Current music from Germany  Popcast #5/2024

This Month with music by:

Textor | Grönland
Hjirok | Altin Village & Mine
Ferge x Fisherman | Ferge x Fisherman Records
Su Yono | Trikont
Jembaa Groove | Agogo Records
Author: Ralf Summer
Speaker (English): David Creedon
Speaker Female Voice-Overs (English): Louise Hollamby Kühr

  Hip-hop is one of the most successful music genres on the German music scene today, as it is everywhere. After it slowly began to establish itself in the mainstream at the beginning of the nineties, the young pioneers were confronted with the problem that although they were able to orientate themselves musically on the American models, they could hardly do so in terms of content. Moreover, the first hip-hoppers (and female hip-hoppers, although the domain was initially very male-dominated) came from the middle class rather than the country's ghettos. One of these early crews were Kinderzimmer Productions from the tranquil town of Ulm, who became famous mainly because they had to withdraw their first album from the market due to an unlicensed sample by the Stranglers. Textor, their MC, has never given up on music and has now released an album that comes across as fresh and contemporary despite its clear old-school roots. Lyrically at the highest level, So Tun Als Ob doesn't always break new musical ground, but he deserves top marks for style here.
The Kurdish-Iranian singer Hani Mojtahedy and Andi Toma from Mouse On Mars have created the fictional character HJirok for a joint project, an unusual but extraordinarily harmonious mixture of traditional Sufi music, a percussive musical style found in the mystical practices of various cultures in the Middle East, West Africa and South Asia, and the field recordings and electronic manipulations of the Düsseldorf musician.
 
The self-titled album develops a magical pull over the eight longer, predominantly quiet pieces, which carries a mystical veil through the unconventional vocal technique and all kinds of fantastic percussion instruments foreign to Western listening habits.
The idea of mixing hip hop with jazzy sounds was born out of the need to pay tribute to the African-American musical tradition of the early 20th century within the framework of contemporary musical practices. Later derivatives such as trip hop or the digital, less sample-based style of nu jazz are proof of the versatility of this fusion of styles. The Nuremberg duo Ferge x Fisherman, who naturally perform live with a band and also incorporate elements of 90s soul, are more on the traditional side. Above all, the two are musically convincing, their relaxed sound is stylistically confident and tecnically absolutely flawless even at album length.
The trio Su Yono have poured a whole bunch of spun little works of art into their album Wellen. Sluggish rumbling drums and hushed vocals lead the caravan on the back of an idling organ and polyphonic brass sections into the land of guitar pop, where the trio, consisting of Marcus Grassl, known for the marvellous Munich project Aloha Input, Chris Hofbauer (Micro Circus) and one of The Witches of Westend, a feminist choir, Pola Dobler, have settled down. The enchanted indie pop on Wellen is said to even cure warts when enjoyed with a pinch of fairy dust! Ghanaian highlife and Afrobeat, jazz and soul, Jembaa Groove have dedicated themselves to the sound of Africa in the seventies. Based and produced in Berlin, the African-European septet has already seen the world: After the release of their debut album Susuma (2022), they first went on tour, which took the intercultural group to various jazz events in Europe and all the way to Austin, TX for the SXSW Festival. Now they have released Ye Ankasa | We Ourselves, a beautiful collection of fleet-footed tracks produced in traditional style by Ghanaian multi-talent Kwame Yeboah, whose passion is given a melancholy tinge by the palpable wanderlust.