Greta Alison (Lily)

Olive Audrey

Alex Chloe (Jack)

Bess (Ella)

Haidee Elaine & Alyssa Rose (Lucas)

Iris Vita (Harriet, Phoebe)

Vivien Rosemary (Lily)

Helena Antoinette

Lauren & Honor ( Lucia)

Olive Elizabeth (George)

Elsie-May Ellen (Bailey, Ephraim & Marita)

Polly Frances

Aurelia Grace (Isabelle)

Portia Alice

Neve Jennifer (Rylee, Fletcher)

Penny Mary (Hamish, Felicity)

Sacha Tui

Kahlan Lillias (Hayden)

Maggie Iris Rosa (Ruby)

Freyah Lily (Tahlia)

Sabrina Mary

Elsie Olivia (Joel)

Milla Juno (Bodie)

Maeve Ellen (Cormac)

Sidney (Lennox & Munro)

Hugo John

Jasper Stan (Jonty & Tilly)

George Banjo (Hugo)

Tahere Hunter

Albie Murphy

Jack & Keygan (Thomas)

Wilhelm David

Josiah James

Jag Archie

Edward Montgomery (Benji & Samuel)

Wilfred Otis (Theo)

Deaths

Rosanna Jane, Adeline Anne, Sally Elizabeth, Grace Muriel, Margaret Winifred, Ruby Evelyn, Sylvia Winifred, Adele Mary, Violet Hope, Hazel Margaret, Beatrice Mary, Helen Adeline,

Hector Leslie, George Basil, Quentin Phillip, Henry Percival, Leo Charles, Archibald Ralph, Sydney Benjamin.

104-223 / Metz: S.M. l’empereur visitant l’amphithéâtre en présence de la société / d’histoire et d’archéologie lorraine.

Légende aussi en allemand.

Your presence is humbly requested at Wilhelm Staehle’s Type Salon and Gallery Show to be held at the esteemed Type Directors Club in the city of New York on Thursday, December 3rd at 6 o’clock post meridiem.

Here you will find a selection of Wilhelm’s morbid yet charming works, such as fanciful letterforms along with pieces from his infamous Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre, Dollar Dreadful Family Library, and more. Come prepared to purchase all manner of dark and delightful stocking stuffers for when Krampus visits your home for the holidays to spread warnings and punishments to bad little children.

Come to hear the elusive Wilhelm speak about his twisted creations, and stay for the strange company. We do hope to see you there…

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Kindly note that it will cost $20 to attend the opening and hear Wilhelm speak, unless you are a member of the TDC.

However – there will be a FREE preview of the show from 4-6pm for those who wish to see the show/purchase stocking stuffers without paying the fee to witness Wilhelm’s presentation.

We do hope you will take advantage of this, as the show is going to be quite spectacular!

NOTE: The show shall be up until the end of January, but it is viewable by appointment only. To arrange a visit, please email director(at)tdc.org. Thank You.

MC 011 – Themselves,  Ergo Phizmiz,  Amon Duul II ‘Made In Germany’ and ‘Legends Of Benin’

We have a lot to get through with this edition so I shan’t keep you to long.

The 20th anniversary of the Berlin wall coming down seems apt as I finally reach Amon Duul II’s LP ‘Made In Germany’. My article is full of information on the records subject matter, a 150 year journey through Germany’s history with all its references to war, art, opera and literature. This grand opus of a rock opera shares the same criticisms that most concept albums attract. Much lauded even by fans of German music this album has had a thorough kicking, in part due to its controversial topics. Recently Kasabian have come out and admitted to using the cover artwork as a backdrop to their own ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’.

We have three albums up for review this time round. The  left field Hip Hop of Themselves, Surrealist experimental musician Ergo Phizmiz and the latest compilation from German label Analog Africa all make an appearance.

I shall leave you to it.

(DV)

Themselves - 'Crowns Down' 2009

Themselves – ‘Crowns Down’

Anticon 2009

Vinyl (double)

Side 1.

1.    ‘Back II Burn’

2.    ‘Oversleeping’

3.    ‘The Mark’

Side 2.

1.    ‘Gangster Of Disbelief’

2.    ‘Daxstrong’

3.    ‘You Ain’t It’

Side 3.

1.    ‘Roman Is As Roman Does’

2.    ‘Skinning The Drum’

Side 4.

1.    ‘Dead Catcher II’

2.    ‘Gold Teeth Will Roll’

In recent times we have seen a flourishing underground movement in Hip Hop that has moved towards a rawer and more left field indie direction. Both in the use of their original beats and the style of delivery artists such as MF Doom, Madlib, Mr.Lif, Aesop Rock and Edan have remained low key in the background busily reinventing the scene. They all make the ridiculous blown up pretensions of commercial Hip Hop look frankly out dated and stale. Just because the likes of Kayne West sample Daft Punk it doesn’t mean that he has taken any risks.
You see it’s all calculated to the nth degree so that he can sell more of his pop lite banal brand of rap, we seem to have created a monster! His rival to the crown of most over-rated rapper is Jay Z whose recent headline at Glastonbury just made the case for yet more of that smoke and mirrors nonsense of epic proportions.
The last decade in Hip Hop has ended up being watered down for the X-Box generation, either brute force messages about killing to stay alive or boring ditties about girls and money by 50 Cent seem to be the only choices on offer to the masses. But there is an amazing scene that runs counter to its bloated rival helped by social networking sites and low key gigs that have promoted some of the more cutting edge and experimental groups out there.
Artists like Yo! Majesty and Uffie have broken through yet remain gritty and carry a lot of kudos, granted that they may not have the most politically charged of subjects in their resume. Like Spank Rock they may just want to shake their booty. All these artists have incorporated a back to basics approach into their music, rocking beats from the golden period of Hip Hop in the Eighties and merging them with an updated style of now.

Which leads me to the inventive duo of Dose One and Jel, who have both been involved in a long list of creative projects including the highly acclaimed cLOUDDEAD and Subtle, whose influence is heavy on this the third album from their creatively successful moniker Themsleves.
Dose One and Jel return to the old skool set up of MC and DJ to create an extraordinary poetic slice of never ending prose, set to a mix of beats and samples that conjure up memories of the golden period in Hip Hop of 1985 to 1989.
On top of this we get a layer of industrial strength effects and abstract sounds familiar to those used on Subtle’s ‘Exiting Arm’ LP.
The rapping features the distinct nasal style of Dose who never lets up on the tracks ‘Oversleeping’ and ‘The Mark’, in fact it sounds like he’s not going to ever come up for a breath. He uses this delivery style almost like an instrument in its own right as he spits rapid readings like a form of lyrical autism.
Famously back in the day Dose faced off against an unknown Eninem at a scribble jam, which he lost by the way though I think we know who the real winner is!
Partner Jel supplies the music and drum beats though some cool and dazzling effects, he borrows from Ultramagnatic MC’s, Kool G Rapp and Marley Marl. Like on the opener ‘Back II Burn’ which uses a heavily influenced electro break fest from Graig G era Transformer’, or the darker tones of past masters Paris and Big Daddy Kane on the track ‘Roman Is As Roman Does’.
His drum machine creates some deeply unwieldy moods that threaten to crush who those that step up to the challenge.

Highlights on the album include ‘Skinning The Drum’ which has samples flying around with nods of recognition to the pioneers, much in similar fashion to Edan on his ‘Beauty And The Beat’ LP.
The lyrics further back up the mood with the repeated refrain of “who was inventing it, who was wrenching it”,
On ‘Daxstrong’ a swirling playground ambience turns into an assemblage of breaks that could have been on the cLOUDDEAD album as Dose eloquently builds up a picture of social ills expressed in his clever use of lyricism.

My only criticism is in the track ‘You Ain’t It’ which sounds like a horrible vocoder pastiche of Californian bump and grind mixed with Hal Mar Superstar’s smooth brand of funk.
I’m not sure what they are trying to do with this song but it doesn’t in my mind sit well with the rest of the album.

This album thoroughly deserves your attention even if you don’t usually follow Hip Hop. A mix of experimental sound collage and subliminal wordplay suffused with the inventive use of samples ‘Crowns Down’ could be the equivalent of TV On The Radio’s ‘Dear Science’ LP from last year.
It will defiantly make my best of 2009 list.

Dominic Valvona

Ergo Phizmiz himself steering the Dada ship ever forward.

