Topic: Sneak preview of "Deutsche Kassettentäter", by Felix Kubin
Sneak preview of "Deutsche Kassettentäter. The rise of the German homerecording tape scene, part #1", by Felix Kubin
In the late 1970s, the German music scene was shaken up by a virtual explosion of new bands that sounded radically different to anything that had come before. They played music that was experimental, playful, absurd, minimalist and astute, with lyrics that were sung – or more commonly screamed – exclusively in German. Appalled rather than enthralled by this new expressionism, the record industry initially showed no interest in these groups, so new platforms had to be set up in order to spread the virus. Small companies like ZickZack and Ata Tak started to release records by these young artists who were springing up like mushrooms. The independent record label was born.
The spirit of this new movement – later branded Neue Deutsche Welle – emerged from a collision between the self-confident attitude of punk, the legacy of Germany's electronic avant-garde and a belief in the imminence of an atomic apocalypse. In his book "Als die Welt noch unterging" (When the world was still going to end), Frank Apunkt Schneider describes this despair as a joyful dance on the edge of the volcano, which is what underlies the unusual music that you will hear in this programme.
Very soon available as a podcast and as an MP3
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