Hiphop is the new punk

 Hiphop is the new punk.

Just when most of rock, pop, and yes, even punk, seems to have lost momentum and mostly resemble money-machines without substance, we have to rely on hiphop for some punk attitude. Social commentary is otherwise rare and mostly something that only 60+ artists seem to think about, so, where are you, young rebels, rebellious youth? The world is crumbling and you are silent? 

At least hiphop continues the important vital function as critical voices for democracy, diversity and social justice. They report from run-down neighborhoods and districts where mainstream media only visits to demonize, if ever. Hiphop reports from these districts, they are the news channels from within, and from everywhere.

Bands like Antilopen Gang even produce double-albums with hiphop and punk. An important band, Antilopen Gang.

Bands like Waving The Guns, in turn, are hiphop through and through, but also fabulously and totally punk in attitude. 

Yes, Waving The Guns. 

What can you say? 

Brilliant hiphop. Voices from the underground, and from the unheard, forgotten masses.

Have all their albums. Great on vinyl. The cd-versions are also superb value for money, for example double cd with old WTG albums Eine Hand Bricht Die Andere and Totschlagargumente. For 9,90 €! 

Wish they would publish their raps (texts) with the albums. This is serious, strong stuff, delivered with attitude and force, set to catching grooves and beats.

Feine Sahne Fischfilets performed live in Hamburg in December, a Rostock punk band with a great trumpet soloist. The trumpetist also did a fine hiphop rap during the set. Another way to celebrate the connection. And everybody cheered.

Hiphop is the new punk.

Eins Zwo Delay and what else? - och vad mera?

 Eins Zwo is a legendary hiphop-duo from Hamburg. I bought their great debut album on cd earlier, but even cooler is the fantastic double-vinyl with instrumental tracks of the record. Have only seen it once in store, in Groove City, where I listened to it, and, wow, it is so insanely good that I bought it. Expensive, yes, but so fu—in great. Full party mood, grooves that makes you move, and keep on moving, amazing stuff. Also bought their debut maxi, Sport, but on cd, also good, of course.

There just is something about Hamburg and hiphop. Also found Jan Delay’s Mercedes-Dance box set (2 CD + DVD). The fine original album I have in both LP and CD-version, and even an limited two-disc version, but this one includes many fine remixes and live tracks. Like Christmas candy for me.

And, there is also something about Stuttgart and hiphop. Especially Fanta4, Die Fantastischen Vier, genre giants and just great music. Also on my last German trip, to Hamburg, I bought a Fanta-album, this time triple-vinyl Heimspiel, a fine live album from their 20th anniversary concert (2009). They also have a new live album put out in 2025, Long Player on tour, which I have on cd and dvd, and it too is worth to have on vinyl.

And, if you have the chance, the December number of Musikexpress (1/26) includes a fine cd, Mixtape 2025, that is almost worth the price in itself, eight strong tracks from the year that is soon ending.

Enjoy.

Eins Zwo, legendarisk hiphop-duo från Hamburg. Nämnde jag köpt deras första album på cd, suveränt. Men ännu häftigare är nog dubbel-vinylen med instrumentalspåren av samma album. Har sett det exakt en gång, på Groove City. Och lyssnat i butiken, så sjukt bra, så jag köpte det. Dyrt, ja, men helt fantastiskt, otroligt bra. Fullt drag, fullt party, lyfter, lyfter. Blev också inköp av deras debut-maxi, men på cd, Sport. Bra, förstås.

Det är något med Hamburg och hiphop. Köpte också Jan Delays Mercedes-Dance boxversion (2 CD + DVD), normalalbumet har jag förstås från förr på både vinyl och cd och som en limiterad 2-disc version. Grymt album. Boxen bjuder på en hel del fina remixar och livespår. Det är julgodis för mig.

Det är nåt med Stuttgart och hiphop också. Fanta4, Die Fantastischen Vier, är genrens giganter. Har blivit ett Fanta-album (fina trippel-vinylen Heimspiel, som starkt dokumenterar bandets 20-årsjubileum 2009) också på senaste Tysklandsresan till Hamburg.

Och får ni chans att köpa december-numret av tyska Musikexpress (01/26) så kan det nästan vara värt det bara för medföljande fina cd:n Mixtape 2025. Åtta sköna spår från året som snart är till ända.

Njut.

Jaco, anti-war and Kraftwerk - while waiting for Depeche

 A new live album by Depeche Mode is out right now, December 5th. An interesting concert from Mexico City during the Memento Mori tour. Also out is the M film, with the concert. Needless to say, I bought both the 4 LP-box and the 2 Blueray + 2 CD-box. However, I will give it a few listenings and watchings before doing a review. So, I will be back shortly! In the meantime, there are some other ”not so new but new to me” nice music finds to report.

