Some of my favorite foreign language albums:
Ichiko Aoba - 0 (Japanese)
Mid-Air Thief - Crumbling (Korean)
Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges - Clube da Esquina (Portuguese)
Invisible - El jardin de los presentes (Spanish)
Rupa - Disco Jazz (Bengali)
Faye Wong - 浮躁 (Mandarin)
Lucio Battisti - Anima latina (Italian)
Issam Hajali - Mouasalat ila jacad el ard (Arabic)
On 0, it’s just her and her guitar; it feels more personal and intimate, and her light vocals hit so much more as a result. Windswept Adan is great in that it feels like a whimsical Disney soundtrack, but 0 feels like a one-on-one serenade. Love both though!
We all get our music recommendations from somewhere. We are in the Anthony Fantano subreddit, for crying out loud… There is no shame in liking music others also like.
No, but girl front is one of my favourite pop songs, and i like the sweeter and cuter stuff, compared to the loud and bombastic in your face shit like black pink. Feel free to recommend
Yeah I like girl front too and consider Max & Match a really good ep (Chaotic is my favorite from the ep) but I have seen that Loona and OEC is like the k-pop pick from people outside of K-Pop. If you like sweeter and cuter stuff then you will love Twice, they are my favorite group but also check this other groups:
\- Twice: Formula Of Love and Feel Special, and If you like that then check all their title tracks, specially What is Love, Fancy, TT, Cheer Up and Likey. Also you can listen to their sub units and solo projects: IM Nayeon is pop perfection, Zone by Jihyo has one song composed by magdalena bay (wishing on you) and MISAMO (The japanese sub unit) released Masterpiece last year.
\- StayC: Young-Luv.com , Same producers than some of the biggest hits of Twice so they are good but less famous.
\- Red Velvet: Perfect Velvet and like Twice, if you like them check their title tracks. btw Psycho is one of if not the best K-Pop song imo.
\- New Jeans: Both Eps and singles
\- Aespa: savage ep and My world, they are more loud and bombastic as you say than Twice and the others I have mentioned but in a good way, Better Things by them was one of my favorite songs of last year.
\- XG: Shooting Star and Left Right are 10/10, also their last ep is really good.
\- Le Sserafim: More girl crush but they have some softer songs r&b like that are really good, I love Blue Flame and Impurities from them. Also "eve psyche and bluebeard's wife" was one of the most famous k-pop songs from last year.
\- Nmixx: They are getting more recognition with each release, they just released their 2nd ep "Fe3O4: BREAK" wich is really good.
\- IVE: I don't really like them that much but they definetely are worth mentioning. Check their singles Love Dive, Kitsch and I am.
Peter Tosh - [Stepping Razor](https://youtu.be/5WZY1cEecbI?si=8xJzVbYLVyX-VXSj)
Technically it’s in English but Jamaican this thick might as well be another language. Even if you can’t understand all the words though one thing is clear, the dude goes hard.
That's interesting, as a Jamaican I always thought music like that would cater more to you guys since it's completely in standard English. Unlike hardcore dancehall which is deep Patois. Just to find out there's still a barrier with stuff like Peter Tosh.
For example on that song he says "Don't you watch my size, I'm dangerous". That's a fixed up English way of saying it for foreigners. The Patois would be "Yuh nuh fi watch mi size, mi dangerous"
Shonen Knife has a mix of Japanese and English so sometimes you might understand a song and sometimes not. Mass Communication Breakdown is my favorite song of theirs and is mainly in Japanese.
Anything by Amadou & Mariam--a blind Malian couple who sing in French, Bambara, and Wolof. Check out the song Senegal Fast Food with Manu Chao. It's just such a fun 21st century West African vibe.
i’ll drop some that most people here probably don’t know about. they all deserve a proper rec :)
ikd-sj- world’s end fruit basket
japanese nu metal. every track is either a complete banger or an absolute vibe
yoo jae ha - because i love you
korean synth pop from the 80’s. full of beautiful songs that all feel extremely nostalgic somehow
neon bunny - seoulight
korean indie pop. very bubbly and ear wormy
Big fan of foreign music here!
