Peter Frohmader & Richard Pinhas - 1999- Fossil Culture

1. Fossil Culture 1
2. Fossil Culture 2
3. Fossil Culture 3
4. Fossil Culture 4
5. Fossil Culture 5
6. Fossil Culture 6
7. Fossil Culture 7

Prolific in their ongoing endeavours stretching as far back as the 70s, Peter Frohmader and Richard Pinhas (of Heldon) come together and create something very interesting. Released by experimental US label Cuneiform Records. Their expertise in electronic experimentation and manipulation of guitar distortion and sound layering are well demonstrated throughout this album, taking full advantage of the CD's 70+ duration.

A lot of what I really like about Fossil Culture is its pacing. They take their time with exploring a variety of interesting soundscapes, giving ample time for the synergy between the electronics and meticulous guitar manipulation to work their magic. It seems that perhaps these were the best takes of various jams they did together, as suggested by its creative spontaneity. The range of electronic elements from techno beaks to synthscapes is impressive and well mixed.

The tone, atmosphere, and overall mood comes off as very brisk, sometimes dark, and psychedelic. Track 4 has a very interesting mood that seems to descend into an abyss with dull flashes of light scattered by the plucking of a bass guitar and harmonic distortions and some interesting experiments with water.

Fossil Culture is very good at what it does, with a staggeringly huge breadth of electronic instruments and techniques. While it does work adequately as a gallery of what I presume are the best outtakes of various jams, it would have also been interested to see what these musicians could do together with a more coordinated approach to their song writing. I would love to see Frohmader and Pinhas get back together because I really think they were onto something here. 8/10

Munju - 1977 - High-Speed Kindergarten

A1. Kirschsuppe
A2. Fall Oslip
B1. Patschamenga Underground
B2. Talk to Me But I Listen to You  
B3. High Speed Kindergarten

Starting in Würzburg, Germany by ex-member of Missus Beastly Jürgen Benz (flute, sax), Munju is a really interesting Fusion band that takes on a number of influences and sounds. The percussion is very lush and intricate, with kind of an afro-beat style. The first track is written by Jürgen Benz who does some soulful Bobby Humphrey-esque flute playing, along with an excellent congo performance by Joseph Spector and guitar picking by Dieter Kaudel. They have a very fluid feel to them, the notes coming out like liquid. Benz goes on to masterfully switch between alto sax and flute in 'Fall Oslip.' Such a lovely harmony between the guitar around halfway in, and ending on a dark and atmospheric solo on the sax.

Thomas Römer demonstrates some real percussive chops in both 'Patschamenga Underground' and 'Talk to Me But I Listen to You' who is closely followed with precision by Specter's congos. Dieter Kaudel can also do a mean flamenco in 'Talk to Me But I Listen to You.'

'Talk to Me But I Listen to You' is an excellent funk composition with complex bass by Wolfgang Salomon, backed magnificently by Röme's drums, and some real shredding from Kaudel.

The last track starts off kind of slow jazz with a melodic prog, slightly Spanish feel to it, then goes into some goofy recording of a crowd of people, then returning back with a funky sort of groove. Not sure how well this experiment succeeds, but Benz does some great flute solos.

Hard to think of anything bad to say about this short 36 minute LP, as all 5 tracks are pretty solid and Jürgen Benz masters both the flute and the sax so well. I suppose, having heard more Fusion from this time, especially by '77, it's not the most groundbreaking original stuff ever, but its masterful at what it does. Its prog, its jazz, its funk, its afro-beat. There's a lot going on here. 8/10

Vágtázó Halottkémek - 1988 - A Halál Móresre Tanítása

I find it somewhat difficult to classify what genre the Hungarian band Vágtázó Halottkémek (Galloping Coroners) sounds like. I suppose I would just use the catch-all "psych rock" to describe them, but that's not quite it either, for there also seems to be somewhat of a hardcore punk type rawness to it. Vágtázó Halottkémek manage to tap into this sort of frantic primeval energy that almost makes me think of Viking battle music. At the same time it also has more cohesion in composition than, say, Acid Mothers Temple; the tracks feel pretty distinct from eachother. Chaotic "freakout" jams are something I'm very fond of and this band happens to do it very, very well.

