Everyone here knows how great German music is, but if you are anything like Valtteri and I, it’s probably not the only thing you listen to. You might have a great love of all kinds of diverse musical styles, or you might be interested in foreign music for its cultural qualities. That’s how we feel, so a few weeks ago we decided to start a new project that focuses on a different region of Europe: the Nordic countries.

There is so much great music coming out of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, that we just had to find a way to share it with you. So, with the help of a few friends, we are really happy to launch our new blog NordicBoom.com. Go check it out! There are already several articles that were written during the time we were building the blog and there will definitely be many more to come.

Thanks to Valtteri, Paul, and Nadja for giving NordicBoom some life!

Speaking of (our favorite not-quite-German band) Laibach, they have just announced tour dates in North America Volk yesterday. It’s a small tour with only 6 concerts confirmed, but they are hitting most of the biggest cities in the United States for maximum impact plus one just South of the border in Tijuana, Mexico. If you are a big German music fan and live anywhere near the venues listed below, you are almost required to go by law.

I will definitely be at the New York City show. It’s going to be an extra special event for Laibach fans in this area because their 2004 NYC concert in support of their album WAT was cancelled at the last minute, so we have been waiting a very long time for this. See you there!

Laibach’s 2008 North American Volk tour dates
September 22 - Seattle at Showbox at the Market
September 23 - Portland at Crystal Ballroom
September 25 - San Francisco at Independent
September 26 - Hollywood at Key Club
September 28 - Tijuana, Mexico at El Foro
September 30 - New York at The Fillmore (formerly Irving Plaza)

The combination of Greg going MIA and me slacking off because of the holidays is not a good thing for Germaniac. Here’s the catch-up news post for some of the most important stuff that’s been happening in these couple of weeks. I hope we’ll be able to resume normal operations as soon as possible! All the tracklistings and ordering information relevant to this post can be found behind the link at the end, because with them this already horribly lengthy post would be, simply put, INSANE.

Oomph!’s album #10 to be Monster

Oomph!, one of the pioneering bands of the industrial metal and NDH genres, will be releasing their tenth album in August according to Oomph!’s official site. The record, of which we got a little taster with the single Wach auf! which was released earlier this year, will be titled Monster. Not much else is known of the upcoming record, except for some tidbits revealed in a German interview. Amongst others, we’re going to get an “electro metal tango” piece and a blues song as well.

No doubt in celebration of their tenth album and as a sign of gratitude to their fans, Dero, Crap and Flux are also offering fans a unique chance to permanently cement themselves in the Oomph! legacy by running a contest for the cover design of the new album. Anyone can send in their visions of what the cover should be until June 27th, and the boys themselves will then choose the final design that will adorn the album. A number of the submissions can already be checked out here, and they range from quite horrible to insanely cool. I for one am eager to find out what the final product will look (and sound!) like!

Megaherz single soon

Before the hotly anticipated new album Heuchler, Megaherz will release the single Mann von Welt on June 20th. There will be two versions of the single: a basic one with Mann von Welt and Es Brennt, a bonus track from the sold out limited edition of Herzwerk II, and an EP-length limited fan edition version with three additional songs from older albums. As far as I can see, the fan edition is not very necessary unless you’re new to Megaherz and need to sample the older stuff, but the single is a great opportunity to hear Es Brennt, which is an excellent song you might very well have missed the first time around. You can hear a preview of Mann von Welt on Megaherz’s Myspace and official site.

Eisbrecher’s single detailed

The first single from Eisbrecher’s upcoming album Sünde will be titled “Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein?”, and it will be released on July 11th. This is, however, a Germany-only release, so completionists will have to pay an extra buck or two (or more like ten) if they want to get their hands on this release. No cover or tracklisting has been made public as of yet, but if the previous singles by Eisbrecher are of any indication, this one should too sport a couple of remixes and possibly a bonus song or other small feature alongside the main track itself.

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter single

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, a well-respected German trash metal outfit will release a single titled Der Weg on 27th June. The single features two songs from the upcoming full-lenght release Licht, which doesn’t have a release date yet, and two bonus tracks. The physical CD version of the single published by Nuclear Blast is limited to only 1000 copies, as it was originally planned to only be available via iTunes. Die Apokalyptischen Reiter also released a live DVD earlier this year.

Unheilig’s Spiegelbild EP revealed

The tracklisting and cover design for Unheilig’s Spiegelbild EP have been finally revealed. True to the style of the EPs before, this release is limited to just 3333 pieces and has a total of three different versions of the title song, a new version of the earlier single An deiner Seite and also a trio of completely new Unheilig tracks. Spiegelbild will be released on 26th July.

