Stage 19, Denmark not to be..

Danmark is an extremely flat country, the highest point just 170m (570ft) above sealevel, Danmark belongs to the family of Scandinavian countries although not located on the Scandinavian Peninsula, its capital is Copenhagen. Denmark became a constitutional monarchy in 1849 after having been an absolutist state since 1660, Having existed for more than 1000 years, the Danish Monarchy is one of the oldest in the world. The Kingdom of Denmark also encompasses two off-shore territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which enjoy wideranging home rule.

From the 8th to the 10th century, the Danes were known as Vikings. Together with Norwegians and Swedes, they colonised, raided and traded in all parts of Europe. Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the 9th century, on the way towards the Faroe Islands and eventually came across "Vinland" (Land of wine) also known today as Newfoundland, in Canada. The Danish Vikings were most active in England and France where they temporarily conquered parts of England, known as the Danelaw, Ireland and France, giving name to the French region of Normandy. More Anglo-Saxon coins from the Viking age have been found in Denmark than in England !

Famous Danes, well if Neils Bohr rings a bell than you probably have heard of quarks aswell, it is however more likely that you know H. C. Andersen's fairy tales. Or Karen "out of africa" Blixen or maybe babe Briggitte Nielsen xStallone is more your line of interest. Whatever, by far the most famous Dane is actually a fictional character, Hamlet, the title character of William Shakespeare's famous play, which was set in the real castle of Kronborg in Helsingør. The play was inspired by an old Danish myth of the Viking Prince Amled of Jutland, and his quest for vengeance against his father's killer. But Shakespeare' wouldnt be Shakespeare' if he hadn't added something more, the line, the curse of Hamlet, the curse of the Danes " TO BE or NOT TO BE " that's the question, or is it ? Well something is rotten in the state of Denmark, Murder most foul, ...There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't....The cat will mew and dog will have his day....an old man is twice a child, Purpose is but the slave to memory,... The rest is silence.

Musically Danmark reflects this opposition TO BE a thoughtful introverted and generally unassuming attitude Not to BE, extraverted, simplistic if not banal, it stands to reason that the latter have commercially been more succesful, home but certainly abroad. There's the Roskilde Festival that these days attracts not only scandinavians, but from all over Europe, its one of the biggest in its sort but nevertheless manages, thanks to thousands of local voluteers, to maintain an open and communal atmosphere .

In this post 2 oldies, vinyl rips Kliche and Sort Sol, latter proves to be an interesting band right from the start, excellent cover art aswell...must consider the time here 1980, and Danmark was a bit of a backwater, these guys would have done very well in the UK in those days. I found a clip at YouTube from 94 , i searched out more clips of the bands i present here, so you can

get an idea as most groups aren't that well known globally. Efterklang and Kashmir are likely the best known and have several vids available aswell. Diefenbach, named after a character from the movie Fargo, has a hard to define instant appeal. My favourite here are Under Byen, a collective of men and women that create soundscapes dominated by piano, cello, violin, electrically distorted saw, organ, drums and percussion and voice. Make sure you check the awesome live vid of legesag.

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To Bleed Or Not To Bleed

Kliche - Supertanker ( ' 80)
Diefenbach - Set & drift ( ' 05)
Efterklang - Tripper ( ' 04)
Sort Sol (Black Sun) - Under en Sort Sol ( ' 80)
Under Byen - Det er mig der holder træerne sammen ( ' 02)
Kashmir - No Balance Palace ( ' 05)


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Kliche - Supertanker ( ' 80 * 54mb)

Kliché was a Danish new wave band found in 1977 by Lars Hug (Lars Haagensen), Jens Valo (Jens Danielsen) og Johnny Voss (Johannes E. Møller), short after the drummer Anders Brill (Anders Gilberg) joined the band. Kliché's first concert was the 5. May 1978 at Vestergade 58 in Aarhus. Kliché had, a distinct sound mainly due to lead singer Lars Hug's original voice. They would semi-ironically quote Mao and Buddha and perform in uniforms - often coloured overalls. In 1980 they released their fist album "Supertanker", known for the number "Militskvinder" that quotes Mao. The opening track igen og igen aswell as the last track the 10 min "Masselinjen" epos are mainly instrumental and i'm pretty convinced they reached Kiel and little Ullli Schnauss. In October 1982 they released the album "Okay Okay Boys".

Lead singer, Lars Hug (later Lars H.U.G.), began his solo career in 1984 and has released several albums. After Hug left the band, the band was officially dissolved in april 1985. The remaining members released a single album titled Dobbelt Plus under the name Voss Torp Brill.



1 - Igen Og Igen (3:33)
2 - Havets Blå (3:14)
3 - Hetz (2:15)
4 - Militskvinder (2:50)
5 - Panorama (4:10)
6 - Aldrig Mere (3:57)
7 - Stjernerne I Deres Øjne (3:10)
8 - Bodyguards (2:31)
9 - Masselinjen (10:00)

Lars Hug @ Base

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Diefenbach - Set & drift (05 ^=upgr 99mb)

Diefenbach first official album, Run Trip Fall, which according to NME took in “everything good from the last 40 years of pop music”. With its undeniable charm, Diefenbach managed to win over the likes of The Guardian, Radio 1, XFM and even found praise in The Sun , Remarkable, considering their first record was purely instrumental and they clearly didn't not let their skills go to waste. "Set and Drift" is a hugely polished lesson in professional song writing that covers many styles and moods, as any good pop record should their sound partakes in everything from shoegaze to techno-pop to folk without ever sounding like anything but their own wholly natural style, and they write great songs.

It's pretty easy to try to be some tortured artiste in a rock and roll band, but it's much harder to just come across as nice—or even worse, comforting, which Diefenbach kind of is. And yet they avoid the plague of wussiness which has been sweeping rock .There’s a real Manchester influence echoing all the way through this album with its sublime guitars and lush melodies. The Stone Roses resonate through every track, there are beautiful Beach Boy harmonies and there’s also a psychedelic, trippy 60s thing going on.



01 - Mechanical (4:20)
02 - Glorious (3:41)
03 - The Police (2:35)
04 - Streetlights (3:53)
05 - Favourite Friend (3:47)
06 - It's Only Love (3:35)
07 - Bruising My Eyes (3:23)
08 - The Rocket (4:08)
09 - The Right One (4:24)
10 - On The Move (3:32)
11 - Skyline (2:37)
12 - Circular Motions (3:37)

Diefenbach @ Base
Diefenbach @ Amazon


Diefenbach-Glorious Vid @ YouTube

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Efterklang - Tripper ( ' 04 * 87mb)

Efterklang (the Danish word for reverberation) is a post-rock group formed on January 2001 in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The group consists of five core members and a sixth member who makes films for their songs. When performing live, these six members are also joined by violinist Helianne Blais and trombonist Niklas Antonson. They have released albums on the British/American record label The Leaf Label, but also have their own record label called Rumraket (the Danish word for space rocket). Efterklang, an extended ensemble from Copenhagen, who have produced some of the most lush and exquisite music in recent years. Uniting electronics with acoustic instrumentation, anchoring them to a central pulse and weaving a delicately incomprehensible voice across the landscape, as a mournful choir and sympathetic strings illustrates and colours in a textual manner, is the principal shape to their sound.

Released in 2003 the Springer EP is a striking introduction, with patiently balanced male/female vocals against contemplative displays of tension and surface. Tripper, originally released in 2004, continues this symphonic approach with an intelligent and effective use of drama and silence, bridging the vast spaces with whispered voices and intricate flittering electronic glitches. There's nothing erroneous about creating such beautifully sensual work and Efterklang are unafraid to offer us moments of absolute bliss in a time of unrest. On record and live, they are a seductive and essential force. Close your eyes for an instant and breathe, and relish that moment.

A new 5-track mini-album, entitled 'Under Giant Trees', which will be released in spring 2007 in strictly limited quantities and in deluxe packaging. Efterklang's second full album is currently scheduled for autumn 2007.



01 - Foetus (3:10)
02 - Swarming (6:32)
03 - Step Aside (4:38)
04 - Prey And Predator (6:26)
05 - Collecting Shields (5:57)
06 - Doppelgänger (6:40)
07 - Tortuous Tracks (3:39)
08 - Monopolist (6:57)
09 - Chapter 6 (6:37)
Xs
10 - Step Aside (Tobias Hellkvist-Efterklanglabel)

Efterklang @ Base
Efterklang @ MySpace
Efterklang Mailorder
Efterklang's label

Efterklang Vids Page @ You Tube

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Sort Sol - Under en Sort Sol (Black Sun) ( ' 80 - 60mb)

Sort Sol was formed in Copenhagen, 1977. The original lineup consisted of: Steen Jørgensen (vocal), Peter Peter Schneidermann (guitar), Knud Odde (bass guitar), Thomas Ortved (drums). They released their first record Minutes to go February 1979 and it is considered the first Danish punk album. They went on to release Under En Sort Sol in 1980, a more experimental album, influenced in part by Joy Division, Wire, Pere Ubu and Television.

In 1981 the group released their first single under the name Sort Sol, "Marble Station" (b/w Misguided) was only released in England on the record label 4AD. In March. 1983 saw the release of the album Dagger & Guitar, featuring punk idol Lydia Lunch. In 1985 Lars Top-Galia(guitar) joined the group, and the line-up was not to change again until 1996, when Peter Peter left due to arguments within the band, partly owing to artistic differences. In 1988 they made the album "Everything that rises must converge" which has been described as the their artistic breakthrough. The album consists of 10 slowpaced tracks that rely heavily on the talented deep voice of Steen Jørgensen. In 1991 " Flow my Firetear" , was the first of their records reaching a broad audience. Sort Sol reached their peak popularity three years later with Glamourpuss which sold 100.000 records in Denmark. Internationally famous artists who have performed and/or recorded with the group include William S. Burroughs, Lydia Lunch, Link Wray and The Jordanaires.



01 - Repeature (3.10)
02 - Ice-Age For A While (3.25)
03 - Walking On Red (4.25)
04 - Conflict (2.15)
05 - Roller Ball (4.30)
06 - Marble Station (4.40)
07 - Misguided (4.15)
08 - Eveningsong (9.10)

Sort Sol @ Base
Sort Sol - Let your fingers do the walking Hultsfred @ YouTube 1994

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Under Byen - Det er mig der holder træerne sammen (02 ^ 92 mb)
Under Byen is an eight piece band that mix the gentle with the raw. Reigning from Denmark's second-largest city, Århus, they produce their own unorthodox interpretation of rock music.Their qualities especially become evident at their spellbinding live shows where they create a symbiosis between elven fairytale fragility and massive rock energy. Sometimes soft as the wind, other times sharp as a rock. The intimate versus the extrovert. It is in this space that their musical magic emerges. Under Byen seem most at ease walking on thin ice - believing that their talent will keep them above water. And it does.

Under Byen (which is Danish for "Below The City") don't use guitars. Instead their soundscape is dominated by piano, cello, violin, electrically distorted saw, organ, drums and percussion - to great effect. A somewhat different vein of rock (or pop) spiced up with jazzy, folky and classical elements. This is a band to be heard, simply because they defy satisfactory explanation. Music speaks , awesome performance Under Byen- Legesag, live if that doesn't convince than no words of mine will.

The Danish lyrics are an important part of Under Byen, but the sound of the vocals alone will give the listener at hint of their poetic universe. When senior editor at Rolling Stone, David Fricke, experienced the band live in Denmark in 2002 he said: "Under Byen were fantastic. Of course I didn't understand a word of the lyrics - but that didn't matter at all. Luckily there's this page that offers Under Byen lyrics in english .

