Inkeys

25/06/2025

LUTZ GRAF-ULBRICH – Luul's Lab Album
Wholly instrumental solo album from the ex-Ash Ra/Agitation Free multi-instrumentalist with all instruments played by him, too. At the heart of this album, running like musical blood through its veins, is melody, the main lead instrument being guitar.
Opener is “Sad And Hopeful”, the first part a series of echoed guitar figures set to a distant ocean of soft synth backdrops, and as the guitar becomes the rhythm, so are added assorted extra layers, a high-flying lead guitar here,an occasional electronic soundscape passing by, and the whole feel of the piece is one of wide open spaces, deliberately kept uncluttered so that the key rhythmic and melodic elements are left pure for all to hear, almost crystalline in its emotive feel.
In sharp contrast, the opening to “Motionmode” is a series of fuzzed pulsations, but have no fear – the delicacy of the electric guitar enters, a strong electronic drum rhythm appears, and everything is calm – until out of nowhere blasts this heated electric guitar break to take the rolling rhythmic whole into a totally new dimension with a blood-curdling solo that really grabs your attention. At just over 4 and a half of its near 8 minute length, the whole thing abruptly stops, features an out-of-focus electronic layer, before the rhythms return, this time multi-layered electronics stabbing in and out, as the intensity increases and it is this driving soundscape that takes you to the end.
“Der Wilde Ritt” is exactly what it states – wild – here the calm is well and truly shattered as an instrumental that would be proud to grace any modern metal album, erupts and the supercharged mix of heated guitars, powerful rhythms and a molten lava of musical morass that forms the backdrop, all drive like a freight train heading for the buffers at 100km/hr. Stunning!! This is followed by one thoroughly beautiful cover of the late Manuel Gottsching's (his partner in Ash Ra) wondrous track “Oasis”, originally on the Ash Ra album “Correlations”. Lutz provides a faithful rendition, sticking to the serenity and structure of the track as it wa meant to be, but so superbly layered that you can hear every nuance of what's being played, the distant delicate rhythm, the plucked gorgeousness of the lead guitar and all the textural backdrops from guitar and synth, enhancing what was already, a slice of musical sunshine.
“Morgentau” is a much more “cosmic” affair, with rivers of strings and layers of stretched-out guitars, covering the whole range of the musical spectrum, yet still with melody flowing through, albeit, a lot more spacious, while “Monolog” decelerates the electro-percussive beats, and adds initially, a lone guitar figure that has a decidedly bell-like tone to it and rings out magically, only then to have even more layers of various shades of guitar, added into the mix, with this searing heat yet equally slowly paced lead guitar, taking centre stage and flying to the skies to perfection.
“April Suite” begins in decidedly “orchestral” mode as slowly flowing strings ebb and flow, only to be joined by an almost “classical” electric guitar lead that rides above the strings, every note, every chorded backdrop, as clear as a sunny sky. Three minutes in, and the landscape changes completely as you start a musical train-ride with percussives and electronics galloping along sedately, until at just over the 5 minute point, in comes another stretched-out searing heat guitar break to add to the rhythmic train-ride going on below, taking you through to the fade-out finale.
The album ends on “Mystical Road” which starts with an electro-percussive clatter, adds a repeated wooden percussive sounding, spiralling beat, and it's a bit like the intro to King Crimson's “Waiting Man”, only here, there a synth fog moving in from afar, in which is hiding a lead guitar that then makes its presence felt as the track moves from Crimso to Ash Ra, and a gorgeous lead guitar sound of crystalline clarity takes the reigns. This then slowly morphs into a more “Moroccan” sounding section, as the guitar subsides, the mood becomes more exotic, the rhythms still at the heart of it all, and this then takes you to the end of the track.
Overall, one absolutely magical album and you'd have to have a heart of steel, not to fall in love with this heady mix of guitar-dominated, instrumental delights.

