Channel J: 6 of the Best Kept Secrets of the Music World

 

 

I was reminded recently about the upcoming shift to Christmas music that we’re going to have to inevitably put up with for a month or more. It seems like, just as soon as American Thanksgiving is done, it’s a requirement that radio DJs must play “Wonderful Christmastime” a hundred times a day in order to get us all in the mood to buy stuff at shopping malls. Or shoot up those shopping malls because we’re absolutely sick of “Wonderful Christmastime”. In order to stave off that homicidal rage, here’s a list of six bands, composers and singers who are the best kept secrets from six different countries. As far as I know, none of them have Christmas albums, so there’s an added bonus.

 

Australia: Delta Goodrem
Joseph’s pick: Wings of the Wild (2016)

If you want a good argument for laws requiring that a specific percentage of media broadcast in a specific country must belong to that country, look no further than Australia, a country that made me realize that there’s a reason Cancon exists (more on that in a moment). About a decade ago, so I don’t know if this has changed for the better since then, I started listening to radio broadcast from the land down under since I figured it was better than listening to the same ten songs on our local station… and wouldn’t you know it, but those exact same ten songs were playing on their radio stations, too. So for all I know, Delta Goodrem is being kept a secret from her own native Australians, too.

And that’s a crying shame, because she’s one of the nation’s most talented singers as well as one of their most talented songwriters. People around the world have performed her songs, yet no one outside of Australia knows who she is. Her most recent achievement was to play Olivia Newton-John in a biopic called Hopelessly Devoted to You, and a soundtrack was released where Delta covered many of Olivia Newton-John’s biggest hits.

Delta starts “Wings of the Wild” by landing on her feet, drawing comparisons between herself and several species of large cat in “Feline“, then adds a pair of wings in “Wings“. Other highlights include “Enough“, a song about not letting anyone else decide your own worth, and the best cover version of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” that I have ever heard.

 

Canada: Amanda Marshall
Joseph’s pick: Tuesday’s Child (1999)

Cancon, or “Canadian content”, refers to a law that requires a certain percentage of media broadcast in Canada to be made in part or in full by Canadians. This is why there are so many shows on the CBC made in Canada, and why sometimes there’ll be a new wave of American or other foreign shows debuting a Canadian version every few years, but with the word Canada in its title. We’ve got a Canadian version of Family Feud debuting soon, and Canada’s Worst Driver continues to be a popular show.

What this means for our radio stations is that, along with the same ten American songs put into heavy rotation, the same three Canadian songs must be played alongside them. Unfortunately, this hasn’t helped anyone not named Celine Dion, Bryan Adams or Michael Buble, even though the law was intended to put more Canadian music on our radios.

One of the singers who has been helped by Cancon is Amanda Marshall, who is pretty well known here in Canada, but like Delta Goodrem, international success seems to have eluded her. It also doesn’t help that she hasn’t put out any new music since 2001.

Of her three albums, “Tuesday’s Child” is probably her best one. It begins with the very powerful “Believe in You“, an anthem of support for those who might not believe in themselves. From there, Marshall’s distinctive vocals carry songs like “If I Didn’t Have You“, “Love Lift Me” and “Shades of Grey” to near iconic status. That is not to say her self-titled debut and her third album, “Everybody’s Got A Story” are forgettable. They’re 9/10 albums and “Tuesday’s Child” is a solid 10/10. I always remain optimistic that a fourth album will be released, but for now, three of the best albums to ever be released in Canada are available.

 

France: Deep Forest
Joseph’s pick: Music Detected (2002)

This one is probably cheating a little, since Deep Forest doesn’t really represent France as much as it represents the entire world. Albums like “Pacifique” and “Comparsa” take their influence from various cultures and peoples from around the world. So when I call this one of France’s hidden gems, that’s just where they’re from. More than anyone else on this list, Deep Forest is not the product of their place of origin.