The 1999 debut album "Kyst" immediately impressed the music critics, who applauded the band for creating their own style and tone. The second album "Det er mig der holder træerne sammen" (2002) was equally praised and has grown to become a hallmark for the band and helped reach a wider audience in Denmark and elsewhere. In 2004 it was re-released outside Denmark. In 2006 Under Byen released their third album "Samme Stof Som Stof " ( Same Fabric As Fabric)

Far from being a mainstream act Under Byen has nevertheless attracted a growing devoted fanbase following the release of their albums extensive touring and intense live shows. The first 3 weeks of march they will tour US and Canada, check for dates and places at their website.



1 - Det Er Mig Der Holder Træerne Sammen (3:33)
     (It is me who keeps the trees together)
2 - Plantage (4:14)
3 - Mission (5:07)
4 - Ride (2:46)
5 - Byen Driver (The City Is Floating)(4:11)
6 - Batteri Generator (4:31)
7 - Legesag (Plaything / Toy) (6:13)
8 - Lenin (2:29)
9 - Om Vinteren ( In the winter) (12:08)

Under Byen @ Base
Under Byen @ Amazon.de

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Kashmir - No Balance Palace ( ' 05 * 71mb)

In 1991 Kasper, Mads & Asger met each other on Kastanievejens Efterskole. Here they founded the band Nirvana, where they played heavy blues. As the other Nirvana grew in popularity, the band was aware that they had to change name - they changed it to Kashmir, named after a song by one of their favourite bands, Led Zeppelin. In 1994 Kashmir got their first record deal, on the new-formed record label Start, where their first album, Travelogue, was released. Later on, Kashmir signed a contract with Sony Denmark. Cruzential, album -- 1996, The Good Life, (1999) Zitilites (2003 ), Rocket Brothers, a doc. DVD (2004), The Aftermath a live concert DVD/CD ( 2005) fall 2005 saw the release of No Balance Palace.

Upon the release of Zitilites (city lights) the band was lauded with Danish Grammies. The rest of Europe, Australia, Japan and other territories embraced Kashmir as a band who could play an uncompromising form of cerebral rock music: The Music is nothing short of brilliant ... (Sunday Herald Sun, Melbourne) . Kasmir – Mads Tunebjerg (bass), Asger Techau (drums), Henrik Lindstrand (keyboards, guitar) and Kasper Eistrup (vocals, guitar) – have always sought a sound that didn’t match the material they’d recorded previously; the result has been five very different albums. As for No Balance Palace "We wanted to get the wild energy out of our systems. We became inspired after observing how 20- and 30-somethings pull out all the stops when they’re out at night. The hedonistic night life is a kind of No Balance Palace. So, the album was made with very aggressive energy, on a kind of self-destructive note,” Kasper says, and concludes: “It’s all about debauchery, turpitude, depravity, hedonism.”



01 - Kalifornia (5:26)
02 - Jewel Drop (4:20)
03 - The Cynic Voc.David Bowie (4:23)
04 - Ophelia (3:56)
05 - Diana Ross (0:31)
06 - The Curse Of Being A Girl (3:39)
07 - She's Made Of Chalk (5:06)
08 - Ether (5:21)
09 - Snowman (3:14)
10 - Black Building (Voice Lou Reed (1:58)
11 - No Balance Palace (8:03)

Kashmir @ Base
Kasmir @ Amazon

The Cynic vid @ YouTube
She's Made of Chalk @ YouTube

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* All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !
 

Stage 17, Germany - Berlin

Stage 17, Berlin, "We can be heroes just for one day", well there's not much left of that wall except as a tourist attraction, the city which inspired thru the tension caused by the head to head of west and east, has deflated. People could breath freely again, after the exubarance of the falling of the wall , the task of rejoining two very different systems proved harder than previously thought. Berlin needed to redefine itself again. Artists may have lost that inspiring tension but they gained cheap housing, and as most artists spend the little money they have on the means to express themselves with, this attracted many artists from all over the world.A rich crossfertilsation surroundings, not in the least part for the music scene,, as at the same time techno dawned, communism may have lost but collectivism blossemed, and god turned out to be a dj after all.

Berlin has one of the most diverse and vibrant nightlife scenes in Europe, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 many buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin were renovated. Many had not been rebuilt since World War II. Illegally occupied by young people, they became a fertile ground for all sorts of underground and counter-culture gatherings. It is also home to many nightclubs, including Kunst Haus Tacheles, techno clubs Tresor, WMF, Ufo, E-Werk, the infamous Kitkatclub and Berghain.Plenty of space to grow..and here are some of it's fruits

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"Ich bin ein Berliner"

To Rococo Rot - Hotel morgen ( ' 04)
Allien, Ellen - Stadtkind ( ' 01)
Tanzwut - Labyrinth der Sinne ( ' 00)
T.Raumschmiere - Radio blackout ( ' 03)
Malaria ! - Delirium (Remixed*Remade*Remodelled) ( ' 95 )
Thomas Fehlmann - Good Fridge 90-98 (' 98)
Rammstein - Live aus Berlin (' 99)

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To Rococo Rot - Hotel Morgen (2004 * 219mb)

To Rococo Rot formed in 1995, when the Lippok brothers (Ronald & Robert) were invited by the owner of a gallery in which they were exhibiting their art to record some music instead of providing a catalogue. Rising to the challenge, they invited bassist Stefan Schneider from up and coming Düsseldorf based Kreidler to join them, and the result was their debut album, released by Kitty-Yo in late 1995. In the years since, they have released two more albums for City Slang (Veiculo and The Amateur View), EPs for City Slang, Sub Pop, Fat Cat and Soul Static Sound, and toured Europe and the US.

They have remixed artists as diverse as Leftfield, Appliance and Mira Calix, found time to produce two radio plays and even a soundtrack to a documentary entitled No Ordinary Cowboy. Stefan Schneider has also released two mini albums under the name Mapstation, while Ronald Lippok continues to work on his acclaimed Tarwater project. Robert Lippok has also just released his debut solo material on Raster Noton Records.

The To Rococo Rot sound is quite unlike any other. Those familiar with their previous work will find that MUSIC IS A HUNGRY GHOST sees the band refine their talent for sumptuous and restrained instrumental soundscapes, underpinned by Stefan Schneider's lugubrious basslines. But it also exhibits even greater skill at resolving the conflict between abstract electronica and contemporary dance music. To Rococo Rot are weaving intricate melodies amongst intimate sounds, whilst maintaining the trademark warmth and elegance that has always lain deep at the heart of their sound.

Taken From Vinyl, their latest release, is a compilation of vinyl-only rarities released over the past ten years. Not only is it their most listenable full-length album, it establishes them as a more successful singles-oriented group. The alternate take on the legendary “Mit Dir in Der Gegend” is a new approach to a classic piece of instrumental post-rock. And “Schon Sehr Viel Telefoniert” provides a new appreciation for the band’s subtle, studied electronic dub sound.



01 - Dahlem (4:14)
02 - Cosimo (3:19)
03 - Tal (2:52)
04 - Feld (3:31)
05 - Portrait Song (2:17)
06 - Sol (3:57)
07 - Plong (0:18)
08 - Miss You (4:25)
09 - Basic (3:54)
10 - Venus (1:56)
11 - Non Song (4:28)
12 - Ovo (2:35)
13 - Bologna (2:58)
14 - Opak (1:36)

To Rococo Rot @ Base
To Rococo Rot @ MySpace
To Rococo Rot @ Amazon

To Rococo Rot @ YouTube

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Ellen Allien - Stadtkind ( ' 01 now in Flac 314mb)

Ellen Allien, born Ellen Fraatz, is a successful electronic musician, music producer and music label owner. She lives in Berlin, that is between globetrotting. When she returned from a year (89) London, her Berlin was no more, it was no longer an island, surrounded by intimidating Vopo's .The fall of the wall, the unification and liberation of Berlin inspired her to build on her London experiences, the time of techno was dawning ...

Ellen has said that one of the main inspirations for her music is the culture of reunified Berlin; the album "Stadtkind" was dedicated to the city. Her music tends to be difficult to classify stylistically and is best described as a distinctive blend of techno and electro music, which is dance-floor oriented, yet at the same time has noticeable experimental elements.Allien’s romantic views and undiluted enthusiasm about techno and electro are major reasons why she is such a captivating and popular figure inside and outside her Bpitch Control community.

Ellen spends most of her time knee-deep in DJ culture, while also finding time to run her label Bpitch Control and her own fashion line. It’s only when she decides to make another album that she takes a step back from her relentless touring and administrative duties, and is able to reflect on her own journeys, exploring the whole globe, street life, feeling the world on the skin, as well as the community around her. From there Ellen Allien develops her own intuition for material, forms and fashion. She followed Stadtkind (2001) with more great albums, Berlinette (2003) and Thrills (2005) to name just her solo work, add to that numerous remixes , compilation albums ( Ellen Allien Remix Collection 2004) and what do you see an extraordinairly driven, captivating and creative young woman. In 2006 together with Apparat she released the higly acclaimed Orchestra Of Bubbles album , she sure doesnt show any sign of letting up...



Ellen Allien - Stadtkind (flac  310mb)

01 - Send (6:25)
02 - Fensterbrettmusik (5:17)
03 - Tief In Mir (5:03)
04 - Stadtkind (5:12)
05 - Shorty (3:38)
06 - Funkenflug der Träume (4:19)
07 - Salzsee (4:28)
08 - Licht (5:01)
09 - Wolken Ziehen (5:28)
10 - Trust And ... (3:18)
11 - Data Romance (4:02)

Ellen Allien @ Base
Ellen Allien @ MySpace
Bpitchcontrol @ BAse
Orchestra of Bubbles @ Base
Ellen Allien @ Amazon

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Tanzwut - Labyrinth der Sinne ( ' 00 * 434mb)

To understand what Tanzwut (dance-rage) is all about you have to go back to the darkest period of the Medieval Ages. One of the blackest most terrifying moments was between 1348 and 1351 when the Plague raged through Europe. The bringers of the bad news, the touring minstrels, could only give one advice to the people who scared themselves to death. Sell everything you own, leave everything behind, and just plunge yourself into the intoxication of dancing, known as "Tanzwut". The cure to forget death and destruction? Well it might be the only way to feel truly alive, or at least for a moment.

The name 'Tanzwut' first appeared on a Corvus Corax single released in 1996. It was the beginning of a project which saw members of the band add guitars, programmed loops and keyboards to their formerly authentic medieval sound. They also switched from re-creating traditional pieces to writing most of their words and music themselves. Tanzwut consists of the same members as CORVUS CORAX , this alter-ego band, started 96, released the first album in 1999. Followed by this "labyrinth der sinne" (labyrinth of the senses) in 2000, "ihr woltest spass"( you wanted fun) in 2003 , a live dvd/cd double album released in 2004. Tanzwut's latest is a double album "Schattenreiter"(shadowrider) released in 2006. So assuming you never heard of them , who should give this a try, everyone naturally ! Medieval -firestarter-punks for sure ! Well Rammstein fans will get plenty to associate with, seen in that light its not surprising they have a following in Mexico and Russia. Götterfunken to you all !



