In 2016, I was at a festival in Mannheim and was already tired after a long day on my feet. Nevertheless, I really wanted to see the last act of the day, as I couldn't imagine anything specific about their music. Meute were announced as a techno-marching band and I had to say it worked well. The band rearranges techno, house and deep house works by well-known DJ's and realiezed the electro beats with wind instruments. The hypnotic monotony of techno remains intact and are complemented by the warm brass sections. Back then, they played in front of around 100 listeners, but they are now booked at major festivals. Slip is from their second album Puls from 2020, which is highly recommended in its entirety.
I waited weeks to get to this festival. Finished my works in the office and went to the train to Mannheim. First I got to my brother to leave my luggage at his place and we went off to the festival. Retrospective I have to say that more of the half of the artists were from Germany. And there was a lot of new music from my home country to explore.
The first band we saw live on Friday were Neufundland, a new band from Cologne. Their sound is torn between post-punk darkness, tender impact, electronic dance music and great melodies. And lyrics like Joseph Stalin buys uniforms at Primark or There is nobody prescribes to me how I have to lose makes them different even in Germany.
The next artist that impressed me was SG Lewis, a producer based in Reading that combines classic songwriting with club culture. It was a really great combination of both genres. Filled with a fundamental bass he sings his lyrics in a very entertaining way. Looking forward for his next outputs.
Lilly Among Clouds is a project by a young German female singer from Würzburg. She has a fantastic voice sometimes like a siren but always beautiful. She combines her (pop)songs with massive dubstep ingredients. A voice between Norah Jones and Alanis Morrisette makes her songs something special.
Liima is a project by Danish/Finish collaboration from members of Efterlang and percussionist Tatu Rönkkö. To describe their sound is rather different. Rhythm-based trips by the sound worlds which lift the difference between concert hall and dance floor and added with reverb singing. It worked amazing live.
After a few hours on my feet I went to a smaller spot where I could sit down and listen to well unknown artist. Expecting nothing from Martin Kohlstedt he took me into another dimension. He is a wonderful piano player with huge addicts to electronic sounds. Of course nothing for the main stage but fantastic music for a time of your own. If you like Nils Frahm you could love him.
Late in the evening I went into the smaller tent they built up at the festival and was reserved for the newer heavier and faster sounds. I've gone there to listen once again to a post-punk band from Stuttgart that I featured a few month ago. Loud, fast and emotional music with heavy influence of the early 80's independent sounds. It was loud, fast and awesome to hear them live again. Probably a great hope for German independent music today.
Although we were tired we both wanted to listen to Meute a German Techno Marching Band. And it was worth waiting for them. Only the bass drum made the rhythm and a lot of horns joined it. Nothing more than fun listening to them.
Hamburg based band Meute mention themself as a 'Techno Marching Band' and their sound combines two of Germany's stamped styles in music: Techno and music for brass instruments. No music for every day but I am impressed of their version of the deep house classic REJ. I think I'll watch their full show on a festival a few weeks ahead.
