Die Wilde Jagd is a German electronic duo by producer and songwriter Sebastian Lee Philip and aided by Düsseldorf based musician Ralf Beck. Since their self titled debut in 2015 I had a huge fondness to their electronic sound and featured them several times at this place. To create a melange of reduced electronic sounds and beats with cryptic German lyrics was new to me. I was lucky enough to see them live a few years ago and was surprised that this kind of music works live very well. The recent days they released a new song with a remix by Ivan Smagghe of a song from their debut album. It's a song I listened often when it was released not only because it offered a jazzy mood in the second half.
This made me listen to another song from their debut. A dark atmosphere with tribal rhythms and electronic eruptions.
Through dark pine trees, out of senses, Tightly braced by black trunks On horses, fast as lightning Enraptured by the horizon In remembrance of two gentlemen With long hair and curls as dense as blackamoor Towards the sea So close to the shark pair The marriage planned long ago A unification of what happened In streams of waves as tall as sails Standing pallid in the wind Hoofs step to thunderous drums Storm sails that sing like harps Calling ghosts Who, long yearned for, let us drift Into tall forests of tomorrow The tale is told
After yesterday's post I was in the mood to check out some old German music again that had the spirit of John Lydon and the post punk era. One of those bands that appeared in the late 80s was Kolossale Jugend a band that was close to the so called Hamburg school that brought Germany a very new and rough sound in independent music. Named by a song from Young Marble Giants (Colossal Youth) they made a fantastic combination of post punk mixed with a bit of grunge and experimental pop. Their texts were often cryptic – half crazy, half brilliantly – however, the note which the band sound like was unequivocal. They freely rocked after the motto: According to and indirectly. They had an attitude by controlling their rage, always remained far away of every market compatibility. Their play was full of pressure and rousing. This is a song from their album Heile, Heile Bouches released in 1989 and it was a highlight for me in these times.
2002 - the first year after 9-11 and life goes on as nothing really happened. What remains for us do otherwise than continue living our lives and not make us crazy from the daily news of the war against terrorism? But since the attack on the WTC, a lot has changed. Before the attack traveling was relaxed, we have since been at the airport more and more controlled. I've been to many places before and at none time I had to worry about my life. I remember when I was on Corsica in the late 80s sitting in a bar I heard a bomb exploding a few streets away and I don't give much attention on it. This year we spent our holidays in Bali - a wonderful island and still worth to visit. Fantastic beaches, tropical hills, great reefs for snorkeling and impressive tea plants. We arrived in Kuta and started a self organized round trip. All in all a wonderful vacation and a trip we still remember. When we came back home we heard the news about a bombing attack at Kuta beach where a lot of people died. The bomb exploded right at a bar we used to have our drinks. We were just lucky that the attack has not happened a few weeks earlier. Since I'm on vacation attentive and pay attention to things that I have not previously registered. Not that I am afraid but I know that things can happen to me - anytime, anywhere.
All right - let's have a look at this years records:
Tocotronic - Tocotronic: Another great record from this Hamburg band
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf: Heavy guitars and great songs
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head: On the same level as before
Red Hot Chilly Peppers - By the Way: Great - according to masses
The Libertines - Up the Bracket: Sensational debut
The Streets - Original Pirate Material: Fantastic and very very special
Billy Bragg and the Blokes - England, Half English: Another great record by our beloved socialist
Groove Armada - AnotherLateNight: Great stuff on it
The Ravonettes - Whip it on: Just an EP but what a record
Spoon - Kill the Moonlight: Another record that gets better the more you listen to it
Thievery Corporation - The Richest Man in Babylon: Perfect fusion of dub and latin
And as always - a look at this years movies:
The Pianist: A masterpiece by Roman Polanski
About Schmidt: Great story and a wonderful Jack Nicholson
Frida: Biopic about a great painter
About a Boy: Just a nice story
The Bourne Identity: Fascinating
The Transporter: The best one in this series
The Ring: Remake of a Japanese horror movie
8 Mile: Eminem shows us the life in trailer parks
City of God: Fantastic movie of Brazilians dark side
And just a few words about what happened in the world this year:
The Euro notes and coins are available // Civil war in Angola // US army starts invasion in Afghanistan // Queen mother dies at the age of 101 // Pim Fortuyn a dutch politician an Prime Minister candidate is assassinated in Hilversum, Netherlands // Brazil wins the FIFA Football World Cup 2:0 against Germany
My attention was on this band by their song "Pilot", an initially inconspicuous and somewhat remarkable piece of music. Restrained instruments, backed by a rhythm shun, like a ballade, yet different. Then was come an insinuating and gentle rough voice accompanied the chorus of wonderful string instruments - I was spellbound. I knew I needed more of The Notwist. What was then presented me with Neon Golden, surpassed any of my expectations.
"In contrast," is probably the perfect description for this album. Unconventional advised the boys of The Notwist on an inclined sound drum. Strange, remarkable beats almost adorn every song - you realize that every song was produced and arranged with unusual concentration and care. ... Different ... and then - awesome. Wonderful, indispensable ...
"Neon Golden" has a variety of variety, "Pick up the Phone", "One with the Freaks" and "Consequence" belong to the most often mentioned diamonds this treasure chest are also considered out tip, if you look at but the best to will lift the end, you can hear the album but it was only at home - consistently and appropriately titled "One Step Inside Does not Mean You Do not Understand", a verse text, quiet gliding music - and you already knows: this album should be listened to from start until the end in a row. Then meet a gem like "Pilot", the diversity and innovativeness of The Notwist here comes to its best advantage, because the song from the beginning, chorus through to the end its variety of pages shows - as all the time in "Neon Golden ".
The Pastels, a Glasgow based independent band released a few month ago their new album Slow Summit. It is not very spectacular but filled with a lot of good songs. I listened to it the recent month more and more. And every time I find a new piece in their songs that I didn't realized the times before. One of the best records this year - maybe only for me.