01 - Tanzwut (3:52)
02 - Exlase (3:39)
03 - Lügner (4:37)
04 - Bitte, Bitte (3:13)
05 - Labyrinth (3:07)
06 - Niemals Ohne Dich (4:10)
07 - Die Drohne (3:36)
08 - Der Wächer (3:19)
09 - Dämmerung (3:32)
10 - Was Soll Der Teufel Im Paradies (4:10)
11 - Gigolo (3:10)
12 - Ikarus (3:59)
13 - Götterfunken (5:50)

Tanzwut @ Base
Corvus Corax @ Nest
Tanzwut @ Amazon.de

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T.Raumschmiere - Radio Blackout ( ' 03 * 249mb)

Since 1997 Marco Haas alias T. Raumschmiere (the moniker is lifted from the William S. Burroughs short story, 'The Dreamcops', 'Die Traumschmiere' in his native German) has released music on a variety of labels, though predominantly on his own - the wonderfully named Shitkatapult, based in Berlin, but also for Cologne's Kompakt, and Hefty Records (Chicago).
Without doubt, the T.Raumschmiere experience is best sampled live: for him the live arena is as crucial as the studio, his full- on 'stay-anti' motto confirming his punk based refusenik stance. T.Raumschmiere is a one man 'electro-punk' movement, a punk drummer, who currently also plays in a band that goes by the handle Crack Whore Society .

The move to Berlin brings him into contact with the electronic music scene and because all those efforts need to get to the people so in 1998 he starts up a label "Shitcatapult" anti - pretence.... Anyway he releases some worrk at Kompakt aswell and in 2002 he releases Anti, a minimal-techno album, later that year the great R&R swindle sees the light of day, its a compilation of his previous 12". Meanwhile his live /dj performances are causing something of a stir, they certainly get him noticed.
Radio blackout is released in 2003 and gets widely reviewed, testament to his higher profile, anyway as his work is very varied it's rather difficult to judge where T.Raumschmiere is going and so most reviewers certainly give him clearly the benefit of doubt for this album and the single "Monsterdruck Driver" gets plenty of air-time. In 2005 he releases Blitzkrieg Pop, the loudest poprecord in the world, well the album reveals the two sides of T.Raumschmiere. High octane rock and roll energy tracks for the live show and more ambient sounds for the ear and heart. Whilst recording the album T.Raumschmiere hid himself in his studio for a year to relentlessly study ’sounds with no beat’ it almost follows that his latest "Random Noize Sessions Vol. 1" (2006) a compilation from tracks, created 1999 - 2005 show T.Raumschmiere from his ambient side.



01 - I'm Not Deaf, I'm Ignoring You (1:56)
02 - Monstertruckdriver (3:31)
03 - Someday (4:30)
04 - The Game Is Not Over ft. Miss Kittin (3:43)
05 - Drown In The Sea While Watching The Stars (4:05)
06 - Rabaukendisko (3:31)
07 - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Strom (4:50)
08 - A Million Brothers ft. MC Soom-T (3:50)
09 - Querstromzerspaner (5:43)
10 - Radio Blackout (4:13)
11 - Musick Boy (3:10)

T.Rraumschmiere @ Base
T.Rraumschmiere @ MySpace
T.Rraumschmiere @ Amazon

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Malaria ! - Delirium (Remixed*Remade*Remodelled)  ( ' 95 * 358mb)

Almost left this one lying, "Kaltes, klares Wasser"( cold, clear water), amazing what you can do with that– Malaria! were founded 1981 in Berlin during the Neue deutsche welle days by Bettina Köster and Gudrun Gut. After folding Mania D Gudrun and Bettina took on board Manon P. Duursma, Christine Hahn and Susanne Kuhnke and named themselves Malaria !.
They immediately made an impact as the press mosquito's did their work, and so that same year John Peel had them do a session. A US tour followed with gigs supporting Cave & the Bad Seeds and Nina Hagen. In 1982 Malaria! released their first album "Emotion", it got a worldwide welcome release, You You was chosen as single. In 1983 Malaria! managed a 7 track EP "Beat The Distance", but then the girls split .

In the late eighties Gudrun Gut was part of three women band MATADOR and started to use a computer for her compositions - since the early nineties Gut has been responsible for numerous scores for film, video and radio plays.

Two years later she founded the OceanClub, a loose collective of likeminded souls with a unique approach for tacking music from a variety of angles. The CD "G.Gut: Members of the Oceanclub" is is launched (rereleased on Moabit Musik). Together with Thomas Fehlmann Gut now hosts and co-produces oceanclub radio, a weekly 2 hour show of eclectic sounds on Radio Eins, Berlin - for real audio streams check out: OceanClub Radio at Radio One. This album, "Remixed* Remade* Remodelled", undoubtedly inspired by Gudrun Guts status, was produced/remixed in 1995

Introduced to internet broadcasting and new media communications Gudrun ( mostly with the oceanclub)  regularly produces live electronic media events all over Europe, featuring both her own work (as a DJ / Musicselector) and that of other artists. One recent regulary event is markeB - a big annual Berlin Label gathering, curated by oceanclub- Gudrun Gut, Thomas Fehlmann and Daniel Meteo. Apart from her eclectic DJ appearances in clubs and at festivals Gut is now working on her solo album .



1 - Kaltes Klares Wasser (Dr. Motte - Crystalmix) (6:33)
2 - Cheerio (Microglobe - Milchbadmix) (6:10)
3 - Your Turn To Run (WestBam - Außer-Atemix ) (5:28)
4 - You You (Sun Electric - JuJu Remix) (8:05)
5 - Elation (Dolfin' - Abstractmix) (5:33)
6 - Prophet (3 Phase - Will Keine Propheten Falschen Brauchen) (6:49)
7 - Keep Me In Love (Moritz von Oswald - Reshaped) (9:37)
8 - Warmes Wasser (Johnny Klimek & Dr. Motte Remix) (6:49)
9 - Von Hinten (Voov - Backdoor Remix ) (4:47)

Malaria @ Base
Malaria @ MySpacez
Gudrun Gut @ MySpace

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Thomas Fehlmann - Good Fridge 90-98 (' 98  Now in Flac  431mb)

Thomas Fehlmann left switzerland for hamburg in 76 to study at the art academy, in 79 he met robert fripp and decided to start making music-bought first synth (korg MS20). Together with Holger Hiller he founded Palais Schaumburg in 1980, after 3 albums they disband in ' 84 and Fehlmann moves to Berlin.
After some solo projects and 12 "'s he founds the label Teutonic Beats in 1988, the following year he meets Alex Paterson (the Orb) and in 1990 the first dj gigs, the next years touring as dj with sun electric and the orb. In 1994 he comes around when together with Fripp and the Orb he releases the 'FFWD' album. The following year he joins gudrun gut's oceanclub, and takes up residency at the tresorclub . Fehlmann remixes. juan atkins, erasure, klaus schulze etc . In 96 he goes on air (oceanclubradio) with a weekly 2hour show, Thomas takes to the air aswell as he starts to travel in neighbouring countrys as dj. In 98 this album good fridge is released, a compilation of his work the previous 5 years.
1999 is a busy year with the release of 'overflow 99' , the first connection with kompakt and a japan tour with alex paterson and the residency of the oceanclub at WMF , the following year a china tour. In 2002 Visions of Blah is released on the Kompakt label, the tour of blah: china, japan, usa, europa follows in 2003. 'little big horn' 12“ on kompakt , loads of gigs, first concert with the orb at kompakt 100 show in Cologne and he releases 'lowflow' on plug research, Fehlmans latest release a 12" Emo Pack 92006) -on Kompakt .

Thomas Fehlmann, presents us a nice release here drifting through techno, minimal,dub and ambient sounds, pumpy yet calm, quiet but disturbed, always with constructive fases, making the music fullfill emotions and thoughts.



Thomas Fehlmann - Good Fridge 90-98 (flac 431mb)

01 - Superfrühstück (4:26)
02 - Hermosa (5:34)
03 - Zauberwort (3:37)
04 - Banda (i.a.o.o.l) (1:46)
05 - Barati (3:27)
06 - Unisize (0:49)
07 - 6ix Days Ft . Alex Paterson (3:07)
08 - Kirsche (1:04)
09 - Wee Wee Madmoiselle (3:12)
10 - Globus (2:48)
11 - Sangita Rana (4:44)
12 - Cuddle (3:51)
13 - Teufel Ft . Alex Paterson (3:16)
14 - Face The Day (4:09)
15 - Kufi & Nashi (1:23)
16 - Speedo (2:22)
17 - Lüster (4:05)
18 - Snake Salvador Ft.  Sun Electric (3:10)
19 - Dingo (4:21)
20 - Schizophrenia (4:33)

Thomas Fehlmann @ Base
Thomas Fehlmann @ Amazon

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Rammstein - Live in Berlin (1999 *700mb)

At Rho-Xs i try to pass on big names, they get plenty of attention elsewhere, however not only am i a fan of Rammstein, their story is special, in 1988 none of these DDR citizens could have foreseen that 15 years later they would be global rockstars, and yet...
In 1993 by six East German ex-factory workers, Christoph "Doom" Schneider, "Doktor" Christian "Flake" Lorenz, Till Lindemann, Oliver Riedel, Richard Kruspe Bernstein and Paul Landers formed Rammstein. They took their name from the site of a US airbase where tragedy struck when three planes crashed during an aerial display, resulting in 70 fatalities and 350 seriously injured.. Four albums on, by 2005 they are the most successful German-language band (albeit their lyrics are not exclusively in German), famed for their theatrical /pyrotechnics stage shows.

Rammstein's fan base extends way beyond any industrial metal hardcore. Wordplay is a fundamental component of their lyrics, in many instances, the lyrics are phrased such that they can be interpreted in several ways, add to that the poetic qualities of singer /lyricist Till Lindemann who in November 2002 published the "Messer (knife)" a 54 poems book. All those female fans sure picked up on that part of Rammsteins dance - metal as they like to describe themselves.

Rammstein could well be seen as the greatest rock act on the planet, considering the way they manage to go cross cultures from latin -america to asia, from USA to Russia and the palet of Europe, they cross gender and generations, almost unbelievable for a band that released their first album a decade ago.. and singing in german. There's plenty more to say, Wiki has several pages on Rammstein and likely in many languages aswell, for the english version start here !



Rammstein 22, 23 August 1998 Wuhlheide, Berlin

Rammstein - Live in Berlin (Ltd Ed) (flac  700mb)

01 Spiel Mit Mir 6:09
02 Herzeleid 3:57
03 Bestrafe Mich 3:48
04 Weisses Fleisch 4:36
05 Sehnsucht 4:25
06 Asche Zu Asche 3:24
07 Wilder Wein 5:57
08 Klavier 4:50
09 Heirate Mich 7:47
10 Du Riechst So Gut 5:25
11 Du Hast 4:36
12 Bück Dich 6:03
13 Engel 6:31
14 Rammstein 5:42
15 Tier 3:42
16 Laichzeit 5:13
17 Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen? 6:15
18 Seemann 9:56

Rammstein @ Base

Rammstein @ Amazon

i came across this nice one
Mein Hertz Benz...commercial

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* All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Stage 16, Germany - West

Welcome to stage 16, Germany-West. A day later as planned, partly because Mediafire experienced some major troubles these last days, so a bit of wait and see from my part, luckily things seem to have settled now.
B.T.W.  for those who like to have a closer look at the covers, over at Rho-Xsss  these are displayed fullsize.

When i started this trip i intended 4/5 albums per post, last week it was double that, a bit too time consuming, so today i'll keep it down to six, two each from the Cologne, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt scene/area.

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West's Techies Bubbles

Thomas Brinkmann - Row ( ' 02 )
Mouse On Mars - Niun niggung ( ' 99 )
DaDamnPhreakNoizPhunk - Take off da hot sweater ( ' 02 )
Anthony Rother - Life is Life is Love ( ' 03)
The Modernist - Explosion ( ' 99 )
Isolee - We are monster ( ' 05 )

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Thomas Brinkman - Row ( ' 02 *325mb)

Thomas Brinkmann (born 1959) is a highly regarded producer of experimental minimal techno music, experimenting with records since the early eighties, he gained wide reputation with his re-workings of material by fellow artists Mike Ink and Richie Hawtin released in the second half of the 90s. These productions were made by playing physically modified vinyl records on highly customized turntables with an additional tone arm (Klick).