Ergo Phizmiz (& The Rock ‘n’ Roll Machine) – ‘Dadaphone’

Available through FMA (Free Music Archive)

1.    The Bomb
2.     It’s A Sin
3.    Saturday Night
4.    Karma Police
5.    A Little Respect
6.    Lets Get Ready To Rhumba
7.    Turn Around
8.    Slap My Bass Up
9.    I Think We’re Alone Now
10.  That Bassline

Ergo Phizmiz is the modern day equivalent to the Surrealist Max Ernst and Fluxus movements La Monte Young.
His work across installation, sound and performance pushes the ideals of Dada to more extremes with his nonsensical and childlike approach to sometimes-heavy themes.
An in demand composer who has had work commissioned for numerous art institutions as well as the BBC, his back catalogue is far and wide in range.
The common thread that runs throughout is that he doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously, a joyful abandon cannot be contained no matter how stiff the subject.
I actually briefly contributed to one of his projects a while back. At the time he was artist in residence at the Dimbola Lodge gallery on the Isle Of Wight, famous for being the home of Victorian photography pioneer Margaret Cameron; the Annie Leibovitz of her day hanging out with Tennyson and Darwin among many other renowned characters.
Ergo weaved a set of recordings around the history of the place with his storytelling sound collages, I found myself taking part with a conversation piece between us being cut up and added.
Anyway I’m diverting attention away from the album, let me continue back on track so to speak.

This ten track scattering of covers entitled ‘Dadaphone’ is a strange mix of Nineties commercial dance anthems, Eighties pop and some more credible labelled songs such as ‘Karma Police’ by Radiohead.
Erasure, Pet Shop Boys and shopping mall teen queen Tiffany all spring up and receive a tongue in cheek deconstructive form of dismemberment.
Ergo’s brand of medicine produces a mix of Captian Beefhart era ‘Electricity’ and Bonzo Dog band ‘Gorilla’, which on the Ant and Dec adjusted titled song  ‘Lets Get Ready To Rhumba’ is evident in the Bonzo’s Cambridge Footlights vaudeville humour.

The stand out tunes include The White Stripes style trash of ‘It’s a Sin’, which erupts into a slavishly grinded out blues number via the sonant ‘Greensleeves.’
As I mentioned before Radiohead’s ‘Karma Police’ is given the Ergo treatment, though his version becomes a jaunty polka knees up that drops a lot of the original sentiment out yet still captures some of the soul.
‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ is now a romantic mandolin led waltz through medieval France in the age of Chretien De Troyes. Both pleasant and joyful his appropriation of this Eighties pap actually lends it some gravitas that the original never envisioned.
By far my most favourite cover is Erasures classic ‘A Little Respect’, which in the hands of Ergo becomes a maelstrom of raw emotion played out by krautrockers noise merchants Faust.
Heavy yet not ridiculous it is a pretty deserving tribute.

Lesser highlights yet still worthy of your attention is the broken down cacophony of ‘That Bassline’. The bass line in question is Chic’s, which is accompanied by a mash up of competing riffs and refrains. Pure Beefheart in approach and spirit everyone sounds like they’re playing completely different tunes at the same time. It amusingly starts to work and instead of falling completely apart resignedly triumphs in its chaos.
Also on the album there are experimental nods to dance acts such as the Prodigy and pop princess Kylie as well as a sea shanty inspired rendition of the annoying hit ‘Saturday Night’. I can’t for the life of me remember who had the original hit but she was defiantly Dutch.

All of the tunes are freely available on the music site Free Music Archive, where you can choose at will or download the lot. My advice is to grab them all as everyone eventually grows on you.

God bless you Ergo Phizmiz! May your avant garde ship of tomfoolery continue to set its course through the oceans of mediocrity and boredom.
Not too strong I hope!

Dominic Valvona.

Analog Africas 'Legends Of Benin' compilation 2009.

‘Legends Of Benin’ (Afro Funk – Cavacha – Agbadja – Afro Beat 1969 to 1981) –  Gnonnas Pedro/ El Rego/ Antoine Dougbe/ Honore Avolonto.

Double Album available on both Vinyl (version reviewed and CD)

Accompanied by the following backing bands: -

Dadjes
Panchos
L’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
L’Orchestre Black Santiago

Compiled by Samy Ben Rejob for Analog Africa Records, 2009

Track List:-

Side A

1.    ‘Dadje Von O Von Non’ – Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Dadjes (3:53)

2.    ‘Feeling You Got’ – El Rego et Ses Commandos (3:44)

3.    ‘Honton Soukpo Gnon’ Antoine Dougbe  (7:05)

4.    ‘E Nan Mian Nuku’ – El Rego et Ses Commandos (4:26)

Side B

1.    ‘Tin Lin Non’ – Honore Avolonto et l’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo (8:48)

2.    ‘Okpo Videa Bassouo’ – Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Panchos (3:30)

3.    ‘Ya Mi Ton Gbo’ – Dougbe et l’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo (6:34)

Side C

1.    ‘Nou Akuenon Hwlin Me Sin Koussio’ – Antoine Dougbe (5:03)

2.    ‘Na Mi Do Gbe Hue Nu’ – Honore Avolonto (6:44)

3.    ‘Vimado Wingnan’ – El Rego et Ses Commandos (3:01)

4.    ‘Dou Dagbe We’ – Honore Avolonto et l’Orchestre Black Santiago (4:26)

Side D

1.    ‘Djobime’ – El Rego et Ses Commandos (2:31)

2.    ‘Kovito Gbe De Towe’ – Antoine Dougbe (6:39)

3.    ‘La Musica en Verite’ – Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Dadjes (7:08)

Afro beat; Afro funk and all its many bewildering sub genres have always slightly perplexed me. I’ve often taken a peek and thumb through the African music section in all the record shops that I regularly frequent, though until now I have left it well alone. The sheer depth and number of styles have often left me confused, as a novice I feel a little shy to point out my ignorance, though it never usually stops me from having a punt and purchasing a record on chance alone.
Well on this occasion my first ever-actual buy was aided by complete chance.
I happened to be in Borderline Records store in Brighton, an emporium of reissues and forgotten gems from bygone ages. On that day they were playing some pretty groovy foot tapping sounds, a quaint version of early Stax mixed with liberal lashings of James Brown’s infused funky Zaire period soul.
Instantly I became hooked as my whole body decided to break out into some embarrassing Paul Simon induced dance routine. Cut a long story short I ended up asking the owner what he was playing, he kindly showed me what it was and I ended up with ‘Legends Of Benin’ a lovingly compiled album of 14 tracks by four of the African country of Benin’s finest artists. In case your knowledge of African geography is shaky, Benin is in the west and borders Togo, Nigeria, Burkino Faso and Niger. Tightly caged in by its neighbours the influence of all these regions leaks into the music to create a unique mash up of rhythms and beats, that switches from rhumba to rocksteady in the blink of an eye.

The artists on this album include the likes of Gnonnas Pedro, a politically charged crusader, El Rego, an entrepreneur of dubious enterprises including a brothel and a boxing club, Antione Dougbe a much feared Vodun priest and Honore Avolonto, responsible for the country’s biggest selling album of all time.
These pioneers of poly-rhythmic charged music were all collected together by German based label Analog Africa’s Samy Ben Redjeb, an honourable sounding advocate of the genre who should be commended for his efforts.
His personal sleeve notes lavishly grace the record with a real fondness and warmth, though he had many problems licensing and obtaining permission to release this record. Three of the four artists are no longer with us so their legacy has been left in the hands of relatives and old musical comrades, not all of them initially eager or trusting in the beginning.

The music itself is a combination of funk, rhumba, soul and an attempt at reggae, all served with a thick dose of infectious grooving traditional African rhythms and instruments. Local bands to the region back each of the artists, from the military moniker Commandos to the exotically named Black Santiago.
Being a former colony of France the songs are titled and sung in the former interlopers language, if it makes sense these tracks even sound like their being played in French.

Highlights on this record include El Rego’s ‘Feeling You Out’, which has an inviting bass line that introduces a prime slice of James Brown at the Apollo rawness whilst the sax sounding squeaks coupled with a break beat backing make this into sound like a missing Northern soul stomper.
Antoine Dougbe, the high priest of some primal religion who professed to be the spirit of a dead relative sent back to this world so he could heal and curse those who cross him, concocts a swinging style of pulsating and joyful abandon on ‘Ya Mi Ton Gba’. His more down to earth day job as a musician is less frightening then his reputation precedes.
Honore Avolonto on ‘Tin Lin Non’ delivers an Afro beat groove behemoth that just never lets up, whilst Gnonnas unleashes a call and response soul spine tinkler with ‘Okpo Videa Bassovo’. His ‘Dadje Von O Von Non’ opens with ghostly sounding twanging guitars and features catcalls over a bouncing melody.
Some of the tracks are more laid back and quite subtle evoking comparisons to ska.
There is a real sense of authenticity running through these tunes and they come across as quite fun to make.
All the musicianship is tight with plenty of space to let it breath, there are no solos or hogging of the limelight to be found.
As to all the different genres I’m still not too sure how they’re prescribed only that it has something to do with timing, the instrumentation and that some of the styles are derived from ceremonies and folklore. None of this matters of course as they all sound great.

Chuck this on to get any party moving and to impress your know it all friends.
Thanks Analog Africa for introducing me to an untapped rich library of quality world music.

