NÜNZEHA

Hey guys, today in german...

Neigst du zu Fernweh?

Suchst du Freiheit?

Bist du heiß auf neue Erfahrungen?

Liebst du das surfen?

Hörst du gerne gute Musik?

Dann schau dir „The Drifter“ an. Dieser Film von und mit Rob Machado ist zwar schon drei Jahre alt, aber seine Faszination ungebrochen. Rob war ein sehr erfolgreicher und bekannter Pro-Surfer.

The Drifter (Trailer)

In „The Drifter“ entflieht er der Hektik und dem Stress unserer Welt und begibt sich auf eine Selbsterfahrungsreise nach Indonesien. Immer dabei natürlich: sein Surfboard.

José Gonzàlez - Heartbeat

Mehr und mehr entgleitet er so der Zivilisation, findet sich selbst in der Einsamkeit wieder, und konzentriert sich nur auf das Surfen und Schreiben.

Die verschiedenen Surf-Szenen sind wirklich faszinierend schön, Rob Machado zeigt was er kann. ;-)

Dr. Dog - Heart It Races (Architecture In Helsinki cover)

Und der Soundtrack erst: Exzellent. Von den Black Keys über die Raconteurs, Iron&Wine, Tegan and Sara, Midlake bis zu MGMT und Yeasayer spannt sich das Spektrum.

The Shins - Sleeping Lessons

Aber: Seid gewarnt: Dieser Film weckt Sehnsüchte aller Art. :-)

ACHTZEHN

Last week, after having taught the topic 'growing up in Canada' for two weeks, I asked my 7th graders to draw a mindmap about Canada. Result: Canada is all about Robin from HIMYM, and 'everyone loves Nickelback'. The latter is a result of the textbook authors' desperate attempts to create semi-authentic material...but hey, WAIT! Canada has a little more to offer.

The Rural Alberta Advantage's band name pretty much sums up what they are about, and listening to them does give you an idea of what growing up - and living - in Canada might actually feel like. And that's best summed up in a quote from their myspace page:

"The Rural Alberta Advantage play indie-rock folk songs about hometowns and heartbreak, born out of images from growing up in Central and Northern Alberta. They sing about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm, the mine workers on compressed, the equally depressed, the city’s slow growth and the country’s wild rose, but mostly the songs just try to embrace the advantage of growing up in Alberta."

And mostly the songs have a unique quality to them that had me listening to them for a few hours on repeat. They're not your typical folk band, but have some pretty much straightforward stuff as well. And they excel in the art of speed changes (?) and surprising songwriting. The band have released two albums so far, Hometowns and Departing.

Frank, AB
is about a landslide. Listen to it and wait for the end - the vocals are heartbreakingly beautiful.

Four night rider
is about passion - and the raw energy of it. Great.

The ballad of the RAA
And all these things will pass
It's the good ones that will last
And right here what we've had
Is a good thing, it will last.

I just noticed I could post almost every single one of their songs. I won't. Only two more:

Don't haunt this place
a break up song that has all all the ups and downs in it. And still a positive vibe.

and finally (the only song from Departing so far)
Tornado '87 - once again about a tragedy. And still - amazing. That's the one that got me hooked, btw. Thanks, Geri! :) I doubt my 7th graders will be able to grasp the greatness of this band - I learned Justin Bieber is Canadian. Well. Fair enough. It's not all about Nickelback.

DIX-SEPT

I am a Jack Johnson fan for a very long time. I was very into his music when his first album was hardly available in Germany. This was back in spring 2003.

That same year the second album “on and on” came out. But it was not before “in between dreams” in 2005 he had his big break through worldwide. And when suddenly everyone knew about him and his guitar, that even the Berlin metro news would talk about him, something about his magic was gone. Don’t take me wrong: I still think he makes great music but something from the fascination is gone. “Gone going” just like Mr. Johnson sang. Of course the first albums are much better than the later ones. The first fans always know better, believe me!

I wondered if it was something about the age. The older you get, the more you become an adult, the more you lose of the fascination for things and the magic for them as well. I listened to great music in the previous years but not much touched me again in the same way.

Until now (of course!)! And this person actually reminds me a bit of Jack Johnson: he is from an island and is a surfer. His island is surrounded by cold waters and gets through long cold and wet winters, nevertheless his music has all the Hawaiian heat Jack was able to create with his simple hymns.

