parties in several major German cities throughout the year. (This revival is sometimes associated with kitsch and camp.) In the meantime, private radio has brought Schlager back to the radio. Schlager Radio is a station that broadcasts its program terrestrially in Germany via transmission towers on both FM and DAB+. Stylistically, schlager continues to influence German “party pop” or “party-schlager” (e.g. “Layla”, 2022): that is, music most often heard in après-ski bars and Mallorcan mass discos. Contemporary schlager is often mingled with Volkstümliche Musik. If it is not part of an ironic kitsch revival, a taste for both styles of music is commonly associated with folksy pubs, fun fairs, and bowling league venues. In the English-speaking world, the most popular group to have included elements of schlager in their style is probably ABBA, a band that mixed traditional Swedish music, schlager, and pop-rock to create their own sound.

Schrammelmusik

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Schrammel brothers#

In 1878, the brothers Johann Schrammel (1850–1893) and Josef Schrammel (1852-1895), musicians, violinists and composers from Vienna, Austria, formed an ensemble with guitarist Anton Strohmayer, son of the celebrated composer Alois Strohmayer. The Schrammel brothers played two violins, accompanied by Strohmayer on a double-necked contraguitar. Inspired by both urbane and rustic traditions, the three musicians performed folk songs, marches, and dance music, most often for audiences at wine taverns (Heurigen) and inns around Vienna. At first the trio called themselves the “Nussdorfers” after the village of Nussdorf where they often performed. In 1884 clarinetist joined the group, which soon enjoyed phenomenal success under the name “Schrammel Brothers Specialities Quartet” (Specialitäten Quartett Gebrüder Schrammel). The ensemble was invited to perform in palaces and mansions as “Schrammel euphoria” gripped the Viennese elite. So great was the Schrammel brothers’ popularity that some earlier folk music forms, such as the Wienerlied dialect song, came to be known as Schrammelmusik as well. The Schrammels’ popularity eventually extended throughout Europe and in 1893 they were invited to perform at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Schrammels composed more than 200 songs and music pieces in just seven years. Johann Schrammel died in 1893, followed two years later by Josef. Each brother was 43 years old at his death, and both died of nephritis.

Scottish Gaelic punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Punk in the Welsh language, particularly the bands connected with the Anhrefn record label, was an early inspiration to the Gaelic punk scene in Scotland. The Scottish rock band Runrig’s first album (Play Gaelic) in 1978 is considered to be the first notable modern Scottish Gaelic-language music album; other than Ultravox’s 1984 album “Lament”, which contained some Gaelic lyrics in the song Man of Two Worlds, and mid-1990s grindcore band Scatha, from Tomintoul who featured Gaelic in several of their songs, there were no further albums of modern music all in Gaelic until spring 2005, when Oi Polloi and Mill a h-Uile Rud both released all-Gaelic EPs. They are occasionally active, although they have not released any new material in some time. Oi Polloi, from Edinburgh, Scotland started performing in English in 1981. They released a Gaelic EP, Carson?, in 2005, followed by an all-Gaelic LP, Ar Ceòl, Ar Cànan, Ar-a-mach, in 2006, and the all-Gaelic LP, Dùisg!, in 2012. Their live set features a mix of English and Gaelic material, although they tend to favour the Gaelic material when they play in Scotland. At some concerts in Portree and Stornoway, all of their songs and stage banter were in Gaelic. The backgrounds of the musicians in the subgenre are diverse, from Tim (Mill a h-Uile Rud), who hails from Seattle in the United States, to Anna Rothach (Nad Aislingean and Oi Polloi), who was born and raised in South Uist. The uniting feature of all of these bands is that most of the Gaelic-speaking members have spent some time at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, a Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye. In DIY-punk style, the Gaelic punks started out by teaching each other the language at Gaelic for Punks classes; first held at the Edinburgh European City of Punk festival in 1997. After these individuals gained fluency, they took advantage of scholarships available at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and there has been a small, but steady, stream of punks at the college ever since. The Gaelic punk band Mill a h-Uile Rud were featured in the BBC arts documentary series Ealtainn, which followed them on a tour of Europe and filmed them at concerts in the Gaelic-speaking heartland of the Isle of Lewis. The Scotsman, a national Scottish paper based in Edinburgh, regularly covers the Gaelic punk scene, and the American publications Maximum Rocknroll and Punk Planet have carried features on the subgenre.

Scottish hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In the 1980s, elements of hip-hop culture had spread to Scotland. Scottish actor and stand-up comedian Johnny Beattie claimed to be “Scotland’s first rap star”. His song “The Glasgow Rap” was released in 1983 and received some chart success at the time. In the late 1980s artists such as II Tone Committee, Bill Drummond, Krack Free Media, Dope Inc and into the early 1990s with Blacka’nized, NorthernXposure, Zulu Syndicate, Eastborn, Major Threat, All Time High and UTI (Under The Influence) laid the groundwork for a Scottish hip-hop subculture, rapping consciously about their own lives and problems in their own voices rather than emulating American rappers of the time. The first Scottish hip-hop on vinyl was The Frontal Attack, released by Dope Inc in 1991. In Glasgow, Steg G & the Freestyle Master were producing work that added a west coast twist to Scottish rap. thanks to the creation of battle events in both Edinburgh & Glasgow by Nity Gritz, co-hosted by Werd (S.O.S) This even culminated in a Scotsman becoming the de facto UK battle rap champion when Soul became the Don’t Flop champion in 2015. Indeed Flyting was a medieval Scottish poetic tradition of ritualised insult battles between poets, which reached its peak i the 15th and 16th century.. These duels, like the famous one between William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy, were public competitions of verbal wit and creativity, with insults often focused on cowardice or other personal failings. The practice is considered a precursor to modern rap battles, though it was rooted in a more formal, courtly tradition of structured verse. Several artists within the hip-hop community also became galvanised by the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The likes of Loki and Stanley Odd championed the Yes vote. The former emerged as an activist and cultural voice on behalf of the hip-hop community, while the latter went viral with their single “Son, I Voted Yes”. Elsewhere, several acts within the scene broke into the mainstream. The likes of Hector Bizerk and The LaFontaines earned prestigious slots at the T in the Park festival, as well as widespread critical recognition. Meanwhile, Young Fathers, a hip-hop group from Edinburgh, achieved UK-wide success with their album “Dead”, for which they won the Mercury prize. While Edinburgh’s Madhat McGore pushed the music further down south, working with English acts and appearing on Charlie Sloth’s BBC Fire in the Booth. Eastborn toured Europe, Australia, the US and China, as well as being a guest slot presenter on BBC 1xtra. Edinburgh Born Rob Mitchell leads Abstract Orchestra, a British hip-hop orchestra that are known for reworking classic American hip-hop and working with both UK and US artists. In July 2015, the Audio Soup festival in Dunbar became the first to dedicate an entire stage to Scottish hip-hop artists.

Scrumpy and Western

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sean-nós singing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

There is almost no mention of sean-nós songs in medieval Irish literature, but experts have speculated that sean-nós singing has existed in a similar form since the thirteenth century. In early Irish history, poets and bards had distinctly separate social roles from musicians. However, the Tudor and Cromwellian conquests of Ireland led to a suppression of traditional Irish culture, and the 1662 Act of Settlement, which banished Irish Catholic landowners to Connacht, meant that the remains of these once complex social and regional styles combined. The once lowly bard became the nonprofessional composer of “street poetry” (sráid éigse), and the strict meters of older, professionally composed, Irish ballads were replaced with the far more accessible amhrán (“song”) meters. The tradition of the sean-nós song was exclusively oral and remains customarily so, however, a few songs were known to have been conveyed to script as early as the 16th century. A songbook for Elizabeth I contained English interpretations of sean-nós songs. Songs started to be more extensively written down in the eighteenth century and distributed in print from then on. The Irish antiquarian Thomas Crofton Croker described an elderly female sean-nós singer he encountered in the early 1800s known for her “skill in keening”: This woman, whose name was Harrington, led a wandering kind of life, travelling from cottage to cottage about the country, and though in fact subsisting on charity, found everywhere not merely a welcome, but had numerous invitations on account of the vast store of Irish verses she had collected and could repeat. Her memory was indeed extraordinary; and the clearness, quickness, and elegance with which she translated from the Irish into English, though unable to read or write, is almost incredible. Before she commenced repeating, she mumbled for a short time, probably the beginning of each stanza, to assure herself of the arrangement, with her eyes closed, rocking her body backwards and forward, as if keeping time to the measure of the verse, She then began in a kind of whining recitation, but as she proceeded, and as the composition required it, her voice assumed a variety of deep and fine tones, and the energy with which many passages were delivered, proved her perfect comprehension and strong feeling of the subject. The first recordings of sean-nós singing were made in 1905 by Richard Henebry (Risteard De Hindeberg) in An Rinn (Ring) and Cill Ghobnait (Kilgobnet), County Waterford, all of which have been digitised and made available online via the Irish Traditional Music Archive website. In 1907, the Austrian ethnologist Rudolf Trebitsch made several recordings in Counties Waterford, Kerry, Donegal as well as Dublin. Later in the twentieth century, particularly during the folk revival, some sean-nós singers gained popularity in international folk music circles. The most notable of these was the Connemara singer Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (Joe Heaney), Others, including Bess Cronin of West Cork, were visited and recorded by song collectors and their recordings inspired future generations of musicians. The term “sean-nós” (“old style”) to describe traditional Irish language singing began in the early 1940s at the Gaelic League Oireachtas

Seguidilla

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Types#

The earliest and most influential of the types of seguidilla are thought to originate in either La Mancha or Andalusia, having become typical of large parts of central Spain. Variants include the seguidilla manchega (from La Mancha) as well as the murciana from Murcia and the slightly faster sevillana of Seville. One of the most complex styles of seguidilla is the seguidilla flamenca or seguiriya), which is used in flamenco music. Act I of Jacques Offenbach’s opera La Périchole includes a number entitled “Séguedille”.

Serbian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early roots#

Serbian hip-hop first started in the early 1980s with the birth of b-boy crews. The first Serbian hip-hop record release was the Degout EP by The Master Scratch Band, which was released by Jugoton in 1984. The hip-hop scene in Serbia was not popularized until the demo band of teenagers Badvajzer (Budweiser) appeared in 1987, and became extremely popular. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, bands such as CYA, Green Kool Posse (Sunshine crew), Who Is The Best, Robin Hood, Double 1, Bez Kaucije, Crno-Bela Veza, and Jedva Smo Se Skupili came into being, all together starting the first hip-hop scene in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia.

Serbian pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginning of the pop music in Serbia#

Pop music in Serbia existed before Second World War. It is known that in late 1920s guest of Serbian capital Belgrade was a famous singer and actress Josephine Baker which suggests that in Serbia there were many gramophone records of this style of music and similar music styles such as jazz. It also confirms the statement of the actress Ognjenka Het in the radio show of Radio Belgrade called Two white pigeons in 1986 and is also confirmed by other direct and indirect sources. While the first singer-songwriters appear in other parts of Yugoslavia in that time in Serbia were performed romances, starogradska muzika, and folk music by the singers Edo Ljubić, Fulgencije Vucemilović, Milan Timotić, Olga Jančevecka and others. Mijat Mijatović, Sofka Nikolić, Bora Janjić – Šapčanin mostly performed folk songs, sevdalinka, starogradska muzika, but sometimes they also performed pop music. Bora Janjić – Šapčanin recorded the cover of Hungarian schlager Sad Sunday.

Sevillanas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dance#

Sevillanas are danced by couples of all ages and sexes during celebrations (fiestas or ferias), often by whole families and towns. Sevillana choreography is characterized by stability and functionality, since it is a festival dance. This is why those intending to dance flamenco usually start by learning sevillanas; they are easier to master and there are more occasions for practice and training. The rhythm of Sevillanas can be interpreted as 3/4, although it is generally 6/8. Each sevillana is composed of four or sometimes seven parts, with each part divided into three coplas and with each copla made up of six movements. During festivals and shows, it is often the Sevillana dancing visitors to Andalusia mistakenly take as Flamenco, as it is a vivid style, full of turns.

