German New Wave (NDW) IST DA DA DA!
soulmarcosa
4,296 Posts
I picked up this 1982 compilation album the other day:
It's all German New Wave Bands (Neue Deutsche Welle = NDW) such as Trio & Yello along with a bunch of other groups I've never heard of:TrioClaudia RobotAbw??rtsGeisterfahrerIna DeterPalais SchaumburgJawollDie Kapazit??tNovalisYello & Joy RiderExkursStylistically it ranges from mutant disco to angular punk to proto electropop. If you like Gang of Four, James Chance, Pigbag, Killing Joke, PiL, Kraftwerk and/or Nina Hagen, there's a track on here for you.It comes in a cool translucent plastic outer sleeve, though it's impossible to get the inner sleeve inside, let alone the record. German design ingenuity kinda choked on this one.So what other NDW recommendations do you have? I'd especially like to hear German strutters weigh in on some of these artists.
It's all German New Wave Bands (Neue Deutsche Welle = NDW) such as Trio & Yello along with a bunch of other groups I've never heard of:TrioClaudia RobotAbw??rtsGeisterfahrerIna DeterPalais SchaumburgJawollDie Kapazit??tNovalisYello & Joy RiderExkursStylistically it ranges from mutant disco to angular punk to proto electropop. If you like Gang of Four, James Chance, Pigbag, Killing Joke, PiL, Kraftwerk and/or Nina Hagen, there's a track on here for you.It comes in a cool translucent plastic outer sleeve, though it's impossible to get the inner sleeve inside, let alone the record. German design ingenuity kinda choked on this one.So what other NDW recommendations do you have? I'd especially like to hear German strutters weigh in on some of these artists.
Comments
wfmu is all about the NDW stuff. you can download alot of on their "Beware of the Blog" site here: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/04/audio_hoaxes_an.html
Not all of them can be classified as "New Wave"... Ina Deter is more of a singer/songwriter thing, and Novalis are some Krautrock leftover.
Trio's first LP is very nice pop-punk with a great, minimalist sound (drumcomputer+distorted guitars). Their later stuff isn't that good...
Abw??rts is a famous first-generation geman punk band from Hamburg. Their first EP & album are quite nice, with some DEVO influences on the album.
Geisterfahrer are sort of pre-gothic along the lines of Joy Division and the likes. Their first album, "Schatten voraus", is quite weird and experimental, their later stuff is more straight & guitar-oriented.
Palais Schaumburg is excellent quirky new wave pop with dada (nonsense) lyrics, especially on their first album, before Holger Hiller left. (Hiller's solo electronica albums are also very good.)
Die Kapazit??t and Exkurs were your typical short-lived german new wave bands, each disappearing after one album (both on the "Konkurrenz" label) into oblivion. Not bad, though...
Yello (from switzerland) went on to synth pop fame in the 80s. Their first two albums were released in the US on the Residents' Ralph Records.
There's quite a lot of german "new wave" stuff out there - what's the kind you're looking for? Noise? DIY weirdness? Post-Kraftwerk electronica?
NDW was a term formed through an article that tried to combine various musicians under one hat (same with the term trip hop) and as already was explained, some of these artists had nothing to do with each other musically. I'd say that it was good and bad at the same time that NDw happended for the scene in Germany. Another classic of that time would be this
monarchie und alltag by fehlfarben..they are still around making music...
another one would be this
some wavepunkstuff from bochum, with a track called 'graffiti artists international' that features early rappin about 'decorating the strassenbahn' and coming with a wildstyleesque beat underneath...i like it...
http://www.gomma.de
Especially this one:
Excellent overview of ZickZack stuff..
Some more german new wave favourites:
Wirtschaftswunder - Salmobray LP (ZickZack)
Die Toedliche Doris - 7 toedliche Unfaelle im Haushalt 12" (ZickZack)
Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle - Stuermer LP (ZickZack)
Liaisons Dangereuses - s/t LP
Xao Seffcheque & der Rest - Ja Nein Vielleicht LP (Schallmauer)
Der Plan - Geri Reig LP (Atatak)
Frieder Butzmann - Vertrauensmann des Volkes LP (Zensor)
S.Y.P.H. - Pst LP (Pure Freude)
Mittagspause - s/t LP (Pure Freude, also as 2x7")
Pyrolator - Ausland LP (Atatak)
Kosmonautentraum - Juri Gagarin LP (Zickzack)
I thought they were from belgium?
great record still....
Maybe the singer, Krishna Goineau(?), is from Belgium? Dunno anything about him...
Chris Haas and Beate Bartel also put out a series of four excellent tapes under the alias CHBB in 1981. They sound rougher and more experimental than the Liaisons album, but still very fascinating dancefloor stuff. Very hard to find, though...
Chris Haas did some gloomy techno in the '90s (released on the Berlin "Tresor" label). Sadly, he died in 2004.