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Felix Kubin und das Mineral Orchester, "Music for Theatre and Radio Play"
Like the title explains, this disc collects music Felix Kubin has done for two theatre plays, including one based on a short story by Nabokov, and a radio play by Xentos Bentos of The Homosexuals. Despite having no idea as to how this music was integrated into the respective performances, Kubin's sense of playfulness makes it an enjoyable album on its own.
With 22 tracks ranging in length from nine seconds to over four minutes, it is a pretty wild ride from beginning to end with almost no filler. While the track listing divides the material according to the three different plays, Zufall, Hollywood Elegien, and The Raft, Kubin's style dips into so many different pools that it would be nearly impossible to sort the songs by ear alone. Whimsically unpredictable, Kubin elicits Dadaist scenarios and fantastic dreamscapes using horns, harps, xylophones, and marching band drums. The album's longest track, "Hollywood," is also its most somber and beautiful, using strings and keys to frame a bittersweet scene. My favorite is "Fischrevue," which sounds like a mad carnival fever dream spilling out of a circus tent, punctuated by jazz snippets. The Raft has some eerie sections of ghostly atmospherics but ends the album with "Miraculous Rescue," an optimistic theme song that sounds like it was created on an old toy keyboard.
Music for Theatre and Radio Play is a whirlwind of tongue-in-cheek humor and outlandish adventures. Not only is it fun to listen to on its own, but it also stimulates interest in the plays for which these songs were composed.