Dominic Valvona

A German Music Odyssey – (1968 to 1975)

Part 8 – Amon Duul II   ‘Made In Germany’

Background: -

Sadly this will be the last in the series dedicated to Amon Duul II before I go to work on Colognes finest Krautrock advocates Can.
But I’m ending it with the bands sensational Teutonic rock opera of 1975 ‘Made In Germany’.
This epic homage to the Who’s ‘Tommy’, broadly mixes in all the low and high points of Germanys history, from the birth of a united country in the 1800’s to the fall out of World War II. Along the way countless references incorporate a host of cultural figures, from composers such as Wagner to the philosopher Kant.
Politically charged and self-mocking this album both courted mock disdain and controversy, which we will come to later.

Firstly that’s rewind back to 1974, a stressful period in the bands career. Coming home after a tout and emotionally draining tour the guys needed a little down time, members had upped and left whilst the direction of the music was in turmoil.
Along comes the A&R man Jurge S. Korduletsch, a man of considerable means who had recently set up his own label Lollipop Records. Certain promises were made and before you knew it he had signed them up.
At once he pushed the band into a recording session, this hastily orchestrated session became the backbone of their next release ‘Hi-Jack’. This strange record became their most commercial marketable album yet and oddly borrowed heavily from Bowie and glam rock.
It was at this point that Atlantic records came calling offering a deal to release their music in the states, though they would also release the LPs under the ATCO division in the US and Canada. This may have been in response to the relative success that Virgin were having with bands from Germany, Tangerine Dream and Can amongst others.
After some initial success with ‘Hi-Jack’ it was agreed that now would be the time to follow up with something quite ambitious, as well as a great fuck you to the establishment and sensibilities of the man.
John Weinzierl puts it that they basically become disillusioned with the so-called changes in society and empty gestures of the underground youth movements. Also it was apparent to him that history itself was not moving on and that his fellow compatriots were still seen as the bogeyman of Europe. Even though his generation had seen the horrendous fall out of the former regime and reacted to it by pushing the leftist antidote forward, they were still envisaged as bad guys. As much as they tried to separate and fight against it, the world carried on viewing them with suspicion and always eager to remind them of the war.
With all this in mind Weinzierl and the group embarked on a grand project which would see them releasing a double album of songs based around a central theme of irony and self-provocation. This would take both real and made up figures from the rich history of the country, borrowing heavily from literature, film, opera, fantasy and real life events.
The Weimer Republic, Fritz Lang, King Ludwig, Hitler and Marlene Dietrich all make an appearance in this cliché heavy diatribe. From the unification under the heavy brow beating of Prussia, which came after the eventual victory over Napoleon to an initial story involving a character named Mr.Kraut, this LP has it all crammed in.
‘Made In Germany’ is like nothing they’ve done before and continued instead a move towards a crossover rock and pop experimentation, which ‘Hi- Jack’ had tried before.
By this point they shared nothing in common with any of their fellow countrymen in style or direction as they went out on a limb with their new brand of classical music and intelligent rock.

In the krautrock fraternity this record is usually given a wide berth, which is unfair. A loyal bunch of us have a certain fondness though and will go on about it quite a lot, spreading the word so to speak. Recently to my surprise a new champion in the form of Kasabian came forward, who both rate the record and admit to using its cover as inspiration for ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’.

The cover artwork of ‘Made In Germany’ is itself different depending on which of the two different versions you have.
In both the US and UK a compressed single LP version (see track list) was released. This had Renate dolled up to look like Marlene Dietrich from the movie ‘The Blue Angel’, she has an alluring but contemptuous gaze as she straddles a chair in true Cabaret style.
The original version used a picture of the band sitting for an old fashioned portrait bedecked in various costumes including Bavarian pomp, what looks like a Zeppelin pilot and Renate as a heroine from Wagners Ring Cycle. This is the picture that Kasabian re-enacted for their album.
This original was included in the single version on the inlay sleeve as well, so not sure why they buggered about with it.
The reasons for their being two variations comes down to a fall out with Atlantic boss Ahmet Ertigon, who was mightily surprised to find his latest signing offer up this platter of Germanic mayhem and political satire.
Finding it in poor taste and completely misreading the concept he got cold feet and cut the album down, only Germany itself to my knowledge received the proper double album. Rumours that Ahmet’s Jewish background played a part, though on being told that Amon Duul II wanted to embark on a US tour/invasion by travelling over in a Zeppelin can’t have helped matters. Remember this is only thirty years after the end of World War II itself.
Also the original contains a mock shock DJ interview with Hitler himself, which uses his speeches as the DJ pokes fun with a knowing wink and some poor taste quips. All this has been available on CD for years now so you don’t have to miss any of the stuff that was cut out on the single album.

The recording itself included session players such as Thor Baldursson, the Icelandic keyboardist and singer who worked with Giorgio Moroder and Grace Jones, Heinz Becker, Lee Harper, Bobby Jones and Helmut Sonnlestner, who all had a background in jazz.
New boy Nando Tischer became a fully ingrained member of the band playing guitars and singing as well as composing some of the songs. Robby Heibl was back on duty again and mucked in on near enough everything, he was also now the designated bass player of the group.
John Weinzierl is credited as guitarist but was the leader so to speak of Amon Duul II and is responsible for a far old share of the concept and composition.
Renate and Chris Karrer do most of the singing whilst Falk U Rogner supplied his sonic delft touches on synth and organ.
The talented Peter Leopold, who gets some room to show of his old ‘Yeti’ solos, supplied drums as usual.
All of the musicians do a sterling job and it is amongst the best of their whole catalogue. Obviously the songs are more structured but there is always room for inventiveness and some great lead guitar work.

Right I think that covers the background details now its time for the review.
I’ve chosen the original double album version to write about but have included both track listings for completion.
Also at the end of the review there is a complete list of all their releases up to date.
Weinzierl and some of the core members continue to tour and are embarking on a new album. Also they are set to be busy with showcasing some of their old material for a one off filmed performance that will take place in the original Bavaria studios.
Of course I will update you on when this will happen.

Review:-

‘Made In Germany’ 1975

Double gatefold LP on Nova Records, only released in Germany at the time.

Record 1.

1. Overture    (5:12)

2. Wir Wollen    (1:32)

3. Wilhelm Wilhelm    (3:10)

4. SM II Peng    (2:16)

5. Elevators Meets Whispering    (1:26)

6. Metropolis    (3:27)

7. Ludwig    (2:32)

8. The Kings Chocolate Waltz    (2:28)

9. Blue Grotto    (3:33)

10. Mr.Krauts Jinx    (8:44)

Record 2.

1. Wide Angle   (4:06)

2. Three-Eyed Overdrive    (1:17)

3. Emigrant Song    (3:21)

4. Loosey Girls    (5:13)

5. Top Of The Mud    (3:45)

6. Dreams    (4:08)

7. Gala Gnome    (3:52)

8. 5.5.55    (1:39)

9. La Krautoma    (6:08)

10. Excessive Spray    (1:41)

Single version on one record released in 1975.

UK – Atlantic Records

US/Canada – ATCO

Side A.

1. Dreams    (4:08)

2a. Ludwig    (2:33)

b. The Kings Chocolate Waltz    (2:52)

c. Blue Grotto    (3:33)

3. 5.5.55    (3:13)

4. Emigrant Song   (3:23)

5. La Krautoma    (4:45)

Side B.

1. Metropolis    (3:38)

2. Loosey Girls    (5:20)

3. Gala Gnome    (1:18)

4. Top Of The Mud    (3:44)

5. Mr.Krauts Jinx    (8:48)

Personal: -

Renate Knaup: Vocals

Robby Heibl: Vocals, Bass, Guitars and Violin

Chris Karrer: Vocals, Guitar, Banjo and Violin

Peter Leopold: Drums and Percussion

Falk U Rogner: Synthesizer and Organ

Nando Tischer: Vocals and Guitar

John Weinzierl: Guitar

Thor Baldursson: Keyboards

Heinz Becker: Timpani, Gong and Percussion

Lee Harper: Trumpet, Brass Section

Bobby Jones: Saxophone (Solos on ‘Loosey Girls’)

