Austria

Austria's past as a European power & its cultural environment have generated a broad contribution to various forms of art, most notably music. Austria is the birthplace of many famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss Sr. & Jr. In the18th & 19th century composers were drawn to the Vienna due to the patronage of the Habsburgs. At that time Vienna was the European capital of classical music.

Doing his part to uphold Austria’s great musick tradition was Der Kommissar himself, Falco, born Johann (Hans) Hölzel in Vienna, Austria on February 19, 1957. He studied at the Vienna Music Conservatory in 1977 but left after one semester to pursue a career in music. He moved to West Berlin for a short time & sang in a jazz-rock band. When he returned to Vienna he had begun calling himself ‘Falco’. He began playing bass: in the theatrical rock bands Spinning Wheel & Hallucination Company; the hard rock-punk rock band Drahdiwaberl; & the space-disco band Ganymede. While with Drahdiwaberl, he wrote & performed the song "Ganz Wien" which he would also include on his debut solo album, Einzelhaft.

Falco's first hit was "Der Kommissar," from that 1982 debut. It is a song about drug abuse that combines rapped verses with a sung chorus.

Falco died of severe injuries he received when his Mitsubishi Pajero collided with a bus near the city of Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic on February 9, 1998. It was initially reported that the autopsy showed high blood levels of alcohol & cocaine (Klaus from American Dad refers to having done cocaine with Falco in the episode entitled 'Con Heir': "Sounds like a disco I used to frequent in Berlin. I did lines with Falco in the men's room. Greedy, greedy Falco.").

He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria. The above picture is from the cover of Austria's largest daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung (The Crown) on Feb 15, 1998, the day after the funeral which was attended by thousands of sympathetic fans. The picture shows some members of the group of rockers "Outsiders" carrying Falco's coffin from the mortuary chapel. They are the same rockers who are seen in the video of "Rock Me Amadeus".

This following poem was recited at the beginning of the funeral. It was written by Christian Ide Hintze, owner of the Schule der Dichtung (School of Poetry) where Falco was a frequent guest speaker. (sorry for the babel-like translation)

For Falco:

James Dean of Vienna

Inventor of the Manhatten Schönbrunner German

57 Chevy assembled in Vienna

Chairman of the Board of the cool speech reform

Principal witness-prince of the eighties

Are you now in your tuxedo with Amadeus

sitting on the lap of Maria Theresa?

Air-clearing commissioner of the Viennese districts

At one with the twenty-three

close to the formula of the freeing speed

In your world it’s always:

"Valid for all passports to all Planets"

Every pair of sun glasses want to perch on your nose, Falco

You are still the little Amadeus under Brillantine

Do we still hear from each other?

Thanks Hans!

   Falco – DerKommissar ep, A&M Records SP-12053, 1983. 

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Side A -

Der Kommissar (The Commissioner)

Side B -

Auf Der Flucht (On The Run)

Helden Von Heute (alles wartet auf...) (Heroes of today [everyone waits on...])

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Dieb13 (Thief 13) is the performing name of Dieter Kovačič, a Viennese based avant-garde musician. Dieter’s best-known alias is Dieb13, but he has also performed & recorded under the monikers Takeshi Fumimoto, Echelon, Dieter Bohlen, & Dieb 14. He sprang into action in the mid-'90s, as the Viennese avant-garde scene was picking up momentum. After appearing on several compilations documenting the burgeoning scene, he released his first solo album in 2000. He has gone on to perform in a number of collaborations with other notable performers, including Burkhard Stangl, erikm, Mats Gustafsson & John Butcher Group. His rare solo releases are complemented by a number of collaborations with the likes of Boris Hauf, Werner Dafeldecker, Martin Siewert, and Christof Kurzmann, all artists revolving mainly around the Viennese labels Charhizma and Durian. 

Kovačič was born in 1973. He came to music from the DJ side, instead of a more traditional musical background. He began to tweak cassette players & turntables in the late '80s. He later moved on to the computer. In 1995, he applied for a studies program in electro-acoustic music at the Viennese College of Music, but was turned down. Ironically, his professional career started at around the same time. First, he self-released a cassette with Stefan Geissler titled Lomophonien. The label Rhiz invited him to contribute to the compilation Picknick mit Hermann (1997). Things for Kovačič picked up from there. He began to play in the following groups: Kurzmann's Orchester 33 1/3; ©; Shabotinski; Radio Fractals; & Efzeg.

In 1998, he contributed a track to Turntable Solos, a compilation released by the Japanese label Amoebic. Disguised as Takeshi Fumimoto, he was right at home amid Otomo Yoshihide, Christian Marclay, & Merzbow.

For "Restructuring" Dieter remixed the contents of a whole experimental music festival. The album is released "open content" by Kovačič, who is a conscientious copyright objector. This CD confirmed his mastery of the turntable.

 dieb 13 – Restructuring (Restrukturierungen), Musikprotokollim Steierischen Herbst 99, 

Charhizma - charhizma 13, 2000. 

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Side 1 –

Formlos

Side 2 –

Restructuring

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Allerseelen (All Souls’s Day) are an experimental, post-industrial group started by Austrian musician Gerhard Petak, aka Kadmon. Petak is a Gnostic mystic. Allerseelen’s music is inspired by nature. It has a strong philosophical/alchemical context inspired by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, Ernst Jünger, & Julius Evola. Industrial Folklore might be an appropriate expression to embrace these seemingly contradictory qualities. 

On this first cassette release, the band consists of Petak – instruments, samplers, synthesizers & vocals.

 

 Allerseelen – Morgenröte cassette, Apocalyptic Krautfolk self-released, 1988.

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Side A –

Auferstehung

Lucifer Rising (Aurora Consurgens Quae Dicitus Hora Aurea)

Lichtbringerin (Aphrora)

Es Werde Licht (Fiat Lux)

Side K –

Gold Tausender Morgen

Mors Justi (Nosferatu)

Rosentau

Es Werde Licht (Fiat Luciditas)

Enjoy,
NØ