As many of you know, I am the webmaster of the official Stahlhammer website and I also operate their online store. I’m very glad to be helping them out as much as I can (plus, having my name printed in CD booklets is pretty cool too!). But the band has been quiet lately, so I’ve decided to liven things up a bit with a special CD sale. Of course, this also coincides nicely with the 6th anniversary of when the Stahlhammer website was first created on April 30, 2002.

There are currently just 2 Stahlhammer albums in stock, but they have both been greatly reduced in price and I have plenty of each. Gary’s solo album is also still available, though in a limited supply.

Feind Hört Mit is now just $7.50
Listen to MP3 samples here - Buy it here
Considered by many to be Stahlhammer’s best and most famous album, this essential Neue Deutsche Härte style longplayer was originally released on Nuclear Blast in 1999. It also has covers of Falco’s classics “Mutter, Der Mann Mit Dem Koks Ist Da” and “Jeanny”. Feind Hört Mit is one of the reasons I got into German music so much and it still remains one of my top 5 albums of all time.

Opera Noir has been reduced to $10
Listen to MP3 samples here - Buy it here
This is Stahlhammer’s current album and offers 13 songs of their latest blend of metal, industrial, and other more unconventional influences. Among the tracklist is a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes/Helden” and “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.

Gary’s solo album Trivial Slushy Vintage is $10 also
Gary Wheeler was the original voice of Stahlhammer for their debut album Killer Instinkt. After his departure and eventual return, he now leads the band once again. This is his first solo album under his own name and presents a very different style than Stahlhammer, it’s much more mellow. I just have a few copies of this album left.

Be sure to download the samples and give them a listen. If you like Stahlhammer’s music, be sure to buy an album or two. We greatly appreciate your support, thanks!

Lots of you have contacted me asking where to find certain CDs. Others have asked why Germaniac doesn’t have a shop to go along with the blog. So far, I have simply been helping those of you find whatever it is you’re looking for because a shop hasn’t really been a top priority, but the emails just keep coming. Now I’m beginning to wonder just how big the demand for an exclusively German music shop based in North America really is, and I’m asking you for the answer.

Should Germaniac.com open an online shop? If so, what should we have? Would you buy from us? And perhaps more importantly, what features would make you more likely to buy from us than from some other site?

The whole reason for this last question is because it’s very difficult and expensive to import loads of CDs from Europe and then try to offer all kinds of benefits like the lowest price in the world plus free shipping and other features like that. I would love to do all of that for you, but honestly I’m not made of gold so it’s just not possible with anything that has to be imported. Anyone who has bought music from overseas knows that it’s not exactly cheap. I want to help you get the music you want to hear and own, but I don’t want to go bankrupt doing it either. So…

What’s the best way to make this work? Do you have any ideas? Please share your opinions and answers to the questions in a comment. By doing so, you will help us create the best possible shop for everyone. Thanks!

The UK’s best industrial and electronic online store was MusicNonStop.co.uk which has been operating for 9 years now. Unfortunately, they have announced on their site today that the website is now closed permanently. There isn’t even any kind of going out of business sale, and all outstanding orders have been cancelled. This means that if you have placed an order from Music Non Stop and it has not been shipped yet, you will probably be getting a refund and no CDs from them. The site’s official statement also says that PayPal customers should seek refunds via PayPal.

MNS says there are several reasons for the decision to close down, including a lack of good releases in these genres, increased operational costs, and a very bad exchange rate between the Euro and Dollar compared to the Pound. You can read the complete statement on Music Non Stop’s website.

I’m sorry to see MNS go, but I can fully sympathize with them. As an American, it would cost me twice as much to buy a CD from their shop due to the exchange rate. Buying from mainland Europe wouldn’t have been quite as bad, but still not favorable. I don’t know how British companies that rely on sales outside the country can survive in this kind of economic environment. Clearly, some can’t.

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.

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.

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.