Brinkmann's music is deceptively simple, but stunningly innovative. He takes a basic foundation of minimal techno and raw, vintage track house, and adds elements of his elemental razor-scratched vinyl loops. These provide a subtly irregular element that can seem to drift from the beat, but don't-it's hard to explain....

Brinkmann later founded the Ernst record label and introduced his own productions on a series of 12" records taking their titles from female names. He has since expanded his extensive production catalog on his own Max Ernst label, as well as other highly respected outfits such as Traum Schallplatten, Raster-Noton and Mute Records (under the Soul Center alias).

"Row" is a compilation of rare, unreleased, and reworked material from his MaxErnst catalog, many which were previously only available on vinyl., an excellent sampling. Brinkmann always keeps things moving along with a great beat - never falling flat with something that is too cerebral, he is definitely from the less-is-more school.



01 - Corvette (2:09)
02 - N.M.Q.P. (7:07)
03 - Max.E.3 (New Version) (6:57)
04 - Max.E.3 (Another New Version) (6:35)
05 - Max.E.4 (New Version) (4:28)
06 - Isch (4:16)
07 - Loplop (9:06)
08 - Mexico (7:09)
09 - Ribosom (8:06)
10 - Toothpaste (Unreleased) (3:52)

Thomas Brinkmann @ Base
Thomas Brinkmann @ Amazon.de
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DaDamnPhreakNoizPhunk - Take off da hot sweater ( 02 * 356mb )

Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker aka Hardfloor dedicate themselves under their alias Dadamnphreaknoizphunk to the more relaxed sides of our existence. They rock your soul with their smart and unique mix of hiphop beats and electroid sounds: deep`n`dope stuff with a befitting portion of 303.

As Hardfloor, Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker are firmly cemented in the history of music. They are the longest-serving, most famous and renowned German techno act with a legendary reputation as deadly kicking live players. Mid nineties the world became too small for Hardfloor. Not a bad time to create a new world. Ladies and Gentlemen, Hardfloor presents Dadamnphreaknoizphunk! The first EP in 1995 was titled Harthouse, after which in 1997 a second EP appeared. In 1999 the first album followed on !K7. DJ Oliver Bondzio, who socialized with hiphop and electro, had milked a collection and roasted all samples that burned on his tables.

The story continues with Combination Records. Higher, faster, further according to Dadamnphreaknoizphunk: deeper, phatter, well-hung. Heavy, deep hiphop riddims meet electroid sounds. Dubby dope beats are given a partly technoid arrangement. A whole club night with nothing but highlights on one single sofa evening. Dadamnphreaknoizphunk rock your couch muscles, train your head bobbing..



01 - Intro (0:58)
02 - One Size Fits All (5:19)
03 - Fireresistant Swimmingtrunks (5:13)
04 - Reconstructed Poloshirt (5:29)
05 - Socks And Strings And Sp12 (5:07)
06 - Complex Dinner Wardrobe (5:09)
07 - Another Trenchcoat (5:32)
08 - I Lost My Suitcase In San Marino (4:34)
09 - Isolated Activewear (4:40)
10 - Take Off Da Hot Sweater (3:50)
11 - Custommade Sneakers (5:02)
12 - Silicon Loafer (4:51)
13 - Crocodileleather T.I.E. (3:45)
14 - Outro (1:10)

DaDamnPhreakNoizPhunk @ Base
DaDamnPhreakNoizPhunk @ My Space

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Mouse On Mars - Niun Niggung (99 ^ 286 mb )

Mouse on Mars is a duo from Germany (Jan St. Werner, from Düsseldorf, and Andi Toma, from Köln) who have been making electronic music since 1993. Their music is a quirky and sometimes kitschy blend of techno, trance, disco, and ambient with a heavy dollop of analog synth sounds. Their music also utilises live conventional rock instruments such as drums, bass and guitar.

Their first album, Vulvaland, was released in 1994 on the British record label Too Pure. This is considered their "straightest" and most focused album, mixing ambient and techno. Their second album, Iaora Tahiti, has a much more playful feel and encompasses a wider variety of electronic dance genres. Over the years, their sound has increased in warmth and playfulness. On this their fourth album Niun Niggung, the live instruments start to become more prominent. Idiology, their fifth album, has continued this trend while their sixth album Radical Connector, has a more "pop" feel. Both of these albums also increasingly include vocals, primarily by touring drummer Dodo Nkishi. On their newest album Varcharz their sound has veered back again to a firmly experimental electronic foundation.



01 - Download Sofist (2:28)
02 - Yippie (5:30)
03 - Pinwheel Herman (4:46)
04 - Super Sonig Fadeout (4:37)
05 - Booosc (3:13)
06 - Diskdusk (3:50)
07 - Gogonal (5:07)
08 - Albion Rose (3:32)
09 - Mompou (1:55)
10 - Distroia (5:16)
11 - Wald F.X. (4:49)
12 - Circloid Bricklett Sprüngli (2:18)
13 - Untitled (14:37)

Mouse On Mars @ Base
Mouse On Mars @ MySpace
Mouse On Mars @ Amazon

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Anthony Rother - Life is Live is Love ( ' 03 * 535mb )

Anthony Rother grew up in the town of Frankfurt, his earliest instances with electronic music were during the rise in popularity of seminal electronic outfit Kraftwerk. For Anthony this was “just music” - he was yet to identify it as being music of the electronic variety. “Kraftwerk was the first electronic music that I listened to, but I did not know it was electronic music when I first listened to it.” In 1984, Anthony started to produce music and discover all the techniques and concepts behind electronic composition. Stressing the fact that good music is purely that - just good music - his personal tastes range from pop, to techno, to classical, pushing all genres aside and listening to every sound for what it is. “My musical range is so wide, I listen to every kind of music, it doesn’t matter if its pop, classical, electro, techno, house whatever, its just music that I like and that I think is interesting.” Having grown up listening to Kraftwerk and then established his own sound, Rother then reworked Kraftwerk. The classic Trans Europe Express was given the Rother touch, and the response? A European club hit with almost every DJ in the world giving it a spin.

The cerebral stimulation of a resonating beat or digital tone that plays with your head and helps you listen with your eyes. Can he see sounds? “Images are the way I make music, that’s what I like about it. To have, like, a movie in my head, it gives me inspiration, I don’t know how it happens, I can’t explain it, I don’t know how it works, but it works. I have fun in the studio when this happens...to hear and see what’s going on in my head is really nice.”

With a 200kg rig consisting of 3 keyboards, 3 drum machines, synthesizers, a mixer, a microphone, a laptop, and efx units, one must ask about the complexity of playing with so much equipment as it is not unusual to see someone walk into a club and click away at a mouse button to play live. “For me playing live is like body talk and I need to have this with my machines, total control over all my songs.” Anthony seems to thrive on the instant call and response environment of a live set and the concept that the communication between man playing live and man playing with machines are two very different worlds. “The show is always different each and every time, it’s never the same show, because with the set up I have now and the way I play, over the years I have learned to have communication with the people. Which means when the people are yelling and dancing, they are showing me what’s going on. When I play live it’s not just me, its me and the crowd…

Life is Life is Love, Rother mixes his own electro tracks here. The mixing is fine, the tracks are what make this a must, however. Rother creates an rich, dark, evil, and funky atmosphere with these electro tracks. He probably does this as good as anyone working in techno or electro since Derrick May. Alas there's no aural sense of the crowd here - a mistake i think, and inconsequential considering the above statement..it's me and the crowd....



01 - Machine World (9:26)
02 - Modular Dee Jay (5:30)
03 - Hacker (5:12)
04 - Alpha One (2:58)
05 - Generation Electro (5:39)
06 - Die Macht (5:49)
07 - Live Is Life (9:20)
08 - Self Control (5:31)
09 - Little Computer People (12:50)
10 - Self Control (Original) (6:24)
11 - All We Want (4:16)
12 - Goodbye Electro (5:43)

Anthony Rother @ Base
Anthony Rother @ MySpace
Anthony Rother @

Anthony Rother Vid the Hacker @ YouTube
Anthony Rother live @ YouTube

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The Modernist - Explosion( ' 99 * 322mb )

Under a multitude of monikers including Burger Industries, Triola, the Bionaut and the Modernist, Jorg Burger has established himself as one of the figureheads of Cologne's influential minimalist techno scene. Although his Modernist alter ego suggests a fascination with the present and the contemporary, Burger has (perhaps surprisingly) cited a love for the classic indie pop of 80s UK illuminati such as Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, Scritti Politti and the Smiths alongside his more expected techno-love. The Modernist's melodic minimalism is steeped with perfectly poised guitar harmonics and meticulously placed vocals. Despite this fondness for "classic pop", Burger describes 1988 the year acid house overtook the dance-floors of Europe, as his year zero. 2 years later he had released his first tracks via Thomas Fehlmann's Teutonic Beats compilation. One year beyond this, he founded the Trance Atlantic and Monochrome labels, releasing tracks by permutations of himself and his friend & partner Wolfgang Voigt aka Mike Ink. Immersed in this electronic music culture, Burger founded the Cologne department of the Delirium record store (which was to subsequently mutate into Kompakt) and the Eat Raw label, ran a magazine, House Attack, and established a graphics and artwork agency called Granit.

Jorg Burger released the highly acclaimed Bionaut album Lush Life Electronica in 95 . Two years & several releases later, hestarted his own label with Sony music. Burger was to subsequently birth the Popular Organization , and released his The Modernist - Explosion in 1999. The ensuing Kangmei (2003) included a track entitled "Protest Song" and Burger was seemingly making a protest/political assertion in giving his release a title that translated as "resist America". In fact it was a further variation on the everlasting ambiguity of his relation to America as an artist.

2004 saw his return to his former friends & partners from Kompakt, where he released the listening album "riola im Fünftonraum, a state-of-the-art update of his musical concepts as the Bionaut through the 90s.In early 2006 the Kompakt studios were built & Burger´s now working alongside Reinhard & Wolfgang Voigt, Jürgen Paape, Michael Mayer & Superpitcher. His latest album release is a mix & mash up-cd for Stefan Struever´s new label faith recordings, called: collectors series pt.1 -The Modernist, released in august 2006.



01 - Victor Ludorum (The Winner Takes It All) (5:19)
02 - Fade Like Glenn (5:34)
03 - Header (5:14)
04 - Inspiratio (4:22)
05 - Mrs. New Deal (6:03)
06 - Crown (5:52)
07 - Manson Soup (6:13)
08 - Global Entertainment (5:09)
09 - Alphatier Brain (4:28)
10 - Love Among European Moderns (4:44)
11 - Faceworking (Original) (5:29)
12 - Liverpool 8 (5:02)
13 - Architainment Pt.1 (5:03)

bonus Orange Coloured Sky E.P. ( 98)
14 - Orange Coloured Sky
15 - Victor Ludorum
16 - Apple Electronics (Club Mix)
17 - Eurojah

The Modernist @ Base

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Isolee - We Are Monster ( ' 05 * 310mb )

Isolée's Rajko Müller is a minimalist house producer whose throwback tracks evoke the advent of indie electronic pop of the early '80s, as well as ambient techno from a decade on. Thanks to the international success of his single "Beau Mot Plague," Müller became the most famous of the producers associated with a collective of funky, minimalist, experimentalist labels. Isolée’s first album Rest is one of my favorite minimal techno records. Slick with cold sweat, running its fingers through electro, early 80s avant-electronics and micro-house, its balance of down-time blue and genuine anthem (“Beau Mot Plage”) still injects liquid bliss up the listener’s spine. Rajko is one of the most original 'house' producers out there. Actually his microhouse music is hard to describe : intricate melodies, extremely rich textures, stylish post-cinematic atmospheres create a very personal, poetic, colourful, deep universe.

