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(Click on the picture to download.)
Big up user oldskool, who generously hooked me up with these tracks! About the source for one of the bonus tracks he'd like to add: "This (even back in 1982) ultra rare cassette was a gift from Andrea Kühler, one of my very, very best friends, who died just three weeks ago."
A couple of moons ago, I used the flexi-disc version of 4D's Fauve Moderne for one of my compilations of German post-punk and new wave. In the comments, oldskool provided some additional information, including what probably amounts to the complete 4D discography. I did a bit more digging (well, I mainly followed the links from this discogs entry and I'll probably lose a few nerd points now for not having done so the first time around) and unearthed the following:
4D were a shortlived project involving two of the guys from wacky German synth-pop outfit Supersempfft/Roboterwerke (read up on them over here), who custom built one of the first programmable drum computers. I actually used to own their Best Of, but eventually sold it off on eBay. The music was mostly quite lovely, with endearingly weird, inventive arrangements and sweet'n'crisp textures, but I just couldn't get over the horrible vocals. Here, have a listen yourself.
The Fauve Moderne 10" is just flatout great though. I've already heaped praises on the B-side's incredibly suave, francophile/phone new wave funk. But the A-side Sex Appeal is equally superb with its reggae-inspired teutonic skank, its dub effects and the singer's cool, detached crooning in German and French.
What Is Going On? from the above mentioned tape is yet more goodness, albeit in a harsher, more dissonant and spaced out style. We know Major Tom's a junkie-spaced out that is, not floating in outer-space on hash cakes-spaced out. Unfortunately, oldskool lost the cassette and only digitized this one track.
The second bonus track Dreidimensional is my least favourite of the bunch. Still, it's a solid piece of early eighties minimal synth-wave and it further shows the band's range. Dreidimensional was taken from a volume of The New Wave Complex, a series of semi-legit CD-R comps that you can grab over here, by the way.
(Click on the picture to download.)
Judging from the number of downloads, the German post-punkiness goes down well with you people. So here's some more slightly off-beat minimal synthery. The only information out there on this duo is that they were from Neuss (wherever that is exactly) and that they're not the same Weltklang who produced the more famous (in relatively speaking) 7" VEB Heimat featured on the DJ Hell curated New Deutsch compilation. None of the online discogs I consulted list any other releases, so it seems they only released this little gem to little attention and then split up again. Though by no means essential recordings, those two bouncy electro-pop tunes are really just flawless.
Edit: "Neuss actually is near Düsseldorf, the home of many important acts like Male, Mittagspause - later Fehlfarben - a bunch of punky bands and of course Der Plan," sayeth Stiev A. in the comments. Thanks for the info, dude (or dudette)!
(Click on the picture to download.)
Why this synth and drums duo didn't make much of an impact is anybody's guess. With unabashedly catchy melodies, clever arrangements, witty lyrics plus a dose of quirky artiness you should think that they would have appealed both to the underground crowd and the masses. Instead they didn't find success with either audience: although the single Vor all den Jahren was a minor hit in 1982, their album bombed and Stahlnetz disbanded. Today, Wir sind glücklich is one of the rarest and most sought after German new wave records. (Which is actually pretty strange, considering that it was released on the major label Arista, you'd think there must be quite a few copies floating around.) Anyway, what you get here is beautiful, clean-sounding, metronomic synth-pop that blends the Kraftwerkian influence that goes with the genre (those post-Romantic triads!) with a sort of stripped-down, Teutonic take on Human League/Heaven 17-style pop and ironic references to German cabaret songs and Schlagermusik of the thirties and forties. Oh yeah, and Conny Plank produced.
NB: Ripped from vinyl @ 160 kbps. A few crackles, but overall it sounds quite good to me. I found it on Soulseek a few months ago, so big up the original ripper/uploader!
(Click on the picture to download.)
