Martin Spengler & die foischn Wiener*innen (AUT)"Foisch" means ‘false’. Singer-songwriter Martin Spengler dubbed his band ‘the false Viennese’ because none of them come from Austria’s capital. That doesn’t stop them digging deep into the city’s cultural and musical roots and transforming classic Weanalieder into something contemporary. The old truths remain: the poeticism of life, love and death (inevitable in Vienna!), hope and sadness – now partnered with waltz, the blues, bossa nova, jazz and pop. Therese Hafenscher used to say it wasn’t just wine that made the Viennese merry: she sang it took Küssen, Singen und Trinken — kissing, singing and drinking. Old truths endure here. World music with a Viennese twirl, kiss, song and toast.

Photo Stephan Mussil