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Country: Germany
Track List:
- I Got Trouble
- African Girl
- I Wish I Could Ride
- Just A Little Bit Something
- Birthday (The World's Gates)
- I Don't Mind
- Franz Wanz Ran And Fell
Franz De Byl has been described as “one of the most curious characters ever to emerge from the Berlin underground.” In 1972 the German classical record label Thorofon released his debut solo album ‘Und’ which has been called, “an eccentric collection of freaky acoustic folk songs with bluesy elements and an extra satirical, political twist.”
The album evidently caught the attention of Nurse With Wound who subsequently included Franz De Byl as one of 291 musicians and bands on the now well-known list of alternative, underground and avant-garde music first compiled back in 1979.
However - flash forward to the 21st Century – Franz threatened to sue Nurse With Wound because they didn’t ask for his consent (back in 1979) and therefore it constituted a copyright infringement.
But not only that – he also threatened to sue sites like Discogs and RYM for including his albums. A brief history of which can be read about on RYM:
"Franz de Byl does not understand one thing and that thing is the internet. Oh boy...
This
guy is absolutely insane! Where do I begin... well, he's been
threatening Steven Stapleton for some time because he believes the Nurse
With Wound list is a work of copyright infringement. Franz wants to sue
Stapleton because he didn't ask for his consent way back in 1979 when
the list was published in the liner notes of Chance Meeting. No, I'm serious.
The
madness of King Franz does not stop there. He's also threatened to sue
sites like Discogs and RYM for including his albums, obviously a form of
copyright infringement. This guy actually wrote a nonsensical letter to
Sharifi: "Dear Mr. Sharifi, I am absolutely angry about your behaviour
and I cannot see any respect for me as a hardly betrayed artist since
the year 1970..."
He's probably just pissed off because his collaboration album with Heiner Hohnhaus has an average rating of 1.98...
I'm only scratching the surface of this guy's craziness. When this blog
reported Franz's behaviour he flooded the site with bizarre abusive
messages, e.g. typing "you are a motherfucking motherfucker" a
ridiculous amount of times and saying "You're nothing but a sucker, a no
name, a wanker and coward, a KGB and Ku Klux Klanny motherfucker!" In
one rant he attributes a quote to Frank Zappa - the quote itself was
never actually said by FZ, but hey, at least it shows Franz has a good
taste in music.
Good lord, just have a look for yourself. I'd
say Franz's behaviour has to be seen to be believed, but I've seen it
and I still don't believe it!
But what's the music of this guy
like? Actually pretty good! And not as insane as his beyond bizarre
online rants would suggest. This album isn't particularly sophisticated -
it's all based around acoustic guitar and vocals. "African Girl"
contains about two chords played over and over for seven minutes. The
enjoyable thing is the low key, intimate vibe that's pleasant but maybe
slightly unnerving. It's odd feeling intimate with Franz de Byl...
There's
also some fantastic guitar playing. The solo in "Birthday" is downright
beautiful! Franz can get down and dirty as proved by the raw acoustic
blues of the opening track, "I Got Trouble".
This isn't the kind
of thing you can listen to over and over - one neat little play sums it
up nicely. But this is a memorable album. 40 minutes in the presence of
Franz de Byl isn't exactly something you forget. His lyrics make no
sense, I think he's trying to tell some kind of story in "African Girl"
but there won't be a man alive who'll be able to follow it. And that's
all part of the charm.
Of course, by writing a review of this
album, I'm committing the heinous crime of copyright infringement and
Franz'll sue me for this. Hell, it's probably copyright infringement to
mention the titles of his songs or even refer to the guy by name!
I look forward to my day in court with you, Franz! Now I'd better get ready for some serious jail time...'
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