Antonio Vivaldi - L'inverno

The first movement of this piece is now inextricably linked in my mind to the famous Korean film Oldboy. Which makes it doubly apt, since not only is it currently winter, but I also rewatched Oldboy recently. I like the intensity of this piece.

Antonio Vivaldi - L'inverno [Winter]:

Amuro Namie feat. AI & Anna Tsuchiya - Wonder Woman

I’ve always had a thing for Amuro Namie. There just always was something that struck me as “cool” about her. My friend who is also a fan of Amuro Namie’s is an even bigger fan of AI, so I was curious to hear her music and was pleased to finally hear a song with her in it that was a collaboration between the two of them, and I’d heard about Anna Tsuchiya but never listened to her music. I saw the MV for this song at FanimeCon this year and quite liked it, as well as the song.

Amuro Namie A.K.A. 安室 奈美恵 feat. AI & Anna Tsuchiya - Wonder Woman:

Monty G - Bahamaland

Too much autotone for my taste, but overall I like this song.  I heard it in the ending credits of the Bahamian movie Children of God. The movie was largely about Christianity, so it makes sense, I suppose, that this artist is a gospel reggae artist.

Monty G - Bahamaland:

Wenzday Atemz - Atemz Anthem

Nice. I found this emcee through an edition of The Illest Female Rappers mixtape uploaded to YouTube. I’ve only heard a few songs by her, but I like what I’ve heard because she has a commanding voice and a great flow.
Note:  Hi def!

Wenzday Atemz - Atemz Anthem:

Apparat feat. Soap&Skin - Goodbye

I heard the instrumental version of this song in an epic moment of the amazing TV series Breaking Bad, then came across this full version later when a Breaking Bad fan posted it online somewhere when I was looking for stuff from the show.
Note: Listen in HD!

Apparat feat. Soap&Skin - Goodbye:

Hồ Ngọc Hà - Khi Ta Yêu Nhau

Vietnamese music doesn't get much love. But that’s about to change! Sorta. I came across this song/artist when I was clicking random Vietnamese music videos on YouTube. I don’t love the singer’s voice that much, but the instrumental and melody are catchy.

Hồ Ngọc Hà - Khi Ta Yêu Nhau [When We Fall in Love]:

George Winston - Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels

Time to finally get into the spirit of the season! The first part of this track, Snow, is the only piece by this artist I possessed, and which I found through an mp3 rotation site years ago, as best I can remember. While looking for that part to post here, I was lucky enough to come across this multi-part track that contained the piece I had heard.

George Winston - Night: Snow/Midnight/Minstrels:

Yuki Kajiura - Hear Our Prayer

Here's another piece by this artist, who is a fantastic composer for a lot of anime soundtracks. She consistently makes beautiful music, and her style is distinctive enough that I have recognized her music on various anime soundtracks without having seen the credits! This piece is from the anime Tsubasa Chronicles (which I haven’t seen).

Yuki Kajiura A.K.A. 梶浦 由記 - Hear Our Prayer:

The TRAX - Knife

Korea isn’t really known for producing rock acts, but this band was among the more high-profile Korean rock artists (probably in part because they were originally produced by Yoshiki, an extremely famous member of the Japanese classic rock band X-Japan). You can definitely see the Japanese influence, because their appearance used to resemble that of Japanese visual kei artists and they recorded a sizable portion of their music in Japanese. I really like their earlier music, which is more rock-oriented, but by the time their first full album was released their style had switched to pop ballads typical of Korean popular music.

The TRAX - Knife:

Nabiha - Deep Sleep

I can so relate to this song. There should be more songs on this topic! I found this song and artist when I was searching for Danish music artists.

Nabiha - Deep Sleep:

Stanislas - Nouveau Big Bang

It’s another song by this French artist whom I only discovered over the past year! At first I thought the title was some kind of metaphor, but I looked up the English translation of the lyrics (I don’t know French) and it appears that this song really is about a new Big Bang. Or rather, it’s literally about the annihilation of the Earth in response to human destruction so that life can start anew.

Stanislas - Nouveau Big Bang [New Big Bang]:

Faith Yang - 女爵

I think my friend recommended this Taiwanese artist to me when I was in high school. She really has that singer-songwriter feel to her musical style. She really reminds me of some other music artist, though I can’t figure out whom. I’ve only listened to one album of hers, but I think this is my favorite song that I’ve heard by her so far.

Faith Yang A.K.A. 楊乃文 - 女爵 [Nü Jue - Noble Lady]:

Three Days Grace - Pain

I dig this band’s sound. I’m not sure why, I just do. I remember hearing this song by them first, playing on a blog I came across years ago.
Note: More HD goodness.

Three Days Grace - Pain:

Enya - Adiemus

I don’t even remember how I found this song, though I’ve known about this artist for many years because my mother’s friend was a fan of her music. But I like it; it’s quite epic-sounding.
Note: HD, yeaaaaaah.

Enya - Adiemus:

Gabriel Rios - Baby Lone Star

I heard this song through a fanvideo over the past year, and I don’t think I’d heard of this artist before that. ‘Tis catchy!

Gabriel Rios - Baby Lone Star:

Chihiro Onitsuka - Infection

This song is soooo pretty. I think I found it and this artist through an mp3 rotation site years ago, and it remains one of my favorite songs. And, after searching for years, I FINALLY acquired the piano sheet music for it! I like this artist because she has a different style from a lot of other Japanese artists.

Chihiro Onitsuka A.K.A. 鬼束 ちひろ - Infection:

Jamie Woon - Night Air

I came across this artist a while ago—I think it was when the MV was first released—and for some reason at the time it seemed like everyone was hating on the song, so I thought I was the only one who liked it. But now I guess it’s somewhat popular, and I heard a remix of it in the British soap Hollyoaks recently and was driven to look it up again.

