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Technical Space Composers CrewInspired by his studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen, fascination with radios, electronics and multi-tracking studio and collage techniques, Holger Czukay together with one Rolf Dammers created an electronic masterpiece with CANAXIS V, close to Stockhausen's own "Telemusic" in atmosphere, yet with ethnic elements and a spacious electronic sound. Obviously it would have been right over the heads of rock collectors at the time, but quite rightly it's now hailed as a masterpiece of contemporary new-music. CANAXIS V (1968) Temple At times these come across as almost post new-wave gothic, that kind of mysterious Dead Can Dance sound (often with female voice), but with a psychedelic edge. Very different and moody for a 70's band, though they could be heavy and aggressive too. Poseidon (vocals), Pauline Fund (vocals, tambourine), Zeus B. Held (organ, Moog, Mellotron), Heinz Kramer (guitar), Rolf Föller (guitar), Joachim Weiss (bass), Otto Bretnacher (drums) TEMPLE Tetragon An obscure band, Tetragon originated from Osnabrück in Northern Germany from the Brian Auger inspired Blues Limited. Later, after discovering The Nice, they changed their style and became the organ fronted trio Trikolon, and upon becoming a quartet they changed name to Tetragon! After having toured with their Dutch heroes Ekseption, it's not surprising that Tetragon moved to an ever-more complex classical rock with extensive use of rearranged Bach and other classical themes. The deliberate accent on their blues and psychedelic roots, guaranteed a unique twist on the genre, though on their sole album NATURE one can detect much The Nice, Egg and Dutch progressive stylisms. An unknown classic. Hendrik Schaper (organ, clavinet, cembalo, piano, vocals), Jürgen Jaehner (guitars), Rolf Rettberg (bass), Joachim Luhrmann (drums) NATURE (22-31/5/71) Think A band with unusual origins, Think were actually formed by three Hungarians (who had been touring with the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany) who decided they preferred the "free" West. Upon meeting the producer of Menga Records the idea for a band was formulated. Bizarrely, the group existed only as long as the recording sessions, yet the results were quite an exceptional album that fused together radically different cultures into a complex progressive rock featuring flute, violin and guitars in a richly folk and classical intoned style, hinting at Pell Mell and Eden yet original with an atmospheric beauty. We've no idea what happened to the musicians afterwards! Rodrigo Ramor (vocals, percussion), Frank Voigt (flute, effects), Gerd Pohl (guitars, vocals), Ricky Ramor (bass), Fried Wördehoff (drums, percussion), Kajo Sandrik (violin, viola, piano, organ, percussion, effects) VARIETY Third Eye From the swelling jazz-rock ranks of the mid-70's, the Dutch rooted Third Eye were undoubtedly one of the better bands. Their debut THIRD EYE presents a symphonic fusion album with nice spacious arrangements making good use of synthesizer, piano and Mellotron. CONEXION moved further to the mainstream of German jazz-rock, with winds replacing keyboards as the lead instrument. More recently, Third Eye has become the vehicle of Ali Haurand and anyone he cares to play with, generally all non-Germans, such as British and American jazzers Alan Skidmore, Kenny Wheeler, Tony Levin, etc. A number of albums from such collaborations have also been released. Frank Köllges later appeared working in the new-wave, with Die Krupps and Härte 10. Jan Huydts (electric piano, synthesizers, Mellotron), Alfred Haurand (bass, percussion), Frank Köllges (drums, Mellotron, piano), Steve Boston (percussion) THIRD EYE (1/76) CONEXION Thirsty Moon Always essentially the project of the Drogies brothers, Thirsty Moon came into being in September 1971 as the amalgamation of D.R.P. (Drogies Rock Project) and Shakespears (apparently a jazz-soul band), resulting in a very big group (seven to eight members) performing complex rock that used unusual jazz structures as its base. Obviously influenced by the likes of Colosseum, the Chicago brass-rock scene and earlier German bands like Xhol and Organisation, Thirsty Moon created a music with great dynamics, use of heavy and spacious structures, unconventional songs and arrangements, and above all amazing musicianship. Both their debut and, the curiously titled, YOU'LL NEVER COME BACK offer some of the finest Krautrock. Both tripping out with percussively intensive Krautrock tripping, bizarre songs, and ventures into the cosmos, beyond jazz-fusion, beyond everything. Notably, on the second side of YOU'LL NEVER COME BACK, the feel is very close to Kollektiv. Hereafter the Thirsty Moon story