Make It Happen

Dieselpunk is more than streamline design, weird weapons, elegant fashion and flying boats. It is music - melodies of old and sound of tomorrow.

Over the last 16 years, Wolfgang Parker founded the Dieselpunk genre with his 1998 debut album “Hep City Swing,” and went on to release 3 additional albums, “Octoboure” (2000), “Room Nienteen” (2007), and “Petty Standards” (2010). “Father of the Black Cat, Pt. I” is the first batch of all-original music the band has recorded in 10 years.
“Father of the Black Cat, Part I” offers not just new music, but a new approach to music all together. By embracing the independent fundraising platform of Kickstarter, Wolfgang and his band will give an all-access view into the creation of the album as well as Wolfgang’s personal insight into the songs themselves; songs Parker says are the most honest, and personally revealing he has ever written. Videos will be shot by the band as they rehearse, track, and hear the final mixes for the first time.

JOIN THE PROJECT. ENLIST NOW!

Backers can choose rewards ranging from .mp3 files of the songs to a hardcopy CD autographed by the entire band, hand written lyric sheets, and more. A few backers will have the chance to snag ultra-rare copies of Wolfgang’s early albums, “Hep Ciy Swing,” “Octoboure,” and the American edition of “Room Nineteen” autographed by the band to the individual backer.

A portrait of Wolfgang: from the Lovely Gianncarlo @ myspace

Russolo, a Futurist Musician

Luigi Russolo (1885-1947) was an Italian painter and self-taught musician. In 1913 he wrote The Art of Noises, which is considered to be one of the most important and influential texts in 20th century musical aesthetics. Russolo and his brother Antonio used instruments they called "intonarumori", which were acoustic noise generators that permitted the performer to create and control the dynamics and pitch of several different types of noises.
Russolo and Marinetti gave the first concert of Futurist music, complete with intonarumori, in April 1914 (causing a riot).

Sound of Banjo

Mino Delle Site
1932

Zeppelin Piano

The LZ129 Hindenburg featured the first piano ever to be carried on a passenger aircraft.
To meet the strict weight limits of a lighter-than-air dirigible, the Zeppelin company commissioned the renowned piano making firm of Julius Blüthner to create a lightweight aluminum alloy piano, and the Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik created a small grand piano that weighed only 162 kg (356 lbs). The frame, rim, fallboard, and top lid were made of duralumin, and the legs, back bracing, and lyre were made of hollow duralumin tubing.

Hindenburg lounge under construction
Zeppelin chief designer Ludwig Dürr standing, at right of photo, Professor Franz Wagner at the piano, Captain Ernst Lehmann to Wagner's right

Full story & more images @ Airships.net

Soviet Noir

Actually it's a record cover advertising jewelry and silverware
c. 1940

From megan_swing collection

J'attendrai Swing

Django Reinhardt & Friends
1939

For Friday Night

Johnny Hess sings, in person:

This time it's an adverisement for the Meva cigarettes (erroneously named 'Eva' in the clip)

For Friday night: Je suis swing!

 Very expressive cover of Johnny Hess' 1940 hit, performed by a Belgian band in 1993.

The Zazous, Wiki tells us, were a subculture in France during World War II. They were young people expressing their individuality by wearing big or garish clothing (similar to the zoot suit fashion in America a few years before) and dancing wildly to swing jazz and bebop. Men wore large lumber jackets, while women wore short skirts, striped stockings and heavy shoes, and often carried umbrellas. The Vichy regime tried hard to suppress the movement - but their music is still alive.

Harvester Remixed

Directed by Iwo Zaniewski (2008)

via Steampunkopedia

Zeitgeist: Gene Clark, No Other

Though Clarks's ambitious musical efforts recorded here have nearly nothing in common with the 20s or 30s scene, the cover is perfectly in style.
1974

Dieselpunk Age Hits

Jazz? No. Post-industrial? Nada. Electronica? Not here, pardon.
So what?
Just a home-made compilation of nice music from four so different decades. That's what makes me think of dieselpunk. That's what dieselpunk makes me think of.

Tracklist:
1. Sparks - Propaganda (0:22)
2. DAF - Der Mussolini (3:55)
3. Sparks - Get in the Swing (4:33)
4. Queen - Flick of the Wrist (3:19)
5. Roxy Music - Love is the Drug (3:58)
6. Nazareth - This Flight Tonight (3:22)
7. Black Sabbath - Am I Going Insane (Radio) (4:17)
8. The Buggles - Johnny on the Monorail (5:26)
9. T. Rex - Carsmile Smith and the Old One (3:16)
10. The Strokes - New York City Cops (3:35)
11. The Kinks - Dead End Street (Live) (2:30)
12. David Bowie- Modern Love (3:
13. The Who - Pinball Wizard (3:01)
14. Muse - Space Dementia (6:20)

Link here