Believe it or not: This man has sold his entire record collection! So states Marina records, the German label releasing Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre’s AUTODISCOGRAPHIE.

The premise is self-explanatory: this disc is a compilation of songs that Benjamin really likes. They are not in chronological order rather, they seem to indicate various phases of his life. There is a definite beginning and a definite ending to this disc. I think of it less as a good mix and more as a collection of songs.

Benjamin is a german "pop author". In his books, e.g. "Soloalbum" (which was also released in Germany as a film - actually a crappy one) you can easily make out his "musical background". The chapters of one of his books are derived from Oasis-songtitles. He used go out with with a german comedian, Anke Engelke.

Benjamin also used to write "jokes" for a german late night show called "Harald Schmitt". and I think this was his best time. His books started out in a lively manner capturing trendy scenes and then became extremely "popstar-ish" (i.e. too much alcohol/drugs/sex stories and too strange) It is easy to see why Bret Easton Ellis like Benjamin’s work. Both author’s have a distinct pop sensibility that they tend to carry too far.

This brings me back to AUTODISCOGRAPHIE. The only tracks I want to review are the German ones. All the other songs fall into the category of well known tunes or anthems from a particular time period and should be familiar to anyone reading the gullbuy.

I really like the Die Reigerung song 1975 in part because it was the year of my birth (as well as Benjamin’s, apparently) and also because It sounds a bit like The Jam.

Westbam’s Song Computerstaat is also pretty great because its in the post-punk style (complete with a lo-fi synth) and has funny German vocals.

Phillip Boa & The Voodoclub provides a wacky sort of electronic/lounge cover of David Bowie’s Starman.