Music Video: Miraculous - ยังเสียใจ (Still Sad)

There's something that I always enjoy about really hip-hoppy/poppy reggae.  If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'd know that I love artists that combine upbeat melodies and hip-hop influenced vocals with syncopated Caribbean and African rhythms.  So, artists like Seeed, Afroreggae, Irie Révoltés, and Culcha Candela get a lot of play here.

Well, just because I am going all the way to Thailand today does not mean that I will break with this tradition.  In fact, if you replace the German and English of Seeed, or the French and German of Irie Révoltés, or the Spanish and German of Culcha Candela with the Thai and English of Miraculous - as you do on their song ยังเสียใจ (Still Sad) - you will not feel overwhelming culture shock.

Unfortunately, like much of the music that I find from Asia, I am having a difficult time finding information about Miraculous that I can actually translate.  Bing Translator does yeoman's work of attempting to translate the band's bio on Last.fm from Thai to English, but the result is largely an unreadable garble. This is made even more difficult because, like a frustrating number of bands from around the world, their name is neither terribly unique or easily searchable.  That having been said, if you know anything about Miraculous, please post to the comments.  I'd love to know more.

Music Video: Gazelle feat. Francois van Coke - Val Van Die Ryk

I like to think that I always keep my eyes - and particularly my ears - open for new bands from interesting corners of the world.  For those of you who have browsed my entries over the past few years, you will note that I have tried to collect an eclectic variety of music from the Americas, from Asia, and from Europe.  But, with a few exceptions, I have not gotten into Africa very much - at least not much from sub-Saharan Africa.  This is not from a lack of interest.  If I had to come up with an at least semi-plausible excuse, it would be because while there are large music lobbies (professional and amateur) for Latin Alternative, or Euro Dance, or K-Pop/J-Pop, there are not that many people out there saying, "You've GOT to check out this awesome Afrikaans alternative band!"

Well, you've GOT to check out this awesome Afrikaans alternative band!  Actually, Val Van Die Ryk is a melding of Afrikaans Cape Town art/pop duo Gazelle and Francois van Coke, lead singer of Cape Town's alternative rock band Van Coke Kartel.  Together, van Coke's driving rock vocals combine with Gazelle's more poppy, funky, arty sensibilities to create a song that is reminiscent of 1980s New Wave, with elements of metal, and alternative.  Top it all off with lyrics in Afrikaans, a southern African Dutch dialect, and you have something fresh, interesting, and very listenable. 

Music Video: Big Zoo - Good Day

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it a few more times, but finding music in Asia is really difficult.  I speak some German, I can muddle through in French, and I watched enough Sesame Street while growing up in the 1970s to get a little bit of Spanish.  But Chinese - particularly regional Chinese dialects - not so much.

But today I stumbled (as I so often do) upon the now more or less defunct Chinese rap group out of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.  Again, as I've said before in a different context, rap is a tool that has been used across the world and in dozens of different languages, as a medium for social commentary and protest.  Rapping in their local Sichuanese dialect, English, and French, Big Zoo is no different.  Combine that social commentary with some harsh tasty beats, and you have a winning combination in any language.

They are hard to find (I can't even find a photo of them), but Good Day is a nice introduction to Big Zoo's uncompromising and straight ahead style.

Bundesvision Song Contest 2013: Let's try this again

I can't believe it, but this is my fourth year trying to cover the entrants to Germany's Bundesvision Song Contest.  If you are one of my regular readers, you will know that my record of covering this contest is spotty at best.  The first year I tried, in 2009, I did alright.  I reviewed all of the songs, and even suggested my opinion of the best entrant (I think my favorite artist came in around 9th, if I remember correctly).  Years two and three, God knows I tried, but I just couldn't get around to writing a dedicated post for each entrant.  Part of it was that many entries were not available to review digitally until just a few days prior to the contest, leaving me precious little time to write anything coherent about them.  Part of it was simply that the real world occasionally intrudes on my fantasy that I have anything to contribute to the Bundesvision debate.

