Album World Tour: Germany

A Journey to Listen to an Album from Every Single Country

4/198

Album: Computer World

Artist: Kraftwerk

Year: 1981

Length: 34:25

Genre: Electronic / Synth-Pop / Electro

I am only four countries in and once again I’ve decided to do a big country when it came to music. Just like Japan and Brazil, Germany was probably, debateably, one of the leading forces for music innovation and influence. Of course, it wasn’t the only country to do so, but there’s definitely a strong case to be made for what Germany had to offer musically to the world and the impact it had left. Let’s just say there was no lack of choice when trying to pick a band to listen to, let alone an album. That’s just a testament to Germany’s music that I could probably do a whole series purely on German bands and it would last me longer than I had ever thought.

Again, we find ourselves a country rich in musical genres, with a nice variety of selections that are also considered incredibly German. There was schlager music, which was a more traditional music of Germany, Kraut-rock (with bands like Faust and Can), Kosmische Musik (with bands like Neu and Kluster), and of course, as a branch of Kosmische Musik, their electronic music that was heavily influenced by the likes of bands like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. Every single one of these bands had albums I had considered to talk about, but it only made sense to me to choose what is possibly my favourite band of the bunch, my favourite album of theirs and the first band from Germany I ever got into: the unbelievably wonderful and innovative electronic robots, Kraftwerk.

Kraftwerk have often been called the grandfathers of electronic music for a good reason. They may not have been the first to use synthesizers, contemporaries Tangerine Dream were making music at the same time and doing cool soundscapes with them, and electronic music was starting to take form as early as the 1960s with albums like Wendy Carlos’ “Switched On Bach” in 1968. No, they weren’t the first, but they were definitely the most innovative, creating their music from instruments they made themselves, isolating themselves into their own recording studio (called Kling Klang studio, a sound that fits their music appropriately) and developed the aesthetic of robots and machinery as the main sound of electronic music. Before them, synthesizers were used for experimentation, but Kraftwerk took the mechanical sounds and used them to create pieces of machinery and music bout said machinery with albums about driving a car, train tracks and travels, exploring humans as robots living under neon lights and in metropolis’ as the Man Machine, and finally a world controlled by computers. Sounds you can hear through modern electronic and dance music, sampled in countless Hip Hop albums and continuing to appear in current musical trends, even if you don’t realise it.

Before going on, I think it’s important to mention how Germany truly developed this sound. Before Kraut-Rock was a thing, the musical landscape in the country was heavy with Schlager and American influenced bands, something that the youth at the time wasn’t enjoying. They were not happy with the condition of Germany, disappointed with their history coming out of the world war and just not enjoying the extremely conservative stylings of Schlager music and annoyed at how American influences were taking over, they wanted to create their own music, their own sound that they can truly call as their own. These young musicians started to experiment with their instruments, creating new sounds and music that was somewhat challenging yet interesting. Bands like Can and Faust, the latter writing a song called Kraut-Rock (possibly coining the term right there), would hit the scene with drone-like songs and hypnotic, mesmerising tunes that could run as long as ten minutes. Kraftwerk was also one of these bands, starting off extremely experimental in nature (one of the main guys was playing the flute in the early days) and it wouldn’t be until their fourth album that they would discover their true sound.

Discovering synthesizers, they realised they really could do anything they wanted musically and started to develop their robotic and mechanical sound that they would become famously known for. It would be an aesthetic so synonymous with the band, that they would even do live shows with robotic mannequins sculpted in their likeness in their place on stage rather than them playing. Their almost motionless, dead pan, machine-like style of playing would go on to influence a large amount of New Wave and Post-Punk bands who would adapt a lot of those movements to their own aesthetics. Any one of their albums would have been worth talking about, but Computer World is the one I constantly find myself listening to over and over again and out of all of them, still completely blows me away at how ahead of the times they were not only musically, but predicting the modern world that seemed so damn futuristic in 1981.

