Am seidenen faden (2013) ♪♪♪
Tim Bendzko (Germany)

Being the current perfect ‘Boy next door’ in Germany Tim Bendzko has taken no chances for his second album. Maybe he felt he was ‘hanging on a thread’ with the always difficult follow up to a bestselling debut  so Tim plays it safe. And so we get a well crafted album with fourteen singer songwriter songs that will please a large portion of the European poplisteners. With an emphasis on mid tempo songs and balladry. What lifts this album above mediocrity however is maybe not the material itself but the way its executed. Bendzko and his partners Aiko Rohd, Christian Kalla and Daniel Hassbecker did not take the simple route and distill all strings from a box. Nope, a whole string section is wheeled into the Hansa studio and brings the necessary debt and color to the songs. And so when Tim sings ‘Vergessen is so leicht’ the convertibility of the song is caught by the orchestral arrangements. So when he sings the rather übersweet lyrics: “They told me thoughts fade over time / Who would have Thought? / For me, the reality faded./ forgetting is so easy when you can forget. / Do you remember? / First it steals your breath away, but then you forget it.” 

The strings lift the song up and add the necessary colour to the somewhat uniformly voice of Tim. A voice that sometimes comes eerie close to the soul-sound of Xavier Naidoo when beats are added to the song (as on ‘Die geier kreisen schon’ or ‘Es geht wieder vorbei’). Especially when the lyrics go al soothing and comforting: “You want to ignore the pain, you want to be much stronger. / You will not freeze to death-you do not want to be alone. / If you are reading this, then please do not stop to think on these lines. / The pain will pass again / You cannot lose the courage - you 're not alone”. Tim Bendzko is a sweet cute kid with something youthful and disarming in his aura. For now that image serves him well and it is enough to deliver a nice album that is easily accessible for music fans who don’t like to much spice in their music. But young people grow up. I wonder how tenable Tim’s music stays when he and his public is much older.

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La velocidad del vacío (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Dorian (Spain)

Since their debut in 2004 Spanish new New wave band Dorian have proven themselves a deliverer of catchy and good singles. Summarized on an album it always tended to be a nice collection of catchy singles instead the sum of songs becoming an album with one consistent signature. With their fourth album I can tell you they finally tackled that flaw. Under guidance of Phil Vinall , (producer of bands like Radiohead ,Pulp and Placebo) the band succeeded in delivering an epic sounding album with each song adding to a general vibe/story. The speed of vacuum or La velocidad del vacío has an urgency and  grandeur. Dorian explores the boundaries of their musical universe. Like the band explains in opening track ‘Ningún mar’ they wanted to break out of their vacuum: “I want to feel that outside of this bubble".

Belly’s synths keep playing a very important role in the general sound of the band but different to previous albums the production leaves plenty of space for the other band members to add their own part to the music.”. With Vinall as supervisor this turned out extremely well. A good example is the strong ‘Horas Bajas’. Starting on a sole synthesizer drone the funeral drums of Ramón Aragall and dry bass of Bart Sanz take over the leading role mid song and give the song a haunting rhythm before Gili picks up the chorus again and sings: “Because time devours us / and wears down our steps /We will live in low hours / when they reach the storm /and oblivion, oblivion.”. Indeed the doom and gloom in the lyrics is one thing that hasn’t changed. In that sense Dorian found enough inspiration in Mexico. Some songs have a direct reference to that country. On ‘El temblor’, a song about how an earthquake would not be able to separate them, Marc Gili incorporates several local ingredients like Oaxaca and mescal. With ‘La velocidad del vacío’ Dorian delivers in ten songs and within 40 minutes their strongest album to date.

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Psycho Tropical Berlin (2013) ♪♪♪
La Femme (France)

Based in the first singles I actually did not know what to make of this French electro pop combo. A sort of Scissor Sisters meets Yelle meets Vibrasonic? But with their album with the festive title ‘Psycho Tropical Berlin’ all falls into place. Graced with a heavy ‘Dukes of Stratosphere’ albumcover the Parisian sextet takes you on a magic carpet ride through their own psychedelic wonderland. In it surfsounds, psychedelia and synthpop form the soundtrack. First you take the ‘Antitaxi’ riding a surfgitar along the purple sunset. You make love with a mysterious motorgirl (Amour dans le motu) before you meet up with the real woman: “her nails are sprawling and she takes you by the hand / Its like a storm that breaks the silence / Beware of the great North wind, it will approach and catch you / It will be the thrill of a lifetime if you understand”. The lady leads you into ‘Hypsoline’ a dark organ fuelled landscape, a spaghetti western where space cowboys await you. Then we encounter early single ‘Sur la planche’ which got a whole heavy electro remake on this album.

You slowly slip into a delirium and hear ‘It’s Time To Wake Up (2033)’. Based in a simple two-chord drone it progresses in six minutes in a electric dream with haunting theremin sounds, sitars  and sirens singing “what happened made you stronger / two suns have risen every morning / the grass is green, the wind is red / there are eleven / I saw a strange thing guarding his skin / transgenital”. The dream turns into a nightmare on ‘Packshot’ with its speeding keyboard riffs and urgent chorus. The ghosts urge you to hang yourself ‘Saisis la Corde’. But then Francoise gets a grip on herself and the album winds down to a close. Although not meant as a concept album ‘Psycho Tropical Berlin’ certainly can be listened to as one. With all its catchy hooks, bizarre musical sidesteps and sound effects it is most of all a fun album on which La Femme show themselves faithful disciples of the musical path Stereolab and Saint Etienne created in the Nineties. Neo-psychedelia á la Française by five androgynous peroxide dyed boys and a girl.

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Grenzenlos (2013) ♪♪♪
Glasperlenspiel (Germany)

Two years after their breezy debut Carolin Niemczyk and Daniel Grunenberg return with a much more firm sounding album.  Production wise ‘Grenzenlos’ is a big step forward and away from the light disposable pop they made before. The two musicians grown pretty confident and present their songs in perfect productions with some really surprising ideas. A song like ‘Herz aus gold’ plays with dubstep without being to losing grip on their own sound. It’s a thrusting song that explodes in aggressive attack on the critique that they just meaningless pop: “Each slap in the face, do you really think I can not bear not? / I tell you!/ For the intrigue and lies. / thank you!/ There I was really a pleasure./ thank you!/ It made me strong, the warrior has brought to light in me”.