1. Ki Vele, Az Istenért!
2. Ráébredek
3. Tárulj, Világ!
4. Mi Történt?
5. Élö Világegyetem  

 A Halál Móresre Tanítása is a whirlwind of chaos that varies with each track. The first track is perhaps the most chaotic, but even that maintains a certain pulse of some kind. Tracks 2 and 3 remind me of some of Hawkwind's more energetic jams. The way these songs are organized make it hard to articulate whats going on, and have this almost subconscious effect where the mind can't quite remember what's happening. Even so, it somehow keeps changing. There's this amazing part at the end of track 3 with tribal percussion, flutes, and a-melodic dronings. Track 4 is unusual from the rest, probably the most accessible, with a sort of catchy Gothic guitar hook that's kind of like something from The Cure or The Chameleons except with screaming and dissonance. The album closes with a relatively more chill vibe with acoustic guitar, verbed out vocals, and more primeval chanting. 

If you want coherency and catchy hooks, this album probably isn't for you. If you like strange music with noisy atmospheric jams this should be right up your alley. An excellent debut from an instrumentally eclectic band. 8/10

Embryo - 1970 - Opal

A1. Opal
A2. You Don't Know What's Happening
A3. Revolution
A4. Glockenspiel
B1. Got No Time
B2. Call
B3. End of Soul
B4. People from Out the Space

Embryo is a band from Munich, Germany, exploring an eclectic range of styles, from jazz-rock to prog, to psychedelic jams with elements of blues to some middle eastern influences. All of which can be readily discerned just by the first two tracks. The two founding members are Christian Burchard (keyboard? possibly bass [by logic of reduction....the specific instruments don't seem to be formerly credited]) and Edgar Hofmann (sax). The other two members who are credited are John Kelly (guitar) and Ralph Fischer (vocals).

Along with their diversity, the four-piece blends perfectly together to create a diverse range of compositions that manage to be both concise and spontaneous, with the excellent and strange blaring of Edgar Hofmann's saxophone. This groundbreaking album was released on the ever-amazing Ohr, home to countless big names in German psychedelia right up there with the label Brain.

I'll avoid going into the specifics of each composition as I think the tracks will speak for themselves. Ralph Fischer's charming lament for the death of soul in 'End of Soul' is rather poignant considering his brief affiliations with Xhol Caravan. The LP is rather short but makes the best use of its time with seemingly no filler whatsoever, keeping the listeners attention from start to finish. Nothing more to say other than just fantastic jams, composition, and sax playing. 9/10

Et Cetera - 1971 - Et Cetera

Et Cetera's self-titled LP is the first album under this respective alias, and the second album by Wolfgang Dauner, whose project formerly went by Wolfgang Dauner Group. They are a talented group using many exotic instruments that blend together in a way that seems somehow chaotically organized.

A1 - Thursday Morning Sunrise
A2 - Lady Blue
A3 - Mellodrama 2a
B1 - Raga
B2 - Milkstreets

There's a variety of instruments used in this album, which are unfortunately uncredited. From the start you can hear the strange guitar-like instrument played by Dauner, whose existence I've been able to ascertain from the live footage. Thursday Morning Sunrise is challengingly atonal, going in and out of a coherent meter. The drum playing I think is  very remarkable, creating strange shapes with a sense of rhythm I can only compare to experimental jazz drumming. Lady Blue is a well written psychedelic spoken word accompanied by a haunting chorus.

After that theres a relatively brief interlude of the more conventional jam 'Mellodrama 2a' before jumping into the second epic 'Raga.' Less chaotic and more spacious than Thursday Morning Sunrise, it features even more wide an array of exotic instruments and percussion with a sitar that ties everything together. The album closes with the altogether meter-less Milkstreets, showcasing more of the drummer's dynamic rhythmic abilities.

Although the music doesn't go far beyond the realm of what appears to be mostly pure spontaneity, Et Cetera's self-titled release is wonderfully strange.They are talented musicians whose dynamic abilities with straddling the line between order and chaos are sufficiently interesting for the duration of this LP. 8/10

Circle - 2004 - Golem / Vesiliirto

Circle is a newer psych jam band from Finland, whom I've always found to be consistently interesting and adventurous throughout their career. From what I've heard so far, Golem / Vesiliirto still remains my favorite.