We are monster, his follow up album..after 5 years, has such a glut of musical ideas, tricky and elaborate structures, and grand scale gestures that it could not be described as a simple minimal/micro house record. Each track is like watching a mutation in process, where motifs are often born and then die on the spot, never to be returned to again. It kind of makes me wonder if Mueller was writing a new potential melody for this record every other day for years.



01 - Pictureloved (4:37)
02 - Schrapnell (5:23)
03 - Enrico (5:14)
04 - Mädchen Mit Hase (6:56)
05 - My Hi-Matic (5:58)
06 - Do Re Mi (6:22)
07 - Face B (5:44)
08 - Jelly Baby/Fish (4:52)
09 - Today (4:33)
10 - Pillowtalk (10:00)

Isolee @ Base
Isolee @ Amazon

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* All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Stage 15, Germany-Kraftwerk World

Welcome to stage 15, for decades now the first name that comes to mind when queerried to name a german musicband, Kraftwerk has been no1, these days they get some serious competition from Rammstein for that title, but as an influence and worldwide trade mark Kraftwerk remain at the top. For me as one of their many fans-first one i bought Autobahn-I couldnt drive yet, but hey it was great. I think it justified to have an entire stage for Kraftwerk and some of the impact they had in inspiring others to cover them and in wildly different ways too. I take the opportunity aswell to present the work of two ex members Wolfgang Flur(Yamo) and Karl Bartos ( Elektric Music), who after all were part of Kraftwerks heydays (74-86). I hope you'll enjoy them, btw Kraftwerks are debugged vinyl rips.

KRAFTWERK WORLD

Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express ( ' 77)
Kraftwerk - Computerworld (' 81)
Kraftwerk - R emi X e S
Elektric Music - Esperanto ( ' 93)
Yamo - Time Pie ( ' 96)
Various plastic surgery on The Model
Senor Coconut - El Baile Alemán ( ' 00)
Terre Thaemlitz - Die Roboter Rubato ( ' 97)
VA - Trans Slovenia Express ( ' 94 )

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Kraftwerk was founded in 1970 by Florian Schneider-Esleben (flute) and Ralf Hütter (keyboards), the pair setting up their Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf. The two had met as students at the Düsseldorf Conservatory in the late 1960s, participating in the experimental music scene of the time which the UK music press dubbed "Krautrock". Early Kraftwerk line-ups (1970-1974) fluctuated, Hütter and Schneider working with around half a dozen other musicians over the course of recording four albums and sporadic live appearances - most notably guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger, who left to form Neu!.

Their first three albums were more free-form experimental Krautrock jam, without the pop hooks or more disciplined strong structure of their later work. Kraftwerk, released in 1970, and Kraftwerk 2, released in 1972, were mostly exploratory jam music, played on a variety of traditional instruments including guitar, bass, electric organ, flute and violin. Post-production modifications to these recordings were then used to distort the sound of the instruments, particularly audio tape manipulation. With Ralf and Florian, released in 1973, the band began to move closer to its "classic" sound, relying more heavily on synthesizers and drum machines. Although almost entirely instrumental, the album marks Kraftwerk's first use of the vocoder.

Their breakthrough, both musically and popularly, came in 1974 with the Autobahn album and its 22-minute title track featuring the "motorik" beat, it intended to capture the feeling of driving on the Autobahn; from the high-speed concentration of the fast lane, to the tuning of the car radio, to the monotony of a long trip.The front cover of the original German edition was painted by Emil Schult, a long-time collaborator of Ralf and Florian, who also co-wrote the lyrics to the song "Autobahn".Conny Plancks name was later (85) scrapped as co-producer. With the joining of Karl Bartos for the Autobahn tour in 75 Kraftwerks line up was set for the next 12 years . A trio of albums that would exert a huge influence on popular music would follow— Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977) and the seminal The Man-Machine (1978).

Radio-Activity (1975). It was released in German as Radio-Aktivität. Unlike later albums, which featured different lyrics, only the titles differ between the English and German editions.It's the first Kraftwerk album to be entirely self-produced by Hütter & Schneider in their Kling Klang studio, and the first one to be performed by the "classic" Hütter/Schneider/Bartos/Flür line-up. All the music was written by Hütter/Schneider, with Emil Schult collaborating on lyrics, and designing the artwork.

Kraftwerks TRANS EUROPA EXPRESS (77 FLAC 249mb)
became their big break through album, a milestone Kraftwerk album notable for probably being their most-often ranked album, even on pop/rock lists. Much use was made of custom-built sequencing equipment, which helped Kraftwerk achieve the precise, minimalist pop sound distinctive of the album.

The Man-Machine (1978) was released in German as Die Mensch-Maschine. It contains the song "The Model" which was a #1 single in the UK in 1982 (early adapters those brits !) This was the first Kraftwerk album to see Karl Bartos co-credited with song-writing along with Hütter & Schneider. Emil Schult co-wrote the lyrics for "The Model". Musically, it builds on the already impressive Trans-Europe Express, further refining Kraftwerk's by then unique sound – the tracks are more concise, the melodies even stronger and the electronic percussion & sequencing even tighter.

"Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI and Scotland Yard , business, numbers, money, people ..computerworld" Kraftwerk really hit the mark at a time the PC wasn't even 'invented'. The whole computerworld album is uncanny visionairy and if nothing else a unique work, and they managed to translate this vision into 7 great tracks aswell . In keeping with the album’s concept, Kraftwerk showcased their music on an ambitious world tour and issued several versions of the single, "Pocket Calculator" – sung in German (Taschenrechner), English, French (Mini Calculateur)and Japanese (Dentaku).

In 1982, Kraftwerk had begun work on a follow-up album to their hugely successful and influential Computer World. This new album initially had the working title Technicolor, but this name had to be abandoned as that title was a trademark. The proposed title was changed to Techno Pop. Recordings were progressing, and one song from these sessions, "Tour de France" was released as a single in summer 1983, achieving moderate commercial success. However, shortly after this, Ralf Hütter suffered a serious cycling accident, leaving him in a coma, and unable to work with the band for at least half a year..

When work did recommence on the sessions, the band were reportedly now concerned that the album's production was not of a sufficiently ground-breaking quality to match their reputation as sonic innovators. A lot of studio rework was undertaken, and the final mix down of the album was completely redone from scratch. Finally in 1986 Electric Cafe was released.

Kraftwerk had build themselves a tall shadow from which they havent been able to escape since, their first try..Electric Cafe didnt convince either thematically or musically and with hindsight shows their uncertainty about where they were going. Having been the masters of electronic analog sound , the new digital age dawned, an age with relentless development of possibilities, high-end this year, mediocre next year..try to build innovative sound and music on that when being perfectionist.

The Mix (1991) featured newly arranged, re-recorded versions of a selection of songs which had originally appeared on the albums Autobahn through Electric Café. Hütter stated in interviews that he regarded The Mix as a kind of "live album", as it captured the results of the band's continual digital improvisations in their Kling Klang studio.The album met with a rather mixed reception on its release. The Mix was created entirely digitally, albeit during a period when the technology had yet to reach its maturity, and thus featured a sound which many listeners tend to find somewhat "sterile" compared to the superb analogue electronics employed on most of Kraftwerk's previous recordings of these songs.

Wolfgang Flur left 87, seen it coming or more likely some other beef-specially with Schneider . Things got even quieter when Karl Bartos (75-91) left frustrated by the lack of output, undoubtely financial squeezes hit both as they weren't founder members. They got replaced by the studio hired hands ( Fritz Hilpert & Henning Schmitz) for touring, likely because of the cultivated image of a fourman band. Creatively/financially (Kling Klang Publishing since 75) Kraftwerk is a duo. However, Bartos is credited for a number of tracks from the Man Machine-Electric Cafe era, as is Emil Schult the artist who painted/designed a number of Kraftwerk covers and (co)wrote some lyrics.

Whilst the nineties came and with it the era of electronic dance music (at wildly various speeds), Kraftwerk remained in retreat (Ruckzug opening track 1st album, visionairy again). They were requested to compose the opening/theme song for the Expo 2000 in Hanover and so right at the end in 99, after 13 years of silence the world got to hear some new Kraftwerk, this time they let others in, to remix it, b.t.w. i think theirs is clearly the best. Their next work was, again on commision as it where, to commemorate the 100th birthday of the Tour de France, it didn't make the start but it did release in 2003.

2004 for saw Kraftwerk go on a worldtour which resulted in their first official live album Minimum Maximum, 2CD aswell as a DVD. Like many of their studio albums, Minimum-Maximum was released in two different language versions: the band's native German, and English for the international market. However of the 23 tracks on the album, only the recordings of "The Model", "Radioactivity", "Trans-Europe Express" / "Metal on Metal", "Pocket Calculator" and "The Robots" are actually different between the releases . The album /dvd got a good response by press and public.

Their latest yet to be released officially named "The Catalogue" contains 8 remastered albums Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), Computer World (1981), Electric Café or Techno Pop (1986) The Mix (1991) and Tour de France Soundtracks (2003). Scheduled for release fall 2005 it is now likely to see official daylight in 2007. We'll see, been waiting for some time now.

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Kraftwerk - Computerwelt  (81 ^Flac 204mb)



01 - Computer World – 5:05
02 - Minicalculateur – 4:55
03 - Numbers – 3:00
04 - Computer World 2 – 3:30
05 - Computer Love – 7:00
06 - Home Computer – 6:00
07 - It’s More Fun to Compute – 4:15

Kraftwerk @ Base
Kraftwerk @ Wiki
Kraftwerk @ Amazon


Emil Schult @ Base

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Kraftwerk RemiXes ( * 125mb)

Kraftwerk has never been very keen giving their work over to others, the assumption being we've put everything in it, why let it get fucked up by others, or worse improved. The remix culture of the early 80's wasn't that good , the tools too limited, this was different in the nineties and as Kraftwerk sweated over the millions of new possibilities, newbies went about remixing them without further ado, unhindered by the shadow of perfectionism. Not every tracks soundquality is up to scratch, partly because of bootlegged bootlegs. The showroom dummies remix is an interesting case of remixing back Senor Coconuts version towards Kraftwerk again . The last remix is done by the masters themselves .



01 - Computer World (Klick Mix)
02 - Pocket Calculator (East Meets West Mix)
03 - Music - Non Stop (Cut Up Mix)
04 - Trans Europe Express (T.E.E. Mix)
05 - The Robots (Program Mix)
06 - Autobahn (Peoples Car Mix)
07 - Europe Endless (Open Borders Mix)
08 - Man Machine (Space Mix)
09 - The Model (Catbonic Mix)
10 - Neon Lights (Ton-Up Mix)
11 - Showroom Dummies (Nicolai SenoReMix)
12 - Tour de France (Thumpermix)
13 - Expo 2000 (Kling Klang)

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Elektric Music - Esperanto  ( ' 93 * 307mb)

Between 1975 and 1991 Karl Bartos, was electronic percussionist with Kraftwerk. He was originally recruited to play on their US "Autobahn" tour, and his improvisations became an essential part of the earlier Kraftwerk recordings. He left the Kraftwerk, when founding members Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider became increasingly perfectionist in their attitude towards recording and releasing their music.

