Listening to music to prepare for a trip

What’s one thing that everybody, in every different culture, has in common? If you said, “Loving Raymond,” you’re way off. It’s music. There hasn’t always been television, or internet, or even books, but for everyone, everywhere, for all time, there has been music. It’s almost always a unique, identifying mark of a place’s culture, but it’s one that is often overlooked by travelers. We may try to learn a few words of Swedish before heading there on a trip, and read up on its history and geography in our shiny new guidebooks, but would many of us download (err, I mean, buy) the latest Jens Lekman and José González albums before leaving? (You should. They’re both great.)

It’s certainly a good idea to listen to a country’s more traditional music before going there, but personally, I can really only listen to so many polkas, sambas, and mazurkas. I’m more interested in what’s playing on the radio and what the kids are listening to. While sometimes, especially in more remote places, you’ll hear Milli Vanilli cassette tapes being blasted from behind the bar, most countries do produce their fair share of great popular music.

If you’re one of the many people who can’t part with their iPods, even while traveling, I suggest trying to load it with a lot of the pop music native to whatever country you’re visiting. If nothing else, it’ll help you pick up a few words of the language, and eventually you’ll even be able to sing along, which is always fun. Even if you don’t know what the hell you’re saying.

For international music charts, go here. For streaming radio from all over the world, this‘ll do.