An article in The New York Post tells us about a new digital music service that Amazon.com has been developing that may threaten iTunes, the currently undisputed leader in digital music downloading. Amazon’s new service, which is supposed to be launched sometime in the middle of the month, is supposed to have over 1 million songs for download from a large swath of indie labels, as well as two of the four majors. The biggest advantage to their service, for both labels and fans, is that the prices for songs are expected to be cheaper. While iTunes currently only has 2 flat rates for songs (99 cents for protect files and $1.29 for DRM-free songs), Amazon’s new system will allow labels to set their own prices which will vary depending on the song’s popularity. Full albums from Amazon are expected to be somewhere between $8 and $10.

This is great news for fans. While you may love iTunes, new competition usually means better prices and service for customers. And if Amazon knows what it’s doing, their files will be playable on your iPod. Amazon.com already offers some of the lowest prices for books and CDs, so it will certainly be interesting to see how well they do coming into the music downloading world.

News via Coolfer.

Rotersand came out with their new album 1023 back on June 8th, and it has really turned out to be a stunning success. Their single “Lost” soared to the top of the DAC (Deutsche Alternative Charts) singles charts early on, and soon the album itself reached the #1 spot on the DAC album charts, as well. 1023 is a spectacular futurepop album that will surely please anyone who loves electronic and dance music. You’ve probably already heard some of their singles at the club, so it’s time to check out the rest of their music.

1023 is available all over North America thanks to Metropolis Records. Their mailorder site also has the album for just $12.98. And just a reminder, Metropolis’ sale is still going on, so be sure to check out their sale items, too.

1023
01. 1023 Intro
02. Rushing
03. I Don’t Know
04. Lost
05. I Am With You
06. I Cry
07. Shelter
08. Gods Have Gone Insane
09. Drug
10. I Don’t Remember
11. Inner World

DeutscheMusik.net has all kinds of great things for German music fans, from album reviews to forums, and they just keep making it better. Today, the site proudly announced the launch of their very own music shop. The DeutscheMusik.net Shop has a lot of very unique features that most online shops don’t have, so it’s definitely worth a look.

• Good CD prices - The shop can offer you very good prices on CDs because it’s not run for a profit. The guys running the shop are German music fans, too, so they don’t want to rip you off.
• Shipping rates are fair - They charge you only what it actually costs to ship your CDs to you. Once again, this is because they’re not overcharging and trying to make a profit.
• Lots of metal, rock, and industrial CDs - The selection of CDs available are mostly metal, NDH, and industrial/EBM releases. That’s just the kind of music they love to listen to, so that’s what they sell.
• Rare CDs are available - The shop has a lot of older music and CDs that you usually can’t find in most online stores. This is because the guy who runs the shop is a real person living in Germany and can look for CDs in the real world.
• Ask for a CD - It’s not a feature of the website, but I’m sure you can email them asking for a certain CD you’re looking for. It might not be readily available online, but they may be willing to look around the shops there in Germany and see if it can be found for you that way.

Check out the new DeutscheMusik.net Shop

Krieger is a new metal band from Dresden that just happens to be using Pilgrim Management, the same management firm that Rammstein is with. But the similarities between the 2 bands don’t end there. Krieger’s debut album was supposed to be released next week on August 24th, but it looks like it has been pushed back to September 28th according to several online webshops. They’re using the same album formula that Rammstein always uses, too, with 11 songs expected to be on the album. And what do you know, there’s a limited edition digipack version that will be available as well.

OK, so Pilgrim is using their experience with Rammstein’s success for their newcomer Krieger. Can you blame them? What really matters is the music, and it’s great. You can listen to 3 songs on the Krieger music player (also available on the band’s MySpace page) and judge for yourself.

Also, be sure to check out the Krieger Shop which just opened last week.

Krieger tracklist
1. Krieger
2. Heimat
3. Zurück nach Haus
4. Mein Schloss
5. Wenn du mich küsst
6. In Flammen
7. Kein Schuss
8. Mein Degen
9. Einmal sterben und zurück
10. Das Meer und Ich
11. Feldschlößchen