Shoegaze

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The term shoegaze—originally shoegazing—was coined by Andy Ross, who was a part-time Sounds contributor and head of Food Records, the label that promoted Blur. On March 15, 1991, Ross attended Lush’s concert at the Venue in New Cross with his then assistant Polly Birkbeck, where Blur and Moose also performed as support. According to writer Ryan Pinkard, an erroneous story claimed that Ross introduced the word “shoegazing” in a live review of the concert published in Sounds. This use predated Ross’s recollection in his 2016 HuffPost article, in which he stated that he pitched “shoegazing” to Lamacq and fellow NME writer Simon Williams over lunch on October 9, 1991, after Sounds was shut down and he no longer had a publication in which he could promote his “groundbreaking genre”. According to Pinkard, the appearance of the term in print several months earlier than Ross’s conversation with Lamacq and Williams suggested a problem with Ross’s timeline, with the most likely explanation being that he “got the dates wrong”.

Siciliana

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History and notable examples#

In a 2006 book, Raymond Monelle found musicologists’ attempts to trace the style to any authentic tradition in Sicily inconclusive, though he did trace its origins back to Italian Renaissance madrigals from the 1500s, in triple time with dotted rhythms. These madrigal rhythms may themselves derive from the dactylic hexameter of the epic poetry of ancient Greece and Rome.

Baroque era#

The siciliana was firmly established as a signifier of a pastoral context in the operas of Sicilian-born Alessandro Scarlatti, though only two of his slow arias in are actually titled “aria siciliana” in the scores. Monelle notes that the texts of Scarlatti’s siciliana arias are generally lamenting and melancholic. and sicilianas are described in musical dictionaries since 1703. Further examples of Baroque sicilianas are found in J. S. Bach’s music: for instance, in his Sonata in G minor for solo violin, BWV 1001, in his Sonata in E-flat for flute and harpsichord, BWV 1031, and in his Concerto in E for harpsichord and strings, BWV 1053. Other well-known Baroque sicilianas are: the middle movement of Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 11, from L’estro armonico (which Bach then transcribed as his Concerto in D minor for organ, BWV 596), the first movement of Giuseppe Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill Sonata” for violin, and the last movement of Arcangelo Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, Op. 6, No. 8.

Ska punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Ska punk combines ska music with punk rock music. Ska punk often features wind instruments, especially horns such as saxophones, trombones and trumpets, making the genre distinct from other forms of punk rock. It is similar to traditional Jamaican ska, but faster and heavier.

Predecessors and early development (late 1970s to early 1990s)#

Before ska punk started, many ska bands and punk rock bands performed on the same bills together and appealed to the same audiences. A ska revival occurred simultaneously around the beginning of British punk rock and the near-simultaneous rebirth of the late 1970s British mod and skinhead movements. During the late 1970s and early 1980s in United Kingdom, many punk rock bands mixed punk rock with ska influences. Pioneering punk rock band the Clash incorporated influences from ska alongside a range of other genres on their seminal 1979 post-punk album London Calling. Songs like 1978’s “Kill the Hippies” by the Deadbeats prominently featured horns, although there are no ska elements. Other British bands that were influenced by both punk rock and ska included the Specials, the Beat and Madness. With both films like the 1981 documentary film Dance Craze and supportive radio stations like Los Angeles, California’s KROQ, ska crossed the Atlantic. During the 1980s in America, ska punk was underground. However, Fishbone, one of the earliest ska punk bands, achieved moderate success. Another band in America that was semi-popular came from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, called the Pressure Boys. Other ska punk bands from the 1980s and early 1990s include Operation Ivy, The Toasters, Culture Shock, Voodoo Glow Skulls, the Porkers, Sublime, Citizen Fish, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Suicide Machines, MU330 and Dance Hall Crashers.

Skiladiko

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Chryspa
Lefteris Pantazis
Giorgos Mazonakis
Nancy Alexiadi
Dionysis Makris
Kelly Kelekidou
Maro Litra
Vasilis Karras
Paola Foka
Zafeiris Melas
Anna Vissi
Angela Dimitriou
Antypas (singer)
Themis Adamantidis

Skweee

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The name “skweee” was coined by Daniel Savio, one of the originators of the emerging sound. The name refers to the use of analog synthesizers in the production process, where the aim is to “squeeze out” the most interesting sounds possible. Producers can vary from high-profile to new talent from the Scandinavian electronica environment.

Recognition#

The major outlets of skweee music are the Swedish record label Flogsta Danshall and Finnish record label Harmönia. Norwegian Dødpop, Canadian Ancient Robot, US Losonofono, US Titched, US Poisonous Gases, Spanish Lo Fi Funk, Finnish Mässy, and French Mazout have since been added to this family. The preferred media format of skweee enthusiasts is the 7" vinyl record. Early releases were exclusively released in this format. More recently, however, a series of 12" vinyl records, digital releases and CD compilations have been released through these outlets as well. The increasing notability of the skweee genre has resulted in releases such as the Eero Johannes album on Planet Mu. Producers such as Rusko, Gemmy, Joker, Zomby, and Rustie have given their take on the sound, resulting in several releases on the boundary between skweee and dubstep.

Slip jig

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Example#

Music of the slip jig “Drops of brandy”: \relative c \key d \major \time 9/8 \repeat volta 2 a8 b a fis d fis fis d fis a8 b a fis d fis g fis e a8 b a fis d fis fis d fis g fis g e4 fis8 g fis e a8 b a fis d fis fis d fis a8 b a fis d fis g fis e a8 b a fis d fis fis d fis g fis g e4 fis8 g fis e \repeat volta 2 d fis a d a fis d’ a fis d fis a d a fis g fis e d fis a d a fis d’ a fis g fis g e4 fis8 g fis e d fis a d a fis d’ a fis d fis a d a fis g fis e d fis a d fis e d a fis g fis g e4 fis8 g fis e

Slovenian-style polka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instruments#

The Slovenian style polka band always includes a piano accordion, chromatic accordion, or the Diatonic button accordion (also called a “button box”). An accordion called the Half Chromatic, often abbreviated half-chrom, is sometimes used. This accordion has a right side similar to a three-row B-system chromatic accordion, but a bass side similar to the Diatonic button accordion. Some bands in Slovenia use keyboard instead of accordion. The other melody instrument is a saxophone or clarinet, and the rhythm instruments include drums, bass, and guitar or banjo. The Avsenik brothers also add a trumpet to their sound. The Slovenian style polka in the United States came about when immigrants from Slovenia taught the old songs to their children. Those children, as adults, translated the old songs from Slovene into English, and arranged them in a polka beat. This began the oral tradition of Cleveland-style polka music.

Soft rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mid-to-late 1960s#

Softer sounds in rock music could be heard in mid-1960s songs, such as “A Summer Song” by Chad & Jeremy (1964) and “Here, There and Everywhere” by the Beatles and “I Love My Dog” by Cat Stevens, both from 1966. By 1968, hard rock had been established as a mainstream genre. From the end of the 1960s, it became common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock, with both emerging as major radio formats in the US. The Bee Gees were considered soft rock in the late 1960s.

Soleá

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lyrics#

When singers sing soleá, as with most palos, they normally choose different “coplas” (stanzas), with different melody, and combine them according to the inspiration of the moment or to a previous plan. Even if the singer has a previous plan, it is often altered on the spur of the moment. These stanzas are independent in subject matter from one another. The content of the lyrics is generally serious in nature, as appropriate to the solemn air of the music. They often have a sententious tone and convey a feeling of intimate pain. Sometimes despair, more typical of seguiriya, can also appear. However, it is difficult to generalize: sometimes a less serious stanza can turn up in the middle of other serious ones, and irony is frequent. The stanza of the soleá has three or four lines. In four-line stanzas, the second and fourth line are in assonant rhyme, while the first and third are free. In three-line stanzas, the assonance is between the first and the third. Some examples: ;A three-line stanza :No se me daba cuidao :me hago cargo que ha sío un ensueño :y a lo pasaíto pasao. :;Translation ::I didn’t mind ::I know it was just a dream ::and past things are past. ;A four-line stanza :Fui piedra y perdí mi centro :y me arrojaron al mar :y a fuerza de mucho tiempo :mi centro vine a encontrar :;Translation ::I was a stone and lost my centre ::and was thrown into the sea ::and after a very long time ::I came to find my centre again. This type of stanza is the cuarteta romanceada, one of the oldest and most frequent in Spanish poetry, and is derived from the medieval “Romance” poetic form, a type of traditional epic poetry that has survived in both learned and popular literature to our days. The melody of a soleá can demand repeating some lines, altering their logical order, or cutting the lines, sometimes even in the middle of words. For example, as stanza like: :En mis cortas oraciones :le pido a dios llorando :que me quite la salud :y a ti te la vaya dando :;Translation ::In my short prayers ::crying, I ask God ::to deprive me of my health ::and to give it back to you Can be rendered in song like: :A Dios llorando yo le pido :le pido a Dios llorando :yo le pido a Dios llorando :que me quite la salud :y a ti te la vaya dando :en mis cortas oraciones :que yo le pido a Dios llorando

Sonorism

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Sonorism is rooted in the nationalistic movement of the 1920s called “Polish colourism”, whose best-known exponent is Karol Szymanowski. Sonorism as such was developed in the 1950s and 1960s as a means of gaining freedom from strict serialism, particularly by Krzysztof Penderecki, but also in a number of compositions by Grażyna Bacewicz, Henryk Górecki, Kazimierz Serocki, Wojciech Kilar, Witold Szalonek, Witold Rudziński, Zbigniew Bujarski, Zbigniew Penherski, and Zygmunt Krauze, amongst others (; ).

Sophisti-pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Sophisti-pop is characterized by its extensive use of electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and polished arrangements. Artists also utilized cutting-edge studio technology and perfectionist recording methods. The genre has been described as mellow, romantic, and atmospheric, with artists often adopting a sharp, well-dressed and well-groomed visual presentation.

History#

Stylus Magazine suggested that acts had been influenced by the work of Roxy Music (such as 1982’s Avalon, often cited as the first sophisti-pop album), and Bryan Ferry’s Boys and Girls (1985) and Bête Noire (1987). Sweetwater named major artists in the genre as including the Blue Nile, Prefab Sprout, the Style Council, Scritti Politti, Everything but the Girl, and Danny Wilson. Its popularity declined in the 1990s.

Sovietwave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

At the height of the trance music boom in the 2000s, Russian trance duo PPK used the melodies of Soviet electronic music as the basis of their compositions, pioneering the fusion of contemporary electronic music with Soviet-era nostalgia. Until 2014, the groups of the “Soviet wave” — N.E.M.O., , PPVK — were often classified as indie, lo-fi or other type of electronics. One of the first performers who took a course to isolate themselves from the rest of electronic music was the Kharkiv project “Mayak”. The main inspirations for Sovietwave artists are typically the collective cultural memories associated with the Soviet era. Lyudmila Shevchenko of Jan Kochanowski University considers the genre a manifestation of romanticized “nostalgic myth”. Sovietwave became popular in post-Soviet countries in the latter half of the 2010s, drawing on synthwave and nostalgia for mid-century Soviet culture in the region. In September 2017, on Moscow City Day sovietwave compositions were used in the musical design of the Crafts Park pavilion. In August 2018, the first music festival “Volna-1” (“Wave-1”) dedicated to the genre was held in St. Petersburg; “Volna-2” was held on August 10, 2019, in Moscow. On July 22, 2019, an Olympic Night concert party was held in the abandoned SKA pool in Novosibirsk, decorated in the style of Soviet nostalgia; most of the collectives belonged to local sovietwave groups. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sovietwave experienced a growth in popularity, along with related forms of vaporwave and synthwave. This upsurge was driven in large part by the success of the Belarusian post-punk band Molchat Doma, whose song from the album Etazhi became a popular meme on TikTok. According to Cat Zhang of Pitchfork, the song connected with Generation Z’s “deep pessimism towards the future”. Molchat Doma’s entry into the mainstream spawned multiple compilations of the genre on streaming platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, which feature more overt nostalgia for Soviet and Space Age aesthetics despite the band’s criticism of the genre for “fail ing to recognize the harsh realities of life in the region”. Sovietwave gained popularity primarily with younger Millennials and Generation Z in post-Soviet states. Hungarian lifestyle writer Zsófia Tóth noted that Sovietwave “playlists are usually listened to by young people who were born just before the fall of the Soviet Union or have only experienced its aftermath.” Gamble notes that Sovietwave was brought to an international audience by “the wide accessibility of YouTube music mixes.”