Released in 2002, “Music Detected” is probably the most Western-friendly album of their entire discography. This is not a mark against Deep Forest, it’s just harder to recommend their other albums unless one is already a fan of world music.

“Music Detected” is a pretty strong album and unlike most of Deep Forest’s other releases, several songs come with lyrics written specifically for them. For example, “Endangered Species” is exactly that, a song about the planet and those living on it, and “Computer Machine” is a techno song about computers (it’s better than you think). Pretty much the entire album is good for a listen or several.

 

South Korea: Super Junior
Joseph’s pick: Mr. Simple (2011)

Ask anyone who they most associate with K-pop, and you’ll get one of two answers. Those who were into it before 2018 will likely name Girls Generation first, and anyone who started listening to it in 2019 will likely name BTS.

Allow me to introduce you to Super Junior, a very prolific boy band formed in Seoul who perform music that would not have sounded out of place in the late 90s in the United States. I suppose that’s the biggest reason why they never broke out of the Billboard World charts, they sound too similar to the kind of music that everyone grew tired of thanks to our overexposure to the Backstreet Boys. I would’ve thought that the language barrier was another reason for this, but BTS are proving that wrong by performing on Stephen Colbert and reaching #1 on Billboard’s main charts.

A good place to begin is their 2011 album, “Mr. Simple“, but if you enjoy K-pop, then any of their albums is as good a place to start as any. Also, good news for anyone who is already familiar with their music: their eleventh album, “Time Slip”, is set to be released on October 14th.

 

Sweden: Miranda
Joseph’s pick: Northern Lights (1999)

I suppose the thing I like the least about Spotify is that sometimes, different people with the same name will be grouped together, and this is the case with several Mirandas in the world. Miranda the Swedish trance artist was at one point grouped together with other Mirandas, so discovering her music can be a challenge if you’re not already familiar with her. At this point in time, I only have access to the “Cosmic Treasure” compilation, which brings together some of her best music from a five year period but somehow passes “Lynx” by. On the upside, Spotify has finally gotten smart and separated her out from the other Mirandas she had been listed with.

Instead, I’ll recommend finding and picking up “Northern Lights”, her 1999 album which does include one of my top five trance songs of all time, “Lynx“. Believe it or not, I discovered it by typing that word into Kazaa in order to see what came up.

 

United States: BT
Joseph’s pick: Emotional Technology (2003)

Let’s go on a journey together. Name one composer of movie soundtracks. I’ll wait.

…okay, I didn’t have to wait very long. I suppose John Williams was an obvious one. Okay, name two more.

…okay, Hans Zimmer and James Horner are also pretty obvious. Name two more.

Aha, got you. Yes, I could see how smug you were by naming Danny Elfman, thinking that you would be able to pick a fifth one out of thin air like you could the first four. But it’s harder than you thought to think of anyone else, isn’t it?

I’ll help you with the fifth one. BT, otherwise known as Brian Wayne Transeau, otherwise known as No Google, I’m Not Trying To Search For BTS, How Many More People Are Going To Be Overshadowed By That Korean Boy Band, I Mean, Come On.

BT is more than just a film composer, though. He has composed pop albums, techno albums (listen to “Skylarking“, “Circles” and “The Ferris Wheel“, they’re all written by the same person). Thus it’s hard to think of an album to recommend that showcases the depth of BT’s talent. Logically, “Electronic Opus” should be the one I recommend but instead I’ve gone with “Emotional Technology”, probably the one most pop-friendly even as his music skirts just outside what radio stations would be comfortable with. I dare anyone to imagine “The Only Constant Is Change” appearing on mainstream airwaves. If this one is to your liking, I encourage you to seek out his other efforts, including “A Song Across Wires” and a few of his movie soundtracks.

And there is your early Christmas present from Damage Control, a list of music from around the world that will hopefully drown out whatever annoying music the malls try to blast you with this December. Enjoy!