Deichkind
Niveau Weshalb Warum

Get ready for neon geometry, in-your-face beats and unforgettable texts. Deichkind, known for their crazy live shows and social criticism, have topped the German album charts with "Niveau Weshalb Warum" (roughly, Class Why What For), their sixth disc.

Founded in 1997, the Hamburg-based group pioneered a mix of hip-hop and electro sounds. The songs on the new album - as their fans have come to expect - don't shy away from real-life issues. They address things that people can identify with, like illegal music downloads and problems at work.

The music videos to a couple of the singles from the album, "So 'ne Musik" (Music Like This) and "Denken sie gross" (Thinking Big), feature the wild outfits, daring colors, spacey imagery, and hot beats that Deichkind are known for. Oh yeah, and the four current members of the group have nicknames that are as freaky as their look: Kryptik Joe, La Perla, Porky, and Ferris Hilton.

"'Niveau Weshalb Warum' is a success for Deichkind because it's not boring for a second and provides an excellent service to good moods. Who else can claim to do that?" wrote MTV Germany. So, who's ready to smile?

Johannes Oerding
Alles brennt

Like Deichkind, Johannes Oerding also hails from Hamburg, but that's all they have in common. If you're into singer-songwriter stuff, Johannes Oerding is for you - even if you can't understand all his texts.

"Alles brennt" (Everything Is Burning) is his fourth album, but - at third on the German album charts - is the 33-year-old's most successful. For years, he's been paying his dues as supporting act to big names like Scorpions and Joe Cocker, but now his own shows are sold out.

Packed with strumming, densely texted ballads, the album has more than a few refrains that will get stuck in your head and a good balance of melancholy and feel-good numbers. Johannes Oerding recorded "Alles brennt" in a hotel with a beach view in the town of - get this - Sankt Peter Ording (no relation) in northernmost Germany. But as he confesses on his website, sitting in the studio isn't really his thing. He much prefers being on stage and writing songs.

Writing will have to take a backseat until summer, though, since he's booked up with tour dates all over Germany through mid-June.

Prag
Kein Abschied

If you like Til Schweiger's films, you probably know Prag's lead singer, Nora Tschirner, who co-starred in his 2007 flick, "Keinohrhasen." All lot of actors think they can sing (and vice versa), but Tschirner actually can. And it's not surprising that the band's style - and especially their music videos - clearly have a melodramatic cinematic flair à la mid-20th century. Think "Grand Budapest Hotel" meets "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Tschirner teams up with two childhood friends to form her trio, which has been making chanson-influenced retro pop since 2013. Prag, by the way, is the German spelling of the Czech capital, but the band is based in Berlin.

Their debut album, "Premiere," however, was supported by musicians from the Prague Film Orchestra, hence the band name.

"Kein Abschied" (No Goodbye) is Prag's second album and the trio is taking it on a Germany-wide tour in March.

Maximilian Hecker
Spellbound Scenes of My Cure

In 2001, the New York Times put Maximilian Hecker's debut album in its Top 10, and the Berlin-based musician has a huge following in Asia thanks to a collaboration he did a while back with the Goethe-Institut. Now, the introverted guy-next-door with the wafting, esoteric style might finally have a shot at a breakthrough back home with "Spellbound Scenes of My Cure."

Sometimes compared with Radiohead, Maximilian Hecker has a soothing voice and incorporates enchanting melodies with synthesized sounds and his English-language lyrics are chalked full of hopeless romanticism and melancholy. It was clear from the beginning, though, that Maximilian Hecker has a big heart: He started off training to be a nurse before getting signed by a Berlin label and deciding to pursue music full-time.

If you're not already a day-dreamer, Maximilian Hecker will turn you into one. But if you want to see him live, you'll have to head to China, because he's touring there in April (with single concert dates in Korea and Taiwan as well).

Ali As
Amnesia

Old school street rap auf Deutsch and with a lyrical touch is what Ali As (formerly A$) has on offer. "Amnesia" is his second solo album and first chart landing (17th), though the Munich native has been part of a number of ensembles, like Der neue Süden and Kellerkommando, and done a lot of ghostwriting for other artists.

The 35-year-old of Pakistani heritage got his start freestyling in Munich clubs before he was signed to rap star Samy Deluxe's own label in 2006. He hasn't always had the best relationships to labels, though - hey, a good rapper can't play Mr. Nice Guy - and after a stint with Warner, "Amnesia was produced by Embassy of Music.

"As a comic figure, I would be a broke Bruce Wayne," Ali As told hiphop.de in an interview. "A guy without super powers who still makes the best of every situation and stays on the ball." Despite the batman image, not all of Ali As' texts are kid-friendly. But, at least according to rap mag Backspin, he's managed to find "the middle ground between social criticism and classy entertainment" in his breakthrough album.

Kate Müser hosts DW's German music magazine PopXport.