But, I am nothing if not persistent.  This year, though, I will take a different approach.  This year I will simply make one BIG Bundesvision post.  I will link to the song.  I will share a photo and a brief description of the artist.  And I will give my very brief impression of the song.

And so, without further ado, here we go:

Baden-Würtemberg:  Max Herre - Nicht Vorbei
Yep, here we are less than a week before Bundesvision 2013, and Max Herre's entry still isn't entirely available.  I have a love/hate relationship with Max Herre.  Herre started out his career as a rapper, and just between you and me, I think he's average - at best - at that.  He just has no edge; no hook.  He is like the rap equivalent of John Tesh playing death metal.  No matter how much effort goes into the craft, it just doesn't work for me.  That having been said, when Herre uses his ample musical talents to actually sing melodies, he is amazing.  His 2009 album "Ein geschenkter Tag," which was very stripped down acoustic guitar rock, was awesome.  From what I can tell of Nicht Vorbei, he is trying to blend his rap and his acoustic guitar rock into one hybrid package.  We'll see when the full song comes out if it improves, but I'm not holding my breath on this one.

Bavaria:  Charly Bravo - Dreckige Namen
When I first came of musical age in the 1980s, I fell in love with artists like Falco.  Yeah, he was Austrian and not Bavarian, and yeah, Falco died 15 years ago.  But that, for all intents and purposes, is where the difference between Charly Bravo and Falco ends.  Both are purveyors of insidiously catchy electro-disco.  Both play heavily on their very European musical sensibilities.  That's all well and good, but the 80s were the 80s, and 2013 is 2013.  That's not to say that I don't like some retro-flavored songs, but Dreckige Namen strikes me as more derivative than inspired. 

Berlin:  MC Fitti - Fitti mit'm Bart
You can't live in Berlin these days without passing by a poster for MC Fitti every few feet.  He certainly is the flavor of the moment here.  But what's behind that?  Well, I'm not a rap historian, but Fitti mit'm Bart seems like very very old school rap to me.  In other words, like Charly Bravo, MC Fitti seems to be digging back into the 1980s for his inspiration for his Bundesvision entry.  Indeed, listening to much of MC Fitti's other tracks, you get a real rap/disco hybrid.  Okay for a club setting, but I'm not convinced that Fitti mit'm Bart will have much of an impact at Bundesvision.



Brandenburg:  Keule - Ja genau!
Sigh - - - okay, I realize that I'm repeating myself.  And maybe it's because enough time has passed that the 1980s are trendy again (God help us!).  But listening to Ja genau! I am reminded of nothing so much as another German band, Trio's 1980 hit Da Da Da.  Granted, I loved that song, and I kind of enjoy Ja genau!  Is Germany ready for the 1980s again?  We certainly have plenty of opportunities this year to find out.

Bremen:  De fofftig Penns - Löppt
I will admit to a guilty pleasure when I listen to Löppt.  It is rap in the Beastie Boys sense (like much German rap since, well, forever).  But this track combines this familiar sound with a hard industrial accordion like nothing else you're ever likely to hear on Bundesvision.  It is the kind of hook that I think is lacking from other German rap acts that are all over the place these days.  Yeah, it's gimmicky, and for that it might very well suffer with the Bundesvision voters.  But that's okay.  I'll just enjoy them in my dark room alone.

Hamburg:  Johannes Oerding - Nichts geht mehr 
It was only a matter of time.  So here we are at the power ballad portion of the Bundesvision program.  As far as the genre goes, this isn't bad.  My 7-year-old daughter likes it, and she generally has her finger on the pulse of what is popular these days.  So, despite my general ambivalence toward the form, I figure that Nichts geht mehr will probably do alright.


Hesse:  Sing um dein Leben - Unter meiner Haut 
Okay, sometimes I am forced to go against my personal taste to opine that a song that I'm not personally fond of will probably do quite well.  Unter meiner Haut is one of those songs.  A techno ballad with just enough of a beat and just enough autotune to give it that "modern" sound, and with a pedigree including producer Xavier Naidoo (who won last year's Bundesvision Song Contest), musical collective Sing um dein Leben should do pretty well this year.  Note for the video though, I've been known to wear eye makeup in my time, but dude, it's a little excessive!


