Kubin, Felix – “Bruder Luzifer” – [Omni Recording Corporation]

Thurston Hunger   4/29/2011   A Library, CD

A kollection of Kubin kookery, a few of which KFJC is fortunate to have
already (the ego mangling of the Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello” for example).
Another cover on here, of Klaus Nomi’s is what drew me to this CD.
Like Nomi, Kubin flourishes the further from the mainstream he can
float. A sonic astronaut adrift in his own orbit. He can connect the
dots to Kraftwerk on the opening track and dream alongside Tangerine
talent Conrad Schnitzler, but you get the feeling he’s happiest in
his own orbit, shaped by the early use of Moog, Korg and other synths
and how they were first used as exotic flashes of a future back in
the 70’s on documentaries and cartoons. Kubin himself is part cartoon,
with nice touches of creepiness too! Is “Hotel Super Nova” a soundtrack
to French animation or a corny porny treatise for fetishists? Bachelor
plaid, but all electric fabric. His keyboards are always the focus,
too rude to be robotic (nice squelchy rips and bubbly burps of tinkly
sounds). Rhythms never quite tip-toe into dance or techno, but instead
keep working like OCD. Kubin is still Tetchy after all these years. His
lyrics are often the icing on the vice. “There is a Garden” and “Hit Me
Provider” are evidence of that. Is the unifying factor a serious camp
approach? Like a detailed photo of a pie pan in the sky, extraterrestial
aliens are out there and recording great music.

-Thurston Hunger