Eine neue Dimension des Grauens

Soso, Adya. "Eine neue Dimension der Klassik".

Ich habe diese Werbung ja vor Monaten schon gesehen, aber sie wurde jetzt natürlich wegen Weihnachten wieder hervorgekramt - ja, Sie brauchen unbedingt zum tausendsten Mal totgedudelte Klassikmelodien mit zappeligem Bontempi-Beat im Hintergrund! Und auch Ihre Familie! Also legen Sie doch diesen billigen Scheiß unter den Christbaum, den unser Produzent in 30 Minuten vor dem Heim-PC fabriziert hat!

Jetzt mal im Ernst: Rondò Veneziano haben das bereits in den Achtzigern gemacht, und zwar besser. Wenn ihr schon dieses Konzept wieder aufwärmt, dann doch bitte BITTE mit Beats, die nicht schon 1987 einen Bart hatten (und zwar keinen schönen). Das ist wirklich Plastikmüll der schlimmsten Sorte, es tut mir Leid.

Wenn Sie diese CD tatsächlich heuer im Geschenkspapier finden wundern Sie sich bitte nicht, wenn Ihre Stereoanlage selbst bei der Tür rausrennt um diesen Käse gaaaanz ganz weit weg zu bringen.

Damit ihr wisst, wovon ihr euch fernhalten müsst, hier der Link:
http://www.amazon.de/Classic-Adya/dp/B0054LRFZS

Dieser Post hätte wohl zu Helloween besser gepasst als zu Weihnachten - MEGA-Grusel.


--Sapnish--

Mixtape Christmas 2011

SIDE A
Marta Savić - erotica
The Kovenant - planetarium
Zola Jesus - vessel
Warlord - deliver us from evil
Caterina Valente - herr schmidt

SIDE B
Lana del Rey - video games
Herb Alpert - rise
Kampfar - lyktemenn
Iced Earth - desert rain
Nat King Cole - the christmas song


--Sapnish--

Two Nights with Opeth and Orphaned Land

Opeth at Gasometer, 29.11.2011

After years of absence, Opeth, YES "Opeth", visited Austria again to promote their new album Heritage. I was eager to see them again and was more than happy that Sapnish joined me as well on the trip to Gasometer. We didn't go unprepared and had already listened to the new songs on Heritage beforehand. The set list promised a rather quiet evening with evergreens, such as "Face of Melinda", and a selection of the newest songs. All in all, I enjoyed it and it was Opeth in Vienna, dammit, but still it could have been so much better and less talking in between the songs. Mikael, I love you, but that were just too many jokes to bridge songs and, dammit again, next time eat that Cordon Bleu at Steman instead just talking about it :)

Orphaned Land at Viper Room, 06.12.2011

The post talks about Orphaned Land, but first I have to give credit to one of their supporting act, Arkan. That was great music and the voice of Sarah will chase me in my dreams, *cough* not gonna start about the looks, dammit, she is one beautiful women.

The whole gang was present, Supul, Margot, Sapnish and myself. Down in that "basement" you lose all sense for time, but Orphaned Land just started in time around at 10pm if I'm not totally mistaken. Well, what can I say, it was awesome and the band, the music, the atmosphere was just perfect. If I ever going to be asked what is the essence of attending concerts, I'll just transmit telepathically the feeling I had during "Sapari" or "Norra el Norra".

Sacrifi-Sir

114 days ...

since the last scrobble in Mediamonkey. One of my favourite from Arch Enemy, I will live again, from the album Rise of the Tyrant. Sapnish and I had a talk lately about the future of this blog and how it is going the way all blogs go some day ... dying a slow death, starving for content and hardly attention from one of his makers - me. The blog started as a collection of playlists created by a plug-in called "Today" for Mediamonkey, the best application for music you can find on the interwebs. Credit where credit is due and I'd more than happily give more quids than Venits Media actually want for a lifetime license.

... my apologies, I' m drifting and it didn't even take me a song and few lines into this post ...

I still love Today, although it has been months that a playlist has made an appearance in Mediamonkey and I don't even know if it is working with the newest version of Mediamonkey. If not, I have a new project on the horizon.

So is this a new start for the blog? I'd say - no.

