Feline &
Strange – Science Fiction
01.Science Fiction (A Space
Opera)
02.Hello World
03.Because (A Wedding
Waltz)
04.Why Me
05.I See You
06.Leaving For The Seaside
07.Love Is (Utterly
Overrated)
08.I Should Have Told You
Before
09.Anybody
10.You Said
11.Going Away (Farewell
Letter)
12.End Of The World
13.Lost In The Moon
14.Epilogue
Feline Lang
(Vocals/Programming/Accordion/Castanets)
Christoph Klemke
(Drums/Percussion/Violincello)
Matthias Haecker
(Keyboards)
Ulrich Christenn
(Trombone/Trumpet/Alto Saxophone/Tuba/Flute)
Marc Andre Haller
(Bass/Double Bass/Chapman Stick)
Guest Musicians
Timothy Beuther (Drums)
Stefan Kelber (Violin)
Brigitte Langnickel-Kohler
(Concert Harp)
Feline is the daughter of
harpist Brigitte Langnickel-Köhler and pianist Reinhard Langnickel, Brigitte
first appeared on record in 1975 backing the Hannover Boys Choir on the LP ‘Ein
Kind Ist Uns Geboren’.
Growing up with a musical
family Feline went on to study acting and singing in Berlin.
By 2003 she released her
debut album ‘Tango L’Che!, performed in theatre productions including ‘Kabale
and Liebe’ and appeared in the 2004 movie by Marcus Mittermeier called ‘Muxmäuschenstill’.
There have also been television appearances and operatic performances in ‘Carmen’
and ‘Dulcinea’.
In 2009 whilst working
with an operatic ensemble she decided to go in a new direction and formed a duo
named " Feline and Strange ", the idea was to mix Jazz with
electropop influences and at various times the duo were joined by numerous
different musicians for live performances, eventually releasing an album in
2011 called ‘Behavior!
Moving forward and aided
by new musicians including Marc Andre Haller former bassist with folk/psych
band Habakuk, the band take a slight change in musical direction and start to
pick up a cult following with the steampunk community based in Berlin.
From that point on their
reputation grew and the word spread, it was in fact Radio presenter and
Steampunk author Steven C. Davis who at a recent meeting handed me this CD to
review.
Though I am not quite sure
that this style of Cabaret Noir could be classed as Steampunk, surely due to
its historical time frame it would be Dieselpunk, I won’t let such things cloud
my review and pour myself a nice glass of absinthe and then press play.
The album begins with ‘Science
Fiction (A Space Opera)’ and we begin the journey through this concept album
with the lyrics taking the form of a novelette written by Feline and included
in very small writing in the booklet.
With a subtle electronic backing
and laid back brass arrangements Feline delivers a semi operatic and tone
perfect vocal.
‘Hello World’ is slightly
more upbeat, again it is the brass arrangements that come through the mix,
reminiscent at times of the less Avant-Garde moments of legendary German band
Vampires Sound Incorporation.
After a nice waltz we get
something slightly more dadaesque with ‘Why Me’ mixing as it does quirky little
keyboard sounds with changing rhythms, the vocal is a little more playful and
some really nice synth work towards the end.
‘Leaving For The Seaside’
has the opening lyric of: “I woke up in a dusty town (Somebody should have come
with a vacuum cleaner)” what a line!
Something darker with
strange flute and some other slightly disturbing instruments with ‘I Should
Have Told You Before’, a nice mixture of vocal styles and wolf howls all help
create an atmospheric piece of outstanding music.
Back to some nice
electronics with a jazz influence, ‘Anybody’ begins with a quiet vocal and just
builds as it goes along, a gentle song that gets the toes tapping and when that
drum and keyboard gets going towards the middle I can seriously get a vision of
Densmore and Manzarek of the Doors then joined by Lol Coxhill, by far my
favourite track so far, could do with another ten minutes or so to really let
the musicians go wild.
‘You Said’ is given the
old fashioned treatment of sounding like a 78RPM polka recording.
This is followed by a melancholic
performance, perhaps to be expected with a piece titled ‘Going Away (Farewell
Letter).
‘Lost In The Moon’ throws
into the mix little moments of inspired Avant Garde madness in an otherwise
mature sounding smooth jazz piece, we then end with the unlisted track ‘Epilogue’
which is an upbeat danceable song resplendent with whistles!
This is an album that far
exceeds its given genre limitations, it is vibrant full of interesting styles
and has a wide appeal, whatever music you like this deserves your attention.
Rating 10/10
For Fans Of: Nico &
John Cale, Marianne Faithfull, Siegfried Schwab, Dagmar Krause, Ute Lemper,
Annexus Quam, Tomorrow’s Gift, The Dresden Dolls.
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