Andreas Dorau - Im Gebüsch

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 29 / 10 / 2024

Label: Tapete Records
Format: CD

Middle of the road charmer philosopher Andreas Dorau ticks all the wrong boxes on this masterpiece, which is like a long book that you read in one go

Review

Even when you loathe predictable and bland disco pop, chances are you still adore Andreas Dorau. 'Down The Bushes' (im Gebüsch) is riddled comprehensively with just about every cliché in tiresome popular music. It builds on a rich pastiche of cocktail muzak aided by tapping bubbling ditties that on average clock way in under two-and-a-half minutes. Perfecting Dorau's own twist on words, the rhymes show his two-faced moniker. In every word "Im Gebüsch" divides a recital of hymns and schlager, which Schlager translates,as 'hits'. Dorau's musical plight to evergreen melodies always gets backed by seemingly silly euro disco bleeps. Where bland music meets the deeply meaningful? Andreas Dorau masters manipulation like no-one else; using his laconic wit, so one may compare his chosen themes to Jarvis Cocker's but Herr Dorau was born a preacher's son, and German protestants tend to be fatally dull, since speaking tongue-in-cheek marks a sin. His charming wit is found in so many twists of the words, while Zwanie Jonson masters the trade of running a Hit Factory. A very decent British chart success for a song in German is long overdue and Dorau has a couple of potential contenders on offer here, like the ironic 'Auf Der Weidenallee' on street life in a posh Hamburg neighbourhood. Coffee-to-go and cake and all that. A typical lo-fi Moroder sound on 'Rainy Days in Moscow' introduces the English language into his vocabulary, which is intentionally clumsy. The opening 'Die Konstante' (factor) is another track Radio6 can't afford to ignore. Fond of the surreal, Dorau follows the footsteps of fellow irate Schlager Clowns; some of whom reached John Peel Darling Stardom like Der Plan and Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle. Isolated one-liners in this review might not make sense but snigger - in school he diligently skipped class: "in der Schule hat er immer fleißig geschwänzt". Finding fitting translations would keep me busy for weeks. This album is both a single CDare and a 2LP of which sides 3 and 4 the better half. Bumping chirpy sounds define another jolly quasi innocent track: 'Der Wald' - The Forest - yet his last message on side 3 reads: "We're not here." perhaps in reference to the hidden existence of refugees. Resentfully absent of his morals, on side 4 Dorau blends his catchy tunes with lessons on the lives of hamsters and beavers, and finally admits what turned him around. His final resting place is a snake pit, the double LP's epilogue. Magic Mushrooms!

Track Listing:-

1 Die Konstante
2 Ich sein
3 Auf der Weidenallee
4 Das ist nur Musik
5 Das Glück
6 Die Welt ist ein seltsamer Planet
7 Situationen
8 Storchengesang
9 Was nimmst Du mit
10 Mein englischer Winter
11 Rainy Days in Moscow
12 Ich bin nicht ich
13 Die Vergangenheit war gestern wieder da