Merely an opening to other topics than just music, with Sapnish, Supul and Sacrifi-sir as authors, maybe aged by a few years,

same love for music and its influence in everyday's life,

movies and its reaction in writing when pictures in your head are just not enough to express the joy or anger while watching,

wine, when saying "Grüner Veltliner" is just not enough to describe the pepperish and fizzy character,

beliefs and thoughts about any topic you can imagine and sometimes nothing at all.

One of the things I cherish in life are the posts of my co-authors and I'd hate to see any of their thoughts and words lost to the nature of the initially intended course of the blog.

With this I conclude my post and go right to my next one :)

Sacrifi-Sir

Ethics, belief and music

The below explicitly excludes bands or musical "artists" that transport their views clearly visible via lyrics, artwork, symbols etc.

Currently, these questions remain unanswered.

1. Is it somehow OK to listen to music where one of the band members might be a racist, a nationalist, a lunatic, an idiot? Who will help me take this decision?

Would I know that a band member is a racist, a nationalist, a lunatic, an idiot? Is it OK not to search online for hours, not to read interviews with band members, to not find out if they are?

Is it OK if I assume that "back then" the band member didn't have these views yet?

2. There is no doubt that anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia - just to name a few - cannot be tolerated. But if a band is ridiculing, insulting and discriminating Christianity - why is this then "OK", or at least something that we don't really take seriously ("it's part of the show and the image"). I do not exclude myself from this line of thinking, either.

3. See this entry by someone: http://www.negatron.de/politik/kritik-und-verantwortung

It thematizes the fact that people who publish a certain radical opinion and, in most cases, include theories, examples and "proof" that their radical opinion is scientific fact, cannot be totally excluded from taking at least some part of responsibility for what is then done with this opinion. People would usually say they are in no way responsible for what was done with their ideas, and that they stand aloof from everything.

Granted, a metal band is (or should be) in no way a political unit. But if we ask the above from people, why do we so vehemently dismiss every question regarding a metal band having an influence on affecting their listener's thoughts, actions or views? Would we maybe say that, as a public figure, metal bands actually might have this kind of influence in some cases, and they should take responsibility for that if they publish, promote and support radical and extreme opinions that, in some cases, also lead to discrimination of others and intolerance?

Yes, as a listener (or viewer, or reader) you also have a stake in this, a huge stake. You have to be willing to be influenced, and it is still your own decision how seriously you take such publications. But we are not talking about the sole responsibility, we are talking about a part of the responsibility, even if it is only minor and can only be addressed as one of the many influences that one is opposed to.



--Sapnish--

Mixtape Summer 2011

SIDE A
Modern Talking - atlantis is calling (s.o.s. for love)
Alexandra Stan - mr. saxobeat
Fiona Apple - the first taste
Fates Warning - traveler in time
Artrosis - nieprawdziwa historia cz. I
Chicane - locking down

SIDE B
Emperor - alsvartr (the oath)
Dimmu Borgir - dimmu borgir
Sankt Otten - thom yorkes letzte große liebe
Placebo - you don't care about us
Dan Balan - justify sex
Andreea Banica - sexy
Modern Talking - you can win if you want



--Sapnish--

Today 2011-07-13

Ich weiß ich weiß... wie sehr ich mich kürzlich über Today beschwert habe (eigentlich eine unerhörte Dreistigkeit - siehe Rules).

Brauchte es wirklich eine "bessere" Today-Selection (die übrigens von letzter Woche ist, aber erst jetzt gehört wurde), oder brauchte es urlaubsbegünstigtes stressfreies und konzentriertes Hören, oder brauchte es am Ende gar nur die Kopfhörer, um Today wieder schätzen und würdigen zu können? Ich weiß es nicht genau. Aber von einem tollen Today berichtet heute: Sapnish.

Colonia - nek' vatre gore sve (The Best Of)
Ein Song vom ersten Colonia-Album Vatra i Led (welches ich nicht besitze), hier auf der Best of zu finden. Wahnsinniger Eurodance-Sound, wirklich sehr nostalgisch : ) Jemand (?) rappt hier wirklich 1:1 wie DJ Bobo (er ist es aber nicht..?). Objektiv gesehen kein sehr guter Song, auch Indira klingt noch ein bisschen "ungeschliffen".