01. Matthias Schuster - Verlangen (1981)
More sinister, alienated synth-creepiness from the über-prolific Matthias Schuster. This one comes from his solo album Atemlos that was given the reissue treatment by NLW.02. Mona Mur & Die Mieter - My Lie (1982)
Dark, expressionist proto-goth, somewhere between Malaria!, X-Mal Deutschland and early Siouxsie. Die Mieter were Neubauten members Alex Hacke, Marc Chung and F.M. Einheit plus one Gode B. Although the band broke up after their only EP, Einheit and Hacke continued performing and recording sporadically with singer Mona Mur until the mid eighties.
03. Kosmonautentraum - Kosmonautentraum Nr. 7 (1981)
Anchored by a big, stumblingly chugging bassline, this is one of the more accessible tracks by Andy XY's dada project and all the better for it. The other two tracks on the Liebesmüh'n 12" are practically unlistenable in their deliberate crudeness. This one's good though.
04. Thorax-Wach - Huckepack und zu Hunderten in den Tod (1980)
From the provincial northern town of Göttingen this duo unleashed their brand of electronic terror, abusing a microphone, two Korg synthesizers and a 2 track recorder. Like Geile Tiere or Sprung aus den Wolken, their best tracks tread a bizarre and disconcerting middleground between the merely wacky and the scarily demented.
05. Alexander von Borsig - Japanisch (1982)
Alexander Hacke with a track from his solo EP Hiroshima, released under the alias Alexander von Borsig. Hacke was somewhat of a post-punk Wunderkind, getting into music at age thirteen, joining Einstürzende Neubauten in 1980 when he was just fifteen years old and being quite prolific during the early eighties with a slew of bands and one-off projects. Hiroshima's title track can be found on the excellent Berlin-underground compilation Als die Partisanen kamen, posted on the WMFU blog.
06. Christiane F. - Süchtig (Health Dub) (1982)
Yet more Neubauten related stuff: here's the dub version of Christiane F.'s Wunderbar, with both Hacke and Einheit credited as producers, musicians and co-composers. If you liked the original (included here), this remix will quite probably be up your alley too.
07. Die Dominas - Die Wespendomina (1981)
This is probably the most peculiar intersection between Krautrock and Krautwave (and Kraut-techno, for that matter), involving Kraftwerk members Karl Bartos and Ralf Hütter, Ashra/Ashra Temple's Manuel Göttsching (who had produced the debut single of post-punk experimentalists Geile Tiere the year before) and somtime Ashra Temple collaborator Rosi Müller. (Read the whole story over here.)
The complete 10inch is available at Mutant Sounds, but the track featured here also happens to be the basis for the techno classic Domina by Maurizio aka Moritz von Oswald - the same guy who joined Palais Schaumburg as a drummer on their third album and played on records by Holger Hiller, Propaganda and Billy MacKenzie.
08. Im Namen des Volkes - Raumkrank (1980)
Im Namen des Volkes was a short-lived solo project by Matthias Schuster, resulting in two 7" singles, Weißes Rauschen and Ich war da, leergebrannt (from which this track is taken), and the LP Volksmusik. The latter is slated for rerelease on NLW.
09. Deutsche Wertarbeit - Deutscher Wald (1981)
Equal parts post-Neu!/Harmonia electro-Kraut and synth-new wave, this duo's only LP was fittingly released on Sky Records (Roedelius, Conrad Schnitzler, the Cluster/Eno collaborations, Michael Rother).
10. Carmen - Schlaraffenland (1982)
Now here's a hit that never was. From what I've read it seems that Puppe aus Glas, the only album by Carmen, was delibaretely aimed at commercial success. I've yet to hear the whole record, but if Schlaraffenland is anything to go by, it's beyound me why it didn't happen. Super-catchy little girl-pop with a hefty dose of charming, Andreas Dorau-style faux-naïveté (Carmen used to be one of his background singers) wedded to TomTom Club-goes-Teutonic funkiness - what's not to like?
11. Wirtschaftswunder - Der Komissar (1980)
A fun cover version of the title theme of Der Komissar, a highly popular - and almost hilariously square - German crime series from the seventies. The dialogue snippets used are from the episode Tod eines Hippie-Mädchens. Let's just say that the script writers don't necessarily display a very sympathetic attitude towards youth culture...