Disc 1
1. Salamander Sword
2. Matka
3. Destination Thunder
4. True Incubus from Beyond
5. At War with Mercy
6. Forbidden Steel Patriot

Disc 2
1. Korahteleva Haapa
2. Tuliset Miekat Käsissä
3. Kavaljeeri
4. Neljä Kolkkaa
5. Haulikko Ja Kivääri
6. Skanner / Lähetys

I like it when music can confound my brain and make me wonder "how did they make that?" The opening track Salamander Sword sounds that way to me. It's got a mysterious vibe that changes slightly each time I hear it as if gazing into a crystal ball. The vocals are hypnotic and shout on into space, with the clanking of strange machinery boiling under the surface backed by a vague hint of strings. This whole album has such an interesting vibe that is dreamlike or a depiction of the subconscious, with really good use of electronic/sound layering. As can often be the case with Circle, it's questionable what distinguishes the tracks from each other, so I would mostly recommend this to people who like jam bands, but want some really far out. Track 5 on Disc 1 goes into some almost industrial territory, with its cacophonous sound effects. The end of Disc 1 clears up into more quiet folky minimal territory with Forbidden Steel Patriot.

The interplay between the guitar, synth, and drums on the second track of Disc 2 is rhythmically interesting, in a way that sort of reminds me of Can. The album evolves into a complex rhythmic syncopation in track 3, having a sort of serialized Morse Code quality to it. Not sure what time signature its in. After that the album seems to dissolve back into the strange audio soup we heard in disc 1. It leads in with track 4, but by track 5 its somewhat stranger and more intense this time, verging into an almost Caroliner Rainbow level of insanity: gremlins whispering nonsense into your ear, synthesizers going in and out of coherence and incoherence. The second half of the song levels out into a jam that's pretty nice but I also wish they would have stayed with the chaos in the first half. The final track is the longest. It keeps the overall vibe of the album going with nothing particularly memorable about it other than just being a really awesome jam, as is per usual with Circle.

Its interesting how the first disc (Golem) is live while the second (Vesiliirto) is studio, which does make sense, especially considering the complexity of tracks 2 and 3 on Vsiliirto. They created a most unique vibe that underlies the whole thing while peppering in a variety of other experiments along the way. Its long and meandering, but makes for one hell of a unique trip. Its not the most meticulously crafted project, but there's simply nothing quite like it. 8/10

Ardo Dombec - 1971 - Ardo Dombec

A1. Spectaculum
A2. Supper Time
A3. A Bit Near the Knuckle
A4. Clean Up Sunday
B1. Downtown-Paradise-Lost
B2. Oh, Sorry
B3. 108
B4. Unchangeable Things?!

Ardo Dombec are an obscure 4-piece progressive jazz/blues rock group that only made one release off the Pilz record label. Less on the spectrum of fast or freeform jams, the songs are a lot more tightly written. Helmut Hachmann's sax and Harald Gleu's vocals are the two main spotlights for this album; each are excellent at what they do.

There's nothing particularly unique about this album. They just REALLY know how to get down, and it has memorable song writing. My favorite track by far is 'A Bit Near the Knuckle' which is perfect in every way, easily switching between normal and half time. The sax riding beautifully over everything, and Wolfgang Spillner's simple but excellently backing drums, and some of my favorite German psych rock vocals.

I try to avoid using this adjective, but 'Clean Up Sunday' has the most undoubtedly Jethro Tull-esque flute soloing. It's very well done though. The song is more spacious than the previous tracks, with a sweet backing bassline. Halfway through is a nice little guitar solo followed by some verbed out acapella that seems kind of abrupt? The song continues with this whole other kind of jam that at first doesn't seem to fit but manages to seamlessly go right back to the previous section.

'Downtown Paradise Lost' showcases Harald Gleu's harmonica blues playing which is pretty ok. 'Oh 
Sorry' is another goofy little oh-no-your-record-got-scratched prank. Eh, woulda been better without it. '108' is some pretty laid back acoustic guitar accompanied by flute. I guess by this point I redact my statement about their consistently tight song writing. The last track is solid but still not as memorable as some of the earlier tracks.

This LP is alright, but doesn't manage to capture quite as amazing a momentum as 'A Bit Near the Knuckle' which is what I will always remember it for. The b-side tracks just seem more like padding compared to the a-side. Its far from perfection but there's some good jams in here. 7/10