MABON (21 September 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

KALACAKRA

CRAWLING TO LHASA


Original Issue: 1971 Private Release (K-ST-2000)

Reissue: 2001 Garden Of Delights (CD 053) Buy it here!!!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1 Naerby Shiras (9:20)
2 Jaceline (6:19)
3 Raga N°11 (5:36)
4 September Full Moon (9:39)
5 Arapahos Circle Dance (2:32)
6 Tante Olga (7:35)
7 Vamos (6:52)
8 Deja Vu (5:38)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Progarchives:

Really gorgeous eastern psychedelic kraut (related) improv in the mood of Siloah, Parson Sound, Lamp of the Universe, Dom.Some sections contain primitive, blues damaged folk jams. The result is astonishing, highly mysterious and luminous. "Naerby Shiras" is an acoustic, repetitive, dreamy and druggy little piece, dominated by simplistic but efficient guitars motifs, some dancing flute lines and discreet narrations at the end. Really warm & acid stuff. "Jaceline" is a percussive, floating ballad within a forest ambience, accompanied by voices and words, violin contrasts and vibraphone. The "pastoral" acoustic guitar parts always prevail. "Raga no 11" features an intense, chanting like raga improvisation with rhythms and "mantra" sonorities. "September full moon" contain folkish strings and rhythms for a rather light, bucolic composition. "Arapaho's dancing dance" is bluesy like tune with circular rhythms, evasive guitar parts and kinda folky harmonica arrangements. A charming artefact with some tripped out moments!

Philippe

EOSTRE (21 March 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

EMMA MYLDENBERGER

TOUR DE TRANCE


Original Issue: 1979 Minos & Stelis (MS 1011)

Reissue: 2006 Garden Of Delights (CD 127) Buy it here!!!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1 Ein Bißchen (4:00)
2 Regenreigen (19:21)
3 Lenyas Fantasie (6:53)
4 RAA (8:24)
5 Wassensteyns Hochzeitsnacht (4:59)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from The Crack in the Cosmic Egg:

Initially formed by a number of street musicians in Hirschberg, 1977, with the desire to create something more than just folk music, Emma Myldenberger quickly established a rich folk-rock style, totally acoustic, featuring female vocals and a penchant for blending in many other ethnic musics than just German folk.

The second album, TOUR DE TRANCE, with considerably longer tracks and much more instrumental interplay, broke even more ground with a uniquely styled music that even went beyond the pioneering music of Between or the Third Ear Band, mysteriously ethnic and medieval, not really rock but with a lively rock energy, and an abundance of solos, surprising for what was still a totally acoustic ensemble. Emma Myldenberger were indeed pioneers that were pushing beyond the frontiers of established progressive, folk and world musics. But, for some unknown reason, they split before the end of the decade.

Three Emma Myldenberger members later became the nucleus of the equally innovative Radio Noisz Ensemble. Biber Gullatz is nowadays much sought after as a session musician, working in jazz, ethnic and new-age musics.

IMBOLC (02 February 2009)

The musick dedicated to this Sabbat is:

YATHA SIDHRA

A MEDITATION MASS


Original Issue: 1974 Brain/Metronome (BRAIN 1045)

Reissue: 2004 Motor Music (06024 981308-4)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1 Part 1 (17:45)
2 Part 2 (3:13)
3 Part 3 (12:00)
4 Part 4 (7:16)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Amazon:

Yatha Sidhra was a little known Krautrock group that didn't get much attention, despite recording for Brain. A Meditation Mass became one of the rarest albums to surface on that label.

The original LP came with a die-cut cover, in which The Laser's Edge nicely replicated when they reissued it on CD back in '92. In '95 Spalax in France reissued it again on CD, but this time, without the die-cut replication.

Comparisons to Ash Ra Tempel and Popol Vuh are often leveled at these guys, and of course they were contemporaries of such groups. The band consisted of Rolf Fichter on guitar, keyboards, Indian flute, and vocals, Klaus Fichter on drums/percussion, Matthias Nicolai on 12-string guitar and bass, and Peter Elbracht on flute.

The album is loaded with flute, while Rolf Fichter plays the guitar in the style of a sitar, trying to create a droning effect. Moog and electric piano surface from time ti time. As the album title suggusts, A Meditation Mass tends to be mellow, so the music isn't hurried. That means you won't get raw, intense, in-your-face passages like you might get with Ash Ra Tempel at times.