Take into account that Computers in 1981 were incredibly primitive and not a household item like it is today. Somehow, out of all their albums, this one seems not only prophetic but incredibly, even more relevant today than when it was released. We truly do live in a Computer World today, where we are constantly connected to the internet, with a thousand devices surrounding us at all times that we constantly use. It’s at the point that we wouldn’t even be able to survive without all the technology we have. I especially love the song Pocket Calculator that seemed so innocent and playful at the time, about enjoying your little pocket calculator that you operate yourself and push the buttons and it plays little melodies. From a modern lens, there’s no way to see this as anything than an ode to our love and obsession to our Iphones. I’m guessing this all factors in as to why the album resonates with me more and more as the years go by.

Kraftwerk’s influence on electronic music and how ahead of their time they were cannot be understated. They didn’t put Germany on the map when it came to music, but they definitely cemented the country’s name in music history as being a powerhouse of music. With everything that country has been through, it’s nice to see they at least get this one big positive.

Camila’s Thoughts: “This makes me remember all the reasons why I broke up with my ex.”

How cryptic Camila…

-Bosco

Updated Country List

Album World Tour: India

A Journey to Listen to an Album from Every Single Country

3/198

Album: The Sounds of India

Artist: Ravi Shankar

Year: 1957

Length: 53:40

Genre: Hindustani Classical Music

Originally I was going to talk about a different album from India. I was so determined to write about it and had listened to it with glee and excitement. See, Ravi Shankar felt like an obvious choice, but his nephew Ananda Shankar was right there and was doing something very interesting with his album, “Ananda Shankar” from 1970. A master of the sitar himself, he took classical Indian music and, after staying in San Francisco for some time, decided to combine it with modern rock music. What we get is this wonderful fusion of western rock sensibilities and classical Indian music with covers of Jumping Jack Flash and Light My Fire, played primarily with the sitar, sitting next to Raga compositions. What a great way to fuse the classic with the modern.

One problem, I only just found out about five minutes ago from writing this… despite Ananda Shankar being an Indian musician, that particular album was actually released in the US on an American label… oops. One could say that technically it would still be considered an Indian album seeing as Ananda Shankar is a big Indian artist, but this seems to be considered an American album, and I want to keep to the rules of an album from the country I am doing. So, the obvious choice it is with his uncle, the true master of the sitar, the sitar god himself, Ravi Shankar.

I had thankfully just listened to this album recently to wind down before bed one night, so it is still fresh in my mind. Before I do though, I think it is important to mention just how important Ravi Shankar was to Indian Music in the 50s and 60s. He was basically the biggest sitar player in the world and the most internationally famous Indian musician, practically single-handedly bringing classical Indian music to the western world, exposing them to their compositions and sounds. I don’t know how many other Indian musicians at the time managed to get western audiences as fans, but I feel even the average music listener had at least heard of Ravi Shankar in some capacity. He would also be the first Indian to compose music for non-indian movies and would even perform at the famous Woodstock Festival in 1969. Despite the sitar becoming synonymous with hippie culture in the 60s, he was also very outspoken against it and their heavy drug use because he felt that music was their connection to god and didn’t like the association to their music with such a bad thing (the bad thing being the drugs). Now you see what I mean by he was the obvious choice.

You can tell how passionate he was about his music and this album is good proof of that. The name “The Sounds of India” wasn’t just a literal album name but was meant to be seen as an educational title for western audiences listening to it. At the beginning of each performance, before he plays any music, Ravi Shankar describes the different attributes and sounds of the music he is about to play with short examples. This is as much a teaching of Classical Hindustani Music as it is an example of the great music Ravi Shankar made. He was the greatest ambassador for Classical Hindustani Music and merged his love for playing it with his love for teaching western audiences about it onto this one album. This is equally and excellent historical artefact to preserve the sounds of Indian music for modern audiences and also just a solid album of great music. I cannot understate the musical skills Ravi Shankar presents here on the sitar, it is truly transcendent.

