Fact: French pop band Yelle forces your hips to sway.

Yelle makes my life. Unconventionally-named band members Yelle, GrandMarnier, and Tepr make up the popular French band and consistently create incredible pop music that skews dance and electro. It’s virtually impossible to listen to their music without swaying your hips and flailing every single one of your limbs. Their beats are irresistible.

My skills in the French language are considerably lacking, which allows me to ignore the actual lyrical content and focus on how hardcore I’m dancing. Previous online research has led to the discovery that Yelle’s lyrics are RIDICULOUSLY dirty and provocative…I have no issues with that.

After the release of their 2007 debut Pop Up, the band fell off the radar for a bit. Their widespread popularity throughout Europe was accompanied by a notable following in America, but it faded as several years passed with no new music. FINALLY they’ve released their second album, Safari Disco Club, and it lives up to everything I could have hoped for. Here’s the double-music video they released last month for the album’s first two tracks, “Safari Disco Club” and “Que veux-tu.” It’s highly amusing and beautiful and colorful and amazing.

 

Yelle plays Royale Boston on April 29th, which I’m ridiculously excited for. Can’t wait to dance hardcore to the sounds of Yelle with the rest of Boston!

Across the Universe

Though I’ve never been able to travel the world (or venture very far from Boston), I have the amazing opportunity to explore the world through music. Music is a bridge between the people of many cultures, allowing performers to speak messages to listeners on a local and international level. Universal desires, such as to love, to have friendship, and to get it down on da dance floor, transcend the language barrier. With around two weeks until my study abroad application is due, I recently revisited my international music library and rediscovered my love for music from around the world.

Now, allow me to take you around the world in less than 80 minutes with these songs.

The Caribbean

Sereani – Skip to Ma Lou

Latin America

Don Omar & Lucenzo – Danza Kuduro

Africa

P Square – No One Like You

Australia

Birds of Tokyo – Plans

Korea

T.O.P & G.D. -Knock Out

France

Yelle – Je Veux Te voir

Canada

Tegan and Sara – Hop a Plane

Yours Truly

Tangela <3

World Music

Bonjour mes amis!

“Music is the universal language of mankind” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Coming up on Thursday, December 2nd BU Central will be hosting it’s second ever World Music Night! World Music Night is all about learning about and making connections with other cultures through music since as we all know, music is something that breaches cultural boundaries and brings people together. So, until the big event on December 2nd all my posts will highlight awesome music from around the world, some popular favorites as well as some obscure oddities. I hope all of you are excited to experience something a little different and I hope all of you join us on December 2nd to see all the awesome talent from all over the world here at BU!

FRANCE

Yelle- A Cause Des Garçons

Who knows what the hell is going on in this music video but this song sure is fun to dance to! Also, if you don’t have Yelle in your music library, I HIGHLY suggest spending that iTunes gift card on if not all, at least a good portion of their discography.

nnel

 

FRANCE/SPAIN

Manu Chao- Me gustas tu

Me gusta Manu Chao, por cierto! They’re just another one of crazy feel good performers that just take me back to the summer. This one goes out to my bueno amigo David who came to the U.S. over the summer from México this summer simply to chill and experience Boston at its best. Manu Chao also exemplifies the world music culture– born in Paris but of Spanish origin, he sings in Spanish, English, French, Galician, Arabic, and Portuguese!! HOT DAMN.

 

MALI

Amadou et Mariam- Je pense a toi

I think I found Amadou et Mariam one random day stumbling across the internet. Anyways, they’re awesome. They blend traditional Mali sound with rock guitars and other instruments from all over the world– Egypt, Syria, India and more– to create a unique Afro-blues sounds different than anything we have here in the states. Enjoy!

 

Well that’s all for now folks! I hope you look forward to next weeks World Music blog!

 

PEACE!

Abby