Krautrock #10: Annexus Quam - Osmose

This is the stuff. From its insane cover (the flaps fold up to form a pyramid) to its seriously hairy mix of hippy mysticism and twisted jazz-rock meditation music, its probably the most deserving secret gem in the whole list. If you can bear the references, this is Ash Ra Tempel plays the Third Ear Band. Gloriously trippy, and well worth a listen.

1. Osmose I
2. Osmose II
3. Osmose III

Download here (mp3s, 24.6 mb)

More on Annexus Quam can be found in the online version of the Freeman Bros essential Crack in the Cosmic Egg.

Krautrock #9: Amon Duul II - Tanz der Lemminge

This one, unlike its two solid gold predecessors, excites a lot of debate. Two sidelong collages of songs and fragments, a drone experiment and three briefer meanders around old themes. Lord Cope attests it was a disaster and hops straight on to its folkier succesor, Carnival in Babylon. Others, including those wacky Freeman Bros, linger longer over its melange of tunes and noises, and the entrancing (but not very representative) sidelong ritual drone of "The Marilyn Monroe Memorial Church". I'm in two minds. After this they pulled together to apply some rigour for Wolf City and the rocking Live in London but progressively got more song-based, and most of the frenzy went, which wouldn't be the first time a wild band ended up making ordinary songs, but still... See what you think.

1. SYNTELMAN'S MARCH OF THE ROARING SEVENTIES
(In the Glassgarden/Pull Down Your Mask/Prayer to the Silence/Telephonecomplex)

Download here (mp3, 15 mb)

More general reading on ADII can be found in the online version of the Freeman Bros essential Crack in the Cosmic Egg.

Krautrock #8: Amon Duul II - Yeti

I am confident that even if you've never heard this record, you'll be familiar with its fabulous cover image of brutish roadie/bongo player Shrat as Death personified, swinging his scythe. But even that cover does not prepare you for the raging psych rock that prowls within. Yes, it tails off into a trio of meandering improvisations, but straight out the cage it's a beast. First track here is like the title track of Phallus Dei fading back in, only ten times as pissed off. And its little friend, well, from its crunchy riff to its emminenly sampleable drum break (aka "the Kraut break", crate diggers apparently call it) it's a cracker. The vocals, ah... I find they are like a pungent cheese - your tastebuds rebel the first few times, but you can't get the thought of them out of your head and eventually they start calling to you. This is definitely in the top five of the all-time favourite Kraut records.

1. Soap Shop Rock
3. Archangel's Thunderbird

Download here (mp3s, 16 mb)

Our chums at Progweed have more reading on this monster.

Krautrock #7: Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei

A messy delight from 1969, this record is the Kraut record, for me, not least because it was the first I ever bought, from a cheapie pile back at the height of punk when I was already looking for something further out there. All my punk mates hated it, could barely comprehend its demented but bracing stew of riffing and shrieking. For me, things were never the same again, and hard on its heels came Faust and the Residents. Even now the mangled Deutsche vocals, both male and female, take some getting used to -- and on that note do brace yoruselves for Renate Knaup's racket "Archangel's Thunderbird" on the next one -- but I love the fact that these guys take all their ramshackle elements, fling them together and somehow rock.

1. Kanaan
3. Luzifer's Ghilom

Download here (mp3s, 11.7 mb)

Progweed has more details of an album where "Guitar and organ freakouts become coated with choir like backing vocals courtesy of Renate Knaup, before resuming their unrelenting fury. This album simply rules."

Krautrock No. 90: Tomorrow's Gift - Tomorrow's Gift

Well, I hate to break up the flow, but I also hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, and some kindly stranger who prefers to remain anonymous has uploaded (complete) one of the missing dozen for your listening pleasure:

Tomorrow's Gift - Tomorrow's Gift

It's a .rar file which means you'll need WinRAR or UnRarX or similar to uncompress it. I imagine Dave Howarth can explain it all if you need assistance. And the uncompressed files are .wma which is not so hot for iTunes users, so if anyone comes across an mp3 version, let me know. In the meantime, there's always Quicktime.

