In my travels through the internet, I sometimes stumble across music which I would never have heard before. They become my favorites and I play them on repeat. Typically, these are bands outside of the mainstream and because I like that sort of thing, a mix of styles and genres.
My latest ‘discovery’ is BUKAHARA, a German four-piece folk pop band with influences spanning psychedelic swing, Arabic reggae, Balkan jazz and folky hip hop.
My initial route to Bukahara was through this Happy video. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first but then I got caught up in the music, portraiture and photography.
This second video Same Kind of People has an even more retro nostalgic sound. With it’s oh-so-smooth strains of trumpet, strings and drums I’m thrown back to a time I can barely remember in my childhood.
But it’s this video Storytelling Animal that is my favorite. It’s a wondrous meld of toe-tapping music, amazing visuals and eye-catching motion graphics.
Maybe you’ve noticed the lyrics?
So little is written in English about the band that it’s hard to research the motivation behind their songs. You need to replay and listen to the words.
Happy is a joyous tribute to aging.
Same Kind of People is about the immigrant experience and representative of other songs about refugees and xenophobia.
Storytelling Animal is about the power of words, fake news and conspiracy theories.
It’s rare to find socially conscious music which doesn’t bludgeon you with their messages. I like that.
Have you heard Bukahara before? Do you enjoy it? Let me know below!
The Sandy Chronicles 
Listened to these three and I love the discreet reggae beat that’s present in all of them. Also wanted to add that I wish I could fix typos on comments afterwards, my fingers always hit the wrong keys!
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I’m glad you like my recommendations. Music is a very personal thing and not everybody loves the same thing .. but then it’d be a pretty boring world if they did.
I hear you about editing comments but at least it’s not the auto-correct-n-type-something-entirely-different that’s on my brother’s phone. Lots of time I can’t even imagine what he meant to say 😉
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I have a good track records with recommendations from you, so I’m going to watch all three. Listening to Happy right now as I type and I think it’s kind of adorable.
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Never heard of these people before, but I liked it quite a bit. The singer’s voice reminded me of someone I’ve heard before, but I can’t for the life of me think who!
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I know what you mean. It’s either his voice or the incongruous reggae beat that sounds familiar to me.
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All new to me! Thanks!
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Glad if you liked it!
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They are rather fabulous Thanks for the introduction Sandy 🙂
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I agree that they’re rather fabulous 😉
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I love the “happy” feeling of Happy and the joy of those lined faces! The other videos are still loading because my internet is super slow tonight…
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Hang there or try again later. I think the videos are worth the wait.
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That Buckhara certainly was toe tapping music. Sometimes I think the rhythm is more important than the sound.
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I’m attracted to songs with a good rhythm. Past that I can then enjoy the layers of music and lyrics
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