Which reminds me: Tun wir uns wieder selbst einen Gefallen und schaun das 'najbolje od svega'-Video auf Youtube. Indira... schmacht.

Helltrain - afterglow (Route 666)
Tja. Ich hasse die Vocals, tut mir Leid. Ich kann mich damit einfach nicht anfreunden. Ich weiß schon, was die Band hier wollte, aber wie das hier pluckert und einfältig rockt - das gibt mir nichts.

Ein Tipp für meiner Meinung nach viel cooleren Death'n'Roll bleiben Crack Up. Die gibts ja leider auch nicht mehr...

Anni-Frid Lyngstad - mycket kär (Frida 1967-1972)
Oh Frida, I worship you. Dieser Track ist ein Schwedisches Cover von 'non illuderti mai'. Als ich den Song das erste Mal in Fridas Version hörte, kam er mir verflucht bekannt vor - wahrscheinlich von "Radio Kärnten". Ich kannte aber weder Titel noch Originalinterpreten (Orietta Berti). Musste jetzt auch googeln... Die Tremeloes haben das übrigens auch gecovert, vielleicht kennt man ihre Version ja eher. Auch Die Flippers konnten hier nicht widerstehen - ihr "mexican lady 2007" auf Youtube zu suchen empfehle ich aber nicht. Vokuhila, falsche Zähne und Vollplayback sind eine teuflische Kombination.

In any way, Frida ist göttlich, und singt auch das hier wundervoll. Ich schätze mal, das der Text hier eher dümmlich ist, aber nichts, dass Anni-Frid Lyngstad macht, kann ernsthaft nicht gut sein. Das geht einfach nicht.

Und übrigens, damit es jeder weiß: Frida sieht heutzutage besser aus als jemals zuvor. Check all the pictures here and weep. Worship her.

Carpathian Forest - evil egocentrical existencialism (Fuck You All!!!!)
Hätt ich jetzt nicht erkannt. Die galten wirklich mal als eine der bösesten und gefährlichsten Bands im gesamten Extrem-Metal-Sektor. Vielleicht sind sie das auch, aber mit dieser eher punkigen Platte und den wahlweise "sarkastischen", "provokanten" oder einfach nur flachen Texten (die man leider auch noch relativ gut verstehen kann) ist das eher öd.

Through Chasm, Caves and Titan Woods soll ja gut gewesen sein. Nach Livebildern der Band googeln würde ich aber nicht - wurgs.

Misfits - shining (American Psycho)
Einer meiner Geheimtipps, war mal auf einem Metal Hammer-Sampler drauf und fand ich schon immer cool. War glaub ich das erste Album ohne Danzig, ich kenne die anderen Tracks nicht. Die Rezeption im Hammer war glaub ich eher mau, aber diesen Song mag ich wirklich gerne. Ein cooles Stück Metal Punk/Punk Metal.

Léo Delibes - soyez trois fois bénis (Lakmé)
Hab ich erkannt, aber nur Anhand der altertümlichen Originalaufnahme aus den Vierzigern. Anders gesagt, ich wusste, dass ich sonst nichts habe, dass so klingt. War schön und kurz.

Und ja, Lakmé, das ist die Oper mit dem "flower duet" - viens, mallika... dôme épais le jasmin. Und ja, klar wissen die Experten zu zetern, dass es ja viel berühmtere und "bessere" Duette gibt als das von Anna Netrebko und Elina Garanča, die dieses absolute Meisterwerk, diese göttliche Offenbarung dankenswerterweise für die Nachwelt intonierten. Aber das ist mir egal, testet selbst und prüft, ob ihr jemals etwas Vollkommeneres gehört (und gesehen...) habt als la Netrebko und la Garanča hier.