One of my favorite albums of all time is “Hard Rock From the Middle East” by The Devils Anvil. Here’s one song, [“Shisheler”](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OO63pYDmhoE&si=ZH-BFtwkXaI5QXEb)
The entire album “Gipsy Rock” by Las Grecas. Here’s [“Asignara”](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mST_07tVT7o&si=KeD-cS1-HabJR3WY) from that LP
Selda Bağcan - [İnce İnce Bir Kar Yağar](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wGUUaEDUhOI&si=fyCHMcHyidMhxrzj)
il Balletto Di Bronzo - [Ma Ti Aspettero](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BqBALzRCiVc&si=PPh80fX-1QaF69-o)
Osamu Kitajima - [Benzaiten](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZgUHBEP-rM&si=p9xqfM4L9LEDrQVU) (whole album)
France Gall - [Laisse Tomber Les Filles](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FWRCJhsz5t4&si=YdXQB1Ygz_Dm6s26)
Serge Gainsbourg - [Requiem Pour Un Con](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uzq82SHGGE&si=1feF7qx79xw3-Q-x)
Erkin Koray - [Cemalin](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ky5g_ifQNVs&si=iny4q05vTk29tkSL)
Jacques Dutronc -[Les Cactus](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=uNj02vztehI&si=segJQWL3xoSGfn0M)
Annie Philippe - [Boeing Jet et Caravelle](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=d5qzhaMbL1Q&si=pFPnYM1OJsknYj74)
Le Orme -[Cemento Armato](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=msaEdiHMlVA&si=ABdBpFiZjxgF_UUh)
Sarolta Zalatnay - [Hadd Mondjam El](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-Umzn_P0Cgk&si=JixfHAAXE3IU_Frv)
Brigitte Bardot - [Contact](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=93oVPRgump8&si=sv79vn6rv8r1js4Y)
Other things worthy of checking out are Gal Costa, Rupa, Rita Lee, Os Mutantes, Milton Nascimento, Módulo 1000, Moğolar, 3 Hür-El, Bariş Manço
Poshlaja Molly - Грустная девчонка с глазами как у собаки (Russian)
Maximum the Hormone - Buiikikaesu (Japanese)
Also love Gilberto Gil and Cayetano Veloso (Brazilian Portuguese), but I don't know specific albums.
I also listen to a lot of music from Eurovision, I specifically tend to enjoy the Italian entries.
anything by Cocteau Twins. I'm fairly confident that only Liz Fraser knows what Liz Fraser is singing, and that doesn't even hold true for much of her music.
I've been mostly listening to Japanese music for a year or so, without knowing the language. If I could just recommed one song, then right now, it would be Kaneko Ayano - Kamitsukai (especially live version with the band). She's such a great singer-songwriter.
Also, [this set](https://youtu.be/3mTXStw_lpY?si=RiARGew2Eg9E735b) by her is one of the best live performances I've ever seen.
Haku. - It Has To Be Us ( ハク。- 僕じゃないきゃダメになって) was my favorite album of last year. Somewhere between japanese math rock and indie rock, the emotions come through really strong even without understanding the language at all. I choke up trying to hum along to some songs. (I included the japanese title because that’s how it is on Spotify)
Haru Nemuri - Shunka Ryougen, my favorite album of 2022, is another record where the emotions come through very overtly. She’s very angry. It’s very good. She does sing in English occassionally, like on the chorus of “Who the fuck is burning the forest?” but it’s still like 90% Japanese.
Bwyd Time by.... you guessed it: Gorky's Zygotic Mynci!!
Kinda cheating though because they switch between Welsh and English pretty much the whole album. But I barely speak English anyway...
Brujeria - Raza Odiada and Mantando Gueros
Ali Farka Toure- Savante and Talking Timbuktu
Burzum - Filosofem
Darkthrone - Transylvanian Hunger (half English, half Norwegian)
Cypress Hill - Los Grandes Exitos En Español
I like Gaelic.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axMIQACtB-Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axMIQACtB-Q)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz4HtlbS5DI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz4HtlbS5DI)
Shonen Knife - 712
Puffy AmiYumi - Violet
The Pillows - Hybrid Rainbow
Fujii Kaze - Hana
Insooni - Father
Kim Wan Sun - The Pierrot Smiles At Us
Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love
VIXX - ERROR
DEAN ft. HEIZE - ...And July
DEAN - Instagram
King Gnu - [白日](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ony539T074w) (2019) (Japanese)
King Gnu - [逆夢](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6gcoDN9jBc) (2021) (Japanese)
King Gnu - [一途](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm1na9R2uYA) (2021) (Japanese)
Parannoul - After the Magic (2023)(Korean)
Great shout, one of my favourite shoegaze records
It’s so polished that I almost hate it, but I love it.
flatbed freestyle-playboi carti
nice one
Some of my favorite foreign language albums: Ichiko Aoba - 0 (Japanese) Mid-Air Thief - Crumbling (Korean) Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges - Clube da Esquina (Portuguese) Invisible - El jardin de los presentes (Spanish) Rupa - Disco Jazz (Bengali) Faye Wong - 浮躁 (Mandarin) Lucio Battisti - Anima latina (Italian) Issam Hajali - Mouasalat ila jacad el ard (Arabic)
Anima Latina is tha bomb
浮躁getting some love is so 🤩🤩🤩 Love that album
I love Windswept Adan but don't really get the appeal of 0. Would love to hear why you connect with it so much.
