Let's Hope for a Psychic Psummer

Cave - Psychic Psummer 2009

krautrock, psychedelic, minimal, experimental (as always), groovy

Juan es su nombre?!

This post is dedicated to the Dark Lord himself(or visitor #666). Frosty greetings to the scalding hellfire of Beelzebub’s residence thus… which happens to be an island somewhere in the atlantic ocean just around the corner of Miami, I think.

I’ve got some contemporary krautyness to share, originated in Chicago, Illinois.

This is mazy goodness. You will make acquaintance with hypnotic, repetitive, tense, meditative, aggressive and explosive riffs/tunes etc. pick one.

It makes you wanna dance, or at least pick your brain…

To my great disappointment I missed out on both live shows in Holland last year, for revolutionary reasons though.

Recline, dance, consume.

Requiem for John Sex in mediocre sound quality:

MySpace

Allmusic

John is his name since 1511

If I Can have wings then you Can have some more.

Can-Tago Mago-1971
Krautrock, experimental, progressive.



















After a rather crazy weekend involving red wine, 5AM vodka, Hawkeyes struggling to another win and a haunted cornfield, today is thankfully another lazy Sunday, which means another lazy Sunday afternoon post for you guys, and a huge step in out journey through Can's discography, in the first of their three masterpieces; "Tago Mago", "Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days". "Tago Mago" is the first full album to feature Damo Suzuki after his warm up on the previous album "Soundtracks". The album is one of my favorites, one I will never get old off. Its depth, creativity, composition and sheer crazyness of the album makes it for me one of the essential albums I post on this blog.

All the songs are excellent, with the first half being the stronger, mainly due to its listenability, as the 2nd halfs swirling noise in the epics "Aumgn" and "Peking O" are hard to access for quite some listens through the album,

The first half contains 4 near perfect songs, songs in a style and of such pure expression that hadn't been heard before. "Paperhouse" is the album opener, its downbeat pulse and flowing keys work to create something simply beautiful and the rather simple sympathetic guitar creates a sad yet honest feel to the song. Its not until Jaki Leibzeit's drums really kick into the song after the first few minutes that you get a true idea of where this album and band are heading. The rest of the song is a swirling organised sonic mess of epic proportions. Damo's sound, tone and lyrics really work well, and the band have much more creative freedom than with Mooney. The pause in the middle is just enough time to catch your breath before the ferocious closer to the song, in which Irmin Schmidt pushes along the band with great force straight into the next song "Mushroom".

The song is even more downbeat than "Paperhouse" bordering on insanity, the torment displayed in Damo's muttered lyrics influences the whole feel of music, this song portrays madness so well, its hypnotic. A huge explosion begins the next song and what a stunner it is, 7 minutes of pure brilliance.
"Oh Yeah" is an atmospheric consuming juggernaut. Damo's backwards singing creates a rather uncomfortable feel from the out, and Jaki's drumming is truly magnificent on this song and especially the next "Halleluhwah". I've listened to both songs just to absorb the drumming and vocals as something by themselves. But really the main ethos of Can and why they are so good is the fact that the band has no egos, its not about virtuoso performances and long decadent solos that would plague English progressive music, its about creating fluid, meaningfully expressive music, the skill its takes to turn 5 individuals in to one sound is much more than simply technical prowess.

"Halleluhwah" is 18.32 minutes long, but do not let you put you off, its a stunning song and as mentioned a testament to Leibzeit's drumming expertise. It has a similar feel as the rest of the album, essentially that the drums and bass keep their heavy hypnotic rhythm whilst Karoli and Schmidt are free to explore and weave sounds together over the top, to play with and enhance Damo's vocals. One must not also forget that many of the songs came from extended jams in between takes, and that Holgar Czukay'spioneering editing techinques allow the album to not watse one note, and "Halleluhwah" is that beat-trance monster example of Can's sheer excellence.

Side two contains the swirling madnesses that are "Aumgn" and "Peking O" as well as the closer "Bring Me Coffee Or Tea". "Aumgn" is a wonderful listen, dark and disturbing but with a hint of of the ambigious beauty that the album has at its center. It perhaps show its length too much unlike "Halleluhwah", and so does "Peking O" which are small issues in such an excellent album. "Peking O" is pure experimentalism, and Damo's song, as he chants and screams chaotically to a variety if themes and sounds. Its a crazy song, hard to fathom or make any sense out of, but that not the point, its just to enjoy 12 minutes of musical insanity.
The albums ends with "Bring Me Coffee Or Tea" a respite from the previous 30 minutes and a welcome comedown, much more peaceful than the rest of the album, yet still fits in wonderfully.

