Music Video: Marteria - Kids

There are a lot of artists out there who come out with a great first album, then kind of fade away as they run through their best material.  Other artists only seem to improve with every album that they put out.

Marteria is one of these artists.

I have always liked Marteria's German-language hip-hop sound.  Even in his alternate incarnation as Marsimoto, his beats and rhymes were pretty decent - even if the Marsimoto concept gets old very quickly.  But over the course of his three albums as Marteria, it has been exciting to watch him grow and improve.  His first album, Base Ventura, was decent enough.  His second, Zum Glück in die Zukunft, with its track Secundenschlaf, was really good.  His collaborative EP with Miss Platnum and Yasha, Lila Wolken, was freakin' awesome.

So, today I bring you Marteria's hit track Kids from his recently released album Zum Glück in die Zukunft II.  I don't know whether it's the chorus that burrows into my head, or just the visuals of attractive female German field hockey players busting through an office in the video that I find so appealing (the latter predilection dating from my years attending a private prep school in the United States), but a month or so after first hearing this track, I still find myself frequently humming it to myself.  Oh, and the rest of the album is equally good too.

Music Video: Stromae - Papaoutai

I absolutely adore the music coming out of Belgium these days.  I don't know what it is about that small country of just 11 million people, but they create some spectacular music out of all proportion to their size.  Unfortunately - at least from the standpoint of this blog - much of the awesome artists from Belgium perform in English.  Selah Sue, Customs, The Van Jets, Hooverphonic, and many others are artists who would pull in crowds anywhere.  But they all perform mostly or exclusively in English.  While that is fine from a marketing perspective, from my selfishly and jealously nativistic (in a nationally agnostic sort of way) perspective, this is too bad.  However, while I was perusing YouTube this afternoon, I was stunned to find a Belgian artist with hits in the tens of millions (and one with over 111 million hits!!!!!!!!), not just for one song - that could be considered a fluke - but for multiple songs.  How is an artist with this many hits not climbing to the top of the American charts and winning multiple Grammys?

Well, for one thing, Stromae only sings in French.

Born of a Belgian mother and a Rwandan father who was killed in the Rwandan genocide, Stromae produces an incredible blend of hip hop, electronica, dance, chanteur, and Caribbean.   His recent song Papaoutai perfectly encapsulates this uniquely infectious sound.   Stromae is everything I started this blog to find.  I hope you enjoy him too.

Music Video: Moop Mama - Liebe

I have always taken a certain perverse pleasure in music that defies rules and genres.  I enjoy the polka/punk stylings of Polkacide.  I groove on Deutsch/reggae rhythm of Seeed.  Even the lounge/new wave hybrid of Nouvelle Vague excites me, despite its almost hypnotic mellowness.  So, what happens when you combine hip-hop with jazz and marching band instrumentation (yes, even including a sousaphone!)?  You get Moop Mama from Munich, and in particular, you get their single from 2012, Liebe.

A year or so ago, I wrote about another band called LaBrassBanda that has become quite popular here in Germany that comes from rural Bavaria, and that also combines rap with brass.  But while LaBrassBanda brings in more classical instrumentation and influences combined with a more traditional rock and roll rhythm section, Moop Mama is essentially a marching band with vocals rapped at hyper speed.  Moop Mama describes their style as "urban brass".  I think of it more as a half-time-show with attitude.

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!

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.

Bundesvision 2012: Saxony

Maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age, but some of you may have noticed that I have been liking a lot of the Bundesvision entries for 2012 so far.  That is true - at least so far - and Saxony's entry, Laing and Morgens immer müde is no exception.

Described on their Facebook page as "Electric Ladysound", Laing mixes a very funky electronic dance beat with some undeniably rich female vocals.  Put together, Laing produces a sound that is both internationally appealing and unmistakably German.  Having listened to Laing's only release up to this point, their EP "030 / 577 07 886", they carry this sound from good to even better.

Prediction:  While their sound is different in many respects, and while some readers may reject this comparison, I tend to think that Morgens immer müde will appeal to many of the same people who also enjoyed last year's entry from Frida Gold.  That would put Laing comfortably in the top half of the pack, but still far from the lead.

Bundesvision 2012: Rhineland-Palatinate

This is my third (well, second and a half) year reviewing the Bundesvision Song Contest entries, and I'm beginning to notice a pattern.  Every year there is one band that I have never heard of before that plays a song that I really like.  Last year's surprise band was Kraftklub.  The year before that it was Blockflöte des Todes.  This year, I have fallen for Pickers with their song 1000 Meilen.

Now don't expect me to tell you much about Pickers.  They don't have any albums out, although they do have an apparently all English language EP out that I can't seem to get my hands on.  Fortunately, they do have a bunch of different live songs on YouTube so I can get my Pickers fix before they come out with their inevitable pre/post Bundesvision debut album.

"But what about their Bundesvision entry?" I hear you asking.  Well, think of early Arctic Monkey (Pickers lead singer Lutz Rodenbüsch sounds exactly like Alex Turner), and you have a pretty good idea.  It is high energy indie rock and roll with a driving beat and jangly guitars; just the sort of thing I need to blast out of my car speakers on the long commute home.  I am already hooked!

Prediction:  Just as they came out of nowhere to surprise me, I think Pickers will surprise Bundesvision with 1000 Meilen.  They might not win, but I think they may very well come close.  Then again, what I like and what the Bundesvision audience likes are often very different.