So, I feel terrible for not keeping up with the blogs; life, both scholastic and personal, has been rather hectic in the past month or so and I have just not had the inspiration, nor the inclination, to write a post. Add that to the bout of flu that hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks as soon as my exam finished, plus the fact that the Game of Thrones books that just arrived in the mail are beckoning, and you've got a recipe for uber procrastination. Anyway, the point is that I'm here and am now writing a post :D
So, music in my home country. Australia has pretty strong musical influences from England and America; we do have a pretty good bunch of home-grown artists who have been successful internationally (Kylie Minogue, AC/DC, etc). But most of you will know about those guys already, so I'm going to tell you about the great indigenous music that we have here.
I'll start with the two great Aboriginal rock bands from the 90s: Warumpi Band and Yothu Yindi. Warumpi Band actually did the original version of "My Island Home", made more famous by Christine Anu.
Bet you didn't know that!Yothu Yindi were a little less pop, a little more rock, and their indigenous roots were more pronounced. They were a little more political, too.
More traditionally, you probably know about the more famous indigenous musical instrument, the didgeridoo. Though I don't listen to it much, I like the tone and the sounds that can be produced from what is ostensibly a long hollow stick.
The level of musical and rhythmic skill involved in playing the didgeridoo is astounding. It requires mastery of circular breathing (basically, producing one long and unbroken note by a crazily hard breathing technique) and rhythm, as well as being able to produce vocal tones while creating the vibrations through the actual instrument. It'd be like asking a trumpet player to hum a completely different tune while playing.
Anyway, that's enough from me; hope I entertained/educated you guys at least a little. See you 'round! :3
Ohai! Welcome back! :)
ReplyDeleteI think the only thing I'm capable of saying about Australian music right now is "boohoo. Silverchair. boohoo." (yeah, still not over that. I understand it, but *sniffle*)
(I'm fairly certain I've heard the Yothu Yindi song before, but have never heard any version of My Island Home... weird.)