It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork, with simple but bold slip covers housing the actual cds. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
Autobahn was originally released in 1974, and it was in most cases the band's introduction to the rest of the world with the surprise hit single of the title track, edited down significantly for airplay. It was also the point where Kraftwerk began to combine a classic pop approach with their intense Teutonic experimentation (which remains considerable here). What was seen by some people in the mid-1970s as somewhat of a novelty (which is total bullshit, but it was the '70s...), however, laid the foundation for one of the most innovative music groups to ever exist. Clocking in at almost 23 minutes, "Autobahn" may be one of the most evocative songs ever, especially considering how minimal it really is. Synthesizers give you the impression of traveling throughout Germany by car, through many different environments and observational states, as the vocal melody classically apes the Beach Boys "Fun, Fun, Fun". The song also marked the beginning of the band's reliance on vocoders and drum machines, which would from this point forward would play an integral role in defining Kraftwerk. The other songs here retain many of the sonic qualities of earlier Kraftwerk, but it's now plainly apparent where things are heading: Pop Immortality!
Oh, and a note to vinyl obsessives, these reissues will be coming out in that format next month, we're told!
German import of the original Man Machine album, with lyrics in German. That's why the lofty price.
The requisite remix single of Kraftwerk's comeback last year's single features Orbital, Francois K, DJ Rolando, and Underground Resistance. Maybe if you really dig UR records, this would do it for you.
If you witnessed a Kraftwerk performance during their 2004 worldwide tour, you may want this 2-disc live recording as a token reminder of your experience. Especially if you attended a show in Warszawa, Ljubljana, Riga, Moskwa, Paris, Berlin, London, Budapest, San Francisco, Tokyo or Tallinn -- the cities from which these virtually perfect live performances are culled. The first eight songs from disc one are absolutely incredible live recordings, most notably "The Man-Machine", "Planet Of Visions", and "Vitamin". The clarity and bombacity of its sound is impressive. Would you pay the extra money it would cost if this came with an implantable chip that would project their video at one meter in front of you while walking around listening? Hmmm, I would. Unfortunately, this is not available. Simply listening to this, however, will help you to recall your live Kraftwerk experience.
Speaking personally, I attended their concert in Amsterdam. At the Heineken Arena. So imagine how many people fit into an "arena". Now imagine, of all those people, about 50 are women. The remaining thousands, all men. And not just regular Dutch dudes out to see a show, but men outfitted in one of two styles of dress: 1. in affected Kraftwerk/Sprockets ensemble -- black leather pants with combat boots and a black turtleneck, or 2. in Classic Man-Machine Kraftwerk -- black suit with sharp red tie. Oh how I wished I had my little minidv cam for filming Kraftwerk Parking Lot. No matter how fascinating the crowd was, the show was somehow even better. From the three 30 meter x 30 meter video panels displaying their minimal but powerfully effective video accompaniment (much of which is available to view on their website), to the actual robots backlit behind a scrim, then exposed and moving, to the mind-blowing clarity and depth of sound (which is hard to do right in a large space like that) the aural and visual orchestration reeked of utter Kraftwerkian perfection.
And of course, if you did NOT get a chance to see them last year, here's your chance to pick up an incredible aural document of some of their best performances from all over the world!
This 1975 follow-up to their internationally successful Autobahn LP pays tribute to the mechanical catalyst that helped create that success, the radio and the power of broadcast communications. While more obtuse and less successful than its predecessor, the songs on Radio-Activity utilize more concrete forms than ever before with sounds of static, Geiger counters, oscillators and Cage-ian moments of silence to recreate the sense of radio transmission. This also marks the first time Kraftwerk recorded vocals in English and made use of robotic voices that would come to the forefront in subsequent releases.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Two live sets of Kraftwerk captured with reasonably fine fidelity, one from a 1976 show in Paris (performing tracks from Ralf & Florian and Autobahn) and the other from a 1981 show in Utrecht (performing tracks from Computer World and Man Machine).
Taking Cues from the Russian Constructivist movement for its cover, 1978's The Man Machine was the most removed album to that date from Kraftwerk's krautrock origins. Taking on the form of automatons, the music is cold, and mechanical pop about robots, models, and urbanization that opened up the floodgates for new wave and electro. It is also one of the best and most realized albums in their evolving career.
It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork, with simple but bold slip covers housing the actual cds. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
The Man-Machine was originally released in 1978, a year after the artistic and commercial triumph of Trans-Europe Express. Obviously there was a lot to live up to following TEE, and Kraftwerk had little difficulty doing so. The Man Machine is likewise a genre-defining masterpiece, containing at least two of their most well known songs with "The Robots" and "The Model". It also features one of their strangely overlooked songs, the too-awesome-for-words "Spacelab". The cold, mechanical approach Kraftwerk had been striving for is perfected on this record, also expertly conveyed from a visual standpoint on the cover, where the group appears all angular and unsmiling in their matching red shirt/black tie getup. It's pretty crazy to imagine the reaction this must have received right in the middle of the punk explosion. As the rest of the world reveled in sloppy, wide-eyed rock n' roll, Kraftwerk became more precise and jettisoned the most recognizable traces of human emotion usually reserved for the pop market. Still, though the most noteworthy traits here bring to mind a glum, dystopian future, like on the title track and the ominous "Metropolis", there is also a good deal of humor and an implied human warmth, as Kraftwerk themselves, more than anything, take the role of detached observers in a world that defines itself more and more through technological progress. Sound familiar?
