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!

2012 Open World Music Dance Party

As with last year, this year Open World Music is having a dance party in my newly renovated dance hall - "The Geyer Palladium" (aka my family room).  A new sound system is installed.  New lighting has been turned on.  All we need now is a playlist.

Well, here it is:

1)  Blumio (Germany): Intro
2)  Carly Rae Jespen vs. PSY (USA/South Korea):  Call Me Gangnam
3)  Fettes Brot (Germany):  Kontrolle
4)  Irie Révoltés (Germany):  Explosion
5)  Malik Adouane (Algeria):  Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine
6)  Boris Grebenschikov and Aquarium (Russia):  Shumelka
7)  Scandal (Japan):  Shojo S
8)  2NE1 (South Korea):  I Am the Best
9)  Marteria, Yasha, and Miss Platnum (Germany):  Feuer
10)  Dendemann (Germany):  Stumpf ist Tumpf 3.0
11)  Paula (Germany):  C'est comme ça
12)  Rachid Taha (Algeria):  Rock the Casbah
13)  Laing (Germany):  Neue Liebe
14)  Culcha Candela (Germany):  Schöne Neue Welt
15)  Nosliw (Germany):  Heiss und laut
16)  Mexican Institute of Sound (Mexico):  Yo Diga Baila
17)  Seeed (Germany):  Seeeds Haus
18)  Plastilina Mosh (Mexico):  Naranjada

This playlist has been test marketed by my 7 year old daughter, and she gives it two enthusiastic thumbs up.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Merry Christmas from Open World Music!!!!

Bundesvision 2012: Hesse

I don't know if anybody else has coined the term yet, but there is a very distinct sub-genre of Caribbean inspired music that I will call "Euro-ska".  More ska than polka, but with enough elements of both to have a distinctive flavor, Euro-ska is incessantly upbeat, is easy to dance to, and is easy to sing along with.  Even without a name specifically dedicated to it (although, there might very well be one that I'm not familiar with), Euro-ska is very popular at places like European weddings, beer festivals, and other events where young and old are co-mingling and looking for something mutually agreeable to dance to.

And into this scene walks Cris Cosmo with Herzschlag.  This is a fun, danceable song that makes you happy just listening to it.  I can already see the beer tents and summer music festivals bouncing up and down to it.  Herzschlag fits the Euro-ska genre like a pair of spandex bike shorts.  What it lacks is any shadow of originality.

Sigh.

My prediction:  Cris Cosmo's Herzschlag is a tough song to predict for.  It is extremely appealing to a broad audience.  At the same time, it could easily be replaced by any number of similar songs.  That means it could either do extremely well or it could fade without a trace.  I'll split the difference by putting it in the middle, and hoping for the best.

Bundesvision 2012: Brandenburg

Naming a singer appropriately doesn't happen as often as one would think.  The singer known as Madonna bears little resemblance to the mother of Jesus.  The singer known as Jello Biafra bears little resemblance to either a delicious squishy dessert or a secessionist region of Nigeria.  On the other hand, Mellow Mark (here featuring Nina Maleika) more than earns his name with Bleib bei mir.

Call it smooth jazz.  Call it soul.  Call it an acoustic duet.  Whatever you call it, Bleib bei mir is undeniably mellow.  There is obviously skill involved, but this song's Ambien-like effect on me makes it difficult to make any kind of coherent comment.  Suffice to say, Bleib bei mir rates right in the middle of "meh".

My prediction:  Like many other Bundesvision entries over the years, Bleib bei mir is neither good enough to win nor bad enough to make you want to cram knitting needles through your eardrums.  It just is.  As Bundesvision 2012 has a pretty strong crop of competitors this year, I think this lack of punch will put Bleib bei mir down in the bottom third of the pack.

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: 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.