Space rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins: 1950s–1960s#

Humanity’s entry into outer space provided ample subject matter for rock and roll and R&B songs from the mid-1950s through the early 1960s. It also inspired new sounds and sound effects to be used in the music itself. A prominent early example of space rock is the 1959 concept album I Hear a New World by British producer and songwriter Joe Meek. The album was inspired by the space race and concerned humanity’s first close encounter with alien life forms. Meek then went on to have a UK and US No 1 success in 1961 with “Telstar”, named after the newly launched communications satellite and thus intended to commemorate the new space age. Its main instrument was a clavioline, an electronic forerunner of the synthesizers. Pink Floyd’s early albums contain pioneering examples of space rock: “Astronomy Domine”, “Pow R. Toc H.” and “Interstellar Overdrive” from their 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn are examples, with free-form improvisations from lead guitarist and then-bandleader Syd Barrett. Their second album A Saucerful of Secrets contained further examples: “Let There Be More Light” and “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” with explicit science fiction themes, and their third, More (1969), had “Cirrus Minor”. Jimi Hendrix is also an early innovator of the genre, with such tracks as “Third Stone from the Sun”, “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” and “The Stars That Play with Laughing Sam’s Dice”.

Spanish jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jazz festivals#

Festival de Jazz de Barcelona (Barcelona)
Vitoria-Gasteiz jazz festival (Vitoria-Gasteiz)
San Sebastian Jazz Festival (Donostia-San Sebastian)
Festival de Jazz de Terrassa (Terrassa)
Festival de Jazz de Valencia (Mar-i-jazz)

20th century#

Ramón Evaristo - bandleader, violinist
Pedro Iturralde - saxophonist in jazz and classical
Tete Montoliu - pianist

Late 20th century#

Established in late 20th century, and continuing later * Alberto Conde - pianist * Chano Domínguez - pianist * Jorge Pardo - saxophonist and flautist who worked with Chick Corea * Mario Rossi- samba and jazz * Jorge Rossy - drummer who worked 10 years with the first trio of Brad Mehldau * Perico Sambeat - saxophonist, flamenco nominee in Latin Grammy Awards of 2005 * Ximo Tebar - guitarist * Ignasi Terraza - pianist * Tomatito - guitarist and composer blending flamenco and jazz

Spanish opera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early history#

Opera was slow to develop within Spain in comparison to France, Italy and (to a lesser extent) Germany, all of which have had continuous traditions of opera since the early part of the 17th century. One of the reasons for this slow development was Spain’s strong tradition of spoken drama, which made some critics believe that opera was a less worthy art form. However, there was a tradition of songs given within largely spoken plays which began in the early 16th century by such distinguished composers as Juan del Encina. The earliest Spanish operas appeared in the mid-17th century, with libretti by such famous writers as Calderón de la Barca and Lope de Vega to music by such composers as Juan Hidalgo de Polanco. These early operas, however, failed to catch the imagination of the Spanish public. It was not until the increasing popularity of such genres as ballad opera and opéra comique that opera in Spain started to gain momentum, since the use of speech in the vernacular inevitably encouraged Spanish composers to develop their own national style of opera: zarzuela.

Speed garage

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Speed garage features sped-up NY garage 4-to-the-floor rhythms that are combined with breakbeats. Snares are placed as over the 2nd and the 4th kickdrums, so in other places of the drum pattern. Speed garage tunes have warped, heavy basslines, influenced by jungle and reggae. Sweeping bass is typical for speed garage. It is also typical for speed garage tunes to have a breakdown. Speed garage tunes sometimes featured time-stretched vocals. As it is heavily influenced by jungle, speed garage makes heavy use of jungle and dub sound effects, such as gunshots and sirens.

Stadium house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Starogradska muzika

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In Serbia#

Starogradska muzika was very popular during the early 20th century in Serbia. Today, this sort of music can be heard in the bohemian quarter of Belgrade, Skadarlija. It is most popular in the northern part of Serbia, Vojvodina. Famous performers include Zvonko Bogdan, Ksenija Cicvarić, Toma Zdravković and Dušan Jakšić. The lyrics are often romantic and depict city life, as well as some more rural scenes.

In North Macedonia#

The emergence of starogradska muzika is related to the development of cities and the bourgeoisie under the influence of the West in the Ottoman-occupied Macedonia during the 19th century. Unlike rural folk music, which portrays life in villages, the nature surrounding them, and the hard agricultural work performed in the fields, starogradska music is about life in the city and its famous loves, tragedies, and characters, from rich traders to impoverished beggars. Starogradska music uses instruments such as violins and clarinets instead of ones associated with more rural music, such as gajda. While rural folk performers usually wear traditional village costumes, starogradska music performers are usually dressed in European old city fashions, including suits, hats and neckties, as well as accessories such as pocket watches and walking sticks. An important, if not the most important part of the Macedonian old city music is the musical genre called Čalgija (not to be confused with chalga, which is a contemporary Turbofolk style in Bulgaria and Serbia). In both rural and urban Macedonian folk, songs about famous revolutionaries also exist. Among prominent starogradska performers are Ansambl Biljana from the city of Ohrid, a historic center for this sort of music along with Bitola, Prilep and others, the vocal groups Oktet Makedonija from Skopje and Oktet Kumanovo from Kumanovo, and the vocal and instrumental ensemble Raspeani Resenčani from Resen.

Strathspey (dance)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Printed collections#

Among printed collections of Strathspeys, Keith MacDonald’s “The Skye Collection of the Best Reels and Strathspeys” (1887) has over 400 tunes. It is mentioned on the website “The Session” under the article for “Clark’s Strathspey”. Peter Wyper recorded a version of “Lord Lynedoch” on cylinder in the period 1901 - 1907. (see “The Session” article referenced above). It is not easy to determine the most frequently recorded strathspey but “Monymusk” has been recorded 24 times. (see “The Session” again). The “tunearch” website has 21 transcriptions of “Money Musk”, originally dated to 1789.

Street punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Street punk lyrics commonly address topics such as fighting, drinking, partying, inner-city turmoil, gang violence, blue-collar issues, union or organized labor issues. Punk veteran Felix Havoc said:

Origins (late 1970s and early 1980s)#

Street punk grew out of working class young people who disliked the first wave of punk’s more artistic nature. The AllMusic guide credits Sham 69 as the band which brought street punk to prominence around 1978–1979, while an article by the i hailed the U.K. Subs and their 1979 debut album Another Kind of Blues as one of the first examples of street punk. Writer Ian Glasper credited the Cockney Rejects 1980 single “Bad Man” as setting a “new standards for what was to become known as street punk” due to its “melodic lead guitar, belligerent vocal delivery and gang backup chants”. However, as the sound began to form, it was quickly split between two separate punk scenes: the anarcho-punk scene, which saw the sound as inherently political due to its working class ties; and the oi! scene, which was largely apolitical.

Suomisaundi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In the early 90s, a party collective Ruskababa introduced Goa trance to a handful of enthusiasts through their covert summertime party activities. The party music was typically played from DAT tapes or even from cassette tapes and included mostly Goan hits from the previous season’s parties. Pepe Kosminen was one of the DJs playing these new psychedelic tunes to the Finnish audience in Ruskababa parties. New party collectives emerged as DJs drew more inspiration from Goa. The first new collective was Smooth Underground which organised the last of its parties in a warehouse in Herttoniemi, with Ville Tikkanen playing Goa trance for the first time in Finland in a more conventional trance setting. After the dismantling of Smooth Underground, another group, Löyhä was formed. Löyhä was the first party collective to put a special focus on promoting locally made music. Inspired by the covert party tradition of Ruskababa and Smooth Underground, the group was determined to push the boundaries of organising unlicensed parties in an urban environment. It was not uncommon for the early organisers to experience issues with the authorities related to the parties. The first time Suomisaundi reached global circulation was during the 95-96 season in Goa, when DAT tape recordings of early songs produced by Tim Thick became an overnight sensation within the gatekeepers of the underground Goa trance DJ scene. The sounds and themes found in these short FastTracker 2 songs, and the inspiring response they had received globally, became the basic building blocks of the Suomisaundi phenomena. Arguably the genre-defining Suomisaundi album is the self-published compilation, ‘Flippin Bixies’, in 1996. It was the first album to directly answer to the rapidly growing need for a new localised sound, that had been created over the previous years by the party collectives and the general popularization of electronic music. The album was named after a private recording studio that was located near Kurvi in Helsinki around mid 90s. In 1997 Exogenic Records became the first record label to focus on Suomisaundi and approximately during the same time Midiliitto was founded as an association focusing on the advancement of production and commercialisation of Suomisaundi. Pepe Kosminen was the founding Chairman of Midiliitto. Together with Flippin Bixies, Midiliitto counted within its members many of the future international stars of Suomisaundi, including the members of groups like Texas Faggott and Squaremeat.

Swedish death metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Precursors#

The Swedish death metal scene’s earliest originators were influenced more by punk rock, especially the D-beat and hardcore punk scene, than they were metal bands. The most influential of these bands upon the burgeoning Swedish extreme metal scene was Gothenburg’s Anti Cimex. Influenced by such Swedish punk bands as Asocial, Mob 47 and Anti Cimex, emerged the country’s first extreme metal band Bathory. Subsequently, becoming a primary influence for the black metal scene, Bathory were a pivotal group in Swedish extreme metal. Mefisto, Obscurity and Merciless were some of the earliest bands to follow in Bathory’s footsteps, combining their sound with influences from German groups like Sodom and Destruction. Although Mefisto and Obscurity only released two demos each, and rarely performed live, Merciless became prominent in the extreme metal underground. Their live performances became notorious for bassist Fredrik Karlén’s reckless behaviour, including climbing up buildings and jumping off of balconies. Furthermore, the band’s 1988 demo Realm of the Dark, led to them becoming the first Swedish extreme metal band after Bathory to be signed to a record label, in this case of Euronymous’s label Deathlike Silence Productions, who released Merciless’s 1990 debut album The Awakening.

Symphonic black metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

One of the earliest forerunners in what would come to be the sound of symphonic metal was Celtic Frost on their 1987 album Into the Pandemonium. The first extreme metal bands incorporating classical, orchestral, and operatic elements into their music were Mekong Delta, Bulldozer on their album Neurodeliri (1988), Believer on Sanity Obscure (1990) and Dimensions (1993), Master’s Hammer on Ritual (1991) and Jilemnický okultista (1992 demo and 1993 album) and Sigh on their debut Scorn Defeat (1993). The style on Emperor’s In the Nightside Eclipse (1994) had a pioneering influence though and was the main inspiration for many keyboard-based black metal bands following after. Troll’s Drep de kristne (1995) and Arcturus’ Aspera Hiems Symfonia (1996) are other notable early works of symphonic black metal, before the genre was commercialised by the international success of bands like Dimmu Borgir and Bal-Sagoth.

