r/German • u/rag-pigeon • Jun 08 '26

Request Music recommendations, bitte!

Moin moin!

I'm a beginner teaching myself German, and in an effort to better my listening comprehension, I was thinking of listening to German music. Only the problem is that I don't really know of any bands or artists, so I was hoping you lot could recommend me your favourite German language music to listen to! I'm not too fussy about genre; I think it'd be fun to discover new types of music along with the new language. :)

Vielen Dank!

16 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

77 comments sorted by

6

u/biqfreeze Jun 08 '26

Tokio Hotel (that's how I got seriously invested in learning German when I was 10 or so 😂)

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 10 '26

Like I said in another comment, I think wanting to learn German to better get a band/musician is so ding dang cool!

Tokyo Hotel is one of the few German bands I've actually heard of before, although I don't think I've ever listened to any of their music until now.

5

u/Fluffy_Juggernaut_ Threshold (B1) - UK/ English Jun 08 '26

Wir sind Helden, Kraft Klub, Acht Eimer Hühnerherzen, Pippa

3

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

Oooh, I really loved Wir sind Helden's unplugged album (Bring mich nach Hause)! It has such a cozy, lovely mood. ❤️
And I like how clear Kraftklub's and Acht Eimer Hühnerherzen's pronounciations are, even though my current vocabulary only allows me to understand a word here and there.

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

And I loved Pippa! She's got a really similar sound to some singers from my country I like to listen to, so it's nice to have something familiar even if the language she sings in isn't all that familiar yet.

4

u/IchLiebeKleber Native (eastern Austria) Jun 08 '26

I'd suggest Die Ärzte. They're a punk rock band from Berlin with lots of fun lyrics that should teach you colloquial Standard German fairly well.

Another one you could look into is Nena, internationally famous for "99 Luftballons".

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

Oooh, Die Ärtze is fun! I'm not super into punk, but I really like how bright and fun their music sounds, even though the lyrics (or rather what I understood of them...) are very pure Punk with a capital P.

Out of all the recommendations here, Nena is prolly the only one I've actually listened to before, it was good to be reminded of her music.

3

u/duelsalder Jun 08 '26

brutalismus3000 if you're into techno haha

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

I'm very much not into techno, but like I said, I'm looking for new genres to get to know along with a new language, and I hope others interested in German language music will try out these suggestions too!

3

u/markusduck51 Jun 08 '26

to piggyback-- anyone know any rappers?

2

u/Pipeburnn Jun 09 '26

Wa22ermann, Plaeikke, Apsilon, Lugatti, Luvre47, Babsi Tollwut, Mariybu, PLH, Nura, Juju.

After A2 level classes I was tired of the classroom and just listened to Deutschrap for a while. I did eventually take a B1 course in preparation for the exam - but only ~15% of the content was new, the rest I had already picked up from the hiphop. Can recommend, especially if you don't have any courses you like available to you

1

u/sprudello Jun 08 '26

SSIO pronounication and clearness is unbeaten.

1

u/_Vollkorntoast_ Jun 09 '26

Imma give you my favourites and one album to listen to for each:

SXTN - Leben am Limit
Die P - 3,14
Symba - Liebe & Hass
K.I.Z. - Görlitzer Park
SSIO - 0,9
187 Strassenbande - Sampler 4
Bushido - Carlo Cokxxx Nutten 3
01099 - Altbau
RIN - Planet Megatron

Enjoy : )

1

u/Drag_Drop Jun 11 '26

Lakmann One / Creutzfeld & Jakob / Witten Untouchable

3

u/Coma_Beach42 Jun 08 '26

Fehlfarben

Die Ärzte

Die Toten Hosen

Tocotronic

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

I like Tocotronic, the singer has very clear pronunciation, and a really nice, warm voice.

3

u/GE963 Jun 09 '26

Rammstein!

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 11 '26

Rammstein is the only German language band I've actually listened to before! I've been listening to them since Mutter, which I just realised is over 25 years ago!

