Music Video: Seu Jorge - Suffragette City

This past weekend, my wife and I were enjoying some tapas at a restaurant in Georgetown, when she stopped the conversation and asked me if I could recognize the song playing on the sound system.  It took me a few moments to wrap my mind around what I was hearing.  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: "That's David Bowie's Suffragette City!!!"

Well, not exactly.  It was actually Brazilian singer Seu Jorge providing his take on David Bowie's Suffragette City.  This one is beautifully rendered on acoustic guitar, and in Portuguese.  In my opinion, it takes what is already a really good rock tune, and turns it into something even greater and more sublime. 

All that, and the Arroz Meloso al Azafrán con Gambas was pretty good too.

Music Video: Pierre Ferdinand et les Charmeurs - Ganz Paris ist eine Disco

Let me just put this out there: I'm a lazy liar.  Yesterday, when I posted that I had run out of interest in previewing Bundesvision 2011, I indicated that much of it had to do with reviewing songs that were not terribly appealing to me.  Well, that was partially true.  That sentiment was based on incomplete information though.  When the bands for Bundesvision 2011 were announced way back in June, they didn't announce the songs.  So, having nothing else to go on, I listened to whatever random sampling of music I could find online.  When I came to Saarland entry Pierre Ferdinand et les Charmeurs, I was unimpressed by what little I heard.  They seemed like the kind of novelty act that is amusing for about a day and a half, and ends up losing a competition like Bundesvision by dozens of points (see Lower Saxony's Dirk Darmstaedter & Bernd Begemann's entry from last year, So geht das jede Nacht).

However, when I looked at the final scores from Bundesvision 2011, I noticed something that caught me by surprise.  Pierre Ferdinand et les Charmeurs' entry, Ganz Paris ist eine Disco, did not finish in last place as I had expected.  Not even close.  Sure, it didn't win either.  But 11th Place out of 16 entries was still markedly better than I had expected.  What is up with that?

Then I finally watched the video for Ganz Paris ist eine Disco, and I actually really like it.  It is disco with a healthy dollop of funk.  Yes, it is kitschy, and it is certainly tongue in cheek.  But it also gets me smiling and my feet tapping.  Lying and sloth may be deadly sins, but hopefully my confession of actually enjoying Ganz Paris ist eine Disco will at least take a little time off my stay in limbo.

Bundesvision 2011 Update

If you read this blog with any frequency, you will note that I just left the Bundesvision 2011 Preview hanging.  Well, yes.  I will admit to that.  It happened for two reasons.  First, unlike last year, most bands did not release videos for their Bundesvision 2011 entries until the last possible minute before the contest . . . if at all.  Second, to be brutally honest, I just lost interest.  In any typical year, there are basically three types of songs: songs that I think are great, songs that I think are so-so, and songs that I think are boring.  By the time I get through the first group, it is really difficult for me to devote my time to coming up with pithy, interesting, or informative things to say about the remaining two groups.

Anyway, Tim Bendzko of Berlin won this year's contest with his tune Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären.  It's a nice enough song that I personally would have put in the so-so group that I mention above.  My personal favorites (Kraftklub, Frida Gold, Alin Coen Band) all ended up somewhere in the middle of the pack.  I suppose it just goes to show why I am not a professional A&R guy.

Bundesvision 2011: Saxony

Kraftklub - Berlin

I will admit something: every year (well two, so far) previewing 16 songs for the Bundesvision Song Contest can get pretty monotonous.  There are always a handful of ballads - both male and female, a handful of electronic or dance songs, a couple of soul songs, a couple of indie songs, and the show is wrapped up with one or two borderline novelty tunes.  While many of these songs are quite good, very few of them stand out for their originality.  Occasionally though, a band does something different.  This year, Kraftklub is that band.

Kraftklub first crossed my radar a few months ago with their self-released free-download album "Adonis Maximus".  Their music is a vibrant mix of hip-hop, punk rock, and disco - musical genres that one probably would not think would go together.  Combine this with an eastern German "nerd chic" fashion sensibility, and you have a band that truly stands out from the pack.  Kraftklub's song Berlin demonstrates their craft well - although it is by no means their best song.