Oh, and a note to vinyl obsessives, these reissues will be coming out in that format next month, we're told!
They should've left well enough alone. They should've left well enough alone. They should've left well enough alone... but alas, they did not. Now that we've gotten that out of our system... The major disappointment with this new Kraftwerk is not that it's a poor album. Let us stress, that is NOT the case at all. Actually it sounds remarkably like the work of many many fine current electronic artists (or rather, *they* sound just like Kraftwerk!), and THAT is the major point of contention here. Tour De France Soundtracks simply doesn't sound like the work of great sonic revolutionaries. Arguably they reached the pinnacle of their innovations with Computer World -- making astounding, ground-breaking music that sounded unlike ANYTHING at the time nor many years to follow. Granted it took a very long time, but over the years Ralf, Florian and co. spent devoted to cycling the globe, it seems the world finally caught up to Kraftwerk.
It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork, with simple but bold slip covers housing the actual cds. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
Arguably, Kraftwerk's best recording, Trans-Europe Express from 1977 marries the Kosmiche minimalism of the Ralf and Florian record with the technological sublime sound of Autobahn while at the same time foreshadowing the robotic dance pop of The Man-Machine and Computer World. We also see for the first time, the image of the band as a uniform commodity dealing with post-modern themes of surface, reflection, repetition and reproduction that would thoroughly dominate their later output.
Also now reissued by Water, Individuellos is the third and final outing for Klaus Dinger's post-Neu! kraut glammers, La Dusseldorf. Originally released in 1980, it has a slightly more pronounced eighties treatment then Viva or their self-titled debut, but the big keyboard driven rhythms on opening number "Menschen" are unmistakably classic La Dusseldorf. Not every song on here is classic, but the ambient "Sentimental" with its layered tones and backwards recordings showcase a sublime side not as present on their earlier records. Probably not as essential as the reissues of those first two records (which, by the way, we now have on vinyl), but much much better than we had expected!
We're very excited about these two remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be a current release (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the year it was originally released!) Viva, their second record, is filled with Krautrock anthems, culminating in the 20 minute long Cha Cha 2000 - an epic of krauty proportions. If you've been reading some of our more recent lists, we should distinguish that La Dusseldorf do not fall in the krautrock sub-genre of WWII-effected dark & broodish-type stuff, a la German Oak. La D. better fit into the uber-clean & hypnotic song-kraft family of Neu!, Harmonia, Cluster, Can, Kraftwerk, etc. Both the self-titled and Viva releases are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection!
We're very excited about these two remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be a current release (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the year it was originally released!) This self-titled 4-song cd is absolutely classic Krautrock! "Silver Cloud", with its huge drums and layers of simple, syrupy melody create one of our favorite krautrock songs ever! At the time of this album's release, it was played on German radio a bunch and even became a "funk" hit! "La Dusseldorf" opens with the chanting of a football [soccer] audience and leads into a pulsating anthemic rhythm also joined by the valliant one-word chant of "Dusseldorf". If you've been reading some of our more recent lists, we should distinguish that La Dusseldorf do not fall in the krautrock sub-genre of WWII-effected dark & broodish-type stuff, a la German Oak. La D. better fit into the uber-clean & hypnotic song-kraft family of Neu!, Harmonia, Cluster, Can, Kraftwerk, etc. Both the self-titled and Viva releases are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Last year we raved about a cassette (and then vinyl lp) called Interludes For Prepared Beast, the second solo release from Jussi Lehtisalo, the bassist/mastermind behind our favorite Finns, those mighty hypnorockers Circle (and many more 'NWOFHM' bands besides). Those of you who prefer compact discs over vinyl, let alone tapes, might have felt a twinge of turntable envy then, since you were missing out on an amazing album (our review concluded with: "Easily one of the coolest weirdest things we've heard from Jussi", and that's saying a lot). Thankfully, Jussi, who loves cds as much as we do, has just released Interludes For Prepared Beast on cd via his Ektro imprint - and even better, the disc also includes Jussi's first solo album, from 2010, entitled Rotta, which is also (of course) quite fantastic, and was a limited vinyl release we never even got any copies of the first time around. So even more to be thankful for, and another reason to pick this up.
We'll try to be brief about Rotta, 'cause we already wrote a lot about Interludes, as you will see. Simply put, it's gorgeous. Unlike maybe what you might expect from the man responsible for so much bombastic, heavy, progged out rock, Rotta definitely represents Jussi's softer side. Intimate and twilit, Rotta is a spacious sonic tapestry of gentle drones, cyclic guitar motifs, softly pulsating bass, and ambient field recordings interwoven with hushed, echo effected vocalizations (the words all in Finnish, we assume, so we don't know what he's on about, but it sounds deep regardless) and lovely layers of shortwave static n' hiss. The opening track "Veljeni" features some occasional harmonica twang, bringing to mind the cinematic, open spaces atmosphere of the likes of Earth circa Hex. Elsewhere, on "Aikoja Sitten", the vibe gets darker, the track lashed with stormy, sinister synthesizer sounds, before dreamily concluding with monkish vocal intonations over a bed of wavering bell-like tones and other mysterious, entrancing sound-swoosh. Fans of Circle's 'soundtrackier' side, mellowed-out albums like Miljard and Tower, will be in heaven. The "circular" sound of Circle is most certainly very present within these compositions; minimalist, mesmeric repetition being Jussi's forte of course.
