Euro Music Talk

“MTV is killing me.”

German indie pop newcomer Amos calls the song his silent protest. That is, to make the audience aware how MTV revels on commercialism.

As if we don’t know the deal behind MTV, right? But I am afraid he has all the right to say it.

European acts like him aren’t the No. 1 priority for tomorrow’s party in Munich.

On his MySpace page, he offers everyone to download the single for free, encourages everyone to buy the shirt and the gratis stickers that show your support to his cause.

He attacks MTV’s metamorphosis into a giant market of “lifestyle-ringtone-homeshopping-channel it has become.”

According to his website his “doors will stay shut for one man whose latest song is striking the nerve of millions of outraged musicians and music lovers.”

As a self-styled emperor of pop, he promises to bring back the style into its proper place– a proper music “doing without any razzmatazz, evocative of Quincy Jones work for the early Michael Jackson.”

Go figure.

Amos, MTV Europe Music Awards

Germany and France in spite of being neighbours are not always friendly to each another. I guess, you could say that to all the countries in Europe. But the two huge Western countries have this love and hate relationship that is evident through all the many centuries.

During the first world war they were at odds and Germany lost the region Lorraine, Alsace-Lorraine, forever to France. After World War II, though the Vichy government cooperated with the Nazi Germany, most of the French people still harbour a bit of dislike to the Germans.

A couples of years watching a documentary on the aftermaths of WW2, a former Wehrmacht soldier, an Austrian, revealed how his nationality saved him from the invading French soldiers, who tried to arrest as many as possible Nazi soldiers.

Even today, this attitude persists. Maybe, I am just used to hearing Austrians’ disgust over the Germans. Sometimes it has come to a point of being ridiculous and some people try to humour the relationship. After all, you can say that Austria and Germany is to Canada and the United States of America.

The German band Wir Sind Helden, a play on David Bowies’ German rendition of “Heroes,” wrote “Aurelie,” a song about the difference between German and French flirting and relationships. It is actually an advice written by singer/guitarist Judith Holofernes to her French friend Aurélie Audemar that touches the cultural aspect of finding love between the two countries.

It is actually a byproduct of Judith’s humour “Aurélie,” from the band’s debut album “Die Reklamation.” In the song she talks about that love, the German way, needs time and unlike the French, Germans are very subtle. They don’t show their feelings right away.

But I must say it is also valid to every man. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you are. It doesn’t matter if you are a German or a French. Dating and then falling in love is one tricky game.

Wir Sind Helden started touring in Paris this year to promote their new album “Soundso.” The band, aside from Tokio Hotel, has been heralded as fabulous by Arte, a Franco-German channel.

Wir Sind Helden, Judith Holofernes

The beer-luvers have said it all and gone home. The Oktoberfest 2007 unfolded yesterday but it set brand-new records and amusing surprises.

This year, Munich in Germany might have received less visitors but my, they consumed more liters of beer!

Of all the 6,2 millions of visitors, 300.000 didn’t show up compared to 2006. Nevertheless the beer consumption was more than everybody expected.

No wonder the fair stall owners were satisfied: the people were thirsty.

German-speaking local musical heroes of course dominated the music/entertainment scene like the Austrian folk rapper DJ Ötzi, whose catchy “Hey Baby” became No. 1 in Britain and Australia years ago. His song “Ein Stern der Deinen Namen trägt” (A star that your name carries) landed No. 1 before “Lasso-Song” from Olaf Henning.

But the big surprise went to newcomers Kaiser Chiefs. The English rock band from Leeds whose hit “Ruby” off their second album “Yours Truly, Angry Mob” was clearly the drunken crowd’s favourite.

Kaiser Chiefs, you have arrived!

Hear your song being played on German TV, celebrated at the most famous Bacchanalia in the face of the planet Earth.

A short backgrounder, the original Oktoberfest is a three-week festival held each year in Bavaria, Munich, starting from September till October.

It first happened in the year of 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s (Ludwig I) marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. It began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.

To accommodate Germany’s reunification in 1989 the schedule was modified so it will go on or touch the October 3rd (German Unity Day).

The festival is held on an area called the Theresienwiese (Wiese being meadows in German and Theresia is either Theresa or Therese). The Germans call it “d’ Wiesn” for short. Beer plays a central role in the fair, with every festival beginning with a keg of beer tapped by the mayor of Munich who declares “O’zapft is!” (Bavarian: “It’s tapped!”).

According to the facts and figures, only local Bavarian breweries are allowed to serve this beer in a Bierzelt, a beer tent which is large enough for thousands.

Not only they consume beer but also the visitors consume large quantities of food, such as sausage (Wurst), hendl (chicken), käsespätzle (cheese noodles), and sauerkraut, along with such Bavarian delicacies as roast ox tails and pretzel.

The average visitors might not wear the traditional clothing but men and women of prominence and other enthusiasts either wear a lederhosen (for the males) or Dirndl (for the women). Paris Hilton showed up in 2006 adorning her own rendition of golden modern Dirndl while happily proclaiming that she loves German beer in front of the amused crowd.