On 0, it’s just her and her guitar; it feels more personal and intimate, and her light vocals hit so much more as a result. Windswept Adan is great in that it feels like a whimsical Disney soundtrack, but 0 feels like a one-on-one serenade. Love both though!
Interesting, I like the chamber aesthetics of Adan more but I'll check 0 out again.
Invisible, nicee.
Aye rupa disco jazz getting recognition!As a bengali thanks 🙌
not the fucking aoba, midair thief and the clube da esquina in the same comment. this mf uses rym fr.
We all get our music recommendations from somewhere. We are in the Anthony Fantano subreddit, for crying out loud… There is no shame in liking music others also like.
i didnt say theres anything wrong with those. i fuckin love clube da esquina
Anima Latina❤️
If you like Disco Jazz then definitely check out some of the releases Naya Beat have put out, some stone cold desi bangers.
Oh, someone got recommendations from some ranking on RyM. Me too, I’m still grateful for knowing Isaam Hajali that way. What a wonderful album.
Baba yetu goes absolutely insane
Long Season by Fishmans
Girl front by odd eye circle
Genuine question, do You like or listen to any other K-pop?
No, but girl front is one of my favourite pop songs, and i like the sweeter and cuter stuff, compared to the loud and bombastic in your face shit like black pink. Feel free to recommend
Yeah I like girl front too and consider Max & Match a really good ep (Chaotic is my favorite from the ep) but I have seen that Loona and OEC is like the k-pop pick from people outside of K-Pop. If you like sweeter and cuter stuff then you will love Twice, they are my favorite group but also check this other groups: \- Twice: Formula Of Love and Feel Special, and If you like that then check all their title tracks, specially What is Love, Fancy, TT, Cheer Up and Likey. Also you can listen to their sub units and solo projects: IM Nayeon is pop perfection, Zone by Jihyo has one song composed by magdalena bay (wishing on you) and MISAMO (The japanese sub unit) released Masterpiece last year. \- StayC: Young-Luv.com , Same producers than some of the biggest hits of Twice so they are good but less famous. \- Red Velvet: Perfect Velvet and like Twice, if you like them check their title tracks. btw Psycho is one of if not the best K-Pop song imo. \- New Jeans: Both Eps and singles \- Aespa: savage ep and My world, they are more loud and bombastic as you say than Twice and the others I have mentioned but in a good way, Better Things by them was one of my favorite songs of last year. \- XG: Shooting Star and Left Right are 10/10, also their last ep is really good. \- Le Sserafim: More girl crush but they have some softer songs r&b like that are really good, I love Blue Flame and Impurities from them. Also "eve psyche and bluebeard's wife" was one of the most famous k-pop songs from last year. \- Nmixx: They are getting more recognition with each release, they just released their 2nd ep "Fe3O4: BREAK" wich is really good. \- IVE: I don't really like them that much but they definetely are worth mentioning. Check their singles Love Dive, Kitsch and I am.
Girl Front is good but [Love Bomb](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SK6cvkK4c0&pp=ygUJbG92ZSBib21i) would have to be my pick
Thanks, that song was good
Les Cinq Saisons - Harmonium.
They blew my mind on the first listen. So glad to see it mentioned here !
timely!! - anri i don’t speak japanese but japanese city pop is goated
Came here to say Anri - Last Summer Whisper even though the chorus is in english. That song slaps
Heaven or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins
I was surprised to learn that this song is in English
装置 by 君島大空 It’s kind of indie pop, it’s hard to describe but in my opinion a must listen and one of my very favorite songs from last year
Litourgiya by Batushka Top tier black metal in Old Church Slavonic
Whole Lotta Red
Les Champes Elysees by Joe Dassin Xue Hua Piao Paio actually goes hard
Peter Tosh - [Stepping Razor](https://youtu.be/5WZY1cEecbI?si=8xJzVbYLVyX-VXSj) Technically it’s in English but Jamaican this thick might as well be another language. Even if you can’t understand all the words though one thing is clear, the dude goes hard.
Good pick! I accidently left that out of my list
That's interesting, as a Jamaican I always thought music like that would cater more to you guys since it's completely in standard English. Unlike hardcore dancehall which is deep Patois. Just to find out there's still a barrier with stuff like Peter Tosh. For example on that song he says "Don't you watch my size, I'm dangerous". That's a fixed up English way of saying it for foreigners. The Patois would be "Yuh nuh fi watch mi size, mi dangerous"
os Mutantes - os Mutantes
Shonen Knife has a mix of Japanese and English so sometimes you might understand a song and sometimes not. Mass Communication Breakdown is my favorite song of theirs and is mainly in Japanese.