The music tends to keep one pace, except when the band decides to venture off in to jazzy territory, which you do have your fair share. The music is basically one long piece divided in to four parts. Each part revolving around a theme or a jam, while the final part is basically previous themes on the album revisited. Great stuff, but requires a few listens to get it. I very much highly recommend this album.

Benjamin Miler

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Geocities:

Yatha Sidhra is the only group I am aware of that released only one song in their entire recording career. This song, the forty-minute 'A Meditation Mass' is one of the more soothing tracks in the genre.

For their CD release, Spalax divided the track into 4 sections; I am not sure why? 'A Meditation Mass' builds slowly and includes a hypnotically repetitive guitar and percussion background overtop of which flute solos and moog drones can be heard.

Unintelligible droning vocals are introduced around the ten-minute mark further enhancing the meditative qualities. The track picks up musically near the eighteen-minute mark when the beat shifts towards a rock bass riff led by some jazzy electric piano work. This middle section extends throughout track 3 and gets heavier and more psychedelic until ultimately ending in an explosive fury twentyeight-minutes into the track. Slowly, the meditative qualities build, returning the track to its original hypnotic state for the final seven-minutes.

The members of Yatha Sidhra were friends with Achim Reichel, whom many believe had a helping hand in procuring the bands recording contract. Sadly, they made just this one album; however, Rolf Fichter did record an album with the band Dreamworld in 1980.

DEUTSCH MOON (non-krautrocksampler musick)

THINK

VARIETY


Original Issue: 1973 Menga (MEL 3301)

Reissue: 2002 Garden Of Delights (CD 077) Buy it here!!!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1. Variety
2. Watercorps
3. Drops
4. Draw conclusions from...
5. Last door
6. More drops
7. All that I remember

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Waxidermy:

This album makes for great and somewhat sophisticated psychedelic nutrition for those hungry heavy heads with a predisposed preference for multi-colored musical edification. Don't get the wrong idea though, this is NOT just some over rated, useless & busy cerebral background filler of an album. Neither is it one of those that has every possible Far East Indian string & percussion gizmo being played all at once. However, it is an amazing and somewhat if not completely, unique Heavy German Prog/Psych classic like no other.

The group Think were comprised of Hungarian, German & Czechoslovakian musicianship. The end result of their amazing collaborative recording was to be completely unpredictable in a comparative sense. For me the results liken themselves to the very best US West Coast Psychedelic influenced Progressive Rock my ears have ever heard. Imagine an instrumentally diverse Rock & Folk version of Captain Beyond crossed with the group Bread. All the while being saturated with a very real lysergic aptitude.

Now, with one ear's foot just outside your armchair bound spacecraft's door, you are at least partly in a nearby musical universe! This album from start to finish is masterful to say the very least and represents one of the most fateful of musical assemblages ever. The group sadly only existed while the music was being recorded and is in fact shrouded in mystery as few acknowledged details exist. The musicians themselves were in part touring Germany within a Hungarian Orchestra troop when they were apparently struck with a streak of repressed rebellion and decided to defect. After talking with the label owner of the German based record label "Menga", the wandering musicians hooked up with another musician or two and proceeded to render their only known official release.

This is a MUST for fans of the genre, and CD & LP reissues do in fact exist.

DEUTSCH MOON (non-Krautrocksampler musick)

SILOAH

SILOAH (a.k.a. SÄUREADLER)

Original Issue: 1971 Amber Soundroom (AS LP 014)

Reissue: 1998 Garden Of Delights (CD 029) Buy it here!

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

1 Yellow Puppets Hanging In The Sky (0:48)
2 Krishna's Golden Dope Shop (6:06)
3 Road To Laramy (6:24)
4 Acid Eagle (2:42)
5 Aluminum Wind (18:00)
6 Pink Puppets Hanging In The Sky (0:48)
7 Mit Tiny Nach Tanger (7:26)
8 Lady Jane - Lord X (3:15)

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Progarchives:

Born during krautrock’s explosion at the beginning of the 70’s Siloah deserves an interest for fans of psychedelic folk music. With a delicate free form sound the band delivers catchy, sometimes dreamy like songs for acoustic instruments, dominated by guitars and percussions.