In 1992 Bartos founded Elektric Music, performing a style somewhat similar to Kraftwerk. Esperanto ( 1993), was the first album by him as "Elektric Music" (initially in collaboration with Lothar Manteuffel-Rheingold). The songs "Show Business" and "Kissing The Machine" were written and performed with Andy McCluskey of OMD; "Crosstalk" and "Overdrive" were co-written with Kraftwerk associate Emil Schult, who also art-directed the cover graphics for the early Elektric Music releases. Electric Music's second rather dissapointing album was released 1998. In between the two albums, Bartos collaborated with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr on Electronic's 1996 album Raise the Pressure, and co-wrote material with Andy McCluskey which appeared on both Esperanto and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's Universal album.

In 2000 Bartos released a track "15 min of fame", which coming thru teeny acts like K3 or Chipz, or whatever they is called these days, would likely have been a big hit,(with some slight textual adaptation) , alas not for Karl, the track can be found on his latest album thusfar and under his own name "Communication" (2003). It's pretty much a one-man show -- everything you hear was programmed, played, and performed by Bartos himself. It contains plenty of catchy tunes and we here Bartos sing but on the whole the shadow of Kraftwerk hangs over it.



1 - TV (5:44)
2 - Show Business (3:20)
3 - Kissing The Machine voc.Andy McCluskey (4:43)
4 - Lifestyle (4:46)
5 - Crosstalk (5:52)
6 - Information (8:35)
7 - Esperanto (4:41)
8 - Overdrive Ft. Emil Schult (5:23)

Karl Bartos @ Base
Elektric Music @ Amazon

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Yamo-Time Pie ( ' 96 * 319mb )

Wolfgang Flür (born 17 July 1947) is best known as a member of Kraftwerk playing electronic drums( 1973 - 1987) . But then Flür also built much of the group's studio and stage equipment in his workshop below the band's Kling Klang studio. Previously he had played a conventional acoustic drum kit in the Düsseldorf band The Spirits of Sound. (Another member of this band was guitarist Michael Rother, who also spent a few months as a member of Kraftwerk in 1971, before forming Neu! with then Kraftwerk drummer Klaus Dinger.

Flür is now the founding member of Yamo, who released an album Time Pie in 1997, produced in collaboration with Mouse on Mars. Flür's next release, the 12" and remix 12" "I was a robot" even climbed to number 6 in the German club charts. Collaborations with Pizzicato 5 and Der Plan founding member Pyrolator have been announced, and the lyrics to the song "Greed" are in Flür's autobiography, but this material remains unreleased.

Flür wrote an autobiography (2000), called I Was a Robot, showing the inner workings of Kraftwerk from the beginning. This book met with hostility and litigation from his former Kraftwerk colleagues Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. The original Hannibal Verlag edition was soon withdrawn, following an injunction, but the book was republished in English and Japanese, with removal of a couple of embarrasingly homoerotic photos of Schneider and Emil Schult and re-wording of certain sections, for instance, there was the development of the electronic drumpads (74) which Schneider had patented quietly in 77, but most of the court attention centered around the recording of the song "Autobahn", and this point was decided in Flür's favor: The German court found that Flür did play drums on the Autobahn album. It is odd that Hütter and Schneider would take offence at this claim, since they credited him for doing so on the original edition of the album, and even later, credit-less, editions carry a band photo with Flür and his drum kit center stage.

For Flur as for Bartos the predicament is how to elude the shadow of Kraftwerk and dive into unknown territory in sonic exploration. Yamo tries to create elegantly, infectious electro pop and void of cheapness.



01 - Time Pie (Minute Pie) (3:49)
02 - Mosquito (Hunting Feels Better) (3:44)
03 - Stereomatic (Stereomagic) (4:41)
04 - Awomanaman (The Kiss) (4:54)
05 - Aurora Borealis (Greatest Show For Free) (6:52)
06 - Guiding Ray (Space Journey To Funny Faces From Foreign Towns) (7:35)
07 - Tra Testa E Mano (Heart Between Head And Hand) (4:48)
08 - Speech Dancer (Talk Back) (4:18)
09 - Naked Japanese (Wrong Or Right) (4:33)
10 - Dr. U.G.L.Y. (More Than Slim) (3:57)
11 - U.G.L.Y. On The Run (Never Stands Still) (1:53)

Yamo @ Base

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Kraftwerks influence has not only been worldwide but impacted strongly on the global mind, considering that they were never a singles /hitband or sold many millions of albums, no mean feat. There must be something more to their music than meets the ear.

I've chosen three very different albums with interpretations of Kraftwerk's music, as for their one big hit "the Model" , it has been covered many times , i offer a small but wide ranging sample in 3 versions, one from Residents- Snakefinger ..likely one of the first released (79), Rammstein had some electrohardrock fun with it, as for the third ..it's in chinese..i feel the artist, Zhou Qisheng, is classically trained, as for the lyrics..who knows what he's made of it.



The Different Model 29mb

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Senor Coconut - El Baile Alemán ( ' 00 * 319mb)

Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom™, Señor Coconut; born in Frankfurt, Germany) is a German DJ and producer of electronic music. Schmidt, also known as Atom Heart, as well as a number of other aliases, produced dance music during the first half of the 90s. In 1994, Schmidt started his own label, "Rather Interesting" with the aim of developing music that doesn't follow the traditional paths of electronic music. By 1996 he was thoroughly bored by European dance music and moved to Santiago, Chile to explore Latin music. He quickly adopted the intentionally ridiculous Señor Coconut moniker, and soon released El Gran Baile. His next release, in 2000, was the Latin-Kraftwerk fusion of El Baile Alemán. The album featured Kraftwerk classics reworked with Latin instrumentation and rhythm. El Baile Alemán was intended as a salute to, and a parody of Kraftwerk as evidenced by the intro to "Autobahn" which featured the sound of a car that wouldn't start. Together with Burnt Friedman under the name Flanger he released thusfar 4 electric/jazz albums (1999-2005). In 2006 Senor Coconut released "Yellow Fever" latin-covering Yellow Magic Orchestra tracks.

As for baile aleman; " imagine tracking thru the Andes, tired and stopping over at a small town for some food and drink at the local cantina, someone throws a dime into a decrepit jukebox...whaaa.. awesome ! Kraftwerk latino style, and it sounds so good, despite tiredness and the heights you're dancing ...." Alas it's nothing so romantic but i do think this album is a credit to Senor Coconut and Kraftwerk.



01 - Introducción (1:15)
02 - Showroom Dummies (Cha-Cha-Cha) (5:26)
03 - Trans Europe Express (Cumbia) (5:56)
04 - The Robots (Cha-Cha-Cha) (5:07)
05 - Autobahn (Cumbia Merengue) (6:32)
06 - Neon Lights (Cha-Cha-Cha) (4:52)
07 - Homecomputer (Merengue) (3:51)
08 - Tour De France (Merengue) (4:32)
09 - The Man Machine (Baklán) (4:26)
10 - Music Non Stop (Cumbia) (4:47)

Senor Coconut @ Casa
AtomTM @ Base
Senor Coconut @ Amazon

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Thaemlitz, Terre - Die Roboter Rubato ( flac * 172mb)

Now you might look at the cover of this album, having never heard of Terre Thaemlitz and possibly assume some piano muzak versions of Kraftwerks music, well then you have a surprise coming.

New York-based composer Terre Thaemlitz is one of only a handful of significant American artists working in the new ambient vein. He's released the bulk of his material through the Instinct Ambient label, but has also issued tracks (under his own name and as Chugga) on his own Comatonse label and through others. Although Thaemlitz's entre into electronic came in a somewhat traditional fashion -- as a house DJ -- his explorations in electronic abstraction have been anything but, focusing on themes of abjection, alienation, fracture, and contradiction in his music. Thaemlitz's recorded work, collected on albums such as Tranquilizer and Soil, is closer in tone to ambient-leaning industrialists He's also recorded with Bill Laswell, releasing Web in 1995, and done remix work for Interpieces Organization and the Golden Palaminos, among others.

Born in Minnesota and raised in Missouri, Thaemlitz moved to New York in the mid-'80s to pursue art scholarship at Cooper Union. Soon distracted by the growing New York house scene, he began DJing at drag balls and benefits, leading to an Underground Grammy for best DJ in 1991. Although primarly a dancefloor DJ, Thaemlitz's insistence upon integrating house music's more simplistic monotony with challenging, complicated breaks and references earned him an uneasy relationship with club promoters looking for DJs whose only commitment was the 4/4 beat. Retiring from club DJing in the early '90s (although he continues to spin experimental electronic music at art galleries, one-offs, and in other marginal contexts), Thaemlitz began making his own tracks, beginning with house but quickly moving into genre defying fusions of funk, soul, disco, and musique concrete, and eventually settling into experimental ambient. One of his earliest works, "Raw from a Straw," in addition to limited release through his own Comatonse label, appeared on an early ambient compilation on Instinct, and earned him an almost instant reputation. He's since fortified that with a pair of full-length releases remarkably free of many of the cliched conventions of club-drived ambient. He continues to support new talent through Comatonse there's a superb page made up at Wiki, giving a complete and visually attractive expose of his work.Terre @ Wiki

Thaemlitz took the long road around expectation for his Mille Plateaux debut, opting for a set of solo piano extrapolations of songs by Kraftwerk. Built on a high-clearing deck of post-industrial cultural analysis over the course of its seven-plus pages of liner notes, the music on the disc requires little in the way of explanation. Thaemlitz' sparse, inventive interpretations are pleasing enough on their own. Thaemlitz: " I don't play piano, but I've always been aware of the ability for persistent "unskilled" improvisation to invoke a sense of competency, if not virtuosity. The tracks themselves were done by slowing playing in the Kraftwerk melodies one note at a time, and then using the computer to layer, invert and reverse those melodies. These more ordered segments were then combined with improvisational elements. I wanted to incorporate Kraftwerk's notion of an integrated human-technological process into my production techniques." Get Terre's inspired work  .



01 - Die Roboter
02 - Ätherwellen
03 - Tour De France
04 - Computerwelt
05 - Technopop
06 - Ruckzuck
07 - Radioland
08 - Mensch Maschine
09 - Schaufensterpuppen
10 - Morgenspaziergang

Terre @ Base
Terre @ Amazon
Big Interview with Terre

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Comatonse Records, Terre Thaemlitz released a free best-of compilation CD. Physical copies are no longer in print, but MP3s are available for free download (along with a bonus track that did not fit on the original release). Comatonse Below Code (112kbps mp3)

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VA - Translovenia Express ( ' 94 * 413mb )

Slovenia is a small country hidden in the heart of Europe, it was part of the Habsburg empire for 5 centuries consequently architecture wise it looks middle europe, blessed with a diverse nature, it's a bit of a fairytale country. After the Worldwar they shacked up with the Slavs but ultimately it didnt become them, and they broke free from Yugoslavia in 91. Their best known music band is called Laibach, the german name of Slovenia's capitol Ljubljana. Since 1980 they have presented themselves as an art collective, it stands to reason that they eclipse this Slovenian re interpretation of the work of Kraftwerk.

Kraftwerk covers are always risky. If they follow the original too closely they become superfluous... depart too far and they can seem... desecrations. Mute records released this album (94) and 4 years later even a volume 2, testament to the quality and success of vol 1. It's a diverse range of covers and quiet possibly you will find fault with one or two but in general it's an agreeable album, and as always intriguing how the human mind is able to reshape.




