OUT NOW: Friedrich Liechtenstein - Bad Gastein. CD, Vinyl, Digital.

Friedrich
Liechtenstein

"Friedrich Liechtenstein's masterpiece"

– DIE WELT

CD / Vinyl LP Digital Album (mp3) Hifi Download (lossless)

© Bruno Derksen

Return of the Kinky King.

This summer saw Friedrich Liechtenstein, professional flâneur, ornamental hermit and Berlin's most enigmatic entertainer, release a long gestating and highly personal opus of the heart; the prized family silver of his oeuvre.

Jaded by Berlin's night-life, the singer and storyteller par excellence dreams his way to the heart of Europe, the Monaco of the Alps.

Destination: BAD GASTEIN.

© Ralph Anderl
© Bruno Derksen

The journey begins...

...in 1958. It leads Liechtenstein's long-time alter ego – the Kinky King – not only into the warm embraces of the Blue Belle Group dancers, but also to his rebirth as Dolphin Man via a bathing accident. The tale ends at the meeting point of all pan-European eccentricities, the mountain spa town shrouded in legend: Bad Gastein.

Both kings and deer have sought the radon-rich waters of the region's hot springs to salve their wounds. Now, dozens of art nouveau hotels gradually decay. On the Goldberg, the golden mountain, tourists celebrate après-ski, and below moulders Falco's buried private cinema.

It is from such fertile ground that Liechtenstein's concept album BAD GASTEIN springs to life.

In the shadow of the Bad Gastein Congress Centre, a symbol of grandly failed modernity blasted into the rock, we accompany the shattered Kinky King on his final trip: from the international yet generic Eurotrash of the alpine ski cabins through the imperially hallucinogenic Badeschloss château to his final show in its deserted salon.

He shoots his Elevator Girl up in a lift toward the ultimate peak before failing, ever the love-stricken Kommissar D’Amour, in one final act of seduction.

Liechtenstein is made for the future, but is the future ready for him?

BAD GASTEIN by Friedrich Liechtenstein

Written & performed by
Friedrich Liechtenstein
Carl Schilde
Anselm Venezian Nehls

Produced by
HEAVYLISTENING

CD / Vinyl LP Digital Album (mp3) Hifi Download (lossless)
Buy from iTunes

Digital album enabled by ic! Berlin.
CD/Vinyl released in co-operation with Staatsakt.

© Bruno Derksen

Produced by HEAVYLISTENING

Friedrich Liechtenstein has sought out the help of some like-minded individuals to take the album from idea to reality: Berlin producers and sound art duo Carl Schilde and Anselm Venezian Nehls, aka HEAVYLISTENING.

They tell the story of BAD GASTEIN in eleven pieces of multifaceted pop music. The morbid charms of this town of stone and water are evoked via string quartets and synthesizers bolstered by manifold pop references which continuously tread the rocky path between noble and trash. Falco, Yello, Wagner.

HEAVYLISTENING have a penchant for eccentric concepts. They have already successfully created sub bass concerts for tuned cars, sold a record featuring a single sine tone and transformed Twitter feeds into music. BAD GASTEIN is their first joint pop production and the debut for their label HEAVYLISTENING Records.

© Ralph Anderl

Enabled by ic! berlin

Support in the creative implementation of the project comes via Liechtenstein's close cooperation with extraordinary eyewear brand ic! berlin who have accommodated the unpropertied ornamental hermit for over a year. For the album photo shoot, founder Ralph Anderl travelled to Bad Gastein in person.

HEAVYLISTENING was founded in 2011 by Carl Schilde & Anselm Venezian Nehls.
They create and curate award-winning sonic experiences.

Learn more about HEAVYLISTENING