11/06/2025

ASH PREMA – A Perfect Day
Whatever happens on this album, the one thing that will happen to you is that you'll have an overriding air of tranquility, of calm of gorgeous summer skies and the warmth of the days ahead – look, that sounds terribly clicheed, but in this case it's true. Yet, it's not a cosmic music album....
Take the opening track for example – at 10 minutes in length, it starts by being awash with synth strings, followed by some exquisite piano work, before the lead role is taken by the sequencer rhythms, but not “Berlin School”, in the sense of power – here we have something altogether more laid back, in keeping with the feel of the piece as a whole, yet strong all the same. As the textures and melodies gather underneath and all around, the track sails off on smooth waters, turning right, turning left, utilising the three key elements that you had at the start, and managing to pull off a track where the rhythms dominate, but the mood is languid, the feel homely and the whole musical landscape, one fo grace and elegance, the next two tracks following in a similar vein and completing the picture.
The 6 minute “The Light That Once Was” is altogether more bouncy and choppy, as assorted synth melodies, swirl slowly around a sea of electro-percussive rhythms, and the melody is quite sublime, with plenty of layers from keys, synths and rhythm textures to keep you absorbed for the journey.
Apart from a short track called “The Storm” where, purposely as the previous track is aclled “The Calm Before The Storm”, things get altogether more powerful, the rest of the album is a tale of the synth string effects, the rippling piano chords, multi-layered synths and sequencer rhythms of varying pace and strength, all residing in a universe of melodic calm and transfixing tranquility – the ultimate in synth relaxation but hypnotic listening throughout.

21/04/2025

KLAUS SCHULZE – Bon Voyage Album
Recorded live in Hamburg in 1981, and previously unreleased. Vintage Schulze? Well.......
Starts off with just under 5 minutes of synthesized squeals and clanks, a bit like the start of Kraftwerk's “Klingklang” set in a metal foundry – still atmospheric though.. Through the ironworks comes a chunky percussive synth rhythm as the dissonant bits give way to a stream of synth layers that begin to flow, weave and generally travel onwards, the cyclical electronic rhythms as the pulse above which the blood flows strongly, spreading to every part via constantly changing pitches, melodies, swoops and managing to conform to the Germanic way of not letting anything stand still, as the musical landscape is always changing but the rhythm is the pumping heart, very much like a train journey through the inner working of a bank of synthesizers, or if you want a better frame of reference, not a million miles away from the opening track on Schulze's meisterwork, “X”. At 31 minutes, it's the longest track on the album. By the 13 minute mark, when you've got this rhythm that seems to have been going on forever, and above it this partially squealing high register lone melody, you do start to realise, that synth music hasn't half progressed a lot in 40+ years and that this, while historic, might not be the Holy Grail, you thought it was. At an even higher pitch, you'll hear the guitar of Ash Ra's Manuel Gottsching, or at least I assume it is, coz it sounds more like a synth lead, it's that high pitched. Set to the arrival of various electronic squelches and fx, the whole thing is a bizarre soundpool that really isn't for the faint-hearted. For the rest of the track, variation ensues, yet very little changes – and by the end, I was reaching for “X” for some light relief.
The near 7 minute “Ash Tari moderne” is more random klings and klangs from his assembled electronic arsenal up to the 5 minute point whereupon a melody leaps out of the darkness, but then it's into the 17 minutes of “Moulin Bleu”, initially some electronic scene-setting before wandering into a choppy sea of what sounds like synths crossed with a Bontempi Organ and, with very little variation, this is what takes place for the rest of the track. Around 12 minutes, the piece starts to growl and comes as a welcome slice of edgy darkness, the traditional Schulze synth melodic squall lead line, snaking its way from the darkness and soaring upwards, bouncing along the underlying beats as the track squeals to its conclusion.
“Kreisreise” is more amorphous stuff disguised as atmosphere, while the near 9 minute “Ritus Duplex” positively rattles along at some pace, with its mass of interweaving high pitched synth leads, criss crossing each other as the track progresses. Three minutes of “Wiegenlied” provide a starkly atmospheric interlude before the album ends with the 15+ minutes of “Voyage Encore”, the sequenced rhythms mixing with the lead synths and this awful sounding lead that sounds like a synth pushed through one of those voice box effects.
Overall, I guess if you are of the persuasion that Schulze can do no wrong, then you'll enjoy this come what may. Personally, I had to put on “X” and “Picture Music” afterwards, just to make sure that my less than enthusiastic review of this album, was, indeed, fair.......