Prediction:  As with any band that blows away established genres, Kraftklub's success in the broader German marketplace is by no means assured.  All things considered though, Berlin is a fun, energetic, and exciting song that should do well against the more cookie-cutter competition.  I predict that Berlin will place somewhere in the top 3.

Bundesvision 2011: Hamburg

Thees Uhlmann - Zum Laichen und Sterben ziehen die Lachse den Fluss hinauf

I like songs that reflect on the paths that life takes us down.  I also like songs that have catchy musical hooks.  Thees Uhlmann's Zum Laichen und Sterben ziehen die Lachse den Fluss hinauf provides both of these things.  And really, this is a nice song.  There's plenty of emotional power, there's plenty of introspective reflection.  But for whatever reason, it seems like the sum total of this song is less than its component parts.  Despite its strong points, Zum Laichen und Sterben is musically just a little too repetitive, and its sentiment seems just a little too forced. 

Prediction:  Zum Laichen und Sterben ziehen die Lachse den Fluss hinauf will appeal to German sentimentality.  But I don't think that it will appeal to more than a minority of Bundesvision voters.  I predict Zum Laichen und Sterben to do better than some of the competition, but will still dwell in the bottom third.

Bundesvision 2011: Thuringia

Alin Coen Band - Ich war hier

Every year the Bundesvision Song Contest lineup consists mainly of artists who cater to the "norm".  They are competent musicians performing pleasant enough music that allows the listener to pass a few moments of his or her life in a not-disagreeable manner.  Every year, though, there are one or two artists with whom I fall in love because they deliver a song that goes beyond simply possessing a pleasant veneer.  Their songs deliver an emotional punch either lyrically or, more likely as my German is more than a little rudimentary, musically.  This year, the Alin Coen Band delivers that punch with their song Ich war hier.

Perhaps the best way to describe Alin Coen is as a singer/guitarist who delivers emotionally potent folk-tinged melodies in a manner similar to Joni Mitchell or Indigo Girls.  That is not to say that she simply mimics an already well-established genre.  Instead, she uses this genre as a launching pad from which to deliver tightly crafted songs that are sung with a mixture of deep emotion and obvious joy.  In a world dominated by synth-pop, hip-hop, and all of the glitz that typically accompanies these genres, Alin Coen emerged onto the German music scene seemingly from out of nowhere on the strength of the buzz generated by her low-key appearances on German music television programs.  With songs like Ich war hier, it is not hard to see why.

Prediction:  The Alin Coen Band is not your typical TV music extravaganza artist.  However, Ich war hier is a fine showcase of Ms. Coen's band's talent.  With an album currently doing well in the marketplace, I predict that the cream of Bundesvision will rise to the top, putting Ich war hier easily in the top third - although probably still well shy of top of the heap.

Bundesvision 2011: Bavaria

Andreas Bourani - Eisberg

As if to finally signal the end of my summer vacation, upon my return home I see that the Bundesvision 2011 songs have finally been announced.  That gives me precious little time to preview all 16 entrants, so without any further ado let us begin with Bavaria's entry: Andreas Bourani and his song Eisberg.

As I get older, I find that I am learning to enjoy well-crafted and well-executed "alternative" pop ballads.  Maybe I'm getting soft in my dotage, or maybe I'm simply slowing down, but I actually find inoffensive and unremarkable songs like Eisberg kind of appealing.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want to give the impression that this song is dull.  Far from it.  Rather, much of its appeal comes from the fact that it is easy on the ears, it has some pretty decent hooks while not being overly ambitious or experimental, and it is sung by an artist with a remarkably smooth, pleasing, and well-trained voice.  Best of all, at least in my own mind, Eisberg does not adhere to conspicuous and self-conscious cliche, as do so many other pop ballads in the world today.

Prediction:  Well-executed ballads seem to do reasonably well in competitions like this.  I don't think that Eisberg has an iceberg's chance in Hades of winning, but I predict that it will place respectably somewhere in the top half of the pack.