So that's the first four tracks here, the Rotta portion of this disc, all indeed surprisingly beautiful and subdued, music to totally lose yourself in. Then there's the last two, over a quarter-hour each, representing side A and B of Interludes For Prepared Beast. They also beautiful in their way, but about as far from subdued as you can get. Much heavier, more "gritty" and intense. Both tracks are dense and layered, and constantly shifting. In some ways taking all the disparate sounds of Jussi's other bands (among them Circle, Ektroverde, Ratto Ja Lehtisalo, Doktor Kettu, Pharaoh Overlord, Rakhim, Krypt Axeripper, Split Cranium, Steel Mammoth, and others), and somehow mashing them all together, into something surprisingly cohesive.
The A side (track 5 here), "Caterpillars", starts off sounding like some sort of abstract deserty ambient experimental doom, with churning guitars, spurts of metallic crunch, clattery bicycle spoke like percussion, woozy Morricone-esque twang and spidery minor key melodies, peppered with occasional twisted little synth trills, all beneath some monstrous growled vokills, before the song transforms into something more woozy and jazzy, a little late night bluesy, with crooned distorted vox, and thick low end rib cage rattling thrum, only to then launch into some seriously twisted buzz drenched rock pound, which initially sounds like it might explode into full on black metal, but instead, the pounding and buzzing is joined by more twisted xylophone like synth melodies, booming sub bass throbs and cool blasts of rad classic metal style harmonized leads, before once again slipping back into a spacey sort of moody, woozy slowcore, driven by frenetic high hat cymbal stutter, and trippy dubbed out snare drums, still more crooned vox, the sound dreamy and washed out, laced with strange swoonsome faux horns and glistening spaced out FX before finally returning to that strange xylophone driven metallic stomp.
The flipside (aka track 6) is equally schizophrenic. "Here March The Cranes" begins all grinding gnarled guitars in a cloud of cymbal sizzle, which is then joined by some Circle like hypnorock bass, the guitars coalescing into little soaring squalls of majestic fast picking, multiple guitars interwoven, those guitars growing more intense, unfurling wild psychedelic leads, everything getting noisier and noisier, until finally switching gears and mellowing out, into a twisted post rock sprawl, all ethereal guitar shimmer, wild jazzy drummy, and spaced out bass blurts. Soon those growled vox come back in, and the sound turns into some strange sinister epic prog rock, swirling synthy strings, a slow build, more and more intense and tense, before splintering into a stretch of cool droned out noise rock churn, that sound gradually growing more and more spacey and serene, dreamy melodies, more of those faux horns, all manner of strange percussion and swirling FX, as the noise recedes, the sound becomes a hazy, lilting bit of psychedelic dreamdrone raga like drift. Fantastic! Easily one of the coolest weirdest things we've heard from Jussi, which is saying a lot considering his whole career has basically been nothing BUT a series of cool weird releases!!
All told, 78 minutes and 48 seconds of amazing music that probably one no single person but Jussi could possibly have come up with. Hopefully this disc won't remain Jussi's 'complete solo works' for long, we'd love a volume two someday. WAY recommended.
"Six days in 1976". That's what this disc represents. The entire lifespan, and output, of an extremely short-lived but also extremely awesome krautrock 'supergroup' of sorts. Organized by Dieter Moebius (one half of Cluster, one third of Harmonia), the Liliental project also featured the talents of Helmut Hattler and Johannes Pappert of psychedelic jazz-rock outfit Kraan, famed producer Conny Plank, soundtrack composer Otto Bekker and his protege, budding electronic experimentalist Asmus Tietchens (who contributes liner notes to this reissue). They never played live, and indeed spent only six days recording these six tracks. About 35 minutes of exquisite, oft glorious, softly moody and melodic instrumentals here on this one-off treasure... well, mostly instrumental, with some wordless "aahhs" here and there, and also some singing on the particularly quirky, catchy final track (which sounds more like a Brian Eno/Steely Dan collab than a Moebius thing, but that's not necessarily a bad thing). Since the tracks are sequenced on this disc in the same order in which they were recorded, it would seem that by day six they were ready to get a bit silly. On days 1-5, though, there was more restraint to their playfulness, their music sometimes joyous but as often wistful or otherwise serious-sounding.
It's hard to describe, easier to imagine if you're already acquainted with Moebius's music solo and in Cluster and Harmonia. While this group had their own special chemistry, the overall vibe is one that will definitely seem familiar to fans of Cluster et.al., wonderfully so. Track three, "Wattwurm", could be from one of the Cluster & Eno albums, easily. And that's high praise! On that track and elsewhere you'll find Liliental to be rhythmic, poppy, breezy, beautiful, all these things... with shimmering washes of mellow synths (lots of Arp and Moog), percolating electronic embellishments, almost-ambient saxophone, and even some blissful bird twitter on one track. So nice. This reissue actually came out last year, and we've been wanting to list it for a while, but had some trouble getting enough copies. Now we have a few in stock, so get it, it's definitely one to add to the top of the pile of essential krautrock reissues we've raved about recently, like those Michael Rothers, La Dusseldorfs, Eroc, etc.