The “acid” folk mention reminds me some good kraut-folk items (Amon Duul’s Paradieswarts Duul, Kalacakra’s Crawling to Lhasa, Hoelderlin’s Traum…), featuring “ethno-psychedelic”, simplistic poetic romance and stoned vocals. “Yellow puppets” is a short “pastoral” piece for acoustic guitar & percussions, quite charming.

“Krishna Golden Dope Show” is more into a “hippie” like trip, a bit old dated but it sounds nice, very folk with gorgeous peaceful effects, “monotonous” vocals and soft chorus. “Road to Larany” is a brilliant bluesy acoustic folk ballad. “Acid Eagle” is a freak out repetitive tune for ethnic like percussions and stringed instruments. “Alluminum winds” is a rather dark “acid” folk composition with not real coherence and no real sense of composition.

Nice floating flute lines punctuated the ensemble. The new Garden of delights CD reissue contains bonus tracks & a full booklet of notes and photos. Not the best German “stoned” folk item but a few amazing atmospheres.

Philippe Blache

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪

from Cosmic Dreams at Play:

Siloah came from Munich and were the brainchild of one Thom Atgauer. They made two extremely rare private pressings, regarded as among the most frenzied on the German underground scene.

Some dealers have described their first album Saureadler (1970, the title means 'acid eagle') as 'being even wilder than Kalacakra', and it isn't difficult to agree with this after listening to the six tracks.

This is an acoustic ethno-psychedelic head trip. Guests play drums, flute and guitar on certain tracks. Apart from the short introduction and ending, the album had "Aluminium Wind" (18:00). There are some rumours that members of Amon Duul were involved in these recordings.

FULL STURGEON MOON (28 August 2007)

The Musick dedicated to this Esbat is:

ZWEISTEIN
TRIP FLIP OUT MEDITATION

Original Issue: 1970 Philips (6630 002)
Reissue: 2007 Captain Trip Records (CTCD-583-585) Buy It


Margot-meter: 3 moons / 5

Disc 1: Trip

01-In
a) beginning
b) analysis of tune
c) to hear inside
d) a very simple song

02-Out
a) misty tour
b) water sound
c) television
d) organ dreams (a very simple song)

Disc 2: Flip Out

01-Wrong
a) children's golden dream
b) to become a child
c) children's golden dream

02-Right
a) everything returns
b) indian child
c) the theory of relativity

Disc 3: Meditation

01-Point
a) atomical fantasy (electronic)
b) incarnation
c) childhood's church
d) life train
e) dream of love and death
f) atomical fantasy

02-Circle
a) verdi's soul born again
b) mind beat
c) himalaya's way
d) heaven bridge
e) out of time
f) atomical fade out

03-I'm A Melody Maker (Bonus Track)

04-A Very Simple Song (Bonus Track)

A Review:

This remarkable artefact from the underbelly of the Krautrock movement was released by the famous Philips label in 1970 as a triple album in an exotic metallic gold and silver sleeve with a small circular mirror mounted on the front cover.

The music contained on these records was a mad mix of primitive electronic experimentation, fractured folk song and playground chanson, all of which was meant to illustrate the Trip-Flip Out-Meditation theme of the album's title.

How Philips (who were also responsible for such ground breaking releases as the first two Kraftwerk albums and Cluster's important and influential debut) decided to front the considerable production costs such an extravagant release would demand is mysterious, but according to one source who was present at the time Zweistein were the product of a romantic obsession.

The resident producer at Philips was apparently infatuated with a young fraulein who had an uncontrollable urge to make a record and get it released. Under the cover of darkness when the studio was empty Zweistein were allowed to experiment using whatever equipment they could lay their hands on. Presumably as the project became more adventurous the tape recorders were left rolling, hence three records instead of one.

On top of this a single ('I'm a Melody Maker' b/w 'A Very Simple Song') that didn't make it on to the triple was issued in a picture sleeve, but this too failed to attract any attention despite its more Eurovision approach. The producer was fired shortly after Trip-Flip Out-Meditation blundered its way onto the record racks. In a matter of weeks Zweistein's epic was deleted and sent to the vinyl junkyard never to be heard or seen again. 'Not recommended!' warns Dag Erik Ashjornsen in his German progressive and electronic rock guide Cosmic Dreams at Play.

A warped masterpiece! Say I.
You choose who to believe.