This year the Bavarian mayor Christian Ude said that everything was in order. Even the Red Cross and the police reported that the fair was mainly positive this year. It didn’t leave huge accidents but minor ones. Around 7.363 visitors had to be treated, 504 cases lesser than last year. Though last Saturday, the police had to interfere when at least 100 people were arrested.

Other cities around the world also hold their own Oktoberfest. Next year, it will happen again on September 20 till October 5.

To know more about the fair and the region of Munich, check this out.

Source

Oktoberfest, Kaiser Chiefs, Ruby, DJ Ötzi, Christian Ude, Paris Hilton, dirndl, lederhosen, Olaf Henning

There’s more to Abba and Roxette.

Sweden, the third largest Western European country, has contributed a series of famous musical acts for decades.

Introducing Moneybrother, the brainchild of former punker turned soul/pop crooner Anders Wendin from Stockholm, Sweden. In his album “To Die Alone,” the first single “They’re Building Walls Around Us” shows his best imitations of Elvis Presley on the video.

His latest is “Mount Pleasure.”

He used to be the singer of ska-punk rock band Monster. In 2002 they disbanded. The other members went on to join the indie pop band The Concretes. Three years later Anders went on to become solo and released “Blood Panic” that catapulted him to the top of Swedish charts.
The debut album gave him his first award, the Swedish Grammy Award for Rock Album of the Year.

Lately, he is attracting a steady following in Germany. He has reportedly sold out tour dates in the country. In 2005, he appeared at the SXSW 2005 (south by southwest festivals + conferences). German rock band Wir Sind Helden covered his song “Blow Him Back Into My Arms” from his album “To Die Alone” in one of their concerts. Judith Holofernes singing in English! It was surprising as the band doesn’t have a single written and sung in other language than their native German so it must be a challenge.

Moneybrother also collaborated with the singer of The Hives, another Swedish band. Together with Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist they did a cover of an Operation Ivy song called “Freeze Up.”

I can’t seem to point out his musical direction but it has some traces of Abba with some added portions of Housemartins. It is strange. The organ, the voice, the works. But most of all, it is pop. And it is easy to digest. If you want to search for some traces of punk, don’t. You certainly will be disappointed.

This is “Reconsider Me” from “Blood Panic” album.

Moneybrother, Abba, Roxette, Sweden, Wir Sind Helden, Judith Holofernes, The Hives, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist

Usually music festivals happen during summer but not so often. If you happen to be somewhere between Vienna, Austria and Reykjavík, Iceland, starting from this month till the middle of October you might want to check out Kulttour Rocks Vienna and Iceland Airwaves 2007.

Kulttour features Austria’s shooting pop/rock star Christina Stürmer, who is the current darling of Austropop, will be there along with Germany’s Nevada Pop and Sorgente. Sugababes from United Kingdom is the highlight tonight at 5:30 p.m.

While Iceland Airwaves 2007 takes place starting October 17 every year till the 21st. GusGus will be one of the featured bands.

Kulttour, Iceland Airwaves, Sugababes, Christina Stürmer, Sorgente, Nevada Pop, GusGus

Ahhh, to be young and to have lots of fans.

For more than two years, the kids of Tokio Hotel are driving every female teenager and prepubescent girls in Europe on fire. I cannot say I don’t like them. But I admire their ability to to play music and their determination to reach the zenith of fame.

Luck? Talent? The band, which comprises of identical twins Bill (vocals) and Tom Kaulitz (lead guitars), George Listing (bass) and Gustav Shäfer (drums), is steadily climbing on top of the charts and garnering more fan base.

So far, they released three albums in German and one album in English (”Scream”) and has won several awards notably in Germany. Everyone expects them to get awards in the upcoming MTV Europe Awards.

The German rock boy band is from the urban city of Magdeburg, somewhere on the eastern part of the country. They were initially named Devilish in 2001 but changed it to Tokio Hotel their new manager. The boys said to have loved Tokio, the German version of the Japanese capital, and have stayed for several times in a hotel during touring. Hence, Tokio Hotel.

The first time I saw a clip of their first single, “Durch den Monsun” (Monsoon), I was pretty sure that the vocalist was a female. I learned later that the androgynous Gothic-looking singer was a boy. Bill is the most popular member of the group. And lately, he was the subject of a, shall we say, nasty rumour.

There’s nothing wrong with being a homosexual. But if many female adoring fans are ready to give their body to Bill, it would be a mistake to come out of the closet at this stage. Supposedly that was the thought of his band’s record label. The French gossip magazine, Voici, the equivalent of Star, reported that on September 1 Bill wrote a blog entry after a series of heavy partying on the night of his 18th birthday that he likes boys and he would be in league of the Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato and Socrates.

Fans in every corner of Europe regarded this as trash and so speculations easily vanish. Still, in a world of black and white, it would be nice if Bill is straight and his appearance is to taunt the establishment, which by the way likes him very much.

The band launched its first English album in United Kingdom titled “Scream” in June. And if it would be successful, get ready United States for Tokio Hotel.

Tokio Hotel, Bill Kaulitz, gay, schwul