Matki Wandalki
Old School? New School? In reality, both are just a question of orchestral and sound preference. The freespirit, in this case, decides for No School: for only from the fragments of No (ie. No Wave in reference to No New York) new forms can originate. And, at best, No would also imply idiosyncratic wanking and autodidactic self-empowerment.
As 11-year-old pre-teen, this Gyro Gearloose of pataphysical sound Felix Kubin not only sought for self-satisfaction with his legendary child-band „Die Egozentrischen 2“ but also instigated the first folk synthesizer against its own instruction manual (of course in accordance with the „zeitgeist“ at that time). The result was an elevated monstrosity from a merciless rage-experiment with frightening precociousness. All at the peak of the Neue Deutsche Welle...
Thank god that today, more than two decades later, there is no stopping this former „wunderkind“! Admittedly, the mischievous demolition of pop structures, which was once attributed to a juvenile Berserkerdom, has since then evolved into a more conscious Dada-Hooliganism. Or - to put it simple with the metaphor of the album title - it turned into the „Mothers of Destruction“ (in Polish: Matki Wandalki = Vandalizing Mothers).
The fact that the anaemic ghost of deconstruction doesn’t spoil the 13 tracks on this CD must have to do with Felix’ abstruse humor. Like his love of sounds, the hum of Kubin’s cosmos is powerfully distinct. It reminds (not only) me of tschechoslovakian animation films and – even further back – of the electro-acoustic sound experiments of the fifties avant-garde long before their development into pop,.
Matki Wandalki unites several pairs of aesthetic contradictions. Abstract Darmstadt goes Pop. The result is „witty“ musique concrete and something that I can only interpret as „program-music“ without a narrative „program“.
That by such cheerful science he would also come out with a real hit for the possibleWeb-Nerds-Casting-Show (Hit Me Provider) is no surprise for me. On the conrtrary, it’s more than ever pleasing. With it Felix should finally be making the well deserved dough...As for me, I just can’t leave him out of Pop...No School? Better this: Own School! Class Kubin!
Fritz Ostermayer
1. Wirbelwind am Manual (my former title, from BBC „Mixing It“) 0’40
2. Menthol Radio Swing (Mental Radio in Bonbon format) 2’00
3. Too Technical (based on a remix for People Like Us) 2’27
4. This is no dream1’45
5. Lumiére Belge (Hommage to the Belgian Autobahn. Because ist lights are never switched off, the astronauts call Belgium the „Belgian Window“. There are rumours that this is why there are so many UFO sightings in Belgium.) 6’06
6. Agenten des Schlafes (Sleepwalkers fall down at the end of the world in Morpheus’ velvet lap) 3’24
7. Fernwärme Wien (Hommage to Viennas mentality. This song is a colaboration with Holger Hiller from the year 1995. Later on I processed it and added some drum and melodic sounds) 2’44
8. Hissi Hissi (= Finnish for Elevator. I wanted to apply the art rock method (never-ending tracks) on Disko Bruit) 7’32
9. Matki Wandalki(the title song. That’s how the mothers of destruction keep us awake) 1’51
10. Wir alle sind Qualle (The text and voice is by Masahiro Taniya whom I got to know on a live gig in Tokio. He sent me hilarious songs and texts about the jellyfish and I built a song around one of his short spoken poets) 1’17
11. Psyko Billy (Gameboy Nanoloop fails to go Rockabilly) 3’56
12. Hit me provider (Internet sadist song about te wholes in tissues of flesh. "Hit me Provider, I lost my mouse, oh no, I've got a Loch im Gewebe.de" --- You get it) 2’59
13. Hello (Lionel Richie alone in his dressing room, looking into the mirror. Alle the „Me“s turn into „You“s) 4’04