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
