Back in March of this year in Log #131 A Cluster of Faustian Harmonia I pondered the extent of my Krautrock experience. Familiar with the Krautrock mainstream of the likes of Can and... well, Can mostly to be honest (and Tangerine Dream if you class them in the genre) I pondered that there were many other 70s German bands I had perhaps heard of but had yet to actually hear. For a correspondent adopting such a pseudonym as Eddy Bamyasi this was a serious oversight which needed rectifying forthwith.
The rectification began immediately with Cluster and Harmonia which ironically and bizarrely will almost certainly feature in my best new discoveries of the year review come December. Further rectification occurs this week with visits to the post Neu! La Dusseldorf, a listen to Grobscnitt's most famous album, a first ever spin of a classic Amon Duul II album, more sequencing guitar excursions with Ashra man Michael Gottsching, and, although not Krautrock, Eno and Gabriel trumpet collaborator Jon Hassell's influential debut album.
La Dusseldorf - La Dusseldorf
La Dusseldorf - Viva
Michael Gottsching - E2-E4
Jon Hassell - Vernal Equinox
Amon Dull II - Yeti
Grobschnitt - Solar Music
Phew, that's a lot of new listening. But new listening is what is so exciting about music innit. An excitement which I maintain now just as much as when I was a teenager dropping a needle on a new vinyl I'd just picked up from the second hand store. I believe this has a lot to do with keeping to my tried and tested method - physical mediums in their original album forms. None of these easy come easy go digital downloads.
And we're off...
La Dusseldorf formed out of the ashes of Neu! One of the members wanted to play more ambient instrumental music and another one (this one) wanted to go rock. Consequently these two albums are much more rock based than Neu! In fact, reminiscent of the times (1976/8), the albums touch on punk too. The characteristic motorik beat is maintained but there is singing (limited - in the tunefulness sense) and plentiful guitar too. The tracks are quite long and tend to set up an invigorating groove not least on the side long classic Cha Cha 2000 from the Viva release.
Gottsching's E2-E4 is named after a chess move (one of the most popular opening moves in the game). It is an hour long piece that Gottsching pretty much improvised in his home studio one day. It just so happened to come together beautifully and after being adopted by various prominent club DJs became a surprise underground club hit in the mid 80s. It now stands as an early example of chilled out beats with its hypnotic two chord pattern.
Gottsching's E2-E4 is named after a chess move (one of the most popular opening moves in the game). It is an hour long piece that Gottsching pretty much improvised in his home studio one day. It just so happened to come together beautifully and after being adopted by various prominent club DJs became a surprise underground club hit in the mid 80s. It now stands as an early example of chilled out beats with its hypnotic two chord pattern.
You can make a fortune with this record.
Richard Branson on E2-E4
Despite Branson's blessing Gottsching did not release the record on Virgin choosing to donate it to Klaus Schulze's fledgling Inteam label in 1984.
The Jon Hassell album is a nice listen. It includes elements of ambience (jungle atmosphere) and world music (particularly through the unusual percussion beats) all highlighted with Hassell's heavily treated trumpet. It's a stage on from Miles Davis' early 70s fusion stuff. An excellent album, miles better than I had reason to hope, notwithstanding the acclaim.
Amon Duul II's Yeti is a powerful rock album. Some of the tracks sound slightly dated with a late 60s Love like feel, especially with the flute, violin, tabla and acoustic guitar embellishments. The vocals are strong and the guitar riffs are powerful. From what I've heard of the Krautrock stable I'd say this band are the closest to the (psychedelic/space) rock music coming out of the UK and US at the time and less characteristic of their German contemporaries. They would have fitted right in headlining at Woodstock.
The reaper on the cover looks like Iggy Pop! It is actually a photo (and hommage) to the band's late sound man Wolfgang Krischke who had died a drug related death the year before.
The difference between mark I and mark II of the band is not actually chronology. The band began life as a loose commune collective in 1967...
We are eleven adults and two children which are gathered to make all kinds of expressions, also musical.
In 1968 several members of the group decided to branch off and follow a more serious musical path naming themselves Amon Duul II. They became the famous band we now know as one of the pioneers of Krautrock.
Both versions I and II actually crossed over and even performed separately at some of the same festivals. Mark I disbanded in 1973 after 4 studio albums leaving Mark II to continue on through the 70s (and subsequently spasmodically in various forms).
Lastly, I say Solar Music is Grobschnitt's most famous album. It is a mostly instrumental live piece recorded in 1978. It takes a while to get going with a series of false starts that sound like premature crescendos but eventually the trademark Genesis keyboard arpeggios and fluid guitar kick in all underpinned by a loud pumping bass. Truly epic symphonic rock closer to prog rock than Kraut and containing passages that remind me very much of their stupendous Rockpommel's Land LP. The English lyrics, such as they are, are tongue in cheek and, along with sudden odd noises and sound effects, add a humourous element to the band. Nonetheless the vocals when they occur are some of the strongest in the whole prog/rock/krautrock scene.