12. Die Hornissen - Pale Blue Eyes (1982)
Zeittunnel, the b-side of this single, is actually far better known and features on quite a few compilations, not least of all the DJ Hell compiled New Deutsch. But this lo-fi cover of the the VU classic does have its charms. Mixed by ex-Can bassist Holger Czukay, by the way, it's another Krautrock/Neue Welle intersection.
13. Thorax-Wach - Dick sind sie und keuchen (1980)
Also taken from the EP Huckepack und zu Hunderten in den Tod. Don't listen to it alone in the dark.
14. Mona Mur & Die Mieter - Jeszcze Polska 1982)
Another one that gives me the creeps. It starts with quotes from the Polish national anthem, followed by dark and violent apocalyptic imagery in German. The lyrics are a bit hard to make out, even for a native speaker, and probably deliberately so. But combined with the martial drums and dissonant guitar they conjure up some nasty mental images of concentration camps, executed partisans and SS-men in shiny boots.
(Click on the picture to download.)
A follow-up to my first compilation of German post-punk. While that collection runs the full gamut from chart successes to fairly obscure tracks, from the catchy and song-oriented to the far-out and experimental, this one focuses mainly on the electronic and/or left-field side of things: minimal synth-pop by Bal Paré, Stahlnetz and Andi Arroganti, icy electro-goth by Matthias Schuster, leftfield new wave by Deo, Christiane F.'s 99 Records/Zé-style avant-disco (composed by her then-boyfriend, Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Alex Hacke), Tommi Stumpf's lo-fi synth-punk and full-on avant noise from Geile Tiere, Sprung aus den Wolken and Strafe für Rebellion.
01. Bal Paré - Rien Ne Va Plus (Year ?)
Matthias Schusters (of Geisterfahrer fame) synth-pop band. Not quite as good as Geisterfahrer or most of Schuster's solo output, they're usually at their best (and most charming) when they're doing their francophile electro-chanson thing.
02. Andi Arroganti - Bleib bei mir (Year ?)
Probably the most prolific exponent of the DIY cassette underground, Andi churned out dozens of tapes as a solo artist and with his groups Altes Eisen and Duotronic Synterror. I think he's quite a bit overrated, but he does have his moments. This slightly goofy and totally catchy piece of minimalist synth-pop is definitely one of them. Taken from the 2003 vinyl release Mono - The Best of Andi Arroganti.
03. Geile Tiere - Liebst du mich? (1981)
Not much info out their on these noiseniks. It seems like they were essentially a duo, sometimes aided by a host of guests, and actually had a background in performance and media art. Obviously, they pursued a self-consciously amateurish non-musician angle, similiar to the Geniale Dilettanten movement around bands like Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Tödliche Doris and Strafe für Rebellion. Most of their stuff is only historically interesting, but this extremely creepy track with its punishing beat and pounding bassline still sounds pretty amazing.
04. Matthias Schuster - Ritual IV (1981)
More stunning electronic moodiness by our man from Hamburg. Taken from the Ritual 12" which is included as bonus tracks on NLW's reissue of the Atemlos LP.
05. Stahlnetz - Wir sind glücklich (1982)
Incredibly punchy and propulsive, Conny Plank-produced synth rock that has "hit potential" written all over it. Oddly, the keyboards & drums duo squandered their best song on the b-side of the single Vor all den Jahren, which was a minor hit.
06. Christiane F. - Wunderbar (1982)
Probably best known as Germany's most famous junkie, Christiane F. recorded this gem of a dubbed-out new wave disco track for the Californian punkrock/new wave-indie Poshboy. Unhappy with the results, she did a new version, re-titled Süchtig, for her EP Final Church. This track is the unedited 12" version of the original American release and although I have yet to hear the later version, I can't find anything wrong with this one.
