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.

The Viennese metal band Stahlhammer has just announced their first ever live appearance in the United States. They will be one of many bands performing at the Thunder of Gods Festival II outside of Austin, Texas, which will run from May 8-10 of 2009.

While the concert is still almost a year away, many of the details are already confirmed. It will be a 3-stage, 3-day weekend festival at RP Campground which is in the town of Dripping Springs, Texas. The pre-sale ticket price is expected to be $60 for the weekend which includes camping, and it will be BYOB.

The festival’s site will be announcing their first set of bands (and hopefully other details) in just a few days on June 30th. We’ll keep you up to date as the festival date comes closer.

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)

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.

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.

First new Corvus Corax song online

Corvus Corax is still working on their next album Cantus Buranus II which is scheduled for release on August 1st, but they have already uploaded a new song on their MySpace page. It’s called “O Varium Fortune” and despite the fact that it’s only a 3-minute rough mix of the song, it’s still well worth a listen. It’s very nice, definitely Corvus Corax. I’m eagerly awaiting this album.

Seabound offers an exclusive MP3 download

During Seabound’s U.S. Alliance Tour, they performed the song “Watching Over You” as an encore with Iris’s singer Reagan Jones in certain cities. This duet was so well received by the crowds that the band decided to record it. Now it’s available as an exclusive MP3 download for fans of both bands to enjoy (or relive the experience, if you were there) over and over again. This particular recording was made at the March 29th concert in San Francisco. To download “Watching Over You” live, just head on over to Seabound.de or simply click here.

Udo Dirkschneider celebrates 20 years: Special concerts, DVD, South American tour

Udo Dirkschneider first met fame as the singer for Accept, but for the past 20 years he has been at the head of his own band U.D.O. To celebrate, the band has planned 2 special concerts in Germany, one of which will have an extra-long 3 hour set that will also include several Accept songs. This concert will also be filmed and turned into a DVD in the future for all U.D.O. fans who couldn’t get tickets for the sold out show.

U.D.O. is also booking concerts for South America and Mexico during the first half of June. For details, visit the tourdates page of U.D.O.’s website.

Schock’s “Making of Halt Still” video

As I reported a while ago, Schock is hard at work on their next album, Halt Still. But it looks like they are making a lot of progress on the album because they recently released a “making of Halt Still” video on their MySpace page. It’s in German, but even if you can’t understand any of it, there’s still plenty of music to listen to between segments of the members speaking and making random noises.

I just found out that 2 more German bands will be performing concerts in the United States later this year. So far, [:SITD:] is supposed to be playing on September 20th at Das Bunker in Los Angeles, and Soman will be appearing at the same club on August 22nd and will be headlining the Reverence Festival in Madison, Wisconsin the very next day. That’s all the shows in America these 2 electro-industrial acts have planned so far, but I am really hoping these evolve into longer tours that reach the New York area. I would love to see both these bands, and I know plenty of others who would too.

I’ll keep you updated about these bands and any more American concerts they plan. Until then, be sure to check out some of their music. Visit either SITD’s MySpace page or Soman’s Myspace page.

Accessory plans U.S. West Coast tour

I heard a few complaints when Accessory’s brief U.S. tour totally missed the West coast, but they have since announced plans to return to the other side of the States for a few more concerts. With just 7 dates, this is another really short tour, but combined with the other 7 they played previously, I guess it could be considered a decent showing. Accessory will be performing with Dust Is Noise for all dates, plus an additional guest Syndika Zero for the Portland, Oregon show. If you’re into electro-industrial, Accessory is a band you may very well be interested in hearing, and then seeing live on stage.

Accessory’s U.S. West Coast tour dates:
June 22 - San Francisco, California - Fat City
June 23 - Portland, Oregon - The Fez Ballroom
June 24 - Seattle, Washington - TBA
June 26 - Salt Lake City, Utah - Club Vegas
June 28 - Vegas, Nevada - Vector
June 30 - Tucson, Arizona - TBA
July 04 - Los Angeles, California - Das Bunker

B.O.S.C.H. to perform in a movie

One of the best new electro-metal bands from Germany, B.O.S.C.H. has been attracting attention from all kinds of people, movie producers included. The band has recently announced that they will be performing in a new movie directed by Joachim Mais called Katharsis. In the scene where B.O.S.C.H. will be performing, there will be lots of extras acting as the creatures of the underworld. This is where the band’s fans come into play: You are all invited to wear your best gothic and alternative clothing and take part in the filming of this big scene. If you want to participate, just check out the band’s post on MySpace for further details.

Die! has 2 new demos online

You may remember that ex-Megaherz singer Mathias Elsholz was confirmed to be the new singer of Die! back in August of last year. Well, it looks like the band has been hard at work with their new frontman because they now have 2 new demos available on their MySpace page. Both “Alles In Eine Topf” and “Teufelswerk” have Mathias’s signature broad vocal range, and I am predicting even more fans will be debating the musical similarities between Die! and Megaherz as well. They’re not nearly as refined as Megaherz’s high-quality demos, but you can definitely get a feeling for what the finished songs may sound like. Be sure to give them a listen.

Paul and a few others recently asked me when I was going to write about the upcoming Festival Kinetik, and I am happy to oblige. For those of you who haven’t heard about Festival Kinetik, it’s a new electro/industrial/noise festival that is replacing the C.O.M.A. Festival which ran from 2004 until 2007. It will take place in Montreal, Canada from May 15th to the 17th and will feature dozens of bands and DJs from North America and across Europe, including 5 from Germany. They are Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, Feindflug, and Xotox. Also worth noting, this will be the first North American appearance by the latter 2 bands.

Tickets and other info for attendees
Tickets to the festival are available in the Kinetik Store at various prices depending on what the package includes. The festival website also has lots of information for anyone who might be travelling from a distance about hotels, places to eat, and lots of other stuff about the city of Montreal.

Listen to the bands of Festival Kinetik
ArtOfFact has a 2CD compilation that has music by most of the bands that will be performing at the festival (plus a few extras) called Festival Kinetik Volume 1. While this is a great mix for fans to pick up, it’s also a terrific sampler for anyone who wants to learn more about the festival’s bands before making the decision whether to go or not. You can actually listen to every song from the compilation right there on the website. Just click on a track name and then look to the left side of the screen and click the play button. If you like it, the 2CD compilation is just 12.99 CAD to purchase.

Are you going?
Is anyone planning to go to Festival Kinetik? Leave a comment if you plan on attending, or if you just have something to say about one of the bands.