Krautrock

[Massed Gadgets]

As far as the Ash Ra stuff goes, I love New Age of Earth, enjoy Blackouts, but after that it gets kind of samey for me and loses its magic. And when I say samey, I don't necessarily mean that every track sounds the same, I just mean it's 'more of the same kind of stuff'. I listen to the Ash Ra Tempel stuff far more than I do the Ash Ra stuff though.

[rememberaday]

Mythos are a cool band, albeit more symphonic. Dreamlab is a great album, as is their debut.

I also listened to Xhol Caravan's Electrip, but it didn't do much for me. Any other albums of Xhol/Xhol Caravan (preferably with less soul stuff) that I may like?

[Massed Gadgets]

Xhol Caravan began life as Soul Caravan and were indeed a soul group. Even though their American soul based singer James Rhodes left before the recording of Electrip, they retained some of the soul influence. As their slightly later incarnation, Xhol, they moved in a more acid-fried jazz fusion direction, but even on Motherfuckers, the had touches of the soul influence, but it had a lot of other weird stuff on it too. I have a disc by Xhol called Altena 1970, a live recording which is almost pure fusion jazz. It's not bad, but not what I would call a classic.

[rememberaday]

First things first - MG, your avatar is nice.

I don't know if they've been mentioned before, but Between is an amazing band! Their 2nd album And The Waters Opened is pure bliss! However, I'd warn that it is pretty meditative and eastern-influenced, hence it contains a lot of exotic instruments and a very "mystical" vibe. The track Syn basically is just a drone. But I love it. Their 1st I've yet to check, but Dharana is very good too.

More importantly, I can't wait for the new Klaus Schulze album, Shadowlands, to be released (Feb 22 I think).

[rememberaday]

Wait, I see the allmusic site and Shadowlands was released on 4th Feb. My bad. It's confusing really, cause (I think) it was meant to be released in 2011! Anyway, can anyone tell me whether it's worth listening to? Actually, is any KS album worth listening to after Dune?

[moom]

Anyway, can anyone tell me whether it's worth listening to? Actually, is any KS album worth listening to after Dune?

Listen to people, but make your own opinion

[rememberaday]

Klaus Schulze has released 30 albums since 1980, Moom

And btw, I'm not really free these days to actually spend a lot of time on listening to music. I've got a huge string of exams again from Wednesday.

[moom]

Klaus Schulze has released 30 albums since 1980, Moom

No matter.

[rememberaday]

Klaus Schulze has released 30 albums since 1980, Moom

No matter.

Yeah I know but to be frank, I have neither the time these days nor am I in the shape of mind to really listen to new music. So I just kind of stockpile anything I get a chance on.

Btw, to answer my question, have you checked out Shadowlands?

[moom]

Listen one by one, not all at once

[Massed Gadgets]

Klaus Schulze's stuff past the 70's all starts to sound a bit samey to me. There were a few in the 80's I liked, like Trancefer and the soundtrack to Angst, but the albums I return to most are Irrlicht, Cyborg, Timewind, Moondawn and Body Love Vol. 2. I've also recently been enjoying some of the La Vie Electronique series released over the last few years which features previously unreleased work from his early career. I think there up to around 12 editions now and I'm not sure what phase in his career they've reached, but Vols. 1 through 4 cover the early period during the time he was recording the albums I love the most.

[my breakfast.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIXAJV6QaUo

Here is some fresh footage of Amon Duul II. The 1971 video has been around a while, the first half of the 1973 footage was uploaded more recently (just Jailhouse Frog), and finally I get to see the weird version of Eye Shaking King at the end.

Eye Shaking King seems to fizzle out into some weird experimental piece that I think was improvised on the spot. The organist (is that the fabled Falk U Rogner?) is patched into a VCS-3 with trippy results.

Amon Dull II are an interesting band, being formed from a commune band. Mr. Rogner is testament that sometimes band members were chosen for ideological reasons over robust musical skill.... I've never heard anything approaching good organ playing from him. On their albums the keyboard work is shared with other members quite frequently.

[Massed Gadgets]

Amon Duul II, at least earlier on, were definitely one of the craziest and most original rock bands of the Krautrock era. Phallus Dei is a brilliant album, and probably my favourite by them, but Yeti and Tanz Der Lemmings are also fantastic. Wolf City has its moments too. They may have had some sub par performers amongst them, but they were more musically disciplined than their Amon Duul I counterparts.

I will have to check out that live video later, as I have to head out to work, but it looks pretty interesting.

[my breakfast.]

This Ash Ra Tempel track sounds a bit like Pink Floyd!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTPNzFlpWWY

I love it when the drums come in at 2:35. Ace stuff.

[rememberaday]

Thanks for the Amon Duul II link, Alan.

What are your thoughts on the original Amon Duul?