In addition to Tietchens' notes, in both English and German, this digipack's cd booklet also includes color photos of Liliental in the studio (they existed nowhere else!), among them the group shot from which the cover painting was done - interestingly, amongst other small details altered, the cover artist decided to put long pants on Conny Plank (the smiling fellow on the far left) instead of letting him continue to wear the short shorts he had on in the original photograph.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Their second album from '72, as great as the self-titled first one. This one is a bit weirder, more proggy, now more like Queen than Zeppelin. The complex arrangements and overall heaviness again make us wonder: why isn't this band a lot more famous? An instant favorite from the moment we heard it. I guess it is nice to know that there's always the undiscovered gem out there awaiting. Again, recorded by Conny Plank.
From the vaults of the legendary krautrock label Brain comes another cool digipacked reissue on Revisited. We've been fans of this particular album for a long time, previously stocking a Repertoire reissue when we could get it. In fact, looking into our archives, we see that we reviewed it on two separate occasions, giving it quite similar but different reviews. Well, here's a third, based on those.
This self-titled 1970 debut album is one of the two early Lucifer's Friend albums we recommend, the other being its 1972 sequel, Where The Groupies Killed The Blues, which perhaps will be reissued again as well. After that, the records we've heard aren't as good. But THIS, this is a great piece of '70s proto-metal very much akin to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Budgie, and (especially) Uriah Heep! Some psychedelic weirdness, lots of heavy riffing (on guitars and organ) and total wailin' rock god vocals (courtesy of British singer John Lawton, who later DID join the Heep). As krautrock goes, they're more like early Scorpions than the more out there stuff you might be thinking of (Faust, Can, Kraftwerk, Cluster...) but this -was- recorded by Conny Plank.
The first track, the triumphal rocker "Ride The Sky" (recently covered by doomsters Trouble on their abortive comeback Simple Mind Condition) begins with a trumpeting French horn motif that will definitely make you think of Led Zep, sounding uncannily like the "ah ahhhhhh ahh" intro to "The Immigrant Song", though this came first. There's a cool live video of this track on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5DpOdf-_yM&feature=related.
If you dig that, you'll dig this album... !!!
(FYI, Revisited has included 2 bonus tracks this time 'round.)
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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The Long Hair label digs up another kool krautrock obscurity for reissue here, one that Andee and Allan both happened to have heard already via a previous cd edition. It's an album that we're now glad to be able to get to list (with a bonus track!). Originally released on LP in 1971 (natch) on a tiny label with the wonderful name of Mouse Trick Track Music, this one-off rarity is a bit of a trippy gem, groovy and flutey and fuzzy. And plenty weird too, as is evidenced by the album's odd song titles, each with the word "Mammut" in them:
"Bird Mammut" (indeed featuring birds twittering, and birdsong like flute flutter, amidst propulsively grooving drumming), "Classical Mammut" (a brief interlude of whooshing wind, crying baby, placid piano), "Mammut Ecstasy" (hippy chant, fuzzed out guitar heaviness), "Footmachine Mammut" (laidback groove, what sounds like a lively dinner party in the background, with clinking percussion/wine glasses, more guitar soloing), "Short Mammut" (kinda like "Mammut Ecstacy", but shorter), "Shizoyd Mammut" (shrieking vocals, organ jamming)... and that's just side 1. Side 2 actually consists of just two songs, longer, more lyrical ones, including the 13+ minute psychedelic tour de force "Mammut Opera", that's both dramatic and rather lovely.
The whole thing, the way it combines the acid rock guitar action with Hammond organ, flute, and even field recordings (both outdoor and indoor it would seem), sorta sounds like a demented Deep Purple dosed on drugs, jazzily jamming away at some hippy party place in the Black Forest (where the were, recording in the studios of jazz label MPS). It's more groovy than heavy, but they let loose with some wild guitar riffery now and then, as well as dabbling in some (Beatles inspired?) songiness, particularly on the second half of the record. Krautrock aficionados should definitely investigate! And, especially as we know they overlap, Acid Mothers Temple fans too! There's definitely a precursor to AMT's funny freeform freakout vibe going on here. Specific krautrock comparisons could be to some of the previous Long Hair reissues like Et Cetera, Kollektiv and Wolfgang Dauner's The Oimels.
This official reissue has been digitally remastered, and comes with a thick, textually informative cd booklet, and the aforementioned 5 minute bonus track ("Da Du Da", recorded by these musicians in '69 for a compilation album, leading to the formation of the Mammut band/album project).
It's nice to know that no matter how many records are reissued, or rare gems discovered, or mysterious private press releases rescued from oblivion, there will always be more. And even though sometimes we feel like the bottom of the reissue barrel has been reached, based on some dubious reissues, all it takes is a record like this, to remind us that there are truly some mind benignly fantastic records that have yet to be unearthed. And yeah, this is some truly next level, mind bending stuff. EVERYBODY here digs it, so we knew we had to make it a Record Of The Week, even though a week ago, we'd never heard of Mar-Vista. Sounds like of like a motel or something.
