Brazilian music is famous worldwide — from bossa nova, to choro, to samba.
Bossa is cool, choro is amazing, but my favorite things about samba is that despite being “pop music” it still has complex rhythms and harmonies.
My top favorite thing is the prevalence of the 7 stringed guitar and their use of counterpoints (i.e., parallel melodies).
I love how what (I think) started as guitarists just playing harmonies, turned into them improvising bass lines and counterpoints every once in a while, which eventually became them doing MOSTLY counterpoints and bass lines and barely playing the harmony lmao.
These bass lines and counterpoints, from what I understand, are often times arpeggiations of the chords and so forth, but they add such an amazing effect to the music.
Examples:
- This guy solo playing over a recording.
- This solo guitar + singer.
- Most music by Cartola which features the absolute timeless 7 stringed legend Dino. This one is a classic.
Whatever genre includes System of a Down, Rage against the Machine, Tool, and Nine Inch Nails
They have either a message or emotional rage or both at the same time. SOAD can go from pizza song to songs about prison industrial complex on the same album. Rage is uncompromisingly left political. Tool is on a journey from anger and unhealthy mental health in their early albums to embracing therapeutic ideas and healing while still feeling human emotions. NIN is just raw industrial sound and emotion.
It seems nu metal.
Ehh, SOAD maybe, and kiiiiiinda RATM but it’s a stretch, but NIN is hardline Industrial, and Tool is really kinda just heavy Prog (not a judgement against it, there’s nothing wrong with Prog!)