Maybe that is the biggest difference from their debut. The lyrics have taken a swing to the bittersweet. As youngsters they thought themselves immortal, which turned to be an illusion  (Unsterblich). What we get is more mature themes like loneliness and the fear of abandonment on ‘Was du night weisst’ and ‘Tanzen den schmerz weg’. And even a dark theme like bad parenting and household violence comes by on ‘Wie ich nicht sein will’: “You slammed our door / Have you ever existed? / I did not fit in your picture / ou have erased me./  You don’t speak my language / I searched to hate you / but inside everything is silent / I learned from you / what I don’t want to be". But Glasperlenspiel are not the ones to get really depressed. They are confinced that everyone has the future in his own hands: “for all dreamers among the realists, for all those that bring joy among the pessimists, for all honest people, among who cheat / thing you can move / this is for all of these fighters on earth for which there are and for which there still are./  we want to change something, we are not alone. our little world could be more beautiful. , you can move it. , we can make a difference. Let move what. , you can move it.”. With ‘Grenzenlos’ Glasperlenspiel proves they have much more in store then the critics initially expected and are more then the bubblegum in Carolin's mouth suggests (as seen on the album cover). They are ready to fill the gap the dissolvement of Rosenstolz left..

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Bleibt das immer so (2013) ♪♪♪
Gleis 8 (Germany)

Listening to AnNa R’s solodebut with her new band Gleis 8 shows a low the fire of Rosenstolz was burning by the time they recorded their last album. From a bloodless routine La R suddenly is capable to translate some passion and energy again in her songs. Together with Timo Dorsch, Manne Uhlig and former Rosenstolz saxophonist Lorenz Allacher she took up the opportunity to write her own material and work completely as she wanted for herself. Although not directly a kick to her former partner Peter Partner the central theme of the songs seems liberation from former strains. In the title song she sings: “It always remains the case that nothing lasts forever? / And what we never get, that's what we like? / Does It Continue? Ever? / we see and not what divides us unites us, / because we are looking for love, where they could not find us. / ever you go on ... / And you run and you run to nowhere oh oh oh / no sense without a goal ... remains the always like this? Oh oh oh  / Does it always stays like this?”

No better inspiration then love and frustration it seems. Although not grudgeful to the outside world the lyrics sometimes read otherwise. How else should we interpret lines like: “We do not go together / We are too different / And sometime you can hear to love yourself “(Alles ohne dich) or from "Ein sekunde":" I'm going like a train on rails / direct in your face”. We can somehow deduce where the passion comes from, somehow, deep down maybe AnNa seems just a tiny little bit pissed about the whole situation with Rosenstolz. But with a result like this she should not be bothering with passed musical frustrations. AnNa is ready to show us some of her dark side and release the devil in herself: “You say it is possible to go bad, on all fours. /I've Had enough, all is possible/ now lose no time. / You want to try my dark side” (Teufel). And in doing so she also wanders dangerously into the rockchick-with-band territory and will find stiff competition in Germany from more experienced acts like Mia, Deine Jugend and Wir Sind Helden. In that market Gleis 8 is currently not unique enough to stand out and the Rosenstolz legacy is more a burden and a benefit. Critics in Germany already sharpened their knifes and filleted the album untill only a minimum of stars were left. Not completely justified in my opinion. ‘Bleibt das immer so’ is maybe not a brilliant album but catchy and interesting enough for a first solo effort.

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Beau Repaire (2013) ♪♪♪
Jacques Higelin (France)

At the age of 73 Jacques Higelin can easily be called a living legend of French pop, Not that the master himself cares much for titles like that. He just keeps making music. ‘Beau repaire’ is his 18th studio album and sees him return to his typical French sound after the dark observations of ‘Amor Doloroso  and the Mississippi blues inspired ‘Coup de Foudre’. This last album was a manifest written around the crisis in Europe and since that is not over yet Higelin again took that fact as his starting point. Initially not with the best resut as Higelin explained in a recent interview “I became autistic, completely in my bubble. The inspiration was rather dark at first, then I saw the sun break in my sky full of storms ...With acute daydreaming desires and freedom, "says Jacques Higelin. And so the whole feel of the album has a lighter more dreamy tough then the Thunderbolt of his previous album. The ballad at the side of the water opens the album. A dreamy poetic song with simple guitarlines and piano: “Oh brightness / the beauty of the sun / shines / in million mirrors of water”.

Higelin wants to remind us that happiness is in the simple things of life.  It’s about travelling by train, it’s about a small baby smiling, it’s about balmy Sunday mornings. Almost parentally Higelin sings to us that as long as you value these things everything will be all right. The album was recorded in a small greenhouse of a farm in  Saint-Rémy- de-Provence and the rural peacefulness trickled through on the album. ."I have long wanted to release an album in spirit of  spring, with songs that reflects the happiness of renewal," he adds, "he want to tell the listener not to be afraid of life , or his soul, or his body”. And so an intimate duet with Sandrine Bonnaire over a piano tells of two happy angles teasing each other with words: “I'll Turn / You Extinguish me / I smoke you / You Extinguish me / I like you / I pity you / I pluck you”. With ‘Beau repaire’ Higelin recorded one of his more intimate albums in his impressive catalogue. The arrangements are mainly acoustic, piano, guitar and a horn section here and there. No synthesizer or grand multilayered rock. It is almost like the ghost of Satie moved into Jacques. Listen to ‘pour une fois’ with its minimal arrangement to understand what I mean. With its soothing vibe this album is a great soundtrack to recline in your hammock and let the world go by.

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Breaking the line (2013) - ♪♪♪♪♪
Jurga (Lithuania)

Jurga Šeduikytė is one of the most popular Lithuanian artists since the release of her platinum debut album Aukso Pieva in 2005. She has gained commercial and creative success in her home country Lithuania and in Russia and she won all local music awards one can think of. In 2009 she released the experimental album ‘37°’, a mixture of ambient, trance and folk music. In 2011 she published ‘MetroNomes’, the music score she wrote for the stage performance. Is is clear that Jurga did not intend to rest on her laurels after her break through, but wanted to evolve with every next artistic production. When listening to her latest album – the brand new ‘Breaking the line’ - it seems like the only logical next step in Jurga’s artistic evolution.

