Opinion Category

In 1999 there was a silent outcry from alternative rock music fans when due to consolidations within Warner Brothers Records (and the rest of the major labels) a lot of bands that had been signed in a post-Nirvana alterna-gold rush got dropped from Elektra. „Fuck you Elektra“ was a phrase that could often be read. Looking back on what followed I would like to turn this around and thank Elektra very much. Not only did signing these bands away from indies in the first place give them recording opportunities theyRead More

Having friends around you is a great thing. There’s no one better to share joy, anger, happiness, sadness or any other feeling with than with people who like you, who you can talk to, complain about things or gossip with. Music and sports are great topics, ex lovers or future ones are great too, but sometimes it can just be a person in an awful colored jacket or with an awful hairstyle. Your friends will be there with you. The problem with friends is that sometimes they live too far awayRead More

How the music industry needs to learn from their youngest audience.  First of all, I’m not really old yet. But in terms of rock and pop music hall of fame, I’ve reached the pinnacle. The year I should say farewell via overdose (which I can’t do because I don’t do drugs), gun to your head (quite difficult this one as well, as German laws on guns are very strict) or alcohol (ok, I do drink, but I never take any medication with it). I don’t see it happening, whichRead More

Sometimes music becomes only the second fiddle to what we call life. The Heart Circle Compilation was put together by members of the „90s Screamo/Hardcore/Emo/Indie“ Facebook group in support of one of its founders Marc Köhler. He is suffering from a cardiac insufficiency and 50% of his heart is kept running by a heart support system. Added to this, he suffers from the so-called ‚Factor V Leiden‘ (FVL), a genetic disorder of the clotting of blood. In the fall of 2014 he got hit by a stroke as a resultRead More

It’s boiling right now in Berlin. The summer sun is sending it’s rays in bloody short and intense bursts. The office I’m working in is boiling too and I’m sweating my balls of while I’m writing this. The city is bursting with tourists relaxing in cafes, chilling in the parks, cueing in front of ice cream shops. Could be worse right? Definitely! And because every season calls for the right soundtrack, here’s our summer sun playlist. L’Aupaire – I would do it all again I first heard this song onRead More

In this installment of Talking Pop, author Carlo is talking about his love for Florence And The Machine. How she’s been haunting him since her first single and why music is always so closely connected to ones own biography. I’m sitting in my parents living room in 2009. The tv is on, and a Swiss television station is running. It’s sometime in the afternoon and instead of sitcoms or talkshows, they are showing music videos. There’s this one video with flowers in front of a white backdrop. A red hairedRead More

By Alex, Carlo & Daniel A couple of weeks back, we talked about female bedroom producers and how they are the hottest stuff right now. We are still certain that that is true. And someone from the Independent must have read our article too, prompting this copy cat thing to pop up two days after our post. But the article got us thinking here at the WWATA-HQ: where else are female artists leaving their mark these days? So we dug into our own music catalogues looking for the same thingRead More

We are small, we are few It’s that time of the year again, where the music industry masses gather in Berlin to celebrate… well themselves basically. It’s Echo time. The German version of the Brits, or the Grammy’s but even by comparing the Echo to them, I’m almost insulting the other awards. But I’ll be attending again and I like the whole idea of dressing up, drinking together with everyone at the aftershow (yes, there’s only one aftershow party) and feeling really gash the next morning. But the awards showRead More

Guest editor Alex on why he hates RSD. Record Store Day is coming up again on April 18 and once again one of my favorite bands has scheduled a vinyl release for that date. And I fucking hate it. They are refusing to sell it to me right away. Instead they are telling me that it will be available on record store day at a store near me, which I can 100% guarantee you it will not be. It might not even get to a store in my country. SomeRead More

Scandinavia, you beautiful endless reservoir of great music. Scandinavia, I love you for making the sun disappear for a few months each winter making young people stay in their own homes with too much alcohol, their instruments and their creativity. Women of music, I love you because you grace us with so much talent and music that I feel like an incredibly dull little boy with my acoustic guitar and my stupid teenage songs about my sad sad love life. This article is a dedication to the girls in popRead More