01 - Zrcalo Sveta (Das Spiegelas Der Welt) (6:02) - Laibach
02 - The Robots (4:11) - Coptic Rain
03 - Trans Europe Express (5:21) - The One You Love
04 - Radioactivity (4:54) - April Nine
05 - Airwaves (4:37) - Beitthron
06 - Transistor (2:40) - Data Processed Corrupted
07 - Ohm Sweet Ohm (4:37) - Borghesia
08 - Neonlight (5:50) - Mitja V.S. Enzo Fabiani Quartet
09 - Antenna (4:43) - Z-Entropa
10 - Man Machine (5:24) - Strelnikoff
11 - Home Computer (4:16) - Random Logic
12 - The Model (5:01) - Demolition Group
13 - Kometnmelodie (Part I) (4:20) - 300,000 V.K.
14 - Spacelab (3:59) - Videosex
15 - Lie Werk (3 Oktober - Fleisch Und Blut Gemischt) (5:29) - Kraftbach

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* All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !

Stage 14, Germany - N. D. W.

A return to Germany , going back in time with "Neue Deutsche Welle" , followed by Kraftwerkwelt (17/10) , West (20/1), Berlin (24/1) and North Germany (27/1) , after the South (2/12 ) 6 stages in all for the biggest country of Europe.

Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW) special

Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave, often abbreviated NDW) was a genre of German music originally derived from punk rock and New Wave music in 1976. The term "Neue Deutsche Welle" was first coined by journalist Alfred Hilsberg, whose article about the movement titled "Neue Deutsche Welle - Aus grauer Städte Mauern" was published in the magazine Sounds in 1979.The history of the Neue Deutsche Welle consists of two major parts. From its beginnings to 1981, the Neue Deutsche Welle was mostly an underground movement with roots in British punk and New Wave music; it quickly developed into an original and distinct style, influenced in no small part by the different sound and rhythm of the German language which many of the bands had adapted from early on.The main centers of the NDW movement during these years were Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover and Hagen as well as, to a lesser extent, the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region, Limburg an der Lahn and Vienna (Austria).

From about 1980 on, the music industry began noticing the Neue Deutsche Welle; however, due to the idiosyncratic nature of the music, the focus shifted to creating new bands more compatible with the mainstream, rather than promoting existing bands. Many one-hit wonders and short-lived bands appeared and were forgotten again in rapid succession, and the overly broad application of the "NDW" label to these bands as well as to almost any German musicians not using English lyrics, even if their music was apparently not influenced at all by the 'original' NDW. It quickly led to the decay of the entire genre when many of the original musicians turned their backs in frustration. It was thus no surprise when in 1982 / 1983, the era of the Neue Deutsche Welle came to an early end again, following the oversaturation of the market with what was widely perceived as stereotypical, manufactured hits.

Picking from this period wasn't easy, planned picks Fehlfarben-Monarchie und Alltag, DAF - Alles ist gut, Malaria-Emotion and even Pyrolator were awol, a frustrating search. Not that these albums are second choice, i'd probably made it double posting. With hindsight one of the hallmarks of those NDW days was a schizophrenic attitude towards seriousness and pretence, a band like DAF was accepted, a band like Kowalski admittedly musically miles apart, totally shunned, a precurser to the total directionless desolution of the N.D.W


Stage 14, Germany-back to "Neue Deutsche Welle" times

D.A.F. - DAF ( ' 81- ' 83)
Kowalski - Schlagende Wetter (overman underground ' 82 )
Der Plan - Geri Reig ( ' 80)
Einstuerzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch ( ' 85)
Nina Hagen Band - I ( ' 78)
Xao Seffcheque - Sehr Gut, Kommt Sehr Gut ( ' 80)
Palais Schaumburg - Lupa ( ' 82)
Holger Hiller - Ein Bündel Fäulnis In Der Grube ( ' 83)
Die Neue Deutsche Welle War Da Da Da ......Wie Was Wo ? (' 79 - 83)
Zaza - Zaza

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D.A.F. - Best ( * 329 mb)

Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft, or the acronym D.A.F. or just DAF came from Düsseldorf. The band was founded in 1978 by Robert Görl (drums/percussion, elektronics), Gabi Delgado-Lopez (singer), Kurt Dahlke a.k.a Pyrolator (Elektronics; later Der Plan, Fehlfarben), Michael Kemner (bass; later Fehlfarben) and Wolfgang Spelmans (gitar). Chrislo Haas (Elektronic, bass, saxophon; later Liaisons Dangereuses) replaced Kurt Dahlke 1979, until in 81 during an UK tour they reduced to the core duo Robert Görl/Gabi Delgado-Lopez, who established the image and concept with which they became successfull.

1979, singer Delgado had left before the recording of their first album "Ein Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft" which makes it an instrumental work of 22 tracks sometimes lasting just seconds of noisy ,almost free-jazz like tracks, after they got that out of their system Gabi Delgado returned to DAF. It was 1980 when "Die Kleinen und die Bösen", got them noted internationally. One side was recorded in Conny Plank's Studio the other Live-B-side in the London club "The Electric Ballroom". It set them up to become the godfathers of EBM. Their next album "Alles Ist Gut" aswell as the follow-ups "Gold Und Liebe" and "Für Immer" ( 1981 and 1982 ) brought the duo commercial and artistic success . Allles is gut got them a " thank you for the money award" from the musicindustry. Some songs, "Der Mussolini" , "Der Räuber und der Prinz", "Greif Nach Den Sternen", "Die Götter Sind Weiß" or "Ein Bisschen Krieg" were textually provoking, befitting their build up image. Being confronted with the claim they were fascist, they just said "well we extend from anarcho-skin to disco-nazi , and we are just too horny for fascists."
The duo had already split before the release of "Für Immer" (forever) an ironic goodbye it was, they would concentrate on solo projects, but neither would come close to their previous level of success. In 2003 they came back together and released 15 new songs "15 Neue DAF Lieder" and toured again, in 2005 the revival came to a halt again.



01 - Verschwende Deine Jugend (Waste Your Youth) (3:47)
02 - Der Mussolini (The Mussolini) (3:57)
03 - Mein Herz Macht Bum (My Heart Goes Boom) (4:25)
04 - El Que (3:28)
05 - Ich Und Die Wirklichkeit (Me And Reality) (3:02)
06 - Die Götter Sind Weiss (The Gods Are White) (2:56)
07 - Der Räuber Und Der Prinz (The Robber And The Prince) (3:25)
08 - Liebe Auf Den Ersten Blick (Love At First Sight) ('88 Remix By Joseph Watt) (6:01)
09 - Im Dschungel Der Liebe (Jungle Of Love) (4:08)
10 - Prinzessin (Princess) (4:17)
11 - Greif Nach Den Sternen (Grab The Stars) (3:41)
12 - Kebabträume (Kebab-Dreams) (4:03)
13 - Die Lippe (The Lip) (3:14)
14 - Als Wärs Das Letzte Mal (As If It Were The Last Time) (3:26)
15 - Der Mussolini (Original Version) (3:53)
16 - Liebe Auf Den Ersten Blick (Original Version) (3:54)

DAF @ Base
DAF @ Amazon

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Kowalski - Schlagende Wetter (overman underground ' 82 * 322mb )

The album title `Schlagende Wetter`, points to the dreaded air-methane gas mix, that then as now has been the cause for many mine catastrophes, it was 1981, Kowalski's sound had little to do with the `Neuen Deutschen Welle`, the german media mostly ignored them, if at all then they were marked as melomaniac, neonazis and arrogant assholes., in fact the alternative scene just hated their goodlooking singer who could really sing, it was just too much.. Rather shallow and contorted response for a band that was way ahead of its time. Their noisy pulsating steelmachines rock sounded industrial aswell as lively and even introverted like in Liliom and Peinsame Zeit. Latter, where they used a Hitler speech sample which they droned out, still got them labelled neonazis -the Germans are hypersensitive when it comes to Hitler (still ).  Nevertheless "Schlagende Wetter" an album without ( !) keyboards, is a classic, no doubt whatsoever here !

Kowalski looked abroad and toured extensively in the UK and the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, played at festivals (Roskilde, Pandoras box) their shows made a big impression (some still rant about it), anyway they got good feedback from international press and public, but in the end sold too little albums. German Virgin, the label that had contracted them thanks to their producer Conny Planck, dumped the too controversial Kowalski, even when with "der arbeiter" they had a hit in the alternative clubscene. Their next work Zigeunerbaron (12inch) was released by metal label SPV, this relationship went sour very quickly. Kowalski was no more, they somehow had become nongrata (berufsverbot ?) in Germany. Singer and band initiator Uwe Fellensieck, became an actor..in fact his first role and a cameo appearance for Kowalski was in the first Schimanski Tatort „Duisburg Ruhrort“.

In 1996 a small label, Zardoz finally released "Schlagende Wetter" on cd- had been looking out for it a long time. Wouldnt it be nice it got a decent remastering one day. It would blow you away, well for now you will have to do with this.



01 - Der Körper Bin Ich (4:04)
02 - Stahlmaschinen (4:54)
03 - Komm Hier (2:32)
04 - Eine Peinsame Zeit (5:03)
05 - Indianer (3:17)
06 - Ultradeterminanten (6:27)
07 - Massenhass (3:42)
08 - Zauberer (2:32)
09 - Liliom (5:44)
10 - Der Arbeiter (4:48)
+4 English version Oggs
11 The Body Is Me
12 Steelmachines
13 Massenhass
14 Magicians

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Der Plan - Geri Reig ( ' 80 * 324mb)

Der Plan was founded in 1979 by Frank Fenstermacher, Moritz R, Robert Görl & Chrislo Haas. Görl and Haas left after the first release (DAF), and were replaced by Kurt Dahlke. This trio Kurt “Pyrolator” Dahlke (ex-D.A.F.), Frank Fenstermacher, and Moritz “RRR” Reichelt, released the mythical “Geri Reig” and remained constant until the group disbanded in 1993. With the success of a certain cult following, Der Plan put out “Normalette Surprise”. During their fifteen years in existence, they founded the Ata Tak label (D.A.F., Andreas Dorau, Holger Hiller, Oval, and Wirtschaftswunder). In 2004, after an eleven year absence, Der Plan V.4.0, including Moritz R., Künstler Treu (ex-Dauerfisch) and J.J. Jones returned to business with “Die Verschwörung”.

The german music journalists voted for "Geri Reig" as one of the the most important 50 records of the last century. Indeed Der Plan ranks still among the style-forming groups of the "true" new German wave and its handling of electronic music instruments inspired groups world-wide.



01 - Adrenalin Lässt Das Blut Kochen
02 - Geri Reig
03 - Persisches Cowboy-Golf
04 - Gefährliche Clowns
05 - Kleine Grabesstille
06 - Der Weltaufstandsplan
07 - Hans und Gabi
08 - Commerce Extérieur Mondial Sentimental
09 - Was Ich Von Mir Denke
10 - San José Car Muzak
11 - Erste Begegnung Mit Dem Tod
12 - Ich Bin Schizophren
13 - Nessie
14 - Gefährliche Clowns (Manisch Idiotisch)
15 - Die Welt Ist Schlecht
Bonus Tracks
16 Es Piept 2:08
17 Fürstenwall 4:07
18 Intermezzo 1:46
19 Dark Porn 2:19
20 Heinz, Komm Zum Feuer 6:10
21 Money Honey 1:31

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Nina Hagen Band - I (' 78 re-up 261mb)

Born in East Germany, Nina Hagen had already gained a reputation as a flamboyant rock singer by the time she emigrated to the West in 1976, where she formed a band, signed to CBS Germany, and released their debut album, Nina Hagen Band, in 1978. A stunning and amusing - Nina Hagen really rocks here. A record that combines several influences - Krautrock, Punk, Opera, Glam, Hard Rock and Disco. This is a fine combination in itself with both, a parody ('Pank', 'Superboy') and serious attempts to rock your balls off ('TV Glotzer', Unbeschreiblich Weiblich, 'Rangehn'), while on the other hand there are arty in-jokes with 'Fisch im Wasser' theatrics. 'Nina Hagen Band' is filled with controversy head to toes and makes it such an entertaining summary. Her deranged, energetic operatic vocals, would have certainly caused Monserrat Caballe or Maria Callas big headaches without any help from the aspirin ('Naturträne'). But as someone once said - 'The mother of Punk so what the funk'. Nina juxtaposes opera with unfriendly textures of punk rock that twist the knife in eachother with such charm. A record that integrated so many different styles back in 1978, but today it still sounds extremely refreshing. And great fun, really great fun. Lots to tell, read more on Nina @ Wiki , good page.
And dear Nina is active at her space too , so drop a line , befriend her or whatever...