Fiona Apple - the first taste (Tidal)
Wow. Just wow. Ich wusste, dass Meh dieses Album verehrt, und ich wollte es ja immer mal hören, kam aber noch nicht dazu. Am Anfang tönt es noch "altbekannt" nach Singer/Songwriter am Piano, aber... man merkt schnell, da ist mehr. Die Tonfolgen werden genialer, der Text wird eindringlicher... das ist nicht einfach so ein Song, den ein Produzent als "Quotenballade" für ein Album irgendeiner Trällerelse geschrieben hat. Nein, das könnte tatsächlich von einem Genie sein. Und doch ist es so poppig, nichts, was den 'casual listener' verschrecken würde. Wow. Bin gespannt auf das ganze Album.

Into Eternity - the incurable tragedy I (september 21, 2006) [The Incurable Tragedy]
Wieder so eine Band, wieder so ein Album, das man eigentlich schon längst einmal hören wollte, aber noch nicht hat. Dieses "Zwischenspiel" ist kurz, aber faszinierend. Es wirft einen hochinteressanten Schatten voraus, dem das Album wahrscheinlich gerecht wird. Muss ich unbedingt bald mal hören...

Rufus Wainwright - the maker makes (Brokeback Mountain Soundtrack)
Ein sehr eindringliches und starkes Manifest des Talents von Rufus Wainwright. Hätte auch ohne den Konnex zu Brokeback Mountain beeindruckt, aber mit dem Film im Hinterkopf und vor dem geistigen Auge war das noch eine Schippe intensiver.

Chicane - locking down (The Best of Chicane)
Das war der Track, wo ich am ehesten sicher war, der wird scheiße. Habe achtminütiges, esoterisches "Lounge/Electronic"-Geseier erwartet. Aber Mann, ist es sooo nicht! Für diesen Song sampelte Nicholas Bracegirdle, der Künstler hinter Chicane, anscheinend einen berühmten Song aus Bangladesh.

Hinter 'locking down' habe ich etwas komplett anderes vermutet, umso schöner diese Überraschung. Super Song, gut gemixt, toller Gesang. Wirklich schön.

Pink Floyd - intro song (Live at Pompeii)
Dieses Intro zu einem der faszinierendsten Video-Dokumente einer Band ist eigentlich kein 'Song'. Dementsprechend war es schade, dass hier nichts mehr kam und nur das Intro drauf war. Live at Pompeii MUSS man sehen/hören, unbedingt.

La Roux - bulletproof (La Roux)
Ja... kennt natürlich jeder. Dieser Auftritt bei Today hat mir wieder deutlich vor Augen geführt, wie totgespielt dieser eigentlich gute Track wurde. Kann man schon fast nicht mehr hören.

Objektiv betrachtet ist die Instrumentalisierung wirklich sehr interessant, 80er Elektronik gerne auch mit Commodore 64-Referenzen. Super Sache, aber wahrscheinlich kann ich das erst in fünf Jahren wieder hören, wenn Ö3 und Konsorten aufgegeben haben.

Grand Magus - at midnight they'll get wise (Hammer of the North)
Hammer of the North hätte ich eigentlich gerne lieber gemocht, aber es hat nicht so richtig gezündet. Der Sound wurde nicht gänzlich von der Stoner-Rock-Vergangenheit befreit, aber ansonsten ist das eigentlich reinster Heavy Metal. Der Klargesang ist ganz schön, ein bisschen dreckig belassen, starke Gitarren. Nicht schlecht, aber braucht man irgendwie nicht.

Gates of Ishtar - a bloodred path (A Bloodred Path)
Immer schon viel Gutes über diese schwedische Band gelesen, aber ich habe sie erst heuer mit At Dusk and Forever für mich entdeckt. Dieser Song von ihrem ersten Album schlägt in die selbe Kerbe - hochmelodischer, schneller und kluger Death Metal. Sollte man sich mal genauer anhören.


Und was man noch sollte: Viel mehr Urlaub haben, und Today mit Kopfhörern verstehen und genießen.