Tago Mago was an album not appreciated commercially or critically at the time, yet at least now is being heard by more people. A true masterpiece of the era, its pioneering, deep, beautiful. A gargantuan in experimental music, it has influenced nearly all those who have heard it. One should see this as an album, however I have described the songs.
Next time will be "Ege Bamyasi" the 2nd flawless album by Can from 1972.
Enjoy
jamscoopa

Info
Paperhouse Live (on youtube)
Spoon
AMG
Please buy this album from a good retailer or:
US
UK
Or please delete after 24 hours and then buy:
Oh yeah (256kbps)

Can I have some more please...?

Can-Soundtracks-1970
Krautrock,experimental, soundtrack



















What a wonderfully lazy sunday afternoon is is today, the sun is out, the ferocity of my hunger has been satisfied by a burrito, Hawkeyes are ranked 13th after beating Penn State and I'm listening to the second Can album, and it all fits perfectly. Soundtracks is as it says a series of soundtracks to films performed by Can, along with two original songs featuring the bands former singer Malcom Mooney who would leave due to mental health problems, and the rest featuring the newly acquired frontman and talisman Kenji Damo Suzuki. More about the band members next time with the incredible masterpeice "Tago Mago".

The first three songs feature in the film Deadlock, 1970, directed by Roland Klick; "Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone", Damo's first recorded performance is from the film Cream, "Soul Desert" is from the film Mädchen... nur mit Gewalt, the epic "Mother Sky" is from the Jerzy Skolimowski film Deep End, and the Mooney sung "She Brings the Rain" is from the 1971 film Bottom - Ein großer graublauer Vogel .

The style of this album is oceans apart from their next 3 albums and it only comes close to the originality, exuberance and mind-fucking nature of these stunning albums, but this album holds a special place in my heart/brain.

The whole album seems to ache, it longs for something, and it torments itself about it repeatedly, stabbing away at its own heart. As I said the band were still finding its sound at this point, but the departure of Mooney and Suzuki's introduction really advanced their sound into the extraordinary directions they would explore.

The story of Damo Suzuki's initiation into the band is also extraordinary. On a morning before Can were due to play a gig , Czukay and Liebezeit were sitting in a Munich cafe, when they came across the japanese traveller Suzuki. They invited him to trial for the band and he played the gig that evening, he would become iconic, with his inaudible spontaneous lyrics sung in a variety of languages, he was what would elevate Can to one of the most innovative and influential bands of the time.

The album itself is like a prototype for whats to come, the Mooney songs are much evolved from monster movies more bluesy meets Velvet Underground inspired sounds, and contains the repetitive chaos which would shape "Tago Mago". Without doubt the highlight of this album is the 15 minute epic "Mother Sky". An epic beast, it blows me away every time I listen, its swirling monotony hypnotizes the listener, and Damo's slurred incomprehensible vocals capture your whole consciousness. It captures Can so well, the apparent contradictions of the underlying mechanical bass and drums, the guitar which melodic at some points, and tearing at others, fuses the song together, allowing Damo's insane ramblings to sound so beautiful and natural. Mother Sky is a song to hear intently and involve yourself in like no other, a real journey, it really hits you hard, not for the quiet background listeners please. Get high, drunk, turn it up loud, turn off the lights and immerse yourself. God I love Can
jamscoopa

For more info:
Spoon
Pitchfork
Please buy from a good retailer or:
UK
US
Or please delete after 24 hours:
Deadlock

I Can see why you'd like this......

Can-Monster Movie-1969
Krautrock, experimental, progressive.


















Hallo, ich heisse jamscoopa und ich prezenten Can-Monster Movie. If you'll excuse me for ruining the german language I will present to you in chronological order (of release) the condensed discography of one of my favourite bands Can. I will start with the first proper Can album and the only one featuring the original singer Malcom Mooney.

From AMG:
Always at least three steps ahead of contemporary popular music, Can were the leading avant-garde rock group of the '70s. From their very beginning, their music didn't conform to any commonly held notions about rock & roll -- not even those of the countercultures. Inspired more by 20th century classical music than Chuck Berry, their closest contemporaries were Frank Zappa or possibly the Velvet Underground. Yet their music was more serious and inaccessible than either of those artists. Instead of recording tight pop songs or satire, Can experimented with noise, synthesizers, nontraditional music, cut-and-paste techniques, and, most importantly, electronic music; each album marked a significant step forward from the previous album, investigating new territories that other rock bands weren't interested in exploring.

This first album by Can, is fairly atypical of the sound they would evolve to and perfect in the trilogy of "Tago Mago", "Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days". Malcom Mooney's voice adds something completely different than from his replacement Damo Suzuki, his bluesy, raw and broken voice tells of troubles which surface most on the stand out song "Yoo do Right".

"Yoo do Right" is a 20-minute monster, edited down from a 12-hour jam of terrifying proportions and beating its way through 8 minutes of white-hot guitar and keys that pulls your chest apart, drums clattering in circles and squares and obese rhomboid patterns about your head, before falling to the silent click of drumsticks and a boiled-to-nothing whisper and then lurching back to unending life, strafing and spinning and rending all in its path.