Lower Saxony:  Bosse - So oder so 
When I first saw the video for So oder so a few weeks ago, it just made me feel happy.  Those who know me will know that this is a trickier task than it would first appear considering my typically manic outward mien.  And seeing as I have never been a huge fan of Bosse over the years, I did not approach his entry in this year's Bundesvision Song Contest with all that much anticipation.  But this peppy little number is actually pretty nice.  Will it win this year?  Who knows?  But I'll probably put it somewhere in my 2013 iPod playlist.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:  Guaia Guaia - Terrorist 
Every year, there is usually one or two Bundesvision entries that are a pleasant surprise.  Multi-instrumental duo Guaia Guaia wears its counter-culture street cred on its sleeve, and Terrorist is a raw, no-holds-barred assault on the otherwise musically orthodox slate of contestants.  I have no doubt that Terrorist will score terribly with the Bundesvision voters.  But I will be first in line to buy their album, assuming I can get my hands on it.



North Rhine-Westphalia:  Pohlmann - Atmen
Okay. . . Another case of a song that I really don't like, that will probably nevertheless do quite well.  In 2007, Pohlmann came 5th in the Bundesvision Song Contest with Mädchen und Rabauken.  But frankly, I thought that was a vastly superior song.  Atmen is pretty basic power pop kind of stuff, and I have no doubt that middle-aged office workers across Germany are already singing along to it on the easy listening stations.  Not really my thing.  But then again, I liked Guaia Guaia, so there you go.

Rhineland-Palatinate:  Mega! Mega! - Strobo
Here we are, on the "R"s, and we finally hit the first alt-rock band of Bundesvision 2013.  Starting out with a touch of Devo, and descending into a rollicking guitar fueled rock song, it is hard to find fault with Strobo's approach.  At least it stands out from the rest of the entries this year.  But. . . between you and me, I find it a little soulless.  Yeah, it tries to rock, and it tries to be edgy.  But in the end, it just seems to be trying too hard.

Saarland:  DCVDNS - Eigentlich wollte Nate Dogg die Hook singen 
Does Bundesvision really need another rap act?  Well, I guess it all depends on whether they are actually any good.  DCVDNS is actually a pleasant surprise.  Their music is nothing to write home about, but their lyrical patterns are complex enough to make Eigentlich wollte Nate Dogg die Hook singen worth listening to.  Not worth it enough for them to win, but worth it enough to maybe try to find some of their other tracks.

Saxony:  The Toten Crackhuren im Kofferraum - Ich brauch' keine Wohnung 
Did I say something earlier about 1980s retro music at Bundesvision 2013?  With a name like The Toten Crackhuren im Kofferraum, I really wanted to like this band.  And while Ich brauch' keine Wohnung is a pleasant enough little ear worm of a song,  it is really more of a novelty act than a serious competitor.  Expect this song to disappear as quickly as it appeared.


Saxony-Anhalt:  Adolar - Halleluja 
I will admit to feeling a little burnt out by the middle of the "S"s.  Then, a song pops up that sounds an awful like one of my old German favorites:  Schrottgrenze.  It's a very 1990s flavored alternative rock anthem (which is an improvement over all of the other 1980s flavored stuff heard earlier).  But again, like Mega! Mega!, it is alt rock that seems more about attitude than musical substance.  That's not necessarily a killer in something like the Bundesvision Song Contest.  But if you're not singing power ballads or rapping, it might as well be.

Schleswig-Holstein:  Luna Simao - Es geht bis zu den Wolken
Don't tell my wife, but I'm in love.  Who would have thought that such a soulful reggae singer could come from a state on the Danish border?  Well, I'm now a believer.  I have spent the past few days of my life listening to, thinking about, and writing about this year's Bundesvision Song Contest entries, and frankly, up to this point, I have been somewhat less than impressed.  To be honest, overall, the pickings this year are pretty slim.  Then I find Luna Simao, and my faith is restored.  If Es geht bis zu den Wolken doesn't win this year, then God is dead.  There, I've said it. 