The album was written during her two year stay in Moscow. The artist openly shares her experience of living in this big and often hostile city, claiming that Moscow appeared to be quite unwelcoming, however living there provided her with an opportunity to discover her personal values and necessity to protect them, in addition to the inspiration to create a new album. And to me, the album evokes all sorts of images of Moscow (although I have not yet visited the city) - walking through the lanes with lots of traffic, travelling in the underground and crossing the Red Square… with Jurga singing in my ears through the headphone….

‘Breaking the line’ consists of eleven tracks, half in English, half in Lithuanian. Each of the songs was inspired by a movie. The beautiful opening track ‘Jūra vandenynas’ (‘First ocean’) for instance by ‘Inception’ from Christopher Nolan; ‘Hey, Joe’ by Tim Burtons ‘Corpse Bride’ and ‘So blue’ by Lars von Triers ‘Melancholia’.

All songs were written and composed by Jurga. But the sound and atmosphere of the album has definitely been hugely influenced by two very special artists. First of all classical pianist Peter Geniušas, whose soft touches on the piano make an essential contribution to the mystical atmosphere of this album. Secondly electronic and jazz pioneer Leon Somov. Initially Jurga asked Somov to create one song, but in the end he produced 10 of the 11 songs. With his musical background in jazz and electronics he proofs to be the perfect guy to create the desired cinematographic atmosphere for the album.

It all blends in perfectly, the album is modern, yet expresses a timeless class. The songs are balanced and spherical, yet exciting and fresh thanks to the arrangements, beats and production. And Jurga? She is of course the centerpiece of the project, the star of her own movie! Her singing is sometimes ice-queen, sometimes warm and soothing. This album shows her magnificent creativity and the mature artist she has become. To every fan of serious adventurous music: download this album or, even better, buy your own copy (available through Lithuanian web shop http://www.muzikosbomba.lt/).

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Απλές Ασκήσεις Στον Υπαρξισμό (2013) - ♪♪♪
Κόρε. Ύδρο. (Greece)

From a country plagued by a heavy economical crisis comes one of the more intelligent European rockbands teaching us some ‘Simple Exercises In Existentialism’. In 13 songs the band from Corfu delivers one of the more complex albums of the year, or in their catalogue. Because with their fourth album, with a print of a one-drachma coin on the disc, the band digs deeper and more detailed than ever before. In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. This battle between chaos and order is present inside the music. Sometimes almost introvert with soft vocals, piano and violin. To erupt only minutes later in chattering glass, distorted guitars and pondering rhythms. The intelligent construction of the song can be heard on a song like ‘Χωριστός βίος’ which starts with just a single piano key and then builds up with a funky riff, then holding back to let a lonely trumpet carry the song to the second ‘verse’ where grinding guitars growl in the undergrowth and the vocals sinc in harmony.

The basic idea for the album came from the story about a Serb student from Belgrade, named Peter Restovits. Being baptized at the monastery of Hilandarion he was photographed and on the picture a white dove was to be seen sitting on the head of the newly baptized! The sense of mystique is the core of the album that sometimes sounds more like a soundtrack then a true rockalbum. They sometimes have an epic streak like ‘Χάδια’ or album closer ‘Τραγούδι με ανάστροφο μήνυμα’ that gradually build up like a structure build to explore Olympus itself. To exchange that same epic mystique with seemingly simple and psychedelic cocktail jazz like ‘Μια ανοιχτή πληγή ‘ or ‘Ζεστασιά πριν το τέλος ‘ Alexandros Makris, responsible for most of the music, and P.E. Dimitriadis as writer of most lyrics, felt inspired not only by existentialist philosophers like Nietzsche and Kierkegard but also the Greek philosophers like Plato. Under so much pretence this could be a top heavy album. But although complex and hard the grasp at first listen there is some real progpop magic going on. Kore.Ydro shows itself the Greek pop equivelant of The Mars Volta and unique within the European rockscene. Tempo changes, noise eruptions and twinkling piano melodies alternate without pushing each other away. It is by far their most complex album to date. Not meant for casual listeners.

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Paradis Naiv (2013) ♪♪♪½
Laing (Germany)

Can four ladies and a stripped down electronic soundtrack create a soulful album? That’s a confirmative as you listen to new German group Laing. The four ladies lay down some acapella acrobatics that would make the Pointer Sisters jelous. They suddenly appeared at Stefan Raabs Bundesvision Song Contest in 2012 and wowed the audience. Critics made have thought at the time that it was a trick good for one song (they played ‘Morgens immer müde’) but with ‘Paradis Naiv’ the ladies prove they can stretch their innovative electro-pop over at least eleven songs. Although And though the songs are arranged only with keyboards, synthesizers and effects units, they are by no means simple or monotonous. And its not loveydovey music so don’t get fooled by the sweet sounding schubi-dubi chorus lines. The album opens with the genuine murder ballad ‘Ding Dong’: “Ding Dong - You hear the bells ring / Your last hour has just struck / I'll get you yet just around the corner / and then we have already said goodbye / I'll make you cold, cold, cold, cold ...".

These kittens are not to be approached without proper care. They roam the street night after night , racing through the streets with their stereo turned up on full volume. As described on ‘Nacht für Nacht’. Other subjects are triangle relationships (‘Du un Du und Ich’) and nuclear disasters. On ‘Maschinell’ the girls paint a futuristic feministic horror scenario where females are reduced to mere numbers: “I'm perfectly constructed - machine - my whole body works - machine - I have only zero and one combined - mechanically - I'm programmed for everything”. With ‘Paradis Naiv’ these ladies show that it is still possible to take an original approach to electropop. And that with a concept that is seemingly simple but executed in a alluring and diverse manor.

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Alter (2013) ♪♪♪
Nynke Laverman (Netherlands)

Laverman is still a traveler. After her euphoric discovery through distant Mongolia she now goes to Spain to meet up with Javier Limón. In Spain Limón is one of the innovators within traditional Spanish flamenco mixing that with modern elements. This combined with Nynke’s experience in translating Portuguese fado to Dutch-Frysian music is an interesting combination. But can it still result in pop music like on her previous album. The answer is yes but much less bombastic then on ‘Nomade’. But a song like ‘DuÌ‚ns Fan De Siedden’ is still unmistakable a pop song. It starts with a staccato-funky riff and gradually builds up adding acoustic flamenco and percussion while Laverman distinctive voice gets overdubbed to a choir.

