Dennis, a supergroup with members from Xhol (Klaus Briest; b), Frumpy (Carola Kretschmer; gtr + Carsten Bohn; dr), Thirsty Moon (Michael Kobs; kb + Willi Pape; sax) and Ougenweide (Olaf Casalich; perc) made just one LP in 1975. The results were absolutely spectacular.
A1. Do Your Own Thing
A2. Others Do
A3. Already
B1. Grey Present Tense
One thing that makes Hyperthalamus so special for me is its pacing. While holding together as a six person line-up they form a sound that's refined and understated while still managing to be loose and laid back. The liquid-borders between a wide range of sections provide a psychedelic and disorienting experience.
The album opens with a musique concrete sound collage that flows into a serene and pastoral guitar with dreamlike atmosphere. Tracks A2 and A3 are more hard driving psych rock compositions.
The full sided last track 'Grey Present Tense' runs the whole gamut of artistic experimentation, going from chaotic and free-jazzy, into an almost jazz funk sort of jam, the keyboardists Manne Rörup and Michael Kobs playing off eachother like fire. The second half of the epic dissolves into a more subdued vibe with an excellent sax solo from Willi Pape that the rhodes sounding keyboard compliments really well. The rhodes keyboard later becomes a synthetic, almost squarewave sounding instrument that goes into a solo of its own, with interesting warbling effects, followed by some impressive drum playing from Carsten Bohn playing off the keyboard and bass.
I feel like this album is so well put together there's not even much to say. Its well paced and performed, with an undeniably kinetic chemistry between some very experienced veteran musicians, each contributing their own unique vision that compliments everyone else's. 9/10
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