One form of music he uses here is a Raga, which is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian music and… honestly, I could attempt to explain all this but Ravi Shankar explains it better than I ever could on the album. Why not let the master share his knowledge?

Camila’s thoughts: “Wow, George Harrison really westernized the sitar when he added it to music”

-Bosco

Updated Country List

Album World Tour: Japan

A Journey to Listen to an Album from Every Single Country

2/198

Album: In A Model Room

Artist: P-Model

Year: 1979

Length: 33:28

Genre: New Wave / Synth Pop

I wonder if I’m doing myself a disservice by starting this World Tour by going through all the, what I call, easy countries. Japan, like Brazil, is also a big exporter of media and I was thinking, if I go through all these countries really quickly, I’ll basically be left with all the random small countries that no one has ever heard of left with no big countries in between. Maybe I should pace myself? Ahhh, it’s only the second country, I’ll do what I want!

Japan is a great country when it comes to media as a whole, I don’t think anyone can deny the impact Japan has had on western culture. We see it everywhere, from anime to conventions to manga to food and clothing with those kimono wearing Japanese obsessed people. You don’t have to look very far to find someone gushing about Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki and how breath taking his visual style is. Mangas get their own section in book stores and libraries. Even as a child, we were surrounded by Pokemon everywhere, a force so strong that 25 years later, it’s still grabbing the attention of the younger generation. Japan has had such an impact on North America that there’s a large group of weird obsessed white people who desperately want to become Japanese (I’ve known quite a few white women who would ONLY date Japanese men… yeah).

And even within their own country, they have such a unique style to their media that when you think of Japanese media, you can already picture exactly what it is. Ever seen a Japanese gameshow? I’m sure your mind is already conjuring up images of pure chaos and reckless abandon as contestants do the most ridiculous things in ridiculous costumes for laughs. Japanese game show concepts have attempted to come to North America but it just never worked.

Out of all the media, Music has always been an interesting one. Of course, Japan has it’s classical sounds that I’m sure everyone can hear in their minds. The 80s in Western Culture were ripe with Japanese influences, with most New Wave bands trying to capture the sounds of East Asia, Turning Japanese by The Vapors is an obvious one, heck the band Japan was clearly obsessed with the country to the point the David Sylvan looked like he was trying to turn into a Japanese pop icon himself. The band Sparks had two geishas on the cover of their album Kimono My House (that title too!) and the Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra would become one of the most sampled bands in American Hip Hop music. Japan is everywhere it seems, no matter where you look.

Picking an album was tough because there’s a lot of Japanese bands I love. Yellow Magic Orchestra felt like an obvious one, not only for their impact on Hip Hop with how sampled they were but their influences on electronic and video game music as well! (The Plastics were also in consideration). But P-Model’s In a Model Room ended up winning it over for the main reason that I just love this album and it had suddenly appeared on Spotify for the first time and I got so excited that I listened to it multiple times. I know there’s going to be some major bias sometimes when it comes to picking albums, but let me remind you this is about listening to an album from every country and not an album that’s emblematic of that country. Any genre and style is up for grabs!

That being said, P-Model still had an important place in Japanese history. It was one of the biggest rock bands to come out of the country and funnily enough, with how I talked about Japan’s influences on North America, the band was heavily influenced b the New Wave movement starting in North America. Susumu Hirosawa, guitarist and vocalist (and main songwriter), would do away with the prog metal band he was in and adopt the New Wave stylings for his band. This made the music frenetic, high energy, with staccato guitar playing, synthesizers that bleeped and blopped and vocals that were both aggressively in your face but also a lot of fun. This is the kind of album that has all the ingredients for the kind of music I love. On top of it all, lyrically there was a lot of socio-political commentary about the conditions of society in Japan at the time, that just adds the extra cherry on top of this delicious sundae. With a mix of Post-Punk blaring tunes (Art Mania, Health Angel), some slower pop (Kameari Pop, Sophisticated) and experimental synth songs that would be a pre-cursor to their later work (Art Blind). I can see this not being for everyone but if you’re into bands like Devo, Talking Heads, The B-52’s and The Suburban Lawns, then this band is for you!