The mystery man is called Ben Howard. He is from Devon, UK and enjoys the company of his guitar too. However he has a more sophisticated recording with violin and background vocals.

I am probably not a fan from the first hours in that situation. Maybe it’s because I am getting older and I am not spending enough time listening to music in such depth as I used to do. Maybe Ben made me over think this all tonight and reminded me that some passions should not be left along the way.

I hope that the following appetisers will also give you this warm positive and energetic feeling in your chest just like in mine. If spring is taking time to arrive, my spring just arrived in my heart through my little earplugs and I imagine myself running between flower fields and dancing to the sunset!

That’s enough of cheesiness for today!
Peace!

SECHZEHNEINHALB

It's about time I posted something, but again it's not music related. A while back a Denish friend of mine shared a link that I found intriguing: A photo project by a graduate of the Denish academy for journalism, Astrid Dalum, titled 'Jeg er kvinde', which translates as 'I am woman'. She has been awarded the Scanpic prize and rightly so. Even without text, the photos showing women of all ages and shapes get their message across - it's about women and their relation to their bodies.The black and white pics capture the women in a very individual, touching way. And the bodies we're speaking of here are not your usual magazine pictures. Just have a look and see for yourself. It certainly left a lasting impression on me...

And if you happen to be able to translate or decipher some Denish, you will find that the accompanying texts also have a story to tell.

SEACHZEHA

Sometimes I hate people.

Well. Not people in general, just the fact that some of them can’t stop chating during a concert.

I can’t understand why you pay 12 Euros to see a show and then sit at the bar and chat all the time.

I mean: if you don’t like the music – you should have informed yourself BEFORE the concert – and if you are there: Show some f…ing respect.

So that’s enough:

The concert I’m talking about was “Son Of The Velvet Rat” in Spielboden, Dornbirn on Friday the 13th of April this year.

Are The Angels Pretty?

What Georg Altziebler and his band delivered was intense, powerful and touching.
They played nearly every song from their great new album “Red Chamber Music”.

From country and blues to mariachi, folk and rock, americana and gospel this album includes everything.

White Patch Of Canvas

“Red Chamber Music” was recorded in Nashville with Wilco/Uncle Tupelo drummer Ken Coomer in charge of production.

“Moment Of Fame” and “White Patch Of Canvas” feature Lucinda Williams as duet partner. Heartbreakingly beautiful…

…tell her you love her in the eye of the twister - tell her you love her in the eye of the hurricane - son of a gun - this is your moment of fame… (Song is not online so check out their homepage:

SON OF A VELVET RAT

Everything’s Calm (But My Heart)

…let's do like the sleeping stars - & not waste our lights - up in the blue skies - but wait for the night - wait for the night to shine…

Sleeping Stars

Enjoy!

FUFZEHA

Do you like rock music???

Kyuss, Foo Fighters and QUOTSA calling???

Listen…

Ribozyme is a Norwegian hard rock band formed in 1998.
It features progressive drum beats, emotionally strong guitars and an ever-changing vocal style.
It has been classified as dark, but not Gothic; angry, but not violent; sad, but not tearful,
not hard, but still heavy.
And that’s a quotation from a Norwegian music website.

They released their fifth album "Presenting The Problem" this February.

Let’s hear some songs. Turn up the volume.

(Zilch) (2001)
Invidia (2003)
Blacklist Mercy (2006)

Climbing Sidewalks

March Of Crime (2009)

One Day Worth

Presenting The Problem (2012)

Presenting The Problem

Tell me: How do you like them?

Rock on.

VIERZEHA

Diver from Austria

Thanks to my fellow mates Anna, Julia, Mihaela, Basti, Giann and Henrik i heard that they are awesome.

With their debut-Album “Kites” they start their personal “trip that never ends”. Folk near Young Rebel Set, near Fanfarlo.

Illusions

Now we can start the summer with their music:

Summer

The three guys are from Vienna. I’m happy to hear that Austria can still produce some real good music. They would use their songs for movies like “Garden State”, “The eternal sunshine of a spotless mind” or “Herr Lehmann”. So they have to be good.

The Theory (from their debut-EP)

Listen!