06/04/2025

Out May 9th - I contributed to the liner notes and it is a stunning tribute to a truly multi-talented musician........

19/03/2025

BRENDAN POLLARD – STRANDS Album
Brand new album that's choc full of sequencers and synths......but there's a lot more to it than you might think....
The first couple of tracks, each nearing 10 minutes in length, don't waste any time with cosmic meanderings – right from the start, the sequencer rhythms are set for the heart of the sun, and each track is a variation on the theme of getting the rhythms rolling, keeping them to the forefront then gradually adding, layering and shaping the electronic universe around the rhythmic heart of the track,fast-paced and at the top end of the scale, but completely hypnotic.
The, the near 7 minute “Primatronal” takes the pace down a notch, opening with dark electronic textures, the sounds of deep space, before, from the depths, a lone synth rhythm of a cyclical nature, starts to rise. Slowly overlaid with sequencers of varying speeds, it flows forward as the tope layer element somewhere between drone and orchestral, gives an added richness, as the rhythms take centre stage. What sounds a bit like a distant mellotron layer is added for more flavour as the bass element enters to counterbalance it.
Then things really start to heat up, as “Shift” appears, initially spending the first few minutes in dark cosmic mode, save for the vibrating bass synth that's pounding down below, only then for a lone sequencer line to appear but not dominate, a more mellotron textures and swooping space synths build the electronic horizon to wide-eyed and effortless degree, the track more bass heavy, rhythmic and with the sequencer element pushed to a more background role, perfect for the way the albums is starting to coalesce. But if that was great, “Corollary” is simply outstanding, as all the right buttons are pushed to provide a track that vintage T Dream themselves would have been proud to call their own – with all the components bang on, the way he layers and builds the sequencers, cosmic drifts, magical stretched out melodies and what sounds like mellotron or orchestral synth lead elements, is nothing short of brilliant.
But if that wasn't enough, the 12+ minutes of “Vessel Redux” really do create the sounds of the seventies, with everything that you'd expect from a synth track of that description, my only criticism is that I'd have loved to heave heard a stronger bass element, although the juxtaposition of the sequencers and choral top layers is nothing short of sublime. The album ends on 11 and a half minutes of “Flame”, almost taking us back to where the whole thing began, with upfront sequencers trailblazing the track as assorted space and melody layers are unfurled on top.
There can be no doubt that, as an album, this is a sequencer-fest of epic proportions, and what could have been repetitive and directionless, is anything but, as Mr P has produced an extremely hypnotic set of tracks.

13/03/2025

EXEDRA – Star Zoned CD-EP
Latest four tracker and this is 16 and a half minutes of truly majestic space synth music.
Opens with “Ice Worlds Wait For Red Giants” and immediately you are into the full-sounding cosmic realms of musicians such as Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny and Constance Demby, as the slowly moving electronic mist envelops you in a huge glorious soundscape. “Awakening Worlds” continues in this vein, only here adding an almost melodic layer to the electronic streams that unfold before you, giving it a lighter cosmic touch that stays more at the tope end of the electronic music scale, but once again, full-sounding and you wish, like all the tracks, that it could have gone on a lot longer.”Miracle Worlds” adds an almost orchestral feel to the synths and is up there with the best of what Demby used to come out with, while the final track, “After Worlds” takes us right down to earth with a beautiful slow piano cycle over which the cosmic drones and deep syynths have the lightest of touches, slowly adding more layers and textures as the track progresses.
This is superb stuff and there should have been a whole album, never mind just this incredibly tasty EP.