Symphonic metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Musical characteristics#

The metal subgenres most typically featuring a subset of symphonic bands are gothic metal, power metal, black metal, death metal and classic heavy metal. As with many other metal bands, those adopting a symphonic style may feature influences from several metal subgenres. Music workstation keyboards and orchestras are often a key feature of the style, distinguishing symphonic from non-symphonic bands within the same metal subgenre. Other instruments, including guitars, bass and drums, may in some cases play relatively simple parts in contrast to the complex and nuanced keyboard and/or orchestral parts, typically in the case of symphonic heavy metal and symphonic gothic metal acts. The use of such instruments (as well as the lead vocals) to play simpler, catchier melodies than those of the average non-symphonic band arguably makes the symphonic style one of the most accessible in metal. Bands that do not use live orchestral instrumentation on their recordings or when playing live typically utilize factory presets on workstation keyboards (i. e., strings, choirs, pianos, pipe organs, etc.) to conjure up a “pseudo-orchestral” sound, where parts are played idiomatically according to keyboard technique. This is particularly characteristic of lesser-known bands on tighter budgets. Some symphonic metal bands abstain from using keyboards entirely, preferring to use orchestral backing tracks pre-recorded by a live symphony orchestra and/or choir during an album session, or recorded using virtual software instruments in a sequencer. This is particularly characteristic of bands that feature deeper and more complex arrangements which could be more difficult for one or two keyboardists to reproduce faithfully in a live performance. On average, songs under the symphonic metal umbrella are often highly atmospheric, though more upbeat than those of many non-symphonic metal bands; songs with morbid themes routinely feature prominent major-key fanfares. Particularly central to creating mood and atmosphere is the choice of keyboard timbre. It is nonetheless hardly possible to generalize about the role played by the classic metal instruments (guitars, bass and drums) within symphonic bands, as it can entirely vary depending on the metal subgenre to which the symphonic band mostly belongs. Lyrics cover a broad range of topics. As with two of its often overlapping elements, power metal and opera (including symphonic progressive rock), fantasy and mythological themes are common. Concept albums styled after operas or epic poems are not uncommon. Bands in this genre may often feature a female lead vocalist, usually a soprano. Male vocalists (baritone or bass-baritone), are also common in gothic metal. Growling, death-metal-style vocals are not unknown but tend to be used less frequently than in other metal subgenres (a notable exception being Mark Jansen in Epica). Backing vocals, often consisting of a choral ensemble or full choir, may be employed. It is common for bands, particularly female-fronted bands, to feature operatic lead vocals. Such bands may be referred to as operatic symphonic metal and include the likes of Epica, Nightwish (Tarja Turunen, then Floor Jansen), Haggard,

Synth-pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Synth-pop is defined by its primary use of synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers, sometimes using them to replace all other instruments. Borthwick and Moy have described the genre as diverse but “characterised by a broad set of values that eschewed rock playing styles, rhythms and structures”, which were replaced by “synthetic textures” and “robotic rigidity”, often defined by the limitations of the new technology, Many synth-pop musicians had limited musical skills, relying on the technology to produce or reproduce the music. The result was often minimalist, with grooves that were “typically woven together from simple repeated riffs often with no harmonic ‘progression’ to speak of”. Early synth-pop has been described as “eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing”, using droning electronics with little change in inflection. Because synthesizers removed the need for large groups of musicians, these singers were often part of a duo where their partner played all the instrumentation. Although synth-pop in part arose from punk rock, it abandoned punk’s emphasis on authenticity and often pursued a deliberate artificiality, drawing on the critically derided forms such as disco and glam rock. It owed relatively little to the foundations of early popular music in jazz, folk music or the blues, Later synth-pop saw a shift to a style more influenced by other genres, such as soul music.

Tallava

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Tallava originated in the 1980s and 1990s within the Albanian-speaking areas of Kosovo region, created by the Romani ethnic minority community. The name is derived from Romani tel o vas, meaning “under the hand”, referring to the čoček dance where the hands are waved delicately. Kosovo Albanian refugees of the Kosovo War in North Macedonia had brought their music with them, including Tallava. It has since also been adopted by the non-Albanian-speaking Roma in North Macedonia.

Tango (flamenco)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and terminology#

In flamenco, the palo is normally referred to in the plural as tangos. Performers commonly say that a singer, guitarist or dancer performs por tangos, meaning in the style or compás of tangos. The singular tango may be used in general description, but the plural is the usual name of the palo in flamenco contexts. The etymology of the Spanish musical and dance term tango is uncertain. The current Diccionario de la lengua española of the Real Academia Española marks this sense of the word as perhaps onomatopoeic, and distinguishes it from another word tango meaning a game-piece, derived from an old form of tañer. The dictionary gives separate definitions for several musical and dance uses of the word, including the Rioplatense tango and the flamenco palo. Flamenco writers have also pointed to early Andalusian documentation of the word. José Blas Vega cited an 1814 Cádiz manuscript, Apuntes para la descripción de la ciudad de Cádiz, in which tango appears in connection with popular dances and festivities in Cádiz. This earlier use of the word tango should not be confused with Argentine tango, which later developed as a distinct Río de la Plata music and dance tradition.

Techno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Detroit techno#

In exploring Detroit techno’s origins, writer Kodwo Eshun maintains that “Kraftwerk are to techno what Muddy Waters is to the Rolling Stones: the authentic, the origin, the real.” Juan Atkins has acknowledged that he had an early enthusiasm for Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, particularly Moroder’s work with Donna Summer and the producer’s own album E=MC 2 . Atkins also mentions that “around 1980, I had a tape of nothing but Kraftwerk, Telex, Devo, Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan, and I’d ride around in my car playing it.” Derrick May identified the influence of Kraftwerk and other European synthesizer music in commenting that “it was just classy and clean, and to us it was beautiful, like outer space. Living around Detroit, there was so little beauty… everything is an ugly mess in Detroit, and so we were attracted to this music. It, like, ignited our imagination!”. May has commented that he considered his music a direct continuation of the European synthesizer tradition. He also identified Japanese synth-pop act Yellow Magic Orchestra, particularly member Ryuichi Sakamoto, and British band Ultravox, as influences, along with Kraftwerk. YMO’s song “Technopolis” (1979), a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca, is considered an “interesting contribution” to the development of Detroit techno, foreshadowing concepts that Atkins and Davis would later explore with Cybotron. Kevin Saunderson has also acknowledged the influence of Europe but he claims to have been more inspired by the idea of making music with electronic equipment: “I was more infatuated with the idea that I can do this all myself.”

Techstep

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style#

It is characterized by a dark, sci-fi mood, near-exclusive use of synthesised or sampled sound sources, hardstep kicks and snares and influences from industrial and techno music, what some writers have described as a “clinical” sound. Although described as having a “techy” feel, techstep’s relationship with techno should not be overstated. It shares the technique of creating a high-energy collage from abstract, synthetic noises, including samples, bleeps and squelches: it rarely uses instruments that have not been processed by effects. Similarly, quantized drum-machine kit and percussion sounds are favored over naturalistic human breakbeats. However, it usually adheres to drum and bass norms in other regards, especially in terms of musical structure, with the emphasis on the “drop”. Techstep saw jungle music’s obsession with bass change, from aiming for low and deep to exploring timbre, artists aiming to outdo each other with ever more distorted and “twisted” bass sounds.

Teutonic thrash metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Two bands influential to early Teutonic thrash metal were Destruction (from Lörrach) and Holy Moses (from Aachen). After hearing Venom, both bands soon changed their sound within a matter of weeks to their new and permanent style. Other bands soon followed. In 1982, the Gelsenkirchen-based band Sodom released their first demo, Witching Metal. In their early days, Sodom were heavily influenced by the NWOBHM, to the point of crediting their trio lineup to bands like Motörhead, Tank, Raven, and Venom, who also featured power trio lineups. Their style featured raspy vocals, palm muted guitar riffs, and frantic double bass drumming. Only with the release of their second LP, Persecution Mania, and with guitarist Frank Blackfire’s input to move away from their original sound and themes, did they become a thrash metal band for good. Essen’s Kreator formed and released its debut album, Endless Pain, in 1985. Destruction would release their full-length debut, Infernal Overkill, in the same year. Exumer would also release their demo, A Mortal in Black, in 1985, and their debut, Possessed by Fire, the following year. Also around this time, the German-based SPV Records created its Steamhammer imprint label, designed primarily to sign metal bands. Noise Records was founded soon afterward. These two labels would help spread the Teutonic thrash metal scene globally. Teutonic thrash metal would emerge not only from Germany but also from Austria, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. The biggest band to come from outside Germany that was part of the scene was Coroner, a highly technical and progressive thrash metal band from Switzerland, noted for their dark lyrics and accomplished guitar work by Tommy Vetterli, who would later join Kreator. Many bands soon split up or changed their sound, resulting in further backlash against the scene. Kreator moved toward a more melodic style with gothic and industrial influences, while Sodom experimented with a death/thrash style for one album before briefly shifting to a more hardcore punk-influenced sound. Destruction, meanwhile, faced a period of instability that saw them split with frontman Schmier, release a thrash album without him (Cracked Brain), and later attempt a more radio-friendly and less “thrashy” style with the poorly received The Least Successful Human Cannonball. Schmier would go on to form Headhunter, achieving some success with a series of three power-thrash albums similar in sound to some of the offerings of Rage.

Thrash metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Thrash metal generally features fast tempos, low-register, complex guitar riffs, high-register guitar solos, and double bass drumming. The rhythm guitar parts are played with heavy distortion, power chords and often palm muted to create a tighter and more precise sound. Vocally, thrash metal can employ anything from melodic singing to shouted or screamed vocals. Most guitar solos are played at high speed and technically demanding, as they are usually characterized by shredding, and use advanced techniques such as sweep picking, legato phrasing, alternate picking, tremolo picking, string skipping, and two-hand tapping. David Ellefson, the original bassist of Megadeth, described thrash metal as “a combination of the attitude from punk rock but the riffs and complexities of traditional metal.” On the origins of thrash metal, Dan Lilker (bassist and co-founding member of Anthrax, S.O.D. and Nuclear Assault) recalls: “Thrash was just what they called ‘faster hardcore,’ because you literally thrashed around when you were either playing it or reacting to it. And thrash metal was born because it was influenced by thrash hardcore, and they just thought it was more metal, so they said, ‘Okay, this is thrash metal.’” The guitar riffs often use chromatic scales and emphasize the tritone and diminished intervals, instead of using conventional single-scale-based riffing. For example, the intro riff of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” (the title track of the namesake album) is a chromatic descent, followed by an ascent based on the tritone. Cymbal stops/chokes are often used to transition from one riff to another or to precede an acceleration in tempo. To keep up with the other instruments, many bassists use a plectrum (pick). However, some prominent thrash metal bassists have used their fingers, most notably Frank Bello, Greg Christian, Steve Di Giorgio, Robert Trujillo, and Cliff Burton. Several bassists use a distorted bass tone, an approach popularized by Burton and Motörhead’s Lemmy. Lyrical themes in thrash metal include warfare, corruption, injustice, murder, suicide, isolation, alienation, addiction, and other maladies that afflict the individual and society. In addition, politics, particularly pessimism and dissatisfaction towards politics, are common themes among thrash metal bands. Humor and irony can occasionally be found (Anthrax for example), but they are limited, and are an exception rather than a rule.

Tiento

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Name#

The word derives from the Spanish verb tentar (meaning either to touch, to tempt or to attempt), and was originally applied to music for various instruments. In the early eighteenth century, some composers also used the term obra, originally a more general term meaning “work”, to refer to this genre.

Formal aspects#

The tiento is formally extraordinarily diverse, more a set of guidelines than a rigid structural model such as fugue or rondo. Nearly all tientos are imitative to some degree, though not as complex or developed as the fugue. This has led to their being associated with the other embryonic imitative forms cited above. Similarly, it is difficult to assign a single style to the form, since it underwent a considerable amount of evolution from its inception to its decline in the late 18th century. The earliest tientos (such as those of Cabezón) were stylistically quite close to the ricercare in their extended use of the strict, motet-style counterpoint. Later (especially in the works of Cabanilles), tientos would frequently alternate between the older style of strict counterpoint, and virtuosic, affective figuration typical of the toccata and some fantasias. The evolution of the form was in part conditioned by the evolution of the Spanish organ, and it eventually came to include several variants or sub-forms, several of which are listed below: * Tiento de medio registro: A tiento making use of the split keyboard, frequently found on Spanish organs from the mid-16th century on. The split keyboard refers to an organ manual where ranks of pipes may be engaged for half the keyboard, as opposed to the entire compass, which is the norm. This enables the player to utilize different sounds on the same keyboard, generally a solo sound and an accompaniment sound, though occasionally two sounds of equal strength. The tiento de medio registro figures prominently in the oeuvres of Correa de Arauxo, Aguilera de Heredia, and Bruna. * Tiento de lleno: The opposite of the tiento de medio registro; a tiento played on one sound (full register). * Tiento de falsas: A tiento making frequent use of dissonance, so as to achieve particularly dramatic effect. “Falsas” refers to “false notes,” or dissonant tones not part of the current mode or key. It is similar to the Italian idea of Durezze e ligature (consonance and dissonance). * Tiento pleno: an irregular tiento consisting of three sections: a prelude, fugue, and postlude. It has more in common with the German praeludium than with other tientos.

Tonás

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tovareća mužika

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and traditions#

The Tovareća mužika traces its roots back to the maritime culture of Sali. Originally, the ox horn (rog) was an essential communication tool for coordinating bluefish fishing. Every household possessed this instrument, which was believed to have magical virtues capable of protecting against the “evil eye” during nights at sea. The symbolic importance of this instrument is now embodied by a five-meter-high bronze sculpture, named Rog, erected on one of the harbor’s squares (Porat) to celebrate this tradition.