Monster Movie was released in 1969, and is Can's most rock-oriented album by a considerable margin. Its songs are raw and aggressive-- very much informed by The Velvet Underground's larval trance-rock-- and they mark Malcolm Mooney as nothing if not an inspired amateur. "Father Cannot Yell" leaps out of the gate with a hi-speed keyboard flutter and the snap of Jaki Liebezeit's snare. Although the band would later perfect a kind of ambient funk, here they were brawny (though precise), determined rockers to the hilt; five minutes into "Father Cannot Yell", the song climaxes with a blaze of bass, drums, and fuzzed-out guitar, and an entire legacy of minimalist rock (from Neu! to Comets On Fire) is predicted. Of course, the 20-minute "Yoo Doo Right" is the centerpiece, and gives the best indication of what Can would do afterward. The murky, primal atmosphere of drums that dominates the track never allows the listener to escape the band's propulsion; like much of Can's best music, "Yoo Doo Right" seduces me into hypnosis, and winds through a seemingly endless array of textures and variations. Monster Movie is an amazing debut, but would be Mooney's last. He suffered a nervous breakdown onstage and returned to America.

A great start to a great band, more to come.
jamscoopa

For more info:
Spoon
Pitchfork
Please buy this album from a good retailer or:
UK
US
Or please delete after 24 hours:
MnM 256kbps

Everything is not a taste

Neu-Neu 75-1975
Krautrock, electronic, ambient, experimental.


















Happy Labor day y'all, I'm still not clear about what its actually celebrating here but hey its a day off work.
To you on this day I present to you the 3rd album by Neu!(pronounced noy), Neu! 75. This album is perhaps considered there masterpiece along with their original self titled effort.
Neu! consisted of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who had left Kraftwerk in 1971 to create a new sound. The sound was highly inventive and with the so called "Motorik" sound being birthed on "Hallogallo" and "Negativland"from there self titled it went on to influence there old band mates in Kraftwerk.
75 comes at the crossroads in the stylistic nature of the band, with Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger starting to assert there now differing view on the music. Preceding this albums release Rother had worked with another kraut band Cluster to form the "super group" Harmonia. Harmonia's tone of ambient repetitive electronics was contrasted by Dinger's evolving sound which was leaning much more to rock, a compromise was found by splitting the album in two, including Dinger's brother Thomas on guitar and Hans Lampe to play drums on the 2nd half. The album clearly reflects this divergence of taste.

The album opener "Isi" is a wonderfully melodic Rother song that creates images of the musical equivalent of flying. The other two Rother inspired songs also make up the 1st half of the album, "Seeland" and "Leb' Wohl"(meaning farewell). Both songs, but especially "Leb' Wohl" are really beautiful ambient creations.

The second side kicks of with "Hero", this side is Dinger's, a much more upbeat affair which is reminiscent of proto punk and is said to have inspired John Lyndon of The Sex pistols,(an unfortunate consequence) but Neu! are of course much better than punk ever was/is. The song works brilliantly for me, the controlled Neu! sound is contrasted perfectly by Dinger's deranged slurred vocals, this song describes the album extremely well. The second Dinger song is the 8 minute epic "E-Music" an overtly repetitive track that reminds me a lot of their debut/signature sound. The album closer "After Eight" is seemingly a remix/continuation of Hero.

The album is excellent, I'll also so post their debut and 2nd album which both rank along side this. Neu! may be an acquired taste and many listens are needed to fully appreciate this album. True inovators who are often overshadowed by the "mother" band Kraftwerk, Neu!'s sound is one which is solely theirs which although influential can easily stand its ground against anything similar since.
jamscoopa


Please buy from a good record store or from:
UK
US
Or please delete after 24 hours:
Noy
For a decent review:
AMG
Scaruffi

Still need to relax?

Agitation Free-Malesch-1972
Krautrock, progressive, instrumental


















I thought I'd fill that urge you have by now to also listen to the debut album from Agitation Free. Me being a benevolent blogger have provided it. "Malesch" was recorded and released in 1972 and is the summation of the bands history in extended jams and tours in Egypt and the mediterranean. The vibe is one which very much reflects the ethnic (specifically Egyptian) influences, with the atmosphere being as important as the music.

The music itself is largely lead by dueling guitars and a synthesizer, but the hybrid teutonic-desert beats set the album apart from most from the genre and other sounds at the time. Its originality and honesty are unique, it avoids sounding like a concept and succeeds at creating a consuming musical experience.

