From The In-Box

And again the best from a lot of bands which offered me their new music. During the last weeks many bands appeared playing typical R 'n' B, Indie Pop or Rap. Stuff I've heard often enough and not really new in their interpretation. But sometimes you'll find some nuggets but sometimes the music touches you from the first measures.

The first artist is from Saxonia, Germany and now living in Dubai and calls himself DJ Rob de Blank. He's a world wide traveler during his last 20 years and working worldwide as a DJ since the middle 90s. Influenced by Deep House, Chillout and EDM he released a few weeks ago his new single. It starts with a little piano and then a voice appears that reminds me a bit to Kate Bush than the main theme takes over and was added with some guitar licks. For sure a track I will listen often to.

The Danbury Lie from New Haven released a new record. I featured them a few month ago. And listening to these songs I just can repeat the words I said before: Based on the tradition of folk they added elements of classic (prog)rock. Most of them are quiet at the start and turn into a heavier sound later.All in all well arranged songs with a somber and dark tone in it. Seems like they are able to play on a high level. Give them a listen - I think it's worth.

The Danbury Lie - Drinking Song

Another band I featured months ago are The DOVES from Macon, Georgia. Since the first time I noticed the couple their output was in my focus. Now they released a new six-track record with all the ingredients they stand for: powerful songs with an emphatic guitar and catchy rhythms. That's what I would like to hear on radio. That they are able to play a blues song is shown on the second track.

The DOVES - Wild and Strange
The DOVES . Everybody's happy but me

The Red Moons are an alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 2014 and are working on their debut album release in 2015. They name The Doors as one of their influence but I think they are more in the tradition of Nirvana or the Foo Fighters. They play an emphatic alternative rock with heavy guitars and grungy vocals. I am curious as to how they will develop.

The Red Moons - Out of Touch

From Leeds a band showed up that's based in tradition of handmade music and ballads. Rise make wonderful music for the last glass of red wine.

Rise - It Matters

Birds Over Arkansas from West Chester, Pennsylvania describe their music with these words Indie band infusing technical prog rock, infectious melodies and harmonies, and singer/songwriter sensibilities. And indeed - you can hear these influences in their songs. It's probably a band that found their own sound and it's good this way. They're songs are too complex arranged and played in order to be overlooked. 

Birds over Arkansas - Catapult

If you think of Georgia and the Southern States of the USA you might think of swamp music or Southern Fried rock music. But Ghostrain shows us that other sounds could be played. Formed in late 80s it's obviously that the members obviously listened to early 70s bands like Bob Seger or Led Zeppelin. The song I feature reminds me with it's rhythm on a faster played version of Riders on the storm by The Doors. With it's organ sound the song is a bit hypnotic and far ahead of the average in classic rock music.

Ghostrain - City of the Sun

Back to Germany and to Electro/EBM/Indie. Lily Wiese is HONEY TOWER a new German-based female electro artist somewher between French touch, rock 'n' roll glamour, fashion vibes, avantgarde trash and subtle poetic vision, creating a sound that is found to be 'unique' (Fault magazine). HONEY TOWER dropped her third releas 'Dandy', an 8-track concept album, referencing destinct manifestations of dandyism in literature, history an philosophy. I would call her music as a minimal Deep House with steady grooves. Worth to listen. 

HONEY TOWER - Gegen den Strich
HONEY TOWER - (A)e(s)th(et)ics

Another German musician is Gunnar Spardel who released his Ambient, Chill-Out and Trance based record as Tigerforest. He names himself as an electronic musician, producer and film composer inspired by teutonic sound-pioneers. An it's true - his sound is like the soundtrack to a movie about landscapes and remembers sometimes to Pink Floyd without guitars.

Tigerforest - Geometry of Shadows

The Foreign Correspondent Returns - Stories About German Rock Music # 42

When I have brought his series to life, I would not have thought that so many results become from it. And so I will continue until number 50 in this series. Todays band takes us back to the days of Krautrock. Formed in 1975 by Klaus Dinger (who played with Kraftwerk and Neu! before), his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe. Typically for the music of La Dusseldorf are long, about wide distances the instrumental pieces which contains with sound collages and scanty song, often only German, English or now and again also French linguistic scraps are complemented. Lots of folks back then blamed this kind of music as too arty and not earthy enough. I remember many discussions I had with a couple of friends about the pros and cons of this music. Most of them I couldn't convince to open their ears for something new. The same thing happened again when another new music showed up the following years. Nevertheless, there were enough musicians in other countries which appreciated these music. Thus the music from Neu! and La Dusseldorf has big influence on the music of Brian Eno and David Bowie exercised. Bowie called La Dusseldorf "the soundtrack of the eighties". So take 13 minutes and listen to this little masterpiece that was recorded 40 years ago.

La Düsseldorf - Düsseldorf

Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile)

Cockney Rebel was a successful British Glam rock band in the early 1970s around the charismatic singer Steve Harley. He was very egocentrically but one of the first who put a clarinet into his pop songs. I was liked him and his songs. Especially he teched me trying to understand his dialect (another one was Steve Marriot with The Small Faces). Anyway a song who reached number one in the British top ten who is still worth to listen to.

Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)

Bologna

Another look over the border to Austria gives us a new band called Wanda. Stamped by the best from the last 3o years of Austropop Wanda tries to try a little bit completely new in German-speaking pop music. Their songs are a crude combination of Indie guitars and some strings. In this song ("Bologna") Marco Michael sings to themselves his sexual desire for a Half-Italian cousin about the soul. Not too bad for a band from the continent and worth to give a listen.

