Yes, it’s true. The amazing record label Dancing Ferret will be closing down this November, along with its sub-label Noir Records. Patrick, the label’s creator, wrote a long letter on Dancing Ferret’s Live Journal page last night with the news. He is just overwhelmed with all the work he has been doing in recent years as the company has grown so quickly.

Dancing Ferret originally started out promoting concerts and other events for the gothic and industrial scene in Philadelphia, and only expanded into a record label years later as an afterthought. Now, Patrick feels it is best to focus on the concerts and events again and do them well, instead of juggling a record label on the side and spreading his attention too thin. So, despite the sad news that Dancing Ferret Records is closing down, we can still be happy that everything else in Dancing Ferret’s little music empire will continue on into the future. Nocturne and Dracula’s Ball will continue to be held regularly. The Digital Ferret record store will remain open. Their online music retail site Isotank.com will remain open.

You can read Patrick’s complete message after the jump.
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Klangbad Records is the home of some of the most creative and experimental musicians in Germany. Faust is probably the most famous of them all, with a history stretching back to 1971. The label also has a number of non-German artists like the Russian experimentalists Ole Lukkøye, the folk-trance project Kangaroo Moon from the UK, and others.

Every year, Klangbad hosts a concert festival that has some of their best musicians as well as some from other labels. The Klangbad Festival is being held from August 1-3 this year, in the southern German town of Scheer. But, for the first time ever, the festival’s creators have decided to broadcast the entire 3-day performance live and free online. This is a fantastic idea that lets you check out the action even if you are simply too far away to actually attend the festival. Don’t miss it!

Who is performing at the Klangbad Festival this year? The major headliners on the first 2 days will be Mouse On Mars, one of Germany’s most influential electronic groups, and of course Klangbad’s own legend, Faust. Other big name artists include Bernadette la Hengst and Band, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Jolly Goods, Pram, and Olafur Arnalds, along with dozens of other lesser-known musicians playing a wide range of musical styles. You can see the full list of artists and when they will be playing on the Klangbad Festival website.

Herzwerk II re-released today

Some Megaherz fans will tell you that Herzwerk II is the band’s best album. It is fantastic, no doubt, and is the last album recorded with their original singer Alexx Wesselsky. Herzwerk II was originally released in 2002 on the new (at the time) BMG sublabel Firestarter, but they later shut down business, leaving Megaherz in need of yet another new label. One question that was never really asked was who got the rights for Herzwerk II after the demise of Firestarter. Now, it is apparent that Megaherz’s first (and also current) label ZYX got them. How can we tell? ZYX organized a re-release of Herzwerk II and it has just arrived in stores today!

Megaherz has yet to say anything about this, but luckily for German music fans, we are all over any news about Megaherz like flies on… well, you know. If you’re anything like us, you will notice right away that the re-release contains the bonus track “Es Brennt” which was originally only available on the limited edition digipack version of Herzwerk II. That’s good news if you weren’t able to get one of the digipacks when the album first came out, or if you are a newer fan. Want even better news? The re-release is actually cheaper than the original in most stores that still have it for sale. For the best prices, visit Amazon.com in North America or AlphaMusic.de in Europe.

Megaherz - Herzwerk II re-release tracklist:
01. Herzblut
02. Glas und Tränen
03. I.M. Rumpelstilzchen
04. 5. März
05. F.F.F. (Flesh for Fantasy)
06. Hand auf’s Herz
07. Zu den Sternen
08. Licht II (Instrumental)
09. Heute schon gelebt?
10. An deinem Grab
11. Perfekte Droge
12. Spiel nicht…
13. Gold
14. Es brennt

“Mann Von Welt” single also out today

Don’t forget that Megaherz’s new single “Mann Von Welt” is also being released today. Yes, the band announced that it would be out last week on June 20th, but all the shops say June 27th and since they have the ultimate control about when a CD is put on the shelf, we will go with their date. You can find both the basic version and the limited fan edition on EMP.de.

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.

At a music industry conference he recently spoke at, Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, was recently asked how to stop music piracy. Here is what he said:

“More people are killed by pigs than sharks each year, but because shark attacks are more newsworthy, they seem more prevalent. Piracy gets all the attention, but … obscurity is your real enemy. Fight obscurity until you’re a household name, then piracy will be more of a problem than obscurity. Until then, worry about pigs, not sharks.”

The audience, full of record label execs, really didn’t like this answer. That’s too bad, because they are forgetting one very important detail: They are the ones with the problem! While on the other hand, CD Baby is doing better than ever. In fact, their physical CD sales are up 30% over last year, while CD sales in the industry as a whole are going down significantly. So, if you were one of these troubled execs in the audience, would you be paying attention to Derek’s lesson or would you be shouting “I hate your point of view, buddy!” like one woman did? Wow.

Derek concludes, “Putting so much attention and energy into fighting piracy (as if, when solved, you’ll suddenly start selling 10 times more) - is misguided effort, distracting you from what you really need to be improving.” That sounds just like what I told Stefan Herwig, but he didn’t get it either.

Anyone who is a fan of Megaherz has been anxiously awaiting news about their next album which will feature their new singer Lex. Finally, after some delay, the band has made an official 3-part announcement on the .de version of their site.