Originally a private press record, released in a run of just 200 copies in 1976, and packaged in blank white sleeves, and sold locally in France, this deliriously trippy and over the top chunk of French psychedelic synth prog is so good, and so weird, it really is one of those rare records, that's makes it hard to believe it could've remained lost for so long. Cuz really, anyone hearing this, would immediately freak out. We most definitely did. Apparently this duo was heavily influenced by minimalists like La Monte Young and Terry Riley, and krautrock combos like Ashra Tempel and Popol Vuh and while that's not actually bad band math when trying to describe Mar-Vista, the truth of the sound is so much stranger.
A single 41 minute song suite, separated into 6 movements, Visions Of Sodal Ye begins with primitive lo-fi drum machine (or drumming that sounds programmed), beneath whirring organs, fingerpicked acoustic guitars, droning synths and shimmering melodies, with laid back vox way down in the mix, not to mention some killer distorted psych guitar shred, the whole thing wrapped in warped sonic warble. There are plenty of weird production glitches, drop outs, and tape decay/damage from the original masters we would assume, but it only adds to the sound, a sound that soon blossoms into soaring kosmische synth swirls, anchored by more of those primitive drum machine like rhythms, and wreathed in what sounds like whipping winds, and jaw harp like spring melodies, more plink plonk, sing songy synths, and a fierce squall of psychedelic noise guitar. The movements merge into one sprawling epic, continuing with the coolest, creepiest track of the bunch, a dour, murky dirge, a tripped out sort of doom-kraut creep, with low buzzing synths, skittery rhythms, and multiple vocal lines, all wound up into a haunting, intense, organ and synth drenched lumber, that could be the weirdest heaviest French psych-prog jam EVER. That quickly (d)evolves into a cool, groovy sixties style psychedelic blow out, all cascading synth melodies, pulsing hip shaking rhythms, and super distorted theremin like squiggles over the top, before settling into some pulsating, cosmic shimmer, tinged with just a little bit new age, some serious synth prog that blossoms into awesome John Carpenter like soundtrackiness! The record/songsuite culminates in the final 21+ minute movement, a sprawling cinematic synth epic, a twisted dronescape of layered synths and extended tones, ominous and sinister, minor key and darkly malevolent, again, like it could be from the some lost Carpenter movie, all creepy slo-mo melodies, and crumbling textures, plenty of tension, haunting and shadowy and mysterious.
And generally bonus tracks are bonus tracks for a reason, cast offs, throw aways, songs that weren't good enough to make the cut, but not here, the two bonus tracks (found only on the cd!!) are crazy, and crazy cool, the first, "Synthetik Way", is a glistening, glimmering planetarium style cosmic synth workout, all lush, hushed and tranquil one second, then distorted and wildly psychedelic the next, while the second "Crash '73", is an impossibly trippy, surprisingly heavy psych rock jam, with in-the-red distorted guitar and skittery drumming, beneath a wild tangle of snake charmer synth shred, and a totally WTF twisted stuttery finale, which had us imagining a whole other record tucked away with more of this outsider synth-prog-psych weirdness�
So incredible, quite possibly the reissue of the year! Minimal liner notes, a reproduction of the original sleeve, but sadly somewhat flimsy packaging on the digipack cd...
The cd version is limited to 500 copies, the lp just 300.
Krautrock like they used to make, from these modern-day heirs to the glorious kosmiche tradition. The German collective Metabolismus has actually been around since the '80s, but this is only their second domestically released album (available last year on LP, but now on cd). Indeed, most of their other releases have been super-obscure rarities. But with their "Terra Incognita" album released on US label Blackjack a few years back, they turned a few ears around here, and we were excited to see the followup make it to cd. Wonderful, psychedelic stuff, mostly-instrumental explorations, experimental yet pretty, proving that the heyday of Faust and Can and Popul Vuh and Cluster and the like is not forgotten.
These modern day krautrockers (they are from Stuttgart, Germany) offer up a new 12", the first in a series of "palindrome" recordings, all about mirror-symmetry, very conceptual. The palindromic aspect extends to the date on which it was recorded, 21.02.2012 (February 2nd, 2012, using the European style of numerical date notation). Also, at 45 rpm, the playing time is 12:21. And of course, the title is a palindrome too.
So, what's Sus sound like? Well, it's a very soothing lovely abstract drone, we'll let them (or their label) explain their methodology: "The single sidelong track consists of one note on the vibraphone struck by a soft mallet. The same note is then bowed continuously on violin and the sound is processed with an envelope shaper, a narrow-band filter (tube-based) to accentuate some overtones, and some basic tape manipulation techniques like cutting/looping, speed/pitch alterations and change of playback direction. All rhythmic and harmonic processes result from the shifting of vibrato frequencies in the stereo panoramic field. No digital technology was used. The piece is designed to be played at any speed (mainly 33 and 45, but also anything from 16 rpm to 78 rpm). Side 1 plays from the standard outer grooves inward. Side 2 is Side 1 played backwards and plays from the inner groove outward..."