13/03/2025

CHRISTIAN WITTMAN – Cassiopeia Album
Brand new album from the French cosmic music pioneer, this time with 11 tracks between 5 and 7 minutes long, all of which are their own unique universes of sound. It starts with “Stellar Eternity” that hearkens back to what Tangerine Dream were doing on albums such as “Zeit” and the quieter passages of “Alpha Centauri”, possessing a remarkable analogue feel and takes you right back to the early seventies German synth explorers, a superb opener that sets the mood. “Tycho Brahe's Supernova” continues from there with a more top end brew of floating cloud music, this time less overtly “deep” at the bass end, with more of a shimmer to its higher register electronic excursions through the universe, slowly unfolding like some emerging galaxy in slow motion. “Schedar” is, if anything, slightly more minimalist, with a much more unnerving feel to its pastoral pleasures, as you stare into the blackness through slowly moving layers of synths. “Open Cluster” is initially more in your face with blasts of sound before settling back into a continuously shifting, eerie electronic realm that is now almost totally devoid of light and I wouldn't want to listen to this one in the dark. By contrast, “Northern Sky” adds extra layers courtesy of a strange sea of piano ripples set to what sounds like piano strings being struck and the whole track is veering close to avant-classical. “Radio Source” is string-like cosmic electronic that hearkens back to the Germanic, harsh and bleak yet strangely serene and addictive, while “Cosmic Dust” goes through a variety of textures and soundpools as it travels, more vibrant now, with almost percussive bursts of background, but still the sound of the universe unfolding in all its electronic glory.
With four further excellent and similar tracks to surprise and delight, this is one of his finest to date, possessing more of an exploratory nature, a cutting edge and a seriously early seventies electronic pioneering approach to the tracks, but still being cosmic electronic music of the highest order.

05/03/2025

IAN BODDY & HARALD GROSSKOPF – Doppelganger Album
I'd like to be that, 40 years ago, if you'd told either musician that, in 40 years time, they'd be doing an album together, each would have laughed heartily and hesitatingly said “well......you never know”....then dismissed the idea. Luckily, they didn't......dismiss the idea, that is.......
The 8 minute “Diodengesang” that opens the album, initially features a lone synth out here on the horizon, before the sound of drums moves ever closer, a kind of native drumming that rattles and resonates all around the spectrum, under which a synth undercurrent swirls, making you think breifly “I know that”, but then the lead synths spiral effectively up and down in rhythmic rollercoaster fashion, before the drumming decelerates to a march, the synth lead echoes and soars, a cosmic undertow adds depth, the drumming rattles a little more, the cosmic undercurrent moves up in the mix, then this swirling synth backdrop appears and you think “that's it!! Ash Ra for the 21st century!!” - and so it becomes......echoes of the “New Age Of Earth” album are present, but set under rolling drumming, spiralling synth leads and an overall sense of space bliss, all of which puts a smile on your face a mile wide as you play it again, just to make sure.
Up next is the 11 and a half minute “Boulevard Horizon” starting with stretched-out synth leads, faint whispers of sequencer-style rhythms, more expanding cosmic electronic shadows, as it all fades to reveal a slowly bouncing bass synth rhythm, and drumming that follows it like a dog follows its owner, the two striding purposefully through as the synth lead cuts calmly through the rhythmic heart of the piece and it all flows effortlessly, changing musical shape and colouration as it travels. Staying true to its form, it isn't until about two thirds the way through that more sequencer-esque rhythms gather pace and give the final part of the track more strength, the ever present drumming providing the strength and propulsion, while the synths play gleefully above it all, as entrancing as it is cohesive.
“Dubnium” is a slower track where layers of echoed electronics fill the horizon, a melodic synth lead weaves its spell and what sounds like electronic drumming, quietly gathers its strength way down in the mix, a track where all manner of rhythms make up the heart of the piece, as slow as dub, but not at all in that vein, more a kind of hypnotic cosmic river of rhythm, ending on a virtual rhythm-free space music finale.
“Signals From The Echo Chamber” is exactly what the title implies, but over its 9+ minutes, the starkness of the start, gradually invokes ever more layers of electronic and percussive textures that slowly fill the void, until, at around the 6 minute mark, sequencers drive forward, the synth textures continue to flow and dramatic drumming gives the track a real edge, the whole thing now traversing a solidly rhythmic musical bridge, ultimately topped by a wailing synth melody line and the whole musical spectrum is covered.
“Livewire”, right from the off, bounces around majestically with all manner of electronic and electro-percussive rhythms battling for space, a neat faintly cosmic layer underneath, butt hen it dramatically changes shape as high reg synths sparkle and drive in a more random fashion, the whole thing becoming quite unglued until the drumming begins, coalesces the whole and this freight train of synths and drumming really hammers home, a polyrhythmic slice of magic tat lifts off like a rocket then falls back to earth in whiffs of cosmic smoke.
The album ends with the title track, and a gentle stroll through the heavens as slowly rhythmic percussives underpin a truly magical sea of spacetronic splendour, with bursts of synth melodies shining out like solar flares, as the whole mass of slowly moving sonic delight, flows inexorably forward, revealing new textures and layers as it travels.
Overall, as a truly unique exercise in fusing melody, rhythm and space music in modern times, this is a glorious pinnacle of playing and producing from two of the best musicians in their star system – absolutely spellbinding.

