KRAUTROCK Listening Klub! - New Albums Every Wednesday

Listening to the DW album now... Really good - like a lost cousin to Harmonia.

I concur with the DW praise, really excellent stuff, Lindstrom for one was obviously listening.

yeah, DW is a nice one for sure. it was reissued on vinyl last year. picked it up from aquarius records a few months back.

have earthstar on now. was not familiar with this one before but things like "ashra," "popol vuh," and "blade runner" have been popping into my head and that can't be a bad thing.

going to listen to these tonight
honestly, thank you so much.

On that DW album - "Der Grosse Atem" is really lovely.

^^ Astounding song, only heard it this week through this but kept it on repeat for a while. Amazing.

I'll make this my commute listening this eve.

Earthstar reminds me of everything I love about Tangerine Dream -- spacey, kind of aimless, but grounded.

i just realized that i was listening to this REALLY LOUD. hope my neighbors liked it and appreciated how massive it is.

Glad you guys are liking the music. I really like both albums a lot.

Will grab these and report back. Include me in for a week.

16 March - Scott pgwp
23 March - Neil S
30 March - AnotherDeadHero
6 April - ilxor
13 April - jacob sanders
20 April - Tom D

Embryo: Opal (1970)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WWIy23PK7tM/SqAbUEcS0tI/AAAAAAAACg0/sMcTUm-NMjk/s1600-h/cover.jpg

No Allmusic review. As I understand it Embryo eventually morphed into something jazzier and more influenced by world music (correct me if I'm wrong). A run of later albums from the group featured horn player Mal Waldron, who had previously accompanied Billie Holiday (!). This is their debut, from 1970, and to me it sounds at times a lot closer to Amon Düül's heavier and more focused moments—with saxophone. Psychedelic free jazz. The final, 26-minute "Läuft" was not on the original issue of the album

Link

Manuel Göttsching: Inventions for Electric Guitar (1975)
http://images-jp.amazon.com/images/P/B00000708P.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Allmusic review:

This album is sometimes credited to Ash Ra Tempel, but the music was composed and performed by Manuel Göttsching alone. All sounds were created with guitar, but Göttsching's use of echo, delay, and assorted treatments give these pieces the flavor of sequenced synthesizer music, occasionally reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's work from the period. The opening "Echo Waves" is a trance-inducing space guitar masterpiece, with repeating rhythm figures and gradual phase shifts creating a warped sense of time. The first 14 minutes of the track consist of short, subtly changing melodic phrases, until Göttsching questionably chooses to close with a searing, acid-fried guitar solo. "Quasarsphere" is much more contemplative, with Göttsching processing his guitar to sound like a synthesizer in the vein of Robert Fripp. The closing "Pluralis" consists of endless variations constructed around a simple guitar sequence; it possesses a structure similar to "Echo Waves" (down to the late-breaking blast of psychedelic soloing) with a bit more space and a slower tempo. In some respects a precursor to the groundbreaking proto-techno of E2-E4, Inventions for Electric Guitar is an essential document for space rock enthusiasts.

I had to scroll through this thread to make sure I didn't pick this album up via ILM. I don't know where I came across this last year but it was a true find. This is a gorgeous all-guitar ambient record. I like this more than any of the Ash Ra Tempel stuff I've heard so far.

Link

Embryo: Opal (1970

http://prettygoeswithpretty.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54eeeec0788340120a95c3e56970b-pi

No Allmusic review. As I understand it Embryo eventually morphed into something jazzier and more influenced by world music (correct me if I'm wrong). A run of later albums from the group featured horn player Mal Waldron, who had previously accompanied Billie Holiday (!). This is their debut, from 1970, and to me it sounds at times a lot closer to Amon Düül's heavier and more focused moments—with saxophone. Psychedelic free jazz. The final, 26-minute "Läuft" was not on the original issue of the album

Link

Manuel Göttsching: Inventions for Electric Guitar (1975)
http://images-jp.amazon.com/images/P/B00000708P.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Allmusic review:

This album is sometimes credited to Ash Ra Tempel, but the music was composed and performed by Manuel Göttsching alone. All sounds were created with guitar, but Göttsching's use of echo, delay, and assorted treatments give these pieces the flavor of sequenced synthesizer music, occasionally reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's work from the period. The opening "Echo Waves" is a trance-inducing space guitar masterpiece, with repeating rhythm figures and gradual phase shifts creating a warped sense of time. The first 14 minutes of the track consist of short, subtly changing melodic phrases, until Göttsching questionably chooses to close with a searing, acid-fried guitar solo. "Quasarsphere" is much more contemplative, with Göttsching processing his guitar to sound like a synthesizer in the vein of Robert Fripp. The closing "Pluralis" consists of endless variations constructed around a simple guitar sequence; it possesses a structure similar to "Echo Waves" (down to the late-breaking blast of psychedelic soloing) with a bit more space and a slower tempo. In some respects a precursor to the groundbreaking proto-techno of E2-E4, Inventions for Electric Guitar is an essential document for space rock enthusiasts.

I had to scroll through this thread to make sure I didn't pick this album up via ILM. I don't know where I came across this last year but it was a true find. This is a gorgeous all-guitar ambient record. I like this more than any of the Ash Ra Tempel stuff I've heard so far.

Link

Sorry for the double post - the Embryo image didn't load the first time around.

OTM on "Opal". In fact, OTM on both!

