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Irene Schweizer TrioMost importantly listed here, as the roots of Guru Guru. The Irene Schweizer Trio hardly hinted at what Uli and Mani were to get up to with their own band, although the JAZZ MEETS INDIA album is a fine example of Indo-jazz fusion. Irene has been most prolific in jazz and new-music since, continuing work with her trio, in impromptu duo's, and various other formations including The Feminist Improvising Group. Irene Schweizer (piano), Uli Trepte (bass), Mani Neumeier (drums) JAZZ MEETS INDIA EARLY TAPES (1967) Scorpions Probably the most famous of all Hannover bands, originating in 1965 as a beat group and latterly becoming a popular Heavy Metal band in the late-70's. But, don't just skip by this because you were stung by one of their later albums, as in their early days Scorpions had a different kind of sting in their tail! Yes, in the early-70's, the Scorpions were very different. With the honour of issuing the first Brain album: LONESOME CROW, they proved to be an exceptionally gifted band fronted by two very different guitarists. A varied album, of mostly psychedelic hard-rock tracks, unusual ballads, it's a creative and very progressive album, topped off by an amazing spaced-out experimental finalé, a mostly instrumental extravaganza, which touches onto Guru Guru freakiness. A peak that they never reached again. Moving to RCA, FLY TO THE RAINBOW also had much excellent progressive hard-rock, with Hendrix inspired guitarist Uli Roth stepping in to replace Michael Schenker who had joined the British band UFO. But, subsequently, after the passable IN TRANCE, the Scorpions became ever more mainstream Heavy Metal, and increasingly dull. So ignore anything not listed here! Uli Roth later formed the similar (but superior) Electric Sun. Michael Schenker (lead guitar), Klaus Meine (vocals), Rudolf Schenker (guitar), Wolfgang Dziony (drums), Lothar Heimberg (bass) LONESOME CROW (1971) FLY TO THE RAINBOW IN TRANCE Second Life A hard-rock trio who recorded the one LP before changing name to Tiger B. Smith. Their style was basic, and surprisingly ordinary for an album of that era, notably inspired by anything like Jimi Hendrix, Atomic Rooster, Status Quo, and such like. Karl-Heinz Traut (drums), Holger Schmidt (guitar, vocals), Claus Meinhardt (bass, vocals) SECOND LIFE Second Movement Aptly named, as being part of the second German progressive movement along with bands like Anyone's Daughter, Amenophis, Rousseau, et al., drawing on the finer points of earlier-70's progressives and adding a style all of their own. On their debut, BLIND MAN'S MIRROR, they layered a potpourri of influences into a very technically complex symphonic and folky rock style, very sophisticated and intricate with lots of instrumental breaks, featuring keyboards, guitars, even jazzy breaks counterpointing with classical motifs, with a song style that was lyrically deft and poignant. The much later MOVEMENTS, was vastly different, and was much more straight-forward in comparison. It was still a very sophisticated progressive, but the focus had changed, with lots of synthesizers and keyboards, and a more intricate lyrical song style. Here many more references can be detected like Eloy, Pancake, Novalis, yet the style is uniquely that of Second Movement. Harald Kesselhack (vocals), Siggi Zeidler (keyboards), Thomas Möckl (guitars), Manni Greiner (basses), Matthias Helk (drums), Manni Bierbach (flute, sax) BLIND MAN'S MIRROR (4/76) MOVEMENTS Seedog An obscure Berlin supergroup featuring ex-Agitation Free and Lied Des Teufels members, though playing a rather uncharacteristic music for a German band, notably influenced by American West Coast bands like the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, with multiple guitars and a slight jazzy bent. Michael Sauber (tenor/soprano saxes, flute), Bernie Schumacher (tenor sax), Jörg Hahnfeld (bass, acoustic guitar), Dietmar Burmeister (drums, percussion), Lothar Muschinski (vocals, guitar), Klaus Pankau (guitars, vocals) WE HOPE TO SEE YOU (3-6/74) featured on: SÜß UND SAUER Seesselberg The duo of Eckart and Wolf-J. Seesselberg, playing electronic music of great creativity and invention. Certainly ahead of their time, even before Conrad Schnitzler moved into this area, their sonic creations were writhing, bubbling, twittering, gyrating spectaculars, industrial and dark avant-garde synth music, that even today is weird and refreshingly different. SYNTHETIK 1. (1973) Peter K. Seiler Peter started working with electronic music techniques in 1972, establishing his own jazz fusion group (along with Ronald Brand, Gerd Köthe, etc.), who blended Dauner-like jazz with experimental synth music. The results were documented on KEYBOARDS