Laibach’s Dead in Trbovlje in July

Laibach have pushed back the release of their new DVD, which was originally slated for release on 16th June, to 26th July. Titled Dead in Trbovlje, the DVD will feature a full live concert from their widely acclaimed Volk tour, four music videos and on top of that, six of the background screens/videos Laibach used in their Volk shows. There’s also a short commentary on the tour.

Thanks to Nadja for all the tips!

That’s it for now. I know there’s a ton I missed, but at least we have something to cover up the massive time gap we’ve been experiencing. Here’s hoping that Greg will be back in full force soon!

Check out the tracklistings for these items after the jump…
(more…)

Laibach interprets J. S. Bach

Laibach, every Germaniac’s favourite not quite German but Slovenian super-political and awesome industrial/neo-classical/electronic/everything ensemble will be releasing a new record titled LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE. In 2006 Laibach performed at a festival celebrating the classic German composer Johann Sebastian Bach’s life and works, and now it will be available for everyone on CD or digital download. LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE is a laibachized (i.e. sodomized but a hell of a lot better than the original) interpretation of Bach’s composition Die Kunst der Fuge. The release will also be accompanied by a short LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE tour in Europe.

On 5th May, the CD will be available for digital purchase on Mute.com and later as a physical product on Laibach WTC Shop, which will be opened in May as well.

Visit LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE’s own page for information on the project, complete tracklisting and tour dates.

New material from Turmion Kätilöt this summer

Although the Finnish Turmion Kätilöt is far from German, their incredible music has some really strong ties to German industrial metal. In fact, I remember Greg once writing that B.O.S.C.H. is like the German equivalent of Turmion Kätilöt, so if you like B.O.S.C.H., (and chances are you do if you’re surfing Germaniac), Turmion Kätilöt should get you very, very excited if you aren’t already.

Turmion Kätilöt has now announced the release of a new single and album. The single, due for 21st May, will be titled Minä Määrään, and the new album USCH! will be released on 11th June. Turmion Kätilöt have had some major difficulties with their current record company Spinefarm, and the animosity between the band and the company will be solved in court. I hope everything goes well for them.

Tracklisting for the single and albums haven’t been published as of yet, but in the meantime you can check their website for information on the band and samples of every single song they’ve released if you aren’t familiar with them already. Trust me, you should be.

Every once in a while, there is a certain non-German band that’s just too good not to mention, so I always try to find some obscure reason that makes them eligible for this blog. Luckily for me, that’s not too hard to do in the case of Apocalyptica. They are from Finland, but they do have links to several German bands like Rammstein, The Farmer Boys, Die Happy and Guano Apes, all of whom have provided guest vocals at one time or another to Apocalyptica. So now that we have established that much, let’s get on with the whole purpose of this post.

News about the tour
Apocalyptica will be touring the United States and Canada very soon. Their tour begins next Friday, April 11th, and continues on until mid-May for a grand total of 30 concerts. This is a really big tour for a foreign band and they are visiting lots of regions that most bands don’t go to, so let’s help make it worth it for them. Go to one of their concerts, you won’t be disappointed!

Ticket info
Tickets for most of the venues are for sale here on Ticketmaster.com. Also, please note that Ticketmaster lists a few of the venues as being in different towns than the official tour list which is listed below. The venues are all the same, but the actual city it’s in may be a neighboring town to the major city in the list below, so just do a little homework ahead of time to find out exactly where you’re going.

Worlds Collide will be released in North America
One last thing. Apocalyptica’s current album Worlds Collide, which was originally released in Europe on September 14th, will be released in the United States and Canada on Tuesday, April 15th. Chances are, you can probably buy it at their concerts as well. Check out my original post about Worlds Collide for all the info and tracklisting.

