Definitely the title track is the standout on this one, for me--has a Native American feel. I am still trying to figure out if they are chanting the poem on the back of the CD, with the "gully gully ram sam" or whatever.
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 22 March 2003 14:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jl, Sunday, 23 March 2003 00:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
BTW if anybody reading this owns Crispy Ambulance's Plateau Phase and the Nosferatu soundtrack, can you confirm that the CA track "Simon's Ghost" is a direct ripoff of the opening theme from Nosferatu? I don't have the soundtrack (and in fact don't know if this theme made it to the soundtrack as per Dadaismus' caveats) but saw the movie again recently, then shortly after that listened to the CA disc and noted the extreme similarity. on Plateau Phase the piece is credited to the group.
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Sunday, 23 March 2003 00:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
I'm not finished yet!
Last part…
ALSO OF NOTEGila – Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1973)Gila was Conny Veit’s band before joining Popol Vuh, their first album (with a different line-up) is apparently quite psychedelic and spacey but this particular album is of special note because it’s basically Popol Vuh: but playing Conny Veit's songs as opposed to Florian Fricke's. Not surprisingly this sounds a bit like the Popol Vuh of this period (1973-75): melodic rock with folk and classical elements and with not enough progginess to render it unpalatable to the discerning listener - but not as GOOD as Popol Vuh of course! One of the problems is that it's some kind of concept album about the plight of the Native American - cue po-faced and awkward lyrics and vocals delivered with a Teutonic over-earnestness which spills over into (unintentional) comedy at times. Nice lush piano throughout from the late great Florian, Danny Fichelscher drums as athletically as ever, Conny plays nice guitar.
ADDITIONAL FILM WORKAs you may have noticed Florian Fricke’s music is often used in the films of Werner Herzog and it’s hard to imagine one without the other (just how many faux-naif mystics are there in Bavaria exactly?) As I confessed at the beginning of this marathon, I don’t have all Popol Vuh’s albums and I certainly haven’t seen all of Werner Herzog’s films so there may be some films which use Popol Vuh’s music which I’m unaware of.
Lebenszeichen (Signs of Life) (director: Werner Herzog, 1968)I confess I haven’t seen this, Werner Herzog’s first feature film. I do know however that Florian Fricke appears in it as “a pianist”, some years before Popol Vuh too!
Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (Even Dwarfs Started Small) (director: Werner Herzog, 1970) Truly one of the strangest films you’ll ever see. This is supposed to have some Florian Fricke music on the soundtrack, but I must admit not to noticing it.
Die Grosse Ekstase die Bildschnitzers Steiner (The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner) (director: Werner Herzog, 1973)This is a typically idiosyncratic Herzog documentary on the Swiss show jumper, Walter Steiner. Features some lovely Popol Vuh music, music which I’ve yet to hear on any album – damn it!
Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser) (director: Werner Herzog, 1974)Florian Fricke has a brief but striking role in this wonderful Herzog film. He plays a blind pianist called Florian (what else!), who is first seen playing (and singing – sort of!) a version of “Agnus Dei” (see numerous Popol Vuh albums) for the foundling Kaspar Hauser and his guardian (and looking very Beethoven-like in the process). He pops up again at the end of the film, in Kaspar’s deathbed scene, where he stares rather disconcertingly into space while humming “Agnus Dei”!
Sei still wisse ICH BIN (director: Florian Fricke, 1981)Not really a film (though shot on film) and not really a video (though resembling one in form). This is the visual accompaniment to the album of the same name (and vice versa). Shot entirely in the Sinai Desert, this largely consists of Herzog-like poetic landscapes, sometimes empty and sometimes peopled by mysterious figures in white robes: walking, standing on mountainsides or in large circles. The figures are following “The Prophet”, a Jesus-like figure who, bizarrely, is played by a woman with a false beard (60’s fashion model, Veruschka)! (Actually, now I come to think of it, it would have been even more bizarre if it had been a woman with a REAL beard). If you think Herzog’s films are slow and uneventful wait till you see THIS!