Traditional music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

It has long been thought that Galician and Asturian music might owe their roots to the ancient Celtic history of the region. It was presumed that some of this ancient influence had survived despite the long evolution of the local musical traditions since then, including centuries of Roman and Germanic influences. Whether or not this is the case, much modern commercial Galician and Asturian traditional and folk-rock of recent years has become strongly influenced by modern Irish, Scottish and Welsh “folk” styles. Galicia is nowadays a strong player on the international Celtic folk scene. As a result, elements of the pre-industrial Galician tradition have become integrated into the modern Celtic folk repertoire and style. Many, however, claim that the “Celtic” appellation is merely a marketing tag; the well known Galician bagpipe player Susana Seivane, said “I think the ‘Celtic’ moniker is a label, in order to sell more. What we make is Galician music”. In any case, due to the Celtic brand, Galician music is the only non- Castilian-speaking music of Spain that has a significant audience beyond the country’s borders. Some Galicians and Asturians have complained that the “Celtic boom” was the final death blow to once highly distinctive musical traditions. Celtic culture is known to have extended over a large part of the Iberian Peninsula as early as 600BC. During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the Roman Empire slowly conquered Iberia, which they called Hispania. The Celtic regions put up a long and fierce struggle to maintain their independence but were eventually subdued. In the centuries that followed, the language of the Romans, Latin, came to gradually supplant nearly all the earlier languages of the peninsula, including all Celtic languages, and is the ancestor of most of the current languages of Spain and Portugal other than Basque, including Galician and Astur-Leonese-Mirandese. The departure of the Romans in the 5th century led to the invasions of Germanic tribes. The Suebi people conquered the northwest but the poor documentation from the period has left their cultural impact on the region unclear. In the 6th century, a final small Celtic influx arrived from Britain; the Britons were granted their own diocese, Britonia, in northern Galicia. Galicia was then taken over by the Visigothic Kingdom when the Suebian kingdom fell apart. Galicia came under the control of the Moors after they defeated the Visigoths in 717 but Moorish rule was little more than a short lived military occupation, although an indirect Moorish musical influence arrived later, through Christian troubadours. Moorish rule ended after two decades when their garrison was driven out by a rebellion in 739. The region was incorporated into the Kingdom of Asturias and, after surviving the assaults of the Moors and Vikings, became the springboard for the Reconquista. In 810, it was claimed that the remains of Saint James, one of the apostles, had been found at a site which soon became known as Santiago de Compostela. It became Europe’s premier pilgrimage destination in the Middle Ages. This is assumed to have had a significant effect on the folk culture of the area, as the pilgrims brought with them musical instruments and styles from as far afield as Scandinavia and Hungary. Like the earlier periods, little is known about musical traditions from this era. Just a few manuscripts from the time are known, such as those by the 13th-century poet and musician Martín Codax, which indicate that some of the distinctive elements of today’s music, such as the bagpipes and flutes, were common at the time. The Cantigas de Santa Maria, a collection of manuscripts written in old Galician, also show illustrations of people playing bagpipes.

Trallalero

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

recordings by Alan Lomax, with much background information.
For the Le vie dei canti festival see: https://www.leviedeicantifestival.it/

Trance music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Production#

Trance employs a time signature, A kick drum is usually placed on every downbeat and a regular open hi-hat is often placed on the upbeat.

Subgenres#

Trance music is broken into a number of subgenres including acid trance, classic trance, hard trance, progressive trance,

Trip hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Common musical aesthetics include a bass-heavy drumbeat, often providing the slowed down breakbeat samples similar to standard 1990s hip-hop beats, giving the genre a more psychedelic and mainstream feel. and Groove Armada collaborated with male and female vocalists, Tricky often features vocally in his own productions along with Martina Topley-Bird, and Chris Corner provided vocals for later albums with Sneaker Pimps. Trip hop is also known for its melancholic sound, due to the fact that several acts of the Bristol scene were inspired by post-punk. Tricky opened his second album Nearly God (1996) with a cover version of “Tattoo”, a 1983’s “proto-trip-hop” song by Siouxsie and the Banshees released as a b-side of a single. Tricky then covered a pop single of the Cure. Massive Attack also covered and sampled songs of Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cure in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Trip hop tracks often incorporate Rhodes pianos, saxophones, trumpets, flutes, and may employ unconventional instruments such as the theremin and Mellotron. Trip hop differs from hip-hop in theme and overall tone. Contrasting with gangsta rap and its hard-hitting lyrics, trip hop offers more aural atmospherics influenced by experimental folk and rock acts of the seventies, such as John Martyn, combined with instrumental hip-hop, turntable scratching, and breakbeat rhythms. Regarded in some ways as a 1990s update of fusion, trip hop may be said to “transcend” the hardcore rap styles and lyrics with atmospheric overtones to create a more mellow tempo.

Tromsø techno scene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The city of Tromsø has since the early 1990s been mentioned as “the techno capital” of Norway. The first generation of the Tromsø techno scene consisted of, among others, Geir Jenssen (Bel Canto / Biosphere), Anneli Drecker (Bel Canto), Per Martinsen (Mental Overdrive), Rune Lindbæk and Bjørn Torske. A local student radio by the name Brygga Radio, including Bjørn Torske, had success with radio show Beatservice at this time. Here was Vidar Hanssen, who later founded the record label Beatservice Records, a keen contributor. The success of especially Bel Canto, Biosphere and Mental Overdrive, both at home and abroad, inspired an increasing number of Tromsø residents to invest their time in the genre. This resulted in several new projects in the 1990s, with groups such as Aedena Cycle, Alanïa, Drum Island, and Frost. Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland, who later formed the world-renowned group Röyksopp, were very active in the scene at the time, and members of several of the above mentioned groups. Other new and important names at the time were Gaute Barlindhaug (Kolar Goi), Kolbjørn Lyslo and Ole Johan Mjøs. In 2002, the Insomnia Festival was founded. It is today Norway’s leading festival for electronic music, alongside Numusic in Stavanger. In the later years, artists like Doctor Katasztrofa, F.A.C.E., The Clean Shaven Grins, Kohib and the award-winning Alog have emerged from the scene.

Trønder rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

Hva er Trønderrock?
Namsos Rock City music from the middle of Norway
Tidenes trønderrock
Siste video/lyd: Trønderrock
Full krig om trønderrocken

Tuna (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The name tuna may come from French roi de Thunes, king of Tunis , a title used by leaders of vagabonds. But there is also a legend of a real King of Tunis, known for his love of music and partying, who liked to walk around the streets at night playing and singing. That explains why the term roi de Thunes was applied. In the old times (medieval days) the Sopistas (a sarcastic title meaning soup beggars) would use their musical talents to entertain people in exchange for a coin and a bowl of soup (sopa, in Portuguese and Spanish, hence the name sopistas). They would also play their music under the windows of the ladies they wished to court. From its origins to the present day, the Tunas have continued the cultivation of popular instruments such as the bandurria, lute, guitar and tambourine, instruments which are named in the Spanish book Libro del Buen Amor by Juan Ruiz (c. 1283 - c. 1350). For these occupations, they took their guitars and bandurrias and sang popular songs. The tunos or sopistas also showed abilities for music, and in courting ladies that they had been wooing to. The sopistas were poor students who, with their music, friendly personality and craftiness, scoured for cheap eats for a few coins in the eating-houses, convents, streets and squares.

Turbo-folk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Croatia#

Turbo-folk grew in Croatia in part due to the popularity of the Croatian singer Severina’s style of fusion music. Turbo-folk is purportedly seen as a “part of everyday life in Croatia and serves a means of social release and reaction to the effects of globalisation in Croatia” according to contemporary art professor Urosh Cvoro of UNSW Sydney. Upon introduction of Billboard Croatia Songs chart on 15 February 2022, it became apparent that mainstream music from Serbia and other former Yugoslav republics (which is all described as turbo-folk or by a derogatory term "" (plural: cajke) by its critics in Croatia) dominated the music taste of the people of Croatia, as the only Croatian artists featured on the chart were Eni Jurišić, Matija Cvek, 30zona, Kuku$ Klan, Jelena Rozga and Grše, and the only Western artists featured on the chart were Glass Animals and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Twee pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Merriam-Webster defines “twee” as something “excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental”. The word derives from the speech of babies.

Characteristics#

According to NPR, twee pop “was fervently informed by punk: snappy riffs, fast-track tempos, propulsive drums”. Artists such as Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, and Marine Girls were primarily women who wrote about love, relationships, and personal empowerment. While the music sounded lighthearted and naive, the subject matter was often gritty and dark. A retrospective fascination with the genre in the US saw Americans eagerly defining themselves as twee. According to The A.V. Club’s Paula Mejia: The author Marc Spitz suggests that the roots of twee stem from post-war 1950s music. While the culture categorized itself under the moniker of “indie” (short for independent), many major twee powerhouses gained mainstream critical acclaim for their contributions to the twee movement.

Two-tone (music genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The two-tone sound originated among young musicians in Coventry in the West Midlands of England, who grew up listening to 1960s Jamaican music. They combined influences from ska, reggae and rocksteady with elements of punk rock and new wave. Bands considered part of the genre include the Specials, the Selecter, Madness, the Beat, Bad Manners, the Bodysnatchers and Akrylykz. The Specials’ keyboard player Jerry Dammers coined the term “two-tone”. Dammers, with the assistance of Horace Panter and graphic designer John “Teflon” Sims, developed the iconic Walt Jabsco logo (a man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, pork pie hat, white socks and black loafers) to represent the two-tone genre. The logo, based on an early album-cover photo of Peter Tosh, included an added black-and-white check pattern. Most of the bands considered to be part of the two-tone genre were signed to 2 Tone Records (operative 1979–1985) at some point. Other record labels associated with the two-tone sound were Stiff Records and Go Feet Records. The music was especially popular among skinheads, rudies and mod revivalists.

UK bass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The breadth of styles that have come to be associated with the term preclude it from being a specific musical genre. Pitchfork writer Martin Clark has suggested that “well-meaning attempts to loosely define the ground we’re covering here are somewhat futile and almost certainly flawed. This is not one genre. However, given the links, interaction, and free-flowing ideas… you can’t dismiss all these acts as unrelated.” In the United Kingdom, bass music has had major mainstream success since the late 2000s and early 2010s, with artists such as James Blake, and Skream. The term “post-dubstep” has been used synonymously to refer to artists, such as Blake and Mount Kimbie whose work draws on UK garage, 2-step, and other forms of underground dance music, as well as ambient music and early R&B. Outside of nightclubs, UK bass has mainly been promoted and played on Internet radio stations such as Sub.FM and Rinse FM.

UK drill

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

UK drill developed a different production style than the most common Chicago beat patterns, albeit still based on Chicago drill styles originally pioneered by DJ L, a Chicago producer who collaborated with rapper G Herbo in the early Chicago scene. The genre also took influence from earlier British genres such as grime and UK garage; in an interview with Complex, Jammer noted that “without grime…there would be no UK drill.” Drill producer Mazza noted that both drill and grime share a similar rawness and energy, despite the two genres remaining distinct from each other. Drill producer Carns Hill, alongside several drill rappers, noted that UK drill should probably have a “new name” to distinguish it from the original Chicago drill sound. UK drill is generally more fast-paced compared to its Chicago counterpart. UK drill beats are generally structured around an contrast to the typical trap/Chicago drill beat, the hi-hats have moved from on-beat and triplet subdivisions to a steady 3+3+2 polyrhythm, hi-hat pattern, with snares landing on the fourth beat instead of the third every 2 bars. Instrumentals often also have a sliding bass, hard hitting kicks, and dark melodies. AXL Beats explained that the 808s and fast-tempo snares in UK drill are derivative of grime music. Both genres typically use a tempo of approximately 138–151 beats per minute. The use of British slang, intricate lyrical flows, and elements of social commentary further help distinguish UK drill from its Chicago and Brooklyn counterparts, which are often characterised by a more aggressive, stream-of-consciousness style. As referenced in the book What Do You Call It? From Grassroots to the Golden Era of UK Rap (2024), UK drill also developed its own distinct visual identity, shaped in part by economic realities. As Brixton-based rapper Skengdo explained: “The Chicago lot had True Religion jeans, Timberlands, they were all swagger. But coming up as 15–16-year-olds in the ends, not everyone can afford expensive brands. So we’re wearing Nike tracksuits and Tech hoodies in the video.” Censorship of UK drill lyrics through vocal cuts and mutes is sometimes done to avoid them being used during their prosecution by the police; for example, “shh” is used in songs to replace the names of people, weapons and criminal acts.

