Gib mir lebenslänglich einzelhaft mit dir

German singer Timo Langner made music that would fit in nicely on a playlist with the pop-rock of McFly, the Click Five, Jamie Meyer, and Jimmy Jansson. He released four singles back around 2003 and 2004 and was supposed to release an album, though I'm not sure if it ever happened since he never exactly set the charts alight. Still, I'm glad that he didn't stay exactly on the photographer's assistant career path he was originally on--I think I can probably recommend any of his singles. In fact, choosing which one to post today was really difficult--the dramatic "Nur die sterne," which I think was his biggest hit, which so perfectly suits the German language (I hope this doesn't sound condescending--I'm sure non-English speakers could make similar statements about English--but German is a language that I often have trouble listening to in music; not that "Nur die sterne" couldn't be sung in other languages, but German suits it perfectly)? The catchy "Umlaufbahn"? "Jenny," which really isn't that far away from sounding like a Click Five song? Or his only English language song, the Swede-penned "Are You Ready?," which may not be that far away from sounding like an Idol winner's song but is actually good despite that? Or maybe even one of the b-sides? I'm still not sure. While I make up my mind, let's watch a video. Sadly, the music video for "Nur die sterne" isn't nearly dramatic or stylish as I'd like (should've hired whoever made Andreas Johnson's video for "Glorious," though it's not as sweepingly dramatic as that song), so let's just watch him in a coffee ad instead.



Umlaufbahn (Radio Edit)--I'm still not sure that this song is the right choice--"Nur die sterne" is so distinctive that it really must be his sort of "calling card" song. It's the more sophisticated choice, certainly. Still, there's something so fun about this song that it just barely edged out "Nur die sterne." Maybe it's my imagination, but Timo's voice often comes off as really...electronically processed sounding in his songs, though maybe that's because most of the singles he released are actually remixes. Anyhow, "Umlaufbahn" was Timo's second single and continued his theme of astronomy-related song titles--"Umlaufbahn" means "Orbit," while "Nur die sterne" means "Only The Stars." "Umlaufbahn" is catchy pop-rock that even manages to sneak in some "nah nah"'s--even if you don't speak German, hopefully those and some "yeah yeah"'s and "woo-hoo-ooo-ooo"s should be catchy enough to let you enjoy the song.

To buy Timo Langner's single "Umlaufbahn," go here (physical) or here (digital). If anyone knows if he ever did get to release that album, please let me know! I'd love to hear more from him because, save for one b-side, I don't think I've heard a song by him that I didn't like or love.

Next up: a Swedish singer.