― Dadaismus, Monday, 24 March 2003 14:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
Thanks for the link to the Florian Fricke interview. I admit that Guido Hieronymous doesn’t appear to be Florian’s son – I’d always assumed that he’d allowed Mr. Hieronymous the latitude to ruin latter day Popol Vuh out of some kind of fatherly indulgence. Also fascinated to discover that Esther Ofarim was almost the vocalist on “Hosianna Mantra”, at about the same time that her husband was (mis)managing Can! It is stated that this is the first known interview in English with Florian Fricke – this isn’t true, I came across an interview with FF in a old copy of Sounds (UK music weekly – now defunct) which dated from 1978-79, the interview was with Sandy Robertson.
I would also recommend seeking out “Herzog on Herzog” (edited by Paul Cronin, published by Faber), a series of interviews with Werner Herzog which contains interesting info on Florian Fricke – including a practical joke played by him on the apparently notoriously gullible Herzog. Actually, I would recommend it in any case as an insight into Herzog who is a truly amazing man, even if he hasn’t made a decent feature film in years. Delighted to discover that Herzog, in the grand tradition of German intellectuals and film auteurs (see Fassbinder), was a more than useful footballer (that’s proper football not the musclebound rubbish which goes under that name in the USA).
― Dadaismus, Monday, 24 March 2003 14:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
A friend who I haven't seen in years had this brit electronic 'zine from the early eighties, which contained a FF interview. t was wierd, in that the interviewer had obtained FF's phone no. from somewhere, & called him up on spec. Fricke's response was, like, I don't do interviews, and where did you get my number from anyway!!?? But, seeing as I'm here, i'll answer a couple of questions. I can't remember much except for the bit about him selling the big Moog to Klaus S, and FF being slightly disparaging abt KS' musick "nice music for supermarkets" is how I remember he put it. Great stuff Dadaismus, anyway.
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 24 March 2003 15:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
Don't hear much difference in sound if they were remastered (doubt it), but the packaging at least is way superior to Spalax (plus, it's nice to have Digipaks rather than standard jewel case).Can't wait for them to do Letzte Tage - Letzte Naechte and the others...
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 19 June 2004 01:26 (nineteen years ago) link
Actually, listening to the title crack of Aguirre right now, and I can hear the vinyl clicks. Jees, and they licensed this from Fricke's family, too! Guess the original tapes are long gone...
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 19 June 2004 02:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Saturday, 19 June 2004 05:56 (nineteen years ago) link
I believe they are. Bounus tracks?!??!?
― Dadaismus (Dada), Saturday, 19 June 2004 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link
Disappointing if that is true, especially since as it is their albums are already pretty notorious for shuffling around (or re-recording) the same music on different albums.
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 19 June 2004 21:59 (nineteen years ago) link
i've seen just about all of herzog's films at least once. 'signs of life' is really pretty good. i had no idea that florian was in 'kaspar hauser', and that he's in some of my favorite scenes in that film. the guy who plays kaspar hauser, bruno s., is also in another of herzog's called 'stroszek' which is pretty good too.
― urker, Saturday, 19 June 2004 22:45 (nineteen years ago) link
In Kaspar, Fricke looks uncannily Beethoven-like, as if he had stepped right out of the Romantic era...
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 19 June 2004 23:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 01:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― John 2, Saturday, 17 July 2004 18:41 (nineteen years ago) link
AffenstundeAgape/AgapeEinsjäger und SiebenjägerHosianna MantraAguirre
They are very good, and I A/B-ed them with my Spalax issues, and the new ones sound a bit (though noticeably) better - more "open" sounding, perhaps. some of them are vinyl transfers by the sound of it. Pretty well done, though not as good as the transfer on High Tide's "Sea Shanties, for example. They all come in little gatefold cardboard sleeves w/a little booklet. It appears that there are only 2 booklets, going on the ones I have - one for the regular albums, one for the soundtracks. Some of the blurb in the booklets is OK, but it's a little unsatisfying in some way. There are some good pictures, including a few I hadn't seen before. the bonus tracks are generally good, though the one on "agiurre" sounds suspiciously like one of the regular album tracks with a sampled ethnicky percussion loop overlayed, which sucks. The extras on "Einsjaeger..." are the best, 2 little pieces in the Hoheleid Salomos/Letze Tage..." style, IE more of the same, but bore of this same = more of what I want. I am REALLY looking forward to picking up "Das Hoheleid Salomos", "Letzte Tage Letzte Nacht" and "Der Nacht der Seele", because they are my favourites. I'm also interested to hear what's on "Cobra Verde" because I remember there being tow different versions of this when it came out.
