41. Algeria – Rachid Taha – Bonjour

Joy isn’t as common as infatuation, anger or disappointment in modern pop music, but it shines through in this single from Algerian singer Rachid Taha. In this song, Taha greets everyone from Grace Kelly to Superman to his own buttocks while hand-delivering greeting signs to people throughout his neighborhood.

42. Turkey – Tarkan – Simarik

Turkish pop singer Tarkan has been compared to an early Elvis Presley, both for his music talents and for bringing sex appeal to cultures that are still in many ways repressive in that regard. There’s definitely a bit of a peacock to Tarkan, but “Simarik” (“spoiled”) remains a catchy and fun song nonetheless.

43. Hawaii – Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Isreal “IZ” Kamakawio’ole’s take on “Somewhere over the Rainbow” works thanks to its simplicity (only vocals and ukelele) and Kamakawio’ole’s beautiful, haunting voice. An activist for Hawaiian rights and pride, Kamakawio’ole is still a revered figure there. After his death in 1997, his body was laid in state; after his body was cremated, his brothers paddled a traditional canoe to a bay where Kamakawio’ole’ spent much of his childhood and released his ashes into the ocean.

44. Mali – Rokia Traore – Kele Mandi

Rokia Traore’s spare, meditative song goes well with this fan-made video, which features close-up views of insect and plant life. Both (to me, anyway), feel calm, a little alien, and unexpectedly beautiful.

45. Belarus – Seryoga - Chernyj Bumer

Step about the magic chernyj bumer, or “black boomer” for a ride with Seryoga, the #1 rapper from the former Soviet Union. The conceit for the music video–beautiful women gather in a black BMW to dance in the hidden music club inside–is mildly clever but emotionally and sexually retarded. But the song itself works well combining Seyoga’s lyrics, a hip-hop beat, and accordians.

45.5 England – The Pipettes – Pull Shapes

I’ve been trying to include more women singers in this list, but I would have found a way to include the Pipetttes no matter their gender (even though I already included England in my first entry). The Pipettes combine the catchiness of early 1960s girl groups with a bit of modern pop and polish. It’s not the deepest niche, but when it works, as it does here, its glorious. “Pull Shapes” is British slang for dancing, by the way.

I still think a shot-for-shot adaptation of this story would make a better movie than any of the Star Wars prequels.

I’ve got another entry of Awesome Music From Around the World coming soon, with entries from Hawaii, Turkey, Algeria and other countries. Stay tuned.

Full Text: “Han Solo Blasted a bad guy & Ran away when he came to a lake and Swam and he got out and Hopped in his ship and burped. One day I talked and skiped.”

36. Russia: Leningrad – Dorogi

Leningrad, a ska-punk band based out of St. Petersburg, formed shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. “Dorogi” (the road) has a great beat and takes full advantage of the lead signer’s gravely voice as well as the band’s full brass section. I love music videos that tell a story, and this is a great one. It follows an unassuming Russian youth who wakes up alone and bloodied, and then flashes back to the night before. The video manages to be simultaneously bleak, engaging, and life-affirming. I won’t spoil the ending except to say that it ends on one of the most badass, and Russian, notes in music video history.

37. Malawi: The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa

Malawi’s Esau Mwamwaya and the England-based DJs Etienne Tron and Johan Karlberg to form The Very Best, a band that mixes African and Western genres.  Warm Heart of Africa is one of several great songs on the band’s first album, released in 2009. The song manages to be distinct, fun, and catchy, and the video features a dancing giraffe and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. What more could you ask for?

38. Sweden – MOVITS! – Sammy Davis Jr.

“They say I sound old school, baby, like Frank and Sammy Davis,” sings MOVITS! lead singer Johan Rensfeldt, but the Rat Pack never mixed old-school swing with hip hop, and they couldn’t sing a word of Swedish. MOVITS! gained some fans in the United States after appearing on the Colbert Report, but they deserve a lot more, for this number especially. (Click here for a less pretty copy of the video with lyrics in English.)

39. Uruguay – La Vela Puerca: Va a Escampar

In “Va a Escampar,” (the rain will clear) La Vela Puerca take their time, building from Sebastián Teysera’s voice and acoustic guitar to a crescendo of electric guitar and horns. The video isn’t as coherent or original as I would like but the music to “Va a Escampar” manages to balance a touch of melancholy and hopefulness while still working as a rock song.

40. Chechnya – 12 (movie scene): Chechan Dance Music

This entry comes from 12, a Russian remake of 12 Angry Men. 12 takes a while to get started, and it’s not as tight as the 1957 classic, but it makes up for it with some inspired twists and a brilliant ending. In this scene, (approximately the first two minutes of this clip), a boy impresses a group of soldiers in his village some traditional Chechen dancing, which may be the most macho form of dance in existence.

