A2. II
A3. III
B1. IV
By 1970, minimalism and spontaneity were coming to fruition in pyschedelic culture. Rock was being incorporated into jazz more than ever, with bands like Grateful Dead applying simmilar cues and methods of playing off eachother, and jazz legends John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, and Wayne Shorter were dabbling in the psych rock projects of Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Psych rock bands in Germany such as "Annexus Quam," "Ash Ra Tempel" or Peter Hamel's "Between" seemed to be exploring wider spaces and meditative drones, parallel with things happening in the minimalist scenes of San Francisco and New York.
This self-titled debut starts off with a slow build that opens with Hans Kämper blaring on the trombone. The pacing and time create a wide sense of depth. Perhaps it would have been nice to have a more extended exploration of this sound but instead the LP moves onto something more up beat. The instruments combine into a jam that seems to melt together along with the vocals which are mostly wordless, swelling in and out like the wind. The integration of various tapeloops with effects added seem to further heighten its sense of mystery. In part III, Harald Klemm's flute playing is absolutely gorgeous. The whole-sided part IV I found most interesting, with its slow jazz pacing that seems to come apart and fall back together again multiple times with interesting guitar effects. The spanish guitar and sax in the second half played by Hans Kämper and Ove Volquartz respectively are just gorgeous, ending with a slow arrhythmic jam that percolates with exotic percussion and plucked string.
Osmose isn't as out of the box as the likes of, say, Henry Cow but its sense of space, pacing, mood and atmosphere is downright compelling with its somber, almost haunted vibe. The structures to the compositions remain elusive and avoidant of hooks, melding into new sections with undescernable borders, not at all helped by the lack of song titles. Their creative approaches seem to demonstrate a sense of patience and intense focus that brings together an amorphous sense of form that's contributed by each instrument in almost perfectly equal measure, as there aren't even any solos or very many refrains. This is well worth the listen if you want to hear a good example of the more spacious and atmospheric sounds going on in 70s psych rock.