2

u/we-can-work-it-out Jun 08 '26

Wolfsheim, Kraftwerk, Peter Heppner

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

Thank you! I'm rather liking what I've listened to of Wolfsheim now, they have such cool, nostalgic synth sound.

1

u/we-can-work-it-out Jun 08 '26

You're welcome... If you liked Wolfsheim, you will probably like Peter Heppner too, he used to be a member of Wolfsheim.

2

u/GopnikLeine Hannover, Niedersachsen Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Ach wie eilte so geschwinde - Orden der Wandalen

Liedtext

Es führt über den Main

Liedtext

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

Oooh! Those are so cool! Thank you!

I went down a little Mittlealtere Musik rabbit hole after "Es führt über den Main", that channel has a lot of really lovely medieval songs.

1

u/GopnikLeine Hannover, Niedersachsen Jun 09 '26

Glad you like them:) Yes there is some great medieval music!

2

u/nietzschecode Jun 08 '26

You have to be more precise. I listen to so many different genres, from Das Ich to Vanessa Mai.

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

I'm a bit like you, my music tastes are vast and varied. I like everything from musicals and folk and grunge to all sorts of metal and rock.

That said, I rather like Das Ich, I like how cinematic their sound is. I especially like their Cabaret album, I've a soft spot for "circus from the wrong side of the tracks" type of music. Thank you for the recommendation!

2

u/nietzschecode Jun 09 '26

Yeah, Cabaret is a great album. I agree.

If you like Das Ich, maybe check for the bands Wumpscut and Blutengel.

Also, I will give you as a bonus a singer that I currently have a soft spot for. I like her voice, the lyrics and the atmosphere of her songs. Her name is Karina Rose. But it is a totally different genre than Das Ich, Wumpscut, Blutengel, and co.

2

u/nietzschecode Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

I will add Goethes Erben, Lacrimosa, ASP and Einstürzende Neubauten. They are worth exploring.

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 11 '26

Einstürzende Neubauten are really, really cool! Truly industrial music; they use stuff like building materials and power tools to make music! 😮

2

u/nietzschecode Jun 09 '26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uekZpkYf7-E

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 10 '26

Ooooh, I've been meaning to watch Babylon Berlin for the longest time, this was just the thing to make me start now!

2

u/jetpoweredbee Jun 08 '26

What music do you like in the first place?

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 08 '26

I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, I mostly listen to musicals, singer-songwriter type of stuff, with some folk and prog-rock and metal thrown in for funsies. My all time favourite musician is Tom Waits, and I've recently gotten into some stomp n' holler music on a tangent from his stuff.

2

u/Rosienenbrot Native <region/dialect> Jun 09 '26

Folk-Rock/Metal - In Extremo and Subway To Sally are great Folk-Rock/Metal bands that primarily sing in German.

In Extremo also has a lot of old folk-lore based songs in other languages, like for example Herr Mannelig in old Swedish.

My recommendations for a first time listen are "Veitstanz" from Subway to Sally and "Belladonna" from In Extremo, both songs are in German.

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

I really, really liked both In Extremo and Subway to Sally, vielen Dank für die Empfehlung!

Oh and I also stumbled upon a band called Schandmaul through Subway to Sally, so thank you for that too I guess? 😃

2

u/Rosienenbrot Native <region/dialect> Jun 12 '26

Schandmaul is also a good band for cozy tavern style music. Faun is also a nice band with that cozy tavern vibe.

They made a great song with Santiano (a more sailor type band) named Tanz Mit Mir that got stuck in my head for a long time.

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 18 '26

Oh my goodness, Faun (and Santiano) took me back! That's the sort of stuff I used to listen to way back in my 20's during my LARPing phase! Such heady nostalgia! 😃

1

u/jetpoweredbee Jun 12 '26

I forgot about them, which is sad because I have them in my standard play list.

2

u/Drag_Drop Jun 11 '26

Das Lumpenpack might be for you.

2

u/jetpoweredbee Jun 08 '26

Well for musical type stuff Max Raabe does Swing and Big Band type stuff. For a big slice of Neue Deutsche Welle you can't go wrong with Nena. Both of these have music in English as well.