What do you think? Do you have suggestions for more awesome music from other countries? I know Chechnya isn’t technically a country, but I’m invoking my “Puerto Rico rule” to include it anyway.

You can catch more awesome music videos in my previous entries, and you can see all the entries in my updated global map.

Thanks to the denizens of the Cracked Forums for the great suggestions, especially Yurksemesh and EFHRK for entries 37 and 38 respectively.

I hope to have a new entry featuring music from Russia, Uruguay, Mali and other locations coming soon, as well as an update on some non-blog related work. Stick around!

My goal is to get an entry for all 180-something countries in the world, so if you have a suggestion, pass it along!

Now I give people postcards instead. Postcards have many advantages over greeting cards:

I picked up a collection of 50 movie poster postcards a few years back and have been using them ever since. This one's for my Dad's next birthday. Photo (c) MGM Studios.

• They’re cheap. I can pick up two to three postcards for the same prices as a single greeting card. You can also buy collections of postcards from $10 to $20; this often comes out to three to 10 postcards for a dollar.
• They’re efficient. Every part of a postcard does something. One side has the picture/photograph, while the written message goes on the other. A greeting card uses twice as much space to do the same amount of work (outside picture/photo, inside page one, superflous inside page two, wasted empty back). Also, with a postcard you don’t have to worry about writing enough to fill up two empty pages.
• They’re earth-friendly. Giving someone a postcard uses half the paper that a giving a person a greeting card of the same size does. If you send a postcard, you’re using one-fourth of the paper since you don’t need an envelope.
• They’re personal. The sheer variety of postcard subjects allows me to easily buy cards that show a connection with my friends, family and other people in my life that I can’t quite do with a greeting card. Here are a few subjects of the cards I’ve been able to give recently:
• A vintage map of Paris for the birthday of a co-worker from France
• A reproduction of Klimt’s mother and child painting for my Mom on Mother’s Day
• A vintage poster from the sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet for my movie-buff father’s birthday
• A photograph of a roaring polar bear for my brother for Christmas
• They’re fun. A postcard stands out in the mailbox or even among a stack of greeting cards. And I’ve come to enjoy hunting for postcards or thinking about how I can use a new postcard.

Two collections of postcards I bought a few years back (“Movie Posters Postcards” from the Museum of Modern Art and illustrations from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman graphic novel series, both discontinued) have formed the basis for my postcard collection. You can find many collections on Amazon in the $10-$20 range. I’ve also come across great postcards for sale at bookshops, art supply stores, comic book stores, museums and art galleries, and, yes, even greeting card stores.

With the right message, this could work for a friend or family member getting a new job, graduating from college, or celebrating a birthday. Photo (c) Richard Avedon.

In a pinch, this could work as a birthday card for 90% of my friends. Photo (c) Nouvelles Images.

31. Somalia: K’naan – Wavin’ Flag

Somalian-Canadian artist Kn’aan wrote this song to call attention to the bloodshed and upheaval that have plagued Somalia and many other African countries for decades. Coca-cola went and sponsored a new version of the song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup that kept the hook but replaced any reference to poverty and unhappiness with lines about about happy people waving flags. Both versions are still miles above other versions of the song featuring Will.I.Am or Canadian supergroups.

32.  Brazil: CSS – Move

This is a fun electronic/rock number. Dressed up like a bunch of Carrboro hipsters, CSS (short for cansei de ser sexy, or “tired of being sexy”) drive around the countryside taking some impressive but technically dubious photos using trick photography.

33. Germany: Die Prinzen – Deutschland

Die Prinzen (“The Princes”) crafted this catchy little number that manages to tweak German habits and culture (they aren’t being entirely sincere when they sing about the joys of German cars or about Germans being the friendliest people on Earth) while also working as an anthem celebrating Germany. Shades of “America, F— Yeah,” anyone?

34. Uganda: Maurice Kirya – Boda Boda

Maurice Kirya races through Kampala to get to his loved one in this sweet example of  the mwooyo (according to Kirya’s website, a blend of soul, Afro-fusion and R&B) genre. Kirya deliberately chose a woman with albinism to play his soulmate in this video to show albinos in a positive light and to reduce stigmatism associated with that condition in parts of Africa.

35. Panama: Los Rabanes – Commanding Wife

Los Rabanes, a cumbia/rock/reggae/ska band, often sing in a blend of Spanish and English, reflecting the strong influence the presence the U.S. military has had on their country. In this boisterous, bouncy, infectious tune, the singer describes the problems that come with having a life partner who “wants to destroy my life.”

