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. 

Bundesvision 2012: Saxony-Anhalt

What happens when an artist that you really like enters Bundesvision?  Well, if you're like me, you get all tingly and excited.  What happens when the song that this artist enters is really not one of her best?  You probably feel that this is a missed opportunity for some much deserved recognition.

Since I first heard Johanna Zeul, I have been in love with her music.  Some call her music "alternative folk".  I don't really get that.  Sure, she often plays an acoustic guitar, and her style is often stripped down to a very elemental form.  But that isn't necessarily folk in my book.  On her 2008 album, "Album Nr. 1", Zeul is definitely in the realm of alternative rock, with hints of Kristin Hersh and even Bjork.

Unfortunately, as I alluded to before, Zeul's entry for Bundesvision 2012, Sandmann, is nowhere near the best showcase of her songwriting or performing talent.  It is stripped down alternative rock like her other music, but Sandmann is stripped of the quirky hooks that make many of her other songs so appealing.  In short, this is a very interesting and exciting artist performing a fairly run of the mill song. 

My prediction:  I wish I had something better to say here, but I'll be shocked if Johanna Zeul's Sandmann does any better than the bottom third of the competition.  I just don't think there's enough depth or edge here to really excite the audience.

Music Video: Sport - Der unsichtbare Dritte

Sometimes, when digging through the music that I have been collecting over the past three years for Open World Music, I stumble across a band that I was really into a while ago, but that had kind of fallen off my radar.  Sport from Hamburg, Germany is one of those bands.  Sport is often heavy music, with pounding bass drum and grinding guitar.  Sport is always dark and broody in mood.  But Sport is always engaging, in sort of a Stranglers having a really bad day sort of way.

Anyway, I have always wanted to post a Sport video on Open World Music.  The problem is, the band is almost invisible.  They have no videos that I can find, other than album tracks that fans have posted.  They barely have a website.  They have had a MySpace page since 2005, but the one album that they list on their discography isn't even one of their albums (they have released five albums as far as I can tell, but even that is just an educated guess).  Even the name Sport is so generic as to render them all but invisible to search engines.  I wonder if this is intentional, but something tells me that they're just not that into marketing themselves.

But, if you look long enough, you're bound to find something.  And so, today I bring you the single music video (and it's a fan video at that) for a Sport song that I could find, Der unsichtbare Dritte.  In my opinion, it's not their best song.  But it is pretty representative of their oeuvre.  If you like this, Sport just released a new album this month called "Aus der Asche, aus dem Staub", and it's on iTunes.

Music Video: Züri West - Güggu

Some countries just aren't thought of as "musical" countries.  Switzerland is one of those countries.  You hunger for cheese?  Sure, Switzerland is great.  You need precision time pieces?  Again, look to Switzerland.  You've got hundreds of tons of gold bullion flown in the middle of the night from a darkened airstrip in the Congolese jungle that needs to "disappear" until the international tribunal goes into recess?  You can't beat Switzerland.  But music?  Really?

Yes, the Swiss can do that too!

Let's be honest, some of my favorite bands come from Switzerland.  For thrashing psychobilly, there's The Peacocks.  For quirky alt-guitar pop, there's Stahlberger.  For reggae, there's Phenomden.  For stripped down alternative rock, though, you can't do much better than Züri West.  This band has been around for longer than most of you have probably been alive (since 1984), but as demonstrated by their recent album "HomeRekords", they can still create interesting and enjoyable music.  The song Güggu, from this album is an excellent example of Züri West's moving forward by looking back sound.  And just in case you're wondering, they're singing in Bernese, a Swiss-German dialect.

Music Video: Nisvanis - Uhliin tuhai Logjiltei duu

I suppose that it's a prime example of selection bias.  As I look back over nearly 100 Open World Music posts, the vast majority of my selections have been from Europe.  Part of that comes from the fact that I can muddle through a few western European languages with enough competence to find music that I like.  Part of that comes from common cultural touch points that I can refer to when searching for music.  Part of that is simply that we share a common alphabet with western Europe.

Well, far be it for me to rest on my cultural biases!  When I woke up this morning, the first thought that entered my head (other than "Oh Jesus!  What time is it?!?" and "Where's the coffee?") was: "What is the farthest I can go to find new music for Open World Music?"  After traveling to Uzbekistan yesterday, the next logical place was Mongolia.  I mean, really, you can't get much further away either geographically or culturally.  Right?

I suppose that the answer is a definitive maybe.  As Mongolian band Nisvanis proves with their tune Uhliin tuhai Logjiltei duu, a hard rocking beat, driving bass line, and screaming guitar solos transcend all cultural divides.  At times they're a little metal, at times they're a little punk, at times they're straight ahead alternative.  But after listening to some Nisvanis, I'm almost ready to trade in my Lederhosen for a Del to hit the clubs of Ulan Bator.

Music Video: Manu Chao - Politik Kills

It would be extremely difficult to talk about non-English popular music without mentioning French-born artist Manu Chao.  First hitting big-time fame with his band Mano Negra, Manu has been a solo act since they broke up in the mid-1990s.  With songs like Politik Kills, Manu has remained a major force in the Latin-Alternative scene; a scene which he was instrumental in creating in the first place.