Laura, you have DirecTV, don't you? Channel 824 is UPOP, which is kind of a worldwide Top 40 station. Saturday night at midnight is a countdown of the top 40 in the UK. They do a fair amount in foreign languages, but not so much in the UK countdown (though there'll be a fair number of Continental acts singing in English there).

Goldie Lookin' Chain is an English rap act that uses a lot of humor. Check out "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do."

Eros Rammazzotti (and I'm sure I put in a few too many consonants) is an Italian pop singer who's recorded in (at minimum) Italian and Spanish.

Dare I suggest Eric Prydz' remix of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall"? I believe he's Swedish.

I'm not sure where to find videos of those songs/singers, though. But if Brendon has to make his own videos, I'm sure he'll get some ideas from the songs.

I'll send the following to buffistarawk2. I've listed the song, the album, artist, and country of origin here. I tried to include a variety, but I'm not sure how obscure most of it will be for him. Axelle Red, De Palmas, Iam, Manau, and Zebda are well known (in France). Also, I use many of these in class so I could probably send lyrics (or just the gist of the song) if he wants them.

"Rester femme," A tâtons, Axelle Red, Belgium (cheesy pop, but, hey, Belgium!)
"Elle m'a dit," L'Amour parfait, Cali, France (rock)
"Regarde-moi bien en face," Marcher dans le sable, Gérard De Palmas, France (rock/pop—listen closely and hear a great rip-off of Fat Boy Slim)
"C'est qui qui paye?," Best of Gurejele, Gurejele, New Caledonia (zouk-like protest song)
"Je danse le Mia," Ombre et lumière, Iam, France (Marseille rap)
"La Tribu de Dana," Panique Celtique, Manau, France (rap using traditional Celtic music)
"Avril," Paris Combo LIVE, Paris Combo, France (jazzy)
"Le Mur du son," #1, Willy Denzey, France (rap)
"Tomber la chemise," Essence ordinaire, Zebda, France (Marseille group that does rap mixed with North African influences)

Eros Rammazzotti (and I'm sure I put in a few too many consonants) is an Italian pop singer who's recorded in (at minimum) Italian and Spanish.

And, because he was mentioned, I'll also send "Piu' Bella Cosa," Eros, Eros Ramazzotti, Italy

ETA: Also, for people more adept than I, should I resave the files as something else? Or just send them as stored in my iTunes?

Darn, I didn't read the last part about having video to go with it.

Don't worry about that part! By video we really mean graphics. This Brendon has to produce himself. Like flash animations and so forth. Stuff about the artist, country and so forth. It is only artist and music help he needs.

Thank you guys so much for the great help. I took an hour away to give Supernatural a try for the first time. Whatever.

Also, my word do you people rawk! I mean really.

Unrelated to Laura's query:

Dance Raja Dance

Errr.... How obscure do you want to go?

Brendon, being a normal HS student, would love to surprise his teacher with stuff he hasn't heard. eta: And I like that he has to listen to something other than the top 5 Rap hits of the moment.

Dance Raja Dance very fun. Ah YouTube, what would we do without you?

shope shope - Bulgarian folk song - somuch freakin fun. I don't have access to it know, but anyone who got my frankenmix will have it. anyone wanna put it up?

Found it with my mad search skillz. Thanks msbelle.

Axelle Red video: The video is much better if you realize that the whole "love" song is about how she'll do anything so that her man will love her.

Manau video: Check out the costumes!

Also, I use many of these in class so I could probably send lyrics (or just the gist of the song) if he wants them.

I snagged these and will let him listen tomorrow. I listened to a bit of each and know he will be delighted, or the teen variation of delighted. I'll let you know which ones he selects because the gist will no doubt help him with his presentation.

Also, the m4a or mp3 works fine for me, don't know what is preferred here for the uploads.

Laura, you have DirecTV, don't you?

Yes Fred. I'll suggest that to him and if he hears something he likes he can find it to download.

Thanks Theo!

There was a great art-punk band from Switzerland called Kleenex, later renamed Liliput, in the late 70s - early 80s.

I checked with him and there was no requirement the era, so shiny!

When he finishes the project I will have him put it up on his website and post a link. I hope he has fun with it. He seemed more enthused than usual.

For Belgium, there's extra cool points in Plastic Bertrand's "Ca Plane Pour Moi".

I'd go with some krautrock for Germany, which isn't that obscure for music geeks but would give your son more cool points: Can's "Spoon," Faust's "The Sad Skinhead," or Neu!'s "Hallogallo."

For Norway, black metal is your best bet: Emporer's "Sworn" would be my recommendation.

For Sweden, current popster Jens Lekman's "Happy Birthday, Dear Friend Lisa" is one of the most charming indie-pop songs of the decade.

For Greece, composer Iannis Xenakis (who grew up in France, but lived most of his life in Greece) has had his ballet "Kraanerg" covered by DJ Shadow.

I don't know if they were Czech or Slovakian, but Czechoslovakia's Plastic People of the Universe were a major figure at the end of the Cold War, often associated with Vaclav Havel, and not a bad band, to boot.

I may be out of semi-obscurities here.