Apocalyptica’s 2008 North American Tour dates:
April 12 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
April 13 - The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA
April 14 - Roxy - Los Angeles, CA
April 16 - Slim’s - San Francisco, CA
April 17 - Roseland - Portland, OR
April 18 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
April 19 - Commodore - Vancouver, BC
April 21 - In the Venue - Salt Lake City, UT
April 22 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
April 23 - Beaumont Club - Kansas City, MO
April 24 - Pop’s - St. Louis, IL
April 26 - Fine Line - Minneapolis, MN
April 27 - House of Blues - Chicago, IL
April 28 - House of Blues - Cleveland, OH
April 29 - Crofoot - Detroit, MI
April 30 - Phoenix Theater - Toronto, ON
May 1 - Metropolis - Montreal, QC
May 2 - Paradise Club - Boston, MA
May 4 - Trocadero Theatre - Philadelphia, PA
May 5 - Fillmore / Irving Plaza - New York, NY
May 7 - Club - Washington, DC
May 8 - Amos - Charlotte, NC
May 9 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
May 10 - Parish at House of Blues - New Orleans, LA
May 11 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX
May 12 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
May 14 - Sunshine Theatre - Albuquerque, NM
May 15 - Marquee - Phoenix, AZ
May 16 - Pima County Fairgrounds (KFMA Radio Day) - Tucson, AZ
May 19 - House of Blues - Las Vegas, NV

We have been experiencing a major influx of German bands touring over here in North America in recent months. So far in 2008, we have seen The Jeans Team, De/Vision, and And One all successfully complete their tours, but the fun has just begun! 4 more German bands have recently confirmed that they will also be touring America. They are: Seabound, Doro, Accessory, and Destroid. In addition to these confirmed bands, Unheilig fans also know that there have been rumors of an American tour later in the year for that band. And as an extra boost to all of this excitement, the Finnish cello rock band Apocalyptica (which has a lot of connections with German bands) will also be going on an extensive 30-concert tour across the continent. 2008 has just gotten a lot better!

I will certainly post the full tourdates for all of the bands listed above in the coming weeks, but the next band to arrive is Seabound so I need to tell you about them first…

Seabound is the next German band to tour America
Seabound is a synthpop duo which has produced 4 studio albums to date. With a rapidly expanding fanbase worldwide thanks to the support of Metropolis Records, they are now preparing to embark on their first tour overseas. The “Alliance Tour 2008″ will take Seabound across the United States for 14 concerts. Shortly after the tour concludes, the band will release their first live album Come Forward - Live In Berlin on April 8th. The electro group Iris will be opening for Seabound throughout the entire tour, except the Connecticut show because that’s a larger festival with lots of bands.

You can listen to some of Seabound’s music on their MySpace page. Seabound.de also has lots of info about the band, from photos and lyrics to album reviews and additional MP3 samples. Take some time to check this band out, and head to one of their concerts if you like their music. I’ve heard they put on really great shows.

Seabound “Alliance Tour 2008″ dates:
Click the link on the venue for ticket info

Mar 12 - Shampoo - Philadelphia, PA
Mar 13 - Rock and Roll Hotel - Washington D.C.
Mar 14 - Blacksun Festival - New Haven, CT
Mar 15 - The Madison - New York City, NY
Mar 16 - Water Street - Rochester, NY
Mar 18 - Pegasus - Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 19 - Luna - Detroit, MI
Mar 20 - Darkroom - Chicago, IL
Mar 22 - Elysium - Austin, TX
Mar 24 - Club Dada - Dallas, TX
Mar 26 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
Mar 27 - Mt. Tabor - Portland, OR
Mar 29 - DNA Lounge - San Francisco, CA
Mar 30 - Safari Sam’s - Los Angeles, CA

There’s been so much news lately that I haven’t really had any time to tell you about 4 more releases that are hitting stores today. Normally I would go over them individually and in more detail, but I’m in a bit of a time crunch right now because later tonight I will be seeing Ulrich Schnauss live in New York City (more U.S. tourdates here) so I’m lumping them all together into one post and doing a quick overview for today. I’ll probably post about them in more detail at some time in the future.

• Diary of Dreams - The Plague
  Diary of Dreams has a new album coming up next month, and this single gives you a nice preview. Two versions of “The Plague” plus additional songs “Allocution” and “Traumtänzer”.
• Götterdämmerung - Of Whores and Culture
  This is kind of a gothic/new wave band from the Netherlands, and their new album (with quite an interesting title) features 10 new songs. Check out some of their music here.
• Coppelius - Time-Zeit
  Coppelius is an interesting band combining rock music with cellos, clarinets, the double bass, and other more traditional instruments. They also seem to have an old-fashioned sense of style. Check their MySpace page for some music. Thanks to Maija for pointing this one out.
• Laibach - Nova Akropola (re-release)
  And finally, I thought I would point out that one of Laibach’s older albums, Nova Akropola, is being re-released today. I know, they’re Slovenian, not German technically. But they have strong links to Germany, often use the German language, and are adored by most German music fans I know, so they’re approved.

