Echo was the last of the two albums Achim Reichel did with The Machines before going solo, and it's one of my favorite jam oriented psych-rock albums ever. It is an epic 2xLP consisting of only four very long tracks (if you count tracks 2 & 3 as the same, since they are kind of a continuation of each other). Music is written by Achim Reichel, who did a lot of the instruments although it's not clear to me which ones exactly. Guitar is credited Helmuth Franke, drums by Tarrach, sax by Jochen Peterson, jew's harp by Arthur Carstens, clarinet by Norbert Jacobson, vocals by Conny Plank, Klaus Schulze (!!!), and Matti Klatt. Lyrics written by Frank Dostal. The record was released by big-time label Polydor. For better ease of reference I have chosen to list the track names and sections by their English translation:
1. Invitation
a) Invitation
b) To New Adventures
c) In the Magic Forest of the 7 Senses
d) In the Labyrinth of the Mind
e) At the Waltz of the Inclinations
f) Under the Black-Green-Red Banner
g) International Anthem
2a. The Echo of the Presence
a) Awakening On the Shore
b) In Front of the House at the Growing Mountain
c) Signal
d) Knowledge is Spring in Autumn
e) Iron-Laura with the Lyra
2b. The Echo of Time
f) I am Astonished
g) On the Sledge
h) To the Echo of Time
i) Down the Rainbows
j) Through Feelable, Measurable Nothing
k) Eternal Farewell On Lilac Ardour
3. The Echo of the Future
a) Suspicions
b) At the Dance of the Electrical Winds
c) Before the Birth of a New Dimension
d) Interstellar Communications
e) The Opening of the Big Gate
f) The Dream of Balance
4. The Echo of the Past
a) Memories of the Day After Tomorrow
b) Ab Libido
c) Ego Lego
d) Burns Like a Light at the End of a Tunnel
I have sort of a hard time telling which section is which. It would probably be easier if I could see the vinyl grooves. The album starts off with some psychedelic guitar layering, accompanied by this interesting watery sound and drums mixed rather low. By the 5:30 mark of Invitation the guitar fades out with just the watery noises, giving way to glass clinks and vocal mumbling; a very psychedelic and disorienting collage of sound without rhythm, punctuated by bass diddling. At around 6:40 the rhythm guitar comes back on in full force. The way it plays off the bass, and with the synth backdrop gives off this desolate feel that seems to pull on ones heart strings. Also some excellent strings and flute whose performances appear to be uncredited (done my Achim Reichel himself possibly?). Achim Rachel demonstrates a gift for writing these liquid compositions, with each section sort of melding into the next. On one hand it's like a jam, but paying closer attention it seems pretty well thought out. I would be curious to know the creative process behind it. After desolation comes the sound of wind accompanied by Jochen Peterson's sax. By this time the synth (wind) has taken over, mixed louder than the rest. The amount of layering in these compositions show the meticulous work that must have been done in the mixing process. By around 12:10 of Invitation the drums pick up with a touch of phaser effect that accompanies the wind sounds. The song crescendos into an awesome guitar jam-out (section f?). It ends with some very strange acappella and other dissonant sounds.
More meticulous guitar layering in "The Echo of the Present" that is absolutely gorgeous. I'm guessing Achim Reichel does the picking, with Helmuth Franke on backing rhythm. The album continues with this wispy sort of vibe. By around 3:50 we hear the first vocals, which I think are done rather well (4 people are credited with vocals so I have no idea which person it is). I love the incredibly psychedelic synth craziness that comes in at around 6:20. Even though I can't tell which section is which, I think that's a good thing in this case, because everything flows together perfectly. This album sounded like a freeform jam my first listen, but now it seems fairly laid out and purposeful to me. Echo demonstrates such an impressive amount of control in every respect, with the most cutting edge proficiency in effects and synth crafting. The second track ends with some awesome electronic drones.
The other tracks stick relatively well to a similar collage of ambient soundscapes, trippy guitar, krautrock buildups and sample manipulations. Skipping over to the last track, the album closes with "The Echo of the Present." Some very emotional interplay between the vocals and the sax, giving way to a rather silly acappella discourse around 4 minutes in, incoherent caveman noises reminiscent of the original Amon Düül. Not gonna lie, it's a bit of a jarring, unexpected transition. This is the point where the album really diverges stylistically and takes on a much lighter tone which goes on until an absolutely abrupt transition at around 12:50. The next section had dramatic sounding strings with some spoken word over it. I really don't know what to make of this closing track. The sections feel way more stitched together, a total farcry from the liquid brilliance of the previous tracks. It somewhat makes up for this with the awesome ambient section 16 minutes in, but for the most part ends up sabotaging whatever momentum that Echoes could have culminated into. I think if the acappella silliness could have been replaced by something that could transition better into this beautiful last session the album could have been close to perfect. However, considering the fact that there's over an hour of well crafted psychedelia throughout this whole LP, I can't complain too much.
The controlled jamming and mixing reminds me of the Walter Wegmüller's Tarot, which was mentioned previously in this blog. There's expertly done field recording manipulations, guitar effects, and trippy soundscapes throughout the whole thing. Achim Reichel demonstrates himself to be a real sonic visionary in the psychedelic rock genre, molding and coordinating these compositions into shapes seldom realized. Echos is very thematic in how the tracks aren't dramatically different from each other stylistically. One could argue that its excessively long, perhaps downright indulgent with the closing track, but for the most part adds to its sense of immersion. A real one of a kind LP which would have been near perfect had the final track not been such a letdown. 8/10
