German-born Tarkan Tevetoğlu, 37, has been compared to a cross between Turkey's Elvis and Michael Jackson in terms of his impact on his country’s pop music scene, and he’s achieved a measure of fame abroad, as well, particularly in Europe. The dude garners A-list coverage from Turkish media, of course, for almost everything he does, whether it’s verbal gaffes; groundbreakingly racy video scenes; temporary military draft-dodging; shilling for Pepsi-Cola; scary run-ins with the paparazzi; a tiff w
music videos (8)
Having released her third album, Kulture Noir, last summer, Simphiwe Dana, a 30-year-old preacher’s daughter from rural Transkei, has become one of South Africa’s top musical sensations in just half a decade. Often compared to the late, great Miriam Makeba, she sings both in English and in her native Xhosa, mixing traditional Bantu musical idioms with contemporary jazz, gospel, and blues influences… and it’s all on gorgeous display in this song/video, Ndiredi, released back
Ever since I’ve been traveling to Europe starting in 1977 – well before American Idol or The X Factor – the Eurovision annual song contest has been a big deal for more than a few of my Old World friends and acquaintances (not to mention the local media). I got to watch it several times surrounded by Europeans, and I must say, the enthusiasm generated by this reliably cheesy collection of crazy outfits, over-the-top antics and sometimes downright goofy tunes (here's a 2010 piece I found on it
by Nellie Huang
The beauty of a classic city like Budapest is undeniable and, for that reason, more than one movie director has chosen it as a film location, due to both its own merits and similarities to equally gorgeous destinations. Cities like the capital of Hungary are also a special gift for creators of music videos, who need to pack a musical story into no more than three or four minutes and make a visual impact from the very first notes. To do so, these directors take advantage of ae
Meet Gabriella, Ádám, and Zsolt, Budapest thirtysomethings who formed the electro-pop group Unique in 1997 — and who’ve been music-obsessed ever since they were mini-Madyars. Blonde Gabi, for example, made a splash way back in ’92 when she walked away with “best solo singer” on the Hungarian TV show Teenage Star Search. With her on vocals and her pair of wingmen on keyboards, the trio persevered finally hitting the big time in 2001, when a Unique tune was picked as the theme f
An oldie but goodie from one of the seminal Spanish pop groups of the 1980′s and 1990′s, reunited just about a year ago. Two brothers, Nacho and José María Cano wrote and played the tunes and Ana Torroja sang ‘em, and many were quirky doozies — I Can’t Get Up Today, This Isn’t a Serious Cemetery, I Crashed a Party, Stereosexual. This one, from the 1987 album Descanso dominical (Sunday Break) describes the annual New Year’s Eve revelry in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol plaza — “sa
Tiny Costa Rica holds a very special place in Latin America — largely literate and completely armyless as well as beautiful and exciting. And Malpaís, a six-dude band named after a remote beach area at the end of the road on the Nicoya Peninsula coast (literally, the word means “badlands”), is an unmistakable product of the Tico culture and ethos, fusing jazz and rock with local musical and folk traditions. “Boceto para esperanza,” from their first album, Uno (2003), is a mel
This ditty from 2009 hails from Lebanon via the pouty lips of sultry chanteuse Myriam Fares, who at 27 already has several albums and a brand of perfume under her belt… a decade after snagging first place at the Lebanese Song Festival. “Eih Elly Byehsal?” is in the Egyptian rather than Lebanese dialect of Arabic (which is more widely understood throughout the Arab world), and frankly, there’s nothing remotely deep here (“I’m in love and how can I describe this passion?”). B