01/12/2024

Now available.......
ALISA CORAL'S MONO CHROME – World In Grayscale Album
Featuring Alisa on Synths, bass, guitar, FX, samples and electronic percussion, with additional drumming courtesy of the mysterious I.D.F. , it features two tracks lasting 30 and 21 minutes respectively, plus a 4 minute track in between.
The 30 minute opener is the title track and if you could imagine a darker, ambient answer to Klaus Schulze's “Totem”, mixed with elements of Banco De Gaia's “Last Train To Lhasa”, you'd be in the right place, only this is altogether much further out into deep space, and so organic, it's amazing. With a sea of drum beats taking up the beating heart of the track, the layers and textures created are pure magic. Vast swathes of cosmic synths, almost space-rock like synth swoops, deep swirls of electronics and an even deeper bass, all combine to give this a positively galaxian feel and soundscape, in many ways, the perfect meeting of synth and chill-out. As the piece progresses, the rhythm takes on a train-like quality as you are taken on a journey with all manner of textures, spacetronics, implied but not stated melodic undercurrents, and all the time, there's always something going on in the mix – Lettmann-esque heavenly vocals for a a minute or two here, filmic samples for a minute or two there, but all the while the huge sounding infinity of space music is spreading across, over, behind and beyond, the rhythms that are propelling the piece to perfection. Just short of the 13 minute mark, hushed voices echo deep in the mix as the electronics whirl overhead, and the rhythms coalesce with electronic sequencer-like patterns joining the main core, and the track turns into this amazing mix of samples, bass synths, high-flying electronics as a musical solar wind blasts through the icy worlds being created. What sounds like guitar textures arrive around the 16 minute mark, as more echoed vocals make it sound like some eerie, altogether scarier, early seventies electronic soundscaping, only then to put you into the ambient arena as it all changes shape continuously, the story of the track as a whole. The final 10 minutes see the music burst through the black hole into the light with the menace replaced by warmth, the rhythms spreading out, the synths still dominating the cosmic landscape but with that sense of darkness never far away. Overall, it is mesmerising, hypnotic, so much going on you'll need several listens to take it all in and just one phenomenal track.
The 21 minute Sepia track is the white to Grayscale's black, and, with a much more textural rhythm of electronic and acoustic percussion, deep bass and throbbing electronics at the core, right from the start, the synthesizers create huge clouds of gorgeousness that sweep across the horizon in full space music flight, again, the BDG-esque train-like rhythms propelling it forward but so interwoven into the track that you take it all in, layers, textures, rhythms and all. Once again, nothing is repeated and nothing stands still as the mighty magical and majestic music rolls inexorably forward, the synths much more melodic in their approach, and this time, the Schulze element really shining through, only way more modern sounding than his early seventies rhythmic excursions. The full sound envelops the listener as you take it all in, whispered voices echoed briefly, samples appearing then gone, swirls of synths intertwining all around the exterior and, overall, as a multi-layered slice of synth-laden, incredibly rhythmically addictive electronic creativity goes, this is wondrous.
In between the two is a 4 and a half minute track, “Fading Into White”, built on a rhythm pattern that could almost be an outtake from Schulze's “Totem” sessions, as synths sparkle and play all around, guitar textures sound almost like sitars, and the melody lines become rhythms as it all climbs and spirals, the addition of Coral's “Cosmic Jokers-esque” whispered, echoed vocal, only serving to heighten the track further, so engaging that you wished it could have been longer.
As electronic music, that spans decades yet is totally timeless, this album is at the top of the tree.
https://spacemirrors.bandcamp.com/album/world-in-grayscale
CD available on Ebay UK and, worldwide shortly, Discogs