35.5 Zimbabwe: Tinashe - Zambezi

I already covered Zimbabwe’s Tuku Mtukudzi in a previous entry, but in the interest of sharing great world music I had to include this entry as well. In this haunting song, Minashe recounts the story of a doomed young couple, originally told to him by his mother. You can also catch the more upbeat, visually appealing, thematically inappropriate video of the song here.

21. South Africa: Freshlyground – Pot Belly

The video accompanying this song works on its own as a short film. This song, from Freshlyground’s 2007 album, pairs lead singer Zolani Mahola’s exquisite vocals with a wonderful melody and back-up guitar.

22. Norway: Kings of Convenience – I’d Rather Dance with You

This Norwegian indie duo channel Wes Anderson and a bit of Napolean Dynamite for their biggest hit, a sweet, charming melody on acoustic guitar and piano. Or perhaps they’re channeling Flight of the Conchords (or are the Conchords channeling them?)–isn’t New Zealand on the exact opposite side of the globe from Norway?

23. Iraq: Acrassicauda – Garden of Stones

This heavy metal band formed in 2000, under the final days of Saddam Hussein’s regime (apparently they were even forced to write a song praising him). They developed and played in Iraq during the war with the United States until 2006, when they fled to Syria, and then to the U.S. Since then, they’ve been the subjects of the documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, received signed guitars from their Metallica, and have recently been featured in Newsweek. Their single, “Garden of Stones,” is great head-banging music–raging guitars, heavy beats, and lyrics shouted over black-and-white footage of wrecked cities. This song is as powerful and subtle as a sledge hammer to the face.

24. Austria: EAV – Ding Dong

This video opens with an animated weasel having a panic attack, a Rutger Hauer look-a-like wooing a transvestite, and a hot dog in a birdcage. Then it takes a turn for the bizarre. This is a very silly, deliberately fun video, with the band obviously having a great time. The song itself that could be used as a textbook example of an ohrwurm (literally, “ear worm”) that gets stuck in your head over and over after just one listen.

25. Ghana: Obour – The Game

Ghanian hip-hop artists Obour, Okyeame Kwame, and Richie take on their country’s music establishment in their most recent single. But you don’t need to understand the politics of Ghana’s music industry (something about artists having a tough time getting their music out?) to enjoy the bouncy beats of this great song.

26. Israel: Kele 6 – The Way of the King

28. South Korea: Super Junior – Sorry Sorry

According to wikipedia, Super Junior is the world’s largest boy band, coming from a country that has embraced the genre (when the Koreans do something, they do it whole-heartedly and then some). “Sorry Sorry” is an infectious pop number with some great dancing that has been emulated by, among others, the Filipino “Thriller” dancing prisoners and members of East Chapel Hill high school’s Asian club. [EDIT: YouTube Vogon Squad has disabled direct embedded viewing of this video, so you'll have to click on the text link (the words by the 28).]

Dapo Daniel “D’Banj” Oyebanjo took home the MTV Africa Artist of the Year and Listener’s Choice Awards for this 2008 hit. In this sweet video, D’Banj woos his sweetheart by, among other activities, losing to her in Mortal Kombat.

There are plenty of places other than Itunes to get music online. In fact, I typically prefer to buy music from Amazon rather than Itunes because the prices are often cheaper and because the mp3s come without obnoxious DRM restrictions. All of the resources I’m recommending — mp3s, podcasts, videos, and audiobooks are available elsewhere on the Internet.

That said, iTunes does the best job I’ve seen of integrating all of these resources, making them easily available and offering the greatest overall selection of Spanish-language materials.

Here’s what I’ve found so far:

Music: As I discussed earlier, YouTube is currently my main portal to finding new music. I don’t feel a need to buy every song I listen to more than once, but if I’m coming back to a song after a couple of weeks, I like to pay for it. Itunes, along with Amazon’s mp3 department, are two locations to easily purchase albums and single tracks, and support the work of Latin artists.

Plaza Sesamo (Sesame Street): iTunes has about 3 1/2 free hours of Sesame Street videos in Spanish in their videos section (look for “Aprende con Sesame”).

Free Podcasts: iTunes has dozens of free podcasts in Spanish, on topics ranging from home repair, to current events, to Latin music, to comedy. There are a few “Learn Spanish” podcasts geared toward beginning learners, but I’ve found that Spanish language podcasts for native speakers have been enjoyable and useful as well. Some of my favorites:

• Latin Roll, Rock en tu idioma: This 2 1/2 hour weekly podcast features new music from throughout Latin America, as well as news and interviews with various bands (podcasts, videos and other material are also at Latin-Roll.com).
• La Matinal: This is a daily half-hour NPR news program broadcast from Europe. Great, high-quality news with an international focus.