Jurgen S.Korduletsch: Additional Backing Vocals and Producer

Helmut Sonnleitner: First Violin and String Section

A rolling timpani and clashes of cymbals announce the theatrical opening bars of ‘Overture’. A prelude orchestral snippet of all the tunes to come, it is used in a similar fashion to the same titled song on The Who’s ‘Tommy’.
This Wagner evoking composition transcends his ‘Ring Cycle’ stiffness and is instead an uproarious celebration of this inspired requiem that Amon Duul II have set sail on.
Played out in full classical pomp this overture of sorts’ sets us up for the 150-year journey through Germanys history.
The track makes its way through all the different melodies on this album, 8 bars or so of each song to come is given the ceremonial treatment before a final clash of the gong and the next track ‘Wir Wollen’ strikes up.
Roughly translated as Come On!, this rock steady instrumental groover continues the classical mood. Old joy de vie orchestral pieces from past dead German composers interact with the lead guitar of John Weinzierl as the percussion crashes about in the background., culminating in an epic finale.
‘Wilhelm Wilhelm’ breezes along on some hip riffs as Renate and Chris Karrer enter the fray with their harsh Germanic tones that tell the tale of King Wilhelm I of Prussia (between 1861 – 1888) and later on the whole of united Germany (1871 – 1888).
Wilhelm had fought against Napoleon in his youth and went onto to rule the kingdom of Prussia before eventually brow beating all the separate states, of what was to become Germany, into eventual unification.
He famously appointed Otto Von Bismarck as his Prime Minister, which was in part due to the ill feeling and distrust between the royal household and parliament. Bismarck was to act as his man on the inside and to be sympathetic to the Kings views but this gave way to him taking on most of the decisions and led to him gaining most of the real power.
Added to this the founding of the a new Fatherland were plots of assassination by anarchist and left wing groups, which led to draconian laws being introduced against the liberals and free thinkers. King Wilhelm was lucky to escape with his life and was wounded in one of these attempts, which he saw as a wake up call and prompted a lock down mentality and placed the country in a militarised state, ring any bells!
Our three-minute funky number encapsulates all this background into a poppy little ditty that is both sung in English and their native tongue. A chiming melody and a crunchy wah wah effects driven guitar gives this song an almost rock disco feel, whilst Peter Leopold lets loose on the cymbals that end in an eruption.
The strange and exotic titled ‘SM II Peng’ is next up, another instrumental interlude. It ambles along in fine fettle abandon riffing off a 12 bar blues boogie with the accompaniment of some spooky sounding effects from Falk U Rogner. The track sounds like a cheerful wander through a graveyard or a sit down at an séance in a Gothic palace.
This is followed by another instrumental segue way entitled ‘Elevators Meets Whispering’, which apart from its strange use of English is another slice of mysterious creepy and misty fog bound graveyard atmospherics.
Our odd curio is given some gravitas from Weinzierl and his strung out haunting guitar strums before this short interruption abruptly ends and makes way for the big guns.
‘Metropolis’ begins with a grand piano, which accompanies a staccato riff of rock as Renate’s sultry Teutonic tones gloriously paint a picture of 1920’s Weimar through the films of Fritz Lang.
Lang and his most famous work of art ‘Metropolis’ is dissected and referenced throughout the tune, nods to both locations and the underlying plot are connected to paint a picture of disillusionment. Angles, Dr.Mabuse and Zeppelins all pop up, as the workers remain left at the bottom of a modern day version of the Tower of Babel. As in the biblical tale a common language is lost between those in control who reached the peek by standing on the underclass’s faces and those who ended up in a shitpile after building futile monuments to false ideologies.
This expressionistic romp both mixes Sparks and Roxy Music into a boogie Euro stomp; Renate adds a dose of eccentricity with her approach to the vocals that are sung with enthusiasm but also with the hint of cynicism. She sounds like a heroine from one of Klimts paintings or an oracle from Wagners ‘Valkyrie’. This is one of the albums many highlights.

Next up is the three-part story arc suite of poor old King Ludwig, a much maligned and ridiculed figure from German history.
The first of these acts is ‘Ludwig’ which tells the tale of his apparent suicide by drowning, though a strange plot to get rid of him by his ministers makes for a good conspiracy theory.
Ludwig II of Bavaria was brought up in a privileged world and he inherited his fathers’ exuberance for fantasy and myth. His love of arts and music led to him patronising the controversial Richard Wagner, who had been involved in anti-establishment intrigues and had run away once after taking part in protests. This lonely king was more at ease with images of old folklore and Arthurian legend then with the day-to-day running of his country.
After the unification of all the individual kingdoms by Wilhelm, Ludwig stayed on his throne but with a diminished role. Following his late fathers building plan of extensive palaces and castles, he plunged his domain into bankruptcy. Not wishing to take advice from his ministers he threatened them with being removed.
Plots to have the king certified as mentally unstable were slowly put into place, a hasty draft was sent for approval to Bismarck himself who dismissed the claims.
Another attempt with the involvement of four prominent physicians of the day sealed his fate, though he didn’t come quietly and its alleged he may have been shot whilst escaping on Lake Starnberg. It was announced to the world that he had committed suicide but we know better – right?
‘Ludwig’ crams all of this background into a satire inspired boogie that has Renate on lead vocals again.
‘The Kings Chocolate Waltz’ is an instrumental stopgap built around a sad sounding Wurlitzer loop. Some echo and deep reverb drenched guitars are added to the stirring ambience.
Our short story arc is finalised with ‘Blue Grotto’, with its poetic and crooned delivery from Renate. Ludwig and his eccentricities are given an airing in this ballad to the misunderstood actions of the deluded king.
What chance did he have when he was famously brought up in the Disney like palace of Neushwanstein, which was situated near to Schwansee or under its better-known moniker Swan Lake. In fact Ludwig was nicknamed the Swan King after it.
All the references in this song are adhered to in the true misfortunes of the foppish monarch, moonlight picnics and hanky panky in the nude with his male servants add to the fascinating tale of a little boy lost.
Renate has named this her favourite song in the whole Amon Duul catalogue.

Leaving behind the fateful old charming Ludwig we end the first part of the album with the eight minute long tale of ‘Mr.Krauts Jinx’. A heavily German toned vocal from Karrer sets up the story of our unfortunate character Mr.Kraut, more of that tongue in cheek approach of self-disdain.
Our character is exploring the Valley Of Kings in Egypt on some cheap package tour I expect though this one ends with him being beamed up by extra terrestrials. This unforeseen addition to his holiday sees him travel through the cosmos before he is promptly placed in a space zoo as the latest exhibit. Some anthropologist type of table turning or reference to the search by right wing ideologist for a white superman we can’t be sure. But over the course of the song we go from a warm acoustic introduction in the vain of Dylan before we progress to what amounts to some thrashing out rock aspirations.
The end of our story is a kind of positive as Mr.Kraut is thrown a concubine of well-equipped proportions to spend his eternity with; our man now has a smile on his face.
A final refrain of “Cause future ain’t tomorrow, future is today” rings out in uplifting defiance or because ones fate is finally sealed.
Karrer seems to have a few problems with singing this track, as he almost goes out of tune with some of the lines.
I’m at odds with this track as it remains in my eyes a bit of a filler and lets the whole album down with its almost Euro embarrassing direction.

The second part of the album starts with the country rock inspired buoyant jaunt of ‘Wide-Angle’. Renate is at her ‘All Years Round’ best as she reminisces about the days of self abandon in the Munich communes. Dropping acid and hanging onto every word of a lost love interest that long since moved on and left the original principles of change back at the bed-sit.
Both the aspirations and drugs are now replaced in the stars backstage with “compromised cocktails” lavishly bestowed upon our band by the new suit wearing management. I can’t help but think this is a dig at how their music has been adopted into a more commercial arena along with bands like Can who after 7 or 8 years have finally to a point compromised their sound.
‘Three Eyed Overdrive’ is another one of those instrumental interludes, which features more haunting synths and organs. This time the main thrust is a pulsating synth that becomes pretty disturbing as it moodily stews away.

Karrer delivers a heavy burdening thick German accent in the next tune ‘Emigrant Song’. Cuckolding a parody driven lament to the story of the first German settlers to try and make their way in the USA. Escaping all the loons and stiffs from back home they hope to take a slice of the new world but end up in the inhospitable lands of Sierra Nevada. It would take brave men indeed to tame this mountainous region which had the worst of both climates, it could be either stiflingly melting hot or become snow bound frozen tomb.
Some stereotyping of German traits is delivered with an outburst of banjo and homage to the Native Indians history as penned by Bob Dylan.

The paintings of Otto Dix, Max Beckmann and George Grosz influence the Weimar Republic hedonism of ‘Loosey Girls’.
Heavy doses of Pink Floyd era ‘Meddle’ are played out over this alluring jazz number, which features a saxophone solo and the hard pressed vocals of Karrer.
A cabaret inspired world of depravity in the days before the stirrings of the far right put an end to such loose times, this song weaves a heartfelt poem of woe as our prostitute heroine falls into a society of despair. It all sounds like Karrer has seen it happen too many times, though it has quite a moving melody and hits the right spot even though it carries some sentimentality.
‘Top Of The Mud’ ups the tempo as we get a heavy rock rendition of blues that ends in a glam infused knock at the current music scene. Renate and Karrer sing in unison as they lampoon their own route from space rock troubadours playing music from another dimension to the more structured ambitions of recent years. With lines like “might not be much fun, without any fans” they comment on their own situation within the industry and sound jaded and knocked about by the increasing lack of faith in what they are doing. Though it is unfair as this album could be their best.

