Hallo from Deutschland

My best friend and brother in arms BW is in Germany this week, and his absence has caused my mind to wander there as well. Indeed, while the story of my origin remains a tale untold, there is strong evidence to suggest that I was born not in London or Paris, as many assume, but in a small town in Germany.

Why then, you may ask, do my tastes not veer more toward the latest band from Berlin or Hamburg rather than the newest sensation from Liverpool or Leeds? The painful truth is that the German music scene has produced little to celebrate of late.

But there ia new record from a German artist that greatly interests me. Entitled Another Language, it is a compilation of covers by Claudia Brücken (former lead singer of German synth-band Propaganda) and formally-trained neo-composer Andrew Poppy. It was released earlier this year, but has managed to garner nein attention, despite its collection of remarkable covers, including Radiohead's Nice Dream, Frank Black's White Noise Maker, Bowie's Drive-In Saturday, McAlmont & Butler's You Do, Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill, Elvis Costello's Lipstick Vogue, and Marianne Faithful's Broken English.

So is it the next Nouvelle Vague (which I rate as possibly the best album of last year)? Unfortunately, I cannot say as I have yet to hear it. I asked BW to pick it up in Germany, but it appears it has escaped even their attention, as no one there has heard of it either. Alas, I suppose that means that Amazon UK will be receiving more of my meager pension.