UK funky

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

UK funky uses tempos of around 130bpm. Drum patterns vary between tracks, using either “4 to the floor” or a syncopated style. The drum patterns commonly also include percussion playing African inspired rhythms. Instrumentation varies widely, but drum machines and synthesizers are common. There are similarities to garage in rhythmic, musical and vocal styles. UK funky is highly influenced by the tribal, soulful and bassline house subgenres. Similar genres include afro house, broken beat, electro and garage.

UK garage

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

UK garage emerged in London in the early 1990s from a blend of New York garage house, jungle, Jamaican ragga and dancehall music, and R&B. It was influenced by the pirate radio scene, rave culture, gospel, Baptist churches, and the Black diaspora. MJ Cole once stated, “London is a multicultural city… it’s like a melting pot of young people, and that’s reflected in the music of UK garage.” In the United Kingdom, where jungle was very popular at the time, garage was played in a second room at jungle events. After jungle’s peak in cultural significance, it turned towards a harsher, more techstep influenced sound, driving away dancers, predominantly women. Escaping the 170bpm jungle basslines, the garage rooms provided a more sensual and soulful sound at 130bpm. Garage increasingly got aired at events on a Sunday, such an event at the nearby Frog & Nightgown. This gave rise to what became known as the Sunday Scene, as initially speed and UK garage promoters could only hire venues on Sunday evenings (Friday and Saturday nights were still the preserve of faster and then more popular jungle and drum and bass events). Larger nightclubs, such as Heaven in Charing Cross, then began to dedicate space to garage DJs. Early promoters of a UK garage sound included DJ EZ, Dreem Teem and Tuff Jam, and pirate radio stations such as London Underground, Magic FM, Upfront FM, and Freek FM. An early UK garage track, “Feel My Love” by Justin Cantor and Matt Jam Lamont, was recorded in 1991. It wouldn’t be officially released until 1993.

UK hard house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Hard house has its immediate roots primarily in Belgian and German techno, American disco-sample based house music, handbag house and early trance. UK producer and label owner John Truelove was quoted as saying of hard house’s origins: “I would say that tunes such as XVX’s “Tremorra Del Terra” and Interactive’s “Amok” (essentially the same tune) were absolutely defining moments. Early German trance led directly to what Daz Saund and Trevor Rockcliffe were playing at Trade.” Tony De Vit was one of the key DJs to codify and popularise the hard house sound (earlier often referred to as ‘hardbag’), taking inspiration from his early visits to Trade in the early ’90s — where he soon became a resident DJ. De Vit is often cited as the “godfather of UK hard house”.

UK rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

As in the US, British hip-hop emerged as a scene from graffiti and breakdancing, and then through to DJing and rapping live at parties and club nights, with its supporters predominantly listening to and influenced by US hip-hop. Unlike in the US, the British hip-hop scene was cross-racial from the beginning, as diverse ethnic groups in Britain tend not to live in segregated areas, even in areas with a high percentage of non-white individuals. Such places allow youth to share culture with one another, including musical genres such as hip-hop. Cross pollination through migrating West Indians helped develop a community interested in the music. The integration of sound systems represent a distinct British Caribbean influence. Sound systems allowed for powerful syncopated bass runs and the ability to bring this sound to other venues creating a club culture. There were, however, British tunes starting to appear. There are an abundance of records that are often credited with being the first British hip-hop release, “Christmas Rapping” by Dizzy Heights (Polydor, 1982), is often credited as such, as well as the slightly later released “London Bridge” by Newtrament (Jive Records, 1983). Dizzy Heights was the first MC to be signed to a major label. Two singles from 1980 precede both of these however, namely Allen & Blewitt’s novelty record “Chip Shop Wrapping”, released in 1980, a parody of The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”, and Bo Kool’s “Money (No Love)”. The instrumental for “Money (No Love)” was produced by Funk Masters member Tony Williams, and would turn out to be an influential release in its own right, going on to inspire DJ’s from New York to employ influences from dub music. In Scotland, actor and stand-up comedian Johnny Beattie released “The Glasgow Rap” in 1983, receiving some chart success at the time. He later claimed to be “Scotland’s first rap star”. This was one of several British novelty or comedy hip-hop singles which hit the UK charts during the 1980s, including “Wikka Wrap” by the Evasions, “Snot Rap” by Kenny Everett, “‘Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?” by Alexei Sayle, “Rat Rappin’” by Roland Rat, and later in the decade, “Stutter Rap (No Sleep til Bedtime)” by Morris Minor and the Majors and “Loadsamoney” by Harry Enfield. There were also early pop records which dabbled with rap – such as Adam and the Ants’ “Ant Rap” (CBS, 1981) and Wham!’s “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” (Inner Vision, 1982) — but these are often considered pop appropriations of US rap. Punk band the Clash had earlier dabbled with rap on the single “The Magnificent Seven” from their album Sandinista! (CBS, 1980), and a later single “This Is Radio Clash” (1981). Even earlier than this, in 1979, Ian Dury and the Blockheads released “Reasons to Be Cheerful (Part 3)”, another record with influences from hip-hop. Then Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren’s “Buffalo Gals” (Charisma, 1982), featuring the New York hip-hop group World’s Famous Supreme Team, was the breakthrough hit that introduced the genre to the United Kingdom — McLaren’s Duck Rock album as a whole experimented with many musical styles from around the world. “Buffalo Gals” and another track from the album, “World’s Famous” which also featured the group, used techniques which have been established in hip-hop in the United States, such as sampling and scratching. McLaren even included a song referencing the ‘Double Dutch’ dance that was popular among breakdancing crews in New York at the time. Over the next few years, more UK hip-hop and electro music was released: Street Sounds Electro UK (Street Sounds, 1984), which was produced by Greg Wilson and featured an early appearance from MC Kermit, who later went on to form the Wilson produced Ruthless Rap Assassins; the Rapologists’ “Kids Rap/Party Rap” (Billy Boy, 1984) and Grandmaster Richie Rich’s “Don’t Be Flash” (Spin Offs, 1985). Releases were still few and far between, and the scene remained predominantly underground. Although record labels began to take note of the underground scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s, radio play and publicity were still a difficulty in helping the fledgling scene to grow, and the scene only managed to survive through word of mouth and the patronage of pirate radio stations around the country. Mainstream radio did play British hip-hop on occasion, supported by such well-known DJs as Dave Pearce, Tim Westwood, Steve Barker and John Peel. A significant development in early UK rap was the nationwide Def Jam ‘87 Tour, which featured LL Cool J (billed as the headliner), Eric B. & Rakim, and a then-emerging Public Enemy. In an interview for What Do You Call It? From Grassroots to the Golden Era of UK Rap (2024), DJ, photographer, and broadcaster Normski described the experience to David Kane: “You’ve never heard anything so loud. We heard the records, but we’ve never seen it with so much ferocity in the flesh. By the end of the night, everyone was so pumped. That would have inspired everyone to go and do something badass.” British hip-hop in the 1980s was not just confined to music and break-dancing, but also involved the spread of New York City-style graffiti – another integral element of US hip hop culture — to London and other UK inner-city areas, both on walls and trains. The most direct influence was, however, on graffiti painted in London Underground trains. Teenagers from inner London and other European cities who were into electro-hip-hop and had family and other links to New York City had by the mid-1980s taken up some of the traditions of subway graffiti and exported them home, although legendary New York writers like Brim, Bio, and Futura had themselves played a significant role in establishing such links when they visited London in the early-to-mid-1980s and ‘put up pieces’ on or near the west London end of the Metropolitan Line. Almost as significantly, just when subway graffiti was on the decline in New York City, some British teenagers who had spent time with family in Queens and the Bronx returned to London with a “mission” to Americanise the London Underground through painting New York City-style graffiti on trains. These small groups of London ’train writers’ adopted many of the styles and lifestyles of their New York City forebears, painting graffiti train pieces and in general ‘bombing’ the system, but favouring only a few selected underground lines seen as most suitable for train graffiti. Although on a substantially smaller scale than what had existed in New York City, graffiti on London Underground trains became seen as enough of a problem by the mid-1980s to provoke the British Transport Police to establish its own graffiti squad modelled directly on and in consultation with that of the New York City MTA. At the same time, graffiti art on London Underground trains generated some interest in the media and arts, leading to several art galleries putting on exhibitions of some of the art work (on canvas) of a few London train writers as well as TV documentaries on London hip-hop culture like the BBC’s Bad Meaning Good, which included a section featuring interviews with London train writers and a few examples of their pieces. While many early rappers from the UK, such as Derek B, imitated the styles and accents of their US heroes, there were many who realised that to merely transpose US forms would rob UK hip-hop of the ability to speak for a disenfranchised British constituency in the way that US hip-hop so successfully spoke to, and for, its audience. Attempts were made by UK rappers to develop styles more obviously rooted in British semantics, syntax and dialectical linguistic praxis and practices — Rodney P of the London Posse deliberately chose a London accent – although many succeeded only in adopting a slurred hybrid that located the rap “somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean”.

Ukrainian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In Ukraine hip hop began to develop in the 1990s. In 1989 started their activities two biggest hip hop groups at that time - TNMK and V.U.Z.V. The pioneers of Ukrainian hip hop were TNMK (Kharkiv), V.U.Z.V (Kyiv), Osnovnyy Pokaznyk (Luts’k), Tartak (Lviv) and GreenJolly (Ivano-Frankivs’k). At the end of the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s, audience considered Kharkiv and Lviv as the main center of the Ukra.hop subculture. Many groups successfully performed at festivals such as Chervona Ruta and Tavriyski Ihry. At the mid-2000s a lot of underground bands and artists from another cities in Ukraine began to appear and became popular: DaHok (Drohobych), Zахідна Коаліція (Stryi), Kryzhyk (Uman), Sheksta (Stryi), Sirius MC (Kalush) and Freel (Kyiv). In 2005, Ukraine’s entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest, GreenJolly’s “Together We Are Many”, was also the unofficial anthem of the Orange Revolution. Eurovision demanded the lyrics to be changed for the contest (because it did not correspond to contests rules due to political content). Also this song was remade by Polish hip hop artists. In 2008 hip hop group LEZO released their fourth studio album, Hostroslovy (Ukrainian: Гострослови). Many critics consider it one of the best in Ukrainian hip-hop industry. The same year KyLЯ and RYLEZ created group Tulym – one of the most successful Ukrainian boom bap groups. March 11, 2011, Ukrainian rapper Ivan Buyan presented his first music video filmed in New York City. June 19, 2014, PVNCH presented their new album - Holodnyi (Ukrainian: Голодний, translation: Hungry). According to voting results Holodnyi was named the best hip-hop album of 2014. April 18, 2015, Tulym from Kyiv had a concert with legendary hip-hop band from New York City – Onyx in Sofia, Bulgaria. Ukrainian hip hop also has the only rapper in hip hop History named NazareN real name Nazar Kotovych or (NazareN Tha Prophet) that raps in four languages with no accent sometimes mixing the languages together when rapping giving a unique sound that has not been done by any other artist.

Ukrainian metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1990s#

Nokturnal Mortum started as a death metal band called Suppuration in 1991, then they turned to black metal and changed name to Darkness but “had to change the name back between 1993 and 1994 to Nocturnal Mortum because there already existed a band with that name in the western underground.” Then the band “changed the letter so that we wouldn’t find a band with the same name again like it was the case with Darkness.” but the label and band separated after releasing the album Nechrist and a re-release of the Lunar Poetry demo due to a disagreement. According to Varggoth, “We had a contract with The End Records but it was broken. We have different points of view. They didn’t like our policy, we didn’t like the way they do business. They owe us some money. That was enough for a conflict.” Band frontman Knjaz Varggoth is one of the foremost figures in Eastern European National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) and has played in various NSBM bands, like Aryan Terrorism, Warhead and Temnozor. Nokturnal Mortum’s albums “Weltanschauung” and the live album “Live in Katowice” were released by No Colours Records, a German label associated with NSBM. In an interview with Frostkamp, Varggoth said that the album “Weltanschauung” is influenced by Miguel Serrano, a former Chilean diplomat, holocaust denier and major figure in Esoteric Hitlerism.

