Iron East – Heavy Metal in the GDR
You can guess it: there were easier things than being a heavy metal fan in the GDR. After all, all the hip bands of the eighties were allowed to like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Motorhead did not appear there, records, posters and even individual magazine articles could only be obtained indirectly and for horrendous sums of money. That’s exactly why a very special, dedicated fan base has developed, which has practically fallen into oblivion despite the very active metal scene of the present. bands like formula One were, on the one hand, substitutes for the bands from the West, but found their very own style, for example due to being forced to sing in German. In nine episodes, the music journalist Jan Kubon explores the lost world of metal in the GDR, talks to old scene originals like “Poldi von Asathor“, explains how state surveillance was circumvented at the time and the suffering some fans endured just to finally be able to officially blow their heads off with a full load of heavy metal. Nicola’s friend
Norah Jones is Playing Along
Good name, “Playing along”. It’s not entirely clear whether the ambiguity was intentional – but it fits perfectly. In English, “I’m just playing along” can mean both: that a song is playing on the radio, for example, and you play it casually, without any real goal and therefore wonderfully freely. Or that you support someone, positively speaking, in what he or she wants to do. Regardless of whether you think the idea is really good. So the singer and pianist Norah Jones had the idea of doing a podcast. She talks to people in that, and in between, maybe more importantly, she makes music with them. Always in a duo cast and therefore inevitably reduced. As a rule, that’s a blessing for songs. if they are good Since Jones’ guests include the world-shattering singer Mavis Staples, the composer, singer, everything-player and Wilcohead Jeff Tweedy or the widely gifted mandolinist and singer Chris Thile, the songs are excellent. And so they often get even better or fantastic in a different way. And in the conversations there is that kind of unity and mutual fluff that you have to like – but on the other hand the world just can’t have enough of it. Jacob Biazza
The Zane Lowe Interview Series
Zane Lowe is like the Oprah Winfrey for pop stars. Zane Lowe sighs in sympathy when Jennifer Lopez talks about the pain of her breakup after her failed marriage to Ben Affleck 20 years ago. When Billie Eilish tells how she got into matilda, the musical, when she really wanted to hate it, he asks, almost tenderly, “Where does your desire for approval come from?” and she replies. Zane Lowe is a radio host, host of the podcast The Zane Lowe Interview Series and possibly awesome. Because he manages to spend “beautiful days” with the pop stars and conducts conversations with them that undermine the professional banter that is otherwise so difficult to break through. He strolls through Paris with Billie Eilish, visits Neil Young in Malibu, meets Robbie Williams at the football stadium in his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent – and even he suddenly seems deep. Zane Lowe has now interviewed more than a hundred musicians, including Lykke Li, Neil Young, Alt-J, Stormzy, Ozzy Osbourne, Lizzo, Stevie Nicks. And it seems that they still like to talk to him. How does he do that? No idea. But he does it very, very well. Christian Lutz
dance boards
Still alive and still at it. The two journalists, essayists and columnists Jens Balzer and Tobi Müller, both in their fifties, have already raved, but others, who are now also relevant clubbers, either still have the moon walk practiced by Michael Jackson or were not yet born. Nevertheless, they don’t talk precociously in their podcast. It lasts a total of almost five hours over five episodes, so the condition of a party weekend is not required. But it’s still a wild ride through the history of electronic music. It’s about places and DJs, about rhythms and atmospheres. About subgenres, demarcations, developments, tiresome commercialization. Balzer and Müller can tell first-hand stories. They still get guests, because things can always be looked at from a different perspective and only then do they become really interesting: Laura Aha, for example, or Laura Ewert, one or two generations younger than the boys and also fully into the subject. After that: Getting ready for the evening. Stephen Fisher