3 track album

20/10/2024

SPACE MIRRORS – Nexus Between Space And Art Album/CD
Predominantly from the hands and creative mind of Alisa Coral, along with a suitable helping of guest musicians including ex-Hawkwind Nik Turner on flute on one track, this is a full length CD that's as powerful as it is spiritual. The first 6 tracks are brand new mixes of the tracks that were on the “Interplanetary Oddities” download, so let's start with those.
The opening track veritably fires out of the traps as a huge rush of sound thunders out right at you, this tidal wave of guitars, riffs, rhythms, electronics and mellotron, all providing an energy that starts at a height and slowly spirals down before gathering pace once more and firing up even higher than before, a kind of space-rock adrenaline rush that takes you out of orbit and really scores. There's a whole lot going on in the heady, rolling mix that's as powerful as it is dramatic, even at times almost spiritual.
Then comes “Transmissions From Mars Part 1” where a squall of guitar riffs heralds the sound of space control as sampled voices from the Mars landing control room add to the almost amorphous soup of searing theremin, blood curdling undercurrents, slowly rolling drums and then suddenly the path clears, allowing a military arsenal of stomping riffing guitars, pounding bass, solid drums and electronic heat firing out at all angles as the track ferociously progresses to the 4 and a half minute point, where it decelerates and then gathers a new head of steam with infinite guitars, still the slow pounding rhythm and a whole new landscape of swooping electronics. The similarly 6 and a half minute “Part 2” continues where the first one left off, and this times twists and turns through a variety of meaty space-rock territories, the instrumental depth as full sounding as the swooshing synths are powerful, the bass solid and upfront, this time the voices that appear are alien and otherworldly, barely distinct from the instrumentation.
The 7 minute “Siddartha” is synths driven with a decided Middle Eastern vein running through its melodies, as a kind of Moroccan space-rock makes its presence felt, both original enchanting, powerful and mesmerising. The 5+ minutes of “Moon 44”, essentially a brand new track, herald the arrival of sequenced synth rhythms, cosmic electronics, swooping synth comets, a building fogbank of space music as a guitar feeds back, the tension rises, deep bass pounds below and the sequenced rhythms become the focal point of the track, a kind of Tangerine Dream in hyperspace, but with so much going on around the core heart of the track.
The album ends with the calm of the near 3 minute “21st Century Electronic #2”, which is just superb – if you like the idea of Nico doing interweaving space-rock, that is – with Alisa's vocal absolutely dramatic, the ebbing and flowing of the electronics giving a very rhythmic sway as the deep presence of drums and what sounds for all the world like Simon House's violin, makes the track sound like a cross between Hawkwind and Mother Gong.
Then onto 39 minutes of brand new music not previously available, starting with 9 and a half minutes of “Kepler-442b” where a slowly moving army of electronics, drums, bass and guitars, shudders along with a depth that is unreal as the assorted musical tectonic plates, shift and drive, while there's a beautiful flute solo from Turner in the middle of the piece, heralding the climb into space as the intensity subsides and electronic sunburts rise to the surface, all the while the excellent drumming providing the rhythmic anchor as the track decelerates but loses none of its strength, now more cosmic rock than before,a s the magical flute returns and the track drifts in spectacular fashio, towards its final resting place.
“T Coronae Borealis” starts with spacetronics and sequencers, the latter moving in cyclical fashion like some outer space ferris wheel, gradually taking on a much more bass heavy sound as the almost “Berlin-school” type track, weaves its synths-laden interstellar spell. “Cydonian Lullaby (alt piano edit)” is what you'd expect from the title, but as an instrumental, it's no sleeping matter – after a brief intro that makes you think you're in softer sounding territory, it bursts into life with a melody that's truly memorable, as the backdrop of piano, drums, bass and guitar, back this uplifting guitar lead which then subsides as the reins are taken over by piano and rarely has a piano melody sounded so fantastic in what is a slowly moving lava flow of space-rock undercurrents.
The 9 and a half minute “KOI-4742” is a wondrous cosmic synths-based track that has all the hallmarks of the early Teutonic pioneers of “Kosmische Musik”, while “Awake in 2004” start with a shimmering lead that sounds like an electric harmonium (but isn't) as synths are added in the background, the track starts to build and an electronics-based city emerges from the desert, guitar riffs forming a strong foundation on which the slowly intensifying track, builds and rises upwards, gradually turning form space to space-rock before your very eyes. The album ends with 3 and a half minutes of cosmic synths-based gorgeousness in the form of “Crab Nebula”, as mellotron and synths become one, the whole things rises to a climax and ends the album in a truly awesome way.
So, there you have it – 72 minutes of instrumental magic and the CD is limited, so grab this while you can, 'coz there won't be any more once it's gone.

