I had wanted to put up a schlagertastic song by an Austrian girl called Doris Russo whose name, when put into Google, returns a spectacular 834 hits (just 724,174 less than Demis Roussos) and who may well have the honour of being the only person alive to have covered two Lisa Scott-Lee songs but the CD won't work. Never mind.

Having given you something by Boytronic, i thought it only fair to also mention the other Eighties boyband dusted off for the new millenium. The Twins who, like the adorable HK pop group of the same name, clearly aren't even related to each other, apparently had a brief flurry of popularity around 1983 and were more or less forgotten until twenty years later when Hell, chief International DeeJay Gigolo, decided that he'd re-release their hit Face To Face on what was, during the summer of Electroclash, the coolest record label in the world.

The Twins - Face To Face






Naturally, no round-up of German music, however brief, would be complete without mention of the almighty Rammstein. Germany's biggest export in recent years (Scooter aside) are admirable on a number of levels, not least for their refusal to play in venues where the health and safety regulations preclude them from setting themselves on fire. You can tell from their dedication to showmanship, their enormously catchy tunes and the fact that Moskau, from their album Reise Reise, was clearly written with a Tatu collaboration in mind (only stymied by Yulia's pregnancy), they're a proper pop group. Getting the Pet Shop Boys to remix Mein Teil was just the icing on the cake.

Rammstein - Mein Teil (Pet Shop Boys Remix)




There's a case for saying that electro-rock pioneers Laibach are a one-trick-pony but there's no denying that it's an incredibly amusing trick. The Slovene band brilliantly emphasise the slightly disturbing totalitarian trappings of "classic" stadium rock - the baying crowds having simple messages repeatedly drummed into their heads - turning things like Queen's One Vision or The Beatles' Get Back into stomping, jackbooted anthems for dictators-in-waiting. This is their hilarious assault on the former.


Laibach - Geburt Einer Nation

As a bonus, here's Mina Harker of Melodrom and Milan Fras of Laibach singing Ohne Dich by Rammstein - it's staggeringly beautiful if you like this sort of thing.

Mina Harker - Ohne Dich