--Sapnish--

Mandragora - smiling plain (Live at Posthof)
Delerium - after all
Speedway - genie in a bottle
T42 feat. Sharp - set me free (fargetta edit) [Super Italia Vol. 6]
Giuseppe Verdi - di madride noi siamo matadori (La Traviata)
A Tribe Called Quest - common ground (get it going on) [Darker Than Blue]
Tommy James & The Shondells - hanky panky
Nightrage - a condemned club (A New Disease Is Born)
Cubanito 20.02 - mueve tu cuerpo (Soy Cubanito)
The Beatles - i call your name (The Beatles' Second Album)
Ouled Jouini - bip bip
Blind Guardian - valhalla (Follow the Blind)
Stjarna - evocation (In Autumnal Fog - Chapter II: Wandering Through Forlorn Landscapes)
Rita Coolidge - all time high (James Bond: Octopussy Original Soundtrack)


--Sapnish--

Two Doom/Death Metal albums very close to my heart

Lethargy - The Dark Embrace of Silence
Ashes You Leave - The Inheritance of Sin and Shame

These two albums are very special to me, although they are not very loved in general by the respective target groups. Lethargy from Greece and Ashes You Leave from Croatia played emotional Doom/Death Metal here, never too harsh, but always interesting and also charming.

I can easily see why people find them average at best, it's clear that nothing revolutionary is going on, the sound is more or less muffled on both outputs, there are plenty of clumsy arrangements or 'unclean' bits, as well as what people call "boring metal standards".

I know... and yet I love these albums. The grunts (male vocals) on both records are not exactly 'special', but they fit really well. Lead vocals on "The Inheritance of Sin and Shame" are performed by the heavenly Dunja Radetic and truly, also someone who thinks the album is lame must hear what a talent she is. Very distinctive vocals, left raw and unpolished. Female vocals as well play a role on the Lethargy album as well as very amateur spoken word/clear vocal moments, and both outputs feature pathos, violins and flutes, as well as the obligatory dark, gothic and/or romantic lyrics.

Of course their meaning to me overpowers the "objective" view. The beautiful melodies, the rapturous melancholy and the direct charm, everything works together.

Autumn music for a cloudy summer day.


--Sapnish--

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Zu kurz für das Alter

I've been wondering and asking myself, why don't I have the motivation to make this post? Certainly we had great moments and great songs this year, too. And awful ones. Why was I not keen on writing this?

Because it was a bit lame. I am not a fan of Lena (mildly put), and didn't like her song and was sad that she won last year. But her victory had two positive results, I thought. 1. Germany will shut the fuck up about how unfair the voting is, about how political the Eastern European countries assign their points, and about how irrelevant and antiquated the Song Contest is. 2. Germany, as a country crazy about Eurovision, will deliver a spectacular, awesome and simply fantastic show, better than everything before.

Well, I was wrong. Not with the first point (suddenly, what do you know, Eurovision is a sign of good taste...), but with the second.

The show was dull. Rigid, boring, a bit embarrassing. Ok, you will say that it's like that every year, and this is true for the hosts and the scripted dialogues and jokes they make on stage. But somehow, I don't know why, also in the "half-time shows" the spark was missing, the magic, the power. Playing this goddamn 'satellite' song in a school punk band kind of way was childish, strangely dry and worst of all, it didn't feel like Eurovision. Jan Delay was kind of... well, there was nothing really that you missed if you didn't see it. It seemed, as most of the show pieces, somehow missing passion and missing the instinctive feeling of "Eurovision". This wasn't some "Next superstar" talent show, you know? But it felt like it.

So, as an event, it just didn't feel as good this year. As I tried to explain above, the spark was missing for most parts of the show - at least for me personally.

Well, the songs! After a more than disappointing first Semi (what the hell were they thinking...) the second Semi featured a fairly good share of stronger tunes and performances. Overall the level of good songs wasn't as high as last year, but there was a bit of everything and I felt very well entertained.

Even though there wasn't a song this year that I absolutely fell in love with, there were some magical moments when Georgia's singer raised her strong voice over the smashing metal riffs her band mates played, or when I realized that despite all the fuzz and the silliness, Ireland had an incredibly strong track that was just right all over, a total hit. Slovenia amazed us as well.

Austria did fairly well, a big voice and a small song - well, it worked out anyway, more or less.

The horrors were Armenia (I mean really, WTF), Iceland, Romania (unfortunately), Denmark, Portu-fucking-gal (what were you thinking??), and Germany, and in case you didn't notice, Lena is too fucking skinny - horrible, horrible, horrible. I don't know if he was kidding, but ORF commentator seriously said that Lena's song was in the good old German tradition of Trio or, hold on, Kraftwerk. Kraftwerk! LOL? Yeah, really? You heard Kraftwerk in there? Well good for you! But I guess you couldn't make it through the evening without drugs, it's ok.

