Ich will ausrocken!
April 23, 2011 10:10 PM Subscribe
What's some great German music I can dance, sing, and rock out to?
I love the sheer amount of great music from Germany. Unfortunately, I'm running out of music to listen to!
I'd really like to find some new music. The genre isn't all that important: I'll listen to pop, rock, electronica, what have you. I'm not the biggest fan of super heavy screaming music, but I'll admit to liking the occasional Rammstein song. (And "Küss Mich" by In Extremo, which has the most extreme bagpipes I've ever heard.)
I like to pick apart lyrics and translate them to help me with my German studies, so wordplay, repetitive refrains, and easily-Googleable slang are much appreciated.
Some artists have such a huge discography that it's hard to navigate all the songs they've recorded. (Xavier Naidoo, I'm lookin' at you!) If you can point out particularly groovy songs, that'd be helpful.
Here are some artists I've listened to recently, in no particular order: Anajo, Münchener Freiheit, Culcha Candela, Tic Tac Toe, Ich + Ich, Tomte, MIA., Wise Guys, Karpatenhund, Niels Frevert, Clueso, and Ben Kaan.
Danke dafür!
I love the sheer amount of great music from Germany. Unfortunately, I'm running out of music to listen to!
I'd really like to find some new music. The genre isn't all that important: I'll listen to pop, rock, electronica, what have you. I'm not the biggest fan of super heavy screaming music, but I'll admit to liking the occasional Rammstein song. (And "Küss Mich" by In Extremo, which has the most extreme bagpipes I've ever heard.)
I like to pick apart lyrics and translate them to help me with my German studies, so wordplay, repetitive refrains, and easily-Googleable slang are much appreciated.
Some artists have such a huge discography that it's hard to navigate all the songs they've recorded. (Xavier Naidoo, I'm lookin' at you!) If you can point out particularly groovy songs, that'd be helpful.
Here are some artists I've listened to recently, in no particular order: Anajo, Münchener Freiheit, Culcha Candela, Tic Tac Toe, Ich + Ich, Tomte, MIA., Wise Guys, Karpatenhund, Niels Frevert, Clueso, and Ben Kaan.
Danke dafür!
I love this fun German song by Die Prinzen: Deutschland. Lyrics here and translation here. This artist has many other songs that are similarly satirical or humorous commentaries on German society. As a German-language learner, you might like Die Prinzen because their enunciation is clear, their songs are catchy, and their lyrics are clever and interesting.
posted by datarose at 11:54 PM on April 23, 2011
posted by datarose at 11:54 PM on April 23, 2011
Do you know Peter Fox? F.i. here with miss Platnum.
posted by joost de vries at 12:31 AM on April 24, 2011
posted by joost de vries at 12:31 AM on April 24, 2011
Seconding Wir Sind Helden and Fettes Brot. I'm also a big fan of Die Ärzte (Ein Sommer nur für mich is my current favorite, but ignore this creepy fanvid) and like Die Toten Hosen well enough (particularly this song.)
If you're interested in German folk music (NOT Volksmusik, although in that case I also recommend Heino), I'd check out Zupfgeigenhansl (to keep with the Hamburg-y theme started a few comments ago, here's a Hamburger song from the 1848 Revolutions.)
One of my favorite Kabarettisten (even if he's strayed away from the political recently) is Bodo Wartke; I've been listening to Claudia a lot lately. His stuff is good for wordplay.
Rainald Grebe is also amusing, although my favorite song (Bernd) might be a little too reliant on knowing about German culture and the Stiftungswarentest.
Also, if you've been listening to the Wise Guys, I hope you've found Schiller.
posted by naturalog at 2:42 AM on April 24, 2011
If you're interested in German folk music (NOT Volksmusik, although in that case I also recommend Heino), I'd check out Zupfgeigenhansl (to keep with the Hamburg-y theme started a few comments ago, here's a Hamburger song from the 1848 Revolutions.)
One of my favorite Kabarettisten (even if he's strayed away from the political recently) is Bodo Wartke; I've been listening to Claudia a lot lately. His stuff is good for wordplay.
Rainald Grebe is also amusing, although my favorite song (Bernd) might be a little too reliant on knowing about German culture and the Stiftungswarentest.
