Beyond the Mozartkugeln

At the beginning of January, I made a resolution to go beyond my usual musical diet and explore other genres, principally 'the music of my roots, both here in Britain and in Austria, where I've staked a spurious if enlightening claim'. Any resolution such as this is going to take you out of your comfort zone and, when I played tracks from Franui and ALMA's recordings to my City Lit class recently, I could see their confusion. But how else are we to break down clichés about musical identity? A new project called Austrian Heartbeats seeks to do just that:

Visitors might easily get the impression that the music of this country is divided between the high culture celebrated in its grand concert halls and the merciless pounding of Alpine techno on its chalets, designed to bludgeon skiing tourists into alcoholic oblivion. The true strength of Austria’s current musical landscape, however, is hidden in the niche areas of pop culture and experimental music, jazz or electronica. As in other artistic genres (like Michael Haneke in film or Elfriede Jelinek in literature), Austria’s best musicians don’t always produce easily accessible fare. Maybe it’s because the distance between their work and the Schlager-dominated mainstream is so vast that drawing a clear line between yourself and the Schlontz makes much more sense than any misplaced hope of joining in. 

This contemporary music travel guide to Austria, complete with a CD by insatiable musical Wanderlust stalwarts col legno, offers 'tons of useful information, addresses, recommendations, interviews and essays on Austria’s surprisingly diverse musical landscape'. Click here for more information.

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