This is a good compilation that will work well as a taster for many of the German experimental pop acts that Bureau b Records has been releasing and is also a great Xmas stocking filler for the more adventurous music collector.
The compilation opens with Hey Baby Hop by Der Plan that takes the bands signature synth pop with a Germanic twist or two and some typewriter type sounds to make a cool pop song that is just a little bit too odd to have been a hit, but it does feature the album's title in the lyrics.
Austauschprogramm by Die Partei is an odd synth pop song about liking cockroaches while sounding like it could have been on Ze Records and being mainly sung in English, everything happens around the central bass riff with loads of effects and weirdness making me want to hear more of what Die Partei got up too.
Mein Walkman Ist Kaputt by P!Off? is a sad tale of that moment all us 80's kids feared, the moment when your Walkman died on you for whatever reason, this was always a disaster and this song seems to get to the desperate need to get a new one that's better than the last one.
Palais Schaumburg's Wir bauen eine neue Stadt takes things in a more Blurt meets the Higsons type style with mad sax over the insistent bassline and urgent vocals.
Dunkelziffer's Keine Python is a digi-dub exploration that has a lot in common with Nina Hagen's dub tunes from a similar era.
Populare Mechanik then try to pass Muster and appear to be using their tool kit to make some of the sounds along with the synths and a loose strung guitar and bass and a bag load of weird ideas.
The Kraut ska sounds of Sandkorn by Andreas Dorau (Die Doraus Und Die Marinas) follows that sounds like it comes from the early 60's treasure Isle stable but with added sea sounds to a Calypso style song that is wonderfully odd and at odds with the rest of this compilation in the best possible sense.
Pyrolator's Im Zoo takes samples of various animal sounds and adds in cheap synths and a Xylophone to come up with a well odd piece of music part animal call part chill out tune.
Traneninvasion then get Sentimental on us, with a song that now sounds more Sentimental than it would have at the time as this sound of synth pop is now dated, although this has some great U-boat sonar sounds over the repetitive core beats.
Deutsche Wertarbeit song Guten Abend, Leute has a children's tv show cartoon soundtrack feel to it, but with added vocoder style vocals to add a sci-fi feel to it.
Asmus Tietchens takes things in a low-fi synth punk direction on Hohepunkt Kleiner Mann, this also has a bit of a fairground ride music being re-worked into something else feel to it, like space invaders or other early computer games music.
Die Fische are So Verruckt and you might be too when you listen to this and hear the howling vocals over the laid back synths and odd musical adornments to make you go Meshugga with them.
Conrad Schnitzler takes things in a Kraftwerk style direction on Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal that re-uses the central Trans European Express tune to sing about a canal instead of a train while adding pulsing sounds and a totally insistent beat to it.
Carambolage take a dark borderline No Wave style approach to Die Farbe war Mord with vocals that are part Lydia Lunch part Lene Lovich making this both disturbing and intriguing in equal measure.
Xao Seffcheque tune Sample & Hold (Wer bitter im Munde hat, kann nicht susspricken) does exactly what the title suggests and samples and holds the samples on repeat to create something that at the time would have been disturbingly new and gives hints at where dance music would follow in the coming decades, while not being strictly dance music of course.
Foyer des Arts total weird out of a track Eine Konigin mit Radern untendran (Gerd Bluhm Remix) has the first violins on the compilation and a totally odd approach that sort of comes off in trying to out weird everyone else.
Die Zimmermanner get down and funky on Erwin, Das Tanzende Messer that marries almost operatic vocals to a dancefloor floor filler of a bass led tune that has echoes of what Malcolm McClaren was doing around the time of Buffalo Stance and Madam Butterfly.
Ostro 430 take us into a dark seedy club for Sexueller Notstand that sounds like Blurt going on a bender with Nina Hagen and feeling rather scared by the end of the night by the Sexual emergency this is about in a time before morning after pills, this is dark delicious fun.
Die Radierer Take us on a flight into the unknown on Angriff Aufs Schlaraffenland that makes them sound like the German equivalent of Frances's Metal Boys, this should be played alongside that bands Tokyo Airport.
Holger Hiller closes this compilation with his mad as a march hare Jonny (Du Lump) that has all sorts of odd synth effects and a driving drum beat as well as odd sax stabs and lots of weirdness to make sure you know this is one of the more out there and still rather cool comps you could give as a present this Xmas.
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