To Live Is To Know was the debut album by Baby You Know the German Indie country band from Regensburg, this album was produced by Peter Wacha and the band at Molotov studios in Landshut in 1990, Baby You Know were Violinist Karin Baummler, soon to be prominent Green politician Erhard Grundl alongside Hari Beugler, Doc Schott, King Molotov and Robert Poschl, with guests including Robert Forster, Don Pipeline, Ziggy Nervous and Biene.
The album opens with Suicide Show that rearranges the lyrics to some classic Green On Red and marries it to the sounds of Cuba era Silos and comes up with a delicious hybrid for anyone with a heart who loves Paisley College indie sounds while namechecking Dylan's Blood On The Tracks.
Who Cares if your happy or sad, just make sure to have fun listening to this jaunty little pop song with lyrics that question notions of freedom and the hopes and aspirations you might have, over a hoedown bluegrass meets Steve Earle style backing.
Rimbaud takes us on a journey with that most mystical of French poets who led the Indie rocker lifestyle by going down a trail that led him to living in a Camden bedsit through to trips to Africa, the poetry is referenced and stolen from, Karin's violin adds dramatic effect to the words.
It's Different At Night you need to make those guitars jangle louder just to be heard, or your lover may not call in the middle of the night.
In Another Life is soft shoe reflections of what might be, if things shook out differently, how will your dreams be realised.
Considering A Change features Karin on vocals for this song hoping to change lives, she sits around broke, falling in love with an artist, was she already dreaming of moving to Australia with Robert Forster, or did she just want the re-unification of Germany to work out for the best.
Stone Cold Boy is somewhere between the Silos and mid 70's Dylan, in places it feels angry even if the anger is for love not going the way you want it too.
Between The Wars has a dark edge to the string arrangements, portents of doom for the coming cataclysm, guitars getting more strained with outre percussive effects, descriptions of the worst war crimes among the scratchy sounds, this is an immense song that I wish I'd been listening too regularly for the last 30 odd years.
Night Must Fall unless you're near the poles in mid-summer, chiming mandolins lead this Waterboys style windswept tale that will give you a punch on the nose if you don't listen carefully enough. When the guitars go off towards the end it's a magnificent parting shot.
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