Casparcritique #6: Rockin' Europe

Last Saturday Dutch broadcaster NTR airplayed their documentary 'Rockin' Europe', on what is European music, what are parameters for being succesful as a popular artist. In the fifty-plus minutes the documentary lasts, it is quite an ordeal to cover such a, potentially, wide variety. Surprisingly, they do achieve what they aimed for: to give an overview of the current state of affairs. No definite statement, or any pretention to cover it all, an interesting choice of artists (from Katie Melua, to Skunk Anansie, and Ewert and the Two Dragons), and nicely concluded as a justification for the presentation of the EBBAs, the European Border Breaking Awards.

One of interesting aspects, also of personal interest to me, is the use of language. All the covered artists sing in English, and this is logical. Singing in your own language, if it is not English, automatically means that other audiences then your own will not understand one word you sing. The belgium singer Miloh explaines in the documentary why this is important also: words bring a vital extra layer to the song. But, of course, you have to be able to pronounce it properly, and you have to be able to explain well what you're trying to say. This is all the more interesting when you hear Ewert, or the people from the Of Monsters and Man, speaking in a strong local tongue twisting English. This gets better when singing, but you wonder why in the Netherlands, so much impact is given in the music scene to talk proper English.
There is one other aspect I'd like to add to this discussion. Though Great Britain is part of Europe, due to their native tongue, and incredible history of popular music, it is more blended with the American music. Do we think of England when talking about European Music? I would say: not really. European music in this sense is more about non-native speakers finding their way into mainstream pop life. This is where the documentary makes a strong choice to present European Music as opposed to American music, but it could be just as interesting to compare it to music scenes from other continents (I must admit, Gangnam Style is used as an example a few times.) If we put England aside, the question of wether to sing in your own language, or chose to sing in English and trying to make it in other countries is a valid one for many artists, also outside of Europe. Then again, I felt this documentary has got all reason to limit itself the way it did.

So, if you are interested in European popular music, where it is heading and who to look out for the coming year, it all comes together in this 'Rockumentary'. It can still be seen on: http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1320346. Enjoy (rating: 4 out of 5)!!