Not Rock On

Posting Bargeld Amore by Lost Gringos brought memories back of the discovery of COOL. Then some south american rhythms were COOl. I even remember staging a Tropical Beach Party, well not a big success in Lüchow. This LP by Fehlfarben is a lot UNLIKE what you might expect if you know Monarchie und Alltag . Peter Hein left after MuA and Uwe Jahnke and Thomas Schwebel had new visions for the Sound of 83, Funk and Cool were the words. 14 Tage was a great dance track in the vein of Rogers/Edwards /CHIC to you), already released as the soundtrack for the FABULOUS Summer of 82... G&A is a perfect Pop Album, dance tracks, Pop songs and wonderful ballads, recorded perfectly in DMM. I still love this LP. Here you get the LP + the 14 Tage 12" and a 7" B-side and all spells P-O-P!!! Fehlfarben - Glut und Asche 1983 (+ bonus 14 Tage 12" +)

After dorfdisco braunsfeld posted the Fix Planet LP. Here is the last missing EP Troca Troca (Warning Records 24) from 1984. The music is a mix of found recordings, electronics and what now would be called world music. I got interested in them after I heard Lost Gringos - Bargeld Amore in 83, a brazilian influenced song (I think it is a cover of a famous brazilian song. As Jake told me in the comments, on the back cover of the "Bargeld Amore"7", it's said it's "Lanca Perfume" by Rita Lee and Roberto de Carvalho.), but sung by some german teenage girls, very charming. This here is not so fascinating anymore, it is ok, but this did not stand the test of time. For completists (I got it from a bargain bin, any offers?). Lost Gringos - Troca Troca WR24 84 Unfortunately this link is no longer available and even more unfortunately I do not have a copy of this file! Grrrr... If anybody has a copy he found here, please let me know by posting a comment to the ne...

You know how much I like Die Zimmermänner so here is ZZ 36 from 1981, although the cover was extremely ugly then and still is now! Die Zimmermänner - Kultur / Ein halbes Jahr Saal 2 worked more electronically, with a remarkable version of Die Internationale, went down a storm with my music teacher when I made a presentation of new german music in 1981... Angst vorm Tanzen/Beschäftigung Maskulin// Ich liebe Donald Duck/Die Internationale Saal 2 EP ZZ 5 1980 The last one is by German underground's High Society! Peter Hein (Mittagspause, Fehlfarben), Jürgen Engler (Male, Krupps), Gabi Delgado-Lopez (DAF), Marcus Oehlen (Charley´s Girls, Red Krayola) and O.R.A.V.s/Xao Seffcheque produced an LP ZZ 60 in 1981 that was something very irritating at the time. One side were acoustic versions of songs by Mittagspause, Fehlfarben and SYPH, the other had live versions of German Schlager and Karnevalsongs. More of a novelty gag, but some of the acoustic versions were quite nice. O.R.A.V.s/ D...

Here are some more EPs by Kosmonautentraum, the band from Hannover with their charismatic frontman Ziggy XY. The first is their single Liebesmühn from 1981 ZZ 41 (Kosmonautentraum Nr.7//Kosmonautentraum Nr.8/Kosmonautentraum Nr.9) Kosmonautentraum - Liebesmühn Next is a collaboration with Ralf Hertwig from Palais Schaumburg as Bergtraum on ZZ 135 from 1982 Almenrausch//Männerfreiheit/Enzian Bergtraum EP My latest Kosmonautentraum EP is ZZ 220 from 1985 : Angst ist mein König Spielball der Irren/Phantomschmerz (version)// Transit/Petit mal/Der Schlächter ist mein Freund Kosmonautentraum - Angst ist mein König

This is the second Abwärts 7" on ZickZack ZZ 28 from 1981. Abwärts - Roboter in der Nacht / Für Mutti This later single from 1988 is still Abwärts and strong! Abwärts - Alkohol / Mehr Alkohol

Completing the Holger Hiller overload this is the first single by Hamburg's Geisterfahrer and also the first record on Alfred Hilsberg's ZickZack label. Geisterfahrer at that time were Matthias Schuster, Hans Keller, Michael Ruff and Holger Hiller. Geisterfahrer - ZZ 01 EP 1980 The first LP was released later that year. Holger Hiller had left for Palais Schaumburg, Jürgen Weiss came in on drums. I bought this record, together with Unknown Pleasures and Closer by Joy Division from my first Bafög (state money for students, 290 Deutschmarks for free, that was great!). I went to Uelzen on my Hercules Ultra to invest the first part of the money on records I had heard of on John Peel's Music on BFBS, a show I started listening to in May, shortly after Ian Curtis' suicide, of course a lot of Joy Division on the playlist then. I was fascinated by the sound! Very clear production, a fantastic sound, very different to ACDC or pompous rock prominent at that time. Space, dark moo...