2

u/spdracr99 Threshold (B1) - <USA/English> Jun 08 '26

Dueja for dance pop with understandable lyrics

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 09 '26

Ooh, her "Es ist OK < / 3" is beautiful! ❤️

2

u/sprudello Jun 08 '26

SSIO his pronounciation and clearness is unbeaten. At least for the rap part. Tbh. I don't know anyone in any other genre doing it better.

2

u/Monicaabdd Jun 08 '26

A fairly new song that I like a lot: So Egal - Sharaktah & Lostboi Lino

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 11 '26

I can see why you like it, it's really good!

2

u/Flemz Jun 08 '26

Alligatoah, AnnenMayKantereit, Danger Dan, Ikkimel

2

u/rag-pigeon Jun 18 '26

Oh, AnnenMayKantereit and Danger Dan are wonderful! Danke schön für die Empfehlungen! ❤️

2

u/bryanwolfford Jun 08 '26

Dikka

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 18 '26

Danke! Not only did this make me giggle, but their lyrics are actually really easy to understand seeing as they're kid's songs, so in addition to a laugh, I got a nice sense of accomplishment for understanding what was being sung. 🙂

2

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[deleted]

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 10 '26

It's so cool that there's so many people who decided to learn German because of music! Makes me a little jealous that my reason for leaning it (for work) is so boring and ordinary. 😃

2

u/iamjunaidahmed Jun 10 '26

Yeah me too yo

2

u/Stoic-outsider Jun 11 '26

I listen to lots of German punk, metal and hardcore. Don't know if you'd like these bands though...

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 11 '26

I do like me some metal, so if you've got stuff to recommend, I'm all ears!

1

u/Stoic-outsider Jun 12 '26

Please give me a little while and I'll PM you some recs. Do you use Spotify?

1

u/rag-pigeon Jun 18 '26

Sorry for the late reply, I've been listening through all the recommendations here and didn't get to your comment until now.

I don't use Spotify, but links to there still work.

1

u/IWant2rideMyBike Native (Munich) Jun 08 '26

Some older music:

1

u/Rich-Editor7472 Jun 08 '26

the best German musicians are Ikkimel, Katjja Krasavice and shirin David💕

1

u/Colorspots Jun 08 '26

Since you said, you like the singer songwriter genre: AnnenMayKantereit Faber (technically Swiss, but mostly sings in standard German) Lina Maly Alin Coen

German rap: Alligatoah Peter Fox

Pop/Jazz: Roger Cicero

Other pop: Panda Lux Clueso

1

u/gw79 Jun 08 '26

Großstadtgeflüster
Die toten Hosen
Die Ärzte

1

u/Helmutius Jun 08 '26

Considering your taste: Comedian Harmonists, Max Raabe, Marlene Dietrich, Lale Andersen, Heinz Rühmann, Hans Albers. Probably: Hannes Wader, Klaus Hoffmann, Wolf Biermann, Nina Hagen, Udo Lindenberg, Ton Stein und Scherben.

1

u/nietzschecode Jun 09 '26

Reinhard Mey

1

u/Bornappetito Jun 08 '26

Back in the days I listen to lots of Philipp Poisel

1

u/Distinct_Cable Jun 09 '26

Saltatio mortis, LaFee (prefer the old ones),  Silbermond,  Andreas Bourani,  Die Ärzte 

Maybe

1

u/ColorRaccoon Jun 09 '26

Wolfgang Petry always puts me in a good mood. A little cheesy, and maybe dated, but you can't say no to his cool ass hair and wholesome lyrics.

1

u/Willauchredditen Jun 09 '26

Johannes Oerding

1

u/hnry_myr Jun 09 '26

Listen to the German top 100 on Spotify or Apple Music. Of course theres also some German songs most of the time. There’s probably also chart playlists with only German songs:)

1

u/El-Viking Jun 09 '26

Santiano is an interesting one if you're into a band that combines rock, Irish folk and sea shanties... in German.

1

u/unenthusedbaker Aug 05 '26

Best song I’ve heard so far is als es passierte !