The raw energy of the angular and aggressive synthesizer lines, the rathere shouted than sung vocals, the monotonous drum machine - all of this is reminiscent of an echo of the Electroclash movement that was popular in the 00s. This sound is the wind in the musical sails of Güner Künier, who tells the story of her youth on her second album Yaramaz (which means good-for-nothing in Turkish): A soundtrack of growing up for the artist and actress, who was born in Izmir (Turkey) in 1990 and moved to Germany at the age of three, nine short songs in which the protagonist's intercultural, multipolar identity serves as a backdrop, not the main theme.
At first glance, Songbook, Masha Qrella's new album, seems like an almost random, daring mix of cover versions. But the Berlin native succeeds in reviving Whitney Houston's superhit I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the lesser-known but no less beautiful Cool Breeze by the Jeremy Spencer Band and Queen's quirky love song I Want To Break Free as throwback indie guitar pop gems and placing them in a new album context. The common thread of this enchanting album is not only the sparse arrangements, mostly spun around a single guitar, but above all the calm, controlled performance that turns every line, every song into a very personal document. But she doesn't just borrow from others; her own compositions, such as the trippy Wut und Glück, a dreamy homage to her Berlin home, also fit seamlessly into the overall work.
Cologne-based musician and DJ, composer, producer and author Hans Nieswandt is an institution in the German electronic music scene. Firmly rooted in the 80s, in early new wave and hip hop, he was nevertheless drawn to house music at a young age. Acid, deep and garage house, but also disco. He then became a pop star with his Whirlpool Productions project: the disco house stomper From Disco To: Disco (1997) is probably still playing in Italian clubs today. But Hans Nieswandt has also made a name for himself as a recording artist, a part of his career that he is now continuing with the album Floureszent, which was created on forays through his new (since 2020) adopted hometown of Seoul. Recorded, sung and produced by himself, the work spans a stylistic arc from house to kraut and from disco to new wave; it is a journey of discovery through an unknown city, where every street corner holds new sounds, lights and flavors waiting to be discovered
They've cut punk's corners but not pulled its teeth, they're funny but not silly, they rock but don't make a fool of themselves, they're friendly but not harmless: Acht Eimer Hühnerherzen, the semi-acoustic folk-punk trio from Berlin, one of the best-kept secrets of the German music scene, perfect their “nylon-string punk” on their fourth album Lieder. The 14 straightforward and entertaining ear candies are about big city psychoses, small and big everyday disasters, but also about disappointed vacation love, consumerism, feminism and crazy stuff. As with the previous publications, they have a lot to say and important things to share - let's listen to what they have to say !
Manchmal merkt man erst, dass man einsam war, wenn man es nicht mehr ist.
[Sometimes you only realize that you were lonely when you're not anymore] Die Heiterkeit, "Teufelsberg"
As the one-woman band Die Heiterkeit, singer and composer Stella Sommer blends her trademark relentless tenderness with gestural mysticism on her new album. She stylishly embeds spun lyricism in melancholic chamber pop and folk from bygone times, a handful of ghostly masterpieces populate this collection of songs full of soothing warmth and floating energy. Even more than on her first three albums, the compositions on Schwarze Magie are based on classical folk song, Stella Sommer's baritone enthroned even more hauntingly over the sparse acoustic arrangements. The five-year wait has certainly been worth it.