Because she helped out with my Brazil post, I figured it’d be fun to see what my friend Camila thought of this album. This is what she said:

“This album just feels like a big machine.”

Surprisingly accurate reaction.

-Bosco

Updated Country List

Mixtape Monday: Week of September 25th

Weekly Mixtapes Based Off the Albums I Listened to in the Previous Week!

This week was quite the week when it came to listening to music. At around Wednesday I had already hit about 25 albums and thought to myself I should slow down because then that will mean I will have way more albums to talk about then necessary. Is that a bad thing? No, but do you want to have a handful of blurbs that just go “well here’s another, there, listen!’? I don’t think so.

This was also definitely a heavily ME week as I listened to a bunch of old favourites and decided to just listen to albums I love. Sometimes you get tired of trying to discover new things and just want to listen to familiar favourites that get you up and moving. Is there a problem with that? No, but get ready to just have a playlist filled with my own personal taste rather than a little variety.

Playlist:

1. The Waitresses – Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?
   This week felt so long that I completely forgot I even listened to this album this week. Being a fan of this style of New Wave type music, I wondered why I hadn’t listened to this album in years despite it having everything I love in music: Crunchy guitars, squealing sax and vocals that may or may not be out of tune. Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? Well if I listened to this album tomorrow then that would be a resounding yes on my part.
2. Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom
   How can I call myself a fan of Elvis Costello when I barely know his discography outside of his three first albums? When people ask me to list my favourite bands and artists (which honestly doesn’t happen that often) I sometimes list Elvis Costello has being one of them. However, I had this moment, thinking about it, where I went… but his catalogue of music is so big and I barely know any of it. I’ve heard this album before but had zero memory of it. So here we are. One day I might go through his entire discography, but that day is not today.
3. Wall of Voodoo – Dark Continent
   I genuinely believe Wall of Voodoo doesn’t get the attention they deserve. They have such a unique sound which is helped by the distinctive singing voice of Stan Ridgway, which I love to emulate any chance I get, plus their blend of New Wave, Punk and Spaghetti Western stylings to make their music. Dark Continent seems to be a hard album to find a physical copy of on vinyl, but I swear it will enter my collection one day. ONE DAY!
4. REM – Murmur
   REM is an interesting band to me because I never quite know where I stand with them (and no that wasn’t a clever reference to their song Stand). I never quite know how I feel about them. At one moment I think they’re a brilliant band with great music and at another moment I feel absolutely nothing for their music. This album did not help as I found myself jumping back and forth between these emotions throughout, just leaving me in a confused mess of emotional turmoil. Will I ever find an answer? Probably not. My feelings for REM will forever remain ambivalent.
5. Soccer Mommy – Sometimes, Forever
   I just discovered Soccer Mommy this year and found myself really enjoying her music. I think her name is what intrigued me at first because what kind of music would an artist named Soccer Mommy make? Let’s just say her name has no relevance to her style at all. I had listened to two of her three albums and went, well why don’t I just listen to the other one to complete her discography? I did. I liked. Now you like too.
6. Los Microwaves – Life After Breakfast
   I never heard of this band before, but they popped up into my recommends list and I was incredibly intrigued. I’m happy I decided to take the risk of listening to something I had zero knowledge of because it was exactly the kind of music you would expect me to like. I even showed it to Cristina and she agreed immediately that it was. There’s just a particular style of music that is very Bosco and everyone who knows me seems to be able to identify that really easily. At one point they ask the question Is There Life After Breakfast? And I am happy that the album title answers it so succinctly. It kind of reminded me of the band Slow Children as I was listening to it, which, speaking of which…
7. Slow Children – Mad About Town
