Already promised to be opened half a year ago in May, Laibach’s WTC shop has finally hit the internet. Amazingly, even here Laibach manage to top themselves: it’s Laibach to the max, with photoshopped images of figures like Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Sarkozy seen wearing the T-shirt designs, and fantastic slogans such as “WE WANT YOU TO BE OUR CUSTOMER!” or “LOVE CAN BUY OUR MONEY” adorning the bottom of the site. Just poke around the site, I actually bursted out laughing at one point to the sheer silliness of the things you can find there.

Anyways, the shop’s catalogue of Laibach’s DVDs and CDs is pretty comprehensive although it does miss the very earliest releases. Albums are priced at a default 18 € and singles at 7 €, which is a tad high, but at least you can be pretty sure they have what you’re trying to order. Also, in addition to a good selection of t-shirts for both guys and gals, they have a lot of accessories like badges and belts. Oh, and goddamn bibs. And Laibach condoms. And NSK passports. So yeah.

As often is the case with Laibach, it’s provocative, hilarious, bordering on tasteless and also pure awesome… All that, and it’s just a friggin’ shop. Really, how the hell do they do it?

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.

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.