I found myself getting faintly annoyed at how little Danny Fischelsher got mentioned in the blurb. That seems unfair somehow.
It would be good if they also issued "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 6 January 2005 13:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 6 January 2005 13:02 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 6 January 2005 13:04 (nineteen years ago) link
I should also point out that all the reissues I bought have the proper dynamics, IE they haven't been loudness-maximised. Honestly, I was so relieved about this that I had a lump in my throat! (true!)
A little while ago, I also picked up the reissue of "shepherd's Symphony" (or whatever it's called) from the same series. It's really bad.
Also Also Also!!! ! I tried to play my CD of "For You and Me" the other night, and it had self-destructed!! All the metal foil had come away from the plastic disc!
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 6 January 2005 13:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 6 January 2005 13:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 6 January 2005 13:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 6 January 2005 13:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 7 February 2005 13:00 (nineteen years ago) link
been listening to Nosferatu a lot recently. I would rate that one much higher than dadaismus does, but I rate the spare minimal electronics much higher, and think they balance out the other lovely band parts... actually I'd even say it's a good place to start for the atmospheric side of the band. With Letzte Tage, letzte Nächte being a good place to start for the transcendental heavy rock side.
― (Jon L), Monday, 7 February 2005 20:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dominique (dleone), Friday, 25 March 2005 21:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dadrock, Meshach and Abednego (Dada), Friday, 8 April 2005 11:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Friday, 8 April 2005 14:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Baaderonixx cancels each other out (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 20 July 2005 12:19 (eighteen years ago) link
seriously, dadaismus' pocket reviews up there are gold, though Nosferatu & Aguirre are two of my absolute favorites precisely because they mix the electronic & rock sides of the band so well, some people don't like the minimal moog solos
― milton parker (Jon L), Wednesday, 20 July 2005 17:36 (eighteen years ago) link
i haven't heard that much of their stuff, tho.
― Ian John50n (orion), Wednesday, 20 July 2005 17:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ô¿Ô (eman), Wednesday, 20 July 2005 22:26 (eighteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Thursday, 21 July 2005 00:42 (eighteen years ago) link
and I'd like to second Florian's appearance in Kaspar Hauser. Heartbreaking. Kaspar listens to Florian play the piano, never having experienced art and music and it's power before, and says something along the lines of "why does my heart feel so heavy?"
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 21 July 2005 03:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― SoHoLa (SoHoLa), Thursday, 21 July 2005 13:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Baaderonixx cancels each other out (Fabfunk), Friday, 22 July 2005 13:06 (eighteen years ago) link
so i'm listening to the first in the list, aguirre, on headphones and... WTF THERE ARE LOUD VINYL POPS ALL OVER THIS BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i don't even want to listen to the others now. all i can think about is the money i shelled out for SHITTY VINYL TO CD TRANSFERS.
― amon (eman), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 01:09 (eighteen years ago) link
― amon (eman), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 01:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― Diddyismus the Blind (of Alexandria) (Dada), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 11:54 (eighteen years ago) link
i'm really amazed at how good these albums are. and i've only got about half of them. apparently when you line all the cds up the spines will form an image which i believe is the same one of fricke on the back cover. the repetitive booklets seem kind of lazy but whatever.
anyone notice how Black Dice sound like "Affenstunde"?
― amon (eman), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 12:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― Baaderonixx on a long black leash (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 13:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 13:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― amon (eman), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 01:04 (eighteen years ago) link
the music for both films is credited to Fricke. and it's easily possible to imagine this piece made by Popol Vuh, although it doesn't sound quite like anything else I've heard by them. could it be the piece is by someone else? (if so, ideas please?!) however, similar chords seem to sound in some more Vuh-like music that appears later in Steiner - so maybe it's just an intro to a longer piece.
due to the number of comments all around (check internet) about unreleased Herzog Popol Vuh, I'm guessing the same piece struck a chord with others...
