Ah, the Poets from Munich! The drummer's name is Max Weissenfeldt. He lives in Ghana now and runs a studio & label there these days, as far as I know. Last time I met him, he still had his studio in Berlin and churned out seven-inches with Jimi Tenor and all these outstanding Ghanaian musicians. Also check out The Whitefield Brothers - Earthology if you're into this.
So here's a confession that will further erode whatever credibility I had left: I not only am aware of The Whitefield Brothers, I own Earthology and love it... but had not made the connection in the slightest, LOL. I know, I know... ridiculous.
BUT... thank you for naming Herr Weissenfeldt. The man's drumming is absolutely stellar and I found myself doing that "screwface grimace" on many a track here when he dropped into yet another killer breakbeat. If FONK was a qualification, this man has the PhD, heheh.
Agree! Yeah it's all basically the same group, centered around the Weissenfeldt (Whitefield) brothers. You can also hear Max on some earlier Lana del Rey records. Jan has done some amazing projects in the last decade as Karl Hector & The Malcouns and JJ Whitefield, as well as being part of Embryo (the ethno/krautrock group).
I have the Karl Hector album as well. That's phenomenal. Up there with the Heliocentrics' work. In fact, that's who the drumming reminded me of: Malcom Catto. Wonderful work!
I'm not aware of Embryo though, so I'm off to check that out now. Ethno/krautrock? Sign me up!
It's Madlib's favorite krautrock group. They've actually been around since the 1960s/70s but their founder Christian Burchard passed away and the band is now led by his daughter Marja. This is a recent album you might enjoy: https://embryo3.bandcamp.com/album/auf-auf
Went on a deep krautrock dive this summer — read two recent books, made a pretty comprehensive playlist. (Sharing YouTube version below but it's also on Spotify + Apple.)
Embryo were one of the more mysterious ones — so very much appreciating this deep + loving nerdery.
I wonder if you'd be an interesting 'expert resource' to talk to when I eventually get around to sharing the playlist on my 'stack?
p.s. Warning: this playlist is rangy + not for krautrock/kosmischemusik purists! It also includes key recordings by Bowie + Talking Heads + the like that were crucially influenced by the sounds of Germany in that era.
My favorite discovery was the 1980 Moebius / Conny Plank record Rastakraut Pasta. Was 100% unaware and become a frequent listen.
Coincidentally it was MIDiA that did the early research on how much fans love this stuff. And I think it speaks to how much the music industry’s relationship to technology has improved that everyone is open to this. We’ve learned in the UGC era there is an upside to relinquishing control of your IP once it’s released; this is just the next step.
You have a good point that we’re just recycling the top 1%. I would argue DSP’s shouldn’t be tasked with breaking new artists anyway. The music industry has to stop outsourcing their entire recorded music monetization strategy to them.
I can't argue with that sentiment Drew. If someone wrote a piece stating that the worst thing the music industry ever did was expect other industries to solve their problems (e.g. Apple/iTunes, Spotify etc) then I'd struggle to find a counterpoint.
Granted I think most rightsholders would point out the insane sums involved in making that all happen, which is fair, but I wonder if in 2025 those costs are as extreme, and whether that therefore makes this as prohibitive as it once was.
As I was driving around this morning with my 17mo daughter listening to the newish Clipse LP it occurred to me (for SOME reason :/ ) that it would probably be technically feasible to use AI to generate clean versions of rap songs on the fly now, ideally in a 'Yip-eee-kay-yay, Kimosabe' style
I always respect it when a rapper cares enough to redo lines in a silly fashion for the clean version rather than just having annoying gaps every third word. I think Spotify has a 'non-explicit' mode anyway (iirc anyway) but I am painfully aware of this problem at the moment as I listen to everything off Plexamp (which I highly recommend btw! ) nowadays...
Ah, the Poets from Munich! The drummer's name is Max Weissenfeldt. He lives in Ghana now and runs a studio & label there these days, as far as I know. Last time I met him, he still had his studio in Berlin and churned out seven-inches with Jimi Tenor and all these outstanding Ghanaian musicians. Also check out The Whitefield Brothers - Earthology if you're into this.