Like we said, very conceptual! But also a nice drone indeed. And fun to mess with if you've got a variety of speeds on your turntable. A good use of the vinyl format.
77 minutes of free-improv "psychedelic scorch" put to tape in 1969 by this trio of West Berliners: Norbert Eisbrenner, Werner Goetz, and Sven-Ake Johansson. Johansson (his solo work the subject of a recent Unheard Music Series reissue) played drums on
Packaged in a cardboard sleeve, with liner notes only in German.
It's so inspiring and sadly all too rare to find someone who was making challenging music that sounded ahead of their time decades ago, and who is STILL pushing themselves to creating music with the same adventure and scope. All too often, those who were at the forefront of creative musical invention end up settling down and creating safe and boring music as the years pass. Even many AQ psych/prog/kraut favorites end up going that route. For proof just take a listen to what folks like Franco Battiato or Tangerine Dream made decades into their careers. Luckily there are some exceptions to that downward spiral, and Dieter Moebius is a perfect example of how one can continue to make weird and wonderful music years and years after they first hit the scene. From his pioneering krautrock/kosmische work with Cluster and Harmonia as well as collaborations with Brian Eno, it would be very easy and well deserved for Moebius to just rest on his laurels. But even after those trailblazing years of the '70s he continued to make great albums into the 80's and still does today. Nurton, released in 2006, is his first solo outing in over seven years and it finds him as unpredictable and pleasing as ever. The sounds he creates take twists and turns that hold your attention fast, and he's always able to take you to a special spaced-out place full of wonder, bliss and intrigue. Crazy instrumental electronica to put the youngsters in the field to shame.
Moebius's first solo album from 1983 is also one of our favorites of the post-Cluster universe. We first heard this when it was recently reissued on cd via the Japanese import label Captain Trip (along with Zero Set and Rastakraut Pasta), but it was much too expensive to list. Thankfully, the Bureau B label has come to the rescue and we're able to share this gem with you.
Moebius has always been the more elusive and ornery of the Cluster duo. By 1983, Roedelius already had 5 solo albums under his belt, but Moebius always seemed to prefer working with groups or one-off projects, where he could entertain his curious sonic predilections against the grain of other performers. Surprisingly for his first actual solo release, he turns in an intriguing and engaging pop record. Not "Pop" in the commercial sense, but Tonspuren is surprisingly big on melodic but idiosyncratic precise miniatures with songs sounding like they were made by tiny but giddy machines.
Yet unlike Roedelius, Moebius allows no willful excursion or baroque tangent to intervene with the concise construction of his compositions, keeping them reduced to as essential compositions as possible, though much warmer and more fluid than, say, the compositions on Cluster's Curiosum (reviewed elsewhere on this list). Tellingly, this was made at the height of German New Wave, and one wonders how much of that may have played an influence. If you liked Cluster's Zuckerzeit, then check this out! Highly recommended!
Of all the various collaborations that krautrock maestro Moebius of Cluster fame has been involved in, we have to say this 1983 collaboration with Gerd Beerbohm might just be the most mind blowing of them all. Originally released on Sky, it's been out of print for ages, so we were so thrilled when we saw Bureau B was going to reissue it, as it's a record that foreshadowed so many sounds of the rhythmic underground that we would love for years to come.
The record opens with "Minimotion" a totally menacing and suspenseful track that sets the mood perfectly for the rest of the record. Like the darkest side of Goblin, or what John Carpenter would want to base the tension of an entire film around. The next two tracks "Hydrogen" and "Narkose" are stunning in how ahead of their time they sound, even now. It's like an otherworldly version of minimal techno, practically the blueprint for what the Chain Reaction crew would be creating more then a decade later. Like the sounds of a steam engine filtered through the lens of a horror movie, so mesmerizing and menacing. The record's final track is the epic 21 minute "Doppelschnitt" and really should be played as loud as possible and made as required listening for anyone making minimal techno or any sort of electronica really, as this shows you the hypnotic possibilities of this sound. No doubt folks like Villalabos, Monoton, Moritz Von Oswald, and Carl Craig got their ears on this album early on, as this record really laid out the ingredients for what would go down in Berlin and Detroit in the years to follow.
But what makes Double Cut so incredibly special is not just that it was ahead of its time, mastering a genre that hadn't even been invented yet, but that in its minimalism, they made a record that creates such a strong mood and has such a distinct overall sound. It's like being trapped in a completely distinctive outer dimension. It wouldn't surprise us if David Cronenberg was hip to this record while he was making Videodrome. It's not often you get to talk about records that completely set the stage for a whole movement of music making to come in its wake. This is one of those records, and we're so damn glad its back in the world where it belongs. A unanimous favorite for sure, as everyone here at the store is totally in love and in awe of Double Cut!
Not yet reissued on vinyl but we're told that will be coming soon, hopefully.
Along with the Record Of The Week, Double Cut, we also have the duo of Moebius and Beerbohm's first outing together, Strange Music from 1982. And strange it surely is. Perhaps not as sonically perfect of a release as Double Cut, it goes in all kinds of intense directions. Starting with the urgent post punk drumming that opens the first track, "Subito", adding to it a swarm of buzzing synths that swirl and sting. Most songs here percolate and gurgle in brash noisy soundscapes, like an industrial swamp with affected vocal noises, and pulsating whirrs. Other songs lurk menacingly and pace creepily with ominous synth howls, reminding us of Throbbing Gristle's murky but dangerous vagueness. With only glimpses of Moebius's past life with Cluster, it seems the newly formed duo were trying their hardest to remove themselves from that past and into new unknown territory. A welcome exploration that only got better and more refined (and engagingly rhythmic) on Double Cut.
