Walter Wegmüller's one and only LP, Tarot seems like it must have been a colossal effort. The project consisted of so many important names in Krautrock, including two big idols of mine: Klaus Schulze (Tangerine Dream) and Manuel Göttsching (Ash Ra Tempel). Walter Westrupp, known for folk duo Witthüser & Westrupp is also on it. Other names include bassist Jerry Berkers formerly of intense prog band Wallenstein, Hartmut Enke; a friend of Manuel Göttsching and also from Ash Ra Tempel, Harald Großkopf from Ash Ra Tempel, Wallenstein, and Cosmic Jokers (prolific dude!), and Jürgen Dollase from Wallenstein and Cosmic Jokers.
It's worth noting that Tarot seems to be one of two related super projects in Krautrock, the second one being the LP "Lord Krishna Von Goloka" which was made 3 years later and consisting of largely the same people. Curious. I wonder about the story behind these large scale endeavors and what their connections may be, if any.
Tarot is full of all kinds of surprises. Cool vocal effects, percussion, weird electronic noises, and hypnotic drones. It is everything about the krautrock scene I have come to admire. The LP has 21 tracks, each representing a tarot card. I do not speak German, but I'm guessing the vocals pertain to the character represented in its respective card? I love Tarot's sense of space. Very slow moving and hypnotic, guided by Walter Wegmüller ominous narration. Each track seems to have a difference surprise. Thanks to the talents of Klaus Schulze there are some interesting electronic noises, especially in track 4 "Die Herrscherin". Manuel Göttsching's guitar work accompanied by his buddy Hartmut Enke is also superb.
The first track "Der Narr" starts as this introductory piece, soon going off the rails into the bizarre circus music of "Der Magier" in which the tempo slows down. In track 6 "Der Hohepriester" there's some nice flute playing (uncredited as far as I've been able to look). Track 8, "Der Wagen" has some fantastic guitar playing from Manuel Göttsching, reminiscent of some of his solo work as Ashra. In track 12 "Die Prüfung", the first track of Side C, we get some really trippy vocal effects over a keyboard and some cluttery percussion. Walter Wegmüller's vocal droning is hypnotic, reminiscent of Genesis P-Orridge. The industrial resemblance in this track is actually quite uncanny. After this track is a brief, quiet electronic interlude, followed by "Die Mässigkeit" which pushes the envelope further than where Die Prüfung left off, complete with crazy effects (gotta love that phase) and freakout guitar soloing. Definitely one of my favorite tracks. In the next track "Der Teufel" we get some refreshing variation with the first instance of an acoustic guitar accompanied by a second guitar with Spanish inspired pickings. The guitars in combination with the vocals have yet another uncanny resemblance, in this case to Pink Floyd's "More" (look up the song "A Spanish Piece" and you will see what I mean). "Die Zerstörung" is a very bizarre piece consisting of a pleasant acoustic piano and synthetic strings keyboard in conjunction with the most cacophonous percussion. Track 17 "Die Sterne" is a trip into the inexpressible, with perhaps Klaus Schulze's most interesting electronic experiments on the whole LP. An absolutely stunning ambient piece complete with vibraphone and Manuel Göttsching's amazing guitar drones.
As I'm sure you've gathered at this point, the album is all over the map, chock full of experimentation, and is a great example of controlled jams done right. The relatively shorter tracks make it accessible to anyone interested in the far out jams but don't have as much patience for the 20+ minute epics. Seriously go check this one out. Definitely one of the absolute treasures of 70s German psychedelic rock. You won't regret it! 9/10