I think I'll grab the Gottsching album for the cover alone

BTW; last weeks albums were really good

seriously excellent smirk for the ages he's got there

has this been posted about elsewhere? it's enjoyable ambient guitar music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-GUSF-Y6As

i guess it's not krautrock if it's from cleveland
unless it is

anyway, not sure i could carry a week of this, but i am enjoying listening (and reading)

that gottsching album is a big fave of mine.

There are other excellent Ashra/Gottsching ambient guitar albums. You should hear Blackouts, New Age of Earth, Dream and Desire, E2-E4, among others.

... stick around, you just might

Tho, of course, none of them have has much guitar as "Inventions"!

blackouts might! (my fave btw)

"Inventions" is ALL guitar tho. Said it before, but i prefer Ashra to Ash Ra Tempel.

oh, never realized that inventions has no synths at all!

I definitely prefer ashra. guitar loops + snyths = gateway to pleasure

Think in this thread (club?), the electronic/ambient/motorik side of K'Rock tends to be predominate at the expense of the psych/ freakout/ jazzrockin' sides

it does. needs some to balance it up

Can't help it if that's what the kidz prefer

damn pesky kids?

I'm with the kids on this one

i don't qualify as a kid, but comparatively i am definitely a noob
jazz/psych/freakout for up times and ambient drone for down times ime

The good Ash Ra Tempel freakouts are without compare, tho. I mean...AMBOSS is freaking huge.
But I haven't listened to the rock jams much since I've discovered the electric inventions, it is true.

Hey, check the Embryo record for jazz/psyche/freakout! There was a lot of Popol Vuh/Guru Guru/Amon Duul II on this thread earlier, too...

Definitely want to check more Gottsching. E2-E4 was posted on this thread a while back but iirc it was only a spotify link so I couldn't listen to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6HVroMFP6M

^Dude, this is awesome

been wanting to get into Embryo for a while now

Curious to know if anyone out there has heard any of their later material. Like a lot of krautrock bands, their discography is vast and they went through a lot of changes. Their drummer is the only consistent member. This is all I've heard from them, personally.

That Earthstar album is so incredibly massive. Love it

I have an Earthstar record called for Humans Only and I've been wanting to check more of their music. Just downloaded it. I hope it's as blissful as the one I have.

I have been listening to Opal a lot lately. Weird.

Curious to know if anyone out there has heard any of their later material. Like a lot of krautrock bands, their discography is vast and they went through a lot of changes. Their drummer is the only consistent member. This is all I've heard from them, personally.

Rocksession is really good, sort of longer-form jazz rock freakout stuff. Great trippin' embryo-ear cover, too.

Thanks for the Embryo. Haven't heard them before.

Inventions is my favorite Ashra/Gottsching album. I like it much better than E2-E4 and it rivals Rainbow Dome Musick for total supremacy.

Curious to know if anyone out there has heard any of their later material.

Yes. It's OK. It is what it is, it's jazz rock. Some good tracks here and there. Agree that "Rocksession" is quite consistent however. Oh, they dabble in ethnic/Eastern textures on quite a few albums, which can be interesting (tho I prefer Wolfgang Dauner and Dzyan's similar efforts).

Thanks to scott pgwp for restoring my faith in this thread and in the notion that there might be some "Krautrock" out there that I haven't heard yet that might actually be worth hearing! Thought we were kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel towards the end last time round. Deutsche Wertarbeit is totally up my strasse, could say that it's shading into Neue Deutsche Welle a bit (1981 after all), also reminds me of Chris Carter in places! Great sounds on that Earthstar album! There's a bit of wandering about aimlessly trying to find a tune, a la Klaus Schulze, but I can forgive that.

... sorry it was van smack not scott who posted those albums!

Must have been von smack, right? ;)
Will get that Deutsche Wertarbeit album tonight, curious after all the praise (somehow I've never seen this thread?!)
Bought Opal] a couple of years ago but it's (was?) not up my Straße, I'll try again. Sounded way too "crowded" (krauted lol sorry) for my taste

Catching up to that Earthstar record posted a couple weeks back... some of it sounds like it could be dropped directly into an Emeralds album and no one would blink.

Is it somebody else's turn this week?

Neil S is this week. Where is NEIL?

uh oh sorry guys will put something together now

Ashra - New Age of Earth

http://img262.imageshack.us/i/covercustombi9.jpg/

Allmusic review, which credits the record to Manuel Gottsching solo:

Opening track "Sunrain" sounds like it could soundtrack a narrativeless documentary on just that, or at least some sequence of nature photography; bright and sparkling, the synths and drum machines blend together nicely. "Ocean of Tenderness" has a similar sense of film accompaniment, being a gentle, minimal flow of keyboard shading, electronic chirps deep in the mix, and a soft lead melody that carefully unwinds throughout the lengthy track, with a low-key bass pulse appearing a few minutes in as contrast. "Deep Distance" lives up to the title nicely, combining sweetly spaced-out drones with minimal percussion that sounds like raindrops as much as anything else as lead melodies slowly come to the fore. "Nightdust," which takes up the original second side of the album, captures the original psych-jam feeling of Ash Ra Tempel more than anything else.

Spotify link

I'm on an ambient tip for this week. First choice is a lovely, lovely record from Ashra, with burbling synths and psychedelic guitar to spare. I also really like the record cover, for ages I thought it was a prehistoric monolith, only lately did I realise it's a skyscraper.

More thoughts and another choice to follow.