Most songs are originally written by Nynke herself in Frysian dialect except ‘Foarjiersfers’ which is based on a poem by Rutger Kopland and closing track ‘De bruiloft’ which is a translation of Lhasa’s 'I’m Going in'. The atmosphere of the album is very intimate with Sytse Pruiksma on percussion and Limón on guitar and occasional background vocals. On ‘Eftereach’ she gets assistance of Frysian poet Tsjêbbe Hettinga. Due to this acoustic approach ‘Alter’ is also a more difficult album to embrace. It puts an emphasis on Nynke’s voice which has to carry each individual song without being able to hide or being lost in percussive experiment or orchestral arrangements. It shows how capable Nynke’s voice is to do that but it also puts a responsibility on the listener to focus and listen. If you listen to ‘Alter’ as background music the essence of this album might be lost.

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Schiena (2013) ♪♪½
Emma Marone (Italy)

In Italy she is often called the heir of Gianna Nannini and when you hear this new album by San Remo winner Emma Marone you will know exactly why. The album opens with the lead single:Amami. With a hoarse voice Emma sings of a an arrangement where rock and strings clash into each other. Written by herself it is a request to be loved: “ I turn off one at a time always the same / Love me like I'm the light of a lighthouse in the sea". OK maybe a bit corny but sung in Italian it suddenly sounds rich and pleasing. Love is overall the central theme on this album. Love for another person but mostly loving yourself. In an interview Marone explained she endured a lot of critique after her San Remo win and this album is her dealing with that. In a recent interview she explains: “.I learned not to deny myself the joy of being who I am for fear of criticism, I learned to sing a little 'for myself and this is not a bad thing, I learned to love myself hating myself less, I learned not to lose myself to stand behind the preconceptions which are sometimes heavy, I learned to walk with my back straight”. Hence the explanation of the albumtitle album ‘Back’.

But sometimes the songs can drag a little. Like 'Dimentico tutto' which goes on forever or 'Trattengo il fiato' which is a cliché Italian rock song like dozen others. But with song like ‘In ogni angolo di me’ she shows she is capable to lay just that extra in a song. Being the only other song she wrote it is a ballad that starts slow, almost whispered then picking up pace and with each passing minute: "I want your eyes when you dream / to make them stay here / a long caress is all that I did not do/ I just want to learn what you are ". Together with ‘L'amore non mi basta’ and ‘Chimera’ they even out this album a bit between nice and nice-ish. It is just to much Nannini like. Emma has the promise of her own style but has yet to work out what that exactly is.

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Le chemin (2013) ♪♪
Emmanuel Moire (France)

Adult and sexy, that was how Moire celebrated his coming out four years ago with an euphoric and electric pop album. The album showed a step forward from his debut ‘(Là) Où je pars’ in being more diverse and mature. Well, on this, his third album that maturity turned into complacency. It seems that winning ‘Dancing with the stars’ turned Moire into a mood that stimulated him to create mid tempo radio friendly pop. ‘Le Chemin’ also marks Emmanuel’s switch from Warner to Universal. And in that sense the album fits the Universal corporate solution for stars who are wondering what course their career should take. Which results in mostly safe consumer music.Together with his dedicated co-writer Yann Guillon he created an album that revolves around the universal theme of Love. the tone of the project aims to be more intimate, more delicate, like a truce, heavy breathing after the diversity of his previous album. Like a diary, Emmanuel Moire wrote the songs, according to himself writing about his injuries and disappointments. From the first piano notes of ‘La vie ailleurs’, foggy and crescendo, to the other songs of unrequited love like ‘Venir Voir’, and ‘Ici et ailleurs’, carried simply by his high silky voice high and piano. And here and there expanding gradually with orchestral synths. Moire and Guillon do have talent, they have shown that in the past. But this album, in its overkill of mid tempo monotony is just too much. Especially if French is not your native tongue the songs all blend together into one tapestry of sweet sounding pop. With this albums Moire just shows himself to be more a French copy of Italian singer Raf in his nineties period but the question is if that is his goal with ‘Le Chemin’. More diversity in material next time please, guys.

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El apocalipsis según mucho (2013) ♪♪♪
Mucho (Spain)

Last 21 December the Mayan prophecy was fulfilled. Therefore, the end of the world that many people feared-or expectantly waiting has not occurred, but that does not mean that things are getting better. Rather, the post-apocalypse is even more apocalyptic than the one we left behind. Or that is how Spanish indieband sees it on their latest album ‘El apocalipsis según’. The collection of songs cast irritation to the growing political class difference and are indignant with the corrupt world in which we, in solidarity with those who are suffering. The lyrics are a sound of hope for all those people gathered at squares around Europe. Protesting against bad banking, corrupt management and a future that is taken from them: “the announcer of lightning and heavy drop / waving a flag at night / starry, at the base of the mountain / I leave a piece / look back, you're alone in the sea, the day will come / and you'll be alone at sea, looking back”.

They urge their generation to stand up and take their future in their own hands. The apocalypse for one is a new dawn for the other. Mucho utters the warning to the powers of the world: “maybe, maybe relics remain standing and / perhaps, this time, your dying breath will fall at dawn / You know that the day will come and you have to / pay this time, all at once, I will be clear and you are going to understand / We are the salt of the earth and our deeds / worth more, we are more in the land is only / and our strength is our overall” (Sal de la Tierra).

The apocalypse according to Mucho is captured in a rich sounding psychedelic pop album with an emphasis on the electric piano and guitars. Sometimes songs rage on like ‘En la base de la montana’ or hipsway on vocal harmonies and chords like ‘Molores’. Compared to their debut album Mucho made a big step forward. This album is much diverse and shows nuances and with each listen you’ll discover new loose ends. And most of all the spirit of protest has taken hold of Martí Perarnau and his gang. It sounds urgent and energetic. Mucho has got a message for you and you’d better listen.

