A few days ago I listened to the first record by Annegret Fiedler aka Perel, a Berlin based DJ and producer and I have to say I like her sound very much. It is a crude mixture of Industrial, Minimal-Wave and synthie-pop with ingredients of Krautrock ala Czukay and Plank and a minimal voice between Annie Lennox and Nico. Of course it is club music somehow but it is a flow and it's organic sound makes me want to listen more of it. If electronic music seems to be important today it should be like this.
Yesterday the news arrived that one more Krautrock-legend passed away. A few months ago we heard that Jaki Liebezeit, probably one of the best drummers of all time passed away and now Holger Czukay passed away as well. As far as we know yet he was found in the rooms of studio after a few days when he died. It is not necessary to talk much about him and his influences to artists like John Lydon, Jah Wobble, David Sylvain, Mark Hollis and even The Edge. He called himself the universal dilettante because he was never trained to master an instrument perfectly although he could played a lot of instruments proper. He was one of those who discovered the possibilities of samplings, adding loops together and always searching for new electronic sounds.
RIP Holger
If you have the nerve and time you can listen to a live concert from 1970 in Soest, Germany with the first appearance of Can's singer Damo Suzuki.
If I think about Japanese music first thing that comes up was J-Pop a very special genre of chart orientated music. I remember this kind of music when I visited Japan seven years ago. Listening to radio stations or going for music TV you will always see this crazy dressed kids moving to just the same sound. After listening to a few songs I couldn't here any difference. But always played loud so that you feel like being in patchinko hall (it's like an amusement hall filled with one arm bandits and the music played in the background was like on an Motörhead concert). The other side of Japanese music is a sophisticated one, played by bands like Yellow Magic Orchestra. Otherwise there is a big heavy metal scene over there.
I got the news that a female Japanese artist released a new record after a longer time of absence. Hiroki Moritani aka Phew started in the late 70's when punk reached Japan and everyone was possible to start a band of his own. Aunt Sally was famous over there in these days but to be honest I've never heard of them before. Very soon she started to walk on her own paths. What means that she decided to go a more avant-garde way. She collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto and he showed her the way to Cologne. Her first album was recorded in Conny Plank's studio and produced by Krautrock legends Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit which also played on different tracks. It is a different kind of listening to this psychedelic inspired sounds and Hiroki's voice but the often I listen to the more I like.
A few years later she returned to Cologne for her second record now collaborating with artists from Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft and Einstürzende Neubauten.
Sorry mates, that I don't continue my blog the way I used to do. Nowadays my bosses treat me with a lot of work. I've to work for nine to ten hours a day and finally I've got a hard attack on hew fever. When I came home from work I didn't have the power to write on my blog and continue my series. But don't worry - nothing will last for ever and I'll be back the way I used to be. Meanwhile you can listen to Holger Czukay - one of the pioneers in Krautrock and one of the ruling members of Can.
I came home last evening after having some drinks with my co-workers for the last day of carnival and opened up a new bottle of red wine for a last drink before going to sleep. I searched my hard drive for something that fits to my mood and found that wonderful collaboration by Jah Wobble, Holger Czukai and The Edge. It's a fantastic mixture of good grooves, hold back guitars and a bass that is still present but not overloaded.