Released between 1980's Rastakraut Pasta and 1983's Zero Set, Moebius and Plank's second outing from 1981 reigns in most of the reggae and African rhythms that inspired the other releases but still remains more driving and eccentric than any of the Cluster records from around the same period. Opener "Conditionierer" with its fast bopping rhythm could easily be one of their most rocking dance-floor friendly tracks ever, even if the weird electronic bleeps and pitch-shifted layers take it to a place little seen in rock or dance circles. "Infiltration" and "Osmo Fantor" are more moody and industrial sounding similar in feel to pieces on After The Heat with Brian Eno. Yet the central track "Tolikuehn" is more menacing and forceful with frenetic distorted synth arpeggiations that would sound just right in some Italian giallo film or cyber thriller. But it isn't until the final track "Nordoestliches Gefuehl" that the eccentric vibe of the record closes with a long blissful drifting piece reminiscent of the last Koss record, Ancient Rain, that unites the eccentricities of the record into a unifying lasting whole. Nice!
Krautrock fans are familiar with these guys: Dieter Moebius, who is one one-half of Cluster, and Conny Plank, the producer/engineer responsible for recording sooooo many amazing albums in the '70s and '80s. Both were also members of Liliental. In the early-mid '80s they teamed up for a series of albums together, of which 1980's Rastakraut Pasta was the first.
Various instruments (and non-instruments too?) were played by the duo, then manipulated via Plank's mixing desk, with Moebius providing additional electronics. Can's Holger Czukay also dropped in to lay down bass on a few of the tracks. The results are all quite pleasant and playful, goofy even, tinged with a sunny Jamaican dub reggae influence (hence the Rastakraut title), most notable in the quirky percolating grooves of "Missi Cacadou". And it's quite obvious that this album has something to do with Cluster, nobody else really ever made music like this. Experimental and accessible, weird and wonderful, sorta surreal and not so serious, yet still quite affecting - and full of effects! From the chugging motorik distortion of "Feedback 66" to the looping lovely melodies of "Two Oldtimers" to the more abstract ambience of "Solar Plexus", Rastakraut Pasta is an airy delight. It's mostly instrumental, but when there are vocals, they are heavily treated and fragmentary, and with or without 'em you'll be humming and nodding along.
This new Water label reissue includes new liner notes, providing quotes from Moebius or Plank about each track. Recommended, and we're looking forward to what we'll assume are upcoming Water reissues of the other M&P records, especially the darker, more rhythmically driven Zero Set from '82.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Awesome awesome Cluster related reissue.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Awesome awesome Cluster related reissue.
The collaboration between Dieter Moebius (Cluster, Harmonia), Connie Plank (the producer of pretty much every great Krautrock record), and Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru's drummer) almost sounds too good to be true. But, the one and only recording these three produced in 1983 proves to be amazing. The albums stands as a stunning amalgamation of Kraut motorik rhythms, angular electronic percolations, and a space-funk futurism that's wholly unique to Zero Set. In the early '80s, Plank had been hired to produce the early D.A.F. recordings, beefing up their already muscular Teutonic electronics; and that steroid bloated sound is found within the tight punches of electron poly rhythms and agitated sequences of arpeggiated bleep here too. The tracks all lock around the precisely synchronized rhythms of Neumeier, who has much more of a Donald Johnson / A Certain Ratio approach a la tight punky propulsion rather than the monstrous, if languid fills of "Stone In" on Guru Guru's UFO. Moebius later bemoaned that this album got "too close to techno for comfort." Well, it's actually better for it! Even if it did get close to an electroid techno, Zero Set is both weirder and more playful than many of the electronic body music practitioners of the day. This might not be something for those of you seeking the pastoral prettiness of Harmonia's Deluxe or the Cluster & Eno album, but as an response to the Neue Deutsche Welle sounds from that time period, Zero Set stands out amazingly well. Recommended!
A lot of our favorite krautrock, like this, is really nothing more than what you might call super duper "heavy progressive" rock that happens to be from Germany. Not really eccentric or electronic or "kosmiche" like some of the more famous, innovative krautrock acts, but still darn good if you're into psych, prog and proto-metal and just want to hear some kickass longhaired jams -- often with flute! Though, sadly, there's no flute in this particular case.
Berlin's Murphy Blend (named after a pipe tobacco, and featuring future members of similar acts Blackwater Park and Hanuman) made just one album, back in that magical year of 1971. Now reissued on cd, their album is a solid one, rocking bombastically. There's plenty of powerful guitar riffing, and even more in the way of Hammond organ jamming from their classically trained keyboardist, capably pumping out both rock n' roll grooves and neo-classical flourishes (as on "Praludium/Use Your Feet", before the track gets into breakbeat mining territory). Meanwhile, the sometimes goofy lyrics are delivered in heavily accented English, but the album's strength isn't the vocal melodies, but in the compelling, propulsive instrumental passages. Definitely a "heavy progressive" gem. Oh, and it's kinda cool that, despite all the prog excesses earlier, the final track ("Happiness") is less than three seconds long!