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Toboggan (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Jean-Louis Murat (France)

What is it with the French this past month. The longing for rural peacefulness is a theme we encounter with several artists from that region. Like Higelin the new album by Jean-Louis Murat breathes the countryside. But different to Jacques Murat chooses a much darker perspective. He views the world like a castaway adrift on a vast plain. A song to ‘Robinson’ is more than fitting on this album.

The album opens with the chilling ‘Il Neige’: “It snows on the mountains on the wide plain / Like all animals you fear / it snow for days what is your secret / Snowing some supreme deity /  there is room for silence knife on your white chair “ Where Higelin searches for the light and for spring Murat sees black cats, religious anguish and dark voodoo on his path. Again and Again: “Over and over / as after a wedding / Do you have the courage / Who saved this sinking / When the last thing in the world / is nothing more than God”.

For this album Murat keeps the musical arrangements intimate and small. A suppressed organ, gentle acoustic guitars, a sole dry trumpet, hardly any percussion. But the main ingredient responsible for the uncanny atmosphere is not even an instrument at all but sounds of animals. On ‘Il Neige’ a dog howls lonely in the distant. An effect that gives me goose bumps all over. On ‘Belle’ the dogs bark at the twangy piano. On ‘Robinson’ a whole menagerie of dogs, ducks and other farm animals can be heard. It reminded me of Alice ‘Il profumo del silencio’ from her album ‘Falsi Alarmi’. The album ends with the eerie ‘J’ai tue parce que je m’ennuyais’. “I killed because I was bored”, a line Murat heard in a US court from the mouth of a murderer who was asked why he did it. In his head the screams of the innocents were beautiful music. It inspired Murat for this closing song. ‘Toboggan’ is again not the sort of album to put on at the height of your party, But in a dark romantic way it is again a great addition to his ever growing catalogue.

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Bei meiner seele (2013) ♪♪♪
Xavier Naidoo (Germany)

He is probably the most busy German soul and R & B singer. He is a Son of Mannheim. He is the alter ego Der Xer. He is the first letters of Xavas. And he is always good for top positions in the German charts. Over the years Xavier Naidoo has confirmed a unique status in Europopmusic with something that is a mixture of hiphop, soul and Krautpop. His 2009 triple album ‘Alles kann besser werden’ may have been a bit megalomanic but also featured some of the most brilliant tracks he recorded. We still play that album regularly at the Europopmusic office when we’re in a melancholic mood and after four years that album still can stand the test of time. I have serious doubts if this, his sixth regular album (not counting all the side projects and Voice of Germany actions), will do the same. Although far less tracks there are hardly any tracks that stick. He traded his unique silk touch for something that sounds like a German Bruno Mars production. This may be partly the influence of young guitarist Jules Kalmbacher (from the Hessen based band Jules Trash Combo) who plays most of the instruments and wrote most of the music.

The cooperation sometimes works like on ‘Das Aufgebot’ where a slide guitar, background singers and piano create one of the better tracks.  Sometimes it just doesn’t. ‘Phrasen für dich’ and ‘Junge’ are tracks that go in at one end and leave through the other. It’s mediocre singer songwriter material that is not worthy Naidoo’s status. And although funny I am puzzled what a white-reggae track like ‘Autonarr’ does on this album, with its rather silly lyrics: "That's why I'm such an adult car enthusiast / Because I like conspicuous car driving / Because I really love the experience / And I hang in my thoughts”. At the end of the album his old buddy Moses Pelham brings a visit to revive the old fire. Naidoo sums up our overall opinion about this album rather nicely on ‘Schön wie früher’: “I have had at least 20 years / If not now, then when it was long ago / I let myself to the conclude / As good as it used to be will it never be anymore / In the future”. We profoundly do not hope so but this album is not a step forward but rather a watered down repetition of his art. Not good, but also not awfully bad (although German critics will try to make you think so). It earned its three stars just barely.

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Fillipo Neviani (2013) ♪♪♪
Nek (Italy)

Nek releases this eleventh album with his birth name as title. A nice inside joke for the fans who have been following this quality pop singer for the past twenty years. A period of time when each album became more slick. The promised ‘Un'altra direzione’ was in that sense not the different direction that was promised. This album however shows a slight course change. Slightly more emphasis on rock and less on mid-tempo pop. Result is that it is a more diverse album. This results in some strong tracks . Like opener "Hey Dio" is a cry to God himself about the evils that afflict our society:  "it's only the hatred that makes the news every damn day", he sings bitter. Or take ‘Dentro l'anima’ where Nek wants to enter the soul of his loved one : “You're the reason why I insist, the light on the dark, and if you look I still already understand, that from a life you expected here, and see you smile as poetry, and your belief becomes mine, against all the noise of hypocrisy, you're my fantasy, everything failed ... I want enter into the soul” A song that starts with a pumping heart and in four minutes builds up to a symphonic rock song.

As last example I’ll mention ‘Soltante te’ where Nek sings over a galloping rhythm his apocalyptic vision: “They say that one day the sky will burn / that almost all of a sudden the horizon moves / will be pure imagination / or proof that you do not exist”. But on other songs Nek again shows why I regard him as the Italian Sting. Not only his voice comes very close to his English counterpart, also musically the similarity is often more than evident. Listen to ‘La metà di niente’, ‘Io no mai’ and ‘Il mondo tra le mani’. All in all ‘Fillipo Neviani’ could be defined as more natural then his previous albums but still with inspired well crafted music. It is commercial but not a disposable product in being obviously sincere and unpretentious in its aim. For fans of radio friendly quality pop Nek again proves he is an artist you can always fall back upon.