   How could I not after the last album reminded me so heavily of them? Their first album is a favourite and I had almost listened to that when I realized they had a second album I had never heard before. GASP! OH MY! Funnily enough, both their albums seems to suffer from the case of ever changing song lists. The song listing of the album I found doesn’t match the original listing and it doesn’t seem to exist anywhere which makes me question what version of the album I listened to??? It’s not the first time I have experienced this with albums and it just makes me question why they can’t just let albums exist in their original formatting. Oh well.
8. The Residents – The Commercial Album
   I guess that itch I had for The Residents last week was not sufficiently scratched because here I was again seeking out anti-music. Don’t let the album title fool you because this is not Commercial music in any way shape or form and something I loved about it was how a vast majority of the songs were basically all 1:07 long. One of the songs on here would even go on to influence one of my favourite songs by Cardiacs: RES, which basically did a sped up version of the riff from The Act of Being Polite. Is this foreshadowing for an album coming up later in the list? Maybe…
9. They Might Be Giants – The Spine
   They Might Be Giants is another one of those bands that I’m doing a full discography listen. I hadn’t visited the discography in awhile and this was next in line. So I listened to it. I enjoyed it. I like when They Might Be Giants do more adult style songs especially since they have now become pretty synonymous with kid’s music. Spindly Spoondly Spine.
10. The Aquabats – Kooky Spooky… In Stereo
    I unashamedly love The Aquabats. I saw them live in concert and it was an absolute blast, still remains a favourite concert going experience of mine. They’re a ton of fun and it’s one of those bands you just have to embrace the silliness. It’s somehow music for kids but for adults who are in on the joke, if that makes sense. Anyway, with October right around the corner, I wanted an early start to spooooooky season and music and this was a great place to start.
11. Devo – Oh No! It’s Devo!
    This is my favourite band. This is my favourite album. I can’t count how many times I’ve listened to this album and how much I listen to this album in general. The fact this album hasn’t popped up onto these playlists yet is astounding, but that’s because I’m really putting in an effort to make sure these playlists aren’t just filled with my favourites and have a variety of music. I even listen to this album on shuffle so it’s like I haven’t officially listened to it. But at some point, every song on this album will have appeared on these playlists, I guarantee it.
12. Cardiacs – The Seaside
    This is my third favourite band. This is my sixth favourite album. Remember a few blurbs ago when I mentioned how The residents influenced this band for one of their songs? That song is on this album. This is the one. Cardiacs are kind of like Oingo Boingo on crack but are so much more than that. Cardiacs are like if Frank Zappa was the lead man of Oingo Boingo, but they’re much more than that. Cardiacs are like if a bunch of clowns escaped the insane asylum and wrote music, but they’re much more than that. It’s kind of criminal how unheard of they are.
13. Sparks – Whomp That Sucker
    This is my second favourite band. This is my 35th favourite album. Sparks have often been called your favourite band’s favourite band and I feel that couldn’t be more accurate, with their documentary The Sparks Brothers basically proving that to be true. I saw them in concert about two months ago and it was the single greatest concert experience i have ever had. Nothing will ever beat it. Ever.
14. Oingo Boingo – Nothing To Fear
    This is my # favourite band. This is my 4th favourite album. A lot of people don’t seem to know that Danny Elfman had a band before he went on to make the music for every Tim Burton film. A sound you can already hear on these albums, but his blend of Punk, Ska and African percussion made for a unique sound. I even own the rare copy of this album on vinyl and is currently one of my most prized possessions (and only found it for 5 dollars!) Talk about sad on my part.
15. Dog Police – Dog Police
    I unironically love novelty music and this is probably the height of novelty music of the 80s. The music on here is ridiculously silly and not to be taken seriously whatsoever, but goddammit it is so much fun. The amount of times my friends and I would quote the title song was off the charts and there’s no way that I would never respond with dog barks if someone yelled DOG POLICE! at me. ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF!
16. Passengers – Original Soundtracks 1
