MetaFilter posts tagged with german

Country Music: not just for Americans!

jedicus — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:45:47 -0800

German country music. You may remember Texas Lightning from Eurovision 2006, but the rabbit hole goes much deeper than that. Oh yes. (NB: If you don't like American country music, that's fine, just skip down to the bottom quarter or so of the post. Trust me.) American country music has been known in Germany since the 1920s and the days of The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. One of the first German country songs is perhaps Belgian singer Bobbejaan's country-inflected version of A Pub with no Beer, Ich steh an der Bar und ich habe kein Geld, written by Peter Kreuder. The song hit the German charts in 1960 and stayed for 30 weeks. But there were original acts, too, like Bruce Low with the 1957 hit Es hängt ein Pferdehalfter an der Wand (Bonus: Lyrics and this version by the Kilima Hawaiians, a group from Holland). Lest there be any doubt that this is bona fide country, it's a song about a cowboy who is sad because the halter, saddle, and bridle on the wall remind him of his deceased best friend, his horse. In the 1970s there were artists like Gunter Gabriel, Tom Astor, and Truck Stop. From Gunter Gabriel, who's still around and making music)

Deutschland ist... - Country cred: slightly hokey patriotism
Hey Boss, ich brauch mehr Geld - A working man's anthem
Komm unter meine Decke (Lyrics) - A romantic appeal to the virtues of the simple life

From Tom Astor, who worked with Johnny Cash, John Denver, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, and others:

Mein Freund Charlie - A sad ode to his best friend and semi-truck driving partner Charlie, who died on the job.
Ring of Fire, with Johnny Cash

Truck Stop:

Take it easy, altes Haus - Worth checking out for the 70s-tastic costumes alone
Ich möcht' so gern Dave Dudley hör'n - Probably their biggest hit

Traditional country continues into the modern era with bands like Slow Horses and Markus Rill, who sing in English. Slow Horses:

Markus Rill:

The Things that Count
Straighter Road
Sarah Stein - A uniquely German country song: The wistful life story of a Jewish woman who left Vienna in the 1930s as a young girl to grow up in America

After that, things start to get a little weird, with bands that often do country renditions of decidedly non-country songs. Previously mentioned Texas Lightning, here with one of the odder covers of Like a Virgin ever recorded as well as the more mainstream Man of Constant Sorrow. It should be mentioned that the lead singer of Texas Lightning is actually Australian, although the rest of the band is German. The BossHoss brings their unique country aesthetic to some unusual covers:

Hey Ya
It's Getting Hot in Here - Not to be missed!

Lastly, we get to alternative German country, where the train starts to leave the rails a bit. The Waltons, an English-singing cowpunk band from Berlin, produce a surprisingly listenable psychobilly as well as ironic renditions of country classics. Also recommended, a bit of psychobilly squaredancing. The inspiration for this post came from the German Wikipedia page on country music in the German-speaking world. As an added feature for German learners, much of the singing in these songs is slow and clearly enunciated, so it should be easy to follow. Extra Bonus: German country music radio personality and author Walter Fuchs playing the blues at his 74th birthday party.

Quickie Ring

jim in austin — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:45:43 -0800

If you're in a hurry or just don't care much for opera, here's Richard Wagner's "Ring der Nibelungen" in 45 seconds (SYTL). Also a good chance to brush up on your German.

Waste Pictures

kenko — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:25:36 -0800

Sites matching images to pregiven text have been done before, but the texts are seldom as good as those used at zweiterblick's sudelbild: the pictures are matched to (randomly selected?) aphorisms of scientist and all-around Enlightened fellow GC Lichtenberg (about whom more). The relation is sometimes fairly literal, sometimes fairly opaque, but it's worth it for the idiosyncratic selection of aphorisms in any case.

Naked People

swift — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:33:21 -0800

Naked People.

Beyond Real and Fake

Joe Beese — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:09:38 -0800

I both loved and resented that wealth of warmth which Elisabeth brought to me in those unexpected hours of the night. I was usually in the midst of a sound sleep when she got into my bed, and thrilling as I found the ministrations of her fat little fingers, it also meant my being kept awake for hours and hours. Besides, though in my conscious nature I knew nothing about what was going on, I must have had a feeling that my sister was bringing to my life as accomplished facts sensations whose real value to a boy was in their being discovered as part of the experience of growing up. She was presenting me with triumphs I should by right attain only by my own efforts in a much more restricted world… My Sister and I was a publication - and possibly, commissioned forgery - of Samuel Roth. He is not included in lists of notable American Jews. But our freedom of expression owes him a considerable debt.

Post WWI inflation currency

wallstreet1929 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:39:58 -0800

As the national debt is monetized we may revive that phrase "you needed a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread." Notgeld, German for "Emergency Money" or "necessity money." 896 beautiful examples.

Thomas Pynchon is 71 years old.

Joe Beese — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:43:42 -0800

"To make off with hubby's fortune, yea, I think I heard of that happenin' once or twice around L.A. And… you want me to do what exactly?" He found the paper bag he'd brought his supper home in and got busy pretending to scribble notes on it, because straight-chick uniform, makeup supposed to look like no makeup or whatever, here came that old well-known hard-on Shasta was always good for sooner or later. Does it ever end, he wondered. Of course it does. It did. Thomas Pynchon's next novel, the 416-page Inherent Vice, is described by Penguin Press as "part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon — private eye Doc Sportello comes, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era as free love slips away and paranoia creeps in with the L.A. fog." While we wait for its August 4 publication, we can read an essay on the dystopian musical he co-wrote at Cornell or watch a clip of that movie they made of Gravity's Rainbow. related posts here and here

___ Days Without an Accident

Smart Dalek — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:46:53 -0800

Hochbetrieb [Nuts & Bolts] is a 2003 short from Germany that utilizes live actors and computer-generated effects in tribute to influences ranging from silent comedies to Charles Ebbetts' images of construction crews atop the GE Building, along with a cat & mouse cartoon from MGM guest-starring a baby and a Warner Brothers piece about an amphibian.

