Andreas Dorau - Aus Der Bibliotheque

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 12 / 2 / 2014

Label: Bureau B
Format: CD

Sharply clever combination of indie rock, indie pop and krautpop sung entirely in his native German from Berlin-based singer-songwriter, Andreas Dorau

Review

A preacher's son from Düsseldorf, Andreas Dorau now lives in Berlin, but spent some years based in Hamburg. In his travels of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Andreas Dorau has never lost his lyrical wit, nor his sense of melody. Without so much of a wink of an eye, he's still that cheeky kraut. Like his compatriots Rammstein, Andreas Dorau has the knack of being popular worldwide, even though he does not sing a single word in a language other than in his native German. To add a sense of stature to Dorau's absolutely excellent 2014 LP/CD, the word for library, auf deutsch 'Bibliothek', has been changed to, en Français,'Bibliothèque'. Dorau lived in Hamburg for years, but, despite being a Berlin resident, went back to the mighty Hamburg Bibliothek in order to re-contemplate things. Seeking inspiration from the 'Leihbibliothek' - man ist unter Menschen und trotzdem allein - Dorau's ease at finding a melody line again leads to a tombola, a merry-go-round, of superb tunes with lyrics which today would unease many writers and journalists. Anecdotal honesty is not wanted. On his previous two albums, Herr Dorau pranced up and down over jolly MIDI rhythms, which were very Berlin-influenced indeed. These fabulous and DaDa inspired wacky 'Bibliothèque' tracks, to the contrary, replace the slightly tacky schlager disco touch of, say, for example, his 2011 album 'Todesmelodien' An amazingly lighthearted if not a frivolous pastiche of mid-1960's London, its late 1960's West Coast harmony vocals appeal to me in a way that 10CC once did. Or Pulp without the pathos and whine. A wordsmith of the German language, Andreas Dorau's lyrics contain ever so many 'Witze'. "Ein Frauenkopf; zwei Hände. Zwei Brüste und ein Bein" continues the chorus in 'Tannenbaum und Leichengeruch' - christmas tree and corpse smells. The melodramatic 'Todesmelodien' saw the merry merger of computer beats with contemplative words, and yet in blending live band recordings with Dorau's vocals 'Aus der Bilbiothèque' is somehow superior to 'Todesmelodien'. 'Aus der Bibliothèque' subsequently and perfectly captures the transistion of a widened vocabulary, in terms of music as well in its return from the #1 city back to the #2 city. He lives in grand style on 'Faul und bequem' where he favours the taxi. He pronounces that he won't ride a bike because it's not in his nature, but is equally well well aware that driving a car brings out the worst in a person. "Fahrrad fahren ist nicht (so) meine Natur" reads a chorus line; "Ein Auto ist genau so teuer" - A car is just as expensive (as a cab). In a style of pastiche that is both lazy and comfy, "autofahren macht aggresiv". Monsieur Dorau makes very clear that he's in dire need of a butler. A solid understanding of the German language will tremendously help the enjoyment of the wit and laconic wisdom of songs like 'Der Monat'. Even without it, there's still an offbeat kind of post indierock music to be enjoyed. 'Aus der Bibliothèque' borrows from the finest of music libraries unnoticedly. It is a milestone album that touches on many styles, indie pop, retro indie rock and 1970's carefree krautpop. In striking absence: noisy Neue Welle. It is smooth but not escapist, and very witty in its words.

Track Listing:-

1 Hühnerposten
2 Flaschenpfand
3 Der Monat
4 Wasserstoff
5 Löwe
6 Reden wir von mir
7 Tannenduft
8 Stählerner Adler
9 Sabelle fliegt
10 Faul und bequem
11 Klischee
12 Bienen am Fenster
13 Für immer