Krautrock #6: Amon Duul - Collapsing (Singvogel Ruckwarts & Co.)

So here's the second chunk of prime 1969 Deutsche freakery. Strangely, I prefer this one's more straightforward psych guitar hacking and bongo trippery, but even here it's plain these have been swept up from the floor of the session, and there were still three more records of detritus to follow.

1. Booster

4. Singvögel Ruckwärts

Download here (mp3s, 6.2 mb)

Apologies, meanwhile, for the crackly vinyl, but I guess this one is kinda old.

Krautrock #5: Amon Duul - Psychedelic Underground

Should really post this with the next in line, as pretty much everything the original Amon Düül released was recorded in one long monster jam session in early 1969, around the time the more musical members of the family sodded off to become the Hawkwind-from-Hell #2 AD version who soon made Phallus Dei and many more fab freakouts. But anyways, these are selections from Psychedelic Underground. The album's most notable for the sidelong opening jam, which is mostly what you get when seventy or so unwashaed layabouts bang pots and pans in yr garden. But later they do add a tad more rigour -- or at least whoever mashed up the tapes in the studio later does so. Julian Cope said in his Unsung review of the record that it sounded like the cast of Gilligan's Island freaking on the Velvet Underground and I sort of see what he meant.


2. Kaskados Minnelied

6. Bitterlings Verwandlung


Download here (mp3s, 7.3 mb)

Krautrock #4: Alcatraz - Vampire State Building

Fresh from the postal system just yesterday after I'd re-established contact with the famous Brothers Freeman
Two tracks here. Secondly the title track, 'cause I'm that obvious (and it's the longest track) but firstly Simple Headphone Mind because as we all know it's been used by NWW.

http://rapidshare.com/files/16744265/01_Simple_Headphone_Mind.mp3.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/16747783/04_Vampire_State_Building.mp3.html

Let's keep this rolling, unless it's just four obsessives eh?
djh

Krautrock Three - Agitation Free - Last

So a test post after some strife alleviated by E & M Here's my first upload.
Looping IV was originally the b-side of AG's er, last album and was recommended to me personally in the slightly sweaty flesh by the Brothers Freeman (whom I must visit sometime soon, lovely people really).
It starts pretty tripped out and full of echo...

http://rapidshare.com/files/15869045/03_Looping_IV.wma.html

For those who knoweth not the delights of Windows Media Audio lossless, here a link to a 320 mp3 rip

http://rapidshare.com/files/15965069/03_Looping_IV.mp3.html

Here's what Marco's friends @ Prog Archives say:
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It only features 3 pieces, but what pieces!The first one, “Soundpool”, features a long psychedelico-cosmic introduction followed by the beautiful lyrical guitar solo from Malesh’s last piece “Rücksturz”.The second piece is a major piece from the “2nd” album, “Laïla II”. The introduction is simply mind blowing; it brings the listener straight into another galaxy…The “cosmic” adjective takes its full dimension here. Then the piece evolves with stunning space rock developments lead by fantastic guitar. An absolute masterpiece! The third piece, the long one -unreleased-, is a cyclical repetitive suite; the same theme is repeated with variations and progression, in a way somehow reminiscent of TD mid period’s albums such as “Phaedra”, but in a more captivating way. It evokes a shamanic psychedelic trance.Sound is quite hazy but curiously, it fits well the music. It doesn’t sound like a live album as public’s presence is never heard. This album is a major german prog album and a gem of space psychedelico-cosmic genre.
----
I was all set to say that the TD comparison is bollocks before I realised I was listening to the more boogie/psych riffing tracks on side A. This one is a moody cosmic chill-out classic. How they got away with this live I don't know. It's all de-tuned, mellow and about 100,000 years through the Magellan's Cloud.
[crap photo here:http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_060110.html ]
This is a fair review from the same site:

AGITATION FREE — LastReview by Cesar Inca (César Inca Mendoza Loyola) SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Prog Specialist
This is my fave Agitation Free album from their first era. Actually, this is a selection of recordings that the band had already planned for release, but the release only took place many months after the band’s demise, due to some French label’s initiative. This circumstance helped the album to become a cult classic of krautrock. Anyway, IMHO, the three tracks in “Last” comprise the most proficient performances accomplished by the five musicians; they also contain the most confident labour of texture and jamming ever conceived by the band during this first era. While being more stylish and refined than “Second” and much more cohesive than their debut recording “Malesch”, “Last” continues to capture the band’s unique energy perfectly. The band’s inherent sonic power of the band is still there, irradiating its peculiar light across their increasingly polished sonic landscapes. Jörg Schwenke is back in the band, while drummer/percussionist Burghard Rausch was gradually leaving AF: in one of the tracks he is replaced by Dietmar Burmeister. It seems that the band’s internal turmoil didn’t affect the level of consistency of their new material. Once again, the Ash Ra Tempel influence is quite noticeable (more evident, in fact), specially when it comes to the fluid transition from the cosmic layers to the more jam-oriented sections. Track 1 starts with a very laid-back hypnotic sonic landscape that feels distant, as if drifting through space (it kind of reminds me of early Pink Floyd); eventually, a not too long jam reprising a slight variation of the main motif of ‘Rucksturz’ (“Malesch” closing number) fills the room and gives the track a more definite shape. Then comes the very long ‘Laila II’, which retakes one of the basic subdued themes of “Laila” and explores it further, even taking it to different places as the jam goes onward. Some of the best guitar interplaying ever in AF’s history is comprised in both this track and the next one, the long-side “Looping”: the way that the latter incorporates dreamy passages and rocking moments in a fluid intercalation comes as no surprise to those already familiar with the band’s capability to create their unique ethereal walls of sound, bathed in majesty. My overall rating for this album is the maximum one in Prog Archives terms – this is, after all, a unique masterpiece of krautrock.
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If, I say If my head was full of spliff I might never come down after this...
Cosmic Peace y'all.
djh

Kraut #2: Agitation Free "2nd"

And a couple from their, surprisingly titled second disc:


1. First Communication

7. Haunted Island


Download here (mp3s, 21.5 mb)


"Second is another classic album from Agitation Free, one of the leading lights of the Krautrock movement in Germany. As opposed to Malesch, Second shows some slight change in direction for the band. It becomes readily apparent on the first track that the band's sound is slightly jazzier and the melodies are a little tighter and stonger. The guitar duels between Ulbrich and Diez are utterly gorgeous, and the melodies absolutely shimmer throughout the album. The only misstep is probably Hoenig's "Dialogue & Random", an experimental piece that is just random electronic blips for a couple minutes.


The two-part "Laila" piece is definitely a highlight, featuring a jazzy, almost funky bass groove from Michel Gunter to underpin the exquisite guitar explorations. "In the Silence of the Morning" uses another addictive bass motif to accentuate its hypnotic structure. "Haunted Island" is initially a little cheesy, being that it features some spoken work poetry (with heavy voice alteration), but eventually develops into another excellent track, with their trademark subtle guitar solos and gorgeous keyboard textures. Overall I'd say this album loses some of the mystical feel that Malesch had, due to the abscence of the Arabic percussive textures and melodies, although motifs of that kind do crop up at points. On the whole it seems to take a slightly more conventional path, and the incorporation of jazzy and near-Canterbury like passages is definitely effective.." From Progweed.net


More info on their official page.

Krautrock #1: Agitation Free "Malesh"

The two opening tracks from their 1972 debut to get us started:


1. You Play For Us Today

2. Sahara City


Download here (mp3s, 19.6 mb)


"Agitation Free's debut album is one of the absolute classic albums to come out of Germany in the 1970s. Agitation Free approached the groundbreaking experimental tendencies of the German scene from a different persepective than most of the other groups. Firstly, the delicate touch of melody was certainly not lost on the band, and they often bypass the strictly standoff-ish approach of many of the other German bands, infusing their albums with a gorgeous melodic drive. Malesch takes a slightly unique approach then the more jazzy follow-up, Second would, though both albums are in the same basic vein. The album extensively incorporates ethnic and world music influences, due to the fact that much of the album was apparently composed on a trip to Egypt around the same time. Much of the album features sound samples and recordings from the trip, which are used to divide the tracks.