Ultra (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mekanik Kommando#

It Would Be Quiet in the Woods If Only a Few Birds Sing (Torso, 1981)
Dancing Elephants (EP, Torso, 1982)
Snake Is Queen (Wereld Rekord, EMI, 1982)
Bay the Moon (Wereld Rekord, 1984)
Do (Rosebud Records, 1984)
…And the Wind Died Down (Rosebud Records, 1986)
Shadow of a Rose (Rosebud Records, 1986)
The Castle of Fair Welcome (Rosebud Records, 1988)

Minny Pops#

Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement (1979), Plurex; (re-released 2004, LTMCD 2384, LTM)
Sparks in a Dark Room (1982), Factory Benelux; (re-released 2003, LTMCD 2351, LTM and 2014, FBN 15 CD, Factory Benelux)
Secret Stories (2003), LTMCD 2353, LTM
Standstill to Motion (2012), LTMCD 2566, LTM - CD/DVD

Nasmak#

Nasmak Plus Instruments/Instruments Plus Nasmak (Plurex, 1980)
Indecent Exposure 1 & 2 (Music For Brass, Wood, Drums And Violins) (cassette, self-released, 1981)
Indecent Exposure 3 & 4 (The Smell Remains) (Plurex, 1981)
4our Clicks (Plurex, 1982)
Indecent Exposure 5 & 6 (Only This Day And 77 Others) (Plurex, 1982)
Duel (Plurex, 1983)
Silhouette (Plurex, 1983)

Tox Modell#

Parkhof 11/04/1981 C30 cassette (Lebel PERIOD, Amsterdam 1981)
Groote Keyser 21-3-81 C46 cassette (Lebel PERIOD, Amsterdam 1981)

The Young Lions#

No News, Strange Rumours, Plurex 0013 (Amsterdam, 1980)
Small World (live at Ultra, cassette), Amphibious (Amsterdam, 1983)

Compilations#

Ultra - Octopus Amsterdam, C90 cassette (Lebel PERIOD, Amsterdam 1981)

Literature#

Harold Schellinx, ULTRA. Opkomst en ondergang van de Ultramodernen, een unieke Nederlandse muziekstroming (1978-1983), Lebowski Publishers, Amsterdam, 2012. ISBN 9789048812400.
Dirk Polak. Mecano: een muzikaal egodocument. Lebowski Publishers, Amsterdam, 2011. ISBN 978-9048851751
Oscar Smit. De Paradiso Punk Jaren Deel 4: 1979-1981 Nederpunk(s) En Ultra.Black Olive Press, Amstelveen, 2021. ISBN 9789072811271.
Foster, R. (2020), Mapping Subcultures from Scratch: Moving Beyond the Mythology of Dutch Post-Punk. In: van der Steen, B., Verburgh, T. (eds) Researching Subcultures, Myth and Memory. Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Richard Foster, “Afwijkende mensen.” Formulating perspectives on the Dutch ULTRA scene. studenttheses Universiteit Leiden

Unblack metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Unblack metal is a genre derived from black metal that focuses on Christian lyrical themes. Unblack metal incorporates black metal’s fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars, tremolo picking, double-kick drumming, repetition and often unconventional song structure. Garry Sharpe-Young’s 2001 encyclopedia A-Z of Black Metal states that " t opping the lot are Christian ‘Unblack’ acts who for all intents and purposes look like, sound like and employ the imagery of Black Metal whilst hidden in the unpenetrable vocal growls and distortions are the proclamations of Jesus Christ". Some unblack metal artists, such as Horde, write lyrics that explicitly attack Satanism. This remained a dominant theme throughout most of the 1990s. In the late 1990s, groups began to write more philosophical and ideological lyrics. These often include stories of conversion, doubt, salvation, struggles with faith, and the darker side of living a Christian life. Unblack metal bands may justify their use of the black metal style with reasons ranging from genuine appreciation of the musical genre, to evangelization towards the largely anti-Christian black metal scene, i.e. “bringing light into darkness”.

Verdiales

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The word verdiales is usually connected with the olive-growing landscape of Málaga. One common explanation relates the name to a local variety of olive or to the green appearance of olives in the region, from Spanish verde, meaning green. The term also refers to rural districts and settlements associated with the tradition, especially the area of Los Verdiales, north of the city of Málaga. In musical usage, verdiales is both plural and collective. It may refer to the genre as a whole, to particular songs and dances, or to the festive event in which they are performed. The expression Fiesta de Verdiales designates not only a musical performance but a larger social event involving singing, dancing, costume, ritualized competition, local identity and communal celebration.

Viking metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vikings#

Viking metal features the Vikings as its subject matter and for evocative imagery. The Vikings were Northern European seafarers and adventurers who, during the Middle Ages, relied on sailing vessels such as longships, knerrir, and karvi to explore, raid, pirate, trade, and settle along the North Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caspian coasts and Eastern European river systems. The Viking Age is generally cited as beginning in 793, when a Viking raid struck Lindisfarne, and concluding in 1066, with the death of Harald Hardrada and the Norman conquest of England. During this two-hundred-year period, the Vikings ventured west as far as Ireland and Iceland in the North Atlantic and Greenland and what is now Newfoundland in North America, south as far as the Kingdom of Nekor (Morocco), Italy, Sicily, and Constantinople in the Mediterranean, and southeast as far as what are now Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine in Eastern Europe, Georgia in the Caucasus, and Baghdad in the Middle East. The Vikings originated from the Nordic countries and the Baltic states, and consisted mostly of Scandinavians, though Finns, Estonians, and Curonians, went on voyages as well. Sámi people also closely interacted with the Scandinavian Norse and engaged in widespread trade expeditions. While otherwise disparate peoples, they shared some commonalities in that they were not considered “civilized” and were not, at first, adherents to Christianity, instead following their indigenous Nordic and Finnic religions. They often adopted Christianity upon settling in an area, intermixing the faith with their own pagan traditions, and by the end of the Viking Age, all Scandinavian kingdoms were Christianized and what remained of Viking cultures was absorbed into Christian Europe.

Villancico

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Portuguese type#

This type of poem has a mote—the beginning of the poem, which functions, when in music, as a refrain—followed by one or more intervening stanzas—the volta, copla or glosa—each one with 7 lines. The difference between the vilancete and the cantiga depends on the number of lines in the mote: if there are 2 or 3 it is a vilancete, if there are 4 or more it is a cantiga. Each line of a vilancete is usually divided in five or seven metric syllables (“old measure”). When the last line of the mote is repeated at the end of each stanza, the vilancete is “perfect”. Here is an example of a Portuguese vilancete, written by Luís de Camões: Original (Mote:) Enforquei minha Esperança; Mas Amor foi tão madraço, Que lhe cortou o baraço. (Volta:) Foi a Esperança julgada Por setença da Ventura Que, pois me teve à pendura, Que fosse dependurada: Vem Cupido com a espada, Corta-lhe cerce o baraço. Cupido, foste madraço. English Translation (Mote:) I hanged my Hope; But Love was so knavish He cut off the noose. (Volta:) Hope was condemned By verdict of Fate To be hanged for having me Hanging out with her Then comes Cupid with the sword And cuts the noose short. O Cupid, you were knavish. This poem has a common rhyme scheme, ABB CDDC CBB. The theme of this type of villancico was usually about the saudade, about the countryside and the shepherds, about ’the perfect woman’ and about unrequited love and consequent suffering. Iberian poets were strongly influenced by Francesco Petrarca, an Italian poet.

Volkstümliche Musik

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Closely related to the German schlager genre, many titles stress a Heimat affect, being presented in regional dialects (e.g. Bavarian, Upper Saxon, Low German) or colloquial language (e.g. Rhinelandic) and invoke local and regional lifestyles and traditions, particularly dances. Brass and Alpine musical instruments, such as Alphorns, Zithers, acoustic guitars, violas, and harmonicas are frequently featured, although most commercial productions nowadays employ drum machines and synthesizers. Yodeling is also common.

Welsh bardic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

General features of musical style#

Hallmarks of Welsh bardic music included the use of cerdd dant (“the craft of the string”), which is vocalization over a melody played on a harp or crwth alongside a datgeiniad, the narrator or specialized singer of the bardic verse. These performances pulled from social frameworks and were primarily oral in nature.

Examples of Welsh bardic works#

Y Gododdin
Book of Aneirin
Book of Taliesin
Canu Llywarch Hen
Y Llafurwr

External links#

Music of the Robert ap Huw Manuscript
1 and 0 a compositional basis on Bragod website
Medieval Welsh Bardic Music, Interpreting the Robert ap Huw MS. by William Taylor

Welsh folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Traditions and history#

Early musical traditions during the 17th and 18th centuries saw the emergence of more complex carols, away from the repetitive ceremonial songs. These carols featured complex poetry based on cynghanedd. Some were sung to English tunes, but many used Welsh melodies such as ‘Ffarwel Ned Puw’. The most common type of Welsh folk song is the love song, with lyrics pertaining to the sorrow of parting or in praise of the girl. A few employ sexual metaphor and mention the act of bundling. After love songs, the ballad was a very popular form of song, with its tales of manual labour, agriculture and everyday life. Popular themes in the 19th century included murder, emigration and colliery disasters; they were sung to popular melodies from Ireland or North America. into longer songs, for example Ar Lan y Môr and Marwnad yr Ehedydd.

Welsh hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Early hip-hop culture was a feature of the popular culture of South Wales by the early 1980s, with Breakdancing “battles” featuring crews from Barry, Cardiff, Cwmbran, Newport and Port Talbot.

1980s and 1990s: Early success and decline#

The Earliest Welsh hip-hop groups soon appeared with Cardiff’s DJ Jaffa and rappers MC Eric, Dike and 4Dee. Hip-hop productions were also pioneered with LSD Productions in Cwmbran, Mortal Danger in Swansea and 2Sharp in the South Wales valleys. However, the first Welsh hip-hop releases came from North Wales acts with “Dyddiau Braf (Rap Cymreag)” by the duo Llwybr Llaethog being cited as the first release of Welsh hip-hop music. Llwybr Llaethog were inspired to change direction from their experimental, post-punk origins following a 1984 trip to The Roxy nightclub in New York City. Band member John Griffiths had been inspired by the sounds of DJ Red Alert and the enthusiastic breakdancing. On his return to Wales, Griffiths decided to integrate the new music with Welsh language culture and socialist politics. While early Welsh hip-hop had been dominated by Welsh language acts from north Wales, south Wales groups had become more prominent by 1990, with Welsh-Jamaicans introducing reggae influences and developing the sound systems culture. New acts continued to emerge such as Steffan Cravos’ Carmarthenshire hip-hop group Tystion in 1991 and Benji Webbe’s Rap metal outfit Dub War who formed in Newport in 1993. Cravos would also establish his own label, Fitamin Un in 1996 as a response to what he saw as the era’s proliferation of “dull guitar bands”. Despite this, Welsh pop and rock music continued to dominate the decade and hip-hop became far less prominent both in Welsh culture and as part of the emerging Cool Cymru movement.

West gallery music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

By the 1700s, many church goers were unsatisfied by the state of congregational singing, which resulted in the formation of amateur choirs, which were initially male. In rural English churches, congregations often lacked an organ, but still needed support in order to maintain pitch in complex music. Some of these works have remained in use in shape note traditions, for example in the Sacred Harp repertoire. The 4-part, tenor-led harmony, fuguing tunes and anthems and other aspects strongly helped influence the shape note musical tradition, and in many ways the American music style is directly evolved from the older one. Use of west gallery music in the Church dwindled in part due to the rise of urbanization and also due to the desire for a more polite, more formal style of worship. Another possible reason for this is that when the Methodists split from the Anglican church, many of these bands would have been split apart, or even leaving en masse. In 1893, the Reverend Francis William Galpin described the church band at Winterbourne Abbas, which he believed was the last surviving example in England; however, two years later, a survey of parishes in Cornwall found that 18 out of 219 churches still had a band.

