Babel music room: Duran return, Kaiser Chiefs and German doctors
Published on
Story by
sandra wickert
Translation by:
rosanna o'sullivan
Our autumn dreams are accompanied by melancholy pop singers and experimental keyboards. We prolong the summer with heated rhythms and saturated guitars: what's on in Europe's music scene during November
Duran Duran: Red Carpet Massacre
Duran Duran(Photo: Sony BMG)
Fans of Lady Diana have known for a long time. In fact, at the commemoration of the Princess’ death, they invested in Wembley stadium and even drove Prince William and his brother Harry into elegant squirms: Duran Duran are back with a new album after a two-year break. With Red Carpet Massacre the band who are only referred to with superlatives and who created a whole new industry for music videos are offering us a highly anticipated twelfth studio album on which, as for nearly all promising CDs, we feel the touch of the mega-producer Timbalake.
Duran Duran: Falling Down
The first single Falling Down is already a scandal in the making: the video, which shows a Britney Spears look-alike in an alcoholic hell, is banned from being shown on British TV channels because of its scenes deemed too 'controversial.' This should not however have a negative effect on the single’s chart success.On the contrary, the song is already on its way to giving Duran Duran its 31st position in the UK's top 30 singles chart
Sony BMG
Italy - UK 5 November 2007
Germany – 16 November 2007
Spain – 20 November 2007
(Photo: Sony BMG)
Landscape Izuma: Kolorit
Landscape Izuma is Tran Lap Vinh Georg, an Austrian with Vietnamese roots who has decided, after diverse group projects, to go solo. There is music that encourages us to stay under the covers and simply let our thoughts wander. Music that takes us far away and lets us forget the noise and frenzy of the outside world and that we simply want to listen to without doing anything else at the same time. Kolorit – the first album from Lanscape Izuma – is exactly this genre of music. For this type of music, the German musician and actor Robert Stadlober and his partner Bernhard Kern founded their label 'Siluh Records' in Vienna. They gave themselves the mission of promoting young Austrian and Eastern-European artists. That they stumbled – entirely by accident – on Landscape Izuma with his gentle and magnificent pop, is only a stroke of luck for the two founders of the label.
Siluh Records
Released end October 2007
(Photo: Haiderer Photos)
Francesco Tristano: Not for Piano
On one side we have a classical piano virtuoso. On the other, a young electronic music label. The result: Not for piano by Fransesco Tristano, an extraordinary disc, surprising, audacious, charming and accomplished. This musician who lives in Barcelona is an unapologetic European. Raised by an Italian mother in Luxembourg, he left to study firstly in New York to then return and travel Europe. His new album is suffused with these multiple impressions, it is at once very happy, then very sombre and melancholy. At just 25, Francesco Tristano is not afraid to break the old traditions of classical music and to go off the beaten track. A heady tight-rope walker of a number that navigates between styles and that will certainly soon be heard in many bars, lounges and clubs.
In-Fine Music/Alive
Released 2 November 2007 across Europe
(Photo: beats international)
Die Ärzte: Jazz Ist Anders
'The best band in the world' as 'The Doctors' call themselves. Fans loyal to this German punk-rock trio for over 25 years don’t think any less. A new album, nothing extraordinary about this alone, but that it is coming out on vinyl deserves a particular mention. The basic idea of this 'totally Ärzte' album lies in the creativity exhibited in the recordings (self-produced by the band). From photos taken themselves or by an automatic trigger to the filming of their video, they have exercised the greatest possible influence. Today, in 2007, Ärzte are as independent and sure of themselves as ever. Those who, unfortunately, are part of the ever-growing majority of people who don’t own a record player, are thankfully not obliged to renounce the album. Each person who buys the vinyl version of the album will get a download code so that they can download the songs for free at digital quality. Aesthetics have also been taken care of as the disc is illustrated and delivered in a pizza box
Hot Action/ Universal
Germany, Austria, Czech Republic: 2 November 2007
(Photo: Universal)
Kaiser Chiefs: the great European tour
Kaiser Chiefs (Photo: Jason Kelvin und Stevie Dean)
It wasn’t just English football fans this summer yelling Ruby Ruby Rubyyy; the single from the latest Kaiser Chiefs album was a hit throughout Europe. The musicians from Leeds, an industrial city in the north of England, played together at school and became overnight superstars in 2005 with their first album Employment. The name of the group, incidentally, was inspired by the group’s favourite footballer, Lucas Radebe, who had previously played in the South African team 'Kaizer Chief.'
Kaiser Chiefs: Ruby
Kaiser Chiefs’ musical style is described as being indie-rock and is amongst others influenced by bands such as the Beach Boys, Blur and Madness. But they don’t really like being put into a specific category and say they draw their inspiration from British groups they grew up with. A huge tour of Europe beginning at the end of October will take them firstly to their fans in Switzerland and Austria, then in Scandinavia, Wales and in Germany before eventually returning home, to Great Britain.
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Translated from Café Label im November