So here's a confession that will further erode whatever credibility I had left: I not only am aware of The Whitefield Brothers, I own Earthology and love it... but had not made the connection in the slightest, LOL. I know, I know... ridiculous.
BUT... thank you for naming Herr Weissenfeldt. The man's drumming is absolutely stellar and I found myself doing that "screwface grimace" on many a track here when he dropped into yet another killer breakbeat. If FONK was a qualification, this man has the PhD, heheh.
Agree! Yeah it's all basically the same group, centered around the Weissenfeldt (Whitefield) brothers. You can also hear Max on some earlier Lana del Rey records. Jan has done some amazing projects in the last decade as Karl Hector & The Malcouns and JJ Whitefield, as well as being part of Embryo (the ethno/krautrock group).
I have the Karl Hector album as well. That's phenomenal. Up there with the Heliocentrics' work. In fact, that's who the drumming reminded me of: Malcom Catto. Wonderful work!
I'm not aware of Embryo though, so I'm off to check that out now. Ethno/krautrock? Sign me up!
It's Madlib's favorite krautrock group. They've actually been around since the 1960s/70s but their founder Christian Burchard passed away and the band is now led by his daughter Marja. This is a recent album you might enjoy: https://embryo3.bandcamp.com/album/auf-auf
Wonderful - thank you!
Went on a deep krautrock dive this summer — read two recent books, made a pretty comprehensive playlist. (Sharing YouTube version below but it's also on Spotify + Apple.)
Embryo were one of the more mysterious ones — so very much appreciating this deep + loving nerdery.
I wonder if you'd be an interesting 'expert resource' to talk to when I eventually get around to sharing the playlist on my 'stack?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGSQ3asB51Awoi58_e-Hy3c189LfOXTFM
p.s. Warning: this playlist is rangy + not for krautrock/kosmischemusik purists! It also includes key recordings by Bowie + Talking Heads + the like that were crucially influenced by the sounds of Germany in that era.
My favorite discovery was the 1980 Moebius / Conny Plank record Rastakraut Pasta. Was 100% unaware and become a frequent listen.
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/krautrock-kosmischemusik-some-descendants-a-genre/pl.aea7d9e7b9054371ae633f507638b0d9
I’m glad some details have emerged around this because when I first read the announcement, I couldn’t figure out what was announced lol
Well it was rather vague wasn't it. Essentially "we've done a deal to do something between the parties named, using AI, and it'll be great".
OK... thanks for that🤷🏻♂️
Coincidentally it was MIDiA that did the early research on how much fans love this stuff. And I think it speaks to how much the music industry’s relationship to technology has improved that everyone is open to this. We’ve learned in the UGC era there is an upside to relinquishing control of your IP once it’s released; this is just the next step.
You have a good point that we’re just recycling the top 1%. I would argue DSP’s shouldn’t be tasked with breaking new artists anyway. The music industry has to stop outsourcing their entire recorded music monetization strategy to them.
I can't argue with that sentiment Drew. If someone wrote a piece stating that the worst thing the music industry ever did was expect other industries to solve their problems (e.g. Apple/iTunes, Spotify etc) then I'd struggle to find a counterpoint.
Granted I think most rightsholders would point out the insane sums involved in making that all happen, which is fair, but I wonder if in 2025 those costs are as extreme, and whether that therefore makes this as prohibitive as it once was.
As I was driving around this morning with my 17mo daughter listening to the newish Clipse LP it occurred to me (for SOME reason :/ ) that it would probably be technically feasible to use AI to generate clean versions of rap songs on the fly now, ideally in a 'Yip-eee-kay-yay, Kimosabe' style
Now that could be do-able... BUT... how would artists feel about that?
Do we get into "flip you, melon farmer!" territory? LOL
I always respect it when a rapper cares enough to redo lines in a silly fashion for the clean version rather than just having annoying gaps every third word. I think Spotify has a 'non-explicit' mode anyway (iirc anyway) but I am painfully aware of this problem at the moment as I listen to everything off Plexamp (which I highly recommend btw! ) nowadays...