Twanging Tuesday # 46

Jimmy Patton was born in 1931 on a farm in Oklahoma, moved with his family in 1943, however, to Springfield, Oregon. In this time Patton began to be interested in music and took every opportunity was, to sing and to play. He had first a job as a rodeo rider, had to give up this, however, in 1953, after he had broken the arm. Although he was, actually, a Country singer, he joined in this time to the trend Elvis Presley and the Rockabilly. He wasn't very successful and turned away from Rockabilly to play his country tunes again. His legacy is a song which could be a standard if he had the airplay. This song has all the ingredients of these times: a Rockabilly guitar, a piano that could be played by Jerry Lee Lewis and vocals that are similar to Little Richard.

Jimmy Patton - Yah, I'm Moving

1. 
   

New York

Lou Reed's output in the late 80s was fantastic. He made with Blue Mask a guitar-based record with a few great songs on it. And in 1989 he released his last masterpiece with New York. It's a bundle of great songs with lyrics you should listen to (if you didn't at least). It's his homage to the town he used to life and he loved - knowing the bad side of it. I remember when I drove home later at the evening from a business meeting and Alan Bangs (the very small version of John Peel in Germany) introduced this record. While driving I fell in love with this record and the day after I bought this record - and it was a very good decision. It's a record filled with recollections of his home town. Never heard a homage to his home town like tis before and after. The songs on this record are so full of power and political statements - and they are still actual. This record and the songs on it accompanied me for 25 years. And what can I say more to a record?

Lou Reed - Endless Cycle
Lou Reed - Hold On

Window

In my circle of friends there are only a few which are interested in new electronic music. Most of them compare this kind of genre with simple techno the way H.P. Baxxter aka Scooter does. But if you into into it is worth to have a look over the border to Austria. During the last years a scene has set up there and create new impulses over and over again. One of those I listen often is a band from Vienna called HVOB (Her Voice Over Boys). Musically the duet moves between House, electronic music and pop music and HVOB hold her songs rather minimalist and unfold a melancholy atmosphere.

It's Obvious

Finally, I have the complete Internet access in my flat again. It has lasted long and has cost me many nerves and time. As usual, a small cause has generated big effect. It was simply due to the fact that the first engineer has laid the connection with the wrong port. I would not like to complain too much of this what was happened the last week separate look forwards. Now that I am technically able to continue blogging you will get more comments to the posts you do.

In the 'old' days Saturday was reserved for many weeks to a series about old TV-series. I will continue but today I would like to feature a band from the days of post-punk. Birmingham gave us the Au Pairs, a band that often was compared to Gang Of Four and the Young Marble Giants. Of course, they played that kind of funk GOF did and they had female lead vocals like YMG. The Au Pairs had only a small output on records in the time they existed but most of them was superb. I bought their first album Playing with Different Sex in the early 80s and it had a heavy rotation on my turntable. I liked their sound with a leading bass, stoic drums and thrifty guitar licks combined with lyrics that played with a blinky look at gender relations.

Have a good weekend, mates.

Au Pairs - It's Obvious

The Foreign Correspondent Returns - Stories About German Rock Music # 41

In the course of the unspeakable New German Wave (NDW) a band became very successful, although they were not typically for this music direction stamped by kitsch. Nevertheless, Extrabreit was no typical NDW band, but made German rock music with also critical texts. They saw itself as a punk group which had to owe it only of the NDW that they were so successful. On her website in addition they said: „Yes, we have just taken part in the shit!“

For me they never were a part of the hype, but a classical punk / rock group which has sung on in her mother tongue. About all years away have remained Extrabreit to her style loyal and have played strongly from guitars stamped songs. Unfortunately, they could never again go back to the success of her first both long-playing records, however, they succeeded over and over again in publishing above-average records for German relations.

Extrabreit - Kokain
Extrabreit - Der Präsident ist tot
Extrabreit - Polizisten
Extrabreit - Junge, wir können so heiss sein

Jimmy Ruffin RIP

One more great voice in soul music is gone. He died last Monday at the age of 78.

What Happened To Power Pop # 7

Let's continue this small series with a song which is called by many for this genre typical. Cheap Trick were formed in 1973 and became famous as a support band for acts like Queen, Kiss and Santana. Their first album was not particularly successful in her native country - but they got big in Japan. During their tour through Japan they recorded their first live record and their single went straight to the top 10 worldwide. Many other bands covered I want you to want me but the original was never achieved. Curt Cobain once said about Nirvana: „We sound just like Cheap Trick only the guitars are louder.“  No more words to add.

Cheap Trick - I want you to want me

Cortez The Killer

Hi my friends, I'm back on my blog again. I moved tho my new apartment four weeks ago and no company was able to connect me to the Internet. It's horrible here in Germany. I got an Internet supplier who would like to connect me to the www. But German Telekom is also involved to this process. You need them because only they can connect to the net. So I had to figure out some problems over the last weeks and I decided to get me a prepaid card. It's not the perfect way to go online - but better than nothing. So I think I'll be back in the scene with some blogs and comments.

Throughout the last weeks I listened a lot to Neil Young again. I don't know why but his music made it easy to move into my new apartment. Listen in the background to his music made it much more easier to unpack the cardboards and to put away everything in the kitchen and everywhere else.

Hope you were all well and kicking.

Neil Young - Cortez The Killer