There is no weak song on the album, but my favourites would be "You Play For Us Today","Malesch" and one uber excellent album closer in "Rücksturz". For people not used to the Krautrock genre, it may take some listening to click, but for fans of the genre, instrumental or just top quality music its a must. If you like this then check out Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Tempel, Guru guru and of course there other masterpiece 2nd.
jamscoopa
Please buy at:
UK
USA
Or please delete after 24, then buy:^^
free

Time to relax.....

Agitation Free-2nd-1973
Krautrock, progressive, instrumental


















Howdy folks, I thought another installment of krautrock was due. I have chosen to follow up Faust(a tough feat) with a superb album by Agitation free. Agitation Free were an avant-garde instrumental band from Germany in the early 1970s, they have an experimental and improvisational feel. They originated from extended jams of cover songs and then began writing their own songs from jamming sessions.

This album "2nd" is surprisingly the bands 2nd album after there excellent debut "Malesch", which has a very potent middle eastern and egyptian feel to it. 2nd has a similar but subtler feel, with the guitar still sounding quite ethnic but also jazzier. The album is one of my favourites and a true instrumental classic of the 70s. It showcases the german progressive scene with all its creativity, talent and worldly inspiration, whether in this case from ethnic countries the band toured or from the modern urban industrial realm as in Faust or Kraftwerk.

The album had two sides originally the first being supreme to the 2nd, which is not at all bad however. Side one starts with "First communication" the most aggressive song on the album, and one of the best. After a slow and gentle build up with some mellowing bass riffs complemented by a mazey and flowing guitar it arrives at the frantic close to the song an all out jazz rock jam to really stir senses.

The other stand out songs are "Laila Parts 1 and 2" the first part being my favourite part of an outstanding album." No forewarning just listen and enjoy.
Part 2 is 7 minute epic builds up slowly with the bass forming a beautifully repetitive hypnotizing base for a winding guitar to sum up an experience in a far away land. It really sends you elsewhere; for a stunning live version of "Laila" check out "Cliffs at the River Rhine" a live album released in 1995.

The second side is a much quieter journey, sometimes maybe too long in places but still wonderfully emotive, with the closer "Haunted Island" sticking out.
The band were extremely talented but lineup changes, poor sales :( and extensive touring forced them to split in 1974. They released "Last" and "Cliffs'" in the 70s until a brief reformation in 1998, and have since released a live album and "Fragments".
They are a definitive band of Krautrock and should be checked out at all cost, both "2nd" and "Malesch" are exemplar albums.
If you like this then also check out Amon Duul II, Guru guru and Tangerine Dream-posts will come later.
jamscoopa

Please buy at:
US
UK
Or please delete after 24 hours:
free

Faust..........

Faust-Self Titled-1970
Krautrock, Experimental, progressive.

















Well kids, what to say about Faust? They can be considered in the top tier of the german progressive movement in the late 60's and early 70's, a genre deemed by the english press at the time as "Krautrock". This being one of my favourite genres and favourite bands, Faust's eccentricity, creativity and originality set them apart from anything else before them and have influenced a huge range of bands since. A mix of electronic, rock, industrial noise, acoustic and editing techniques, it's truly original, a musical revolution of sorts. This is the first of the 4 top quality canon albums in the 70's, the self titled album is composed of 3 songs.

The first song "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" is a semi electronic affair with great usage of tape editing, it also samples some of the eras great bands with lines from "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "All You Need Is Love", with feedback and mesmerizing jingles throughout, its a mixed up affair. Its like sticking Mozart in a blender and playing whats left through a broken record player, whilst hoovering, listening to the radio and making a cup of tea.
Separated from the anglo-american rock scene, Faust and the other early Krautrock bands such as; CAN, Amon Duul II, Tangerine Dream etc(I'll feature these later.) were free to do as they pleased, and what they did is certainly pleasing.

The 2nd song on the album "Meadow Meal" starts as feedback before breaking into a starkly ominous industrial sound-scape (pardon my french), it is then interupted by a group mantra. A riff of unsettling simplicity then carries the song until a organ finally closes a superbly imaginative track, a real experience indeed.

The album closer Miss Fortune is a 16 minute epic beginning with a more rock orientated start reminiscent of beach boys only distorted and edited out of comprehension with what sounds like a oscillator and looping. The album is not for the faint of hearted and will take a few listens to understand it. At some points it sounds incredibly foreign for those who are used to more standard rock, and even those who look for something different.

Faust's selftitled is stunning album for anyone willing to devote some attention to it. The ethos of "Krautrock" is just that, to listen to and experience the music to absorb it live, not for a catchy memory to weaken itself through over play. Check out "So Far", and there other masterpeice "Faust IV" if you like this....
More krautrock to come soon-any requests welcomed.
jamscoopa

Please buy at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faust/dp/B00005KKB6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1250819916&sr=8-15 UK
http://www.amazon.com/Faust/dp/B000006YNH/ref=sr_1_45?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1250820011&sr=8-45 USA
Or please delete after 24 hours:
carrots