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 VorbeiYep, 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 NamenWhen 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 BartYou 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 - LöpptI 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 - AtmenOkay. . . 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! - StroboHere 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.
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 vuOh, 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?
