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 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)
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.
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.
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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