Rinderwahnsinn back together for a reunion concert

The previously split up hard rock band Rinderwahnsinn is scheduled to play a reunion concert this Thursday, May 22nd, in Frankfurt. There’s no word if this means the band will be back for good or produce another album, but at least any of the band’s fans who are nostalgic for their albums from the 90s will get one more chance to hear them performed live. Check out some of Rinderwahnsinn’s music on their MySpace page. I have the album Herrscher, it’s not bad.

Metropolis Records opens a forum

The US-based industrial and EBM record label Metropolis Records, which releases several German bands in North America, has just launched an online forum. There’s a section for Metropolis artists as well as a section for other musicians in the scene and a general discussion area. If you’re interested in joining, just head over to this page and sign up in the upper right corner.

Dog Eared Pages writes song for the Blue Devils

The pop-punk band Dog Eared Pages recently released a new song written for The Blue Devils, a football (American football, not soccer) team from Hamburg. You can hear the song, as well as others by the band, on their MySpace page. Dog Eared Pages is also scheduled to play several times at the Blue Devils stadium during the next few months.

Download the new Donots single for free

It’s becoming increasingly popular among bands to give away some of their music for free in exchange for a list of your friends’ email addresses. By doing this, a band amplifies the reach of their music so more people get to listen to it and it also helps them get in contact with more potential fans, so it seems like a win-win situation. We discovered Daloco’s incredible blues-rock album Mama Ist Entzückt this way and it proved to be pretty popular among readers. Now you can get the new Donots single “Stop The Clocks” this way, too. Will it prove to be just as popular?

Just head over to their e-card, type in some of your friends’ emails, and listen away. Sure, this is just a single, not an entire album, but by filling in the Donots e-card, you’ll also be entered to win tickets to one of 2 festivals the band will be playing at later in the year, a meet-and-greet with the band, and a voucher for the Donots Shop worth 100 Euros. Good luck, and as usual, let us know what you think in the comments.

Scooter ousts Madonna from the top of the UK album chart

The latest Scooter album Jumping All Over The World, which was originally released in Germany and several other countries in 2007, was just released on May 5th in the UK. It was the act’s first album release in the UK since 2003’s The Stadium Techno Experience, but they probably would have released more there if they had known how popular they would be with the Brits. Jumping All Over The World soared to the #1 spot on the UK album chart, surpassing even the “queen of pop” Madonna and her album Hard Candy. You can read the complete BBC article here. Thanks to Nadja for the tip.

Tour calendar finally created

I finally made a tour calendar for German bands that are coming to North America. It includes all bands that have already toured here so far in 2008 (including Ellen Allien which I just found out about, a few days too late) and plenty more that have yet to arrive. Check it out now, and check back often for updates. I hope you’ll find this helpful.

Destroid on tour in the US

Destroid is a project created by Daniel Myer of Haujobb, along with Sebastian Ullman, in 2004. Their latest album Loudspeaker was released in October of 2007, before which they supported [:SITD:] in a tour acrossed Europe. Now, they are flying over the Atlantic for a tour of the United States.

The venue locations seem somewhat evenly spread out acrossed the country, so if you’re within a reasonable distance from any of them, I recommend going. If you’re on the West Coast, you may also have the opportunity to attend one of Daniel Myer’s DJ sets which are scheduled towards the end of the tour. Of course, if you’re not familiar with Myer or Destroid, check out their music on MySpace.

Destroid 2008 U.S. Tourdates
May 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
May 23 - Austin, TX - Elysium
May 25 - Columbus, OH - Hi-5
May 28 - New York, NY - Sapony
May 29 - Washington, DC - Liv
May 30 - West Palm Beach, FL - Respectable Street
May 31 - Orlando, FL - AKA Lounge
June 03 - San Francisco, CA - Fat City
June 05 - Portland, OR - Mt. Tabor Legacy
June 06 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
June 07 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 08 - Portland, OR - The Fez Ballroom - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 09 - Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
June 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 14 - Phonix, AZ - Sadisco

King’s Tonic will do a quick tour, too

King’s Tonic might be a new name to some of you. I know they were to me when I first heard them on Radio Goethe last week. They’re a punk rock band who just released their second album Fuck Your Neighbour earlier this year and they’re doing a really short 5-show tour in the Southwestern United States at the end of May. Unless you’re near LA or Vegas, there’s not much of a chance you’ll be able to see them perform, but you should definitely visit their MySpace page and give them a listen.

King’s Tonic U.S. Mini-Tour
May 23 - Los Angeles, CA - Doll Hut
May 24 - Anaheim, CA - Ceros
May 28 - Los Angeles, CA - Di Piazzas
May 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Fullerton Back Alley
June 06 - Las Vegas, NV - Double Down Saloon

Also… Festival Kinetik starts tomorrow

Just a reminder, the Festival Kinetik in Montreal starts tomorrow and goes on until Saturday. If you’re lucky enough to be going, enjoy the performances by the 5 German industrial and noise bands that will be there: Feindflug, Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, and Xotox.