Confidently sweeping in is the heavy South American tango tinged ‘Dreams’. Passionate Cuban like sounds and melody infused with the ruminants of a flamingo style shindig add to this track that has Karrer swoon about sharing thoughts of a love that got away through his dreams.
A segue way instrumental ‘Gala Gnome’ intrudes proceedings with an ambient brief interlude. Delayed synth combined with a low engine like hum produce an unnerving breather before the next song ‘5.5.55’ arrives to much anticipation.
Better known as the 5th of May 1955 this is the date that West Germany gained full sovereignty, though the US kept its presence there hoping to put off any plans the Soviets might have creeping over the boarder.
The economic miracle of which this track speaks started off through the seeds of the Marshall plan and catapulted the Germans to becoming one of worlds most productive and eventually rich economies. By 1973 they had help found the G6 nations group and became the industrial capital of Europe, all within thirty years of the end of the war.
Contrary to belief they didn’t exactly get away with it easily as both culturally and scientifically all intellectual property was either appropriated by the US or swallowed up into the allied nations own companies.
Both France and the UK received more money through the Marshall plan then Germany, it wasn’t until the Eighties that we in the UK paid our debt off. Germany had paid a higher interest fee off and eventually by the mid Seventies had got rid of its debt.
All this is adhered to in the song as this rock heavy jolting tune asks what could have been, space programmes are both mentioned in the sense of lost opportunity but also pilloried as being paid for by those who can’t afford it.
A reference is also made to the Kraupp dynasty, a 400 year old industrial family who owned some of the biggest steel and ammunitions factories in the country. Sympathetically playing to whoever was in charge at the time the family business survived most leaderships. A cosy relationship with the Nazi party helped them get all the major contracts to supply the army.
Alfried Kraupp was head of the company at the time of the thirties and forties, an opportune shady wheeler-dealer he used slave labour during the war supplied by an ever-helpful Herr Hitler. Alfried got cold feet after the failure of the German invasion of Russia and started to siphon off money and try to keep a distance from the regime. After the war he was put up for war crimes and received a 12 year sentence and made to sell off his company, but here’s the sickening part. No one brought his business and after spending half his initial sentence incarcerated he was allowed out to take control again. This reinforces in part the underlying mistrust by the next generation who inevitably ended up trying to overthrow the system.

At the end of ‘5.5.55’ there is a short interjection. In the style of a shock jock US radio interview, a rambling 80 syllables a second ranter puts across questions to Hitler as though he was questioning the leader of some band. Hitler answers with snippets of his original speeches as our DJ mockingly goads him. This interview builds up with what sounds like an audience waiting in a theatre for the performance to begin. All of a sudden they all break out into a feverent applause and cheering as Amon Duul II strike up their last jam. It becomes apparent that this audience is the one at Nuremburg.
The six minute instrumental ‘La Krautoma’ is based on the popular South American derived ‘La Paloma’, an old folk type song that has been recreated a million times across every country. Hell Elvis used it for his hit ‘No More’.
This space rock balling freak out mixes in the old country tune as Peter Leopold lets rip with one of his most ambitious drum solos of all time.
Aggressive guitars intercede as notes are left on sustain and put through pitch shifters, whilst all hell breaks loose as pure flights of fancy take hold of the band.
As the last galactic charging rhythms and effects fade out ‘Excessive Spray’ draws this grand opus to a close.
Military played recall on the snare accompanied by ‘Yeti’ era subtle ambient stirrings end in triumph. Falk’s synth has its last say with some Gothic pretensions, whilst we feel a sudden sadness loom over the horizon. Never again would we hear Amon Duul II in such a creative manner, complete sounding even if it is a move away from the improvised jams of yore.

So ends Krautrocks most overtly ambitious and aspiring work of art, a beacon of farce that attracts only those willing to learn and willing to experience a direction in music rarely repeated.
To be fair I’ve dissected this album to the point of obsession but hope in doing so that my enthusiasm sends you in the right direction and that you don’t dismiss the record as folly or high jinx theatrics.
Though I hate bands who gabble on about their influences, Kasabian’s unexpected nod to ‘Made In Germany’ may give it some attention, the richly deserved sort of attention that bands like Neu! and Can attract with ease. Though these guys sound practically stiff and cold in comparison to this.

Amon Duul II - 'Made In Germany' 1975.

DISCOGRAPHY:-

1969 – ‘Phallus Dei’

1970 – ‘Yeti’

1971 – ‘Dance Of The Lemmings/ Tanz der Lemminge’

1972 – ‘Carnival In Babylon’

‘Wolf City’

‘Utopia’ (Side project)

1973 – ‘Live In London’ (Live)

‘Vive La Trance’

1974 – ‘Hi-Jack’

‘Lemmingmania’ (Compilation)

1975 – ‘Made In Germany’

1976 – ‘Pyragony X’

1977 -  ‘Almost Alive’

1979 – ‘Only Human’

1981 – ‘Vortex’

1987 – ‘Anthology’ (Compilation)

1989 – ‘Milestones’ (Compilation)

1992 – ‘Live In Concert :BBC recording from 1973 (Live)

1996 – ‘Eternal Flashback’

‘Kobe’ (Reconstructions)

‘Nada Moonshine’

‘Live In Tokyo’ (Live)

1997 – ‘Flawless’ (Compilation)

1999 – ‘The UA Years: 1969-1974’ (Compilation)

2000 – ‘Manana’ (Compilation)

Official site:-

http://www.amonduul.de/main.html

PART 9:- We’re off to Cologne next as we leave our Munich friends behind for the first part in the series on Krautrocks most popular group Can.

The freethinking improvised masters of everything from west coast rock to world music via cut up experimentation, changed music forever during the Seventies.
We kick off with their first album ‘Monster Movie’, heavily influenced by The Grateful Dead, Hendrix and that West Coast of the US psychedelic rock. This record includes some pretty amazing beats and playing from the guys.

Dominic Valvona.

Abriu a porta, viu o filho sangrar após ter quebrado intencionalmente a vidraça. Fechou a porta e saiu calada.

Vendeu o supermercado, guardou parte do dinheiro para si e outra para Wilhelm. Decidiu morar sozinha, levar a vida devagar, tomando Martini com sorvete nos finais de tarde.

Mandou o filho viajar e escolheu a cidade de destino. Seria a maneira dele encontrar inspiração para sua carreira de escritor. Aconselhou o filho a não perder o mal-estar e a inquietação perante a vida, esses sentimentos o ajudariam a escrever. Pôs dois livros perto de sua mala, um deles era “A educação sentimental” de Flaubert. Levou o filho até a estação de trem. Antes disso, avisou a Wilhelm que não se deixasse intimidar quando o perguntassem sobre sua ocupação, que afirmasse ser escritor. Ressaltou certo desdém por aqueles que levam a vida com profissões úteis, como carpinteiro e médico.

É mais ou menos assim que começa o grande filme “Movimento em falso” (1975) de Win Wenders.

(Den här texten har tidigare varit publicerad på min gamla hemsida och skrevs cirka 1999)

När jag hade gjort inlägg i de newsgroups jag nämnde tidigare dröjde det inte många dagar förrän svaren började komma. Jag fick e-post från personer som hade tips om sidor på Internet där man kan söka efter folk och se om de har dött. Jag fick också tips om sidor där man kan söka efter adresser och telefonnummer till personer.

Men de båda svar jag uppskattade mest var det från Bob Björkman i Carlisle, Pennsylvania och från Anna-Lena Hultman i Ulricehamn. Bob skrev ett e-postbrev till mig och erbjöd sig att ringa runt till alla med efternamnet Bjorkquist i Pennsylvania och i staten New York. Den gamla adressen som vi hade till Petrus gick ju till staden Corry, i Pennsylvania, men pappa hade också hört att bröderna hade bott i Jamestown, i staten New York.

Nu efteråt vet jag att många av de svenskar som utvandrade hamnade just i Jamestown. När man läser i emigrationshandlingar står det ofta “utvandrad till Jamestown, N.Amerika”. Det har även skrivits en tjock bok (Saga from the Hills av M.Lorimer Moe) om de svenskar som bosatte sig där.

Städerna ligger nära varandra, och inte så långt ifrån den plats där Bob själv bor. Han hade letat reda på alla som heter Bjorkquist i telefonkatalogen och ville bara ha en klarsignal från mig innan han började ringa. Efter att jag svarat på hans brev började han ringa, men det visade sig att alla där omkring som hade detta namn tillhörde en och samma familj och att de inte var släkt med mig. Trots detta ville de gärna hjälpa mig så Bob skickade namn, adress och telefonnummer till en av dessa personer. Jag behövde dock aldrig be dem om hjälp eftersom mina eftersökningar snart ledde bort från Pennsylvania och New York, sydväst mot Californien! Innan jag berättar om det så kan jag tillägga att Bob som hjälpte mig hade svenska anor, och uppskattade att få kontakt med någon från Sverige även om det inte var han och jag som var släkt.

Nästa e-postbrev som dök upp var från Ulricehamn, från Anna-Lena Hultman. Hon hade en hel del uppgifter på CD-rom, bla svenska och amerikanska kyrkböcker, socialförsäkringsregister, USA:s telefonkatalog och passagerarlistor, och erbjöd sig att söka efter farfars bröder om jag bara gav henne all information jag kunde få tag på. Jag kunde inte få tag på så mycket mer än det jag redan visste, så jag gav henne de uppgifterna och hon började leta. Redan dagen efter fick jag svar ifrån henne. Hon hade sökt igenom passagerarlistorna och det hon hade hittat var att 1913-05-15 reste en Wilhelm Johansson, 15 år, från Näsby församling till Jamestown, NY. Biljett 98:599:5239.