Jaco Pastorius: Truth, Liberty & Soul - Live in NYC 1982 - came out on remastered 2 CD with an impressive booklet already in 2017, I bought it in November. Jaco was for bass players what Jimi Hendrix was for guitar players. An unbelievable talent, a genius. Of course he is center stage here, but it is a wonderful jazz big band performing and a truly great concert. Should have bought it years ago, happy to hear it now, and from now on. An essential jazz recording by the true Mr Bassman. Breathtaking stuff.

Compilation albums can easily be a combination of hits and misses, same with theme albums. If you want to hear an important anti-war album, which is not that very well-known but comes with a multitude of great tracks I can recommend the wonderful Body of War - Songs that inspired an Iraq war veteran. A tripple-LP album that is truly amazing. War Veterans Against the War is behind it and a superb list of artists and songs are included; from Springsteen, Neil Young, Roger Waters, Pearl Jam and Lennon to Bad Religion, Public Enemy, Rage Against The Machine, System of A Down, Dilated People, Bouncing Souls, and Tori Amos. Eddie Vedder & Ben Harper plays No More Live, which is sort of the title song here. Spellbinding from starting ballad Hero’s Song by Brendan James to ending Day After Tomorrow by Tom Waits. Perhaps the best album I have heard this Fall. Great stuff.

Found also some nice german hiphop when visiting some of the great record shops in Hamburg, where prices can be significantly lower than in Finland. And, of course, the supply is fantastic! Visited also a record fair there, but, sadly, it was one of the worst ever, had difficulties finding even one really interesting record. Made the finds at Zardoz, Freiheit & Roosen, Filmgarten this time, and even Media Markt, that really has an impressive width of new records and films. But for the real vinyl finds it is the cool genuine record stores that counts most and they are quite a few in Hamburg. Zardoz and Groove are the best, Filmgarten the friendliest, and Freiheit & Roosen is also a must, but I have also had many great times at Plattenrille, Michelle and Fischkopp. And it doesn’t end there. I truly love Hamburg as a music metropolis, a world center of music.

I already bought Thomas D:s latest mini-album Mega D on cd during summertime, but it is so great that I had to have it on vinyl, in the limited RSD edition, unnecessary expensive of course, but superb. Nie wieder krieg is possibly my favorite song in 2025. Just like the Tocotronic song with the same song was best song in 2024. Got the point? 

Classic Eins Zwo’s first album is very expensive on vinyl but I found a limited cd for a tenner, and did not hesitate. Great album, a real german hiphop classic. I found that and about ten other interesting hiphop albums at Zardoz, someone obviously had a winter clearout of wonderful german hiphop albums and cd-maxis, including Fettes Brot, Fanta 4, Funf Sterne Deluxe, Schnabel & DJ Meru, Beginner and Denyo 77. I’m certainly not complaining.

A great box set, Ultravox’ classic album Lament (on 7 cd + 1 dvd) gives you all you could possibly want or need of Lament. Not too expensive and very interesting. Original album in two mixes, lots of remixes, and 2 cd’s live, plus an audio-dvd. A nice Christmas present for Ultravox-fans.

And at last a nice 12” maxi from 1991, Kraftwerk: Radioaktivität, with some great mixes from Francois Kevorkian and William Orbit. Yes, it is cool remixes of the Radioaktivität/Radioactivity version on The Mix album, so it is the more modern anti-nuclear version of the great classic. Kraftwerk played live in Helsinki this winter and in Berlin next week, sadly I was not there and will not be there, but I have seen them twice live. Memorable concerts indeed, but now it is only Ralf Hutter left of the greatest, classic line-up. True legends, and this 12” is, of course, magnificent. Bought in Helsinki, where there are also some excellent record shops, like Black & White, Keltainen jäänsärkijä and Levykauppa X. The latter is quite expensive, but also a place where you can make nice finds, especially in their Kallio shop, where there are more interesting used records. Stupido, Music Hunter and Goofin’ can also be worth a visit.

The soundtrack of the Vietnam War - in a large cd-box form

 A documentation of epic proportions.

Yes, it is an absolute mammoth-size project. 13 + 1 (songtext) CD:s and a heavy, over 300 pages, A4-sized book. And still only a portion of the 4000 songs that are said to form the total amount of Vietnam war-connected songs.