― Paul (scifisoul), Saturday, 18 March 2006 05:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 18 March 2006 17:54 (eighteen years ago) link
1. "Selig sind, die da hungern Selig sind, die da dürsten nach GerechtigkeitJa, sie sollen satt werden." 5:59
2. "Tanz der Chassidim" 3:12
3. "Selig sind, die da hier weinenJa, sie sollen später lachen." 5:07 4. "Selig sind, die da willig arm sindJa, ihrer ist das Himmelreich." 3:10
5. "Selig sind, die da Leid tragenJa, sie sollen getröstet werden." 3:39
6. "Selig sind die SanfmütigenJa, sie werden einst die Erde erben." 2:30
7. "Selig sind, die da reinen Herzens sindJa, sie sollen Gott schauen." 2:33
8. "Ja, sie sollen Gottes Kinder heissenAgnus dei, Agnus dei." 2:39
― o -- (eman), Saturday, 18 March 2006 19:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 18 March 2006 20:12 (eighteen years ago) link
"YOGA is an unauthorized release. Some Indian musicians visited me in my studio, and somebody else took the tapes and sold them under the name of Popol Vuh, but it had nothing to do with Popol Vuh, really. I'm playing harmonium and organ. I think it was released in Italy."
Florian Fricke, interview on Eurock.com
― o -- (eman), Saturday, 18 March 2006 21:26 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pangolino 2, Monday, 17 April 2006 23:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― pssst - badass revolutionary art! (plsmith), Monday, 17 April 2006 23:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Monday, 17 April 2006 23:51 (eighteen years ago) link
yea like a lot of overtly spiritual musicians who don't tend much to the business side their catalogue is a total mess. I never gave any thought to actually collecting the physical products until the recent box sets, which are not only very well pressed but also somewhat "definitive", assuming there's a 3rd and 4th one to come
― frogbs, Monday, 30 January 2023 18:49 (one year ago) link
But even those boxsets skip around a little bit, no?
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 30 January 2023 18:54 (one year ago) link
they do but I think that's fine because PV doesn't really have 'eras' to me, each album is sort of its own thing and a lot of them incorporate elements of past albums. so like the first one has the Aguirre & Nosferatu soundtracks on it, which incorporate elements of Einsjager and Affenstunde, so it makes a little sense to put them altogether. Hosianna Mantra is also on there just to bridge the gaps a bit. idk I'm fine with it so long as they eventually get everything together.
― frogbs, Monday, 30 January 2023 19:00 (one year ago) link
Yeah, my complaint is more minor, it's just interesting to see which of their albums are in plentiful supply and which aren't. When I decided to check them out more closely a few years ago, I didn't even have to go out of my way to get the first five I bought (Aguirre, Nosferatu, Affenstunde, Einsjager and Hosianna), but I've really slowed down since and stumbled across a used copy of Sei still, wisse ich bin in Michigan a few months ago.
But since then I only find copies of those same five albums. I don't think I've ever even seen Letzte Tage – Letzte Nächte in the wild at all.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 30 January 2023 20:01 (one year ago) link
I am still grateful to la lèchera for hooking me up with the Spalax edition of Letzte Tage which to me sounds much better than the remasters
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Monday, 30 January 2023 20:16 (one year ago) link
:) that one remains one of my all time fave albums
i am satisfied with my current state of Popol Vuh releases
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, 30 January 2023 20:32 (one year ago) link
I have everything up to "Brüder Des Schattens - Söhne Des Lichts", what else should I check out? Cobra Verde? Fitzcarraldo?
― sleeve, Monday, 30 January 2023 20:35 (one year ago) link
and man you wanna talk about a discographical mess, crosscheck the various bonus tracks between editions if you dare
― sleeve, Monday, 30 January 2023 20:36 (one year ago) link
TBH I almost never listen to those two but I do like Agape-Agape a LOT
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, 30 January 2023 20:39 (one year ago) link
ty!