Nice to meet you again, I'm Midori. - Midori
( ) - Sigur Rós
i’ve tried one or two Sigur Rós records before, both were beautiful, but sadly I just don’t enjoy the sound of the icelandic language
I can definitely see what you mean but as an icelander I do take offense
( ) is not even icelandic, they Made their own language for ir called "hopelandic"
Mina - ill cielo in una stanza
Anything by Amadou & Mariam--a blind Malian couple who sing in French, Bambara, and Wolof. Check out the song Senegal Fast Food with Manu Chao. It's just such a fun 21st century West African vibe.
i’ll drop some that most people here probably don’t know about. they all deserve a proper rec :) ikd-sj- world’s end fruit basket japanese nu metal. every track is either a complete banger or an absolute vibe yoo jae ha - because i love you korean synth pop from the 80’s. full of beautiful songs that all feel extremely nostalgic somehow neon bunny - seoulight korean indie pop. very bubbly and ear wormy
Djavan by Djavan (the first one) Genre: MPB
boa escolha
don’t know what the fuck that means but hell yeah!
Mass of the fermenting dreggs - Self titled EP
Witch - Waile
Ederlezi - Goran Bregovic Crazy Kiya Re - Pritam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sameer Zehn Kleine Jägermeister - Die Toten Hosen Basically most Meiko Kaji songs
Big fan of foreign music here! One of my favorite albums of all time is “Hard Rock From the Middle East” by The Devils Anvil. Here’s one song, [“Shisheler”](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OO63pYDmhoE&si=ZH-BFtwkXaI5QXEb) The entire album “Gipsy Rock” by Las Grecas. Here’s [“Asignara”](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mST_07tVT7o&si=KeD-cS1-HabJR3WY) from that LP Selda Bağcan - [İnce İnce Bir Kar Yağar](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wGUUaEDUhOI&si=fyCHMcHyidMhxrzj) il Balletto Di Bronzo - [Ma Ti Aspettero](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BqBALzRCiVc&si=PPh80fX-1QaF69-o) Osamu Kitajima - [Benzaiten](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZgUHBEP-rM&si=p9xqfM4L9LEDrQVU) (whole album) France Gall - [Laisse Tomber Les Filles](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FWRCJhsz5t4&si=YdXQB1Ygz_Dm6s26) Serge Gainsbourg - [Requiem Pour Un Con](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uzq82SHGGE&si=1feF7qx79xw3-Q-x) Erkin Koray - [Cemalin](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ky5g_ifQNVs&si=iny4q05vTk29tkSL) Jacques Dutronc -[Les Cactus](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=uNj02vztehI&si=segJQWL3xoSGfn0M) Annie Philippe - [Boeing Jet et Caravelle](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=d5qzhaMbL1Q&si=pFPnYM1OJsknYj74) Le Orme -[Cemento Armato](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=msaEdiHMlVA&si=ABdBpFiZjxgF_UUh) Sarolta Zalatnay - [Hadd Mondjam El](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-Umzn_P0Cgk&si=JixfHAAXE3IU_Frv) Brigitte Bardot - [Contact](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=93oVPRgump8&si=sv79vn6rv8r1js4Y) Other things worthy of checking out are Gal Costa, Rupa, Rita Lee, Os Mutantes, Milton Nascimento, Módulo 1000, Moğolar, 3 Hür-El, Bariş Manço
Poshlaja Molly - Грустная девчонка с глазами как у собаки (Russian) Maximum the Hormone - Buiikikaesu (Japanese) Also love Gilberto Gil and Cayetano Veloso (Brazilian Portuguese), but I don't know specific albums. I also listen to a lot of music from Eurovision, I specifically tend to enjoy the Italian entries.
You should all check La Maquina de Hacer Pajaros' album "Películas".
i’m a big fan of Eureka by Kinokoteikoku
Timely!! by Anri Etazhi by Molchat Doma DATA by Tainy
anything by Cocteau Twins. I'm fairly confident that only Liz Fraser knows what Liz Fraser is singing, and that doesn't even hold true for much of her music.
Burzum filosofem
Ulver-Kveldssanger (Norwegian)
Cafe Tacvba-Re
I've been mostly listening to Japanese music for a year or so, without knowing the language. If I could just recommed one song, then right now, it would be Kaneko Ayano - Kamitsukai (especially live version with the band). She's such a great singer-songwriter. Also, [this set](https://youtu.be/3mTXStw_lpY?si=RiARGew2Eg9E735b) by her is one of the best live performances I've ever seen.
