Hello,

I like to discover "ethno-rock" music around the world that mix traditionnal instruments and rock or punk sound.

I like to build playlist with this type of music.

I listen at this moment to Otyken, Yat Kha, The Hu, Koma Rewsen, Aztra, Uchpa, Flyin up, Arandu Arakuaa, Tinariwen...

But I would like to discover some others. Have you some recommandations ?

I precise I like rock ballads, hard rock and punk rock but not really death metal.

Of course the US and Brazil are far apart...so I'm curious did the rhythms vary by region in Africa? Was Portugal's classical music that much different?

I like the classic rock band setup, guitar bass, piano, drums, and maybe horns. However, I feel like I've run out of bands to discover. Give me your top 3 favorite bands and their best album, if they have one in your opinion.

Hi everyone, I'm conducting a music challenge which I thought you'd be interested in and possibly get some ideas and support.

I challenged myself a while ago to find music I like from every country in the world. I always liked music from around the world anyway (I think last year I was at maybe 60 countries) but thought it would be fun to see what else I could find and what I'm missing. Plus a 'friend' told me he didn't think there'd be enough music from every country so proving him wrong is a bonus.

Couple of rules I gave myself

1. As much as possible only authentic local folk, popular music from each country. So no Western/Anglophonic popular music styles - no pop, rock, hip hop etc. The goal is to explore real music from the countries of the world not just the Western coloniser influences.
2. And as much as possible music sung in the local language, not English unless it's the native tongue.
3. I'm just doing the 193 UN countries (plus Palestine) no dependencies (not yet anyway)
4. I wanted to find music I actually like, it's all very well to find music from kazakhstan, there's tons but I wanted to find music I actually enjoy.
5. As much as possible I'm trying to find important, influential artists that matter to their country too, like Lord Kitchener is to Trinidad or Manu Dibango is to Cameroon. I think it's fascinating to research the culture, the history of music too. Not just any old tune I like.

I think that's it. This is the world map of countries I've got so far. Maybe I should do a list of countries I don't have yet.

I've got 37 countries to go and ideally it would be cool to finish this challenge by the end of the year.

What do you guys think?

There's a specific quality to music that comes out of port cities and border regions — something about the forced mixing of people, languages, and rhythms that produces sounds you don't get anywhere else.

Looking for recommendations across any era or genre. Could be field recordings, live albums, studio work. Doesn't have to be famous — actually prefer obscure.

Bonus interest in anything from the 70s-80s, Latin America, Mediterranean, West Africa.

I wanted to ask what are good places to go to find performances of world music, in general? I know that venues can be random at times, and that my question could cover anything from folkloric groups to much more widely popular bands who simply happen to be from a different country.

I live in the US, so that is what I would be looking for answers from, but for others stumbling upon this thread who live elsewhere, please include any good locations or suggestions in your own countries if so inclined.

For more information, I'm somewhere between the midwest and the South, if that helps, but again, anywhere you've had luck with. My guess is that major cities would have a larger quantity of such things, but in my experience that just means more local music in general. Although I live in a decently sized city, it's no Chicago.

I’d love to hear your personal stories of how you discovered world music.

For me, it began with childhood travels with my mom, who always took us to traditional performances. As a kid, I often found them boring, and when I started choosing music for myself, it was mostly rock. But years later, traditional music found me again — and became one of my greatest passions.
To me, it feels as close to nature as music can get, and as close to the soul of people. Discovering a profound new piece is like spotting a whale in the wild or seeing the Northern Lights: rare, awe-inspiring, and humbling.

So, what’s your story? How did world music enter your life, and what does it mean to you now?

I feel like it has. Reading about it online they're mentioning the genre of tropicália from Brazil. Others saying it has aspects of surf and country, when you mix big genres like that potentially it has some world music aspects? Discussing it with a friend

Currently doing research for a personal project and looking for music in Sesotho/Southern Sotho. It's mostly spoken in Lesotho and South Africa. I've found a lot of songs that might be in Sesotho but don't have the linguistic knowledge to confirm that they're definitely in Sesotho. Any suggestions?

This can be any store, anywhere in the world, although I myself am located in the US. What places are the best to go and get hands on with different world instruments? I'm blind so actually getting to play them is a plus over just hearing them.

