When I listen to Rokkurro’s album “I Annan Heim,” I’m immediately transported back to the West Fjords of Iceland. I bought the CD in Reykjavik and first listened to it in my rental car as I drove the remote region’s endless tunnels and rocky coastline.
The one souvenir I’ve come to look for as I travel is music. If I have some spare time while I’m on the road, I’ll seek out a record store — preferably one with listening stations — and I try and find music that is unique to wherever I am. Not necessarily traditional folk music, but modern popular music that has some influence of the place. Record stores are getting harder to find in many places, and I have at times resorted to looking online for music after a trip, but the best finds always seem to come when I’m shopping locally.
Below I will share some of those finds. Some of my favorites are still not available even through the Apple music store, but I’ve compiled a list of those that are, with links to the album in the iTunes store. Once you’re there, you can also navigate to other albums by the same artist. I have multiple albums by many of these artists but I’ll try and just share the one I found first here.
The great thing about buying music on my travels is that I can then listen to that location’s music while I’m editing the photos I took there. It builds a strong connection between the two for me — like a smell or sound that takes you back to a specific moment in your childhood.
I don’t expect everyone to love all of these. I’m sure many are just interesting to me because I remember where I found them, but I thought I’d share for those who are interested. Feel free to leave comments with favorites of your own.
- I picked up Sóley’s CD “We Sink” at Lucky Records in Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Daniel Bélanger’s “Joli Chaos” is one of several CDs I picked up during a stay in Quebec, Canada.
- I found this Samira Said CD at a mall across the street from my hotel in Cairo, Egypt, in 2009.
Canada
The Rankin Family started our tradition of buying music when traveling. We picked up cassettes by this family of musicians and listened to them repeatedly as we drove around Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. About a year later they came to a small theatre in our hometown of Lawrence, KS and we got to see them live.
The Rankin Family — The Rankin Family
The rest of these are mostly French or French-Canadian artists we picked up on various trips in Quebec Province.
Pierre Lapointe — Pierre Lapointe
Le Royaume – Amylie
Lisa LeBlanc – Lisa LeBlanc
Tout un jour — Isabelle Boulay
Bleu — Luce Dufault
Le pied dans ma bulle – Ariane Brunet
Joli Chaos – Daniel Bélanger
Chile
I had a difficult time in Chile knowing if I was getting Chilean artists or other Latin or Spanish artists. I think Alex is Spanish, but it still fits the place for me.
Aviones de cristal – Alex Ubago (Spanish)
China
Phoenix Legend is one band I have been collecting from China. It took forever to figure out who they were after my first purchase because there was no english on the cover. I finally found out the translation for their name, but they are tough to find on iTunes and seem to come and go. I’ll link them here when I can find them again. In the meantime, here are a couple of others:
Seeds on the Ground – Cold Fairyland
Bride in Legend – Lin Di
Czech Republic
Really great experience buying this in Prague at a tiny little music store. The owner was great and suggested this CD in particular as being a favorite of his as well:
Silently Dawning – David Doruzka
Greece:
Think it Over – Paraskevas Karasoulos
Korea
We bought loads of Korean boy-band CDs at a truck stop somewhere between Seoul and Busan. M.C the Max is the only one I can find online to share here.
Circular – M.C the Max
Easter Island
Teuingahanga – Yo Yo Tuki
Egypt
Ayamy – Amr Moustafa
Aweeny Beek – Samira Said
Fiji
E dua na Ka VOU – V.O.U.
Rosiloa – Black Rose
Iceland
I love Icelandic music and it’s easy to find in Reykjavik where music stores are everywhere.
Samaris – Samaris
I Annan Heim – Rokkurro
Twosomeness – Pascal Pinon
We Sink – Sóley
Me and Armini – Emiliana Torrini
Tension – Vök
New Zealand
That’s the Game – Katie Scott & the Miss T’s
Settle Down – Kimbra
Norway
Full disclosure: I’ve not actually been to Norway (yet) but I have run across these in my search for Icelandic music. Bendik is a personal favorite of mine.
Floriography – Moddi
No gar det over – Bendik
Spain
Endorfina en la Mente – Chambao
Teharí – Ojos de Brujo
La noche más larga – Buika
Switzerland
These are not necessarily Swiss but we were in Zurich and the Italian-influenced Ticino so the music we bought was a little more eclectic.
Il Vincitore Non C’è – Michele Zarrillo
Poco Mossi Gli Altri Bacini – Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel
Passi d’Autore – Pino Daniele
