donderdag 26 maart 2009

Seufzmädchen


The German language has the reputation of sounding harsh, commandeering, brute. But with the right girlie voice, a lot of false air and ofcourse the beauty to match that voice, German can be almost as comforting as French. In the past, I posted about German filles like Kitty Hoff, Lula, Elke Brauweiler and Donna Regina, but they all sang in French. The girls in this post sing in German. And yes, that's just as nice. Trust me.
OK, we start in French then. Wir Sind Helden is a German poprockband that gained some popularity when this song was played a lot on tv during the World Cup Football in Germany. They translated some songs in French - not a bad move. La Réclamation is a very danceable version of Gutentag, the band's first single, and reminds me of Deutsche Welle bands like Spider Murphy Gang. Singer Judith has a very nice out-of-breath voice.
Hottest chick in this post is Suzie Kerstgens (pictured) of Klee from Cologne. A blonde bombshell with firebrigade-lips and Bambi-eyes. They play rock with lots of electronic help (think New Order), that suits Suzie's supersexy voice really well.
JaKönigJa is probably the oddest band here. They play indie-rock mixed with jazz - there is a link with Stereolab and High Llamas. Ebba Durstewitz has a cool, husky voice that makes the music more odd, but her voice softens things up too. Like using a pillow against barbed wire.
Susie Pinkawa has a Vanessa Paradis-ish voice, she's the singer of Berlin-based Viktoriapark. It's like the band records from Susie's bedroom, she sings like she just woke up. Loving it.

One of my alltime favourite German songs is Melancholisch Schön by 2Raumwohnung. Inga Humpe sounds like a tanned Brazilian beauty, wearing a dirndl-dress. This Berlin duo made several solid albums.
MIA is not M.I.A., but a band that's around since the end of the 90s. Singer Sarah Kuttner is a former tv-presenter. Mieze is the name of their singer. MIA apparently stands for Musik ist Alles (Music is everything). Mieze has a nice, melancholic voice.
Maria Antonia is the darkhaired siren of Chapeau Claque (you know, a black hat that you can fold in). The first French name that sprang to mind when I heard them first, was Emilie Simon. Odd but sexy rock.
Annett Louisan has the most fragile voice of all these Mädel. She a nice little tease from the former DDR, who made four albums so far. She sings about love, life and girlie problems. Frank Ramond (yes, a guy) writes all her lyrics.
Swiss honey Heidi Happy sings mostly in English, but recorded one sweet little song in German on her debut. Glad she did.

Wir Sind Helden - La Réclamation (Gutentag)
Wir Sind Helden - Aurélie
Klee - Erinner Dich (VIDEO)
JaKönigJa - Diese Schmerzen Muss Du Teilen
JaKönigJa - Herrin der Balustrade
Viktoriapark - Grau und ganz blass
Viktoriapark - Erika
2Raumwohnung - Melancholisch Schön (VIDEO)
MIA - Tanz der Molekülen (VIDEO)
Chapeau Claque - Rot
Chapeau Claque - Blutenstaubromanze
Annett Louisan - Drück die Eins (VIDEO)
Annet Louisan - Sexy Loverboy
Heidi Happy - Du da, ich da (VIDEO)

9 opmerkingen:

  1. Waar is Sophie Hunger? :-)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9vM3XzxB1I

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  2. Ausgezeichnet! "Wir sind Helden" ist echt super. Aber auch "Juli", z.B. hier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaOjNetOV4I
    Grüsse aus Berlin!

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  3. Sorry, but Sarah Kuttner has never been the singer of MIA She only went to school with the real singer Mieze. :)

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  4. Wir sind Helden, good choice ;)

    The Germans really do like singing in French. They keep telling me that. Fouxi from Munich has a new album out shortly IIRC.

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  5. I strongly recommend to take a closer look at Lisa Bassenge and her Trio. She also does very nice stuff with "Micatone" and her third band "Nylon".

    Best regards,
    Ulf

    P.S. Really like your Blog!

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  6. FANTASTIC post. Great to see you branch out to include other countries - even non-French ones (the Canadian series was superb; hopefully you'll return there... there's so much great music from that destination). These tunes open an (until now) closed door on some great pop bands. Many thanks. [more nations to follow, I hope?]

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  7. Kitty Hoff sings only 1 song in french ;-) By the way: listen to her new album "Zuhause" (Home) www.myspace.com/kittyhoff there you can find a beautiful duet with Kitty Hoff and Coralie Clément (Benjamin Biolays little sister) singing in german !!! Very very cute (both) <3 <3

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  8. Some great stuff here! Die Herrin der Balustrade is a gem. Makes me think of Die Moulinettes.

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