Music Video: Movits! - Sammy Davis Jr.

Like me, probably the first you ever heard of the Swedish band Movits! was on the Colbert Report.  Their infectious mix of hip-hop and swing was both exciting and completely new.  Well, with their newest album Out of My Head comes this swinging track, Sammy Davis Jr.  If this song doesn't get you moving your feet, nothing will!

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.

Music Video: Rachid Taha - Rock el Casbah

I enjoy finding little-known gems that also really rock.  I first heard Algerian musician Rachid Taha performing Rock el Casbah on a Joe Strummer compilation, and loved it so much that I knew I had to post it here on Open World Music.  It's the perfect blend of North African styles and early British punk.

Music Video: Blockflöte des Todes - iPummelchen

If you have been following this blog, particularly my 2010 Bundesvision Song Contest preview, you'll already be aware of Blockflöte des Todes.  He's not everybody's cup of tea; his music is an eclectic mix of everything from punk to folk to alternative.  But there's no mistaking that he's a staggeringly talented musician.  Here he is playing the song Pummelchen from his Mädchenhaar EP on an iPhone(!!!).  This version is called iPummelchen.

Music Video: Jan Delay - Feuer

I have a huge backlog of videos to post, so I'll just get underway with Jan Delay and his song Feuer.  This is one of the fist songs of Jan's that I heard, and I really like how he has made the transition from hip-hop to more of a soul/funk.

Open World Music is Reborn. . . kind of. . .

It has been quite a while since I have posted here.  It was not for lack of interest or lack of content.  Rather, it was because I was having a hard time pinning down what I wanted this blog to really be about. 

Initially, I wanted this to largely be a commentary about the music industry in general, particularly as it relates to marketing non-English language music.  Not being an industry insider, but rather simply a borderline obsessed outsider, how much could I really write that would be both informative and entertaining?  That concept lasted all of two posts.

Next, I thought I might make this a music review blog.  I collect music avidly, and would have plenty of interesting music to write about.  After a while, though, I ran out of interesting or insightful things to say.  Rather than simply saying "I liked Tracks 2, 7, and 8 because they rock, and Tracks 1 and 4 because they're mellow," I wanted to provide compelling insights into the listening experience for the whole album (or video, in one case).  Sadly, as I'm neither compelling, nor particularly insightful, that concept also lasted only a couple of posts.

Finally, I focused on the 2010 Bundesvision Song Contest.  Now that was actually kind of a fun project.  Every few days I would watch one of the competing music videos, would comment on whether I personally liked it or not and why, and then would make a prediction about where it would place in the final competition.  While it was good for what it was, it was a very limited universe of music, it was only relevant for a short period of time, and it was only German music.  I want this blog to be so much broader than that.  So, while my preview of the 2011 Bundesvision Song Contest will probably return again this fall, that concept will also only last a dozen or so posts.

So, we come to today.  While this blog has largely been laying fallow for the past 6 months, Open World Music has been alive and well on my Facebook page.  On a semi-regular basis, I have been posting YouTube videos of music that I have been running across, along with a line or two of commentary on why I like that particular song or video.  It is compelling content, it is interesting content, and most importantly for my purposes, it is easy to generate content.

Yes, I will still occasionally prattle on about a subject that I find interesting as it relates to non-English language music.  But mostly, I intend to use this space to expose you, my faithful readers, to new and interesting music.  Rather than simply describing it, though, I will let you listen for yourself. 

I hope you enjoy!

Artist Profile: Ruben Cossani

It takes something special to keep me sane during my 1 1/2 hour morning commute through heavy Washington, DC traffic.  Fortunately, I have found that special something in Ruben Cossani.

Formed in late 2006, when already established solo musician and producer Michel van Dyke overheard his recreational soccer teammate Konrad Wißmann singing, Ruben Cossani ultimately became a fully functional trio soon after with the addition of drummer and singer Leonard Lazar (replaced in 2010 by Alexander Jezdinsky).  Their first single, Mitgefühl appeared in early 2008, after a year of writing songs and honing their sound in the clubs of Hamburg.

Perhaps influenced by their development in many of the same clubs where the Beatles appeared during their early years, or by listening to early Kinks albums, with a hint of Burt Bacharach, Ruben Cossani has a sound that is reminiscent of early 60s pop.  While Ruben Cossani's look and musical roots are decidedly retro, their richly conceived songs of love and longing, accompanied by achingly beautiful music, carry them beyond simply being a novelty act.  Certainly their ability to write catchy music that speaks directly to the listener helped them to place 8th in the 2009 Bundesvision Song Contest with Bis auf letzte Nacht.

So far, Ruben Cossani has released two albums: 2008's Tägliche Landschaft, and 2009's Alles auf einmal, and can most recently be heard in their 2010 single, Raus.  Unfortunately, none of these is available either on American Amazon.com or American iTunes, but relatively inexpensive CDs can be purchased from Obsessed Music in Germany.

Typically, I am not one to enjoy really mellow music.  But, to my ears, Ruben Cossani is not your typical band.  I typically tire very quickly of songs and bands, but the more I listen to Ruben Cossani, the more I like them.  They refer to the past, while speaking to the present; they play to emotions, without self-consciously manipulating them; they are stirring, without being cloying.  Finally, they can even be more than a little fun when they want to be with songs like Besser Jetzt.