Thuringia:  Hannes Kinder & Band - Deja vu
Oh, thank God I've gotten all the way to the end.  And that feeling of relief is only reinforced by Deja vu.   Okay, it's a pleasant enough synth-pop tune, vaguely reminiscent of a slightly blander version of Jens Friebe.  But please, why can't anybody give me a song that speeds up my pulse?  Or that breaks boundaries?  Or that makes me think?  Yes, I know I'm being unfair to Hannes Kinder, because he and his band come from a state that starts with a "T" instead of a "B" (or even an "H").  But all the same, there is enough sonic wallpaper out there already.  Do we really need more?

I'm back!!! Oh, and DJ ODP too

First, let me apologize to my legions of readers (-ahem!-) for my long time away.  If you follow my other blog The Relocation Chronicles, you would know that I have recently moved from Washington, DC to Berlin, Germany.  Unfortunately, with a move across the world comes several months of winding the old life down, shipping everything overseas, and then getting the new life started.

But this move to the heart of European music is to both our benefit.  I now have more ready access to a whole world of music that was previously more difficult to discover (not to prey on old stereotypes, but Americans are notoriously suspicious of listening to languages that they do not understand).  If you're one of my army of readers (-ahem!-), you now get to discover this music through my ears.

Along those lines, yesterday I participated in a business startup event called Uncubed.  To be honest, not being a developer or a designer, and not being 25, I found the event a little disheartening - or at least I found listening to some the speakers a little disheartening.  I am sure that there is a place in the Berlin startup mix for a mid-career professional with almost 20 years of strategic management experience - but little hands-on development experience - in a successful American consulting firm to bring to the table.  But the event was not really designed around my needs.

That having been said, I had some incredibly interesting and productive conversations with a number of interesting young companies, and one interesting and somewhat more seasoned company that is on the cusp of being massive.

In the growing Berlin startup scene, SoundCloud is seen as the gold standard.  Started in 2007 by a Swedish sound designer and a Swedish artist as a platform through which they could share audio, SoundCloud has grown into a social media platform through which artists, musicians, writers, comedians, teachers, and anybody else who deals in the audio medium can share their "sounds" with fellow artists and increasingly consumers around the world.

I am not an artist, but I am a consumer with few rivals.  With a low cost for entry and a global footprint, SoundCloud is a magnet for musicians who want to reach beyond the few dozen listeners who might go to a show, or the few hundred who might hear of them through community word of mouth.  For somebody like me, who lives to uncover talented musicians who bring their own languages into the mix, the chance to speak in person with the people who bring a new level of ease of access to the process was a dream come true.

So, with that unsolicited plug out of the way, what was I able to use SoundCloud to bring to you today?  Well, over the years I've become something of a closet fan of reggaeton.  Called "Latin reggae" by some, reggaeton seamlessly blends reggae, hip hop, and Latin rhythms and lyrics.  And today's song is DJ ODP with his track Mi Vida No Va Cambiar.  Born in Guatemala, DJ ODP moved to the United States as a youth, and he has been spinning discs around the world for the past 10 years.  I dare you to listen to this track and stay in your seat.

Music Video: Dub Addiction - Zunguzeng Inna Di Penh

Some of the most interesting - and even sometimes enjoyable - music pops up when you least expect it.  Today I was fumbling around YouTube looking for any available tracks from Irie Révoltés upcoming album "Allez" (due out May 3, by the way), and as always I was checking out the recommended videos that also popped up.  What caught my eye was something that both surprised me and made me somewhat suspicious: a dub ragga band from Phnom Penh, Cambodia called Dub Addiction.

