Germania! (Der Erste)

Welcome to Germania! Fill your steins and heat up that leftover bowl of spätzle because all this week I'll be posting strange and exciting German ditties. Yay!

Die Doraus & Die Marinas is Andreas Dorau, a man with an extensive catalog of out there, awesome music, and Die Marinas, a collective of five singin ladies that must have been put together by Dorau, being that they've only done work with him. I couldn't think of a better track to kick off Germania week here at ARAWA than Blumen Und Narzissen, the title track off their 1981 album. With a melody overflowing with naivete, clickety clack percussion and snappy bass, I just don't know how else to say it. It's cute.

Die Doraus & Die Marinas- Blumen Und Narzissen

Germania! (Der Dritte)

Okay, I know Falco's not German, he's Austrian, so let's call this one, Germania: Cheaters Edition. I mean, come on. The song is called Munich Girls. Munich is totally in Germany. Thats also where they have the world's largest Oktoberfest celebration. Oktoberfest is soooo German. AND... Austria is like, touching Germany. Like, right there. So close.

Whatever. I cheated.

I always thought this song deserved to be in a sweet 80's movie. Being that it wasn't, I'll make one up. It's called Revenge of the Nerds V: Go Deutsch. This time around the nerds have to stop an evil millionaire from ruining Oktoberfest (No beer? Gasp!). You've got the idea. Anyway, in the end of the film, Lewis finally wins over the Oktoberfest babe he's had his four eyes on, and the film ends with their happy (and wacky) nuptials. Despite the fact that she STILL doesn't speak english. As their car pulls away from the church she tosses the bouquet in the air and bam! Freeze frame, roll credits and queue this one up...

Falco- Munich Girls

Germania (Der Zehnte)

Last day in Germania folks. I know, I know. It's hard to let go. At least you're going back home with lots of souvenirs to remember our trip right? How about one more?

Remember last time when we ended with Carmen? A little song about the land of milk and honey called Schlaraffenland? Well, after a really long time searching out her album in any form, I finally happened upon a vinyl copy on German Ebay. With the help of my Babelfish friend I won the auction and am happy to share the spoils with my ARAWA friends! Yay!

So here we go with 12 tracks of Neue Deutsche Welle goodness ripped with love at 320 and packed in a cozy little zip...

Carmen- Puppe Aus Glas

And for you test driver's out there here's my two faves from the album...

Carmen- Schlaraffenland
Carmen- Es Ist Kalt Um Mich Herum

Germania! (Der Sechste)

According to the indispensable and often misleading Babelfish (whose Hitchiker's namesake I won't go into but would like to), Recht Herzlich means "quite cordially". Being that I would like to quite cordially invite all of you to spend another week in Schlaraffenland with me, I don't think there's anything more appropriate I could post. Der Kleine Elefant's got lot's of synth's, catchy sugary verses and a big dose of weird. And it's about elephants. Elephants are so rad.

Recht Herzlich- Der Kleine Elefant

If you missed out on Germania last time... You're auf'd! Just kidding, go here to catch up.

Germania! (Der Neunte)

The title translates to "coldly like ice" but alas, a Foreigner cover this isn't. Instead we get a pretty powerful bit of synthpop, the kind of song that would work wonders in a movie montage. I see Kristi getting her choreography together for her big performance, the performance that's going to change everything. She's all leg warmer's and lycra, kicking and twirling in the dance studio mirror, her mind spinning with flashback's of the only man she ever loved, her dance partner, a man she drove away with her fierce sense of competition and seemingly harmless lies. Now Kristi will have to dance this dance alone. Or will she?

Kristi Kara- Kalt Wie Eis

See you tomorrow for a special treat on the last day of Germania!

Germania! (Der Zweite)

This band eludes me. Can't find one speck of info on them other than the fact that "Jawohl", means an emphatic yes. A few examples would be... Do you enjoy things like muted guitars, big synths and bad ass German gals? Jawohl! Does extra catchy new wave anthems get you all pumped? Jawohl!

Jawohl- Rendezvous

Germania! (Der Siebte)

Kurt Dahlke is one of those people that just does and does and does. He's been a member of legendary bands DAF, Fehlfarben and Der Plan, produced as many as 150 records for scores of groups, and is the founder of one of my favorite German record labels, ATA TAK. And after 30 years in the biz, he's still going strong, performing with his crazy setup (see above), teaching, producing, remixing and being a man highly interested in pushing the boundaries of technology, he even has a blog documenting his experiments using the endlessly fascinating Tenori-On controller (check his blog here). Under his Pyrolator guise he's released some truly out there work, pushing the envelope and his gear to produce odd and beautiful music. Here's a little taste of what he does from 1980, Ein Weihnachtsmann Kommt In Die Disco (Babelfish says "Santa Claus comes into the Disco"). A meandering track built over a clicking drum machine, thick bass, tightly coiled funk guitars, twinkling bits of bells and yes, vocoder, the best invention ever.

Pyrolator- Ein Weihnachtsmann Kommt In Die Disco

Germania! (Der Vierte)

Here's an odd German new wave track by Foyer Des Arts, arranged over a steady disco beat with fretless bass and strings cutting through, creating some sort of funky nervous tension. Voices drift in and out, conversations start and stop, what do they say? Well, "Wissenswertes Über Erlangen" means "Worth Knowing Over Attaining". Today you get to know and attain this great song, and personally, I think thats way better.

Foyer Des Arts- Wissenswertes Über Erlangen

Germania! (Der Fünfte)

All good German themed music weeks must come to an end folks, so today I leave you with another Carmen. According to Woebot, Carmen is an ex-member of Die Marinas (see Der Erste) but I'm not sure, being that Discogs doesn't have her listed as a Marina. However she is listed as "featured" on the Dies Doraus Und Die Marinas' album "Tulpen und Narzissen". Aah, who cares. This song is awesome.

Since it was featured on the Munk compiled "Teutonik Disaster" (an essential collection of German oddities) I expect "Schlaraffenland" might be familiar to many. Originally off Carmen's sole (and elusive) album, "Puppe Aus Glas", it has Carmen and an unknown (to me) gentleman trading off vocal duties, over a bouncy rhythm and keys. Schlaraffenland is known as the land of milk and honey in German folklore, a mythical land of plenty, a fitting metaphor for the wealth of amazing German music out there.

Carmen- Schlaraffenland

Germania! (Der Achte)

Is there anything sexier than a German man sing/rapping over a midtempo groove laced with marimba and funky slap bass?

Yes. But you could do a lot worse.

4D- Sexappeal