07. Tommi Stumpf - Seltsames Glück (1985)
Another amazing Conny Plank production: tight and super-aggressive proto-EBM with punk attitude from the former frontman of KFC, one of the first German punkrock bands.
08. Geile Tiere - Whiskey Bar (1980)
Mucking about with Brecht/Weill's Alabama Song. Fun.
09. Deo - Exakt neutral (1981)
From their only LP Deo, released on Klaus Schulze's Innvative Communication imprint. Nothing on that album comes close to the sheer brilliance of this slice of new wave minimalism though.
10. Bal Paré - Raumpatrouille (1982)
A cover version of the title theme of a German b/w science fiction series from the late sixties, composed by lounge music and soundtrack collector favourite Peter Thomas. The lo-fi synth treatment only adds to the retro-futuristic charm of the original.
11. Strafe für Rebellion - Lo state presente politico e morale (1982)
I guess that a lot of those artsy German post-punk bands where more about the creative process as such than about making records as definitive artistic statements. So, detached from their original context, the records are for the most part quite unlistenable. Not so this amazing piece of, well what exactly? Post-industrial chamber music maybe? Anyway, definitely one of my favourites on this compilation.
12. Sprung aus den Wolken - A-i-akcam la (1982)
With Neubauten members Hacke, Einheit and N.U. Unruh amongst its ranks, it's no wonder that this lose Geniale Dilettanten collective's sound reminds a bit of early Einstürzende Neubauten, albeit without the steel percussion - and without Blixa's charisma obviously. Again, a lot of it is only historically interesting and not really worth a second listen, but some of the results are pretty compelling.
(Click on the picture to download.)
Lately I've been exploring the German post-punk underground, mainly via such great blogs as Dorfdisco Braunsfeld, Not Rock On, Brotbeutel, Mutant Sounds and the now sadly deleted Mein Walkman ist kaputt, Planet New Wave and Hiboux Choux Genoux. It was was both fun and fascinating to hear so many songs I remember from my childhood for the first time in years, only this time within a whole new context, while also discovering artists who I'd never heard of before or had only read about.
Almost half the tracks come from the two disc compilation UntergruNDW - Die wahre deutsche Welle. It actually does a pretty decent job of providing an overview of the better known German post-punk and new wave acts. But it also includes a few pretty forgettable bandwagon jumpers and also-rans as well as tracks from albums and singles still available at the above mentioned blogs. Special thanks go to Rich from whose blog Mein Walkman ist kaputt comes the second largest chunk of tracks.
Here's the NDW chapter of Simon Reynold's post-punk book Rip It Up And Start Again that provides some basic context and information on important bands like Fehlfarben, Der Plan, Palais Schaumburg and X-Mal Deutschland.
01. Kosmonautentraum - Kosmonautentraum (1980)
As both a fanzine editor and musician, Ziggy XY was actually one of the more important figures of the Hamburg/Hannover scene. His main outlet was Kosmonautentraum, a project with a revolving cast of collaborators. Ranging in style from new wave and proto-goth to assaultive lo-fi industrial, most Kosmonautentraum records are frustratingly uneven and for every stroke of genius you'll get two stinkers. Case in point being the ultra-rare self-released debut EP Der Deutsche: this track is great, while I'm quite happy never having to listen to the other two again.
02. Der moderne Man - Heute (1980)
Taken from the first LP 80 Tage auf See. It's actually not that great, one of the reasons probably being that then-singer Ziggy XY's more experimental leanings started to be at odds with the new wave sound the rest of the group was aiming for. Still, I'm quite fond of this slight, yet lovely little instrumental which owes a good deal of its motorik quality to Neu! You can get the quite enjoyable second album Unmodern (recorded after Ziggy XY had quit) over here.
03. Rheingold - Fluß (1980)
Being the first German new wave/Neue Deutsche Welle band to have a substantial hit with Dreiklangdimensionen in 1980, Rheingold weren't really a part of the underground scene. Instead, the band was founded by two Kraftwerk-enthused studio pros, who had been making music since the mid seventies. Upon hearing the selftitled debut again, I was quite surprised how much it's indebted to the Krautrock of Neu!, Harmonia and late Cluster. Lothar Manteuffel and Bodo Steiger, Rheingold's principle songwriters, resurfaced again in the nineties, being involved in new projects by ex-Kraftwerk members Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür.
