A difficult title for a great pop album: Aus keiner meiner Brücken die in Asche liegen ist je ein Phönix emporgestiegen (No phoenix has ever risen from any of my bridges lying in ashes), the new album by the band Drangsal, led by Rhineland singer and multi-instrumentalist Max Gruber. The album doesn't shy away from sweeping pop anthems, delicate melodies, quiet moments, or echoes of blues and gospel. Broad walls of guitar are heard alongside delicate cellos; technoid synthesizers meet a harpsichord. Drangsal makes use of whatever is available, serving their ideas on 17 new tracks. This musical courage is surpassed only by the exuberant joy of playing that is present in every note of the recording.
Gorden Spangardt, a multi-talented artist from central Germany's Ruhr region, effortlessly created this airy summer album. The Interlaken Tapes' second album, 2, is a short but sprawling psychedelic trip. During this trip, the self-proclaimed bedroom producer squeezes rainbow colors out of the principles of simplicity and monotony. But as quickly as it begins, it's over. Unlike his role models Can and Neu!, Spangardt doesn't take the time to flesh out his ideas for more than four minutes. The album showcases the full range of his abilities, from the playful fiddling with eighth notes and breathy vocals of the opening track, Roter Mond, to the dance-heavy final track, Wake Me Up, leaving his audience wanting more.
Bathing in the fountain
with naked billionaires
With that sweet feeling of
“it doesn't matter anyway”
DOTA, "Im Springbrunnen baden mit nackten Milliardären"
It's simple: Dota Kehr is a singer-songwriter who plays the guitar. She has assembled a small group of musicians to help her record and perform her music. In principle, all appears to be a typical singer-songwriter setup, but the outcome, Dota the band, is extraordinary. Her confident lyrics and self-assured phrasing transform simple song ideas into small masterpieces. The fresh arrangements, interspersed with cheerful keyboard melodies, distinguish her from her competitors, who tend to focus on heavy topics and often appear overly serious. Her compositions are playful and thoughtful, testing the boundaries of genres such as classical, chanson, and jazz with creative curiosity. Dota is a keen observer, and her gaze is always loving. Her delivery is patient and understanding. When it suits her, she adds a touch of biting humor, as in the title track Im Springbrunnen baden mit nackten Milliardären (Bathing in the Fountain with Naked Billionaires). Watch the lead single for the album, Ein Gutes Buch, below.
In the early 1980s, the German music scene experienced a new sense of self-confidence, similar to the global New Wave movement. Scratchy guitar music with German lyrics dealing with the reality of a country still divided by a wall, as well as ironic, cool, and unvarnished stories of everyday life, created something completely new. Due to the German lyrics, however, this music remained largely unnoticed abroad. Bands such as Fehlfarben, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Ideal were the new thing for a while. Their record company is now re-releasing Ideal's self-titled debut album in a new mix, which would not even have been necessary, as even the original album, released in 1980, sounds ultra-modern with its frantic nervousness, direct arrangements seemingly recorded without reverb effects, Annette Humpe's thin, demanding vocals, and FJ Krüger's uncomfortable baritone. This is an album without weaknesses, showcasing a band that is unabashedly and unscrupulously reinventing itself and creating something new for the time.
Dr. Drexler's angry, anti-capitalist punk attitude is easy to understand today. However, the world has changed significantly in recent decades, making the enraged doctor an exception. If the growth credo of the global North's economy had caused the same amount of social, ecological, and moral damage in the 1970s as it does today, the music scene would have reacted very differently. Today, however, capitalist dogma still enjoys unchallenged acceptance in wide circles even outside of the establishment, and few artists take such a clear and uncompromising stance as Devid Jahnke, the mastermind behind Drexler. The drastically titled album Neoliberale Kackscheiße (Neoliberal Bullshit) questions markets, growth, and the activities of large corporations. Excited, bony, and slightly detached, Drexler screeches, rumbles, and shrieks his way through the sixteen sparse and delightfully imperfect songs on one of this summer's most colorful albums.