becomes a mite sketchy. Harald Konietzko went to France, reappearing in Germany in the late-70's with La Düsseldorf. It would seem that BLITZ could be solely the Drogies brothers. It's an instrumental rock album based mostly around multi-percussives and guitars, and although more commercially styled, it still had many of the distinctive Thirsty Moon trademarks. The later albums pale into insignificance after this, with a more pop-styled rock of little musical invention. Only a couple of tracks on A REAL GOOD TIME can be deemed of interest. Treat these later releases with caution! Norbert Drogies (drums, percussion), Michael Kobs (electric piano), Erwin Noack (congas, percussion), Willi Pape (soprano/tenor saxes, clarinet, flute, percussion), Harald Konietzko (bass, 12-string guitar, percussion, vocals), Jürgen Drogies (guitar, percussion), Hans-Werner Ranwig (organ, percussion, vocals) THIRSTY MOON YOU'LL NEVER COME BACK (7/73) BLITZ A REAL GOOD TIME I'll Sing Your Song / Caught STARCHASER Thrice Mice A classical and jazz-rock progressive, notably with influences as wide-ranging as Blodwyn Pig and Curved Air, all blending into a sound uniquely their own, with the distinct spirit of Krautrock. They later evolved into Altona. Rainer von Gosen (bass), Werner von Gosen (guitar), Arno Bredehöft (drums), Wolfgang Minnemann (organ), Wolfgang Buhre (tenor/soprano saxes), Karl Heinz Blumenberg (vocals) featured on: POP & BLUES FESTIVAL '70 THRICE MICE (11-12/70) Tibet Originating from the Werdohl (near Dortmund) area, out of local bands Fine Art and Nostradamus, Tibet existed as a live band since 1972. Though they often toured as support to acts like Embryo and Out Of Focus in their early days, their musical affinity was much more Yes, ELP or Pink Floyd. Working for so many years as a live band, meant that by the time of their album, they'd developed a very different style. They'd become a complex and sophisticated spacey progressive with classical keyboard leanings, typical of other mid-70's bands like Jane, Novalis, or Pancake. A unique characteristic was their unusual angelic sounding singer. They only made the one self-produced album. Klaus Werthmann (lead vocals), Deff Ballin (keyboards, percussion), Dieter Kumpakischkis (keyboards), Karl-Heinz Hamann (bass, percussion), Fred Teske (drums, percussion, guitars, vocals), Jürgen Krutzsch (guitars, percussion) TIBET (12/76+10/77+9/78) Asmus Tietchens Active in music, on the Hamburg scene since the early-60's, Asmus Tietchens has tried his hand at almost everything, including 60's beat and psychedelic bands The Rondos and The King George Men. Though, much of this history is undocumented. But, it wasn't until the mid-70's that Asmus began to make a name for himself. Asmus' earliest known album credits date back to a guest appearance on the album by Cluster & Eno, he and Okko Bekker were also involved in the cosmic-industrial supersession Liliental, along with Conny Plank, Dieter Moebius and others. A sound explorer and synth musician, Asmus Tietchens had long been a friend of Okko Bekker who's worked as sound engineer on many of his solos. Notably, Asmus' early solo work was strongly influenced by such radical pioneering electronic and ambient styles, yet he also leaned towards classical and avant-garde musics. An air of Satie and Debussy, along with an inscrutable humorous edge have often lead to comparisons with The Residents and ZNR on his early Sky releases. Though, really, Asmus' vision was far more bleak, especially so on his solo debut NACHTSTÜCKE and the MUSIK... series of cassettes. Since his departure from the Sky label, Asmus has pursued much more avant-garde areas in music, covering a range of styles that runs from pure serious classical avant-garde through atmospheric industrial realms, and elsewhere, even onto gothic instrumental music. In fact, sometimes he has combined all these styles together! More recently Asmus has paralleled the music of Zoviet France and The Hafler Trio, but on large with much more invention and artistic pazazz. Indeed, Asmus has continued to innovate and surprise through to the present day, both as a soloist and in collaboration with other musicians, being one of the most prolific and consistently surprising musicians around. (Note: the following discography does not include any cassette compilation contributions!) NACHTSTÜCKE BIOTOP MUSIK AUS DER GRAUZONE SPÄT-EUROPA MUSIK IM SCHATTEN IN DIE NACHT MUSIK AN DER GRENZE LITIA MUSIK UNTER TAGE FORMEN LETZTER HAUSMUSIK featured on: THREE MINUTE SYMPHONY SEUCHENGEBIETE GROßE STATIK featured on: OHRENSAUSEN WATCHING THE BURNING BRIDE GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN ZWINGBURGEN DES HEDONISMUS featured on: FREEDOM IN A VACUUM AUF FREUDE AM ELEND NOTTURNO (1987) featured on: CIGURI LINEA featured on: FACE TO FACE, VOL. 1 E/U (3/86-5/87) LP+7" Dom V 77-05+V 7-09 (1988) ABFLEISCHUNG featured on: ARCANA COELESTIA MARCHES FUNEBRES STUPOR MUNDI MONOPOSTO Tiger B. Smith Formerly known as Second Life, Tiger B. Smith were one of the more mainstream of early German 70's bands, though much more interesting than their previous incarnation. Although TIGER ROCK did get dangerously close to Status Quo and normal British blues rock, it did have one moment of brilliance in the freaky psychedelic tinged "To Hell" which closes side two. Despite a talented guest list, the follow-up WE'RE THE TIGER BUNCH was rather drab and ordinary rock, with only a few progressive moments counterpointing more pop-styled tracks. Members of Tiger B. Smith later went onto the pop-rock bands Straßenjungs and King-Kong. Holger Schmidt (guitar, vocals, harmonica), Claus Meinhardt (bass), Karl-Heinz Traut (drums) TIGER ROCK (12/72) WE'RE THE TIGER BUNCH (1974) Morning Bird / Anna Sheffield Toad Swiss hard-rock band formed by members of the original Brainticket, Toad's history is obscure and largely undocumented. Their debut is said to be in the realms of Dies Irae, being heavy, bluesy and experimental. However, despite getting a British release, we've never managed to locate a copy. Their second album TOMORROW BLUE was surprisingly straight hard-rock, akin to Sperrmüll, with Hendrix, Status Quo and R 'n' B influences. Their original lead singer Benjamin Jäger went on to Island. Vittorio Vergeat (guitars), Cosimo Lampis (drums), Werner Froehlich (bass), Benj Jäger (vocals) Stay / Animals World TOAD Fly / No Need TOMORROW BLUE I Saw Her Standing Here / Green Ham DREAMS To Be A veritable supergroup of top pop and rock musicians from Hamburg (many of whom had played with Achim Reichel), To Be were surprisingly a jazz-rock band who played a bright instrumental music with Latino touches akin to Santana, and used guitar and piano as solo instruments. Lemmy Lembrecht (drums, percussion), Peter Franken (percussion, drums), Peter Weihe (guitar), Rolf Köhler (bass), Claus-Robert Kruse (keyboards) TO BE (11/76) featured on: BRAIN FESTIVAL ESSEN II TO BE Tobogan A progressive cum polit-rock group, a mixture of styles ranging from techno to humorous Bonzo Dog style. The German vocals lend a feeling of Lokomotive Kreuzberg, but their song style and arrangements are generally quite straight and unadventurous. Much more suited to German ears than mine! Frank Hopmann (guitar, vocals), Dieter Berndt (drums), Rainer Brune (piano, organ, Moog), Werner Rödiger (bass, vocals) TOBOGAN (11/76) KINO Tomorrow's Gift As with many bands of the era, Tomorrow's Gift started as a cover's band, playing the music of their favourite Anglo-American acts. On early live recordings you can hear how these songs evolved into their own music, with songs like "Indian Rope Man" and "Season Of The Witch" becoming LP side-long pieces on the festival albums POP & BLUES FESTIVAL '70 and LOVE & PEACE which showed influences of Vanilla Fudge and many a British 60's blues-rock act. By the time of their debut (a double album), which documented several months of original compositions, Tomorrow's Gift had evolved and become much more original. Akin to Frumpy they blended songs into much longer works, with lengthy instrumental improvisations, and as the album progresses, each side moves on to more experimental realms. Shortly after recording this however, the band disintegrated whilst touring as support to Spooky Tooth. A new Tomorrow's Gift, featuring keyboardist Manne Rürup and bassist Bernd Keifer (from the original band) with Wolfgang Lindner (from Sphinx Tush) on drums, took the most radical ideas from where the original band had left off. The album GOODBYE FUTURE proved to be one of the most creative and unique of Krautrock albums, relying heavily on clavichord, Mellotron and bass guitar to create a range of instrumental textures that are often unbelievably complex, spurred on by the devilishly creative percussion of "Zabba" Lindner. A trio, creative in the manner of classic Egg, and largely instrumental, aided extensively by the ever creative Conny Plank. Latterly, Tomorrow's Gift disbanded, and went through several transformations becoming Release Gruppe with ex-Guru Guru Uli Trepte and then Release Music Orchestra. Also Manne worked in the band Dennis and with Achim Reichel, and Zabba worked on a multi-percussion project with ex-Frumpy and Dennis drummer Carsten Bohn. Ellen Meier (vocals), Carlo Karges (guitar, percussion), Olaf Casalich (drums), Manfred Rürup (organ), Wolfgang Trescher (flute), Bernd Kiefer (bass) featured on: POP & BLUES FESTIVAL '70 TOMORROW'S GIFT (1970) GOODBYE FUTURE (1972) Date: 2015-12-18; view: 1527
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