Let's have a look at the songs then, shall we?

First Semi Final (Please note that the first 5 contestants had a really bad sound. A short commercial break after the first 5, and voila, the sound was better).

Poland Magdalena Tul "Jestem"
Gedämpfte Stimme, boring, schief.
S: 3, R: 3/4

Norway Stella Mwangi "Haba Haba"
Waka waka. "grandma" in lyrics ist nie gut. Casali, Calypso. okay.
S: 3/4, R: 3/4

Albania Aurela Gaçe "Feel the Passion"
Negura Bunget-Pop? Sehr viel... Tina Turner, Guns'n'Roses. Weird! GoldenEye.
S: ?, R: ?

Armenia Emmy "Boom Boom"
Bwahahahaha. WTF. Nooooooo. Karina. Horrible, altogether sucking really bad.
S: 5, R: 5 (with the potential for a black hole)

Turkey Yüksek Sadakat "Live It Up"
Glam Rock. Braucht kein Mensch. Fad. Und doch wieder Flügel!
S: 4, R: 4

Serbia Nina "Čaroban" (Чаробан)
Bunt. Wieder kein Balkan-Sound :-( 60ies Chicken dance
S: 3, R: 3

Russia Alexey Vorobyov "Get You"
English?? Stu-stu-studio Line. Nichtssagender Boygroup-Song.

Switzerland Anna Rossinelli "In Love for a While"
Ayay, die Rosine. Ana. Too cherful, unoriginal, bubbles. So nett und fröhlich dass man einfach nur etwas zerstören möchte.
S: 4, R: 4/5

Georgia Eldrine "One More Day"
Uiui! The singer is Lacey Chabert! (Check "Mean Girls"). A rapper, why??? Kann echt singen, und rockt! Sie rockt!!
S: 1/2, R: 2

Finland Paradise Oskar "Da Da Dam"
Fängt schon schlimm an. "appletree", wieder etwas, das eigentlich nie gut in lyrics ist. Booooring. Singt aber ok, der junge Mann.
S: 4/5, R: 4/5

Malta Glen Vella "One Life"
Mr President. Eurodaaaaance! 3 Nadine Beilers als Background-Sängerinnen. Gay disco.
S: 3, R: 3

San Marino Senit "Stand By"
Nooo, da gibts wohl doch eine Windmaschine - ihre Frisur scheint voll hineingeraten zu sein. Rotfl @ Lyrics. "If you don't mind I will be here", the stalker song. James Bond. Furchtbarer Refrain. We do mind.
S: 5, R: 5

Croatia Daria "Celebrate"
Sound: Maxx. Zauberer, the vocals don't fit the tune, unfortunately.
S: 4, R: 4

Iceland Sjonni's Friends "Coming Home"
Quinton's band. Wäh, no..... WTF - drummer - Sattel.
S: R:

Hungary Kati Wolf "What About My Dreams?"
Zu kurz, one arm. Eurodance! Der Ungarische Teil des Songs ist viel besser. pretty powerful.
S: 2/3, R: 2/3

Portugal Homens da Luta "A luta é alegria"
Yeah, fuck you. Like an ugly, retarded version of Village People.
S + R:

Lithuania Evelina Sašenko "C'est ma vie"
Geklimper. Song-Contest-Ballade, wie sie im Buche steht. Mit Drama und allem, übertrieben und öd.
S: 3/4, R: 3/4

Azerbaijan Ell and Nikki "Running Scared"
JLo. Not bad. The chorus is sort of original.
S: 3, R: 3

Greece Loukas Giorkas feat. Stereo Mike "Watch My Dance"
Piqué. He cannot rap, my God. Mascara. Weird Rembetiko.
S: ?, R: ?


Second Semi Final

Bosnia and Herzegovina Dino Merlin "Love in Rewind"
English?? Why??? Nice song, Jarka is there. Chicken dance and carousel in the performance.
S: 3, R: 3

Austria Nadine Beiler "The Secret Is Love"
Öder song, aber mit einer tollen Mariah Carey am Mikro. Outfit: kurz. Performance: Chicago.
S: 3, R: 2/3 Österreich-Bonus.