Petrus hade alltså kallat sig för Wilhelm när han emigrerade, för det var ingen tvekan om att detta måste vara den Petrus som jag letade efter. Hans ålder och församlingen han hade utvandrat ifrån stämde perfekt.

Anna-Lena hade även försökt att hitta honom i amerikanska socialförsäkringsregistret, men inte hittat några uppgifter där. Däremot hittade hon en person vars uppgifter stämde in på Karl. En man med namn Karl Bjorkquist, född 1884-06-20, som hade dött 1962 i Californien. Samma uppgifter hittade jag också när jag lite senare själv sökte igenom SSDI på Internet.

Förutom dessa uppgifter hade Anna-Lena sökt igenom den amerikanska telefonkatalogen och hittat 16 personer som bodde i Californien och heter Bjorkquist. Hon föreslog att jag skulle skicka ett brev till var och en av dessa personer och givetvis var det nödvändigt att begränsa sig på något sätt eftersom jag knappast skulle kunna skicka brev till alla Bjorkquist i hela USA.

Att begränsa sig till Californien var ett naturligt val, eftersom min enda ledtråd till var släkten kunde finnas nu var uppgiften om Karl Bjorkquist’s död i Californien 1962. Jag sökte också igenom Internet efter personer med efternamnet Bjorkquist, bla letade jag på Switchboard och på WhoWhere där jag hittade några ytterligare som stämde in. Totalt blev det 13 familjer att skicka brev till.

Innan jag började att skriva tillbringade jag några eftermiddagar på biblioteket där jag gick igenom pärmar med emigrationshandlingar. Det tog ett tag att hitta vad jag letade efter, när det gällde Petrus visste jag ju vilket år jag skulle leta på, men för att hitta Karl var jag tvungen att gå igenom handlingarna för alla år. Vad jag fick reda på om Petrus var inte så mycket mer än det jag redan visste. Däremot fick jag reda på en del om Karl, han hade utvandrat från kvarteret Ärlan 88b i Vetlanda församling, till Nord-Amerika. Han fick kungligt tillstånd att emigrera den 15 mars 1907, och attestdatumet var den 26 april 1907 så antagligen lämnade han Sverige i slutet av april eller början av maj. Hans yrke var smed, och han var ogift när han emigrerade.

Nästa steg var att skriva ett brev, det blev tre maskinskrivna A4-sidor som jag kopierade upp i 13 exemplar. Jag berättade hela bakgrundshistorien, vem jag letade efter, varför och hur personen som fick brevet skulle kunna vara släkt med mig. Jag skrev också lite om mig själv, och sist i brevet skrev jag, förutom min adress, också min e-postadress och mitt fax-nummer.

Hottest events — coming soon! 

Oct. 19 Pinback featuring Bellini

Oct. 20 NBA CLASSIC FEATURING SAN ANTONIO SPURS VS OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

Oct. 20 Pinback

Oct. 20 Spring Awakening More dates: Oct 21 | Oct! 22

Oct. 21 Terra Naomi @ Emo’s

Oct. 22 Matt Kearney

Oct. 22 Colbie Caillat

Oct. 22 Buju Banton

Oct. 22 A Wilhelm Scream featuring Living With Lions / The Riot Before / Broke

Oct. 23 Mary Poppins More dates:
Oct 24 | Oct 25 | Oct 27 | Oct 28 | Oct 29 | Oct 30 | Oct 31

Oct. 23 Jim Gaffigan Dallas

Oct. 23 Smothers Brothers Austin More dates: Oct 24

Oct. 24 Built To Spill

Oct. 24 Brian Regan

Oct. 24 Rozone Productions Presents Sean Kingston Tomorrow Tour

'48

TYPE: War, Thriller, Mystery

RATING: 8/10

REVIEW:

Most of the times, I am not that fond of war novels (or even war games for that matter), but this one felt a bit different. The start did feel a bit too stretched out and even though I have completed the book, the beginning does give me the same feeling.

Maybe it’s because I read the novel too late, but the storyline keeps reminding me of a movie which does seem to be on similar terms, ‘I Am Legend.’ The stories do not eactly coincide, but maybe the movie did borrow a lot of stuff from the book, like being the lone survivor, having a dog, blowing up cars on the street, and having ready to use cars among other stuff.

This was a good read and it does get to nail-biting suspense as soon as you get through the first one-third of the novel. The end is a brilliant one too and overall the book gave me an effect of being the character in the book rather than just a viewer of the sequence of the events.

DESCRIPTION:

In 1945 Hitler unleashed the Blood Death on Britain as his final act of vengeance.

Hoke, an American pilot and one of a tiny minority with a blood group unaffected by the killer disease, has survived among the debris and the dead of the London for three years.

Now in ‘48, he is running for his life – hunted through the ruined city’s ravaged streets by a desperate group of slow dying Fascist Blackshirts.

They’re after his blood.

“O caminho para todas as coisas grandiosas passa pelo silêncio.” (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche)

I have much more information than I’ll post here (as it would possibly be one of the longest posts known to man) on the Heisserer side of this generation. I’m still working on the Dirnberger side so we’ll start with that.

Adam Dirnberger + Mary Susanna Sailer

Adam Dirnberger

• born: 15 Mar 1797 Bavaria, Germany
• died: 19 Mar 1852 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• parents: unknown
• immigration: 1945 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA

Mary Susanna Sailer

• born: 12 Nov 1799 Bavaria, Germany
• died: 24 Oct 1875 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• parents: unknown
• immigration: 1945 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA

Adam + Mary Susanna’s Children

John Dirnberger

• born: 1831 Bavaria, Germany
• died: 31 Dec 1867 MO
• immigration: 1945 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Anna Wilhelm 1849 MO; Josephine Matter 1865 MO

Wolfgang Dirnberger

• born: 1833 Bavaria, Germany
• died: 2 Apr 1869 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• immigration: 1945 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Elizabeth Bucher 1852 Scott County, MO

Michael Dirnberger

• born: 15 Feb 1835 Baden, Bavaria, Germany
• died: 26 Dec 1908 unknown location
• immigration: 1945 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA

Susanna Dirnberger

• born: 1841 Bavaria, Germany
• died: 29 Feb 1884 Scott County, MO
• immigration: 1945 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Andreas Schoen unknown date and location

Anna Katharina Dirnberger*

This is really the only information I have on the Dirnbergers. I’m stuck at a standstill considering that I can’t read German to research it further through old paperwork and I have no idea who either Adam or Mary Susanna’s parents were. I know that they entered the U.S. in 1945 probably through New Orleans since they traveled up-river on the Mississippi. In short, this is a plea for help! If you have any information that could possibly point me in the right direction, please contact me!

Antony Heisserer + Katharina Hahn

Antony Heisserer

• born: 26 Apr 1810 Schirrhein, Alsace, France
• died: 28 Jan 1885 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• parents: Johann George Heisserer and Maria Anna Walter
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• buried: St. Lawrence Cemetery in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO

Katharina Hahn

• born: 3 Nov 1809 Schirrhoffen, Alsace, France
• died: 14 Aug 1871 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• parents: Ignace Hahn and Barbara Schmitter “Barbe Schmietter”
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• buried: St. Lawrence Cemetery in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO

Antony + Katharina’s Children

Helene Heisserer

• born: 18 Apr 1834 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: before 1847 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France

Regina Heisserer

• born: 18 Apr 1835 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: 21 May 1923 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Anton Strack 1865 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• buried: St. Lawrence Cemetery in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO

Vincent Heisserer*

Valentine Heisserer

• born: 31 Dec 1838 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: before 1847 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France

John Heisserer

• born: 21 Dec 1839 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: 9 Jan 1928 Kelso, Scott County, MO
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Rosina Glaus 23 Nov 1865 St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO; Elizabeth Himmelsbach
• buried: St. Augustine Cemetery in Kelso, Scott County, MO

Simon Heisserer

• born: 24 Dec 1841 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: 1 Nov 1910 Oran, Scott County, MO
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Catherine Walter 20 Nov 1864 St Vincent’s Church in Cape Girardeau County, MO
• buried: Old Guardian Angel Church in Oran, Scott County, MO

Barbara Heisserer

• born: 18 Mar 1843 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: 12 Jul 1892 Smithton, St. Clair County, IL
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Balthazar Heuring 25 Jun 1832 St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO; Joseph Vogel 1 Feb 1876 St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• buried: St. John the Baptist Cemetery in Smithton, St. Clair County, IL

Clemens J. Heisserer

• born: 13 Apr 1845 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: 30 Aug 1823 Little Rock, Pulaski County, AK
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Agatha Agnes Heuring 28 Jan 1874 St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• buried: Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock, Pulaski County, AK

