Vinyl of the week: Musa Dagh – No Future

There are memorable voices of singers that accompany you over years and decades, triggering a sense of coming home when you listen to them. Eddie Vedder is certainly the most prominent voice in my life. But there are also such different singers like Axl Rose, Conor Oberst, Kristofer Aström or Fiona Apple on this list.

And definitely Aydo Abay! Ever since he released the first album as the frontman of Blackmail over 25 years ago (phew!), many albums in which he was involved have found their way into my record collection. Apart from the unquestionably exceptional classics from Blackmail I own albums by Ken, Abay or his latest project Musa Dagh on vinyl.

Musa Dagh’s debut album, released in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, sits on my shelf in the limited variant on Coke Bottle Green Vinyl. For inexplicable reasons, this version is currently being offered on Discogs for €75. Now album number 2 is about to follow.

Supergroup of german alternative rock

For those who are not familiar with Musa Dagh: Aydo Abay teamed up with Aren Emirze for this band. Some readers that are familiar with german bands might recognize Emirze’s name. In the 2000s he released some great albums with the noise rock combo Harmful, unfortunately none of which have ever been released on vinyl – except for the 2010 release “Cause.” The band was quite present at the time, especially in VISIONS magazine, one of the most popular german music magazines. As a subscriber back then, I automatically became a fan. If any of the responsible parties are reading this: how about a vinyl release of “Sis Masis” and “7”? They are definitely missing in my collection…

The third member is Thomas Götz, the drummer of the Beatsteaks. Although I have to say “was” now, because he unfortunately had to leave the band due to other commitments. However, some of the drum parts for the second album were still contributed by him. They were recorded by the new drummer, Sascha Madsen, whose main band Madsen is also very popular in germany.

These go to eleven – a noise rock explosion

On their second album the noise level is taken up another notch. The lead single “Rhythm Pigs (A.F.M.D.)” – an absolute monster of a song, check it out on the ‘vinyl of the week’ playlist on Spotify – sets the tone. It is often said that the second work is the most challenging. Musa Dagh apparently didn’t feel such a burden. The songs feel more structured and instantly catchier than the sometimes slightly difficult predecessor. Moreover “No Future” convinces with even greater intensity and an immense force (and anger) that flows from the speakers both musically and lyrically. In my opinion, Musa Dagh surpasses their already pretty good predecessor by far.

With their second album, the band firmly establishes themselves on the german map of alternative rock. It feels somewhat fitting and almost like a journey back in time to the glorious 2000s that the album has been chosen as the Record of the Month in the latest issue of VISIONS magazine.

Vinyl of the week only available in germany

After some research I have to tell you that it will be quite difficult to purchase the vinyl of the week in record stores outside of germany. But since there are many german record stores shipping internationally it shouldn’t be a problem to buy the vinyl online. You can also head over to Discogs. Next to black vinyl you can choose between two colored vinyl editions, both limited to 500 copies. There is white or turquoise vinyl, which both fit pretty well to the album cover. The price is the same, so it is up to you which color you prefer. I can promise you that you will get a really really good album by some german rock legends.