Back from Germany, to a country that seems a lot more boring all of a sudden.

As expected, I utterly dominated at Dense a couple of weekends ago, walking out with about ten CD's, most of them of experimental/noise music. The bargain box is stashed away underneath the other racks, so don't miss it (even though it's not in a prominent location by the cash as it was before).
Q. You are in a Berlin music shop which is known (firsthand) to ooze and sweat awesomeness. You see a CD by a band you have never heard of. It is by the "Norwegian Noise Ensemble", and is a live recording by a FIFTEEN member collective. Viewed in the context of its miniscule price of five Euros, can this CD possibly suck?
A. No, it is impossible for this CD to suck.

.... and it is, in fact, quite amazing, a one-track seventy minute blast of pure insanity from start to finish.

I wrote previously about subsisting on my slsk "acquirements" once I tired of the CD's I brought (and even before I tired of them, heh) but there was one CD that went unlistened to right up until midway through the plane ride home. Yep, it's the CD that went unheard by mine ears for fifteen years. There never seemed to be a proper listening environment for it during my weeks there (excuses, always more excuses) but finally, five hours into a trans-Atlantic flight, with my computer battery running low (I was doing work, honest!), most of the plane sleeping off their lunch and their jetlag from the bright sun peeking in through the window covers, I FINALLY HEARD THE CURE'S DISINTEGRATION. Magic. Duh.

I see no reason why German bands such as Wir Sind Helden ( = We Are Heroes) could not have hits in English-speaking countries. Singing in German. What is it exactly about singing in English that has become a prerequisite for being taken seriously in music? American and British bands have huge hits in Germany -- among kids who have barely begun learning English and cannot understand the words. Isn't music (or at least *some* music) supposed to transcend language barriers without resorting to Macarena-style novelty (by novelty, I mean the perception in the English world, which is generally blind to all non-English hitmakers).

But that last sentence is telling ... there's nothing particular about Germany, surely there is no reason that French or Chinese or Hungarian bands couldn't have also big hits in North America or the UK or Germany. But you don't see French bands on MTV Germany. They play the usual (primarily American) hitmakers, plus their own countrypeople, just like France (I'm sure) and Canada (even though English is spoken in Canada). Once you satisfy CanCon (or DeutschCon or equivalent) plus the tastes for worldwide hitmakers, there can't be room for much else. Playlists can only be so big.