This is (for now!) the final part in the Holger Hiller Saga, as far as I can tell it, feel free to continue but post me the links! This is the 1992 LP DE-Mixed. I don't know if HH asked several remixers (all of them unknown to me) or if Mute just wanted some product. HH goes modern Electronics on these songs, but don't expect Ibiza. A record to listen to! It came in a plain white cardbord sleeve with holes and a large sticker on, unlike the pic. Holger Hiller - De-Mixed 1992

After his work with Palais Schaumburg (I am sure you have at least the two LPs!) Holger Hiller concentrated on his ouevre as an artist, but never really leaving POP. I think Johnny, Du Lump was his only ever "Hit". Here you get the album "Ein Bündel Fäulnis in der Grube" from 1983/4 and "Oben im Eck" from 1986. They show pretty well how he pre-used sampling technology long before anybody talked about it. There was the Fairlight (I am sure it is on these two, I just found out that he used an Emulator 1 he rented here but there is something else in using it creatively! I really like these LPs, that were combined on CDSTUMM38. I'm not sure if it is Japanese, but it has the WAVE imprint. Holger Hiller - Oben im Eck (1986) & Ein Bündel Fäulnis in der Grube (1984)

This is the 7" Holger Hiller recorded with Chris Lunch and Walter Thielsch (his soon to be successor in Palais Schaumburg) as Warning Records 004 in 1980. This sounded like nothing else then, even Palais Schaumburg took a while to get his way, and then, after the first LP, Walter Thielsch replaced him. He used weird lyrics too, but more lyrical, less aggressive, agitorial as Holger. This 7" ranges from minimal to expressionist in a few minutes. Holger Hiller WR004 1980

After Holger Hiller (left) had success with Palais Schaumburg and on his own he again teamed up with his former pupil Andreas Dorau (top, who had a little success by himself now) to write an opera. Hearing this from the people that gave us Der Lachende Papst sounded funny in the first moment. Combined with their knowledge of DADA and the ways things were then it was a perfect pair. The arthead and the Popstar going completely off. MUTE says : "„Guten Morgen Hose“ war der Ausweg aus diesem popkulturellen Missverständnis. Dorau war bereits kurz davor, die Musik aufzugeben, als er das Angebot bekam in einer Fernsehsendung, die in allen dritten Programmen lief, vier Stücke zu spielen. Mit kompletter künstlerischer Freiheit. Er ging zu seinem ehemaligen Gitarrenlehrer Holger Hiller, dem Sänger von Palais Schaumburg und Studenten der Improvisierten Musik. Die beiden beschlossen, eine surreale Oper zu schreiben. Aus Textfragmenten bastelten die beiden ein Libretto, das sie von Putzfrauen...

Unfortunately s6.11Mbit.in does not work anymore. It worked fine as long as it did. For the moment I will use rapidshare although it is not that user-friendly for people wanting to download things if they don't have an expensive account there. Although I received the tip to just delete your Temporary internet files (in IE - Extras - Internet options - TIF - Delete files) or just disconnect your router. I also try zshare.net . It works and you have the advantage, that you can listen to the file (if it is mp3) in a media player on the website. So you can decide if you really want that file before downloading it completely. Maybe you have better alternatives! Try it and tell me about your experiences or alternatives! I will use Rapidshare for large files and Zshare for small files (expect exceptions...) UPDATE : Rapidshare.de at the moment says ALL HARDDRIVES ARE FULL, so I will give a chance to uploading.com

Kosmonautentraum was formed in 1980 by Ziggy XY who was also in der Moderne Man, another famous band from Hannover (see archive). He had a very theatrical style. I remember a show where they were the opening act, throwing around flour like King Kurt. Their very strict and angular rhythms were very fascinating, Ziggy's lyrics were only a minor distraction... My favorite is "Deutsche Nacht", dark mood, driving drums, great! Their first LP for ZickZack was good because it offered a lot of nice songs, nice if you like to work listening to a record. It was not easy, but this was something special. Kosmonautentraum - Juri Gagarin 1982

This is the famous first EP by Kleenex on the Sunrise Label, released 1978. I bought it in a small very independent record shop in Lüchow with the very imaginative name Eulenspiegel. Lots of hippies there, but they were the only to sell these underground records. Kleenex were from Switzerland, mostly female and great! Of course I heard about them through John Peel. In 1980 they had to change their name to Liliput, the music stayed fantastic. Kleenex - Sunrise EP Liliput - Eisiger Wind / When the cat's away then mice will play You surely know about them or else go to Wiki or search around. Brotbeutel posted a tape with a Kleenex interview from 1979, I don't know if he put it online again, just have a look at his blog!