I'm missing Germany today and since I can't eat Doenners nor ride the train to Karlsruhe nor gaze at the Black Forest out my window at least I can still listen to German music!
Today's group is from Cologne and the girl lead singer in this band (Claire Oelkers) is also a VeeJay for German MTV which is how I first saw her. Karl told me she also had a band and then I heard the band and I really like the band! And now you get to hear the band!
The band is called Karpatenhund (which literally means Carpathian Dog).
They have kind of a fun pop-y sound typical of a lot of German popular music (sounds that get stuck in your head but you really don't mind). Here are a couple of their best known songs:
Zusammen Verschwinden (Disappear Together)
Gegen den Rest (Against the Rest)
And I always really liked this one, Ist es das was du wolltest (Is that what you wanted)...
See? Happy stuff!
If you like like I like you can listen to more here.
There's a big music festival going on in Karlsruhe this weekend called Das Fest. Lots of well-known musicians come and play all weekend and the best part about it is that it's all free!
One of Karl's favorite German bands, Sportfreunde Stiller, was playing last night so he went to watch them (I didn't feel up to all the crowds, so I stayed home watching Friends and quilting).
The crowd last night at Das Fest...
...enjoying Sportfreunde Stiller...
Sportfreunde Stiller is three guys from Munich...
...who use to play soccer together. Their best known song is actually an annoyingly catchy song about German soccer (which we've been hearing a lot lately with the Euro Championship recently ended). But their other stuff is pretty good. I've always thought of them with a typically cheery German sound.
About a month ago a German band appeared on Conan O'Brien. Karl and I of course don't get to watch American late night television but once in a while he will download an episode or two and he just happened to download the episode where this German band appeared. The band was Tokio Hotel...and for any of my American friends, family and acquaintances who happened to see them perform on Conan...please allow me to offer my apologies.
Tokio Hotel is very popular here with 12-year-old girls. Even though the band members look like 12-year-old girls themselves, they are really 15-year-old boys pretending that they're a cool rock band. And the last thing I want any of you to think is that Tokio Hotel is a good representation of German pop music.
So I feel the need to counter Tokio Hotel's attempt to seduce American 12-year-old girls by sharing with you some truly good German pop music! I had originally thought I would share you all my favorite German bands in one post but I've since decided that these talents are worth their own individual posts so this will be a new series on my blog!
Today let me introduce you to one of my favorite German bands, Wir Sind Helden (We are Heroes): three boys and a girl named Judith Holofernes (I have no idea if that is her real name or not but I love it!) who have no reason to pretend...they make very cool music!
Here are a couple of my favorite songs: Guten Tag (Good Day)--the video is a kind of tongue-in-cheek account of their sudden rise to fame that came with this song...
...and Nur Ein Wort (Just One Word) as a very Bob Dylan-esque video...
Never mind if you can't understand the words...aren't they great fun?! But, if you are someone who still likes to understand the words...I did find this site with English translations of Wir Sind Helden lyrics. And here, by the way, is the Wir Sind Helden official website. Now go buy their albums here.
I hope you like...and if you happen to know of any other good German (or any other nationality for that matter) bands you think I should check out, let me know!
(Ok, fine...if you missed that Conan episode, here is a link to that creepy androgynous-ness that is Tokio Hotel. They normally sing in German, by the way...and don't say I didn't warn you.)
My name is Heather. I have an art history degree and a little online quilt shop. I use to live in Germany and try to re-create my European lifestyle. I spend my days with my cute boy, Axel, and try to help my talented husband, Karl, renovate our ugly 1970s house.
