Re: OFF: More on Amon Düül II

[Stephan Forstner]

Oh nuts, I can't help it, I have to add just a bit more to this very verbose
thread...all previous quotes are from KeithH (>>) and DougP (>)...

>> I thought I'd ask this question to whomever has the
>> Repertoire CD reissue of Phallus Dei.
>>
>>The bonus tracks are...
>>"Freak Out Requiem I"
>>"Freak Out Requiem II"
>>"Freak Out Requiem III"
>>"Cymbals In The End"
>>
>>So how are these things?  I gather the first three are rather
>>non-structured?  Is this all with Dave Anderson - I'm presuming?

> those "Freak Out Requiem"s of length are very good, hot melodic jams.
> Less "non-structured" than the weirder stuff on 'Yeti' or 'Dance of
> the Lemmings', to be certain.  Worth it to me, but I love 'Phallus Dei'
> and 'Yeti'.

Now I can't wait to hear these...

>> Might some of this material be the source of certain snippets of
>> music that I heard (but didn't recognize) on those Japanese
>> retro-pastische things that I have (Kobe and Eternal Flashback)???

My copy of the PD reissue should be arriving soon and I'll hopefully be able
to partially answer this when it does...

>> Well, I've just gone back over my Kobe and E.F. [Eternal Flashback]
>> discs, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of this stuff does appear
>> somewhere in here. Kobe is pretty lame if you ask me...most of the
>> stuff is sampled bits and pieces from Yeti and DotL I believe, mixed
>> and remixed and spliced together with other noises (extracted bits of
>> percussion from the background brought way up front or so it seems).

I have Kobe Reconstructions and I really like it. I'm not sure exactly what
all the source is, but on first listen I thought it sounded like old Amon
Duul Mk I material spliced together and with someone playing occasional lead
guitar lines over the top. I still think this is a decent description of
what it sounds like, but subsequent listens showed that there are clearly
bits of songs from various ADII albums being played at various points,
sometimes they sound like the straight album versions, sometimes they sound
like they might be alternate takes, or just the guitar part for example, so
Keith's description is quite accurate even if his reaction to it is about
180 degrees different from mine. I think it all falls together very
organically, so it sounds like a continuous piece of music, not at all like
a collage (like The Faust Tapes). A 60+ minute heavy psychedelic tribal jam
- hog heaven for me.

>> And particularly annoying is the frequent use of a 'faux vinyl'
>> click noise that's obviously added intentionally 'cause the click
>> always sounds the same, and it repeats obviously slower than 33 1/3
>> rpm speed.

I think what this is is a bit of percussion sampled from vinyl and then
continuously looped - which is why its always the same and also why the
'frequency' is less than 33 1/3 (I never actually timed this!)

>> the thing ends up with (about 90 seconds of) Master of the Universe
>> straight off of ISoS.

Heh, that bit always gives me a kick, though I would have guessed it came
off Space Ritual Vol. II - I'd better go back and listen to it again. It
takes a while to get to it though because:

>> There are supposedly six tracks but it's all indexed as a single
>> 66 minute piece. Makes it even harder to jump ahead to something
>> not so grating.

I find the single-track indexing annoying too (but not because I think the
material is grating, though I can certainly see how many (probably most)
listeners might think so). All in all, this is not the kind of thing that
would be to everyone's taste, but as I said, I really like it. If Eternal
Flashback is similar, I'd love to get my hands on a copy, but Andy Gilham's
AD website says it was a Captain Trip promotional-style item, and I don't
think I've ever seen it for sale. If anyone has a copy they don't want for
sale or trade, please let me know...CDR if all else fails...thank you muchly.

>> E.F. is way better.  And in fact, this seems very much like a
>> 'Dawn of Hawkwind' analog for AD2.  Again, we've got 67 minutes
>> of stuff all indexed as one track (no separate titles this time),
>> and it again has a few moments taken directly from the albums
>> (Cerberus is in there for sure, and maybe something from DotL
>> Side 4?).

I'm fairly certain that both Cerberus and parts of some of the synth pieces
from DotL are present on Kobe, played over the heavy percussive background.

>> But then there are some obvious pre-Phallus Dei demo recordings
>> in here also.  Including most obviously a slowed-down earlier
>> version of Kanaan, which then leads right into the P.D. version
>> of the same tune.  There's also a couple different folk/skiffle

Now I REALLY would like to hear this, though if the pattern holds I'll end
up liking it less than Kobe.

>> And I played my Made in Germany copy again last night...why is
>> this album so disrespected?!

> Because it's mostly awful?

Ouch. Keith's enthusiasm for MiG had me almost ready to go out and give it
another chance, but a dash of cold water from Doug snapped me back to
reality and saved me a bunch of bucks.

When it comes to ranking the ADII releases, I'm going to second Doug pretty
much line for line, right down to them losing me at Vive La Trance, except
I'd like to say that while Live in London may not strictly speaking be
essential, it is far too good to pass up. Also, in comparing Carnival in
Babylon and Wolf City, my feeling is that all the material on CiB is at a
more or less even level of goodness, while WC is a bit more varied - the
tracks on there that I really like (mostly side 2) I like more than anything
on CiB, while some of the others (mostly side 1) I tend to like a little
less than anything on CiB. So its kind of a tossup there.

On to Kraan ...

>> Well, Kraan is probably a band you wouldn't much care for, though
>> I'm sure there are albums you'd be more receptive to, and others
>> you couldn't stand for a minute.

I like Kraan's self-titled debut, precisely because parts of it are in a
much more psychedelic jamming vein (though still pretty tightly structured)
than anything they ever did later. I'd particularly like to mention Johannes
Papperts (alto?) saxophone playing - on this release it occasionally sounds
to me somewhat like Simon House's violin, not just in the tone of the
instrument but in the style of the playing! Of course, that may just be
because I have Hawkwind on the brain, so I'd like to hear someone else's
opinion on that. The next few albums all contain very impressive
musicianship, and the occasional song that I like, but I couldn't honestly
say that I really like any of these albums as a whole - though I would
probably make an exception for the Live release (with the toothy topless
cartoon chicks on the cover) as they stretch out a bit on that one and
REALLY impress with their skills.

And just to prove to Keith that our tastes are not completely divergent, I
will say that The Phoebe Cates arrived yesterday and first listen gives a
good impression...

C'mon, do the Düül....

Stephan