Tomte

Emerging from Hamburg, Germany, during 1991, Tomte developed a moody indie aesthetic shaped by Hamburger Schule groups such as Tocotronic and Brit-pop ensembles like Pulp. Following several minor personnel shifts, the roster settled with Thees Uhlmann, Dennis Becker, Oliver Koch, Timo Bodenstein, and Max Schroder. The band issued its debut EP, Blinkmuffel, in 1996, then delivered the first full-length album, Du Weisst, Was Ich Meine, two years afterward. Eine Sonnige Nacht reached stores in 2000. Soon after, in partnership with fellow Hamburgers Kettcar, the musicians launched their own imprint, Grand Hotel van Cleef. Their opening release on that label, 2003’s Hinter All Diesen Fenstern, carried the group into the mainstream; the album entered the German Top 50 and produced the singles “Schreit den Namen Meiner Mutter” and “Die Schonheit der Chance.” Buchstaben Uber der Stadt (Letters Above the City) appeared in 2006.