AND FRIENDS, an obscure yet quite remarkable album. Later, along with some of these musicians, Peter went on to form the ELP styled progressive rock band Tritonus. He formed several other rock and synth bands in the late-70's and early-80's, including collaborations with Michael Bundt (see Sirius), and also as composer of film and documentary scores. Latterly, as a synthesist in his own right, he signed to IC, slotting easily into their image of "new instrumental music" combining classical influences with soft new-age and rock elements, varied but without any distinctive style. KEYBOARDS AND FRIENDS FLYING FRAMES (1983-86) SENSITIVE TOUCH Serene Symphonic and melodic hard-rock band with techno touches, akin to mid-70's style Birth Control. Drummer Jim McGillivray was in between having left Epitaph and joining Eloy, there are comparisons musically here to both bands. In fact Serene aren't original at all, but do perform a competent brand of progressive rock with wide appeal. Peter Wolk (vocals), Achim Kirschning (keyboards), Berny Töberg (guitars), Lothar Heimberg (bass), Jim McGillivray (drums) SERENE Shaa Khan Like many young bands, Shaa Khan were formed as a student group playing the music of their heroes, and in 1970 their staple repertoire was built on a diet of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin numbers. Via a trek into jazz-rock, and then after supporting the likes of Earth & Fire, UFO and Nektar, the 1976 incarnation had gained a complex and lyrical progressive rock style comparable to Grobschnitt, Gentle Giant and Druid. With dual lead vocalists and inventive instrumental work, their debut THE WORLD WILL END ON FRIDAY was a fine example of the genre, and a surprisingly fresh album stepping on from Grobschnitt's JUMBO. The oddly titled second album ANYTHING WRONG? followed a more conventional rock format and hinted at their later move towards pop music, yet was still a fine release that should appeal those liking lyrically complex progressive rock. Roland Soltysiak (guitars), Jochen Gutermuth (bass), Horst Schlechtriemen (keyboards, choir), Walter Kaulhausen (drums, choir), Heiner Waldmann (vocals, acoustic guitar), Klaus Grandt (vocals, percussion) THE WORLD WILL END ON FRIDAY (8/77) ANYTHING WRONG? (1-2/79) Someone Calling / Running The Shiver The Shiver were very much a mystery band, until recently, when all was revealed. They were Swiss, and were the roots of Island, via another band called Deaf. Their sole self-produced album, which sported a sinister H.R. Giger cover, contained a wide range of psychedelic and progressive styles. Crudely recorded, and often shoddily played, it would seem to be an anthology recorded over a long period. The Shiver were nonetheless constantly surprising. A curious point is that the track "Hey Mr. Holy Man", a version of "Dies Irae", is very close to the version by Golgatha! Dany Rühle (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Jelly Pastorini (organ, piano), Mario Conza (bass, flute, vocals), Roger Maurer (drums, vocals), Peter Robinson (lead vocals) featured on: 1ST SCHWEIZ RHYTHM & BLUES FESTIVAL WALPURGIS Siddhartha From the Stuttgart region, Siddhartha's origins go back to 1971, as a few students friends hatched the idea of creating a blend of psychedelic and art-rock musics. In 1973 they became Siddhartha (taking their name from a Hermann Hesse novel) as a part time band whilst continuing studies at university. Siddhartha had an unusual style, with strong nods in a Pink Floyd cosmic direction, yet featuring violin, almost punky song writing along with symphonic and folky instrumental touches, they had a style of their own, but it wasn't easy to describe! Try as they did, they couldn't find a record company interested in their odd music, and thus they issued WELTSCHMERZ as a 400 copy pressing. The band continued until late 1977, but never got to release any other music. Martin Mörike (organ, piano, vocals), Klaus Hermann (drums), Gerhard Kraus (violin, vocals), Eberhard Müller (guitar), Klaus Scharff (drums), WELTSCHMERZ (4-5/75) Silberbart An extremely unusual heavy Krautrock trio, who had a totally unconventional and schizophrenic approach to composition. We don't know anything about them, except for their excellent sole album 4 TIMES SOUND RAZING, which contains four very different tracks. Notably close to early Guru Guru at times, yet with a bizarre vocalist, they cover a lot of ground, from cosmic blues through to weird hard-rock, Gomorrha and The Groundhogs, and beyond. Werner Klug (bass), Peter Behrens (drums, percussion), Hajo Teschner (guitars, vocals) 4 TIMES SOUND RAZING (4-5/71) Siloah An obscure Munich hippy folk and ethnic combo who took hints from Hapshash & The Coloured Coat, Amon Düül, Lava and the like. Their