I've always scorned Heavy Metal. This goes back to my punk days, when metalheads were the other alternative people. The ones with indifferent hygeine and bright futures as stockboys at the Piggly Wiggly. This basic distaste for the music has stayed with me, even while my spiked leather jacket and Black Flag CDs are long lost to a thrift store somewhere in California (my Doc Martens are still with me.) But I have to admit, one metal band has achieved an ugly sort of genius. Does anyone listen to Rammstein back in the States?
I can only say that Metal, that ugliest of musics, and German, the most unprepossessing of languages, were made for each other. There is something about the word nein being shouted over growling guitars that just isn't possible to capture in English.
With its ugly gutterality, German is also perfect for hip-hop (though Turkish is better.) Tic Tac Toe, though badly named, is a likable female hip-hop group. Check out the MP3s.
Posted by Discoshaman at mars 19, 2004 01:42 AM | TrackBack
Remind me to bring you some Polish hip-hop next time I come...or look around for Wzgorze ja pa 3, Peja, Slums Attack (sp? may be "Atak") or Kaliber 44.
Now if you could just get TulipGirl to change her name to TulipGrrrrrrl...
Posted by: The Liberal Media at mars 19, 2004 10:48 AMYes, Rammstein does have a small but persistent following here in the states. Bad taste never dies!
I must disagree with you about the metal crowd... many of the most intelligent people I know are metal heads... including one guy who swears megadeath helps him study for organic chemistry exams.
Posted by: Ryan at mars 19, 2004 06:35 PMLib-
Sweet! Have you heard Diskoteka Avariya, btw? some of their latest stuff is unpleasant, but their old tracks were just light,fun hip-hop. I especially liked Pei Pivo! I'll Google those Polish groups manana. Have you heard Undervood, btw? Russian folk rock. They had that hit last year, Gagarin, Ya Vas Lubila. . .
Ryan-
You're talking about ten years later though, a time when the lines between Metal and Punk have blurred. There just aren't a lot of straggly-haired Man-O-War fans left out there (outside Ukraine, anyway.) The clear class distinction (in multiple senses of the word), have blurred along with the genres. And old prejudices die hard -- I /still/ think Metal is déclassé for anyone with a brain. ;-)
Posted by: Discoshaman at mars 20, 2004 02:55 AMHmm. I hate punk in all its forms, and I detest the French language, partly because of their draconian laws about not borrowing words that will ensure its death, but partly just because the whole feel of the language sounds to me as if it encourages arrogance. I assume you appreciate French, given your use of it on your site.
On the other hand, I grew up on metal and still very much enjoy when someone is able to do something musically interesting with that style (e.g. Dream Theater, Tourniquet, Queensryche), though I don't listen to even that very much, and I don't listen at all to the boring/simplistic stuff like Metallica or Iron Maiden.
I also very much enjoy the sound of the German language, though I haven't learned more than I needed to get around for six weeks in Berlin, where half the people speak better English than my students in the U.S.
Posted by: Jeremy Pierce at mars 20, 2004 05:10 PMDisco-
That's true, the lines have blurred. These days both styles are lousy. I would question whether either true metal or true punk even exist anymore, now with the advent of nu metal and the mass sell-out of any and all punk bands. What ever happened to keeping it hardcore and not being a poser?:)
I love Rammstein.
Rammstein is mainly famous in America for being the favorite band of the two kids that shot up their school in Columbine.
(I think this is the second time you mentioned music you heard over there I like.)
Posted by: Aaron Armitage at mars 22, 2004 01:55 AM