55 albums · 1959–2023

Music of Switzerland, from Mani Matter and the Ländler to Yello, Celtic Frost, the Young Gods, Stephan Eicher, Mundartrock and today

· 2 min read · by 1001 Albums

Switzerland's popular music is sung in all four of its national languages and in the dialects of its cantons. In Bern, the troubadour Mani Matter wrote short, wry songs in Bernese German that sit behind the Mundartrock of Züri West and Patent Ochsner and the rap of Chlyklass and Lo & Leduc. Sina sings in the dialect of Valais, Bligg and the trio of Dino Brandão, Faber and Sophie Hunger in Zurich German, Michel Bühler, Stephan Eicher, Sens Unik, Stress and Vendredi sur Mer in French, and Corin Curschellas in Romansh. Alongside them stand the older sounds of the valleys and dance halls: the Ländler and Schwyzerörgeli of Jost Ribary and Rees Gwerder, the yodelling of Oesch's die Dritten, Hans Kennel's alphorn and Erika Stucky's Alpine cabaret.

Just as much of Swiss music was made for stages and clubs far beyond the Alps. Hazy Osterwald's sextet had a hit across Europe with the Kriminal-Tango, and George Gruntz, Erik Truffaz, Nik Bärtsch's Ronin and Grégoire Maret each found their own path in jazz. The seventies brought the progressive and krautrock experiments of Krokodil, Brainticket and Patrick Moraz, followed by the stadium hard rock of Krokus and Ticino's Gotthard. Out of Zurich came the post-punk and new wave of Kleenex/LiLiPUT and Grauzone, the electronic pop of Yello and Double, and the extreme metal of Celtic Frost and Coroner, soon joined by Samael, Eluveitie and Zeal & Ardor, while the Young Gods shaped industrial rock on samplers from Fribourg and Geneva. DJ BoBo took Eurodance to the charts in the nineties, and Lunik, Lovebugs, Stefanie Heinzmann, Bastian Baker, Black Sea Dahu, Loredana, Gjon's Tears and Priya Ragu carry the story into the present.

The list gathers 55 records from 1959 to 2023, one or two by each artist; the Fasnacht marches of Basel and Lucerne, the choirs and brass bands of the valleys and the classical concert hall would each need a list of their own. About 45 hours of music, 5 days of a few records each.

By genre

Rock 23%Electronic 12%Pop 11%Other 54%
  • Rock 23%
  • Electronic 12%
  • Pop 11%
  • Other 54%

The genres named most: rock, hip hop, jazz, pop, electronic, pop rock.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 1 country: Switzerland 55. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1950s

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

The 2020s

More lists

Lists of Countries first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.