Keimzeit

The band Keimzeit didn't care about any of that and surprised everyone in 1995 with the album ‘Primeln & Elefanten’ (Primroses & Elephants), which, defying the spirit of the times, featured the sound of the 70s and 80s with natural instruments. It just happened that way, without any real intention. The band swam with verve and love against the powerful tide of the punk and electronic sound storm that was currently in vogue.


Primeln & Elefanten – Keimzeit's fourth album – was recorded in 1994 and released on 18 April 1995. The band will celebrate the album's 30th anniversary with an extensive tour in 2025. Sixteen songs were recorded, fourteen of them at Audioton Studio in Berlin, and the songs ‘Windstill’ and ‘Schone nicht meine Nerven’ at another studio in Lütte. The album was produced by Michael Beckmann. ‘For us, working on the album was heavenly,’ recalls Norbert Leisegang. ‘Everything was allowed, no one interfered with the band.’ So every creative idea was pursued and brought to life. The band perfected their mix of styles into a consistently harmonious reflection of affection and partnership.


The lyrics are sharply observed, true to life and playful in tone, which is further emphasised by the musical mix of blues and chanson, jazz and folk, waltzes and Latin American elements. For many fans of the band, this album is still considered a masterpiece for this very reason. Frontman Norbert Leisegang retrospectively and humorously described the group's style from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s as ‘muesli pop’ or ‘characterised by a hippie feeling’. ‘Primeln & Elefanten’ illustrates quite well what he means by this. The songs are catchy and stick in your mind, they're exciting and fun. Experiments with South American rhythms from the previous album ‘Bunte Scherben’ are continued in the title track ‘Primeln & Elefanten’, but bluesy and rock sounds also come to the fore.



Examples of this are songs like ‘Verlorengegangen’. Waltz and klezmer sounds definitely stand out, as in ‘Schone nicht meine Nerven’ and the cryptic ‘Die Achse’. With the instrumental piece ‘Lisa’, saxophonist Ralf Benschu contributed an instrumental piece that is rather rare for Keimzeit. There are lots of weird stories surrounding the album. Leisegang recalls: ‘One topic that was certainly hotly debated by the record company was the video shoot for the song ’Windstill" with DORO, which was certainly the most expensive video company at the time. A company that virtually guaranteed playlists on VIVA and MTV.



Unfortunately, almost the entire band was on holiday at the time the shoot was scheduled, so Ralf Benschu and I ended up appearing alone in the video after much back and forth. The mood at the record company was at rock bottom, and even the atmospheric video shot on the Baltic Sea beach failed to make it onto the expected playlists afterwards. The band, on the other hand, took it all in stride. It wasn't important.

This wonderful ‘easy living feeling’ will now also characterise the live programme of the ‘Primeln & Elefanten’ tour in 2025. Songs such as the enigmatic ‘Windstill’, “Donauangler”, ‘Näher mein Herz’, ‘Primeln & Elefanten’, ‘Mit dem Regen’ and ‘Gott will’ – all favourite tracks of Keimzeit fans – will be celebrated in the programme. These will be joined by other well-known songs by the band that match the character and style of the aforementioned tracks. The result is a concert programme that is sure to delight more than just die-hard Keimzeit fans. ‘Primeln & Elefanten’ thrives on diverse and playful songs that were truly groundbreaking for the band. It includes a wealth of songs that have shaped and continue to shape the German rock and singer-songwriter scene.

Support: Hotel Rimini

Even without botanical expertise, the musical roots of the six-piece Leipzig band HOTEL RIMINI can be described as widely ramified. Electric guitar, double bass and drums mix with cello and violin; piano and acoustic guitar meet effects devices, a sporadically used French horn or an aged Casio. The German lyrics are dedicated to the crocodile tears of urban affluence problem solvers, coming to terms with the past on public transport, or failing in the face of the brutalities of everyday life.


Their debut album, ‘Allein unter Möbeln’ (Alone Among Furniture), was released in autumn 2023 to widespread acclaim. Their second album is scheduled for release in autumn 2025.


Hotel Rimini are: Julius Forster, Paul Pötch (Trümmer) Annegret Enderle, Valentin Link (KUF) Paul-Jakob Dinkelacker (Fabian Simon & The Moon Machine) Paula Schieferecke