In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (4): Avail – "Over The James"

I neglected this record for a way too long time. The were nomerous occansions when I listened to this gem over and over again. And after listening to it I really felt better. It’s one of those records that really lift you up to the next level and give you strength and hope. AVAIL were one of those bands who managed to capture the intensity of everything hardcore and punkrock mean to me.

The usual off-season rant against that damn team from the south

FC Bayern Munich is the team you love to hate. They are Germany’s hold the record for the most championships in football, I believe they are record-winning cup champions as well, they have the most money, they (at least most of the time) have the best players. And what is most important, they win their matches. And for a long time they won almost each and every one of those games by a very small margin. Something that led people to speak about the so called “Bayern-Dusel” (roughly translated as “Bayern’s luck”). And, surprisingly they have to most “fans” in German football.

Where have all the soldiers gone? Watching baseball…

What is always very strange at American sports events is the constant mentioning of the armed forces serving their time in foreign countries. Just this weekend while watching St Louis play against Philadelphia or The Red Sox vs the Padres there was always at least one soldier in the picture at some point of the game. In St Louis it was a veteran who proposed to his girlfriend before the match and was interviewed at some point during the game.

The future of European football on display

The European Championship for players under 21 are taking place in the Netherlands right now and the semifinals were up today. The German ream lost to England in the playoff matches although they looked pretty confident after the group stage. But they only managed a draw away and then lost to England at home.

Edelweisspiratenfestival

Today there was an “Edelweisspiratenfestival” taking place just across the street where I grew up. The park is called “Friedenspark” and at its outside stretches there is a huge memorial for the fallen soldiers of the World War I. The whole building used to be a fortress during the times of the German Empire back at the turn of the century (1900). Today it houses a center for children where they can play and build their own wooden fortress.

Take me out to the ballgame

One thing I noticed in my newly found and still ongoing fascination of the sport of baseball is the 7th inning stretch. Although you can read (and obviously also write) articles about this it’s something I will never understand. On the other hand I just find this wonderful. As I was watching the Cubs game against the Padres last night I watched an old man, maybe some celebrity nobody knows over, sang the tune of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” with the whole ballpark backing him up.

In the Backyard Of The Record Collection (3): Water Closet

I can’t recall where I stumbled across this little gem. Maybe it was while researching about another great band from Japan, Ellegarden. Anyway, I got some copies of the records of Water Closet and I was blown away with the first few chords. This is a band in the vein of Discount or Cigaretteman (who also shared a split 7″, by the way). Female fronted melodic punkrock with the right kind of sloppiness. Not too perfect, yet not too crappy. The right amount of melodies with the right amount of crunchy guitars and (at least) a little out of tune instruments.

Wild life in the city

I can remember that when I was young there were a lot of animal documentaries on German television and the two main characters were Heinz Sielmann and Bernhard Grzimek. They were the masters of animal documentaries and were awarded a lot of prices yet at the same time there were a lot of impersonations of them in comedy shows. There were always those sentences that “right now we are looking at animal XYZ in its natural environment and this is what it usually does and look at how it is learning to cope with the environment” and so on.

Like a lava stream again: Isis @ Stollwerck, Cologne

Isis again, a band a really have come to like over the past few years. It all started when our guitarist gave me the “Oceanic” record and I was instantly blown away. I saw the band play live on their tour back then when they were at the “Underground” in Cologne. Accompanied by 27 they completely tore the place apart. I wrote in a review that “Isis [were] like a lava stream rolling towards you. You know you have to run away but instead you are staying because of the beauty of what is happening in front of you”. That show was a revelation and is still one of the best shows I have seen so far. The highlight was definetely the song “Weight”, performed by Isis and the members of 27 with the singer of 27 on vocals. Wonderful stuff.

There’s always a next rehearsal. Or is there?

Since A Modest Proposal got back together at the end of last year we reahearsed a lot more than during the previous two years. We even wrote new songs. And we even have a show we will play. Now that’s progress. Our record will be out this summer eventually after three long years and this has given us a boost when it comes to rehearsing. So Batman drove up from Mannheim on Sunday and we played for about three hours with the last 30 minutes being spend on recording a set of songs we would like to perform at our next gig.