Continental Breakfast

Okay. Today I set myself a challenge. To show you five different bands/artists from different continents with different music styles. And it's gotta be from my own music collection, so I can't go onto the internet and download stuff for this. It's gotta be something I already listen to.
And it took me quite a while to figure out who I was going to show, and had to do some research for some of the bands where they are from.

First up is from the continent of Africa. It's 'Kleva / Kasilam' from Mapaputsi (South Africa), and the music style is Kwaito, a mixture of slowed down house beats and African music put in samples. It's an awesome tune. I noticed this song when it was featured in Skins. Check, Africa.


Next is our very own Asia. No, I'm not going to put some J-Pop girly boy (hahahaha). Instead I'm featuring the highly infectious Ore Ska Band, with their equally infectious song, 'Hana No Ska Dance.' I think you can guess that it is a Ska band. And if you never knew what Ska is, this is a good example. And no, Ska isn't Japanese. It's a genre that started from Jamaica and came before reggae and rocksteady.



Then from Europe, we've got Soko from France. She hasn't actually released an album, but she has an EP out called 'Not Sokute.' It's darkly funny acoustic folk pop from the Bordeaux girl. Recently her Myspace has declared that "Soko is Dead" and "I quit." I hope that isn't true. I really like her music. She's like the weird, paranoid cousin of Flight Of The Conchords.



I think metalheads will be familiar with this next band from South America. In fact amongst Bruneians this might be the most well-known set of musicians here. It's Sepultura, whose brand of thrash metal with a little bit of Brazillian tribal percussion has earned them worldwide recognition. This song, 'Roots Bloody Roots,' is quite an old song, before the Cavalera brothers ran off. But it is still one of their most famous songs.

And then there's Van She from Australia with their psychedelic eletropop tunes. I first noticed them when Crystal Castles did a remix of their song, 'Sex City,' which turned into 'Vanished.' If I haven't changed it, it would be the background music for my blog right now. They've also done their fair share of remixes for the likes of Klaxons, The Bravery, Pendulum and Daft Punk. This is their song, 'Strangers,' from their album, 'V'.

Finally, from North America, it's Vampire Weekend from New York with 'Oxford Comma'. Incorporating African influences into their indie pop rock style in their debut album made them one of the most critically acclaimed new band in 2008, frequently appearing in "top 10 albums of 2008" lists in magazines and music websites, notably The Rolling Stones magazine.

So that's every single continent except Antarctica. Well, you can't have everything.

As a bonus, I think I'll include this Portuguese outfit, with their Kuduro sound and a song aptly called 'Sound of Kuduro' with M.I.A., DJ Znobia, Saborosa and Puto Prata.


Signing out

Over and out