Music Video: Blumio - Meine Lieblingsrapper

As I have probably mentioned already once or twice, the German rap scene is pretty hot these days.  You've got artists like Toni L., Xzibit, Samy Deluxe, Eko Freh, Massive Töne, Jan Delay (back before Disko No. 1), Harris, Curse, Massiv, Sido, Azad, D-Flame, and many others.  Then you have artists like Japanese-German rapper Blumio, who can mimic all of them in a single video.  If you want a primer on modern German rap, you can't do any better than to check out Mein Lieblingsrapper.  Of course, Blumio turns out to be a pretty good rapper in his own right.

Music Video: Plastilina Mosh - Human Disco Ball

Some of the most interesting music in the Americas today is coming from the cross-border fertilization between Mexico and the United States.  Typically, we look at how Mexican music is affecting popular music in the U.S..  However, I find the influences of American popular music on Mexican music equally - if not more - interesting.  One product of this influence is the Mexican band Plastilina Mosh.  With feet planted firmly in the Alternative, Hip-Hop, and Dance genres, songs like Human Disco Ball bring a fresh perspective and a healthy sense of fun to all three.

Music Video: Shahin Najafi - Tarafe Ma

One amazing thing about music is that no matter where in the world you go, rap has almost universally become the music of protest.  From Iran - or rather, exiled from Iran - comes rapper Shahin Najafi and his song Tarafe Ma.  While I don't speak a word of Farsi, the video for this song certainly leaves the viewer with no doubts regarding what it is about.  The fact that this video was recorded off of Voice of America should leave even fewer doubts.  As a form of protest, though, it is extremely compelling.

Blast from the Past: Tappi Tikarrass - Hrollur

Assuming that anybody ever reads this blog, I can almost hear you say "How is Tappi Tikarrass a blast from the past?  I have no idea who they are/were!"  Perhaps not, but you have probably heard of their lead singer: Icelandic musical icon Bjork.  Back when she was only 16, years before she went on to form the Sugarcubes and later to achieve enormous success as a solo artist, she was already a fixture on the Icelandic punk scene.  With this track, Hrollur, you can already see that Bjork has both a startlingly strong voice and a very unique visual style.

Blast From the Past: The Beatles - Komm, gib mir deine Hand

Liverpool may lay claim to The Beatles, but they truly honed their musical craft in the strip clubs of Hamburg, Germany.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the "Fab Four" recorded a few songs in the local tongue.  While everybody who has ever listened to any music anywhere in the world has heard I Want to Hold Your Hand (an exaggeration, but not by much), how many have heard The Beatles perform Komm, gib mir deine Hand?  Well, now you have.

Music Video: Farin Urlaub - Zehn

One of the reasons I first started collecting German popular music was as an educational tool for my daughter.  After all, so my reasoning went, what better way of teaching something than by making it fun and cool?  My first foray into German music led me, by twists and turns, to Farin Urlaub (formerly of punk band Die Ärzte).  And if you're trying to use music to teach a new language, what better than a song that repeatedly counts from one to ten?  Needless to say, my daughter loved the song Zehn from the first time she heard it.

Music Video: Ryo the Skywalker - ????

A few years ago, when I had the opportunity to vacation in Japan, I spent most of my non-housing and food money on music.  The Japanese consume vast amounts of popular music from every corner of the world.  They also produce some pretty impressive music.  One amazing CD that I picked up in Tokyo is a compilation of Japanese reggae artists, among whom is Ryo the Skywalker.  I wish that I could tell you the name of this song, but I don't read Japanese, and my computer won't mimic the characters.  Suffice to say, this song will cheer up even the most dour listener.

Music Video: Rummelsnuff - Salzig schmeckt der Wind

I have pretty broad tastes in music.  That being the case, sometimes I run across an artist who I both really like, but who at the same time makes me think "What the hell?"  A perfect example of this is the German singer Rummelsnuff.  Rummelsnuff's low, almost tuneless, gravelly voice mixes with traditional musical styles into something that is somewhat reminiscent of The Pogues with Shane MacGowan.  But while Shane is a skinny Irishman with no teeth and what is probably an epic case of liver disease, Rummelsnuff is a muscular, German fireplug of a man with more than a passing resemblance to Popeye.  Salzig schmeckt der Wind is one of my favorites from Rummelsnuff.  It is a sea shanty with plenty of wistfulness and emotional depth, and is both captivating and unlike anything else you have ever heard.

Music Video: Die Antwoord - Enter the Ninja

Some days you just stumble accidentally over new (at least new to you) music that really makes you think.  Rapper/Performance artist Watkin Jones from South Africa has always produced music that challenges the listener, and none more so than the music he produces in his latest incarnation as Ninja of the band Die Antwoord.  Their hit Enter the Ninja is a pretty representative sampling of what Die Antwoord is all about.  It is confrontational, usually offensive, often ugly.  But at its best, their music compels the listener to really consider their commentary on the modern world from a multi-linqual, multi-cultural, and multi-racial South African perspective.

Blast From the Past: Les Négresses Vertes - Sous le Soleil de Bodega

1992 was an important year for me.  It was the summer between my Freshman and Sophomore years of college, and I was in Prague working on a documentary crew.  The last Soviet troops were pulling out of Czechoslovakia, the first faint murmurs of the Slovak independence movement were starting to be heard, and one of our assistant directors introduced me to Les Négresses Vertes ("LNV").  The first time I heard their exciting mix of gypsy guitar, French cabaret attitude, rollicking horns, and rock and roll beat, I was forever hooked.  Sous le Soleil de Bodega was a track from LNV's second album "Famille Nombreuse", and it perfectly captures what their music was all about.

Well, time marches on.  That job in Prague got me my first (and only so far) full-time job after college.  Through a co-worker, I met the woman who became my wife and ultimately the mother of my child.  The rest, as they say, is history.  As for LNV, after the release of "Famille Nombreuse" their lead singer died of a heroin overdose.  They soldiered on for another couple more proper studio albums, a "live" album, a "remix" album, an "acoustic" album, and a "best of" album, drifting from what some critics described as "gypsy punk" to electronica in the process.

Ultimately, though, the legacy of LNV in my life is that it was my first window into a world of popular music coming out of the non-English speaking world.

Music Video: Maxim - Systemcrash

A couple of things to note on today's artist, Maxim.  First, if you type his name into YouTube, you get a LOT of videos with topless women.  The other thing is that Maxim is another German artist who has a remarkable grasp of the reggae genre (why are there so many of them?).  Systemcrash has a little more of an edge than his usual soulful groove, but it nevertheless remains a good demonstration of his craft.

Music Video: Jens Friebe - Neues Gesicht

Way back in the 1980s, I liked my music with the typical 80s flair for the artistic.  Think The Cure, Aztec Camera, OMD, etc.  Well, the Germans also apparently like the whole "Art Rock" thing, and one of its major proponents these days is Jens Friebe.  While it's one of his older tracks, I am a big fan of his song Neues Gesicht.  In my mind, it's just the right blend of 80s-inspired artiness and modern rock.