I’ve been giving Austria’s Hitradio Ö3 a bit of a hard time this week, simply because I think they should be playing more Austrian artists, and not just the 90-odd percent American and British musicians they currently seem to play. (I listen to them live via their internet feed and, while I love the music they play, a few more Austrians now and again wouldn’t go amiss).
In response, Lamieaa, one of Hitradio Ö3’s lovely team, told me about some of the Austrian singers the station currently plays. Singers like the Poxrucker Sisters, Tagträumer, Virginia Ernst, Klangkarussel and Thomas David (and, yes, if you are not Austrian, sadly you have probably never heard of any of them — which goes to my initial point about promoting Austrian singers being a good thing).
So, I headed off to YouTube to listen to some of them and, frankly, I liked them all.
Today, though, I’m featuring a song from an artist on Lamieaa’s list. An Austrian singer called Julian le Play, (real name Julian Heidrich), who apparently is quite big in Austria. He sings a lot of ballad-style songs, tends to sing in German (which I love), and currently has a couple of songs that stick with you.
My favorite at the moment is the song I’m playing for my Repeat Rotation Video today. Called ‘Phönix’ (what is it with these Austrians and their fixation on the phoenix rising from the ashes 🙂 ), it is a very pretty ballad, and Julian le Play has a beautiful voice.
As usual with my Repeat Rotation Video, it requires headphones, with the volume turned up as loud as it will go, your eyes closed and, hey, if you feel like slow dancing with yourself, or anyone else for that matter, go right ahead.