Köster & Hocker - Strange Feddere (2LP + CD)

Köster & Hockert - "Fremde Deddere" - double vinyl including 6 living room demos as bonus tracks and CD of the Srudio album.

There they are again, the melancholic, happy-go-lucky Gerd Köster and Frank Hocker with their new album “Fremde Feddere.”

In September 2018, they were awarded the "Liederpreis" in Mainz - by a jury made up of public broadcasters from Germany, Austria and Switzerland who were not suspected of being Cologne-style - also in recognition of their successful 2017 album "A's kla?"

“The language deserves this,” they say, “and so do we.”

The follow-up to this album, with versions of the duo's favorite songs, was initially intended as an interim step before a next album with new songs. But as it was being created, it became a "big", complete, original work. Not only because of the usual great Cologne lyrics by Gerd Köster, which lovingly take up the originals. The arrangements, instrumentation, sounds, the confident guitar playing of Frank Hocker, the guest musicians and the production by Dieter Krauthausen are also completely convincing.

Köster & Hocker respectfully make these favorite songs their own, with a mixture of juicy joie de vivre and joy of playing, comforting sarcasm, complete seriousness, and a pinch of healthy silly humor. As a listener, you get the impression that this interplay between songs and artists has also given the acoustic style new impetus - from solemn piano sounds to hints of electronic grooves.

A few sentences from Gerd Köster & Frank Hocker about “Fremde Feddere:”

"Is it okay to adorn yourself with borrowed feathers? Well, we believe that if you have been wearing a solid coat of self-written songs on stage for 40 years together, then you are allowed to do so. " Foreign Feathers" is the name of our new album, a tribute to some of the songwriters from the huge repertoire of our favorite songs. Well-known artists such as Waits, Dylan, Hiatt, MacGowan as well as hidden gems such as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ian Tyson and Egbert Williams. 13 borrowed feathers, and we look forward to waving them live."