Spanish audiobooks: This is one area where iTunes still outshines Amazon in terms of price and selection. Spanish audiobooks are another great way to learn or relearn Spanish. iTunes’ selection ranges from The South Beach Diet to Don Quixote. I’ve particularly benefitted from Cuentos de Los Hermanos Grimm (Stories from the Brothers Grimm) and Las Aventuras de Tom Sawyer (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), both of which I knew beforehand, which was an immense help to my comprehension. If iTunes doesn’t have what you want, audible.com is another resource.

Audio Learning Programs: There are audio-based programs to learn Spanish, both as audiobooks for purchase and as free downloads (Spanish 101 from DePaul University, in iTunes’ University section. I don’t have any direct experience with these resources, but if other people have experience with them, I’d be glad to hear about it.

Listen, Listen, Listen

A couple of posts back, I wrote about the importance of committing time and energy to any effort to improve your Spanish. The good news is that it’s easy to incorporate audio material into your daily routine: You can put Latin music in the CD player of your car or tune into a Spanish-language radio station on your way to work, and with a mp3 player, you can listen to music as you clean house, go for walks or exercise.

Of all these activities, walking is my favorite for listening. There’s moving scenery and just enough physical activity to keep me engaged, but not enough to distract my mind. And walking functions as a great source of exercise to boot! A few years ago I had a job a couple of miles from home, and every day after taking the bus to work, I’d break out my Ipod loaded with Juanes and El Koala, walk down main street and take a long path through the woods to home. Good times.

The full potential of the Internet for learning is pretty awesome. Sites like LiveMocha offer online chat groups and social networking to allow users to meet and practice with each other. You can find and order textbooks online, access posted college lectures and learning materials, and tune into online radio programs.

But the site that I’ve used most often to practice my Spanish has been YouTube, where for the past four years I’ve been learning and relearning Spanish by listening to music from throughout Spain and Latin America.

There’s an intimidating amount of diversity to music from these regions. YouTube allows you to access this diverse pool anytime, and if you’re brave enough to venture in, the rewards can be wonderful.

I’ve found three advantages by learning a language through its music:

• If you can find a genre or artist you like, you’ll enjoy listening to it, and be more likely to make a habit of listening
• You can listen to music everywhere, making it easy to incorporate music into your daily routine
• Listening to a song works well for language learners of all levels: beginners can try to pick out individual words and then work on understanding the chorus, while more advanced learners can work on understanding the verses line by line (searching for “letras,” or lyrics, can help you find the words to a song).

To help get you started, here are a few videos that I’ve enjoyed that have (relatively) simple lyrics. (You may also want to check out my  “awesome music around the world” series, which has music from Spain, Mexico, Colombia, and other countries.

Manu Chao – Me Gustas Tu

Elmo – Es Musica

Kumbia All Starz – Speedy Gonzales

Does anyone else have any ways they’ve used YouTube or other online resources to learn a new language?

I’ve been studying and practicing Spanish on my own for the past four years. Since then, I’ve gone from reading Dr. Seuss with difficulty to finishing Cien Años de Soledad, and have gone from having difficulty pronouncing basic words to being able to comfortably converse in Spanish while traveling to Uruguay for work and Nicaragua for pleasure.

While I’m not particularly great with foreign languages, I’m proud of my progress. Over my next few blog entries, I’ll discuss how you can learn Spanish with a library card, a mp3 player, and an Internet connection.

I’ve benefitted from the a set of audio lessons as a review of the basics, but learning on my own has taken me farther and deeper than that or any other packaged learning program (I’ve tried several, which have ranged from decent to awful).

Parts of the strategy I’ll be setting out over my next few entries should apply pretty well to any foreign language, but similarities between Spanish and English, and the convenience of Spanish-language materials and Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. make this a lot easier, though French would probably be relatively easy as well.

Here are a few tips for starting out:

Preparation
If there’s one tip I can offer with confidence, it is to commit yourself. Learning a foreign language is a lot like exercise. The benefits are great, but they only last as long as you commit the time.

If you want to be able to speak Spanish well five years from now, you’re going to need to practice every week (or nearly every week) for the next five years.

I estimate that I need two to three hours a week of practice to steadily improve, and 60 to 90 minutes to not lose anything. That said, there are ways to work on your Spanish (listening, not reading) while doing other activities such as driving or exercising: I’ll discuss some of those methods shortly.

Learn (or re-learn) the basics
I really benefited by having the basic rules of grammar and conjugation down. Learning Spanish is relatively easy compared to some other foreign languages because almost all of the tenses match.

Fortunately, my local library had an old copy of the “Living Language” Spanish lessons on CDs; by listening to these and practicing again and again for weeks, I was able to gradually build vocabulary and re-learn the verb conjugations.

Has anyone else had a similar experience or have any tips you’d like to share?

Read about learning Spanish on YouTube.