White voice

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Technique#

The technique is based on an open throat and free volume with a bright color. It spans all vocal registers. Sometimes it is close to a controlled screaming or calling. Air escapes through the fully open throat. The upper and medium resonators, laryngeal cartilage, bones and air cavities in the head and throat are used. A characteristic feature of this kind of voice is its brightness, clarity (not in the meaning of voice color) or intensity. Although breathing can be taken at random moments of a song, it is a very important underlying expression. Nowadays, a “revival” of folk singing made this style universal, equal and de facto flat. Field work shows that the style is more complex than just singing “on nose” and loud. It depends mainly on the country/region, speech, voice color, sound, solo or polyphonic singing and individual expression of a singer.

Wienerlied

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

A distinguishing feature of many Wienerlieder is their chromatic and harmonic variety. Frequent changes in tempo together with theatrical pauses throughout the songs bring a certain degree of excitement to both singer and listener. A typical Wienerlied is written according to a 2/4 or 3/4 time signature with an often-alternated rhythm. The Wienerlied has a more complicated musical structure than other well-known music genres such as blues, rock, folk or Alpine folk music. It is therefore quite unusual that Wienerlieder became so popular, yet it is often the case that many songs become established as traditional folk songs in Vienna. The Alpine-Bavarian roots of Wienerlieder are still recognizable; for example, the melody of ‘Ländler’ (an Austrian folk dance featuring much hopping and stamping) or the characteristic use of melodic polyphony (a deep main voice sung together with a second accompanying higher-pitched voice). Slavo-Hungarian components are also recognizable within Wienerlieder, adding to the unique mix of multiple musical elements that give an exciting and surprising feel to Viennese folk songs. And all of this with a carefree wink and that typical Viennese ‘schmäh’ (Viennese: “Weana Schmäh”; German: “Wiener Schmäh”) as characteristic as the folk songs themselves; a blend of humour built on quick-wit and charm and at times sarcasm and melancholy, but always expressed with a smile.

Windmill scene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Described by Dylan Wolf of Ramapo College of New Jersey’s Ramapo News in 2025 as “the most significant movement in rock music in the past decade”, Matthew Perpetua of NPR explained the term, writing “For one thing, there’s no getting around how much of this music is a direct response to the social dynamics of post-Brexit England… The politics aren’t always foregrounded, but there’s an unmistakable feeling of shame, disappointment and pessimism about Britain’s future permeating all of this music”. Picton also stated in April 2026 that he didn’t think the label “Windmill scene” accurately encompassed the diversity of bands and musicians operating in London. Frontrunners of the movement have achieved commercial success, with Black Country, New Road’s Ants From Up There album debuting at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, and a well received performance by Black Midi of the song “bmbmbm” on the Hyundai Mercury Prize in 2019. The scene is widely described as sharing a spoken vocal style as well as a blend of experimental rock and post-punk. and Sprain, and Chile’s Candelabro and Hesse Kassel being compared to Windmill bands.

Wonky (genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Wonky initially emerged in 2006 as a colorful, exuberant style drawing on hip hop, synth-funk, glitchy electronica, and more eclectic influences, in contrast with the austere sound of the UK’s ongoing dubstep and grime scenes. Other influences included American hip hop producers J Dilla and Madlib, with some artists drawing more explicitly on an instrumental hip-hop sound rather than dubstep. The term “wonky” has been rejected by various artists associated with the style.

Yé-yé

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

The movement had its origins in the radio program (loosely translated as “Hello, mates” or “Hello, pals”), created by Jean Frydman and hosted by Daniel Filipacchi and Frank Ténot, which first aired in December 1959. The phrase “Salut les copains” dates back to the title of a 1957 song by Gilbert Bécaud and Pierre Delanoë, who themselves had little regard for the yé-yé music that the radio show typically featured. The program became an immediate success, and one of its sections, “Le chouchou de la semaine” (“This Week’s Sweetheart”), became the starting point for most yé-yé singers. Any song that was presented as a chouchou went straight to the top places in the charts. The Salut les copains phenomenon continued with a magazine of the same name that was first published in 1962 in France, with German, Spanish, and Italian (“Ciao Amici”) editions following shortly afterward. “Radios were practicing a real hype, much more than today. We, the singers, were much, much less numerous than today – and there were fewer radios. It was also the heyday of Salut les copains, and the press played an extremely important role, it could promote beginners. I remember being on the front page of Paris Match very quickly, without being very well known or doing anything special for that; this would no longer be possible nowadays. In fact, in the 1960s, we saw the advent of the mass media. At the same time, fashion had assumed a considerable importance, which it had never before had. Singers like me became emblems of fashion, in addition to chanson, which helped to maintain notoriety.” —Françoise Hardy, Télérama, 2012. Françoise Hardy performed on Mireille Hartuch’s television show in February 1962 (a year before The Beatles recorded “She Loves You”), singing “”, which began with “Yeah yeah yeah yeah”. After she finished, Hartuch remarked on the “yé yé” lyrics and asked her what they meant. The term was popularised by Edgar Morin in a July 1963 article in .

Yugoslav new wave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Decline#

As new wave perished in the late-1980s, some of the bands split or took different musical directions. The period around 1982 is considered especially crucial concerning the decline of new wave in Yugoslavia. There were several other reasons why Yugoslav new wave started to fade beside the notable general decline of new wave around the world: the economical crisis in Yugoslavia in the first half of the 1980s and the political instability, especially in the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in 1981 after Josip Broz Tito’s death. Also, the musical genres such as post-punk, dark wave and gothic rock, as well as New Romantic and synth-pop already saw a great expansion around the world, including Yugoslavia too. Šarlo Akrobata changed from its initial ska and reggae-inspired period, embracing a deeper post-punk sound. They were also a support act of Gang of Four in Zagreb, before they finally split in 1981. Milan Mladenović, the band’s notable vocalist and guitarist in 1982 formed the cult band Ekatarina Velika which was noted for its dark poetic post-punk style and intellectual attitude. In the same year, his bandmate Dušan “Koja” Kojić formed the group Disciplin A Kitschme (), a band influenced by a variety of music styles, which later rose to international prominence. Idoli, Prljavo kazalište and Film (the latter under the moniker Jura Stublić i Film) later became pop or pop rock and all of them respectively achieved great mainstream success. During the 1980s, Azra gradually moved to more conventional rock with occasional use of folk rock elements. Johnny Štulić’s poetic trademarks were still notable throughout their lyrics; Električni Orgazam soon became a successful mainstream rock band inspired mostly by the 1960s including artists such as The Rolling Stones.

Zarzuela

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Baroque zarzuela#

In 1657 at the Royal Palace of El Prado, King Philip IV of Spain, Queen Mariana and their court attended the first performance of a new comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, with music by Juan Hidalgo de Polanco titled El Laurel de Apolo (The Laurels of Apollo). El Laurel de Apolo traditionally symbolises the birth of a new musical genre that had become known as La Zarzuela. Like Calderón de la Barca’s earlier El golfo de las sirenas (The Sirens’ Gulf, 1657), El Laurel de Apolo mixed mythological verse drama with operatic solos, popular songs and dances. The characters in these early, baroque zarzuelas were a mixture of gods, mythological creatures and rustic or pastoral comedy characters; Antonio de Literes’s popular Acis y Galatea (1708) is yet another example. Unlike some other operatic forms, there were spoken interludes, often in verse.

Zeuhl

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The musical roots of zeuhl go back to pioneers of the free jazz movement such as John Coltrane and folkloristic echoes and influences from Carl Orff’s work. Zeuhl is determined by several characteristic elements. Especially important are dominant rhythm fractions, usually in the form of a pumping bass guitar and sometimes sluggish or flexibly playing drum kits. Slow repetitive structures that serve to build a hypnotic atmosphere are just as prominent as solo passages of high technical finesse. Vocals are often widely present and can consist of polyphonic choral movements, such as Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, or soloistically performed passages with shrill intonation. Zeuhl bands also often have solo guitarists or pianists that usually have a more than accompanying function, especially to emphasize the repetitive patterns. Dominique Leone, writing for Pitchfork, says the style is “about what you’d expect an alien rock opera to sound like: massed, chanted choral motifs, martial, repetitive percussion, sudden bursts of explosive improv and just as unexpected lapses into eerie, minimalist trance-rock.” Christian Vander has said that it means celestial and that zeuhl is “L’esprit au travers de la matière” (The spirit through matter). “That is Zeuhl. Zeuhl is also the sound which you can feel vibrating in your belly. Pronounce the word Zeuhl very slowly, and stress the letter z at the beginning, and you will feel your body vibrating.”

Znamenny chant

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notation#

Znamenny Chants are not written with notes (the so-called ’linear notation’), but with special signs, called (Russian for “marks”, “banners”) or (“hooks”), as some shapes of these signs resemble hooks. Each sign may include the following components: a large black hook or a black stroke, several smaller black ‘points’ and ‘commas’ and lines near the hook or crossing the hook. Znamenny notation would be incredibly difficult to interpret via modern western notation, due to the fact that the specific instructions provided by the signs were up for interpretation. For example, a sign could mean “1 sound, 1/2 down.” It would be up to the individual singer to determine how long 1 sound was, what pitch 1 sound was, and how far “1/2 down” meant. This was due to the nature of Znamenny chant’s oral tradition. The most notable feature of this notation system is that it records transitions of the melody, rather than notes. This type of notation is known as neumatic notation, and they are adiastematic. The signs also represent a mood and a gradation of how this part of melody is to be sung (tempo, strength, devotion, meekness, etc.) Every sign has its own name and also features as a spiritual symbol. For example, there is a specific sign, called “little dove” (, ), which represents two rising sounds and is also a symbol of the Holy Ghost.

Zouk love (music style)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Zouk love is typically slower and more melodic than its parent genre. It features soft, romantic vocals—mostly sung in French—combined with smooth synthesizers, electronic drums, and light percussion. The genre shares similarities with modern compas from Haiti, especially in rhythm and dance style, but emphasizes emotional balladry with a focus on romantic themes.

History#

Zouk love originated in the mid-1980s as a slower and more romantic evolution of the fast-paced zouk béton popularized by Kassav’. By the 1990s, the genre became even more languid, dropping in tempo to around 95–100 beats per minute. Brass instruments were phased out in favor of synthesizers and drum machines, and the music adopted a more commercial sound. The lyrics often shifted toward sentimental and romantic themes, avoiding controversial or political content. French replaced most Antillean Creole in the lyrics, and zouk love took on the qualities of international pop, distancing itself from its roots in local tradition. The dance associated with this music became more intimate and minimalist, performed in close embrace with subtle hip movements. Artists like Francky Vincent popularized a playful, sensual version of zouk love with hits like “Fruit de la passion” and “Alice ça glisse.” Others, such as Gilles Floro and Jocelyne Béroard, focused on deeply emotional and sentimental ballads. In the 2000s and beyond, the genre continued to evolve, with some musicians incorporating elements of contemporary R&B and pop production. Notable artists include Slaï (Patrice Sylvestre), Princess Lover, and Njie. Since 2010, a new generation of zouk love performers has gained popularity and remains influential today, including Lynnsha, Layannah, Nesly, Kim, Mikl, Marvin, and Fanny J.

Europe on Music Theory Print

2-step garage

Characteristics#

Acid house

Characteristics#

Acid jazz

Etymology#

Afro/cosmic music

Descriptions#

Afroswing

Characteristics#

Albanian iso-polyphony

Geographic distribution#

Origin#

Alpine folk music

See also#

Bibliography#

See also#

External links#

Alternative dance

Characteristics#

Alternative rock

Etymology#

Amanes

Etymology#

Characteristics#

Ambient house

Genre#

Ambient music

History#

Ambient techno

Characteristics and influences#

Anarcho-punk

Forerunners#

Ars nova

Versus#

Ars subtilior

Overview and history#

Art pop

Characteristics#

Art punk

Etymology#

Art rock

Etymology and characteristics#

Austrian hip-hop

History and acts#

Avant-funk

Characteristics#

History#

Avant-garde metal

Characteristics#

B-Town

Details#

Baggy

History#

Bal-musette

History#

Balearic beat

History#

Balkan brass

History#

Balkan music

Byzantine medieval music#

Bambera

Definition#

Barcarolle

Description#

Notable examples#

Baroque pop

Characteristics#

Bassline (music genre)

Characteristics#

Early bassline house#

Beat music

Origin#

Bećarac

Description#

Bélé

As a dance#

Bicinium