Netherlands 3JS "Never Alone"
Never alone, huh? Because of the voices you hear in your head? Ein Sandler und ein schlimmes Gezappel. Just no.
S: 4/5, R: 5

Belgium Witloof Bay "With Love Baby"
I see what you did there... but no. Barely got through it. Der belgische Nicolas Cage ist auch da. Alle ugly, leider.
S: ?, R: ?

Slovakia TWiiNS "I'm Still Alive"
Synthie-Brummen, Aggro-Drums. Marcia Cross is an Alien. Schaß.
S: 3/4, R: 4

Ukraine Mika Newton "Angel"
Ethno-Pop? Ein bisschen öd. English :-( Wieder Flügel. Clevere Performance.
S: 3/4, R: 3/4

Moldova Zdob şi Zdub "So Lucky"
Happy Rage Against the Machine. Reverse ZZ Top. Yeah, fuck off.
S: R:

Sweden Eric Saade "Popular"
Viel... Naja, singen kann er nicht so irre, aber eingängiger Song. Nette Jacke.
S: 2, R: 2

Cyprus Christos Mylordos "San aggelos s'agapisa" (Σαν άγγελος σ'αγάπησα)
Greek language!! woohoo. Interesting, aber nicht gut gesungen. Die Sängerin war vieeeel besser, mann, sie hätte die Lead vocals machen sollen. Dann auch noch "schief" - how fitting.
S: 2/3, R: 2/3

Bulgaria Poli Genova "Na inat" (На инат)
Tja schade, da singt endlich jemand Bulgarisch und es ist langweilig. Pop/Rock. Nice outfits. Alles gut außer dem Song.
S: 3, R: 2/3

Macedonia Vlatko Ilievski "Rusinka" (Русинкa)
Nicht schlecht, aber der Gesang... Schlimmer Gesang... Gute Ansätze, aber total zerschossen.
S: 4, R: 4/5

Israel Dana International "Ding Dong"
Tja... was soll man sagen. Dana International is a goddess, but she just didn't sing this one very well. The song is only average, too.
S: 3, R: 2/3

Slovenia Maja Keuc "No One"
Mamma mia. Christina Aguilera, great voice, performance, outfit (they want the boots). Echt gut.
S: 1/2, R: 1

Romania Hotel FM "Change"
Uuuuahhhhhh. Schaß, musical. Zum Vergessen. Und Englisch ist es auch, natürlich. Eine Tortur. Schnip, Klatsch, Point! S: 5, R: 5

Estonia Getter Jaani "Rockefeller Street"
Hahaha. Was?? Ist vor dem Refrain ganz kurz nicht so schlecht, nur um dann in den Horror zu fallen. 4 Songs at the same time. Fausta? Mascara. Song, what song?? Ist das ein Medley? Grease-Krocher sind auch dabei.
S: ? R: 4

Belarus Anastasia Vinnikova "I Love Belarus"
Instrumental gut, leider Englisch und völlig dämlich. Ohne Text wäre es besser gewesen. The president wrote the song.
S: 3/4, R: 3

Latvia Musiqq "Angel in Disguise"
Pop. Ok, aber zu normal. Knackwurst-Nacken. Rap = Scheiße.
S: 4, R: 4

Denmark A Friend in London "New Tomorrow"
WTF? Kann beim besten Willen nichts finden, das daran nicht scheiße ist. OMG.
S: 5, R:

Ireland Jedward "Lipstick"
Feiner Song. Moment, das ist ein Hit! Singen können sie nicht, brauchen sie hier aber auch nicht. Ziemlich perfekt alles, das passt einfach.
S: 1/2, R: 1/2


And the remaining Finalists

France Amaury Vassili "Sognu"
Tja. Meh. Wenn du wirklich Opern singen willst, musst du dich halt auch mit den Guten messen lassen. Und das ist einfach nix... It's ok, I guess.
S: 3/4, R: 3/4

Italy Raphael Gualazzi "Madness of Love"
Zweisprachig, Oh Gott..... Eh.... What's that???
S: X, R: ?