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Neon Spektra (2013) ♪♪♪
Neon Spektra (Slovenia)

It’s a trend in the South-east of Europe. Record your album and then make it available for free through MTV. Last month we had SARS from Serbia and a Slovenian reader pointed us to Neon spektra from Slovenia.  And again an album that is certainly worth the ‘trouble’ of downloading to your computer. The duo consists of Domen Učakarja (member of Icarus Down) and Barbara Avsenak on vocals. With a helping from producer Jaka Tavš Their aim is to create contemporary, bold pop music in the Slovenian language that flirts with modern as well as traditional popmusic. The album kicks off with the dreamlike ‘Najin film’ (our movie) that starts with simple synthbeat but gradually flowers into a guitar filled popsong. Like the movie of their lives they sing about. Quite in your infant years and wild and energetic when you’re becoming an adult. The interweaving mix of indiepop guitars and electronic beats is something you find throughout the album. Sometimes Barbara chats through a vocodor, sometimes she sings clear with a light voice. Meanwhile Domen lets his guitar create psychedelic landscapes. This can lead to haunting results like the spooky ballad ‘Moja zgodba’ and  the distorted drum driven ice cold ‘Zadrem iglo’. But can also lead to bombastic euphoria like album closer ‘Zadnja zabava v mestu’ (latest game in town). I must admit that the similar construction of the songs does has the effect that they sometimes blend together. But overall Neon Spektra’s debut is well for your click and impressive example that Slovenia has more to offer then just Laibach. And the free art work you get together with your download is beautiful. Got to the download portal

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Slapeloze nachten (2013) ♪♪♪½
Opposites (Netherlands)

After their rebellious debut ‘De fik erin’ Dutch hiphop duo Willy and Big2 undertook a gradual ascent into the Dutch pop mainstream. Their sound became more diverse in return. Elements of electropop, dubstep, rock and whatever they could find found its way onto their records. In 2010 it seemed this musical omnivoric characteristic would lead to a split with both members recording a solo album. But the previous preceding singles ‘Slapeloze Nachten’, ‘Hey DJ’, ‘Sukkel Voor De Liefde‘ en ‘Thunder’ were a signal that they were still busy as a duo. The EP’s compiled form the basis for ‘Slapeloze Nachten’ the album. Added with some new tracks including collaborations with Yellow Claw and Hydroboyz. Musically the duo investigates the borders of dubstep and see at what length they can stretch the genre. Not only using rap but sung choruses and catchy melodies. Another sign of maturity is that the adolescent and sexist lyrics now (almost) disappeared. The result is melodic, almost melancholic tracks like the title song, ‘Sukkel voor de liefde’ with the disappointed thought that chicks just want to hang around for the fame, ‘Je kan het niet’ and ‘Droom, denk doen’. But the album also contains undistorted hiphopbangers (Low Key, Blam Blam) and party tracks (Hey DJ, Held, Ga je lekker). And even another ode to the Gabber-genre with thrashing 'Thunder'. With ‘Slapeloze nachten’ the Opposites created an ultra tight, catchy sometimes bubbling and bouncing hip-pop album that deserves international attention if you’re into this genre.

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Obi-Obi-bi (2013) ♪♪♪
Tzimis Panousis (Greece)

The godfather of Greek alternative and anarchistic rock Tzimis Panousis is back after many years with a new album and 13 new compositions. Finally because Greek society is in need for some critical anarchistic poetry. And the almost 60 years old Tzimis still has it in him to taunt the general public. To start off with the original live show around ‘Obi Obi Bi’ presented last February at the Trojka club in Athens. The posters for the show featured a Swastika and the star of David intertwined. During the show a variety parade of dwarfs, jugglers and Muslim dancers appeared on stage while Panousis sat on a cough in the corner feeling mighty smug and speech-singing the new songs. Enough basis for a fine riot. As said thirteen of the songs were selected for this album. The album opens with ‘17 Νοέμβρη Απόγευμα’ (17 November evening), referring to the final day of the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, in which a protest against the Greek Military Junta took place (for more info see ‘1968 in Greece’). The song again led to critique as some people saw it as a proclamation  for a revival of the 17N Marxist terrorist group.

I’m not sure if that is Tzimis his goal. He probably wants to shake up the Greek consciousness into not accepting the massive unemployment and financial cuts that are being made in Greek politics. Hence songs like ‘Fuck the laborer’ (Άντε Γαμήσου Εργατιά) and Ode to an Asshole (Ωδή Στον Μαλάκα). But most of our readers probably don’t understand Greek anyway so the lyrics are wasted on them. What remains is the music. If you expect and hardcore punk score from above description you’ll be surprised. The thing about Panousis is that his musical universe is made of pop/rock mixed with Greek folkmusic. And so the named ode to an asshole is a sweet ballad that sounds like a love song. Of course the regular power riff comes along but even those have that Greek rembetiko feel. Like a bazouki on 220 volts (listen to ‘Μικρή Τερέζα’ for an example). For foreign ears ‘Obi Obi Bi’ is much more accessible then the rioting lyrics suggest. A good pop album over which a weird catweazle with a giant scruffy beard sings/speaks his Greek lyrics.

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Istories Pou Isos Ehoun Simvi (2013) ♪♪♪
Pavlos Pavlidis & B-Movies (Greece)

Pavlos Pavlidis, always together with the B-Movies, returns with his fourth album. 15 new tracks, 15 short stories that might have happened somewhere, sometime, between fantasy and everyday life, between dream and reality. Hence the song title ‘Stories That Might Have Happened’. It is a melancholic album with the humming dark voice of Pavlos as a narrator. The album has primary an acoustic vibe but that thought added with above description might spell ‘boring’ to the reader. Especially if you don’t understand Greek. The first two song might hint to that but gradually the album opens up like a flower with hidden layers suddenly appearing. With surprises like trumpets, violins and synths stacked away at moments you do not expect them. Like on the excellent eerie ‘Κούκλα’. The song begins with some simple soft acoustic strumming on an acoustic guitar. Then some twinkling synths appear in the background. From below you hear a distorted guitar flowing. Midway a bass guitar kicks in and a drum rolls in. Then a sad electric guitar howls from your left to right speaker. Then the song fades like the wind. The special thing about this album is that not only the lyrics tell a story, the whole musical arrangement emphasize the storytelling nature. Like a miniature scores for an imaginary book. And sometimes a track suddenly becomes very pop like the rocking ‘Τόσο κοντά’. Songs like Το αεροπλάνο’, ‘Χωρίς εσένα’ and the six minute ‘Ελλάδα’ all have that Ry Cooder ‘Paris Texas’ feel to them. ‘Istories Pou Isos Ehoun Simvi’ should be listened on your Ipod, encapsulated in your own musical world within the ears of your headphone. Then it’s as mysterious as it is magical.