04. Der Plan - Gummitwist (1983)
Not only one of the essential bands of the German post-punk underground, Der Plan also produced some of the most original, funny and inventive electronic art-pop ever. Their albums Geri Reig and Normalette Surprise are still in print and can be ordered over here.
05. Deutsche Schäferhunde - Mein Herz (1982)
It's really amazing how much DIY activity in the German provinces was spured by the post-punk scenes of Hamburg, Berlin or Düsseldorf. This synth foursome hailed from Eggstätt, a small town near Munich, and recorded and self-released only one single. The hard-hitting sound of their three tracks is quite impressive for a DIY release, but to my ears this is the only one that stood the test of time.
06. Monopol - Weißes Haus (1982)
Not much info out their on this three-piece, consisting of two keyboardists/vocalists and a singing ex-model. The elegaic and beautiful Weißes Haus is definitely the standout track on their only LP Weltweit, a solid minimal synth-pop album marred by dumb lyrics and slightly grating vocals.
07. Front - Polaroid (1981)
Great, slightly dub-inflected punk-funk by this band from Hamburg. They split up after releasing two singles on the important independent label ZickZack, with drummer Ralf Hertwig joining Palais Schaumburg. Brotbeutel has both 7inches plus a song from the ZickZack Sommerhits compilation.
08. Geisterfahrer - Himmel auf Erden (1981)
One of the most important bands of the Hamburg/Hannover scene and one of many projects involving prolific scene-shaker Matthias Schuster. For my money, Himmel auf Erden is simply one of the best post-punk songs ever. Geisterfahrer's first two records, Schatten voraus and Fest der vielen Sinne, have been re-issued on Plasticfrog Records.
09. Wirtschaftswunder - Der große Mafioso (1982)
One of several bands and projects involving the super-prolific Tom Dokupil (others being Die Radierer, Siluetes 61 and Die Partei), Wirtschaftswunder's songs encompassed a range from all-out wackiness bordering on the demented to slight and endearing kookiness. This track is more on the side of the latter and even reached the lower regions of the charts.
10. Fehlfarben - Die wilde 13 (1981)
One of the most important and popular German post-punk bands. Their first album Monarchie und Alltag is regularily being tauted as one of the best German rock albums ever. I personally think that they became more interesting on their two subsequent records, even though guitarist Thomas Schwebel is a considerably less charismatic singer than original frontman Peter Hein, who had left the band after the debut. Die wilde 13 is taken from the criminally underrated second LP Dreißig Tage in Ketten.
11. Trio - Los, Paul! (1981)
This bunch is an interesting case. Already well into their thirties, these pros with a background in British invasion-style r&b and Krautrock were far too old to be part of anybody's Neue Welle. Actually, Trio was a conscious effort to cash in on the popularity of (more or less) new wave inflected German-language pop at the time. But while almost everything they subsequently recorded is pretty vomitous, they managed to get everything right on their selftitled first album, a superb collection of ultra-minimalist, stoic pop songs and equally minimalist, punky thrashers.
12. Große Freiheit - Ein Mann zuviel (1983)
More quirkiness from this short-lived project (they recorded only two 12" singles), a bit similiar to Wirtschaftswunder. The lyrics deal with the problems arising when there's one guy too many at the barbecue... (Go to Not Rock On for the Moschusfunktion 12".)
13. Konec - Tanze (1982)
Strangely, while this track is featured on quite a few NDW compilations, there's zero info on the band out there. Jagged, dubby wave-funk with detached female vocals, surprisingly enough released on the major label Polydor.
14. X-Mal Deutschland - Incubus, Succubus (1982)
Sort of the signature tune of this all female band. The later, mostly English-language records are fairly uninteresting goth-pop, but the early stuff is fantastic in an early Banshees kinda way.