    I listened to this album because it was suggested to me by my friend, Camila. She started her recommendation off with asking me “Do you like U2?”. The answer is no, I don’t, as a matter of fact, I hate them with an undying passion. She followed that up with telling me she also hates U2 and hates Bono, but I should check this album out. I was skeptical because anything involving U2 and Bono can’t be something I’d enjoy. So I listened to it despite my reservations. Somehow Bono managed to make Bono tolerable for a short period of time.
17. P-Model – In A Model Room
    This is my 25th favourite album. For the longest time the only way I could listen to it was on Youtube where it was constantly interrupted by ads. I’ve tried to find a physical copy of it on vinyl but that requires me importing it from Japan, which gets expensive. But recently, it popped up on Spotify, which got me so excited I had to listen to it non-stop. When you’ve been so deprived from listening to a favourite album for so long you basically explode when it’s finally easily accessible.
18. Men Without Hats – Pop Goes The World
    I originally wanted to listen to their debut which is my 44th favourite album, but decided on this concept album they released that was a hit in Canada and Canada alone, at least the title track was. Straight from my hometown of Montreal there is a sense of pride I have when it comes to Men Without Hats (A little misplaced when Leonard Cohen is literally right there). What does it say about me that out of all the great talent to come out of Montreal, THIS is the group I latch onto? I don’t know. Who cares?
19. Plastics – Welcome Plastics
    A Japanese band playing New Wave music in English, a language they can barely speak? What’s not to love! They were loved by Devo and David Byrne who tried to help them get some American distribution. Regardless, with their frenetic guitars, grooving bass and icy synths, it’s just a ton of fun. Hey, I want to be a plastic!
20. Crowded House – Woodface
    The playlist needed more variety and so I listened to this to change it up a bit so it wasn’t all New Wave synth heavy absurdities. I listened to it just for you! (and me because I love this album!)
21. Sisters of Mercy – Floodland
    I once read a funny thing that said that every time a goth dies their voice is added to the choir singing the opening of This Corrosion. I like to believe that is true.
22. Life Without Buildings – Any Other City
    During the pandemic I joined some monthly album club that sent me three records every month. I received a ton of new music I had never heard of before and also immediately forgot about after listening to it once. While going through my record collection recently in preparation for an improv show I’m producing, it made me want to relisten to all these albums. This was the first I revisited because it was the one that left the biggest impression on me. The sound reminded me heavily of The Slits and The raincoats (whose debut albums sit at 16 and 17 on my favourite albums). It was great to find another band that had that sound and it will always please me. I really am a simple man with simple needs sometimes.
23. Midnight Garden – Blue Tomorrows
    This was the second album I revisited from those monthly album club albums I received. It was really the album cover that wanted me to revisit it because I remembered nothing from this album. It was kind of nice. I find the name of the band and album to be aptly named because the music here felt like melancholic synth music you would hear at midnight while sitting in your garden. Somehow perfectly creating that aesthetic.
24. Husbands – After The Gold Rush Party
    This was the third album I revisited.
25. Air – Moon Safari
    I needed a break and wanted something chill nd cool. So who better than Air for that exact type of atmosphere. Moon Safari is such a wonderfully chill album and as I sat at my workstation just losing my mind, this album helped to ground me and relax me and get me through the rest of the work I had to complete. Any album that has that effect on me, is a good one in my books.
26. OMNI – Multi-Task
    This is the first album I received from the monthly album club and it was a good choice on their part because it immediately made me trust their choices of what they would send me. Some months were not as good as others, but this single initial moment kept me going with the club until I had to cancel my subscription due to financial reasons. With every month I was hoping to get that feeling I got with this first gift, and sometimes i did and sometimes i didn’t, but the chase for that high kept me going.
27. Joni Mitchell – Hejira
    I don’t want to say too much about this one because I listened to it as part of my 1001 albums series, which means a post about it will be coming soon. So I’ll save my thoughts on it for that. I’d also say enjoy the song on the playlist, but you can’t because Joni Mitchell removed all her music from Spotify so…. figure it out for yourself.

-Bosco