Many fans of the now defunct band Böhse Onkelz knew their singer Stephan Weidner as “Der W” and now he is using that name for his latest solo project. The first Der W single “Geschichtenhasser” will be released this coming Friday, April 18th, and will be followed by the full length album Schneller, Höher, Weidner a week later on April 25th. There seems to be just 1 version of the album which makes my job of reporting the news much easier. It comes in a digipack and contains 14 tracks in a style that’s pretty similar to the Onkelz.

If you want to preview that Der W sounds like, you can listen to the single “Geschichtenhasser” on Der-W.de, or sift through the posts on Stephan’s blog for more song clips. EMP.de has the album and the single ready to pre-order if you’re ready to buy it.

Der W - Schneller, Höher, Weidner tracklisting:
01. Der W Zwo Drei
02. Geschichtenhasser
03. Waffen & Neurosen
04. Asche zu Asche
05. Tränenmeer
06. Mein bester Feind
07. Angst
08. Stille Tage im Klischee
09. Schatten
10. Bitte töte mich
11. Zwischen Traum und Paralyse
12. Liebesbrief
13. Ein Lied für meinen Sohn
14. Pass gut auf dich auf

Die Ärzte is getting ready to release their next maxi single in support of their latest album Jazz Ist Anders. It will be the song “Lasse Redn” and will be out on Friday, April 11th. This will already be their 3rd single for this album, following “Junge” and “Lied vom Scheitern“, but don’t expect it to be their last. Die Ärzte has typically been releasing 4 or 5 singles per album lately, so I would bet there will be at least one more. I have no idea what song it will be, though. Any guesses?

The “Lasse Redn” single will be released as both a CD in a digipack and as a 7″ vinyl record. As far as I can tell, they both have the same basic tracklisting which includes the B-side “Komm zu Papa” and 2 alternate “economy version” tracks , along with the title track. The “Lasse Redn” music video is also on the CD version so you can play it on your computer, but sadly they haven’t come up with the technology to put videos on records yet.

You can hear “Lasse Redn” along with several other recent Die Ärtze songs on the band’s Myspace page.

Die Ärzte - Lasse Redn maxi single tracklisting:
01. Lasse redn
02. Komm zu Papa
03. Nichts gesehen (Economy Version)
04. Wir waren die Besten (Economy Version)
05. Lasse redn (Video)

Germany has a very strong folk-rock and folk-punk scene with several prominent bands in the genre. Mr. Irish Bastard is just one more to add to the list, if you haven’t already heard of them, that is. Their second album called Bastard Brotherhood was just released on Friday, February 29th. It’s on Reedo Records and is being distributed by Rough Trade, so Irish drinking music fans across Europe should be able to find the album pretty easily. But don’t worry if you are outside Europe, you can still find it in the band’s online shop for 12 Euros. While you’re at it, you might want to check out their first album St. Mary’s School Of Drinking for just 8. Definitely something to check out if you’re a fan of Fiddler’s Green, Flogging Molly, etc.

Be sure to stop by the Mr. Irish Bastard Myspace page to listen to a few songs and check out their European tourdates.

Mr. Irish Bastard - Bastard Brotherhood tracklist
01. Triocha Piosa D’Airgead Geal
02. Let Go
03. Fortune & Glory
04. This World
05. Galway Bay
06. Walk With Me
07. One Second
08. Why Can’t I Be You
09. Last Pint
10. Christmas In Hell
11. Everything Must Die
12. La Vida Loca
13. In Gods Hands
14. Blood On The Flag
15. Killeybegs

“Lied vom Scheitern” is the second song on Die Ärzte’s current album Jazz Ist Anders, and it will also be their second single for that album. The single will be released at the end of next week on January 18th as both a CD and a 7″ vinyl record. Aside from the title track (and its video on the CD version), the single features a B-side called “Nichts Gesehen” which does not appear on Jazz Ist Anders, plus 2 alternate versions of songs taken from the “Economy Version” of Jazz Ist Anders.

What is the Jazz Ist Anders Economy Version? Basically, it is an alternative version of the album that Die Ärzte sold at concerts during their Es Wird Eng tour. It has all the same songs as the regular Jazz Ist Anders album, but they are recorded differently. The artwork has also been changed to look kind of like a child drew it. Despite being sold exclusively during their concerts, it looks like they had some vinyls left over which are now being sold at some online retailers.

One more thing, Die Ärzte is going on a second tour in Europe beginning in May, called the Jazzfäst Tour. Check out their tour page for the complete list of dates.

