It seems impossible that it’s been months since we were sweating at Popfest Wien or watching bands and discussing hot topics at Waves Vienna…but here we are: “daytime” consists of a period of twilight from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., after which it’s dark; the Christmas markets are choked with tourists, and the smell of punch is in the air. But there are still artists getting a few last concerts in before the break, and we’ve got a couple year-end suggestions for your listening pleasure…hark! It’s your Austrian Music Highlights for the turn of the year.
Year in review
We try to remain humble around here, but on the whole, Austrian Music Export has had a pretty good year. Our big annual events all went off without a hitch, we supported Austrian music on at least three continents – and we learned late in the year that our partner, the Austrian Music Fund, is getting a major financial boost. Want more detail on what we’ve been up to? Check out our year in review!
Arrivederci (I)
As heralded above, there are still a few bands getting their last licks in before the year-end limbo, as well as a few early birds in January…
3 x j(a)zz!
Don’t be put off by the unconventional punctuation: the j(A)zz! concert series at the Budapest Music Center, co-sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Forum, features Austrian artists – who, according the the BMC, are “renowned for their wit and creative power” (we totally agree). The series is culminating this weekend with a 3-day mini-festival:
- December 14th (*tonight!) – Simsa Fünf
- December 15th – Peter Rom’s Wanting Machine
- December 16th – Fuzz Noir
Voodoo Jürgens
Is he the hardest-working man in Austrian show business? He’s certainly a contender for the title…and after a recent trip across Austria, Voodoo is squeezing a few more gigs in Germany in before the holiday:
- December 15th – Jakobmayer, Dorfen
- December 19th – Z-Bau, Nuremberg
- December 20th – Konzerthaus Dortmund
- December 21st – Cairo, Würzburg
- December 22nd – 2nd Home Hotel, Nördlingen (we trust he won’t be spending his holiday there)
Bernhard Lang
Composers don’t generally go “on tour” in the conventional sense, but their music certainly does. A lot of people are going to be spending time with Mr. Lang’s music in the next month:
- December 17th, UCK, Warsaw: “Monadologie XII” (Chain Ensemble/Andrzej Bauer)
- December 22nd, Radialsystem, Berlin: “Game 10-4-1” for solo harp (Maximilian Erhardt)
- January 15th, Villa Concordia, Bamberg: “Monadologie XXXII: The Cold Trip” (Eva Resch, sop.)
- January 19th, St.-Jakobs-Kirche, Zurich: “Organ Loops, Vol. 1” (Wolfgang Kogert)
Arrivederci (II)
On a slightly more mournful note: our longest-serving colleague, Helge Hinteregger, is leaving us. Helge started an information and booking platform – pre-Internet! – for modern jazz musicians in 1990, a forerunner of mica – music austria. For over thirty years, he’s been sharing his encyclopedic knowledge with successive generations of Austrian musicians.
But Helge would hardly be Helge if he didn’t keep a few irons in the fire. We expect him to be poking his head in the door every now and then…but meanwhile, we wish him the absolute best for his (semi-)retirement.
New releases
We’re all about live music, but we understand if you feel like staying home. So we’ve got a few year-end recommendations to go along with your slippers, fuzzy blanket, and whatever you’re drinking out of that jumbo mug.
Buntspecht – An das Gestern, das nie Morgen wurden darfte. Ich warte
The title of Buntspecht’s fifth full-length album, released in November offers a pretty good idea of what’s inside: darkly humorous lyrics with a healthy portion of verbal wit and a taste for the absurd. The music is a colorful blend of pop influences, with mod-jazz, funk, and acoustic vibes at the fore, but veering now and then into more surrealist realms. In a word: fun for both the intellectual and the carefree pop fans on your gift list.
Knoedel – Wunderrad
Knoedel, the brainchild of composer/bassoonist/zitherist Christof Dienz, consists of specialists on Alpine folk instruments, for whom Dienz writes in his idiosyncratic style. Folk forms with pop influences…or is it the the other way around?
Wetter, Etc. – Umschwung
This record is actually a couple months old, but the collective known as Wetter Etc. (masterminded by drummer/producer Marco Kleebauer and featuring harpist Miriam Adefris and clarinettist Mona Matbou Riahi, among others) recently played its first major Vienna concert and is gathering momentum. Think atmospheric synths, soulful horns, underlaid with a cornucopia of lovingly tweaked drums and percussion. We’re into it.
Looking for more ideas? We also suggest:
- Culk “Generation Maximum“
- Shake Stew – “Lila“
- Naked Cameo – “Trespassing By“
- Radian – “Distorted Rooms“
And Finally: Good news!
Our congratulations to ELIS NOA and oh alien, who have been picked to play the MENT Festival in Ljubljana in February. Stay tuned for further announcements in January…
Congratulations also go to UCHE YARA – ESNS Exchange has just posted their year-end charts; she was the 3rd most-booked artist to play at Eurosonic 2023!
That’s all from us! We’ll continue to bring you news from the Austrian music scene over the next couple of weeks, but we’ll say it now: From all of us to all of you, happy holidays and a great start to 2024.
Philip Yaeger