13/08/2024

TRIGON – Cosmic Kraut Jam album
44m
Digital Download
https://trigon.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-kraut-jam-releases-september-2nd
First album by the German trio since 2018 and to call this a comeback of epic proportions is a bit like saying Notre Dame is a bit of a decent building.
This thing smokes.......smoulders.......burns.....flares......fires up.....and is the best of its kind in years.
The opening track from the guitar-bass-drums trio of Rainer And Stefan Lange and Rudi Metzler, not necessarily in that order, is the 23 minute “Achtung Traumspoiler” where, put quite simply, if you're a fan of the early Ash Ra Tempel Guitar excursions and the first three Guru Guru albums, then you are in for a treat and a half. Wasting no time in opening, introducing or building, immediately Rainer Lange's fluid electric guitar work, spirals into action and across the 23 minutes of the track, simply solos effortlessly, the jam taking on a life of its own as it never repeats, always moves, and, just like the classic Krautrock guitar tracks of yore, holds your attention in such a way that 23 minutes seem to go in the blink of an eye. The mood is one of restrained power, unafraid to take it back to almost cosmic proportions, while the axework shines without ever thundering. Stefan Lange on bass underpins it all superbly, always present, never overstated, and the perfect backbone for Metzler's drums to have a life of their own, at times shuffling along exceptionally well giving the feel of the vintage drummers of the past such as Liebezeit and Neumeier. It's one of those tracks, you just can't stop playing and it's the sheer joy of finding something that's the equivalent of unearthing a Roman mosaic, that will keep you hooked to this gem of a track for years to come.
Elsewhere, there's the 8 minute “Guten Morgen Aurora” which starts with stumbling drums from Metzler before hitting this chunky groove as the guitar work becomes more McLaughlin than Gottsching, but then presses the “Krautrock” button as the engine slowly leaves the station and gathers steam, before the trio fire up, yet maintain a medium pace as though wanting you to be able to survey the results rather than whizz past them at breakneck speed, resulting in a track that hints at melody without ever carrying a tune, spirals without disappearing and the trio create a slice of chunky jamming that hits the heights. The 3 minute “Hinterm “Ereignishorizont”, sort of continues where the previous one left off, only here in a much more molten wah-wah guitar soundpool as the drums hammer and the bass really pounds away underneath.
The album finishes with the 10 minute “Setzt Das Sonnensegel”, led by the undulating drumming, a river of perfect flowing bass, and that electric guitar positively singing, as the chords and notes fill the horizon with the might of the sun on a perfect summer's day, this time really taking off and filling your heart and head with sonic delight as another guitar-led jam unfolds to effortless success.
Overall, this thing is absolutely flawless, and, as essential purchases go, its value can't be overstated.

4 track album