Florian quits werk.

grounded — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:26:52 -0800

Florian Schneider quits Kraftwerk. Posted here on 21 November but just making the news rounds now. Andy Gill remembers the Lennon and McCartney of Electropop. 39 years ago, it started like this.

An die freude!

Wolfdog — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:56:41 -0800

Ten winners in the Goethe Institute's Schiller rap contest.

Bambi meets Thumper IRL

not_on_display — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:47:51 -0800

An orphaned deer and a wild rabbit quickly become best friends. [original page, auf Deutsch] Tanja Askani ("The Woman Who Lives with Wolves") has plenty of other wonderful photographs and paintings of animals -- wi ld, domesticated, and both toge ther.

One Minute Languages

sveskemus — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:34:32 -0800

At One Minute Languages you can learn greetings, talking about names, counting, and more in Catalan, Danish, French, German, Irish, Japanese, Luxembourgish, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, and Russian.

Frauenzimmer

chillmost — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:55:34 -0800

Brothels in Germany (pics): Photographer Patric Fouad's book, Frauenzimmer, takes a look at the insides of German brothels. (mostly SFW unless you are offended by the occasional sex toy hanging on the wall and blurry porn in the background)

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Magnified

thomas j wise — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:12:51 -0800

Cranach Magnified, courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum, enables users to compare and analyze the "surprisingly minute features" of several paintings by the great Lucas Cranach the Elder. For much more Cranach, visit the extensive listing at Artcyclopedia, which includes, among other things, the woodcuts at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; several paintings at the Kunsthistorisches Museum; and more paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

Nazigarten

orthogonality — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:38:04 -0800

~~Nazi~~ German Bunker in my Garden: "[...] the previous owner told us that there was a tunnel built by the germans during WW2. He said it was big enough to drive into, [...] So I traced some WW2 reconnaisance photos of the property, which appeared to show the entrance road to my bunker. [...] And that's where the quest began....." (Original thread here, first link is to condensed but more readable blog.)

Too pissed to drive?

maudlin — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:55:11 -0800

Too pissed to drive? ("An interactive urinary experience - not to be mistaken with the Wii.") Those naughty but practical Germans have come up with a way to discourage men from driving drunk using a video game embedded in a urinal. I don't know how successful it's been in the real world, but it did win a silver Clio award for Innovative Use of Technology. If you don't plan to be in a Frankfurt bar any time soon, or if you lack the necessary equipment to play, you can try the wee-free simulation here.

The stuff of nightmares ...

bwg — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:10:07 -0800

The video of German electrofunkmeister Michael Fakesch's On the Floor (via Daily Motion) might make getting to sleep difficult. But it's awesome, and the guy sounds like a younger, angrier Prince. And when he's not screaming like a banshee, he sounds pretty good (YouTube). I've never heard of him before now, but evidently he's been around quite awhile.

Kommen Sie bitte, und listen to Kraftwerk

Frasermoo — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:28:09 -0800

Kraftwerk have been around for nigh on forty years. They take a bit of getting used to if you are new to them, but the rewards are great. Even if you are a cynic. Kraftwerk defined a German push in post-war identity and subsequently laid foundations for the 4 to the floor that alot of us love as well as ambient, trance and chill-out... so Kommen Sie bitte, und listen to Kraftwerk.

Would you like to play a game?

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:29:28 -0800

Fun and games with mathematics and mathematical puzzles (e.g. heart basket, Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Magic, hypercubes, and more) in both English and (with yet more content in) German.

East German (DDR) RC cars

riffola — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:00:45 -0800

DDR-Modell Autos.info meticulously catalogs radio controlled and flywheel powered cars made by East German (DDR) toy makers such as Presu, Elmes, MSW, Anker, Piko, Gevo, Plasticart and Sommermeyer.

Incompatibility between French bread and German Nutella

Wolfdog — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 07:37:46 -0800

Are you a Nutella connoisseur? Can you tell the difference between French and German Nutella? An informative 4 minute lesson on YouTube.

In a white room

klangklangston — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:55:20 -0800

Djs in ihren Wohnzimmern: Erst. Zweitens. von

Mystery at Shingle Street

rongorongo — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:10:05 -0800

Shingle Street is a tiny, picturesque hamlet on the coast of Suffolk harbouring a big WW2 mystery: the best developed rumour is of an attempt by the Germans to invade Britain at this spot which was anticipated and intercepted by pumping fuel onto the sea surface and setting fire to it. UK files on the subject are closed, again mysteriously, until 2021. Ronald Ashford, who claims to have been an eye witness, has a lot more information. You can stay.

Can you hear me now?

Mitheral — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:22:02 -0800

LA6NCA's WW2 German Radio Collection Pictures and a little history on many WW2 German radios including a cute as a button spy radio and the Lichtsprechgerät 80, an incoherent light audio transceiver. Also featured are a few photo essays of the equipment in use (Enigma, Luftwaffe Signals unit redeploying). [dorian

In a future time, children will work together to build a giant...

phrontist — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 09:44:52 -0800

Two industrial robots spin records.