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Schüchtern ist mein glück (2013) ♪♪♪
Peter Plate (Germany)

A few months back popular duo Rosenstolz quit after more then two decades of German electropop. Peter Plate and AnNa R both went their seperate ways and announced their own solo projects. AnNa R’s Gleis 8 project is still on the mixing desk and so it’s Peter who is the first to come out with ‘Schüchtern ist mein glück’ or Shyness is my happiness. Why AnNa was the singer of the two was always clear on the rare tracks Peter sang a Rosenstolz song. Peter can write great pop songs but is not really gifted with a great voice. Question was how he would mask his limited vocal capacities on an entire album. Fact is he doesn’t but surprisingly the outcome is better then you might expect. The album features four up-tempo songs of which ‘Elektrisch’ is the most catchy. It is also a track that reminds the most to the old Rosenstolz sound. On this track it is actually Toni Kater and Maxine Kazis who fly in to help out on the chorus bit. Toni also sings along on the single ‘Wir beide sind Musik’ and ‘Gefallen in love’.

Over to the mid tempo ballads which make out the bulk of the album. Aware of his limitations it is on these tracks that Peter pulls out the old German tradition of speech singing. Peter steps into this tradition and mostly speaks the words over the melody. Clever. He positions himself somewhere between the legacy of Hildegard Knef (who build a whole career on not being able to sing) and the campy electro of Andreas Dorau. Together with co-writer Ulf Leo Sommer and Daniel Faust he tries to stay close to his own persona. The album title can be seen as a reluctance by Peter to appear in the limelight. In that sense a song like ‘Schöner war’s mit dir’ and ‘Bist du OK?’ can be read as a diary of the period when he suffered from his burn out caused by the pressures of public life. In a quirky sympathetic way Peter’s solo debut is maybe not impressive but also not the failure the skeptics deemed it would be beforehand. It’s like the first steps of a person who has been amputated and has to learn to walk all over again. It’s all still a bit unstable but not an entirely futile attempt.

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Rarytazy I, II & III (2013) ♪♪♪
Maryla Rodowicz (Poland)

A career spanning over 40 decades and a pop icon in Poland. This fact is celebrated by Universal Poland by finally releasing Maryla’s sixties and seventies catalogue to CD. But more interesting are the four cd’s filled with rarities. The whole project spans her first ten years in music. From 1967 to 1978. It is cut in three separate CD’s. The first album handles the period from 1967 to 1970, prior to her debut album, when Maryla was still a young girl frequenting local radio and musical (folk)festivals. Her material consisted of folky bluesballads and lots of covers from Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger translated into Polish. You’ll hear ‘This land is your land’ and ‘The times are a-changin’. Although interesting this is also the album that sounds the most dated.

Next up is the period 70 – 73, spanning her first three albums. For those of you that know these albums you know what to expect. In this period Maryla left the covers for what they were and started writing and singing original Polish folk-pop. But I like to skip to the most impressive one of the three. Because in the period between 1974 and 1978 Maryla was at her most adventurous. With excellent albums like ‘Rok’ and ‘Sing-sing’ and ‘Wsiąść do pociągu’ she enriched her repertoire with rock, funk, soul and whatever genre she would get her talent wrapped around. It was a time when she performed with other leading Polish stars like Marek Grechuta and Ceslaw Niemen. It was a time when Poland went to the World Cup in Munich and Maryla was asked to write the national song ( Futbol, Futbol, Futbol). It was also a time when she started to work closely with Agnieszka Osiecka who would be her writing partner for years to come. And this can be heard on the third Rarytasy.

There was obviously so much interesting material from this period that they had to spread it over two cd’s. The first two cd’s are interesting for the fans and a nice discovery for new listeners. It is this third however that is my personal favorite and is highly recommended of you want to learn more about Polish pop in general and Maryla’s music and her impact on Polish pop specifically. And a Rarytazy IV is already announced looking into 1978 to 1982.

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Kopf an Kopf(2013) ♪♪♪
Silly (Germany)

For many Silly will always be the band around Tamara Danz. With that in mind it would maybe has been wise to change the band name when Anna Loos filled in the front spot three years ago and the band began a second a career. ‘Alles Rot’ was an album on which you could hear the craftsmanship of the original band, but could also feel the burden of the legacy pressing down on the songs. In that sense ‘Kopf an Kopf’ sounds much more natural and much more as an independent product from the old Silly. The new Silly is much more pop and less blues-rock. And much more build around the lighter voice from Anna compared to the dark voice of Tamara. It is also the first album on which Anna is credited as co-writer on half the songs. Gathering from the reviews in Germany this causes for mixed feelings and sometimes comparisons to former pop duo Rosenstolz. But if you listen to the title song you must conclude that the result is not that bad as some want us to believe. Songs like ‘Deine Stimme’, europoprocker ‘Wo fang ich an’, the floating almost psychedelic ‘Am See’ and the lush orchestrated plea for a new and better world ‘Die Welt wird hell sein’, in which we can live as one with nature again, are all convincing new material.

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Kargalar (2013) ♪♪♪♪
Özlem Tekin (Turkey)

Özlem is angry. The ‘enfant terrible’ from the Turkish music scene joined forces with Özhan Deneç (from heavy metal band Murder King) and created a heavy metal inspired protest album. Özlem about the central theme of the album in an interview: “I am touched by deteriorating of the environment and world order. It is sad to see violence and useless killing of women as a common thing in our lives. Violence against women is the central theme of the album and they are in need of 'soldiers'. I invite you to become a soldier to every woman in the songs, I hope we can make a stand against the cowards.” Özlems new album is called ‘Kargalar’ (‘Crows’), which is also the opening track and first single of the abum. The song is an explicit love story about love and hate in a relationship:

‘Kargalar’ (‘Crows’):
“Love is a torture, for the first time banging on mirrors / What if I would kill you today? If I would spit at your body? Feed your eyes to the crows?”

The album contains 10 tracks - 6 new songs, 1 reworking of an older song (‘Tarlalar’ from the 1997 album “Öz’) and 3 remixes. Quantitatively a somewhat meager score considering the three years it took Özlem to make this album (Het previous album dates from 2010). According to statements from her in interviews it took her 6 months to write and record the album and she needs an interval of two to three years at least for the creative process. I guess this is the nature of this unique artist and we just have to accept it. Qualitatively, the songs are really very good. It all sounds very urgent and ‘in your face’. The melodies are still very recognizable as ‘Özlem-style’ as is her singing voice – sometimes angry and raging, sometimes tender and fragile. With the metal-inspired arrangements and riffs the result is somewhat between Within Temptation meets Rammstein.

