Tag: Herr Wade

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Herr Wade – We Still Remember Funky Christmas (2024)

Platiruma!!!
Buy: Bandcamp

Gotta look for stable things to grab onto these days. I already see myself leaning harder into Christmas traditions, both as a source of familiar comfort and frankly, to have some sense of control in a world of uncertainty. Just ordered a new fake Christmas tree… yes, we are a fake tree family. This one is supposed to feel real… I bet I could find something there to write about. Feeling real…

Some bands have begun to establish themselves within my Christmas traditions – bands I look to every year with anticipation of something new and wonderful. Herr Wade and the whole crew at Platiruma!!! are most certainly in that exclusive club. This year’s offering is Herr Wade’s excellent 4-song EP, We Still Remember Funky Christmas. Herr Wade is a collaboration between Jørn Åleskjær (The Loch Ness Mouse, Monobird, Sapphire & Steel) and Sebastian Voss (Nah…, The Fisherman and his Soul, Cinema Engines), and this duo have now dropped mixworthy tracks for three years in a row. The standout of this EP is (IMHO) the German disco track “Schulbus auf dem Eis” (Schoolbus on the Ice). I speak a liiittttllle German, but I’m certainly not quick, so I was most appreciative when Sebastian gave me a bit more context for the song: “The story is about the slippery situation on the street after snow was heavily falling, the last day before x-mas season and being at least able to hold hands with your crush who‘s sitting next to you….”

Well, isn’t that just great? Christmas! Young love! Danger! An earworm of a chorus and a Nile Rodgers groove that satisfies German and non-German speakers alike!

Stone-cold mixworthy.

Bottom Line: In a world spinning out of control, Herr Wade are here for you and will make you move dein Hintern.

LISTEN

Here is a Google translation of the paragraph at the beginning of the video:
With my most heartfelt thanks to my bus driver at the time, Herbert, in whose accordion bus I boarded twice a day between 1985 and 1994 as a “Reckenfeld bus child”, and who knew how to stoically maneuver the white Büssing vehicle with his equally white clogs through wind and weather. To this day, he has made many friends on his travels throughout Europe and Asia, but also on the scheduled services between Greven and Reckenfeld, and has covered thousands and thousands of “completely accident-free kilometers”. I take my hat off to this committed man, who has been so versatile right up to the ripe old age of almost 87, i.e. right up to the present day, and who has hardly changed in appearance in the past 30 years.

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Plati​-​Holy​!​-​Ruma​!​!​! A Christmas Hit EP (2023)

Platiruma!!!
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

There are a few places that I look to every year, reliable sources of interesting Christmas music that you can count on to make this humble Christmas blogger’s life just a bit easier. Germany’s Platiruma!!! Records are most certainly one of those sources. After a few singles, largely by the label’s founder and spiritual leader, Sebastian Voss (aka The Fisherman and His Soul), the label released a wonderful 4-song E.P. by Herr Wade last year. The label appears to be slowly creeping toward a full-length Christmas record, as this year they dropped Plati​-​Holy​!​-​Ruma​!​!​! A Christmas Hit EP, a 6-track Christmas EP. From top to bottom, this E.P. is top-notch German indiepop Christmas. I’m going to pull out a few tracks, as I have made it a practice not to cover every song, as that is a precedent I am fleeing in terror from.

The leadoff track by Hamburg’s theCatherines shines with jangly guitars and a great message, reflected in the title “This Year My Wishlist Only Says ‘Peace.'” For the curious listener, you can find an additional, 7-track Christmas EP, TEENY•TINY•XMAS (EP), over at theCatherines Bandcamp – well worth checking out too.

A collaboration between Jørn Åleskjær (The Loch Ness Mouse, Monobird, Sapphire & Steel) and Sebastian Voss (Nah…, The Fisherman and his Soul, Cinema Engines), the Herr Wade track, “Bis Ich Leb´ (Til I Live)” channels the Christmas crooners of the past with its warm, emotional vocals and ornate instrumentation, full of chimes and swelling synthesized strings.

This is a lot more to love here, with two strong instrumentals by Guelpe and Berlin’s Martin Tetzlaff, a sweet folky tune by Nero Bates, as well as a 2023 remix of The Fisherman and His Soul’s stellar “A Christmas Tree Bright as a Lighthouse.” Revisiting this song was interesting, as the chorus seems to hit harder today than it had originally: “… and there’s a Christmas tree bright as a lighthouse / despite the fucked up world situation / we’ll see a quiver in anticipation / now it’s Christmas time.” This is my favorite kind of indiepop – serious shit disguised amongst some incredibly fun music – sneaking in the door as you bob your head.

Bottom Line: Platiruma!!! expands their holiday offerings with an extremely solid Christmas EP. Looking forward to the full-length… hehe.

LISTEN

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Herr Wade – Weihnachten​.​.​. Willkommen zur​ü​ck! (2022)

Platiruma!!!
Buy: Bandcamp (CD/Digital) | Apple Music | Amazon.de MP3 | Amazon.fr MP3

Jørn Åleskjær (The Loch Ness Mouse, Monobird, Sapphire & Steel) and Sebastian Voss (Nah…, The Fisherman and his Soul, Cinema Engines) have teamed up for some cross-cultural, Google-translatable Christmas tunes. I speak ein bisschen Deutsch, and no Norweigain, but I do speak indiepop and this is some lovely stuff. I’ve featured The Fisherman and his Soul multiple times here on Christmas Underground, so I knew there would be something here I was likely to really connect with. Perhaps it is my faint familiarity with the language that draws me to the German-language tracks, but I have to take special note of “Und sie tanzen I’m Himmel,” which translates to “And they dance in the sky.” I’m going to continue to utilize Google translate, so please give me some grace should Google screw it up a bit – but I loved these sweet lyrics.

can you remember?
It’s been a few years…
We looked up at the sky and
Then you said to me:

“I know a secret
And I’m happy to let you in on it.”
And I nodded, agreed, and suddenly it started snowing.

“Exactly! Here, that’s the point.” You said in a low voice.
“Every single flake is a little dancer.
And up there in the sky they dance day in and day out. And when they feel like it, it starts to snow.”

And they dance in the sky

The track also had that mid-tempo, jangly indiepop groove that I need at least every 3-6 months to survive, so that certainly plays into my love of this track as well. There are wonderful moments in the other songs as well, little choices like the beautiful banjo in “Domino,” and the sweetness of the leadoff track, “You’ve Come A Very Long Way (For Being Such A Close Friend),” are undeniable.

Bottom Line: There is a lot to love in a tiny little EP.

LISTEN