Eisbär
"Eisbär" (German for polar bear) is a 1980 "cult" song composed by the Swiss Neue Deutsche Welle band Grauzone. It first appeared on the 1980 compilation album Swiss Wave - The Album. The shorter single version was later collected on the Grauzone album Die Sunrise Tapes (1998).
The song features a man singing he wants to be "a polar bear in the cold polar", because by being one he "wouldn't have to cry any longer and everything would be fine." The instrumental arrangement also evokes an Arctic atmosphere.
Grauzone recorded in 1982 an English-language version (Polar Bear) of the song, which was first released in 2010 on the double CD Grauzone 1980-1982 Remastered.
The song is post-punk performed with guitar, drums and synthesizers.
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Weltklang
Weltklang is a German electronic music project that was formed in 1980.
Current members are Thomas Voburka and René Steuns.
Background
Weltklang was formed in the East-German town of Schwerin, German Democratic Republic in 1980.
The mastermind behind Weltklang is Thomas Voburka, who also founded the Berlin based electronic music label Exil-System in 1979.
Weltklang is particularly noted for the innovatively sparse and yet classic Minimal wave track “VEB Heimat”, which was originally released in 1980.
"VEB Heimat"
Weltklang's first release, the 7” single “VEB Heimat/Hoffnung / Sehnsucht ??” was brought out in 1980.
Inspired by the fast rise of Neue Deutsche Welle and by the Punk subculture's DIY attitude Voburka's main principle was to remove all dispensable ornamentation and polish from his music, and to use the simplest and most minimalist structures. On "VEB Heimat" for instance he made sole use of a simple Roland SH09 Synthesizer line - a very stripped down monophonic analogue synthesizer from Roland Corporation's classic SH-series.
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