― sleeve, Monday, 30 January 2023 20:40 (one year ago) link
Sei still, wisse ich bin is really good too, imo
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, 30 January 2023 20:40 (one year ago) link
Yeah I dig that one quite a bit, was happy I found it.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 30 January 2023 20:42 (one year ago) link
noted, hey the 2017 Wah Wah version of that isn't insanely expensive!
― sleeve, Monday, 30 January 2023 20:43 (one year ago) link
yea I mean Aguirre alone - a bunch of Side A is alternate takes from Einsjager, Side B is a long discarded track from the Moog era called "Vergegenwärtigung", but later editions replaced it with 3 other tracks from later albums, though on the CD it's still one long track called "Vergegenwärtigung". some editions have "Aguirre III" and others have the 3-part "Spirit of Peace" on it. very little of this was actually in the film, though one of the tunes that was (the bit at the end of the first title track) isn't even listed on the sleeve. so what, exactly, would the definitive edition be??
― frogbs, Monday, 30 January 2023 20:45 (one year ago) link
This is from Agape-Agape and has the slow burn propulsion I love in this band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2WMsM-c4bY
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, 30 January 2023 20:47 (one year ago) link
Agape-Agape is good but the production is just so lo-fi, I don't know what that was about.
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Monday, 30 January 2023 23:58 (one year ago) link
^^^
― Kim Kimberly, Tuesday, 31 January 2023 02:44 (one year ago) link
fourth'd
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 1 February 2023 02:50 (one year ago) link
just got the 2nd box. wow Seligpreisung is really good. sounds like Magma attempting Hosianna Mantra. sure wish Djong Yun was on it though!
― frogbs, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 02:18 (ten months ago) link
I love Seligpreisung. It sounds to me like a jammier Obscured By Clouds-era Pink Floyd. Fricke's vocals are definitely the weakest thing about it. I don't actually mind them that much, but I would have preferred Djong Yun to sing it too. But it's all good because we have Das Hohelied Salomos for that. I recently treated myself to a clean OG German vinyl pressing of that one for my birthday, and I couldn't be happier with it. I love everything about that record, down to the whimsical/menacing cover art--spiritual psych perfection.
― J. Sam, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 18:29 (nine months ago) link
i adore that record.
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 27 June 2023 19:34 (nine months ago) link
hosianna mantra
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Saturday, 9 December 2023 21:22 (four months ago) link
This thread is ilm at its best innit: knowledgeable, obsessive, in love with its subject in a way that can only make you go wandering.
Don't think it's actually linked here, but ended up at the 1996 Edw1n P0uncey interview this morning. https://popolvuh.nl/archive/bibliography/34-archive/bibliography/180-my-strange-life-florian-fricke-interview
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Saturday, 16 December 2023 09:48 (four months ago) link
That's a great read, thank you!irl lol:
FF - Sometimes I think about this. There's only one person in Germany I like (except for Gerhard!), to sit together with him. It's Boris Becker! He's a good man. My son knows him. And he's sung for the disco
― willem, Saturday, 16 December 2023 10:19 (four months ago) link
Hehehe.
Also liked:
GA - Have you ever been in England, Florian?FF - Yes, I was very early in London in the 1960s .. .l met some people, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The London 'underground' scene ... the Pink Floyd.EP - Did you see Yoko in her gallery?FF - No, it was private. It was terrible. The doors had no locks on them; there was a chair. The chair was half. I had claustrophobia. I need closed doors. And so the first doors I (whoosh) opened them up and then no possible more come out this terrible woman out of the room.
FF - Yes, I was very early in London in the 1960s .. .l met some people, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The London 'underground' scene ... the Pink Floyd.
EP - Did you see Yoko in her gallery?
FF - No, it was private. It was terrible. The doors had no locks on them; there was a chair. The chair was half. I had claustrophobia. I need closed doors. And so the first doors I (whoosh) opened them up and then no possible more come out this terrible woman out of the room.
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Saturday, 16 December 2023 10:52 (four months ago) link