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.

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.

Bundesvision 2012: Berlin

Sometimes it can be tough to maintain motivation to preview every entry for a contest like Bundesvision.  Once you get through the first half-dozen or so songs that you like, you're faced with at least ten more that are - to be honest - kind of dull.

That was the situation in which I found myself.  Even if I hadn't heard all of the songs yet, I had at least a passing familiarity with most of the bands in Bundesvision 2012.  While I naturally previewed the songs that were released early first, I also had a tendency to prioritize songs that I liked.  But now that we have only two weeks to Bundesvision 2012, all of the entries have finally been released.  And now that they have all finally been released, I am finding some very pleasant surprises buried in what is left.

Berlin's entry, B-Tight's Drinne, is just one of these songs that is like a breath of fresh air and a shot of adrenaline.  Combining the energy of thrash and metal with rap, B-Tight throttles you awake from your ballad induced coma.  What a relief!  To be honest, I'm not really a huge fan of B-Tight's other work.  But Drinne demands your attention, and I respect that.

My prediction:  Berlin has won more Bundesvision Song Contests than any other part of Germany.  I don't know if interstate politics will play any part in this year's contest, but if it doesn't, I think B-Tight's Drinne stands a pretty good chance of winning it all for Berlin again.  It might be a little too hard edged for some listeners, but it will come as a welcome relief for many others.

Bundesvision 2012: Baden-Württemberg

As I spent my summer vacation this year in Baden-Württemberg, and as I have always absolutely loved Xavier Naidoo's voice, I have been looking forward to hearing Baden-Württemberg's Bundesvision 2012 entry, Und ich schau nicht mehr zurück ever since I saw it announced.  Labeled as a release by Xavas - or a combination of Xavier Naidoo and rapper Kool Savas - this song promised a great deal. 

I will admit, up to now I have not really listened to any Kool Savas.  However, as mentioned above, I am a great admirer of Xavier Naidoo.  While he specializes in soulful life-affirming ballads, which typically don't hold much appeal for me, Naidoo's buttery smooth voice has a way of burrowing through my crusty exterior husk straight to my heart. 

Unfortunately, at least for me, Und ich schau nicht mehr zurück is one of those songs that just bounces off my crusty husk.  Naidoo's vocals are, as always, pleasant enough.  But the song - another soulful life-affirming ballad - just strikes me as bland.  The addition of Kool Savas doesn't add any kind of edge either.  His rap is fairly run-of-the-mill, and seems to have just been thrown in so that he could claim a place in the credits.

My prediction: While Und ich schau nicht mehr zurück is pleasant enough, I just can't imagine it turning that many heads at Bundesvision when competing against other, frankly more interesting, songs.  It's not the worst of the songs I've heard in Bundesvision 2012, I don't think it will rise any higher than the middle of the pack.

Bundesvision 2012: Bavaria

Despite my oppressively busy schedule these days, in the interest of preserving my sanity, I though I should finally kick off my preview of the 2012 Bundesvision Song Contest.

Today, we start out in Bavaria with a refreshing change of pace: Fiva & Das Phantom Orchester with Die Stadt gehört wieder mir.

Now let me preface this preview by saying that - overall - I like rap and hip-hop.  Put together some good, clever lyrics and a fresh beat, and it is tough not to like the genre.  Heck, I'll even go so far to say that the stereotypical "gangsta" attitude has its place in the genre, as long as it is an organic outgrowth of the social milieu from which the artist comes.  But I quickly run out of patience, and more importantly interest, when the music becomes all about trying to mimic this "gangsta" stereotype, and not about being honest and taking the music to a new level.  I think this problem becomes particularly egregious when you have non-American hip-hop artists trying to pretend that they come straight out of Compton, when they actually come straight out of Heidelberg (or Osaka, or Montreal, or you name it).

Climbing off of my rickety soapbox, I come back to Fiva & Das Phantom Orchester.  Fiva is a rapper who is comfortable in her European skin.  She doesn't try to pose as some tough inner city thug.  Instead, with her backing band made up of DJ, percussion, and a string section, Fiva lays down an infectious jazzy groove and some engaging vocals, while never forgetting who she is or where she comes from.  I would rather listen to this than to European "gangsta" rap any day of the week.

Prediction:  As evidenced by the past two years' experience, just because I like something doesn't mean that the voting German public will agree with me.  I think Fiva & Das Phantom Orchester will find it's niche audience, but it will not be much more than a niche.  I predict Die Stadt gehört wieder mir will land somewhere in the bottom half of the field.

Music Video: Holger Burner - Aufwachen

For a while, Open World Music had turned inward, relying on my own resources rather than tapping into the work already done by others.  I don't know why that is.  But today, after a long interval, I finally returned to one of my favorite music streaming services - last.fm - to try to find some new artists I had never heard before.

And, boy oh boy, did I ever!

In today's hyper-consumerist society, it is nice to occasionally hear from somebody who sings about how we can aspire to greater things than the mere accumulation of stuff.  Holger Burner is not going to win any prizes from the American Enterprise Institute.  And his heavily techno influenced rap Aufwachen isn't going to make him too many friends in the leadership of his austerity obsessed homeland of Germany.  But I will give Holger Burner kudos for reminding us that often, in our single minded focus on the current definition of "living the dream", we end up with even less than that with which we started.

Music Video: Samy Deluxe - Feuer, Verbrannt, Asche

I've probably mentioned this before, but I often find songs and artists that I like by spidering out from songs and artists that I already like.  It's kind of the six degrees of separation approach to music appreciation.

So, late last night, I was sitting at home minding my own business when I get an e-mail from Amazon.de telling me that one of my favorite German artists, Jan Delay, is coming out with a new live album/DVD set called "Hamburg brennt!!".  Excellent! I think, as I quickly log on to find out more about it.  Well, it turns out that this new album is being released to stores on May 11, 2012, and it features guest appearances from a long list of German hip-hop and rap artists.  While Amazon is the Borg of internet retail, and has - in cahoots with iTunes - absolutely decimated the traditional retail music business, one nice thing that they do is post relevant videos to many albums that they sell.  In this case, they posted a video of Jan Delay performing his classic song Füchse with artists Denyo and Samy Deluxe.

As often happens, this got me interested in what else Denyo and Samy Deluxe have done independently, which led me to Samy Deluxe's recent free promotional tune Feuer, Verbrannt, Asche.  Now, I was never a huge rap fan, although I can certainly see the artistry of the genre, but this tune blew me away.  Regardless of the language barrier, Samy Deluxe's verbal virtuosity is undeniable.  Set to the beat of another Jan Delay tune Feuer, Feuer, Verbrannt, Asche really only uses it as a launching pad for his own unique rhythm, thoroughly transcending the original.  Samy Deluxe has, for the past decade, been considered by critics and listeners alike as one of Germany's top rap artists.  It is not hard to see why.

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.

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.