Well, how could I possibly not look into this further?  My suspicions turned out to be well founded, as it turns out that Dub Addiction is only partially Cambodian, with the rest of the band from elsewhere.  But the lyrics are an engaging blend of Jamaican patois and Khmer.  It turns out that the music, as illustrated in Zunguzeng Inna Di Penh, has a surprisingly organic sounding groove.  Unlike some musical styles that have been transplanted in a "foreign" culture, nothing about Dub Addiction's take on dub ragga sounds forced or affected. 

Music Video: Chefket - Der Blinde Gärtner

Earlier this morning I read an interesting article on the Daily Kos website called "America's Soft Power Secret: Hip Hop" about how Hip Hop is a worldwide phenomenon, and how the United States could improve its image around the world by using Hip Hop as a diplomatic tool.  I wholeheartedly agree with the general concept of music being a unifying and eye opening tool, and in response I wanted to look around to find some examples of how Hip Hop is being utilized around the world to change societal perceptions.  After all, from its very genesis Hip Hop has been as much about politics - on either the micro or the macro level - as about entertainment.  What I found was an example of Hip Hop being used for more than just a "soft power" tool.  I found a prime example of Hip Hop being used as a positive force for change.

I have recently begun to follow German-Turkish Hip Hop artist Chefket.  His work is often soulful and his rhymes are intricate and engaging both lyrically and rhythmically.  On Der Blinde Gärtner, his contribution to the "Deutschlands vergessene Kinder" compilation album, Chefket digs deeply into Hip Hop as the music of story telling to tell harrowing stories of child neglect and child abuse, in other words - as the title of the album indicates - Germany's forgotten children.  This, to me, is the essence of what Hip Hop can accomplish anywhere in the world: it is the music of the powerless telling the world about personal experiences that have universal meaning.  At its worst, Hip Hop is often about braggadocio, violence, and misogyny.  But at its best, it can be a window into deeper truths, and can hopefully be an inspiration to positive action.

Music Video: Cro - Einmal um die Welt

One of the reasons I have always loved doing this blog, albeit in fits and starts, is because there are some awesome tunes out there that simply never cross over into the English speaking world.  Last fall, "raop" (a self-named cross between rap and pop) star Cro hit it very big in the German speaking world, with his second album "Raop" hitting Number 1 in the German and Austrian charts and Number 7 in the Swiss charts.  Yet here in America. . . nothing. 

Well, that's why I'm here.  Today I bring you one of Cro's big hits from this mega-hit album, Einmal um die Welt.  This song perfectly puts on display exactly what Cro means by raop.  It has the lyrical drive and density of rap, while having an uptempo beat that makes it hard to sit still.  Having had the chance to listen to Cro's other music, this theme carries through well, and makes him an artist worth following moving forward.

Music Video: Sucker - Remain Pain

Back in what seems to be a former life, I was a serious Rude Boy.  Sure, not in the traditional Jamaican sense of the term.  But I was a suburban white Rude Boy.  If it was ska, or even ska-like, I would buy it.  If there was a ska band in town - even if they weren't very good - I had to drop everything and go to the show.  I have fallen out of love with the genre over the years though for a number of reasons.  Primarily I fell out of love with ska mainly because most bands just followed the musical formula by rote, without ever really doing anything new or interesting with it.  As long as there was a bouncy beat, songcraft became almost irrelevant.

For better or for worse, ska has spread around the world, and along with it it's offshoot "skacore".  This is probably my least favorite sub-genre of ska because the less talented practitioners simply write a hardcore punk tune, and then half way through, they patch in a ska tune.  Very seldom do the two mesh together with any kind of sensible cohesion.  Today, Open World Music brings you a skacore band from Xi'an China that almost gets it right.  As demonstrated by their song Remain Pain, they have the energy, they have the attitude, and they almost manage to write a catchy tune.  Almost.

I really shouldn't be too hard on Sucker.  My attitude toward them is largely colored by my previous biases against skacore.  Within the severe limitations of the genre, I actually think they are pretty decent.  And bonus points go to them for singing in Chinese.  But I hope for their sake that they move beyond the restrictive confines of skacore.  There's so much more out there!