OFF : This week ....in Space/Krautrock

[Jonathan Jarrett]

On Fri, 19 Nov 1999, Keith Henderson wrote:

> Neu!'s first album *was* very innovative, with proto-trance,
> proto-industrial, and proto-ambient music (if you will) all represented.  I
> thought I saw (on www.eurock.com) that an official CD re-release was finally
> made of this, but I have yet to hear any definite confirmation of that.  Of
> course, it was part of the huge collection of Germanofon boots that have
> been around for years.

        I got that, and thought it was indeed one of a kind, and this
impression was only confirmed by the second, whihc aside from being a bad
press was also a bad bootleg and seemed, as far as the music went, to have
only one gimmick and that a tape-player with variable speed settings. But
the first one's good. It needs a decent release.

> And of
> course, Ash Ra Tempel...Schwingungen is a good one (some dodgy vocals), and
> the Cleopatra 2CD 'Best of the Private Tapes' is excellent....esp. if you
> like Göttsching's 'loopy' guitar work.  I would recommend also Wegmuller's
> Tarot album, except I've never heard it....damn thing is too expensive.  But
> it's supposed to be one of the best in that Cosmic Berlin sound.  Mythos
> were a pretty cool band also, esp. if you like flute.

        I think the first Ash Ra (self-titled) is gorgeous; _Schwingungen_
I like parts of but sometimes it fails to reach me. Is _Tarot_ an Ash Ra
Tempel album or something other? _Join Inn_ seems to suggest that the same
people recorded _Tarot_ in its sleeve notes.

> P.S.  Two members of Wallenstein were in the Cosmic Jokers supergroup, but
> you should note that their music is not 'drifty space' stuff, but rather
> more keyboard-oriented kraut-prog.  Good stuff still, but not very much like
> Ash Ra or CJ.  They weren't really from Berlin anyway.

        They're really odd! It's as if they had never heard any music
other than classical and then someone lent them Blue Oyster Cult's
equipment for a year and took them round some Berlin clubs. Very noisy
piano-based but never really rock so much as classical played very fast.

> P.P.S.  Guru Guru were another excellent Berlin band, but they were either
> more freaked out (earlier) or jazzy (later).  The 'transition' album (Dance
> of the Flames, 1974) is my favorite.  A little silly perhaps!  'Hinten' is
> pretty cool too.

        The freak-out stuff is great! Germans with a sense of humour all
right!
>
> P.P.P.S.  I'm ignoring Tangerine Dream because I don't know enough about
> them...I see merit in their first 'rock' album (Electronic Meditation), but
> I was bored with 'Zeit.'

        _Zeit_ has to be really listened to, with near-total attention, as
otherwise it just won't fit in the head. My girlfriend said it scared her
and compared it to Stravinsky. I'd urge you to try it again when you're
trying to sleep or something and can spare the time to listen to every
single bit.

        In between it and EM though is a damn fine album, _Alpha
Centauri_, which does everything Ash Ra ever managed bar the guitar. The
later (`blue') stuff is also good but loses the innovation and depth
slowly. The recent stuff, apart from other people's remixes of it, should
not be touched with the proverbial bargepole. Yours,
                                                     Jon (oi loikes a bit
of Krautrock, oi does)