Charles Heisserer

• born: 25 Oct 1846 Schirrhein, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
• died: 3 Jul 1934 Kelso, Scott County, MO
• immigration: 20 Oct 1847 New Orleans, Orleans County, LA
• married: Elizabeth Bucher 12 Sep 1871 St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO; Mary Magdalena Ellinger 19 Aug 1873 St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO; Louisa Anna Welter Messmer 20 Feb 1912 St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kelso, Scott County, MO
• buried: St. Augustine Cemetery in Kelso, Scott County, MO

Rosina Heisserer

• born: 3 May 1849 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• died: 30 Apr 1936 Kelso, Scott County, MO
• married: Constantine Dohogne 3 Sep 1867 Old St. Vincent’s Church in Cape Girardeau County, MO
• buried: St. Augustine Cemetery in Kelso, Scott County, MO

Nicholas Heisserer

• born: 6 Dec 1850 New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• died: 29 Dec 1928 Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN
• married: Amalia “Emma” Gro’jean 21 Nov 1876 St. Lawrence Catholic Church in New Hamburg, Scott County, MO
• buried: St. Mary’s Cemetery in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

I’ve got more information than I know what to do with on the Heisserer clan so I’ll just be posting bits and pieces of it. If you’re looking for more information, please let me know. We’ll start with info from the big Heisserer book:

“Antony Heisserer was born at Schirrhein, Alsace, France on April 26, 1810, the son of Johann George Heisserer and Maria Anna Walter. Because Alsace-Lorraine was taken over by Germany and they had to speak German, Anton Heisserer and his family decided to immigrate to America. On August 15th, 1847 Anton and his wife, Katharina, along with their 5 sons and 2 daughters left Alsace, and crossed France to the Port of LeHarve where they boarded a ship which was at sea for 56 days. They landed at New Orleans October 20th, 1847 according to the National Archives in Washington D.C. and the passenger list for the Port of New Orleans. From New Orleans they took a steamboat up the Mississippi, passing Cape Girardeau on November 1st.

“Their destination was Benton when they had left their native land, but they first went to St. Louis not knowing just where Benton was. Anton Heisserer and Andrew Pfefferkorn arrived in St. Louis, they left their families near the boat while they went and rented a house. While they were out in the city, Joseph Georger happened to see the women and children sitting on the levee taking care of the bedding and clothing. Recognizing them by their dress as being from near his old country home, inquired where they were from. They told him from Schirrhein, Alsace. He said, why we were neighbors then, and waited until the men came back. He informed the men that they had gone 165 miles too far and they went to the same boat and contracted with the Captain to take them down the Father of Waters and let them off at Commerce. They settled on a farm near New Hamburg where the family lived.

“Anton lost his eyesight when he was only 50 years old and had been in this country only 2 years. The native Missourians were very hostile to immigrants especially if they were Catholics. Anton and many of the immigrants worked as lumberjacks dring the winter months, cutting timber on one of the Islands in the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau to fuel the boats going up the River to St. Louis. One winter cholera broke out and most of the men were seriously ill and many died. Anton’s eyes were affected and when a doctor from the mainland finally was sent for, he poured an acid directly into his eyes which caused the fluid to drain out and Anton was blind from that day on. The men were horrified and tried to get the doctor, but he had such a fast horse that no one could catch up with him which probably saved his life.

“Nick, the youngest son tells these stories about his father. He also told us about the time his two brothers were shanghaied in the Confederate Navy—taken off the street in the town they happened to be in. They had no extra clothes with them, not even shoes on their feet. They pretended to go along with this arrangement, but decided in their own minds, to get out of this situation as quickly as they could. The boat stopped at a fueling station after a short time, and  his brothers asked the Captain for permission to get off the boat long enough to buy a pair of shoes. The Captain told them to hurry it up, as they would be leaving a short while later. The brothers disappeared and hid in a cave along the Mississippi River banks. They finally made it home long enough to tell their folks what had happened, and arranged with Nick to bring them food, so they could hide out during the day and travel at night. They had intended to join the Union Army. Nick was just returning from one of his daily trips to bring his brothers food, when he was stopped by two Confederate Soldiers on horseback, and asked if he had seen or heard about two deserters they suspected to be somewhere in the area. Nick said he lied like a trooper and was told by the soldiers that it would go very hard on anyone who harbored and helped them if they were caught.

“When one considers that here was an emigrant family, in a new land with no money and the father had to earn a living, it would have been tough enough, but to lose his eyesight on top of it.”

Marriage Record of Antoine Heisserer & Catharina Hahn (english translation):

“Court House of Schirrhein (Dept. of Vital Statistics)

“May 20, 1833 – Marriage of Antoine Heisserer, 23 years of age, born in Schirrhein on April 26, 1810, employed by the day at Schirrhein, Son of Georges Heisserer, employed by the day at Schirrhein (64 years of age) and of his deceased wife Marie-Anne Walter (Married on Jan. 6, 1809 at Schirrhein.)

“Spouse: Catharina Hahn, emplyed by the day, born in Schirrhoffen, residing in Schirrhein, daughter of Egnace Hahn, farmer at Schirrhein, age 53, and of his deceased wife, Barbe Schmietter (Married on May 1st, 1806 at Schirrhein)”

The names that have * next to them have more detailed information on Level 5: Great Great Grandparents Heisserer

Wilhelm was head of philostuffy at a facetious university. His students were always deeply perspired when he gave arousing speech. Indeed, they sat enthralled and then stood enthralled and then sat – still enthralled.

It woz Monday morning and Wilhelm’s booming voice filled the lecture hawl. “This is the Nietzsche vs Neuter debate and it involves you all, so don’t slouch in your shoes, don’t chew off your face, and speak up when spoken at. Very good. Nietzsche was right to say the extent of Wagner’s genius was that he beat Chopin at Connect 4 every time. That’s every time, mind you! Sit with that a while. Take it hume with you. Caress it. Roll it over in your mind then do it that way a while. Remember all you see about you reflects your innards. And mirrors are fun if you do it that way.”

Wilhelm was swetting and had to stop and wife his brow. His father wud be proud — after all, he too often wifed his brow. Also, Wilhelm’s father gave moving speeches. Wilhelm recrawled one of those moving speeches: “Set the fridge down here, boys. Mind those boxes, they’re mother’s crockery…”

Shalom,
ma´nischma? tov?  b´seder!

Nein, mein Hebräisch hat sich noch immer nicht verbessert. Und ich arbeite momentan auch nicht wirklich daran. Faulheit kennt wohl auch keine Ländergrenzen. Unseren “Ulpanim” bekommen wir wohl erst nach den Ferien. Wann die hier sind ? Keine Ahnung!  Im Moment klappt es mit der Sprache aber dennoch ganz gut. Heute hab ich mein Englisch auch endlich mal wieder in Gang gebracht, was  mir nach 5-monatiger Abstinenz aus der Schule garnicht sooo leicht fiel.

So, erstmal hab ich noch (auf Drängen hin) en paar Fotos von meiner Unterkunft:

Wohnstube mit Christoph, Julian und dem anderen...

Flur, erste Tür rechts geht´s in mein Zimmer.

Mein Zimmer (Livecam)

...

... der Toaster gibt´s nicht mehr, der ist heute explodiert.

... und mal was wirklich wichtiges. Das Gute Maccabbe in praktischen 0,66er Flaschen

Darf wohl in keiner Wg fehlen :-/ ... aber ich hab die Woche noch Glück, yippie.

Vorgestern, bei meinem ersten offiziellen “Arbeitstag”, ging man hier noch immer nicht  über die volle Distanz. Wir mussten erst um Vier (statt um Drei) dort sein. Selbst nach 10 minütiger Verspätung (ich war selbstverständlich nicht schuld) ließ man uns noch in Ruhe unseren Kaffee genießen, den wir im Nebenraum der Sekretärin zu uns nahmen. Das klingt jetzt aber idylischer als es war… der Kaffee hier drüben schmeckt nämlich ziemlich beschissen. Hier pflegt man nämlich die lange Tradition des Instant- Coffee. Kein Vergleich zu Mama´s liebevoll zubereitetem zu Hause. Dennoch genießt man natürlich die “vergoldete” Zeit zum Unsinn reden  mit den anderen Volo´s bzw. mit den Guid´s die ebenfalls zu spät kommen…
Nichts desto trotz war es ein gelungener erster Tag. Das seit Klinsmann verpönte Rotationsprinzip, hält hier jedoch immer noch an. Sprich, ich werde erst im Laufe dieser Woche erfahren, in welchem “house” ich denn genau eingesetzt werde.
So durfte ich bei der “music session” weilen, wo gesungen und getanzt wurde. Es macht Spaß mitanzuschaun, wie sehr die “Friends” auf die Musik reagieren. Kein Stress, alle schienen befriedet. Viele tanzten. Viele kommen aber auch nur mit, weil es hinterher nen Keks gibt …
Lustigerweise wurden genau die Tänze getanzt, die wir beim Vorbereitungsseminar in Haifa ebenfalls kennen und tanzern lernen durften.

ja, bewegt haben wir uns auch ...

