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.

Bundesvision 2010: Rhineland-Palatinate

Auletta: Sommerdiebe

Okay, first let me bitch (again) about something that has been bugging me. Both in my little adventure through Bundesvision, as well as through my broader delving through the world of international pop music and its various - sometimes unusual - variants, I try to share with you samples of the music so that you can judge for yourselves whether you too will like it. Frankly, it is always my hope, if you do find something here that you enjoy, that you'll want to buy it. To be honest, when I hear about a new band that sounds interesting, the first place I go to listen to it is the band's website, the band's MySpace page, or YouTube. It's kind of the "try before you buy" principle.

Well, in my attempt to find a good web-based version of Auletta's Sommerdiebe, I kept running into record label erected walls. Everywhere I turn, I'm told that this song is "not available in your country". Yes, I understand there are international copyright issues and all that, but almost every other song is available in my country, why not this specific one?

Anyway, I wanted to make this post all about how much I like the sample of Sommerdiebe that is available from the Auletta website. It's fresh, it's "alt"-poppy, it's got a good beat you can dance to. Broadly, it's a song that makes you feel good. I like that, and I think the German public will like that too. Fortunately, Germans will actually be able to listen to the entire song, and to watch the video. Sadly, the rest of us won't. It's a pity really. I would have liked to buy the album.

Prediction: Rhineland-Palatinate has historically done abysmally in the Bundesvision Song Contest. With Auletta's Sommerdiebe, or at least what I've heard of it, I think they have a chance to turn that around. I predict that Sommerdiebe will land among the top third in 2010.

ADDENDUM (Sept. 16): Well, wonders will never cease. After posting the above I notice that the official video for Sommerdiebe has been uploaded to YouTube, with access available everywhere. Hallelujah! Now having heard the entire song, I still like it, but perhaps not as much. Sommerdiebe will still do reasonably well, but maybe not in the top third after all.