15. Joachim Witt - Tri Tra Trullala (1982)
A seventies psych-rocker turned eighties new waver, Witt managed to find the right balance between experimentalism and charts-appeal. Produced by Conny Plank's engineer René Tinner and featuring Can's Jaki Liebezeit on drums, Tri Tra Trullala is driving, motorik synth pop that occupies a middle ground between new wave and La Düsseldorf or Neu!'s more pop-oriented moments. Don't bother with anything he released since his comeback in the nineties though, it's all daft sub-Rammstein ebm metal.
16. Grauzone - Eisbär (1981)
Actually a Swiss band, but Eisbär (like most of their material) sounds totally NDW and is featured on countless Neue Deutsche Welle compilations. It was a huge hit in Austria, which is quite a surprise considering the cold, skeletal sound. Amazing production, too, on this track. The Sunrise Tapes collects everything they ever released and comes highly recommended.
17. Mannschreck - Where Have All The Good Times Gone (1980)
A charming version of a Kinks song by this new wave project from Stuttgart, taken from the otherwise pretty lackluster debut 12" 80-8. Get the later and far superior EP Ou-Wou-Wou at Mutant Sounds.
18. Lost Gringos - Bargeld Amore (1983)
Thanks to Jörg from Not Rock On for this one. Go over to his blog for more info and the EP Troca Troca.
19. Die Doraus & Die Marinas - Kleines Stubenmädchen (1982)
Andreas Dorau is probably one of the artists on this compilation who don't need much of an introduction. His Fred vom Jupiter is a masterpiece of DIY pop and not only hugely popular in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking part of Switzerland to this day, but it was even a favourite with New York's downtown club scene. Dorau is still making incredibly charming and funny music and all his albums are available on Ata Tak. Kleines Stubenmädchen was the b-side of the Tulpen und Narzissen 7" and has never been reiussed.
20. The Tanzdiele - Candy (1981)
Endlessly listenable, catchy new wave pop, culled from this studio project's only LP Folgt den Führern. Mutant Sounds also posted a brilliant live album by follow-up band The Tanzdiebe. Mainman Piet Klocke is currently enjoying a second career as a pretty popular stand-up comedian, by the way.
21. Palais Schaumburg - Telephon (1981)
Everything this punk-jazz outfit from Hamburg released up to (and, in my opinion, including) their vastly underrated second album Lupa is essential. This non-LP track from their second single Telephon/Kinder der Tod is decidedly more stripped down and synth-popish (albeit in a pretty leftfield way) than the later stuff and it's also one of their most immediately enjoyable and charming songs.
22. Pyrolator - Max (1981)
A founding member of Der Plan and DAF whose proto-sampledelic leftfield electro-pop, a combination of synths, post-industrial rhythms and dense tape-collages, was totally ahead of its time. Ata Tak's most important artist besides Der Plan and Andreas Dorau and his albums Inland, Ausland and Wunderland can be ordered here.
23. Felix Kubin - 2 (2005)
A track from the Idiotenmusik 7", another one I got from Mein Walkman ist kaputt. Kubin, a self-confessed dadaist, started producing his hyperactive, deranged electronica in the early eighties when he got his first Korg synthesizer at age 13. I'm obviously cheating a bit here by including a 2005 release, but it's a superb track and since Idiotenmusik is a sort of homage to Kubin's earliest tape releases it's okay, I guess.
24. Teja - Säuren ätzen und zersetzen (1980)
This wild piece of noisy proto-electronica is another astonishing one-off project. According to the comments on Mein Walkman ist kaputt, Teja Schmitz was a young hairdresser and early member of the Düsseldorf punk scene, who recorded and self-released his sole 7" single mainly just because it was hip to have put out your own record. The B-side, Studieren, is far less memorable as it's pretty much in the vein of the typical demented synth noisery of the time. This track though still sounds pretty eerie and impossible to categorize. The title translates as Acids Etch And Corrode and it couldn't be more fitting.