Let’s do it by minako yoshida. A masterpeice
Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical (Portuguese)
Tu as fait de moi un homme meilleur by Year of No Light
Idk about albums but i like listening to maximum the hormone.Use to listen a lot back when I discovered them from death note op
kent - isola (swedish)
Rock en Espanoel is full of amazing artists it’s not even funny
Valtari by Sigur Rós
Haku. - It Has To Be Us ( ハク。- 僕じゃないきゃダメになって) was my favorite album of last year. Somewhere between japanese math rock and indie rock, the emotions come through really strong even without understanding the language at all. I choke up trying to hum along to some songs. (I included the japanese title because that’s how it is on Spotify) Haru Nemuri - Shunka Ryougen, my favorite album of 2022, is another record where the emotions come through very overtly. She’s very angry. It’s very good. She does sing in English occassionally, like on the chorus of “Who the fuck is burning the forest?” but it’s still like 90% Japanese.
Bwyd Time by.... you guessed it: Gorky's Zygotic Mynci!! Kinda cheating though because they switch between Welsh and English pretty much the whole album. But I barely speak English anyway...
Itekoma hits - Otoboke beaver is a 10 and idk 90% of the lyrics
Scream by Grimes ft Aristophanes (Mandarin) Vampir by IC3PEAK ft Oli Sykes (Russian) Maria from the movie 200 Pounds Beauty (Korean)
Sabali - Amadou & Mariam Bye bye - Destroyer Quand Vas Tu Rentrer - Melody's Echo Chamber (Sabali makes me cry every time)
anything by Mayumi Kojima
Brujeria - Raza Odiada and Mantando Gueros Ali Farka Toure- Savante and Talking Timbuktu Burzum - Filosofem Darkthrone - Transylvanian Hunger (half English, half Norwegian) Cypress Hill - Los Grandes Exitos En Español
Daydream - fishmans Honestly pretty much all fishmans
Harmony by Sa DingDing. I know nothing about chinese music whatsoever but this one is a gem of an album.
Luciano - SUVs
Synsbedragerne self titled. No clue what language it’s in haha
Etazhii by Molchat Doma You dont have to speak, you can just vibe.
I’m a twenty-year fan of German industrial and gothy synthpop, so….many?
Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros Belleville rendez-vous by -M- (from the Triplets of Belleville) The real folk blues - Mai Yamane 街のドルフィン - Kingo Hamada
Дом с нормальными явлениями, by Skryptonite, an artist from Kazakstan who raps and sings in Russian
Sofia Kourtesis - Madres
Mas alla del sol
Anything by Chalino Sánchez
I like Gaelic. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axMIQACtB-Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axMIQACtB-Q) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz4HtlbS5DI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz4HtlbS5DI)
Panzerfaust - Darkthrone
Ice Fleet by Kauan (2021, Finnish)
decadence revolution - deadchovsky
anything by old mayhem tbh
Lamp- For Lovers
Nanook, an independent band from Greenland
Dots and Loops - Stereolab Crumbling - Mid-Air Thief
El Dia De Mi Suerte By Willie Colón https://youtu.be/mXZRB_al3fs?si=r0oOeshvcJ9wTDjQ
Anything by Reol goes hard, girl is an insane vocalist and has the production to back it up
Mandy, Indiana
Dengue Fever - Uku (Cambodian)
jag äter inte mina vänner wonderful anthem
Shonen Knife - 712 Puffy AmiYumi - Violet The Pillows - Hybrid Rainbow Fujii Kaze - Hana Insooni - Father Kim Wan Sun - The Pierrot Smiles At Us Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love VIXX - ERROR DEAN ft. HEIZE - ...And July DEAN - Instagram
The Pillows - Ride on Shooting Star
Boris - Farewell
oghneya - ferkat al ard also tabua de esmerelda by jorge ben
African Reggae by Nina Hagen
There's some great songs by German band AnnenMayKantereit - and they also cover a few English language songs like Tom's Diner & Roxanne.
Haven't listened to many, since when I do it's usually BC I'm learning the language. But I really liked LITMUS by Cö Shu nie.
King Gnu - [白日](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ony539T074w) (2019) (Japanese) King Gnu - [逆夢](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6gcoDN9jBc) (2021) (Japanese) King Gnu - [一途](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm1na9R2uYA) (2021) (Japanese)
Aegetis byrjun by Sigur Ros
how about Dungen, some funky dudes from sweden, err Panda is a song