Abalonia
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| Studio album by Turbostaat | |||||
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Publication |
January 28, 2016 |
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| Label (s) | PIAS | ||||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP, DL |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
42 min 50 s |
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Studio (s) |
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Abalonia is the sixth studio album by the German punk band Turbostaat . The concept album , released on January 28, 2016, is about the flight of a woman and a man from hunger, persecution and war. Their destination is the fictional land of Abalonia.
History of origin
In June 2015, the recordings began in the Hansa Studios in Berlin . Initially, the instrumental tracks were recorded live within five days. Singing and all other musical additions, such as the piano, were later implemented in a different location. All lyrics come from guitarist Marten Ebsen. The music was written collectively, and everyone could contribute their ideas.
The first music video for the title track was released on December 8, 2015 via YouTube , the album itself was released on CD, LP and as a download on January 28, 2016 on the PIAS label. A fan box limited to 500 pieces was also released. This contained a booklet in 7 '' format , a single with the bonus title Der Sturm , a bandana , four glossy photos as well as CD and LP.
The second video Wolter was released on February 5th .
Track list
| 1 | Rupert's Green | 4:41 |
| 2 | The witness | 3:17 |
| 3 | The catfish | 2:14 |
| 4th | The ass faces | 3:25 |
| 5 | Wolter | 6:14 |
| 6th | Iron man | 5:39 |
| 7th | Dead man button | 2:57 |
| 8th | Ghost pig | 4:52 |
| 9 | The dead | 4:38 |
| 10 | Abalonia | 4:53 |
action
The plot of the record is structured like a fairy tale. The action takes place at an unknown time in an unknown country. Except for the last song and some song names, no names are given. Nevertheless, the album contains allusions to the band's origins from Flensburg through a few words from the sailor's language and through the naming of Norderstraße . There are also allusions to current political events in the partly direct, but also occasionally heavily claused texts. “Abalonia”, the place where the protagonist is drawn, is actually an artificial word that was initially used as a placeholder. There comes a demo of the Pixies , in which Frank Black instead of the text to Debaser , the time was not fixed, just used as a filler word "Abalonia".
According to Ebsen, the album is only marginally to be understood as political. In fact, the refugee issue is only part of it. Rather, the band wanted to tell a compelling story. However, the band admitted to condemning the new patriotism in the song Der Wels . The song contains allusions to the Pegidademos in Dresden. The line of text "Is the catfish a guest with owls" is an allusion to the World Cup 2006 slogan " The world is a guest with friends ".
The story is about Semona, who is persecuted in the song Ruperts Gruen and has to flee from her city. Together with a buddy, she escapes and flees south. In doing so, they become lovers. It is the political system that drives them out: the old nobility rules and the mob must obey ( The Witness ). On their way to the south, they rested in a city, which they didn't like because the people there weren't within reach. ( The catfish ). Finally, the two split up in the song The Ass Faces .
She is surprised by the war and moves on ( Wolter ). The song Eisenmann deals with the topic of war. It's the most cryptic and convoluted track on the album. In Dead Man's Head she meets her companion again.
In spirit hog the winter and the cold catchment have held. Here Semona separates from her companion again and continues to make ends meet despite the cold and hunger. In Die Toten she is confronted with the dead who have been killed by an unknown disease and whom they are now accusing. In the last song, Abalonia , she's almost there. The album fades away and echoes for a minute, leaving the end of the story open.
Music genre
Musically, the album is in the style of its predecessor Stadt der Angst , although the structures are a little more abstract than it was on the 2013 album. Turbo State's interpretation of punk is far-reaching and contains various elements of related genres such as indie rock , new wave as well as post rock and punk . The songs are not kept simple, but dense and varied, sometimes spherical or behind a thick wall of guitars. So it was also about adapting the music to the story and deliberately avoiding the stanza-refrain-bridge scheme. Jan Windmeier tells the story with a chant, some of which is played back screaming.
reception
success
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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The album reached number 15 in the German album charts, making it the highest chart position that Turbostaat has ever achieved.
criticism
Andreas Dittmann gave Laut.de four out of five points and called the story "very tight and excitingly told". Musically, too, the music is "exciting and eventful, while Turbostaat remain very true to themselves for the time being".
Christian Steinbrink from Intro.de considers the album to be a political positioning of the band: "For humanism, for the right to asylum and for no one is illegal ." His conclusion is:
"Abalonia" is lyrically impressive, but also musically: The wild ride of every Turbostaat album is interrupted for the first time by more abstract structures, the dynamics of which are more subordinate to the lyrics than ever or the band to styles like that Postpunk Joy Divisions (»The Dead«) leads. In any case, »Abalonia« is the right answer to doubts as to whether the band is still capable of development after five superbly great albums. Turbostaat position themselves as only they can and develop their style almost on the side. That remains the standard that everyone else has to achieve. "
Niklas Baschek from Spex, on the other hand, didn't just have positive words:
“The fact that the accompanying, festive promotional text also sees such great ambitions here says more about the narrow boundaries of the punk hardcore DIY scene than about the album. Because Abalonia actually sounds familiar - sometimes too much. This is certainly also due to the fact that Turbostaat have made their own breach in German-speaking punk with the unmistakable voice of the singer Jan Windmeier and the sometimes urgent, sometimes wistful guitars. But also because some bands around the world think on a larger scale. If you look a little further, to Japan to Envy and Heaven In Her Arms, to the USA to La Dispute and Touché Amoré, then this comes into perspective. The positive thing about it is that the regionalist talk about the turbo state sounding so »North German« is being put into perspective. Discomfort is global. And the feeling that the power of punk can sometimes use a bit of intellectual distance. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Joachim Hiller: Turbo State: A small constitutional monarchy . In: Ox-Fanzine . 124 (February / March), 2016 ( ox-fanzine.de ).
- ↑ a b c d e f g Marten Ebsen from the punk band Turbostaat - "We were politicized in the 1990s" . In: Deutschlandfunk . ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed December 24, 2017]).
- ^ Turbo State - Abalonia. In: Discogs . Retrieved December 24, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c Turbo State: Abalonia . LP PIAS 2016
- ↑ a b c d e Exciting punk fairy tale about flight and expulsion. In: laut.de . ( laut.de [accessed December 24, 2017]).
- ↑ Chart discography Germany ( details ( memento of the original from December 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. )
- ↑ Christian Steinbrink: Review of "Abalonia" by Turbostaat . In: Intro . January 25, 2016 ( online [accessed December 24, 2017]). Review of »Abalonia« by Turbostaat ( memento of the original from December 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Nicklas Baschek: Turbostaat »Abalonia« / Review. In: Spex. February 1, 2016, accessed December 24, 2017 .