First of all, the biggest news is that Megaherz has sealed the deal on a new record contract with… guess who… their original label ZYX! I’m sure they are very happy to be back on a solid record label after their last 2 albums were released on newly established labels (Firestarter and S.A.D.) that closed down shortly after the albums got released. And ZYX does a really fantastic job with promotions as well. I’ve seen the press kits they have done for some of their other artists and they are very nicely done. All said, I think it’s a good move for both the band and their fans.

The second part of Megaherz’s announcement today is about getting into the studio. Obviously, the band has written songs and recorded demos already since we can hear the demo for “Ebenbild” on Megaherz.de, but they will now head into the studio for the next few months to professionally record all the tracks for the new album. They expect to be done in the studio by the end of June, so that means the new album should be released sometime in the Fall, or perhaps even the very end of summer if everything moves quickly.

Finally, there are some new photos of the band in their gallery as well. These include some new pics from a rehearsal, a drum recording session, and of course a bunch of live photos from their one-off concert in Ingolstadt.

All of this news will be posted on the American Megaherz site, Megaherz.com, soon. Stay tuned to either band website or right here on Germaniac for continued news on the sixth Megaherz album!

Digital Ferret is the physical record store operated by Dancing Ferret Records in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They announced plans to move the store nearly a year ago, but they just now finally made the journey a few blocks over to their new location. Today was their first day open for business there.

If you live in the Philly area or ever plan to visit, head on over to 732 S. 4th Street and check out the new store. They are open from 12 noon until 10 PM everyday, except Sundays when they are open from noon until 7 PM. If you want, give them a call at 215-925-9259.

Remember when I told you the Digital Ferret music store in Philadelphia was moving in August? Probably not, considering it was only my third post ever, but that’s OK. Well, the store and headquarters of Dancing Ferret Records are still there in the same old building. Their moving date has been pushed back to March of 2008. If you’re in the area, make a trip into Philly and visit them. They’re open from noon until 10 PM every day (except Sundays, open until 7 PM).

Digital Ferret CDs
526 S 5th St
Philadelphia, PA
215-925-9259

I also read that a really big music fan just recently sold their 900+ CD collection to Digital Ferret, including some extremely rare and hard to find items. This is the perfect time to go raid their used section.

Testify comes from the industrial city of Essen, and their roots are clearly heard in their music. It’s heavy, hard, and loud. Their music, a combination of metal and industrial, is strongly influenced by bands like Ministry, Die Krupps, Rammstein, and KMFDM.

For nearly a decade, Testify has worked hard to produce 5 albums, each new one better than the one that came before it. They have built up enough of a catalog to merit a best-of album, so they decided to go for it. Aggro takes all the best songs from each album and puts them together on a compilation. You will hear everything from their early works to songs from their current album Triviality Beyond Acceptance, plus a number of additional remixes towards the end of the disc. Aggro is currently available, as it was released on August 21st. Overall, this is a great way to become familiar with Testify, especially if you’re not sure which album to check out first. Still not sure? Check out some of their songs on MySpace.

There’s more good news for American fans: Testify is on Van Richter Records which is based in California. If you’re interested in any Testify albums, they shouldn’t be too hard to get. Be sure to check out some of Van Richter’s other German bands as well.

Aggro - best of
01. Karl Found Out: The Definition
02. The Seed of Wrath
03. Invisible Hell (The Plumpsack)
04. Violin
05. Head of Compassion
06. Dumb
07. Under Queen Whore’s Grim Protection
08. Quest for Nothing
09. Futurelust
10. Killer
11. A.N.G.E.R.
12. Ride
13. Spoil
14. Spoil (Wingtip Mix)
15. Under Queen Whore’s Grim Protection (She is Me)
16. Head of Compassion (Plastic Attack Mix)
17. Quest For Nothing (Warzone Pharmaceuticals Mix)
18. The Seed of Wrath (Die Warzau Silence as a Weapon Mix)

Dependent Records has established itself over the years as one of the most well-known and successful German electronic labels and is the home of artists like Rotersand, mind.in.a.box, Suicide Commando, Stromkern, Girls Under Glass, and many others. But sadly, the label announced at the start of the year that they will no longer be accepting new bands to the label and will be shutting down permanently once their contractual obligations were met. With all of the recent releases coming from Dependent, it looks like that time is probably coming pretty soon now. But why did they make such a drastic decision? It’s not money, Dependent has actually been pretty successful. The real reason why they are shutting down is because of illegal downloading and piracy.

In label founder Stefan Herwig’s own words: “This is not about money, and it never was. It’s about being encouraged to continue to release music.” He explains how few albums are being purchased legally compared to the number that are downloaded illegally from P2P and torrent sites. “A popular claim often seen on Internet fora maintains that the P2P culture weakens the majors and bolsters the independent labels. This is, we can assure you, 100% bullshit.” In reality, piracy hurts the small labels just as much, if not more than the majors, because indie labels are operating with lower numbers and much slimmer margins. Stefan gives us a further example, “if 60% of the audience at a concert gained entry with forged tickets, the promoter, the band, the concert agency, and the venue would all be broke in a matter of weeks.” The same thing has been happening with the music itself, and Dependent has just had enough of it.

It’s sad, but true. Dependent estimates that the number of illegally downloaded albums exceeds their legally purchased albums by 3 to 5 times. And with no real legal actions being taken to change the ancient intellectual property laws in Germany (or in America, for that matter), industries where this is so important are dying fast. Who knows what the future holds for indie labels and the talented but underappreciated bands they support.