But it is, and will most certainly remain, the ultimate compilation of Vietnam War-related songs, including an impressive essay on the war and the music, discussing their significance in and for America. Interesting in a time when the US again is connected to very controversial and imperialistic politics and a time when the reactions in music are still fragmented and small compared to the 1960’s and early 1970’s. That said, this major compilation, Next Stop is Vietnam (1961-2008), is not new but an archive find. Neither is it a one-sided compilation, it is not an overview of Vietnam war-critical music, even though a lot of critical songs are present. Here is also many songs supporting the US, the overseas war campaign, and of course the veterans and soldiers. In that way it is perhaps an even more interesting overview, trying to represent the whole spectrum of songs, even some much later songs specifically about the Vietnam war, like Paul Hardcastle’s 19, are included. This heavy (in content but also physically in pure weight) box set is produced by Bear Family (based in Germany) and their strong links to country, hillbilly, rock’n’roll and old school americana means that this sector is especially well covered. If anything, I would have enjoyed a larger segment of songs from Black America, more soul, funk etc, but some essential and more obscured works are present. Also sad that for example CCR:s Fogerty-written anti-Vietnam war songs are only included in Paul Revere-performed versions, as Bear Family could not get license for the original versions. I have those songs on original albums anyway, but Revere’s versions are new to me, and quite fine too. However, these are minor flaws in a very impressive collection. Included are many hard-to-find songs, extremely seldom heard, as well as very well-known classics, like Masters of War or Where have all the flowers gone or Soldier Boy.

I guess for most it really is overkill to buy a box like this, but it certainly gives an interesting and wide perspective from one of the most controversial periods of political song writing, the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. However, it also makes you think how much we really need popular culture that dare to make a stand and comment what is going on, today, in our world and sinister times. There is much to comment in music in these times, so why is there so few political comments in song? Trumpism and its war on knowledge, learning, free speech, courts, universities and traditional allies, right wing extremism, terrorism, Genocide in Gaza, Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine…

This box set documents a time when music was on the forefront of commenting society. We need voices and songs that take a stand. And democracy means we can have different views, just like the songs from different viewpoints in this ambitious box set. A goldmine for music lovers, and historians, and everyone that wants to understand American society just a little better. The Vietnam War was a major trauma for the US, its heritage is still felt today. And this impressive box set documents the soundtrack of that conflict. Peace!

Neukölln Unlimited + Rude Boy

Here’s two films I rediscovered this summer:

When I last visited Berlin I spent much time in different interesting districts, like highly gentrified Prenzlauer Berg, walked 36 km(!) in one day, but sadly missed to do a visit in Neukölln, which also was and is on my to do-list. It is now on an even shorter shortlist. I later bought the interesting film Neukölln Unlimited on dvd, but ironically in Munich, when I visited there in late June. It is not a new film, but it is interesting, with focus on the lives of a lebanese family in the Berlin district, including bureacratic problems with permits and worries about the demanded income levels for being allowed to stay, but also includes happier, lively moments, like breakdance performances in front of a hugely appreciative crowd. An interesting and relevant movie, well worth seeing and discussing, especially today, in an increasingly xenophobic world.

And talking about interesting, the Special Edition of classic punk film Rude Boy - The Movie, starring The Clash, is another fine picture. Could be said that the storyline, as in most music movies, is rather weak, but The Clash performing live in many clips is great stuff. The special version on dvd is my choice, as it includes remastered footage and sound, and a replica of the wonderful original 40 page promotional fanzine. Plus many special features, like Clash live in Munich with 7 songs, and various interviews.

A nice package.

Två  fina filmer att återupptäcka:

Den relevanta Neukölln Unlimited skildrar en libanesisk familj i Berlinstadsdelen, deras utmaningar och stress med uppehållstillstånd och inkomstgränser, men också glädjeämnen och lokala stjärnstunder som breakdansare. En viktig film som belyser en invandrarfamiljs vardagliga utsatthet och osäkerhet i en alltmera främlingsfientlig tid.

Rude Boy -The Movie kopplar till legendariska The Clash och inkluderar flera fina liveklipp. Storyn är, som i de flesta musikfilmer, ganska banal, men live-klippen med Clash är energiska och lyfter filmupplevelsen. Särskilt filmens special edition på dvd rekommenderas, eftersom den också inkluderar en replika av den fina 40-sidiga promotions-fanzine som ursprungligen följde med. Ett fint paket.

Wir sind die Roboter - läsvärd tysk Kraftwerk-bok

 Uwe Schuttes aktuella bok Wir sind die Roboter - Kraftwerk und die Erfindung der elektronischen Pop-Musik finns tills vidare bara på tyska, så den som inte behärskar språket får ge sig till tåls. Vi som läser tyska (någotsånär hyfsat i alla fall) kan däremot njuta av ännu ett verk om de stora och viktiga elektronik-musik pionjärerna Kraftwerk. Första upplagan utkom i november 2024, så boken är färsk, om än inte helt pinfärsk.

