FRICTION NYC

Malaria! was a popular band of the Neue Deutsche Welle (German New Wave) movement formed in 1981 by Bettina Koester, Gudrun Gut, Manon P. Duursma, Christine Hahn, and Susanne Kuhnke.

I was first turned onto the Berlin quintet from their Compilation 1981-1984 album, a collection of 16 tracks from all of their early releases, and includes just about all of the tracks from their critically acclaimed debut, Emotion. Malaria!’s style of deep-voxed no wave was dark, cold, abrupt, harsh, and yet still danceable, notably due to the electronic elements in their music.

Prior to the release of 1982’s Emotion, the all-female group appeared on a John Peel session and toured with the likes of The Birthday Party and John Cale. A bio on the band stated that the “tour was the first that promoted new German music in the United States.” An Indie Top 10 hit followed in the U.S. and Europe with the 12″ single “New York Passage/Your Turn To Run” late in 1981.

The band broke up in 1984, but were still making the charts in 2001 with the Chicks On Speed remix of “Kaltesklareswasser” from the remix album Malaria! Versus. Check out “Your Turn To Run” below and pick up their work from your favorite record shop. Online outlets such as iTunes and eMusic also carry some of the band’s albums.

Malaria!  ”Your Turn To Run” (via Merry Swankster)