The past two decades, Özlem has experimented with all sorts of musical styles, blending them perfectly with her own musical vision and style. Electronics (‘Öz’, 1998), pop (‘Laubali’, 1999 and ‘Tek başıma’, 2002) hard rock (’10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1’, 2005) and now metal. She has become a popular and influential artist in Turkey with a very loyal fan base, although her creative output is not always welcomed by Turkish authorities and media (her videoclip for ‘Kargalar’ apparently was banned from Turkish television). This strong and outspoken woman inspires the liberal contingent in Turkey, but will no doubt raise some eyebrows from the more conservative and traditional masses within the country. Fortunately, Özlem holds on to her own direction, she never takes the role of victim, she is always combative, almost in a masculine way, never avoiding controversy. Most of the song titles of ‘Kargalar’ speak for themselves: ‘Asker’ (‘Soldier’), ‘Kiyamet’ (‘Loser’), ‘Sebepsiz savas’ (‘Unjust war’). ‘Asker’ (‘Soldier’): “I'm a soldier, you are a coward / I'm high, you’re low”.

‘Sebepsiz savas’ (‘Unjust war’):
“Several days of rain, I did not quit for a moment / The wind would not stop, screaming out / What leaves remained, what fields of withered flowers / The storks that watched the route, have gone / Scars of unjust war / Your friends bloody ashes / Were not enough to stop the ruthless hands / Tears every day but I did not quit for a moment.”

’Kargalar’ is a fantastic album from a one of Turkeys best artists. If it would have contained two or three extra songs it would have earned 5 star rating…

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Arrovesciata (2013) ♪♪♪½
Giulia Tripoti (Italy)

Giulia is not completely new to the Italian music scene as a performing artist since her ‘GiuliaFXX’ back in 1997. She sang and wrote music for many others but by 2013 it was time to present an album on her own. The result is a impressive mixture of progressive rock, electronica, Italian folk and world music. Giulia delivers all the music while the lyrics come partly from her own pen, partly from her father, poet Fabrizio Tripoti or theatre director and friend Claudio Spadola. And she gets help from not sounding names like renowned bassist  Tony Levin (King Crimson, Alice, Peter Gabriel, etcetra) progrock guitarist  Markus Reuter, Greek-Turkish bouzouki player Orhan Osman and many others. This could go two ways. It would have become a rather top heavy project on which Giulia would be lost in all the VIP’s joining in. Luckily we are treated with the other possibility. An intelligent popalbum with some really interesting and well crafted music.

Giulia takes the Italian pop/cantatore tradition and contaminates that with the rhythms and sounds of the lands around the Mediterranean. We hear African vibes, middle eastern/Arabic song structures and Italian songs from the bars of Napoli. The lengthy stage-experience of Giulia pays off in the refinement we hear in the compositions. Sometimes playful folky like on ‘I ribelli della montagna’ and ‘Aqua controcentre’. Sometimes toying with modern pop as can be heard on tantalizing single ‘Gli elenfantini arrovesciati’, the hypnotic/psychedelic ‘Tango dentro’ and a hiphop feel on ‘La torre di valerio’. The lyrics are almost dreamlike reflections on the world. Emphasized by the lovely and mystical artwork by Lucio Villani in the accompanying booklet. Reason enough to order it online or get a copy through Itunes. Somehow Tripoti’s music places itself somewhere right side of the musical idiom of local counterpart Tereza de Sio, the jazzy polish sounds of Anna Maria Jopek and the experiments of Dutch Nynke Lavermann. Spheric and smart ambient/prog-folkpop. ‘Arrovesciata’ displays an enormous love for music and huge talent. This is yet another example how refined European pop music can get.

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2013 (2013) ♪♪♪
Vive la Fête (Belgium)

Only a few months after their album ‘Produit de Belgique’ Vive La Fête returns with yet another new album. We were very disappointed but their last on which their gimmick became rather predictable and unilaterally. The rudimentary electropop of Vive La Fête flowers on its simplicity. Over the years they tried to style their original demo-like basic style. The effect is like a pizza with to much garnish on it, it goes soppy and is actually not very tasty anymore. Somehow Pynoo and Mommens must have known that too. 2013 is actually a return to the start of the millennium when the duo surprised friend and foe with ‘Attaque surprise’ and ‘Nuit Blanche’. Back to the basics, back to the small attic with the computer on your lap and your guitar within reach, and Pynoo kirring and cooing crazy semi-naughty texts on the microphone. The result is ten simple but effective electropop songs in 30 minutes like ‘Je souhaite’, ‘Ping pong’ and ‘Tics nerveux’. They even go a sort of disco-Cure on ‘Mea culpa’ (as sort of ‘A Forest’ discostyle). The strongest track on the album. ‘2013’ brought back the fun in Vive La Fête, and for this act that’s crucial. Long live the party.

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Mørdmusik (2013) ♪♪½
Der Xer (Germany)

At the start of 2013 German hiphop ’n soul singer/producer Xavier Naidoo ventured on a sideproject exploring the possibilities of dubstep under the name Der Xer. Initially he meant this project to be solely download only. Each individual could be downloaded on Itunes. Due to heavy public demand the nine individual tracks were recently released on CD as well. A nice gesture. But listening to the tracks in one go makes you release these were never meant to be listened like this. The usual hard lead-basslines, distorted and warped vocals, tempo changes and techno/trance influence all follow the dub-step mould. But the usual Naidoo-finesse is mostly lost in the clattering electronic cacophony. Tracks like ‘Bunte steine’, ‘Feindbewegung’ and ‘Die ferne ruft’ don’t miss the effect on your waist and ‘bopping of da head’, like a bolt of shear brutal energy being fired at you from your speakers. And the best track is safed for last. ‘Einsam mit euch’ smashes in your face, it sweeps you up and throws you against the floor. While Naidoo bites in your ear that you’re no fun and that being with you is so damn lonely. With der Xer Naidoo explores not only his musical boundaries but also shows his ugly side singing with hate, pain and guilt. But nine tracks is quite a tiresome routine. You long for some kicking back, for some detail, for some sweetness. Unfortunately there is no rest for the wicked on this album listening to the collective tracks in one doses. It is dance or die, Murder music indeed.

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