United Kingdom Blue "I Can"
Der Stagebanner sagt "ICAN". Painful song, the voices suck (weren't you better at singing in the past?), totally redundant.
S: 4/5, R: 5

Germany Lena "Taken by a Stranger"
Kind, du bist zu dünn. Sieht das niemand? Sie wird in der Mitte auseinanderbrechen. Komisch, alles daran ist komisch. Speed ice skaters in the background. Hat der Song schon begonnen?
S + R:

Spain Lucía Pérez "Que me quiten lo bailao"
At least it's in Spanish. boring, alright. Outfit: kurz. That kinda dance with those skirts?? Ah Halbtonschritt, I missed you :-)
S: 4, R: 3


That's it, kids. A couple of "wise words" from me to wrap this up:
- Why are you mixing your beautiful, unique and special mother tongue with English? Stop doing that! It ruins everything!

- The almost complete lack of Eurodance (or, at least, good quality Eurodance) was a big disappointment. As was the lack of turbofolky Balkan tunes.

- And stop bringing Rappers, thank you.

Azerbaijan, make it better than Germany next year! Good luck and see you in Baku!!

Watch My Path

Listening to Amon Amarth's newest album "Surtur Rising" via stream.

Loving the outro of "a beast am I", I cannot get enough of it. So beautiful.

At home, purchasing the mp3 album on amazon.de.

In the morning, looking for the outro while waiting for the bus.

Outro is not there.

Googling, finding that there seems to be a version with this outro, another one with the same thing as intro to the next song, "doom over deadman", and apparently one without it: mine.

Feeling like an idiot, going back to the stream to listen to it there.

--> Illegaly downloading.



--Sapnish--

Surrounded by Chaos...

I find my peace in you.

Unanimated - Ancient God of Evil
Awesome Melodic Death Metal with good vocals. And the melodies, the melodies...!

REV 16:8 - Grand Tidal Rave
Tidy and flashing Black Metal with wasp guitars - very enjoyable

Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra
The new star of modern Soul/RnB. Gives this "tape" away for free to download. This MUST be THE record for a laidback summer night, where you don't talk much, maybe because there is no need, or because there's not much to say.

Milczenie Owiec - frozen
The only really good cover of this Madonna revelation

DJ Project - esti tot ce am
The normal edit or the extended version - this beautiful chorus gets me every time.


--Sapnish--

An Unholy Night of Music

I just came back from an awesome night playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band with my friends. There were a lot of remarkable moments, but a few outstanding ones, such as Lupus singing Fade to Black which was just beautiful or Painkiller hitting even the high notes which would make Rob blush, Sapnish singing clairvoyant with such a passion and Margot performing a version of Nothing else matters that you really felt "nothing else would matter". Well, I had my moments, although I guess passion in singing "Can I play with madness" counts more as being dropped out in the middle of the song.

My thanks to my friends on stage: Margot, Sapnish, Supul and all a good night !!!

Here is the playlist, although I cannot remember the correct order anymore:

Metallica

- battery

- enter sandman

- welcome home (sanitarium)

- seek & destroy

- fade to black

- the unforgiven

- wherever I may roam

- master of puppets

- nothing else matters

The Beatles

- a hard days night

- I want to hold your hand

Faith no More - epic

Hole - celebrity skin

Black Sabbath - paranoid

Kiss - detroit rock city

Blue Öyster Cult - (don't fear) the reaper

Judas Priest

- painkiller

- electric eye

Iron Maiden

- the clairvoyant

- can I play with madness

- the number of the beast

Sacrifi-Sir

Work Playlist

Die Krupps - fatherland
Die Krupps - der amboss
Die Krupps - to the hilt
Amon Amarth - war of the gods
Amon Amarth - embrace of the endless ocean
Helrunar - kollapsar
Helrunar - unter dem gletscher
Satyricon - commando
Labyrinth - moonlight
Sanctuary - die for my sins
Fates Warning - sorceress
Rush - red barchetta
Fear Factory - hk
Schweisser - eisenkopf
Megadeth - holy wars... the punishment due
Arckanum - bafomet

METAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wollt ich nur wieder mal sagen.


--Sapnish--