Bodenständig 2000

Bodenständig 2000 is an electronic music group from Germany, founded in 1995 by Dragan Espenschied and Bernhard Kirsch. They are the self-proclaimed pioneers of the home computer folk music movement.

In 1999 they released their debut album "Maxi German Rave Blast Hits 3" on Rephlex Records, London. It contains mixture of chiptunes, rave, eurodance, some "serious electronica" plus German vocals and was completely produced at home with non-professional equipment and selfmade software.

Up until 2002 some minor releases took place, like remixes, compilation tracks or home computer diskettes. In June 2003 the EP "Hart rockende Wissenschaftler" was released on Feed The Machine records, Detroit, containing hardcore chiptune dance tracks on one side and folky harmony singing on the other.

By invitation of the US subsidiary of the German Goethe-Institut, Bodenständig 2000 was able to perform the first concert of the Version>3-Festivals in Chicago in 2003.

The song 'In Rock 8-Bit' is featured in the Annoying Thing animation by TurboForce3d starring Crazy Frog.

The musicians achieved worldwide coverage in July 2006 due to their opting out of the music portal iTunes, which they attributed to fundamental disagreement with the restrictive Digital Rights Management model. Gaining massive momentum in the blogosphere the story finally made its way into the International Herald Tribune. Being accused of trying to pull off a publicity stunt, the band decided to make the tracks in question available for free download.