Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Music from Costa Rica

Though its music has achieved little international credit, Costa Rican popular music genres include: an indigenous calypso scene which is distinct from the more widely-known Trinidadian calypso sound, as well as a thriving disco audience that supports nightclubs in cities like San José. American and British rock and roll and pop are very popular and common among the youth (especially urban youth), while dance-oriented genres like socasalsamerenguecumbia and Tex-Mex have an appeal among a somewhat older audience.
Mexican music is very popular among older people and some people in the countryside. During the middle years of the 20th century, Costa Rica was exposed to much Mexican cultural influence.
Another new genre explored in Costa Rica is celtic with the group Peregrino Gris.

From Wikipedia

Monday, August 6, 2012

Music from the Cook Islands

The music of the Cook Islands is diverse. Christian music is extremely popular. Imene tuki is a form of unaccompanied vocal music known for a uniquely Polynesian drop in pitch at the end of the phrases, as well as staccato rhythmic outbursts of nonsensical syllables (tuki). The word 'imene' is derived from the English word 'hymn' (see Tahitian: 'himene' - Tahiti was first colonised by the English). Likewise the harmonies and tune characteristics / 'strophe patterns' of much of the music of Polynesia is western in style and derived originally from missionary influence via hymns and other church music. One unique quality of Polynesian music (it has become almost a cliché) is the use of the sustained 6th chord in vocal music, though typically the 6th chord is not used in religious music. Traditional songs and hymns are referred to as imene metua (lit. hymn of the parent/ancestor).
From Wikipedia.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Music from the Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo (or Congo-Brazzaville) is an African nation with close musical ties to its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, or Congo-Kinshasa). DRC's homegrown pop music, soukous, are popular across the border, and musicians from both countries have fluidly travelled throughout the region playing similarly styled music, including Nino Malapet and Jean Serge Essous. Brazzaville had a major music scene until unrest in the late 1990s, and produced popular bands like Bantous de la Capitale that played an integral role in the development of soukous and other styles of Congolese popular music. The Hip-Hop group "Bisso na Bisso" also hails from Congo-Brazzaville. 

From Wikipedia

Friday, July 27, 2012

Music from the Democratic Republic of the Congo


Describing the music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is difficult, due to vagaries surrounding the meanings of various terms. The country itself was formerly called Zaire and is now sometimes referred to as Congo-Kinshasa to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo (or Congo-Brazzaville). In this article, Congo will refer specifically to theDemocratic Republic of the Congo unless otherwise noted. Outside of Africa, most any music from the Congo is calledsoukous, which most accurately refers instead to a dance popular in the late 1960s. The term rumba or rock-rumba is also used generically to refer to Congolese music, though both words have their own difficulties and neither is very precise nor accurately descriptive. People from the Congo have no term for their own music per se, although they have used muziki na biso (our music)until the late 1970s and now the most common name is "ndule" which simply means music in the lingala dialect. Most songs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are sung in the "lingala" dialect, mainly because it is the dialect which is the most spoken in the country.  
From Wikipedia