I
Daniel Landa

About:

4 November 1968

Daniel Landa (born in Prague) is a Czech musician, actor and racer. Landa began his musical career in 1987 when he along with David Matásek founded the oi! and skinhead band Orlík. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory in the area of Music and Drama.

The band had a short career, releasing only two albums, 1990's 'Oi'! and 1991's 'Demise'. Orlík has been criticized for its racial overtones, targeting specifically the gypsy minority in the Czech Republic. The band declined these offenses and claimed that their music was misunderstood and patriotic. The racist image keeps hounting Landa throughout his career. His initiative from 2005, the order 'Ordo Lumen Templi', does not help cause it was compared to the proto-racist 'Ordo Novi Templi' in media. Although it seems that with a song like 1938 from the album 'Vltava Tour' he tries to shed his racist image by reminding the 1938 occupation by Nazi Germany of Czechoslowakija.

After the band broke up, frontman Daniel Landa went on to have a successful solo career, releasing twelve albums between 1993 and 2004. In 1996 he produced the musical 'Krysař' ('Ratcatcher') with his German wife Miriam. The story about a skinhead in communist Prague again fuelled the racist allegations. With the project 'Smrtihlav' he wanted to rid himself of the racist image once and for all and released an album that mixed metal, folk and electronic influences. The album became his first solo succes.

In 2000 Landa released a best of album claiming it was the end of his singing career and he would spend time becoming a racecar driver. Although he did race a while he already returned to the music scene in 2002 with '9mm argumentů'. Allegedly because EMI forced him to because of contractual obligations. He also started a new musical project in 2003. The idea was a 'Rockquiem' around Mozarts Requiem. The project was a coop with German composer Stefan Wurz. A total of seventy musicians joined in on the project. In 2007 'Rockrequiem' was turned into a modern Ballet by choreographer Ralf Rossa for his Amadeus show. On 31 January 2008 Czech prime minister Mirek Topolánek cited his verse 'Dyť i to největší hovado má svůj strop!' from the song 'Forbes' of the concept album 'Smrtihlav' (1998).

On the web:

- Daniel's website: http://www.daniellanda.cz

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Front 242 (Belgium)

Rammstein (Germany)

Laibach (FRS Yugoslavia)

What do we think:

DB: Ai, reading his bio i had doubts of adding him to the website. On the other hand he is not the first we mention who doesn´t score very high on political correctness (hello Oliver Mandic and Zarah Leander). Musically there is nothing wrong with Landa in giving Czechian pop a dark edge. If you listen to his Smrtihlav project without any knowledge of the above you´ll a orginal gloomy form of industrial-rock with hints of balkan folk mixed into it. And if he is as right wing as some claim we probably couldn't insult him more then mentioning him inbetween al kinds of eurovision kind artists.

PR: The 'Smrtihlav' album is actually quit nice and interesting. We picked it up on a holiday in the Czech Republic a few years ago. It has that frech and unfamiliar East-European sound to it. I have no idea what he is singing and grunting, but it works. Redaing his bio here, I wonder if I want to hear any of his older material...

Recommended albums:

♪♪♪ - Smrtihlav - 1998

Further listening:

Miloš Frýba for president (OI!) - 1990; Demise - 1991; Valčík - 1993; Chcíply dobrý víly - 1995; Pozdrav z fronty - 1997; Konec - 1999; Best of Landa - 2000; 9mm argumentů - 2002; Vltava tour - 2003; Neofolk - 2004; Večer s písní Karla Kryla pro český národ - 2004; Kvaska soundtrack - 2007

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided