Mnozil Brass

"And now for something completely different":

I stumbled across this little Austrian delight yesterday, and I naturally wanted to pass this along to the rest of the world (those who have not yet discovered me will continue to suffer). 

The Mnozil Brass has been around for some twenty years, founded by a septet of musicians hanging around the Mnozil Tavern in deepest, darkest Vienna.  This international assemblage (well, one of them is Hungarian) is known for its satirical take on a wide variety of music, mostly Schlager (sort of a Central European version of Country, without the pickups but with more beer).  They are all quite accomplished musicians, graduates of the Vienna College of Music, and quite funny.  Here is a brief intro to both:

 

 

For an introduction to each of the ensemble and an example of their humor, stick around for about twelve minutes with this delightful little piece of gemütlichkeit (with subtitles for the German-challenged, or "Austrian" as Obama would say – a double entendre to be sure, but the Germans would agree).  They fall within the same realm as Professor Peter Schickele of the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople.  [I wasn't able to directly post the video, but you can click on the icon above to access it.]

 

 

And just to show that their talents aren't just limited to the variety of brass instruments at which they are virtuosi, they can all sing quite well.  Perhaps channeling their inner Anschluß, they accompany themselves in an amusingly spot-on rendition (can you sing as well in German?) of the Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

 

If you have a chance to catch their act, do yourself a favor.  Note that they will be in Europe for the next year or so, so that might be an added bonus.  Take the opportunity while you still can (Europe that is).

 

(H/T to Texan99 at Grim's Hall.)