Wie es anders laufen kann, sprich nicht so friedlich, erfuhr ich hinterher im Gym als einer meiner Mitbewohner von einem “Friend” geschlagen wurde…aber das kommt vor, mir zum Glück noch nicht.

Auch hab ich meinen ersten Fauxpas hinter mir bzgl. “unserer”  “ruhmreichen” Vergangenheit. Als ich mit einem Guid über unser Roationsprinzip der Volo´s  sprach, sagte ich unter anderem: “We´re trying out for the “final solution”". Letzteres kann auch gut und gern mit der “Endlösung” übersetzt werden. Während sich der Guide vor Lachen krümmte, wäre ich hingehen, die “bad words” wahrnemend,  am liebsten im Boden versunken … aber im Nachhinein natürlich alles halb so wild. Er meinte auch er sei froh darüber gewesen, ohne Humor würde er in der Einrichtung nicht “überleben”.

Mit den Guids an sich kann man Pech haben… oder auch Glück, wie ich an diesem Tag. Der eine war lustig und recht interessiert, die andere aber ziemlich hübsch … und hilfsbereit  .. sprach bloß kaum ein Wort Englisch. Aber nen Grund mehr mal das Hebräisch-Buch zur Hand zu nehmen

Wie ich schon einmal erwähnte kann man mit den Autisten jede Menge Spaß haben.  Vorgestern wurde ich mit einer bekannt macht, die alles und jeden für Busfahrer hält.  Im Zimmer gibt´s sogar eine wunderschöne Bustapete zu bestaunen. Seit dem ich bin ich der Matthias – “der große, starke Busfahrer aus Deutschland”, wie sie selber sagte .   Der Guide kommentierte schlicht mit “She likes you”… was will man mehr … man muss eben nur den richtigen Beruf ergreifen. 

Zu Gestern hatten wir uns vorgenommen den kompletten Tag zu nutzen und nicht erst gegen Mittag aufzustehen. Gesagt, getan.  Punkt 8 stand ich auf der Matte, bzw in unserer halb verschimmelten Dusche.
Und sogar noch vor 10 waren wir aus dem Haus und sind Richtung nächstgelegenen Strand nach Herzlya gefahren. Mit Fahrrad versteht sich. Und wenn Israel etwas nicht ist, dann ein Fahrradfreundliches Land. Generell wird man beguckt, als seie man Außerirdische. Fahhradfahrer gibs hier nämlich kaum – eben weil es keine Wege gibt. So versuchten wir querfeld ein irgendwie zum Strand zu kommen, was wir letztendlich auch geschafft haben. Nach etwa einer halben Stunde downhillmistdreckmitschwitzen waren wir am Meer. Die Wellen waren ziemlich hoch, wir haben gut gechillt und als die Schule aus war…füllte sich auch so gleich der Strand …

... der nicht-Touri-Strand von Herzlya

... baden kann man da auch, guck

... und Hauptsache die Boote sind gut getroffen

Anschließend ging es dann gestern beinahe pünktlich zur Arbeit. Ich arbeitete  in der selben Wohngruppe, wie am ersten Tag. Es ging ziemlich ruhig zu … und so hab ich mich den Großteil mit meinen Volo´s unterhalten, Kaffee getrunken, TV geguckt  und das Restessen der “Friends” verdrückt … man gönnt sich ja sonst nichts…

somit…bogertov nach Hause.
der matze.

As I mentioned previously, I have a few interviews that unfortunately never saw the light of day. The second chapter from The Trilogy of Year Old Interviews (name pending…) comes from Michigan pop punkers The Swellers:

So, who am I talking to and what do you play?
-Nick, and I sing and play guitar.

I think what you’re doing is quite unique at the moment. You take 90’s EpiFat skate punk and give it a bit of a modern twist. Is that the kind of direction you were after?
-We grew up on music from the 90’s basically, whether it be bands like NOFX, Millencolin, and Bouncing Souls, or The Wallflowers, Foo Fighters, and Weezer. We’re still kind of stuck in that “skate punk” rut, but our next album is going to round us out a little bit better. We’re just a pop/rock band with punk roots, honestly.

You seem to a have played shows with a strikingly wide variety of bands – from Mustard Plug to A Wilhelm Scream. Who have been your favourite bands to play with? Any tour stories you fancy sharing?
-I’m really proud of the fact that we can play with such a variety of bands. This year we’ve toured with A Wilhelm Scream and Less Than Jake, and soon to tour with Streetlight Manifesto and then Polar Bear Club. Wilhelm is definitely our favourite band to tour with just because we’re so close. When we tour together, we always follow each other on the highway, stay at the same places together every night, and have a great time. There are too many tour stories to remember, but there is some cool stuff in our Tour Videos on YouTube and MySpace, haha.

On the subject of touring, you have yet to grace the UK with your presence, can we expect you here any time soon?
-Coming to the UK and the rest of Europe is pretty expensive, so we want to make sure that when we DO come, it’s with a band that is experienced over there and does well. We’re still waiting on word if we’re coming over there this winter.. so we’re hoping! If not, we’ll just book our own UK/Euro tour and say “fuck it”. I just want to play out there!

Are there any upcoming bands on the US scene that you think deserve a mention?
-Definitely. A band called 2*Sweet is blowing me away right now. Really weird pop/punk mixed with like, Danzig and HIM influenced. Their name is really misleading, but the band rules. Also, Fireworks, our buddies from Detroit, just signed to Triple Crown Records, so I think they’re gonna blow up soon.

How much do you know about the UK ‘punk’ scene? Are there any bands you’ve heard recently that you’ve been impressed with?

-I haven’t heard much from the UK lately as far as underground music goes, but All Or Nothing and a band called Fastlane (don’t even know if they’re around anymore, we played with them in Japan) are pretty rad.

A lot of the lyrical content on your album ‘My Everest’ is quite dark – dealing with failed relationships and suicide. Do you find that putting these emotions to paper helps to deal with these issues? Or does it make singing these songs a bit of an emotional struggle?
-The lyrics are quite dark, for sure, but nothing about suicide yet (wait for the next record!). The darkest songs on “My Everest” are about a horrible car crash.. a friend’s accidental overdose and the following funeral.. Our home base of Flint, MI pretty much becoming a ghost town.. and there are a lot of biblical references that are pretty blasphemous. We aren’t a satanic band, but it’s fun to throw in creepy little things I learned when I was a catholic growing up. I never thought we’d perform “Skoots” or “Keep Looking” live, because they hit so close to home, but it actually makes performing them a lot more intense.

You were rumoured to be joining Nitro Records a while back; what happened with that? Would Nitro be a label you’d be interested to join?

-We were going to sign to Nitro, for sure. Had the contract in our hands.. Wilhelm, Much The Same, No Trigger, and Hit The Switch were all stoked we were gonna be part of the family.. but then Nitro told us they were out of money and can’t sign anymore bands. So we’re LUCKY we didn’t sign. Nitro hasn’t signed any bands since, and probably won’t. They put out that last Wilhelm record, and I think they’re done.

Photographed by manfred-hartmann

Canon EOS 40D / Sigma 10-20mm F4-5,6 EX DC HSM

www.hartmann-fotos.de

– License

After the storming success of 2008’s Sometimes Things Just Disappear, all ears were on the Rochester quintet to see how their sound would develop. The Summer Of George is a teaser 7” designed to whet your appetite for the new album. It contains two album tracks and one EP exclusive, Dead Man.

So, what direction have they gone in? Well, the three tracks are actually quite dissimilar to each other. Opener Living Saints is an excellent pop number which should help push the band forward that little bit more. Great song writing and a catchy-as-hell chorus, definitely a future live favourite.

Dead Man is much rawer and darker, so it doesn’t surprise me that it won’t be appearing on the album. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great tune, but not the direction that I expect the band to go in.

Last track Boxes sits in the middle of the previous two. It’s catchy, but brooding. It doesn’t hit me as instantly as either of the other tracks, but I can certainly see it being a grower.

I’ve realised this is a Polar Bear Club review written specifically for Polar Bear Club fans. There are no band comparisons or anything like that, so I’ll sum up in two ways:

If you liked Sometimes Things Just Disappear, but wanted to hear the band push their limits a bit, you’ll love this.

If you’re a fan of Jawbreaker, Braid and A Wilhelm Scream, and wonder what they’d sound like if they formed a super group, you’ll love this.

Andrew Cream

Don’t know if anyone was a fan of his, but Matt Wilhelm from the Chargers has been cut. Being a big Chargers fan I for one am glad that he was cut, but also appreciative and wish him the best. He really wasn’t that great of a player and the Chargers were paying him way too much, but good luck finding a job man.

Matt was a later pick in the 2003 draft, but never really panned out after coming from Ohio State, he didn’t start until 2 years ago, but then the year after had his playing time severely cut and it was only a matter of time after the Chargers signed Burnett from the Cowboys.

http://www.chargers.com/news/article-1/chargers-release-wilhelm/c2eeaca9-7f85-4cff-8068-4ce4526469a4

There is the difference between Truth and Fiction. Fiction has to make sense.

(Wilhelm to Salinger in the movie The International)