A duet between two components, Music Mondays consist of Travel Tracks and Shuffle Surprise.
The Travel Tracks series is where my love for travel and music meet. Music is a powerful medium that allows you to relive that wonderful vacation, or transport you to a place that you haven’t even been before. Global charts are a reflection of cultures, where some musical preferences are shared, and others are a country’s well-kept secret.
Every Monday I pick a song that’s popular in a particular country. A song that you would take home with you as a souvenir, and is not already heard all over the world.
Which songs come up when I shuffle my entire music library?
With a very broad music taste, and an equally large music library, I like to press “shuffle” every once in a while. It gets me to the realms of musical gold, forgotten aural delights, or those guilty pleasures.
I hope you will remember your own favorites, or discover new and exciting music.
Two months ago I picked France’s Eurovision Song Contest entry for Travel Tracks. Today’s song “TOY” by Netta Barzilai will represent Israel in the same competition. After hearing both tracks, you would think they were from different planets, although both focus on current affairs.
“Body” is a no-holds-barred pre-summer anthem from Loud Luxury, a DJ duo from Canada. This track also has a Dutch touch to it, as Armin van Buuren released it through his record label Armada Music.
Unlike what you may think, today’s Travel Tracks has nothing to do with cute puppies. Rather, the song is about dating. Ramone Rochester, a.k.a. Ramz, describes a young bloke’s typical weekend in the East London town of Barking. Probably due to its relatability, the song quickly became a youth anthem.
The single version of “Zoutelande” is a collaboration between Dutch band BLØF and Flemish singer Geike Arnaert. This is the first time for Arnaert to sing in Dutch. Her previous work for both Hooverphonic and her solo career has always been in the English language.
Zoutelande is a small town in the Dutch province of Zeeland, but the original version of the song is about Frankfurt Oder in Germany. BLØF’s bass player rewrote the lyrics, while keeping the essence of the song. It’s about trying to entertain yourself in somewhat of a dreary place, without having much money or things to do.
Listening to “Go Bang” takes me back to the ’90s. The synthesizer-driven track comes with an almost hypnotizing video, which may cause you to wave your hands in the air inadvertently.
Madame Monsieur will represent France with “Mercy” at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, which will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, this May. The song points our attention to the European refugee crisis, but focuses on hope instead of hopelessness. “Mercy” refers to the baby girl that was born on a migrant rescue ship while at sea in the Mediterranean.
If you have ever been to Brazil, chances are that you have heard a lot of “Sertanejo,” which loosely translates to “Brazilian country music.” Its popularity is (unfortunately) mostly contained to country borders, but back in 2012 much of Europe got a taste of it. Michel Teló with “Ai se eu te Pego!” and Gusttavo Lima with “Balada (Tchê Tcherere Tchê Tchê)” captivated international audiences with their sunny vibes.
Germany, Austria or Switzerland? For this week’s Travel Tracks I could have gone with either country. “Was Du Liebe Nennst” happens to be massively popular in all these three countries right now. As Bausa is from Germany, I went with his home country. After Italy and the Netherlands, this is the third week in a row that Travel Tracks features a rapper.
After last week’s trip to Italy, we are going to the Netherlands today with another rapper. Ronnie Flex is a big part of the ever-growing wave of Dutch rap/hip-hop (Nederhop) acts. It’s great to see such a resurgence of national music in the charts. “Blijf Bij Mij” features guest vocals from Maan, who herself is a rising star after winning the Dutch version of The Voice. If the bit that Maan sings sounds vaguely familiar to you, then you are right. It’s based on “Dilemma” by Nelly and Kelly.
