Die Summe der einzelnen Teile

 

Kante are a German indie band who released a number of good albums around the turn of the century. Their calm, flowing blend of post-rock and krautrock, with German lyrics, quickly won over the German indie scene, and with Die Summe der einzelnen Teile they even had a hit in the indie charts.

Lyrically, they refer to the famous quote by the Greek philosopher Aristotle: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’ Which makes sense, given that on their second album they incorporated string and wind instruments into their sound to create something new and more beautiful.

This band came back to mind when I heard Acid Pauli’s recently released remix. He’s turned this track into a faster-paced techno version that really works. It’s great that the next generation still remembers the classics from a quarter of a century ago.

I See A Darkness

 

About every ten years, musicians get the idea to cover I See A Darkness. A few days ago, Anna Calvi also ventured to cover the dark ballad written by Will Oldham in 1999, which for me is one of the best songs he has ever written. Rarely has a song about friendship moved me as much as this one. While Calvi's urgent guitar playing and vocals create an ominous atmosphere, it is Perfume Genius who breaks through the dark sky with his falsetto.

A good song can't really be ruined. That's why we're featuring the original by Mr. Oldham and a version that Martin Gretschmann, aka Acid Pauli, brought to clubs quite some time ago.

Monday's Long Song

 

I will also continue this long series, as there are and will be enough long songs that are worth mentioning here. Today's song is another collaboration between Acid Pauli and the Berlin DJ and producer Nico Stojan.

Acid Pauli is the stage name of Martin Gretschmann, who in his early years was a permanent member of The Notwist, perhaps the best German team from Upper Bavaria in the nineties. He was responsible for the band's electronic sound and the sound snippets used. At the beginning of the century he founded his own electronic project Console and has been releasing electronic gems as Acid Pauli for several years.

Vola comes along with a dragged-out rhythm, the samples used seem to be from another galaxy and all in all the song has a meditative undertone, which is certainly not a bad thing. For me, a good start to the series this year.

For The Soul There Is No Hospital

One of the best song titles this year comes unexpected from Slut, a Southern Germany based band. They got known with their interpretations of songs from Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht around 15 years ago. Now they released a new song from their upcoming new album after seven years of hiatus. It is nothing spectacular and perhaps one more melancholic pop-rock song but the more I listen to it I like it.

To be honest - I like the remix by their old comrade Martin Gretschmann aka Acid Pauli better. He reduces this song to a more relaxed mood.

Jorge

You might know that I have a big affection to electronic music in every variation if it sound great and/or new. During the past week I got the news that there is a new electronic band on the scene worth to be listened to. First thing I saw was the logo showing us a smiley with crossed bones and it reminds me to a very popular football club in Hamburg - St. Pauli. This is another story that should be told in the future. Now back to music. Acid Pauli is another project by Bavarian born musician Martin Gretschmann. He played different records with a famous underground band of the 00's - The Notwist. They made some great independent albums and I ask myself why I didn't featured them right now. Gretschmann switched from guitar based sound to electronic first with Console which made some good dance tracks a few years ago. Now he's back with Acid Pauli and his very own incredible and unique interpretation of electronic music. All tracks are reduced to the limit and filled with bleeps and drum. I think this will not work perfect on the dance floor but it works well under headphones. It is another music to finish the day with. An amazing transmission.