Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (1971)

Ash Ra Tempel was a German krautrock group active from 1970 to 1976, Manuel Gottsching's first prominent musical output. Ash Ra Tempel featured revolving members. Gottsching retired the use of the Ash Ra Tempel name after he became the sole remaining member. His first solo album Inventions for Electric Guitar was the last album to bear the Ash Ra Tempel name. Gottsching later used the name Ashra for his solo output as an homage to his former group. Ashra eventually evolved into a full band and continued along with Gottsching until 1998.

Gurnemanz - No Rays Of Noise (1977)

Gurnemanz, was a German folk rock band, who have recorded and pressed privately two excellent albums during the mid 70s. Their delightful music is somewhere between first Broeselmaschine, Hoelderlin and Ougenweide. All ingredients are there, sitar, flute, lute, lyre, mandolin etc played by master musicians, but above all is this stunning female voice of Manuela Schmitz. This is their second album, originally pressed privately in 1977, all tracks are sung in English and it includes one of the best versions of the JOHN BARLEYCORN song, ever heard. Deluxe 180g vinyl, from the original analogue master tapes, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.

Gäa - Alraunes Alptraum (1975)

The first three tracks from 1975 are from an aborted second album, and the last four were recorded about a decade later with some of Gaa's members and others. The first three are classic Gaa, similar to the Uranus material, though with better fidelity, less rough around the edges. The track "Morgendammerung," an instrumental, even stretches further out from Gaa's rock trappings. It starts with a ticking noise and slowly building keyboard tones, moves to a jazzier middle section, and then getts even more funky with a rolling bass riff and odd percussion noises. The newer tracks, recorded one per year between 1984 and 1987, are far more conventional rock & roll; "Tabbert" is excruciatingly mainstream, whereas "Du" and "Warum" are a little better, as the group attempts to capture the magic of earlier Gaa, and "Inspektion" even flirts with synth pop. Needless to say, these tracks pail compared to the 1975 stuff.

Try - Just A Try (1998)

This album was meant to be -- and remained -- a one-shot studio project, "just a try" between instrumental folk guitarist Amadeus Reineck, and keyboardist Michael Lapp. Each one has provided a handful of tunes, with the opening and closing selections being joint efforts. Reineck's music is a dreamy folk strongly reminiscent of Anthony Phillips and Gordon Giltrap. In some of his tracks, Lapp joins him on guitar or mandolin, on others he adds keyboard layers, which gives the music a Gandalf feel. Lapp's own tunes fall into the German tradition of '70s electronic music with more of a new age feel (as in "Monte Christo," more than a bit trite). For "Wreck on the Wire," the duo brought in bassist Dieter Bauer and singer Caroline McCombs. By far the most satisfying piece of this set, it actually develops a strong theme and it is obvious that Lapp and Reineck took more time to write the arrangements. The "Introduction," and the soft and cute "Roswithas' Baby," are also highlights. It is worth noting that these three pieces are all found in the album's first half. The second half consists of a suite of much less developed pieces. Short, they present simple acoustic guitar or keyboard themes that have been left somewhat raw (and are consistently sickening-sweet). For example, the cheerful "Move" could have been much better if it had a proper melody instead of the doodling synth line Lapp came up with. Reissued in 1998 by Garden of Delights, this album is better kept for the collector.

Siloah - Siloah (1970)

Siloah were a German progressive psych / folk band in the vein of Kalacakra, Langsyne and others "curiosities". A collective hippie musical tribe largely inspired by mysticism, LSD and sexadelism. Their music features a heavy use of stoned vocals (in English), mantric like guitar parts, flute, "ethnic" percussions. Their first drugged item released in 1970 offers a dangerous and imaginative ocean of trippy, perpetual jammings. A bombastic psychedelic explosion in the mood of the best german prog folk releases. The atmospheres are beautifully "acoustic", sometimes dreamy and ethereal but never away from krautrock "primitive" sound. One year later they release an other highly psychedelic item with now more emphasis on keyboards parts. Both records have been re-issued in CD in 1993 on the Lost pipedream label. Today their discography is available at "Garden of delight". An achieved musical experience and a beautiful "acid" folk trip that can ravish fans of krautrock.

Agitation Free - At The Cliffs Of River Rhine (1974)

A 38-minute concert recorded for radio in Cologne, Germany, on February 2, 1974, LIVE ''74: AT THE CLIFFS OF RIVER RHINE arguably represents the apex of Agitation Free''s trademark cosmic instrumental space-improv explorations, showcasing the virtuosity of guitarists Lutz Ulbrich and Gustav Lutjens, keyboard player Michael Hoenig, drummer Burghard Rauch, and bassist Michael Gunter. Thirteen-minute opener Through the Moods is unavailable elsewhere; the remaining cuts, which sounded great on 1973 psych-rock landmark 2ND, are positively electric, making this recording an indispensible part of Agitation Free''s discography.

Review: This is a live recording of one of the great, and often overlooked krautrock bands. Entirely instrumental, their work is charachterized by long, freaky improvisations with some absolutely amazing guitar work (similar to Ash Ra Tempel''s first), some disorienting sound effects (and understated keyboards), and some great band chemistry and jamming lending to the overall tripping effect. This is just a superb jam band with uniformly inventive and evolving guitar driven psychedelia. This album has to be one of the most perfect and excellent psychedelic guitar rock albums I have heard.

Agitation Free - The Other Side Of Agitation Free (1974)

Agitation Free - The Other Side Of Agitation Free (1974)

Als 1974 Burghard Rausch und Michael Hoenig bei Agitation Free ausgestiegen waren und die Gruppe schon so gut wie scheintot war, wollten Michael Günther und Gustl Lütjens dann doch nicht so einfach aufgeben und machten im Herbst und Winter des Jahres mit neuen Leuten aus ihrem Umfeld noch ein paar Versuche im Studio. Dabei kamen, dank Manfred Opitz und Gustl Lütjens, einige recht jazzige Stücke heraus, die aber von Vertigo als "unverkäuflich" abgelehnt wurden.
Auf "The other sides" kann man sie erstmals hören, ergänzt von Auszügen aus dem Politrock-Hörspiel "Störenfried", ebenfalls von 1974. Recht ungewohnte Klänge für Agitation Free; ein paar von den Stücken sogar mit Gesang.
Das Heft von 36 Seiten geht kaum in die Schachtel hinein... When Burghard Rausch and Michael Hoenig left Agitation Free in 1974, the band was almost in a state of apparent death. Yet Michael Günther and Gustl Lütjens eventually decided not to give up and so, during the autumn and winter of that very year, joined by some new musicians from their scene, they would give it a try in the recording studio. Thanks to Manfred Opitz and Gustl Lütjens, the outcome was a set of rather jazzy tracks which were, however, rejected by Vertigo as being "unsaleable". On "The other sides" these tracks can be heard for the first time, supplemented by extracts from their political-rock radio play "Störenfried" ("trouble-maker"), it too from 1974. Those are rather unusual sounds for a band like Agitation Free, some of the tracks even featuring vocals. After that disappointment the band eventually broke up.

Agitation Free - At The Cliffs Of River Rhine (1974)