music was rather amateurishly produced, yet had a charm and strange edge to it. Neither album is at all consistent, nor of a particular style. Manuela Freifrau von Perfall (percussion), Heinrich "Tiny" Stricker (vocals, shenai), Thom Argauner (acoustic guitars, vocals), Wolfgang Görner (bass), + Bernd "Buddy" Beier (drums), Klaus Bartl (acoustic guitar), Mao (flute), Ali Schollenbruch (guitar) SILOAH featured on: RELEASE SUKRAM GURK Sincerely P.T. A Munich jazz-fusion big band, fronted by Peter Trunk (a veteran of the Frankfurt jazz scene apparently) and in fact an international band of exceptional talent. Peter Trunk's aim was to twist the rock format into something different by using jazz instruments and jazz improvisation. Not an original concept, compare Niagara's S.U.B., From, Sunbirds, et al., all are comparable. This album however, is what persuaded Curt Cress to move from rock to jazz, in that he saw jazz-fusion as opening many new possibilities. Manfred Schoof (trumpet), Shake Keane (flugelhorn), Jiggs Whigham (trombone), Jasper van't Hof (keyboards), Siegfried Schwab (guitar), Curt Cress (drums), Joe Nay (drums, percussion), Peter Trunk (bass) SINCERELY P.T. (1973) Sinto An unlikely collection of musicians (ex-Rattles, Embryo and Between), whose debut album was very British styled rock, a touch jazzy and bluesy, not unlike Titus Groan, early Colosseum, Mogul Thrash, Aquila, et al., though probably not as progressive. Hannes Beckmann (violin, bass, percussion, vocals), Abu Dram (drums, percussion, vocals), Alfred Jones (guitar, percussion, vocals), Peter Holzwig (pianos, organ, percussion, vocals), Ralph P. Fischer (bass, percussion, vocals), Cotch Black (percussion, vocals) RIGHT ON BROTHER (8/72) SONHO NEGRO TANGO DES FRIEDENS (9-10/81) Sitting Bull An obscure early band of little merit, except if you like the folky Grateful Dead or lighter Quicksilver type sound. TRIP AWAY Sleepy Tom-Tom / Raindrops Motorcycle Mama / Your Lovin' Man Sixty Nine A talented heavy classical rock duo formed aptly in 1969. Armin Stöwe, obviously a Keith Emerson disciple, also coincidentally had a rough and powerful voice akin to Lee Jackson (also of The Nice), and on his keyboards he ably took on the role of organist, bassist and soloist (even on the live album). Sixty Nine though were not at all copyist, they had a style that took aggressive blues rock, added classical and avant-garde elements for original results. Both albums are essential for fans of the genre. Armin Stöwe (organ, piano, synthesizer, guitar, vocals), Roland Schupp (drums, percussion) CIRCLE OF THE CRAYFISH LIVE Skylab These were a rather out-of-time cheesy synthi-pop group, that will especially appeal to Perry & Kingsley fans. Not for Krautrock collectors at all, excepting the album's closing track which is a cosmic rock opus! ELECTRONIC BUTTERLIES Skyline Skyline were typically Euro jazz-rock (based on their live recordings), with all sorts of influences, though not typically German. Especially so, with hints of Scandinavian, French and Canterbury styles, they come across as a vibrant potpourri of styles. Their LP is also reputed to be good, although we're yet to find out just how good. Reinhard Glowatzke (guitar), Udo Lummer (guitar), Michael Stickdorn (drums), Werner Vogt (bass, vocals), + Raimund Fuhrig (congas) LOUISE FOR ONE NIGHT featured on: UMSONST UND DRAUSSEN VLOTHO 1976 Slapp Happy An international band based in Germany, who were really peripheral to the scene (not German per se, and not a proper band as such), they were also notable for their association with Faust. Dagmar came from an avant-garde background, and had earlier worked in the pre-Frumpy band The City Preachers as well as I.D. Company. Together with non-German's Peter Blegvad and Anthony Moore (who also made solos at this time in Wümme), the trio made an offbeat music drawing on the styles of Brecht and Eisler (akin to Amon Düül II circa HIJACK though less progressive) blending in pop and folk. Later, Slapp Happy moved to Britain and joined up with Henry Cow recording two albums together: DESPERATE STRAIGHTS (Virgin V2024) in 1974 and IN PRAISE OF LEARNING (Virgin V2027) in 1975, which in turn eventually lead to the formation of the Art Bears. All three Slapp Happy members have since followed solo careers. Peter Blegvad (vocals, guitar, sax), Anthony Moore (guitar, keyboards), Dagmar Krause (vocals), + Günter Wüsthoff (saxes), Werner Diermaier (drums), Jean-Hervé Peron (bass) SORT OF ACNALBASAC NOOM (1973) SLAPP HAPPY Snowball An odd supergroup, that saw three jazz-fusion musicians (two of them ex-Passport) move back to progressive rock realms, fronted by former Nektar member Roye Albrighton. The blend of styles was interesting, sounding like a hybrid of Karthago and