There you have it. The terribly abridged, perhaps even rushed version of today’s releases. I’m sorry I don’t have more time to get into the details, but I’ll provide you with everything you need to know over the next few days. See you tomorrow.

The Finnish masters of the cello Apocalyptica released their new album Worlds Collide on Friday the 14th in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It was released today (September 17th) in most of the rest of the world, with a few other countries later in the month. The album features a wide range of guest musicians including Till Lindemann from Rammstein, Corey Taylor from Slipknot and Stone Sour, Dave Lombardo from Slayer, Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil, Adam Gontier from Three Days Grace, and the Japanese actor and musician Tomoyasu Hotei. The album was also produced by Jacob Hellner, best known for his work with Rammstein and Clawfinger.

Apocalyptica and Rammstein have a long history working together, and Worlds Collide marks yet another notable collaboration. For the new album, Till sings a German-language cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” or “Helden” in German. I haven’t heard this particular song yet (although I am looking forward to it), but I do like the other songs I’ve heard from the album. The single “I’m Not Jesus” which features Corey Taylor singing is a great song. And as always, Apocalyptica uses their cellos as an amazing substitute for low-tuned electric guitars. Sometimes I wonder if the cellos are better…

Check out some of the new Apocalyptica songs on their MySpace page.

Worlds Collide tracklist
01. Worlds Collide
02. Grace (feat. Tomoyasu Hotei)
03. I’m Not Jesus (feat. Corey Taylor)
04. Ion
05. Helden (feat. Till Lindemann)
06. Stroke
07. Last Hope (feat. Dave Lombardo)
08. I Don’t Care (feat. Adam Gontier)
09. Burn
10. S.O.S. (Anything But Love) (feat. Cristina Scabbia)
11. Peace
Bonus tracks on the deluxe edition
12. Ural
13. Dreamer

The latest Radio Goethe podcast opens with some music that hasn’t even been released yet: 2 new tracks from Einstürzende Neubauten’s forthcoming album Alles Wieder Offen. It will be released in late October (more details in a future post) but why wait until then to start listening to it? The first half of the show is rounded out with some more experimental-electronic songs including a great remix of Faust’s “Wir Brauchen Dich #6″ from the remix album Freispiel, as well as the original version of “T-Electronique” which can be found on their Ravvivando album. (The original version of “Wir Brauchen Dich #6″ can also be found on Ravvivando.)

If you like the Faust you hear, I really recommend checking out the album he did with Dälek, an indie-hip-hop musician from New Jersey. I know what you’re thinking… I was hesitant at first, too, but Dälek is nothing at all like your typical hip-hop music, and their music combined with the incredible experimentation of Faust make for an absolutely amazing fusion of sounds that is unlike anything I have heard before or since. The album, Derbe Respect Alder, also features a modified version of the song “T-Electronique” from this podcast.

Getting back to the show, the second half is a mini-special focusing on the final album by Sonic Front which was just recently released. You can listen to the Radio Goethe podcast either by subscribing to it on iTunes or simply by streaming it from the Radio Goethe website by clicking on “Listen to the latest show” at the top of the page.

The new Radio Goethe podcast
Einstürzende Neubauten: Die Wellen
Einstürzende Neubauten: Alles Wieder Offen
Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk: Wir Brauchen Dich #6
Faust: T-Electronique
Mathias Schaffhäuser: Hey little girl
Sonic Front: White out
Sonic Front: 36 Below
Sonic Front: Forgetting is bliss
Sonic Front: Common ground
Sonic Front: Crazy
Sonic Front: Wave Goodbye

Although Apocalyptica is from Finland, they have worked with a few German musicians over the past years and have become quite popular among German music fans. Almost 2 years ago, Apocalyptica remixed the Rammstein song “Benzin”, and now Rammstein is paying them back for their favor. Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann will be a guest singer on Apocalyptica’s new album Worlds Collide which will be released on September 17th. But what’s more interesting is that the song Till is performing on is a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes/Helden”. This is certainly something to look forward to!

For a detailed description of Worlds Collide, check out this post in the Apocalyptica forum (scroll down for the English translation).

Worlds Collide
01. Worlds Collide
02. Grace feat. Tomoyasu Hotei
03. I´m not Jesus feat. Corey Taylor
04. Ion
05. Helden feat. Till Lindemann
06. Stroke
07. Last Hope feat. Dave Lombardo
08. I don´t care feat. Adam Gontier
09. Burn (?)
10. S.O.S. (Anything but Love) feat. Cristina Scabbia
11. Peace