Aah, Kraut Rock! An undiscovered continent full of hidden treasure known only to a handful of collectors. Unlike their British counterparts who were inspired by the blues, German bands approached their electric instruments with a more exploratory mood and got the most interesting sounds out of them. This is a limited edition sampler from German label "Garden of Delights" and
does indeed offer some rare delights. It presents the labels's releases 021-029 and features one song from every album. It starts off with a live rendition of Bernstein's "America", obviously patterned after Nice's version. Some impressive organ solos there, but in 2:22' it's too short to go anywhere. At 20 minutes, "loneliness" is quite the opposite, allowing the musicians lots of room to stretch. With heavy guitar and organ, it sounds a lot like Eloy while the singer reminds me somewhat of the Scorpions' Klaus Meine (or am I only making the connection because he's German?). #3 is from the early 90's and has a more new wave feel, with female vocals and distorted guitars (reminiscent of early Bevis Frond). "Abflug" is a long song with jazzy improvisations and nice sax. Next we have Gaa who, like Kraftwerk, get their inspiration from the famous autobahn. It's a gothic song with heavy keyboards and thick German vocals. The following band Zyma is much lighter and with airy female vocals, flute,piano and violin. Towards the end it reminds me of late 60's Julie Driscoll/Brian Auger. "Wreck on the wire" is another excellent atmospheric piece with female vocals and beautiful guitar solos, Next up we have the only group I was familiar with, Agitation Free. Left-wing radicals living in a communal Berlin house, they produced some great improvisatory music. "Silence of the morning sunrise" is part of a live jam, a bucolic instrumental with liquid guitar work and birdlike noises, probably produced by the bands' keyboard
meister Michael Hoenig. Siloah are the last of the bunch but their album is the oldest one (1970). They present a beautiful instrumental with acoustic guitars and light percussion. No, wait a minute, there
are vocals, they just appear after the 5-minute mark when the song is almost finished. After hearing this I was convinced to dig deeper into the world of Kraut Rock. Keep your eyes open for these groups and take a risk when faced with unknown German bands of the 70's. You may be in for a treat...
**** for Loneliness(Arktis), Autobahn(GÄA), Thoughts(Zyma), Wreck on the wire(Try)
*** for America(Tyburn Tall), Change bad horizons(Crabs), Abflug(Morpheus), In the silence of the morning sunrise(Agitation Free), Road to Laramy(Siloah).
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