Boken är, enligt författaren Schutte (med umlaut), ett försök för honom själva att begripa sig på Kraftwerk och att dela sina insikter och avsikter med andra. Han säger direkt att han också prioriterar läsbarheten och därför försöker undvika fikon- och fackspråk där han kan. Följden är också en läsupplevelse där texten löper väl.

Författarens gruppering av Kraftwerks klassiska album är också något för fans och experter att diskutera. Schutte kopplar ihop albumtrion Autobahn, Trans Europa Express och Tour de France, som alla behandlar rörelse i olika former, och står för en framåtsträvande maskinell-motorisk musik. Albumen Radio-Aktivität och Computerwelt exponerar däremot ambivalens, enligt Schutte, medan Die Mensch-Machine och dess koncept representerar en helt egen kategori.

Vidare ser han digitaliseringen som en vattendelare, en brytpunkt mellan analoga och digitala verk, och noterar The Mix, Techno Pop och Expo-2000 ep:n, som alla faller inom den senare kategorin.

Nu har jag bara lyft fram några poänger, från inledningskapitlet. Kanske årets semesterbok 2025? Har inte läst till slut ännu, så vem vet, men definitivt en kandidat. Det kan jag redan säga.

Wir sind die Roboter - Kraftwerk und die Erfindung der elektronischen Pop-Musik is the title of Uwe Schuttes new book, first published in November 2024. It is only, at least for now, available in German, but readers that know German (at least on a quite ok-level) can enjoy a well-written and fairly easily read book (one more) about the mighty electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. Schutte describes the book as a try for himself to better understand Kraftwerk and to share his insights and purposes with other people. He does an interesting grouping of the classic Kraftwerk-albums. Autobahn, Trans Europa Express and Tour de France here forms a trio of albums concerned with movement in different ways while Radio-Aktivität and Computerwelt expose ambivalence. Die Mensch-Machine in turn represents its own category. Schutte also see the divide between analogue and digital as the essential and main divide, and put The Mix, Techno-Pop and the Expo-2000 ep in the latter category. There is much to discuss for fans and experts, already in the Introduction chapter.

Is this the Summer vacation book of the year 2025? Possibly. I have not finished reading it yet, but who knows? I can at least already say it is a candidate.

Reading is Power! Att läsa är makt!

Lite retro album i hettan - Some retro albums in the Summer heat

 Överfull sommar just nu. Uppemot 30 grader igår, 31 idag, och prognosen de närmaste härnäst 33, 34, 36, 36 - och sedan 21 på fredag. 😅

Overfull Summer, about 30 degrees yesterday, 31 today and the coming days it will be 33, 34, 36, 36 - and then 21 on Friday.

Hot now, Summer in the City!

Shoppade lite bra ny-gammal musik igår, först på loppis på Karlsplatz och åkte därefter och sökte upp en cool kombinerad skivhandel-vinotek-cafe. Loewen Records, cirka 12 S-bahnstationer från Hbf, var ett fynd. Lejonshopen var en kul bekantskap, inte jättestor, men med bra produkter, trevlig service och good vibes. Köpte en cool t-shirt också. Och god musik att söndags-chilla till i skuggan,  idag. 

I shopped som fine old-new music on fleamarket at Karlsplatz yesterday and continued then to seek out a combined recordstore-vinoteca-cafe some 12 S-bahnstops from Hbf.

Loewen Records was a winner. The lionshop is not large, but had great products, friendly service and overall good vibes. I even bought a cool t-shirt there. And great music to chill to in the shade on Sunday, today.

So put on the f—cking lautsprecher!

I Stuttgart kan man förstås inte förbigå stadens stora söner, legendariska Fanta4, Die Fantastischen Vier. Deras strålande färska live-album Long Player On Tour har jag tidigare nämnt. Idag är trippel-cd:n Heimspiel från bandets 20-årsjubileum 2009, live från Cannstatter Wasen, precis så bra som man kunde förvänta sig. 2024 firade de 35 år och är still going strong. Respekt. 

Mera hiphop, tack, med Marterias Zum Gluck In Die Zukunft, ett fint album från 2010. Med gäst-inhopp från bl.a. Jan Delay och Casper. Bäst: Alles Verboten, med en alltför aktuell titel.