“Lied vom Scheitern” maxi single tracklist
01. Lied Vom Scheitern
02. Nichts Gesehen
03. Das Schönste Lied Der Welt (Economy Version)
04. Wir Sind Die Besten (Economy Version)
05. Lied Vom Scheitern (video)

Best price on the “Lied vom Scheitern” maxi single
AlphaMusic.de has the CD version of the single for 5.49 Euros

Best price on the Jazz Ist Anders Economy version 12″ vinyl
Abella.de and AlphaMusic.de both have it for 12.99 Euros

Slime was one of the most popular German punk bands right from their start in 1979. For 15 years, they sang out in protest against just about anything they found a problem with, producing 6 studio albums and a pair of live CDs. They became icons of punk in Germany and remain legendary even to this day, over a decade after they broke up in 1994. Unfortunately, the band experienced a struggle over the rights to their music when their old label was bought by Sanctuary (which was more recently bought by Universal), cutting off the supply of newly printed CDs to the younger fans who were now growing up enough to appreciate Slime’s music. After several years, Slime emerged from the fight victorious. Finally, their old music could reach fresh ears. Alle Gegen Alle, Schweineherbst, Slime I, Viva La Muerte, and Yankees Raus have all been remastered and re-released last month, along with their first live album, appropriately called Live. In true punk style, Slime opposed the big corporation and stuck with an indie label for these releases.

Where to buy the albums for a decent price
Mikki is a huge Slime fan so I have been talking with her a lot about where someone should buy the new re-releases, probably more than I think about most albums. It turns out that Amazon.de, which everyone usually thinks of as one of the cheapest places to find music online, is actually the most expensive place I have seen, charging between 14.45 and 16.99 Euros for each of these albums. EMP.de is actually the cheapest at 12.99 Euros per CD which is great if you’re in Europe, but unfortunately they don’t ship to the USA anymore after a number of shipping disasters. If you are looking to buy any of Slime’s re-released albums at a reasonable price, I would recommend Abella.de which is charging 13.49 Euros or AlphaMusic.de which charges 13.99 Euros per CD. I have had good service from both of those retailers in the past.

Do you like this bit of advice about pricing and where the best place to find music is? Leave a comment and let me know.

Böhse Onkelz, although virtually unknown outside of Europe, were a phenomenally popular punk rock band in Germany. But in 2004, after many years of success including an incredible 14 studio albums, the band announced they would split up after their last tour concluded. About 120,000 fans showed up for their last 2 farewell concerts in the summer of 2005, and the band members each went their own way. Or so that was the plan.

The Onkelz are back together now, and have just completed work on an updated version of their third studio album Onkelz Wie Wir, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In the same vein as Joachim Witt and Die Krupps, a simple remastering was not good enough for this old album. The band actually re-recorded the entire album with the modern technology that is available today to make the sound much better than the original.

You can read a lot more detail about the album and the reasons behind its creation on the Onkelz Wie Wir page of Onkelz.de, although the text is entirely in German. There, you can also listen to some samples of the reworked songs on the Hörproben page. Unfortunately, they’re not allowing people to actually listen to them all at once, but rather 2 at a time on a rotating basis, so you’ll have to check back often to hear more.

As far as the release date goes, there seems to be some discrepancy. The Böhse Onkelz website is telling us Onkelz Wie wir will be released at the end of the week on November 2nd, but every online retailer I have seen is releasing it a week later on the 9th. I’d trust the stores, personally. It comes down to them in the end.

Böhse Onkelz - Onkelz Wie Wir tracklist:
01. Onkelz wie wir
02. Von Glas zu Glas
03. Erinnerungen
04. Bomberpilot
05. Dick & durstig
06. Falsche Propheten
07. Am Morgen danach
08. Schöner Tag
09. Heut’ Nacht
10. !

Dog Eared Pages is a punk band from the port city of Kiel and they are getting ready to release their new album Believe. It will be out on October 19th throughout Germany on Coast Rock Records. Their release party on the 19th will be attended by other fellow punk bands like KellerChaos and NM50.

This isn’t really my style so I won’t say too much, but if you’re into punk (I know some of you are) check out some of the songs from Believe on DEP’s MySpace page. They’ve also got some videos on their site.

DEP has some CDs for sale on Interpunk.com which makes their music available to fans in the U.S. and worldwide. Hopefully Believe will be available there soon, so remember the link.

Dog Eared Pages - Believe tracklist:
1. Out of my Head
2. MySpace Girl
3. Calling Out Your Name
4. Not OK
5. Won’t Give Up
6. The Letter
7. Break Me
8. My Weakness
9. I Believe
10. Best Friends
11. The Hidden
12. No Limits