Not new, but we've been fans of this record for years and had never reviewed it, in part 'cause in recent years stuff on the Second Battle label has been notoriously difficult to stock consistently. But one of our suppliers just managed to score a batch of these so we saw our opportunity to write it up for those of you as yet uninitiated into the krautrock awesomeness of My Solid Ground. How awesome is that? Well, the very first track is called "Dirty Yellow Mist" and is over 13 minutes long, featuring a relentlessly repeating distorted guitar riff ceremonially intoning over and over and over as wordless female vocals, droning organ and tribal percussion build up around it. If you're like, "cool!" then this record is for you, it's as good as that sounds. This 1971 (aha, 1971! says Allan) album exemplifies druggy, downer spaced-out psych, being very reminiscent of Pink Floyd circa Meddle (another awesome album that we really should properly review some day!) and Amon Duul II -- along with other krautrockers like Siloah, Necronomicon, Agitation Free and early Guru Guru. And the Floyd feel isn't just 'cause of the cartoon pigs that adorn the cover art either. But there's also a side to the band that's more along the lines of garagey hard rock, with several Kinks-riffed attacks to shake your shack. As primitive heaviness goes, this is a classic. Hazy and weighty and often ominous (check out the mumbling vocals on "The Executioner"). Includes seven bonus tracks (the original 24 minute version of "Flash" not least among them), and comes packaged in a swank digipack.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
A krautrock album supposedly issued in the 70s in a tiny editions of, like, 50 copies or something. The Nazgul cd is from 1975 and features 4 long tracks of droning ambience that's easily as good as any current space rock outfit could put together; i.e. Magnog, Labradford or anything else on Kranky. Bonus weirdness: the bandmembers are named Frodo, Gandalf, and Pippin.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
While we wait for the cd to be restocked (hopefully, soon, maybe today!), we just got a few copies of a new VINYL reissue of this krautrock classic. It's an import, expensive and limited of course, but you're probably never ever gonna find an original LP at any price...not sure if it has the bonus tracks that the cd had, but it does have the liner notes. And more importantly, it's in packaging that folds out into a giant cross, just like the original LP sleeve apparently did!! Wow. Here's a portion of our review of this album from when we listed the Garden Of Delights cd version:
A masterpiece of suicidal, political Krautrock heaviosity from 1972. NECRONOMICON. Freaky then, freaky now. Psychedelic hard rock that was about as 'extreme' as it got at the time...definitely if Terrorizer magazine had existed back then, these Germans would have made the cover. Not that this extreme by today's blackened metal standards, as there's enough pretty and melodic elements included amongst the fuzz riffage to satisfy the mellower hippie types in the Necronomicon freak-scene. And, they're no Black Sabbath. Still, pretty far gone for '72. The title: How To Kill Yourself. Now that's a bad trip. The very first track, the seven-minute "Prolog", almost makes the remainder of this album superflous, as it's a full, epic encapsulation Necronomicon's heavy prog excess. Theirs is an album replete with stinging acid guitar, heady Hammond organ, and monkish chanting. Ecclisastical choirs wail over trudging, yearning guitar and organ -- shades of Magma and J.A. Caesar. It's like Amon Duul II murdering Pink Floyd and riding their animated corpses all the way to hell. Again, not in any way metal, but what you might call Wagnerian garage-psych... Definitely an obscure but A-list kraut/psych album for those with occult tastes...
While we wait for the cd to be restocked (hopefully, soon, maybe today!), we just got a few copies of a new VINYL reissue of this krautrock classic. It's an import, expensive and limited of course, but you're probably never ever gonna find an original LP at any price...not sure if it has the bonus tracks that the cd had, but it does have the liner notes. And more importantly, it's in packaging that folds out into a giant cross, just like the original LP sleeve apparently did!! Wow. Here's a portion of our review of this album from when we listed the Garden Of Delights cd version:
Aa masterpiece of suicidal, political Krautrock heaviosity from 1972. NECRONOMICON. Freaky then, freaky now. Psychedelic hard rock that was about as 'extreme' as it got at the time...definitely if Terrorizer magazine had existed back then, these Germans would have made the cover. Not that this extreme by today's blackened metal standards, as there's enough pretty and melodic elements included amongst the fuzz riffage to satisfy the mellower hippie types in the Necronomicon freak-scene. And, they're no Black Sabbath. Still, pretty far gone for '72. The title: How To Kill Yourself. Now that's a bad trip. The very first track, the seven-minute "Prolog", almost makes the remainder of this album superflous, as it's a full, epic encapsulation Necronomicon's heavy prog excess. Theirs is an album replete with stinging acid guitar, heady Hammond organ, and monkish chanting. Ecclisastical choirs wail over trudging, yearning guitar and organ -- shades of Magma and J.A. Caesar. It's like Amon Duul II murdering Pink Floyd and riding their animated corpses all the way to hell. Again, not in any way metal, but what you might call Wagnerian garage-psych... Definitely an obscure but A-list kraut/psych album for those with occult tastes...