Mars Sessions 2 av Thomas D and The KBCS (från 2024) köpte jag visserligen redan tidigare i veckan, men den sitter bra på söndag. Bäst är fina Es Wird Regen Geben, som passade temamässigt perfekt för vårvädret men känns avlägsen i denna superhetta. Nej, det känns inte som om det kommer att börja regna snart (det utlovas till torsdag kväll enligt yr.no), men låten svalkar i söndagshettan. Krieger hörs i två versioner idag, här den senaste, som soloversion.

Mera chill blir det med Söhne Mannheims och deras Kompass (från 2023), perfekt för söndags-chill i värmen och med aktuella spår som Moral - Album Edit (lyssna på introt!) och suveräna Kompassnadel. Också inköpt tidigare i veckan, när MediaMarkt hade utförsäljning på vissa album för en femma styck. Ett fint fynd.

Två amerikanska loppisfynd, albumen The Roots: Phrenology (2002) och Beastie Boys: To The 5 Boroughs (2004) är dagens icke-tyska inslag. Genomlyssnas medan tankarna går till demokratins fall och förfall i T.rump-land. Idag är det väl bara en tidsfråga innan man börjar mäta skallar igen (Phrenology) i pseudovetenskapliga Trump-land. Det är hårda tider även i den fria världens (tidigare) epicentrum New York. Undrar vad ett To The 5 Boroughs album skulle behandla 21 år senare. Beastie Boys kunde kanske göra en uppdaterad ögonblicksskillnad i dagens New York, i Trump-land?

Köpte pinfärska C-kassetten Golden Rules: The Originals 1 på Loewen Records, men blir tvungen att spara lyssningen till senare. På kassett-konvolutet kan man läsa Bringing Soul Back To The People, 100% True Notes och Support Your Local & Global Community. Låter lovande.

Back to Deutsch. Fettes Brots Demotape (2001) tar oss nästan ett kvartsekel tillbaka. Då var det första comeback-albumet för hamburgarna.

Söndagschill avslutas idag som det börjat, med Fanta4. För 30 år sedan (1995) kom höjdaralbumet Lauschgift. Med klassiker som Populär, Sie Ist Weg, Was Geht, Michi Gegen Die Geschellshaft och, tyvärr alltför dagsaktuella, Krieger. Det här albumet håller ännu.

Fred!

In Stuttgart you can’t get past the City’s great sons, hiphop-legends Fanta4. Die Fantastischen Vier. Their latest, great livealbum Long Player On Tour (2025) has already been mentioned earlier. Today, the trippel-cd Heimspiel, from Fanta4’s 20-year anniversary live at Cannstatter Wasen, is precisely as great as could be expected. Last year they celebrated 35 years and are still going strong. Respect.

More hiphop, then, with Materia and strong album Zum Gluck In Die Zukunft (2010), with for example Jan Delay and Casper on the guestlist. Best track: Alles Verboten, a  too contemporary title.

I bought Mars Sessions 2 by Thomas D and The KBCS (2024) earlier this week, but it works well this Sunday. Es Wirt Regen Geben is the best track, but no, it will not start raining very soon (on Thursday evening, according to the weather service yr.no) Thematically, this track feels out of place in this super-heatwave, but it makes Sunday-heat feel slightly cooler. Krieger is heard both here, in a new solo version, and later.

More chill is promised with Söhne Mannheims and their Kompass (2023). Perfect for Sunday-chill in this heat, with cool contemporary cuts like Moral - Album Edit (listen to the intro!) and superb Kompassnadel. This album was also bought earlier this week, when Media Markt slumped away some albums for five euro each. A great find.

Two American fleamarket-finds are the only non-German albums listened to this Sunday, The Roots: Phrenology (2002) and Beastie Boys: To The 5 Boroughs (2004). Thoughts go out to the decline and decay of democracy in T.rump-land when listening to these albums. It may only be a question of time before they start measuring sculls (Phrenology) again in a pseudo-scientific Trump-land. These are hard times also for the (former) epicenter of the Free World, New York. I wonder what a To The 5 Boroughs-album would contain now, some 21 years later? Beastie Boys could perhaps make an updated snapshot from contemporary Trump-land New York?

I bought fresh c-cassette Golden Rules: The Originals 1 at Loewen records, but unfortunately will have to listen to it at a later date. The cassette cover states Bringing Soul Back To The People, 100% True Notes and Support Your Local & Global Community. Sounds promising.

Back to Deutsch. Fettes Brot’s Demotape (2001) take us back almost a quarter of a century. Then, a first comeback-album for the Hamburgers.  

Sunday chill ends today as it started, with Fanta4. 30 years ago (1995), succesful album Lauschgift was published. With classics like Populär, Sie Ist Weg, Was Geht, Michi Gegen Die Geschellshaft and, unfortunately too contemporary titled, Krieger. 

Peace!