01 - TV-Glotzer (White Punks On Dope) (5:15)
02 - Rangehn (3:27)
03 - Unbeschreiblich Weiblich (3:30)
04 - Auf'm Bahnhof Zoo (5:25)
05 - Naturträne (4:05)
06 - Superboy (edit) (3:08)
07 - Heiss (4:11)
08 - Fisch Im Wasser (0:51)
09 - Auf'm Friedhof (6:15)
10 - Der Spinner (3:15)
11 - Pank (1:45)


Nina @ Base
Nina @ HerSpace
Nina @ Amazon

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Einstuerzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch ( ' 85 - 388 mb)

Einstürzende Neubauten or Collapsing New Buildings made their first (ad hoc) appearance in the Moon Club in Berlin on April 1, 1980. This date is considered to be the band's birthday. Their name was a reference to the Berlin Kongresshalle, a post-war "new building," which had collapsed earlier that year. At that time the band was just a coincidental live set-up of the Dadaistic musical movement the Geniale Dilettanten. This line-up featured Beate Bartel and Gudrun Gut, Blixa Bargeld, and N.U. Unruh, who later went on to record music under the name of Einstürzende Neubauten. The two female members Bartel and Gut left the band after a short period of performing and founded the girl-band Mania D.. A young sound technician and multi-instrumentalist Alexander von Borsig (alias Alexander Hacke), fifteen years old at that time, joined the band and became a long-time member.

In 1981 the percussionist F.M. Einheit (from the Hamburg band Abwärts) joined Einstürzende Neubauten and they released their first LP Kollaps, a strange and new mixture of rough punk tunes and industrial noises using obscure instruments such as metal plates, self-made music machines, and various electronic sounds. The live performances with FM Einheit in the 1980s included lots of metal banging and destruction on stage, which became legendary. During their first German tour, Mark Chung ( bass, ex Abwärts) joined the group of musicians. This line-up lasted for the next ten years.

In 1983, Einstürzende Neubauten recorded their second album Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T.. Also in 1983 Blixa Bargeld joined the band The Birthday Party later Bad Seeds (featuring Nick Cave, Mick Harvey). Blixa remained a full-time member of both bands, Einstürzende Neubauten and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, until 2003.

Halber Mensch (1985), may be seen as the developmental breakthrough of their musical career. Musical structure became more evident, with Bargeld's lyrics and singing in particular changing from shouted words and phrases into organized, poetic melodies. The next two albums, Fünf auf der nach oben offenen Richterskala (1987) and Haus der Lüge, were great successes in the United States and Japan. For their second decade they would continue exploring new ways, excellently compiled at Wiki, you are just one click away here !

I've added a rare bonus 12" "das schaben" (the planing) with this vinylrip, also included the (english/german) lyrics sheets (jpg) .
A raving amazon reviewer, "Das Schaben" is the most powerfull track made by any musician in all history. Its timbrical qualities are highly superior than any contemporary art composer (i.e. Xenakis, Lachenmann, Scelsi, Murail or whoever) or any noise artist. The power to generate all kind of feelings and emotions is really amazing. Ten minutes of love. Ten minutes of hate. Ten minutes of destruction. Ten minutes of peace. Ten minutes of supremacy..... You' ve been warned !



01 - Halber Mensch (4:13)
02 - Yü-Gung (Fütter Mein Ego) (7:14)
03 - Trinklied (1:16)
04 - Z.N.S. (5:41)
05 - Seele Brennt (4:05)
06 - Sehnsucht (Zitternd) (2:55)
07 - Der Tod Ist Ein Dandy (6:42)
08 - Letztes Biest (Am Himmel) (3:24)
09 - Das Schaben (The Planing) A (9:14)
10 - Sand (3:30)
11 - Yü-Gung (Adrian Sherwood Remix) (7:29)

Einstürzende Neubauten @ Base
Blixa Bargeld @ Base
Einstürzende Neubauten @ Amazon


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Xao Seffcheque - Sehr Gut, Kommt Sehr Gut (' 80 * 67mb)

In 1980, an amazing compilation hit the German streets, under the title sehr gut kommt sehr gut (something like "real good hits real good"). It featured well-known bands like Kraftwerk, DAF, Der Plan, Mittagspause, and KFC, but it also had some mysterious unknown names like the band Nachdenkliche Wehrpflichtige (Thoughtful Draftees), contributing the song "Ist Free-Jazz heilbar?" (Is Free Jazz Curable?). As you might have guessed, it was all a prank, recorded by Xao Seffcheque, with the help of some musicians of the bands listed. It was meant as a satire of the K-Tel style compilations of Neue Deutsche Welle(new german wave), still, many people believed it was a genuine compilation. Actually every song is by Xao Seffcheque, who imitates the style of each band and makes fun of them by changing the lyrics of existing songs.Tracks 7, 14 and 17 are not even on the record as such.



01 - Sehr Gut Kommt Sehr Gut (Die Geldschweine) (2:40)
02 - Fortschrittsträume (Xao + Die Pest) (5:50)
03 - Bring Deinen Körper Auf Die Party (Vielleichtors) (4:35)
04 - Es Hat Keine Disco Hier (Mittagspause) (1:28)
05 - King Kong (Sternhagel) (2:54)
06 - Wrong Colours (Not Mean Themselves) (3:17)
07 - Stalagmit 1-5 (Kraftwerk) (0:20)
B1 - Hinweise Zum Neuen Klang (The Wirtschaftswunder) (2:23)
B2 - Fehlplan (Wir Sind So Müde) (Der Plan) (1:47)
B3 - Mannesmann (Siluetes 61) (1:50)
B4 - Why We Hate The Resisdents (Die Lemminge) (2:08)
B5 - Ist Free-Jazz Heilbar (Die Nachdenklichen Wehrpflichtigen) (2:13)
B6 - Sample & Hold (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) (3:25)
B7 - Alles (Residenz) (0:00)
B8 - Endlösung (Der KFC) (0:51)
B9 - Punk Supermarkt (O.R.a.V.) (6:00)
B10 - Stalagmit 6-12 (Kraftwerk) (0:35)

I posted another Xao Seffcheque album 2 months ago here Xao -- Ja, Nein Vieleicht


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Palais Schaumburg - Lupa ( ' 82 /' 83 * 221mb)

Palais Schaumburg was founded in 1980. First line up contained Holger Hiller and Thomas Fehlmann aswell as FM Einheit (Abwärts, Einstürzende Neubauten), latter left the band in 1981.Similar in spirit and geography to Der Plan, influenced by The Residents aswell as the Dadaism of the twenties and thirties Palais Schaumburg tried to compose a new form of avant-gardistic dance music The Hamburg-based band debuted in 1981 with Das Single Kabinett, a six-song EP on ZickZack. They released their first full-length album, Palais Schaumburg, the following year on Kamera. After its release, Hiller defected for a solo career. The band quickly got to work on the LP Lupa, which was released later in 1982. Rather surprisingly, the album added horns and a slight jazz fusion influence to their sound. Their third and final album, 1984's Parlez-Vouz Schaumburg? Founder Holger Hiller didn't do much better as a solo artist, he released several albums over the years, this one here "Ein Bündel Fäulnis in der Grube" being his first. Holger stayed in London to produce for Mute records. Here's the two-pack vinyl rip



01 - 3 Nach 9 (3:08)
02 - Süss Sein, Nett Sein (3:34)
03 - Lupa (4:12)
04 - Spring Über Vier Pferde (3:00)
05 - Sieg auf Knien (2:46)
06 - Rosen (3:39)
07 - Nationen (2:59)
08 - Der Tiger Und Die Stimme (3:18)
09 - Stich Auf Stich (5:46)
10 - Europa Heißt Amerika (3:34)
11 - Papperazzo (5:46)

Holger Hiller - Ein Bündel Fäulnis In Der Grube ( ' 83   200mb

01 - Liebe Beamtinnen Und Beamte
02 - Blass Schlafen Rabe...
03 - Budapest - Bukarest
04 - Jonny (Du Lump)
05 - Akt Mit Feile (Für A. O.)
06 - Hosen, Die Nicht Aneinander Passen
07 - Chemische Und Physikalische Entdeckungen
08 - Mütter Der Fröhlichkeit
09 - Ein Bündel Fäulnis In Der Grube
10 - Das Feuer
11 - Ein Hoch Auf Das Bügeln

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VA - Die Neue Deutsche Welle War Da Da Da Wie Was Wo ? (* 131mb)

Well so many acts so i decided to throw a number of tracks in a file, could have left it at that, but that's not my style, had to somehow make an order that made listening sense, considering the different production values not easy, in the end i threw out some, to get to this just under 80 min compilation. It gets rather commercial at the end as did NDW, well you can pick and choose to your liking.



01 - Extrabreit - Der fuhrer schenkt den klonen eine stadt...
02 - Fehlfarben - 14 tage (12 inch)
03 - Malaria - Kaltes Klares Wasser
04 - Grauzone - Film 2
05 - Mau Mau - Auf der jagd
06 - Palais Schaumburg - Wir bauen eine stadt
07 - Mau Mau - Rhythmus der trommel
08 - Krupps - Goldfinger
09 - Abwaerts - Beim erstenmal tuts immer weh
10 - Krupps - Wahre arbeit, wahrer lohn
11 - Palais Schaumburg - Deutschland kommt gebraunt zuruck
12 - Mau Mau - Alles Luge
13 - Fehlfarben - Ein Jahr - Es geht voran
14 - X-Mal Deutschland - Polarlicht
15 - Rheingold - Dreiklangsdimensionen (12")
16 - Zaza - Zauberstab
17 - Trio - Da da da
18 - Georg Kranz - Din da da (vollversion)
19 - Liaisons Dangereuses - Los Ninos Del Parque
20 - Nina Hagen Band - Fisch Im Wasser

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ZaZa - ZaZa   ( '82 - 243mb)

ZaZa is the artistname of Peter La Bonté, before he played in the Münich reggae-rock-band The Nighthawks. Being a professional grafic designer, he did the illustrations for the singles and album covers himself. Zaza means mischief making mirror being . Well mischievous or not the Zauberstab (magic wand) burnt out his career in one go, a shame because there are several excellent tracks on the album, Vorbei ist Vorbei (Yello does der Plan), and a track like Tango d'elite is even more relevant these days then as it was then, and begs to be covered. A pity, i think ZaZa showed original potential on this the only album, blown away as a one hit wonder.



01 - Tango d'elite
02 - Caprifisher
03 - Die Seltsame Reise (cruise missile)
04 - Licht von Kairo
05 - Zauberstab
06 - Dschungel der Liebe
07 - Joker
08 - Vorbei ist Vorbei

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