Jamie Woon - Night Air:

Etwas - Alles wird gut!

Once again I have that German soap storyline to thank for introducing me to this artist. Can I just say now Germany excels in producing female-fronted rock bands? This among them, natürlich. (U.S., get on that!!) After hearing one of their songs on the show, I decided to listen to their entire album and ended up liking pretty much every song on it. This was one of my favorites. It’s too bad they only released one album.
Note: I did NOT want to use this awkward video, but I couldn’t upload my own and I couldn’t use a link to my other regular source so this is as good as it’s gonna get.

Etwas - Alles wird gut! [Everything will be Fine!]:

Clazziquai Project - Come to Me (Mellotron Remix)

I knew of this group before I heard this song, I’m pretty sure, but when I saw the music video for this song on a show for Korean MVs years ago I was mesmerized by Alex’s incredibly smooth voice. The song doesn’t seem like my style, but somehow it became addictive. Plus Horan’s voice goes so well with Alex's! Both of them sing in such a laidback way, which usually doesn’t sound good to me, but for some reason it really works coming from them.

Clazziquai Project - Come to Me (Mellotron Remix):

Monica - Just Another Girl

Many a year ago, I heard this song on the soundtrack of the Chris Rock film Down to Earth, and could not stop playing it. I love the control in her voice so much!
Note:  HD!

Monica - Just Another Girl:

Shotei Hanevua - מי

I came across this Israeli artist and song very randomly on some website, I don't even know when. I think I just saw an mp3 file somewhere with a jumble of symbols for the file name and thought it might be interesting, then downloaded it. I didn't even listen to it until long afterward, and ended up liking it enough to figure out via strategic Googling what the actual artist name and song title were.

Shotei Hanevua A.K.A. מי - שוטי הנבואה [Mi - Who]:

Lucia Iman - Angel

I heard this song in The L Word. ‘Tis pretty! I hadn’t heard of this artist before this song.

Lucia Iman - Angel:

Burhan G - Who is He

I came across this Danish R&B artist a few months ago when I was intentionally looking for Danish artists on YouTube. He was among my favorite discoveries, because of his smoooth voice, although I’ve only heard a handful of his songs. I wanted to post a song of his whose lyrics were in Danish, but it just so happens that my favorite of his songs I've heard, this one, has English lyrics. Maybe next time!

Burhan G - Who is He:

Transistor - Living

Let’s get some Greek music up in heah! I just came across this song a day or 2 ago and thought it was enjoyable enough to share. I couldn’t find much info about this band, unfortunately—even on Greek Wikipedia.

Transistor - Living:

Nas - Sly Fox

This hip hop artist hates Fox News. Like, a lot. So much that he made a song about how much they suck. This is that song. Actually, I think it’s safe to say most hip hop artists are not too fond of Fox News, since the channel devotes part of its agenda to demonizing hip hop, and this artist in particular was not the only one it went after, though he was specifically targeted. It should at this point not come as a surprise, but I’ve seen them spit out misinformation about hip hop artists and spew misleading, out-of-context quotes from them, so they had this song coming. Nas is very well-respected and famous among hip hop fans, but I hadn’t listened to his music in a while so I heard this song when he performed it on The Colbert Report, of all places!  There is profanity.
Note:  Listen in HD.

Nas - Sly Fox:

Dido - Hunter

It’s another of my favorite tracks by this British artist, and I’ve played this album sooooo many times throughout my life. Don’t know what to say beyond “I like it.”

Dido - Hunter:

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant - 赤毛のケリー

I think my friend told me she liked this band in high school... and then I heard their music, including this song, used in the Japanese movie Aoi Haru.  A few of this band's songs were used throughout the film, and I found this one especially enjoyable, despite me typically not caring for this genre or style.

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant - 赤毛のケリー [Akage no Kerii – Redhead Kelly]:

Siti Nurhaliza - Lagu Rindu

I heard this artist years ago through a website I can’t remember, and this was actually the first song by her I heard too. As far as I know, this artist is the most famous Malaysian pop star. I liked this song enough to incorporate it into a class presentation about Malaysia in high school.

Siti Nurhaliza - Lagu Rindu [Love Song]:

Sami Yusuf - Salaam

I heard this artist when one of his songs was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Kite Runner (which, BTW, is a pretty good adaptation of the book). It kinda threw me off when I noticed his lyrics are mostly in English, but his voice is so heavenly. I love the style in which it’s sung. Every song I’ve heard by him so far sounds beautiful. The English lyrics sound strangely literal, but everything else about it is so lovely I can overlook that part. I’ve posted a number of Christian songs so far, as well as songs by Muslim artists, but I think this is the first explicitly Muslim song I’ve posted.
Note:  SUPER HD!

Sami Yusuf - Salaam [Peace]:

Alanis Morisette - Uninvited

This artist is famous for her “angry girl” sound, which I don’t have a problem with but other people seem to. I have long known of this song’s existence and been familiar with it, but I kinda forgot about it for a while until I heard it recently in a fanvid. I like it in all its intensity and ominousness. Evidently it was used on the soundtrack of the movie City of Angels (which I haven’t seen, as far as I recall).
Note: Listen in HD!

Alanis Morisette - Uninvited:

Conjure One feat. Poe - Center of the Sun

I found this lovely, haunting song from an AMV I saw at a convention. (This one, in case you're wondering. It's excellent, but don't watch if you don't want the anime film Metropolis spoiled for you.) For some reason I find the lyrics of this one so pretty. "They break the most beautiful things."

Conjure One feat. Poe - Center of the Sun: