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Blumfeld () was an
indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
band from
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, Germany, formed by singer and songwriter Jochen Distelmeyer. The name of the band was taken from the main character of the short story "Blumfeld, ein älterer Junggeselle" by
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ty ...
. Blumfeld are counted among the most significant representatives of the
Hamburger Schule The ''Hamburger Schule'' ( German for 'Hamburg School') is a music movement current in Germany during the 1980s and early 1990s. With some active bands and artists it is still present. It took up traditions of Neue Deutsche Welle and combined them ...
(''School of Hamburg'') and are considered to be one of the most successful combos of the German indie scene. Blumfeld's lyrics are characterized by a distinctive disdain for human life in the context of modern consumer society. Fears, depressions, uncertainty, lack of orientation and love as main motive are the most important themes which are made a subject of discussion in their songs. The mainly melancholic music is seen as having a pessimistic tone.


History

Blumfeld was founded in 1990 by members of the then-defunct bands
Der Schwarze Kanal ''Der schwarze Kanal'' (german: The Black Channel) was a series of political propaganda programmes broadcast weekly between 1960 and 1989 by East German television Deutscher Fernsehfunk. Each edition was made up of recorded extracts from recent ...
and Bienenjäger. Originally strongly influenced by
guitar feedback Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation which may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for examp ...
, the band's style evolved more toward
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
during the mid-1990s. Among the band's distinct traits are the convoluted lyrics, critical of society, which are sometimes presented in
sprechgesang (, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which ...
by singer Jochen Distelmeyer. Because of these texts, Blumfeld was often regarded by their audience as a showcase band for
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically in ...
intellectuals. Nevertheless, the band managed to convey broader messages to a larger audience later in their career. Distelmeyer never considered writing his lyrics in another language than German. But the band always explicitly refused to be taken in by projects such as a quota of German language songs in
airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
or the promotion of a "new German self-esteem" by German-language music.


Legacy

On 22 January 2007, the band announced their split-up on their homepage. A farewell tour was held in April 2007 with the last concert taking place in Blumfeld's hometown Hamburg. After their splitting up, Blumfeld received a number of critical acclaims. Christof Meueler of ''
Junge Welt ''Junge Welt'' (English: ''Young World'', stylized in its logo as ''junge Welt'') is a German daily newspaper, published in Berlin. The jW describes itself as a left-wing and Marxist newspaper. German authorities categorize it as a far-left me ...
'' listed Blumfeld among the "great German protest bands" like Ton Steine Scherben and Fehlfarben. ''
Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'' praised Blumfeld as "one of the most influential German pop bands of the recent years" that quickly became successful with their "square-edged, vigorous music and the wilful and political lyrics", but "never let themselves be pigeonholed either". With songs like "Graue Wolken"
rey Clouds Rey may refer to: * Rey (given name), a given name * Rey (surname), a surname * Rey (''Star Wars''), a character in the ''Star Wars'' films *Rey, Iran Shahr-e Ray ( fa, شهر ری, ) or simply Ray (Shar e Ray; ) is the capital of Ray County in ...
"Diktatur der Angepassten" ictatorship of the Conformistsor "Krankheit als Weg" llness as a Way"Distelmeyer had, according to critics, created pieces of art that go far beyond quickly-consumed pop songs." Writing for '' Freitag'', Ingar Solty called Blumfeld the "leftist-intellectuals of rock music in Germany" and attributed "an expressionistical-poetical language that will permanently stay out of touch in pop culture" to Distelmeyer. ''
Jungle World ''Jungle World'' is a left-wing German weekly newspaper published in Berlin. Initially founded in 1997 by striking editors of the German left-wing daily ''Junge Welt'', it became independent after only a few issues. Today, it is published by ...
'' wrote on Blumfeld's turn toward a broader audience that Blumfeld were in fact exceptional because no other band "would have been taken for serious any longer if they suddenly had started playing Schlager music." In 2009, Jochen Distelmeyer started a solo career by publishing his debut album ''Heavy'' and two singles. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Blumfeld's album '' L'Etat Et Moi'' the band announced they would play a jubilee tour in original line-up.


Members

Final line-up *Jochen Distelmeyer - vocals, guitar (1990–2007) *André Rattay - drums, vibraphone (1990–2007) *Lars Precht - bass guitar (2005–2007) *Vredeber Albrecht - keyboard (2003–2007) Former members *Eike Bohlken - bass guitar (1990–1996) *Peter Thiessen - bass guitar (1996–2002) *Michael Mühlhaus - keyboard, vibraphone, synthesizer, bass guitar (1998–2005)


Discography

(The English translations are for information only in this article. They were not used on releases.)


Albums


Singles


References


External links


Official website of Blumfeld (in German)

Skyeyeliner – Fanpage (in German)

Blumfeld-Online – The Blumfeld Community (in German)

Blumfeld at Indiepedia (in German)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blumfeld Musical groups from Hamburg Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Musical quartets 1990 establishments in Germany 2007 disestablishments in Germany