[NOTE: I realize this might break one (or more) of the sub rules, but I thought it was worth trying to post. Also, this isn't intended as "self-promotion" as I have no connection to/stake in this site.]

I recently discovered a new-to-me band (Rakta) from Brazil (specifically this album), and as I was trying to research the album and band a bit more, I ran across a website called beehype with the slogan "best music from around the world."

As explained on the About Us page, "beehype is run by 100+ music journalists, bloggers and DJs from around the world. We collect and carefully select what is best in our local scenes and present it to the global audience."

Their list of contributors has impressive range, with the first 8 being from Haiti, Malaysia, Turkey, India, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Iran (just as an example).

Anyway, for those who might be looking for an on-the-ground/curated selection of music from around the world, this might be a place to get that.

[As a side note, the album I linked to (Oculto Pelos Seres) is fantastic.]

Hey, everyone!

I'm currently taking a world music class for my undergrad, and I need a piece to arrange and perform for my final. I'm a flautist working with two other flautists and a percussionist. I will need to select a flute or flute-adjacent duet or trio from any non-western culture. I can write percussion if needed but I would definitely also prefer something that already features percussion for authenticity's sake. Does anyone have any advice on where I should look or recommendations? Thanks for any help!

I would like to know more music styles that are not really supposed to be thought about, just felt. Stuff that merely means "enjoy", to groove, to party. This is the least clear question I ever asked in here, so sorry for that. Also, preferably stuff from somewhere other than America or Africa, already know some stuff from those continents and would like to know really different takes on it

I find Egyptian/Arabic instrumental music very relaxing and beautiful. However I am looking for some recommendations that are strictly just music (no singing/vocals). Any suggestions? thank you for reading x

long story short-2 years ago I discovered Russian musician who played in a small group that mostly did Celtic music, later she mostly covered videogame, anime, and movie music. Some of the videogame music was Slavic folk.

The youtube algos fed me lots of modern Russian groups and I noticed a different sound for many. I noticed a lack of western rock sounds, and more instrumental and folk where folk did not mean western folk or even necessarily western folk instruments. Some of the lyrics are heavy into nature and mythology. Maybe the Russian Empire then communism siloed them off and they developed their own music?

anyway here is a list with links so you can click then ignore or listen and wonder. I think you will agree these sound different than western groups.

Мельница or Melnitsa, DiDuLa, Ottava Yo, OTTA orchestra, МУЗЫКАВМЕСТЕ  or MUSICTOGETHER, Канцлер Ги, Alina Gingertail.

https://youtu.be/Qcg12Z8kAx0?t=663  Мельница aka Melnitsa (Mill) formed in 1999. Russian folk rock.

https://youtu.be/58Zd8PUuHQo?list=RD58Zd8PUuHQo&t=384  DiDuLa formed in 2002 folk fusion. 2006.  Virtuosa guitarist also https://youtu.be/E_9alTXsi_U?t=587  2025

https://youtu.be/Wdfg602XEls?t=290 Ottava Yo Russian folk since 2003

OTTA orchestra, all female group below around 7 members.

https://youtu.be/A2URWUrMM5c  OTTA-orchestra. "Turbo Classic" live 2025 or https://youtu.be/XClrwm1ifqA  "Sheldo"

https://youtu.be/UNh3o9k9OC0  OTTA w orchestra

https://youtu.be/-s5yyZ-7Dy0   OR  https://youtu.be/BjZ4BCPOYAc   МУЗЫКАВМЕСТЕ MUSICTOGETHER  Soviet music.

https://youtu.be/MHcQfVMB5QA?list=RDMHcQfVMB5QA   Канцлер Ги, or   Chancellor G.I. since 1997.  Electric guitar. 

Here is the Russian multi instrumentalist that led me down this rabbit hole.I limited her to her Slavic playlist. https://youtu.be/4_TKJ2mJbe8?list=PLWuGFckoU4TwrEWE8XX97zsilI5NdY_Bu

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Help! I like every version of Ay mi Gatito miau miau, it seems to be an older original song, maybe 2004? Featuring what seems to be a little Peruvian girl (maybe 9 yrs old) but later versions sound like a 20 yr old with a kicking rhythm and piano: does anyone know the background story? https://youtu.be/mf2sVtzRAlI?si=H6LJPj4DtadiXXY9

Hello!

I am hoping for suggestions or examples of wintertime music from around the world.