Also, if you've been listening to the Wise Guys, I hope you've found Schiller.
posted by naturalog at 2:42 AM on April 24, 2011
Hier Kommt Alex by Die Toten Hosen is a pretty great track.
posted by Scrimshaw at 3:16 AM on April 24, 2011
posted by Scrimshaw at 3:16 AM on April 24, 2011
I confess to having three songs that I listened to every morning to turn on my "German brain" for a quarter of 8am German class. They are definitely more guilty pleasures than amazingly quality music, but you may find them enjoyable: Der Wolf - Oh Shit, Frau Schmidt, Die Fantastichen Vier - Die Da?, and the too-catchy Dschinghis Khan - Moskau (ho ho ho ho ho).
posted by lantius at 3:31 AM on April 24, 2011
posted by lantius at 3:31 AM on April 24, 2011
I like Eisbrecher's same-titled first album - they're industrial metal but the album has a good range of flavours. The self-titled song is a great introduction, Fanatica is a neat dance track (there's also a club mix but I don't like it so much) which is an English/German mix and there's plenty of other good tracks.
The next couple of albums are not so great IMHO (too many similar songs) - but Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-Me-Not) was probably their most popular release.
posted by ninazer0 at 4:19 AM on April 24, 2011
The next couple of albums are not so great IMHO (too many similar songs) - but Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-Me-Not) was probably their most popular release.
posted by ninazer0 at 4:19 AM on April 24, 2011
I found Unheilig's Geboren um zu Leben catchy, heavy, and good to rock out to. It's also very good on the lyrical side of things for a learner of German.
posted by matlock expressway at 7:42 AM on April 24, 2011
posted by matlock expressway at 7:42 AM on April 24, 2011
Dschinginghis Khan is great!!!
Some more artists you might want to check out: Ruben Cossani ("Besser Jetzt is about St. Pauli!), Erdmöbel ("Ja nicht Nein").
Also "Computerstaat" by Abwärts is IMHO one of the best punk songs ever.
posted by kendrak at 8:05 AM on April 24, 2011
Some more artists you might want to check out: Ruben Cossani ("Besser Jetzt is about St. Pauli!), Erdmöbel ("Ja nicht Nein").
Also "Computerstaat" by Abwärts is IMHO one of the best punk songs ever.
posted by kendrak at 8:05 AM on April 24, 2011
Alexander Marcus - Papaya!?
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Turbo Dreams. Not much German in Ellen Allien's stuff, but anything on bpitch control is worth at least checking out.
There are also, naturally, German language versions of nearly every Kraftwerk song, Computer World was also released in Japanese, Italian, and English, if you want to compare versions.
posted by clockwork at 10:23 AM on April 24, 2011
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Turbo Dreams. Not much German in Ellen Allien's stuff, but anything on bpitch control is worth at least checking out.
There are also, naturally, German language versions of nearly every Kraftwerk song, Computer World was also released in Japanese, Italian, and English, if you want to compare versions.
posted by clockwork at 10:23 AM on April 24, 2011
Stereo Total is a lot of fun - many songs in German, more in French. Free MP3s & lyrics.
posted by dmo at 10:57 AM on April 24, 2011
posted by dmo at 10:57 AM on April 24, 2011
I have a ton of the tech house, electro house, and techno compilations from Future Audio, a German electronic music label.
posted by phoebus at 11:38 AM on April 24, 2011
posted by phoebus at 11:38 AM on April 24, 2011
My German "Bruder" (I stayed with his family one summer 30 years ago and we remain friends) is always sending me Herbert Grönemeyer songs and most have grown on me.
Seconding Wir Sind Helden and Die Fantastichen Vier. matlock expressway, "Geboren um zu Leben" was on heavy rotation my last visit (about a year ago) and I like it too, but then I worry that I'm listening to a German version of Evanescence. Still, catchy indeed and the lyrics are incredibly easy to understand (and learn).
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:05 PM on April 24, 2011
Seconding Wir Sind Helden and Die Fantastichen Vier. matlock expressway, "Geboren um zu Leben" was on heavy rotation my last visit (about a year ago) and I like it too, but then I worry that I'm listening to a German version of Evanescence. Still, catchy indeed and the lyrics are incredibly easy to understand (and learn).
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:05 PM on April 24, 2011
I really like Klee. They have a pop-electro sound that's great to dance to.
posted by upplepop at 8:29 AM on April 25, 2011
posted by upplepop at 8:29 AM on April 25, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
My favourite German rap song ever (EVER!) is Fettes Brot's Nordisch by Nature. It's in Platt for parts, which is pretty rad.
Some other bands from Hamburg you might want to check out are Tocotronic and Die Sterne. (Now "Universal Tellerwäscher" will be stuck in my head all night.)
A guilty pleasure is Sido, a rapper from the Agro Berlin group. "Flufflies im Club". You might also want to check out Fler as well.
And of course, Heino!
posted by kendrak at 11:51 PM on April 23, 2011 [1 favorite]