I’ve noticed that when meeting a foreign person, mentioning that you like a beloved artist from their country is one of the best way to create a good vibe.
Which revered artist/group (not necessarily musician) from your place should I learn about?
A few examples I’m thinking about (correct me if I’m wrong):
| Country | Artist |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Carlos Gardel |
| Australia | Powderfinger |
| Austria | Mozart, Falco, Thomas Bernhard |
| Beligum | Jacques Brel, Stromae |
| Brazil | Raul Seixas, Zé Ramalho |
| Cabo Verde | Cesária Évora |
| Canada | Leonard Cohen, Céline Dion, Gordon Lightfoot |
| Egypt | Umm Kulthum |
| France | Daft Punk |
| Germany | Kraftwerk, Die Ärzte, Franz Kafka |
| Iceland | Björk |
| Italy | Elio e le Storie Tese |
| Malawai | Evison Matafale |
| Mali | Salif Keita |
| Scotland | The Proclaimers, Sean Connery |
| Sweden | Astrid Lindgren |
| USA | Dolly Parton |
Edit: Spent my Saturday morning vibing, adding the “consensual” suggestions to the table.
Germany: Boris Brejcha
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Carlos Brilhante Ustra was a man who put rats in women’s vaginas. He shocked pregnant women until they miscarried. He was a torturer who is in the trash can of Brazilian history, not someone to joke about.
Switzerland
DJ Bobo or Patent Ochsner.
Technotronic, from Belgium, had that 1989 techno anthem, Pump Up the Jam.
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I’m American but when I visited Iceland everybody loved Björk and loved talking about Björk. She’s like a national icon
Germany is big, but I think a good one that ruffles no feathers is Santiano (a sea-man shanty like band), though obviously Ramstein is bigger, but some people think that they are nazis (which they aren’t, they are provocative)
Another Idea I had is The Sandmännchen (A berry young kids show that runs every day since 1959) there almost no talking so you could say that “your kids love it” or something
What about Kraftwerk. They’re so influential and iconic.
Given that recent scandals and Lindemann, right wing connotations are the least of their worries.
For the uninformed: he allegedly used the backstage area as a sex dungeon, including drugs, minors, rape, etc.
How about Kraftwerk?
Santiano
Interesting! I knew the French version of this song by Hugues Aufray, which happens to be the inspiration for this band’s name. Although, Aufray’s inspiration is the sea shanty Santianna referring to the Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna, which has many variations.
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Santiano is not universally loved. They’re too close to Schlager for that. And the issue with Rammstein isn’t really alleged nazism (which only came up briefly when they used Leni Riefenstahl’s footage) but rather their singer’s alleged backstage raping.
So far, I haven’t met people who hated Herbert Grönemeyer, Marius-Müller Westernhagen, Jan Delay, Nina Hagen, die Ärzte, die fantastischen Vier or Reinhard Mey. A little more recent music that I have rarely seen associated negatively would be by Kraftklub, Peter Fox or Deichkind. None of this is particularly progressive, but it’s decent stuff that is so universally liked that e.g. weddings often rely on them to get people to dance.
Ich bin Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil.
Just realised that this isn’t just about music. Those were all musicians or bands, but Germany of course has people from all trades.
To universally loved artists I’d count
- Janosch, a children’s books author. Love his work. Never met anyone who didn’t.
- Franz Kafka. Like… Depressing stories? Dunno. It’s just that, despite his work being quite dark, it’s just pretty damn good.
- Peter Lustig moderated a kids’ TV show, Löwenzahn. He eventually stopped due to his age and his successor does a good job, but he was just… Chef’s kiss, you know?
- Michael Ende wrote what I guess would be some of the most famous German children’s books for older kids. The Neverending Story, for example. All his books are considered modern classics.
- There are a lot of famous actresses and actors, but when it comes to being loved for their work without any attached drama, I guess Bjarne Mädel takes the cake. Tatortreiniger is brilliant and I haven’t heard anything negative tied to him.
- Armin Maiwald und Christoph Biemann spearheaded the German kids show “Die Sendung mit der Maus” and are very much loved for their work.
My personal suggestion list would be:
- Die Ärzte
- Peter Fox
- Nina Hagen
Daft Punk in France. They’re national icons, and even Macron likes them.
My first thought was De Funès/Bourvil, but that works too
Australia - Powderfinger… Nice
Also, Something For Kate would be a good one.
For Austria, you can mention an old internationally known classic, falco
or e.a.v.
these will never have you out of place
When I spent a little time in Malawi, people always loved it if you recognised Evison Matafale’s music.
Sticking to popular, mainstream rock and pop options I’d say Bernard Fanning/Powderfinger is a good representation of Australian rock that doesn’t really polarise as much as the more cultural cringe options like Darryl Braithwaite, John Farnham or Jimmy Barnes. There’s also Kylie Minogue who might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but is unlikely to be actively disliked by most.
Midnight oil, INXS would be good picks too.
I usually have a hard time answering questions like this. For me, art is art; I don’t really care if the artist in question pays or paid taxes to the same government as I do.
That said, I guess that either Zé Ramalho or Raul Seixas would be good bets. Other better known artists are a bit more divisive, or stuff that you’d only hear if you’re into a specific style (often regional).
Another possibility would be literature, more specifically Machado de Assis. Because even people who hate him (due to his pedantic writing style - the guy is from late 1800s, but harder to parse than Shakespeare) usually admit that he’s good.
I usually have a hard time answering questions like this. For me, art is art; I don’t really care if the artist in question pays or paid taxes to the same government as I do.
I understand what you mean, but my question is about which artist you think your compatriots would be happy to hear about on average to show them that you have some interest in their culture.
but my question is about which artist you think your compatriots would be happy to hear about
I answered it, alongside the part that you’re quoting: Zé Ramalho (singer), Raul Seixas (singer), Machado de Assis (writer).
Raul Seixas in special would be my first bet.
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https://piped.video/watch?v=zlAXMIy81UY
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Aotearoa. Suzy Cato is universally loved, but people could be suspicious about how you came to know about her.
Suzanne Noreen Cato (born 20 June 1968) is an Australian-born New Zealand children’s entertainer. She is best known as the host of several New Zealand children’s television programmes, most notably Suzy’s World and You and Me.
Yeah, not really the kind of thing you would discover by immersing yourself in your hobby.
