'Raqs Raqs Raqs Raqs' is the new Kissogram-song, exlusively made for the amnesty international / buffetlibre - project called 'peace'. if you donate a few bucks you'll get 180 new songs from artists/bands from all over the world. the money will be used for amnesty's actions and campaigns preventing Human rights abuses.

I believe this is a very good project. many great bands are taking part for free (see the line-up!) please download the stuff and donate, i think it's worth it.

And even more important: tell everyone, spread the word, post the link:         http://www.buffetlibredjs.net/peace.html

Have a look!

More about 'Raqs Raqs Raqs Raqs' soon..

yours peacefully

pope

As you may have noticed, our record company Louisville has finally gone bankrupt. We knew that this would happen some time. I've just read many negative, cynical and arrogant comments about that fact in the internet. i hope that there are still people around in Germany (i know that those people exist outside of Germany) who can appreciate the value and the work of an independent record label, trying to promote, build and establish good bands beyond the safe harbors of boring mainstream. there's just a few interesting record labels left in Germany (let's say morr, sinnbus, staatsakt, buback, just to mention a few of the bigger, influential ones), the labels come and go, that's economy, who cares..

but

jeans team, doc schoko, naked lunch etc have made wonderful records on louisville-records in the last years. (i can't and i won't  include kissogram - i'm prejudiced, you know.). of course this is my personal taste, and the taste of my generation of leather-jacked, ...

i'm in the hotel lounge of the marriot hotel in bucharest. be quick and you can meet me sitting on a red golden couch in white patent leather shoes and a serious facial expression. we've just seen the former palace of the romanian monstrosity of vanity, ceausescu, for the second time. bucharest is definitely not a beautiful city, but there's something goin' on that i seem to like. it's great to be here for the second time. joe has been here in civil war times, 1990. we've been here two years ago.
i just bought a bottle of stalinskaja vodka, the label says it's the romanian vodka no. 1.
so cheers, joseph, i'm going back to the room and then to a great bar we know from last time.
yours,
pope

ps our show is going to be tomorrow, in a pretty and pretty new venue called the ark. come!

'gomu to niku' means 'rubber and meat' in japanese. you probably don't need this information. but you can listen to the japanese version of rubber and meat now (myspace etc.), it won't be up for long time. it was recorded via skype (thanks to hasegawa-san).

also you may have realised, that the film 'rubber and meat' is online, too. directors gustavo and melissa did their best, so did the actors (especially the actress entering the scene after 1.32 min).

we're back from tokyo now, we had a really great time. i'll tell you more after i have finished my green tea.

yours sacrificially,

pope

Kissogram going to Japan. How's that? We'll be supporting the Austrian
heir apparent Franz Ferdinand again. For one week we'll be hiding
in Tokyo, tryin' to live on a fistful of rice. We're happy.
Plus we'll probably have another little show in a club, together with Fantastic Plastic
Machine. It's gonna be on the 9th. November.
More soon..

my personal Japan tags (i want to know yours, especially if you're Japanese..):

Ozu, Kurosawa, Murakami, Samurais, Pizzicato 5, Kitano, Miike,
Karaoke, Kamikaze, Sushi, The Plastics, Shinto, Geishas, Sumo, Manga...

yours sincerely

pope