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June 14, 2006
Retrokraut Day
Okay, the site's been around for a while now, we're picking up readers at a steady clip, and I feel like we've gotten to know each other pretty well. So, it's time that I divulged a bit of a dirty secret. You might want to sit down.
Alright, here goes...
Baby, I'm a big fan of German post punk and electro music from the early eighties.
Wait, come back. I know folks who lay that sort of thing on a reading audience are asking for an unseen wave of eye rolls. I'm well aware that Nick Hornby basically used "German influences" as shorthand for "pretentious tosser." But I wouldn't be pushing this stuff on you for obscure points if I didn't think that it was totally catchy, accessible music. I'm no fan of 12 minute dirges by Faust, trust me.
German youth reacted to the wake up call of punk rock like kids in most of the Western World did, by picking up instruments and going at it themselves. But with such a defining presence as Kraftwerk ruling the hip German consciousness, the instrument in question was just as likely to be a cheap synth as a starter guitar.
This stuff remains obscure primarily because it's in German, obviously. But I don't think it's helped by the fact that the folks who champion it have a superior attitude about the effort it took in tracking it down. So, I won't claim a crate digging expedition to Berlin. Most of this stuff I became aware of through two really cool compilations, the New Deutsch comp. from International Deejay Gigolos and the German Verschwende Deine Jugend (Waste Your Youth). DJ Hell, the ND compiler proves my point by making his only liner note the LCD Soundsystem quote "I hear that everyone you know is more relevant than everyone I know." I mean, how arrogant is that? Do you want people to learn about these artists or not?
I certainly do, and with Dirk's playoff heroics, the election of a sassy lady prime minister, and playing host to the global sporting world, it seems that Germany's time is now. Cheers.
Malaria! - "Your Turn to Run"
The best of the bunch, so if you don't like this one, then I don't know what to tell you. Well, I do, but I'm holding back on account of mixed company. Owners of the most concise all music entry ever ("Malaria was a group of five German women, together from 1981-1983" fin.) and a band name that sounds like the best musical never made, Malaria! is all cold attitude. The synths mix nicely with an off kilter guitar loop, and the occasional sax intrusion. But the broken English female vocal is the star. "I won't pay your price/ Your turn to run!" they all shout at the climax. Sounds like they mean it.
Funny story about this one, as I first heard it playing in Kim's Video on St. Marks in New York. Two or three record geeks, myself included, had an immediate Pavlovian responses and jerked our heads up from whatever obscure whatever we were looking at simultaneously. It was kick ass enough for the initial perk up to lead to a series of walks of shame towards the front desk to ask the name of the song we were currently in awe of. From the prominently placed "Now Playing" display I could see that it was the ...Jugend comp, but when I asked the clerk where to find it, he smugly replied "Oh, we don't sell it." Dick! See, this is what makes liking German music synonymous with being an asshole.
Grauzone - "Eisbar"
More guitar centric than the rest of the tracks, this one glides on a lazy melody, before yielding to a crunchy chorus paired with heart monitor bleeps. I have no idea what he's saying, but lets be honest, isn't that true of a good swath of the English language stuff we listen to?
Eiskalte Engel - "Kinder Aus Asbest"
From 1982, this one translates to "Children from Asbestos" and is I guess about fighting for healthy lungs? Whatever. What gets me is the switch from the straight up 80's pop in the beginning to the more overtly gloomy and Kraftwerk inspired chorus around the :45 second mark. Apparently, I've been singing along in German about the evils of outdated insulation. Who knew?
Gleitzeit - "Ich Komme Aus Der DDR"
Loosely translated, this songs title comes out to the hard to dipute, "We come from the German Democratic Republic." It's lyrics talk about how they are going to become millionaires and buy Germany. An appropriate daydream, since the music sounds so cheap. I say that not to disparage, but in admiration of how much the band rings out of such basic elements. Two synth lines layered over each other, shout spoken vocals. That's about it, but over the tracks five minutes the melody and countermelody trip over each other and give rise to multiple, inventive permeatations. Lady vocals come in later, changing the dynamic further, while still working within the narrow template nicely.
No More - "Suicide Commando"
From 1981, this English language single is more about the revered synth punk band Suicide than the act of self murder. While it's not hard to guess what it sounds like, it is more conventionally arranged and less confrontationally annoying than 90% of Rev and Vega's output. A spoon full of structure helps the bleak dissonance go down, I say.
Andreas Dorau & die Marinas - "Fred vom Jupiter"
For as immediately catchy and lovable as I find the aforementioned tracks, I can understand folks who might complain that they are still too stereotypically cold, harsh, and impersonal. For those hippies, our last entry lets the sunshine in. Sure it starts in the usual fashion, with throbbing synths, a robot drum click, and miscellaneous laser noises all accounted for. Once the chorus of girl voices come in though, it takes on a different mood. I mean they sound a bit bored, but there's a human warmth there. Once you get to the chorus, with it's simple sing-song melody, a smile is hard to supress. The punctuating handclaps are just sauerkraut on the pork knuckle.
Andreas Dorau scored some pop success on his own in later years, topping the Belgian charts as recently as 1998. That later success is probably the only reason that info about this, his first 1982 Euro hit, is available. Apparently, AD wrote it while still in high school, and handed it over to his lady friends to sing. Miraculously, there is a fuckin' You Tube, and it rules so hard:
Andreas Dorau & die Marinas - "Fred vom Jupiter"
Order New Deutsch here.
Order Verschwende Deine Jugend here.
Auf Weidersen.
Tags: Krautrock, Synth Punk, Malaria!, Grauzone, Eiskalte Engel, Gleitzeit, No More, Andreas Dorau & die Marinas, Germany
Posted by Jeff Klingman at June 14, 2006 12:21 PM
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