Around the World in 80 Songs: Czech Republic

Our resident Czech, Codegen86, tells me that I should spend several weeks sampling Czech music before reaching any sort of general conclusion, and I think he is probably right. But I just don't have that kind of time! I've at least been able to identify what I would consider three different broad categories of modern Czech music, though I'm sure I'm leaving many out.

First, there are the pseudo-American bands. They sing American-style songs--in English and not very originally. These bands have a feel that is somewhere between 80s pop and 90s alternative and include Support Lesbiens (that's not a typo--they really spell it that way), Toxique (yeah, they spell it that way, too. Just be thankful there aren't more consonants), Monkey Business, Airframe, and Sunshine.

As a representative sample of this type of music, I selected a Sunshine song called "Top! Top! The Radio!" They're not my favorite band from this genre (that would be Support [the misspelled] Lesbiens) and it's not even my favorite song by Sunshine (that would be "Pull the Trigger") but the video includes a mosh pit filled with people wearing gigantic bunny heads, and that warrants a look-see.

The next style is updated folk. Like most of Europe, the Czech Republic has a rich folk tradition from the regions of Moravia and Bohemia. Did you know the polka originated there? I didn't. I thought polka was as Polish as Dyngus Day, so look what I learned.

Cechomor is a group highly recommended by codegen86. Their music is a bit on the lethargic side, but the vocals are interesting and the videos are stylish. A band called Lucie was hugely popular in the 1990s. They've split up for now, and two of their members have gone solo in two very different directions.  David Koller has an American alternative sound and Wanastowi Vjecy has is more traditional and almost religious sounding. His video for the song Kouzlo reminds me of cowboys and indians in the wild west. I'm not sure why. I like the song "Modlitba za vodu" by the band Hradistan. It's a folk ensemble that's been around since the 1950s, evolving of course, but with the goal of preserving traditional folk music.

In these two styles, I didn't run across any songs that were ridiculously bad but I couldn't shake the feeling that I've heard them all before. I like music that surprises me and takes me somewhere new, either by fusing different musical styles in an original way or blending new rhythms together. Which brings us to the final style of music that I happened upon, which is sort of updated gypsy folk. I'd include in this genre an acordion-playing young woman called Raduza, who is a self-made singer/songwriter, again according to codegen86. The accordion is an interesting choice. Unfortunately, after a couple seconds her accordion playing is as annoying as the uncle that insists on playing that Weird Al song at your wedding reception. You say poor, maligned accordion? I say pick an instrument that doesn't cause ears to bleed.

I found Terne Chave and their high-energy, straight Gypsy folk to be a bit more palatable and I thoroughly enjoyed the hauntingly beautiful sound of Iva Bittova. And finally, Gipsy.cz was the band that surprised me. In the song "Jednou" they fuse their gypsy folk with a little Beatles, a little rap, and excellent storytelling