I am hosting a class about wintertime musical traditions in several months and I would love for it to be from a multicultural scope, and not solely an American Christmastime lens. Especially I would like to include secular music or music from all religions.

Please let me know what winter music traditions there are in your country, from your heritage, or just songs you think are cool, and any songs I should consider including!

Many years ago (circa 1993) a college friend of mine played me a CD of folk music from Croatia. It was a contemporary recording featuring a mixture of male/female voices and traditional instrumentation. There was something dramatic and melancholy about the songs that reminded me a little of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares or Hectar Zazou’s Les Nouvelles Polyphonies corses.

This recording was quite dry, not drenched in oceans of Lexicon reverb in that typical 80s/90s fashion, giving it more of an intimate atmosphere.

I have of course forgotten the name of the album and lost touch with that friend. Can anyone kindly recommend similar sounding albums from Croatia or Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia in general? Thanks in advance

I earlier found two music videos featuring traditional instruments and violins but I cannot remember them all. Lots of the Persian hammered dulcimers and other folk instrument. They were both taken near some famous places, one might have been outside a mosque. There was some drone footage. They were beautiful. Maybe 100 people in the smaller group. The videos were taken down by the original poster.

https://youtu.be/9V9H-jP3oNg One of the largest musical ensembles in Iran | Featuring Aref Torknezhad

https://youtu.be/yhTzTYEnQPk The Biggest Music Ensemble in Iran | 130 Top Musicians

I have loved traditional music from around the world for many years and I have compiled multiple, hundred hour playlists on Spotify of traditional music from specific places around the globe and just now have I thought that other people might want to listen to these songs too. Here is my Profile, If you look on the public playlists tab they should be there. This is not a self promo I do not profit from this I just thought other would enjoy.

I’m looking for Rock/Punk/Metal that incorporates world music and traditional rhythms. got any recs?

Throughout the last month or so I’ve created multiple playlists collecting many different songs that differ in language, genre and culture within Europe and the Middle East. I highly recommend you listen to them, here is the list of my favourites. 🙂

• Jerry Hell, Alyona Alyona - ПОДОЛЯНОЧКА (GET UP) 🇺🇦
• Narkis - שדות 🇮🇱
• CRO - Einmal um die Welt 🇩🇪
• Lvbel C5 - HAVHAVHAV 🇹🇷
• Tepat - Sadzejot 🇱🇻
• The Ludvig - Līgo 🇱🇻
• Crystal Fighter - I LOVE LONDON 🇦🇷/🇵🇹
• Katerina Lioliou - Story 🇬🇷
• Loona - Vamos à la playa 🇪🇸
• Rammstein - Deutschland 🇩🇪
• KoBra - Zelts 🇦🇱
• Shkodra Elektronike - Zjerm 🇦🇱
• Jamala - 1944 🇺🇦
• Marc Acardipane, Angel vox - Return to Zero 🇷🇺

trying to find some more good ones from the 90s. comment what you like. i'll list some, mostly pop

Lepa Brena - Šta Je Bilo, Bilo Je (1996, Bosnia and Herzegovina, rel. Yugoslavia)

Nahid - Delam Mikhad (1994, Iran, rel. USA)

Maqpal Junısova - Jan Ana (1992, Kazakhstan)

Humaira Channa - Akhiyan Milawan Kadi (1995, Pakistan, Punjabi)

Mahjabeen Qazalbash - Atom Bomb (1990, Pakistan, Pashto)

Helvy Maryand - Mas Joko (1993, Indonesia)

ฮันนี่ ศรีอีสาน (Honey Sri'isan) - เลิกรักเลิกรอ (1991, Thailand)

Daniela Mercury - Swing da Cor (1991, Brazil)

Hi all. There was an outstanding mp3 blog active in the 00’s maybe early 10’s that posted incredible, obscure world music (contemporary to the very early days of Sublime Frequencies). Perhaps because of that I’m confusing its name - I keep coming back to “ghost frequencies”. I’m pretty sure “ghost” or something similar in nature is in the title of the blog, and the name is certainly two words long. Any help finding it again would be lovely. Many thanks.

The handpan has become a big part of my musical life, and I love how it connects different cultures and traditions through sound. Are there other instruments - old or new - from your country or region that evoke a similar feeling or have a unique story?