NDW (Neue Deutsche Welle)

I just sent my friend Rixa from Germany (aka Germland where the Germs live) a gigantic list of music that I've been looking for on the vinyls. The list has some Krautrock rarities like A.R. & Machines "Echo" (jesus christ this is hard to get) and Walter Wegmuller - "Tarot" (With original Tarot cards, its worth more than your first born baby) but the majority is made up of NDW artists.

Neue Deutsche Welle is the German New Wave that took place between 1978-1984. True to form there was an underground NDW and a mainstream NDW movement. Both shared success in the German music market. However, I will primarily focus on the underground NDW artists.

If punk rock was a reaction to over bloated prog rock and disco, than NDW was a reaction to Krautrock and Berlin school electronics. I guess NDW bands reactionary idea was to take music further, and freakier in a shorter amount of time. The movement indeed took the technical electronic achievements of say Kraftwerk and put them through the punk filter. The music reminds me of taking CAN's "Vitamin C" and fucking with it by adding distorted guitars, weird synth plunks and farts until something musically retarded, yet deliciously inventive comes out of the mix. Also a lot of industrial strength La Dusseldorf and the spazztronics of Faust flung into the pot.

What makes these artists different from say the U.K. or U.S. New Wave movements is the sheer amount of studio fuckery and willingness to with go normal music conventions to make something that is truly OUT THERE. I can't stress that enough. You will either absolutely love it or HATE IT. This is not Goth, not Post-punk, and definitely notSynth Pop. NDW is its own island in the music universe.

Lets not forget these Germans youths were ANGRY even when they were dancing! Yet for however many crazy sound effects, angry shouts and lo-fi it got, what was consistent was rhythm, rhythm, rhythm! The drums be smacking yo! Its like handicapped funk music made by irritated, unibrowed German youths (watch the videos).

I just danced around my living room in front of my girlfriend like a crazy loon listening to these jams. She's all like, what the fuck is this shit and I just kept dancing. She didn't mind cause I don't dance outside of the confines of our apartment because i'm a gay mans dream (inside joke that shouldn't be on this blog). Enjoy the music.
















I think this live video shows off NDW at its best. hahaha






I had to add this duhhh.