Nektar, though not totally successful. After Roye returned to Nektar, the band continued with further albums, moving to soul-rock realms of embarrassing commerciality! Curt Cress (drums, percussion), Dave King (bass, synthesizer), Kristian Schultze (keyboards), Roye Albrighton (vocals, guitar) DEFROSTER (1977) COLD HEAT (1978-79) FOLLOW THE WHITE LINE Softeis One of the multitude of mainstream rock bands attempting to be progressive, but instead (despite some musical high points) they never quite managed to get away from the Anglo-American clichés. Enough said! Gerhard Eismann (guitar), Werner Eismann (bass, vocals), Michael Walter (drums), Robert L. Langstroff (guitar, vocals), Eleonore Wittekindt (keyboards) A COLOUR FROM A RAINBOW EISKALT (12/80-1/81) Spacebox Since leaving Guru Guru, Uli Trepte was involved with many bands and projects, eventually establishing his ideal band: Spacebox, a raw energetic blending of free-rock, psychedelic, jazz and a good dose of Trepte's own eccentric weirdness. See Uli Trepte entry for more in depth background. Aptly packaged in a corrugated box, the first Spacebox album sounded like Guru Guru and Embryo jamming at 1,000 Watts in a tiny cellar, an angry distorted fusion totally out of character with the era. All this fronted by a fuzzed vocals and lots of strangeness, Spacebox made a lot of young punk bands seem timid! With much of the violence out of his system, and a gap of five years, Uli decided to push the instrumental side to the fore on KICK UP, which refined the Spacebox style, with a sound closer to the early psychedelic Embryo. In between these two LP's Lotus Schmidt had fronted his own band L.S. Bearforce, whose music was similar, but totally instrumental. Uli Trepte (bass, vocals, Spacebox), Jürgen Renner (drums), Julius Golombeck (guitar), Edgar Hofmann (soprano sax, flute, violin) featured on: UMSONST UND DRAUSSEN PORTA WESTVLOTHICA 1978 SPACEBOX (12/79) KICK UP (9/83) Sparifankal A Bavarian political folk-rock and traditional folk-theatre band, Sparifankal had a very unusual and lyrical style. They were the odd band out on the April/Schneeball roster, and their albums were only barely within the musical scope of this book. The early recordings featured as bonus material on the CD of BAYERN-ROCK are of most interest, in that these reveal their underground psychedelic roots, proving their status as part of Krautrock history. Later, however, Sparifankal became less and less interesting, as they moved ever on to doing short protest songs in the ancient Bayern language. Carl-Ludwig Reichert (guitar, vocals, harmonica), Florian Laber (bass, vocals), Günther Sonderwald (drums, triangle), Jan Dosch (bass, guitar, ocarina, vocals), Tillmann Obermaier (vocals, dulcimer, guitar) BAYERN-ROCK (2/76) featured on: UMSONST UND DRAUSSEN VLOTHO 1976 HURAXDAX DRUDNHAX NEGAMUSI Sperrmüll Now, here's a band that have always puzzled me. They made what has become a highly rated hard-rock album, yet SPERRMÜLL doesn't really warrant its reputation. Why? Well, although it does contain some excellent freaky Krautrock, notably "No Freak Out" which contrary to its title is a superb kind of Hendrixy-Hawkwind type mixture, much of the album, however, is rather straight in comparison. Lyrically Sperrmüll were only a step above pop music, and even sounded like Status Quo on a couple of numbers! Obviously the hype behind Sperrmüll is from those with more conventional hard-rock tastes. It's a good album, but not an essential Brain classic. Helmut Krieg (guitars, mandolin, vocals), Harald Kaiser (bass, vocals), Reinhold Breuer (drums, percussion), Peter Schneider (organ, electric piano, synthesizer) SPERRMÜLL (12/72) Sphinx Tush Hyper heavy blues rock trio who unfortunately never managed to record an album, just two versions of their composition "Crashville". A short-lived and seminal band, featuring Frumpy's guitarist Rainer Baumann, and the much travelled drummer Zabba Lindner. Andreas Smietana (bass, lead vocals), Wolfgang Lindner (drums, percussion, vocals), Rainer Baumann (guitar, vocals) featured on: POP & BLUES FESTIVAL '70 Bruno Spoerri A Swiss jazz musician, principally a saxophonist, who has worked in all sorts of musics, and ventured on to becoming one of that nations' pioneers in synth musics. He came to international attention, via his work with Can's Irmin Schmidt, and notably the Toy Planet project. His output has been sporadic and diverse, and quite possibly the listing of albums here is far from complete. He is also a member of the band Container. Bruno Spoerri (synthesizers, vocoders, sequencers, rhythm box) THE SOUND OF THE U.F.O'S... (3/78) VOICE OF TAURUS (7/77+3/78) AX+BY+CZ+D=0 (11/82) Date: 2015-12-18; view: 1992
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