Most of the Arabic and ethnic influence is percussive, as exotic rhythms underpin Agitation Free's melodic and powerful guitar interplay. "You Play for Us Today" and "Sahara City" both build into exciting, driving guitar led crescendos. "Ala Tul" features an extraordinary Michael Hoening keyboard motif that glides over the intense and magical percussive backdrop. "Pulse" tends to get bogged down a little in avant soundscapes, but does provide some breathing room and eventually morphs into a heavily hypnotic piece. "Khan E Khalili" and "Malesch" both build on the already established style of the album, and are full of powerful guitar interplay and a completely magical atmosphere. The soaring closer "Ruckstruz" is totally majestic, a powerful melody that closes out this classic album in fitting form. My overall opinion is obviously that this is one of the very finest German albums bar none. Agitation Free manages to be extremely melodic, yet retains that experimental focus and pushes their music waaaaaaayy out there. The incorporation of Arabic influences beneath the incredible guitar dueling makes this a unique entry in the Krautrock scene. I doubt that those already not predisposed towards the Krautrock/space-rock movement will find themselves converted by this album, but newbies would do well to start here." From Progweed.net


More info on their official page

Krautrock 101

well, 100 anyway...I rather like Marc's suggestion of working our way through the Freeman brothers' list, banging up a track or two from each. Perhaps folks could add a few comments regarding the ones they're familiar with, and at some point I'll compile it all into a giant Frank's Apa guide to kraut and run it as a zine/pull-out-and-throw-away supplement. Anyway, here's that list in full, courtesy of Mr. Scott Watkins of the parish (shockingly Marc Gascoigne has all of these bar the bolded entries - can anyone step up to fill the remaining gaps?):

1. Agitation Free - Malesch
2. Agitation Free - 2nd
3. Agitation Free - Last
4. Alcatraz - Vampire State Building
5. Amon Duul - Psychedelic Underground
6. Amon Duul - Collapsing: Singvogel Ruckwarts & Co
7. Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei
8. Amon Duul II - Yeti
9. Amon Duul II - Dance Of The Lemmings
10. Annexus Quam - Osmose
11. Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel
12. Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen
13. Ash Ra Tempel - Join Inn
14. Between - And The Waters Opened
15. Brave New World - Impressions On Reading Aldous Huxley
16. Can - Tago Mago
17. Can - Future Days
18. Can - Unlimited Edition
19. Cluster - Cluster [aka Cluster 71]
20. Cluster - Cluster II
21. Code III - Planet Of Man
22. Cosmic Jokers - Cosmic Jokers
23. Cosmic Jokers - Planeten Sit-In
24. Cornucopia - Full Horn
25. Dennis - Hyperthalamus
26. Deuter - D
27. Dom - Edge Of Time
28. Dzyan - Electric Silence
29. Eiliff - Eiliff
30. Eiliff - Girlrls!
31. Embryo - Embro's Rache
32. Embryo - Steig Aus
33. Emtidi - Saat
34. Et Cetera - Et Cetera
35. Eulenspygel - Ausschuss
36. Faust - Faust
37. Faust - So Far
38. Faust - The Faust Tapes
39. Floh De Cologne - Geyer-Symphonie
40. Frumpy - Frumpy 2
41. Galactic Supermarket - Galactic Supermarket
42. Gila - Gila "Free Electric Sound"
43. Sergius Golowin - Lord Krishna Von Goloka
44. Gomorrha - I Turned To See Whose Voice It Was
45. Grobschnitt - Grobschnitt
46. Guru Guru - UFO
47. Guru Guru - Hinten
48. Guru Guru - Kanguru
49. Ibliss - Supernova
50. Kluster - Klopfzeichen
51. Kluster - Zwei Osterei
52. Kollektiv - Kollektiv
53. Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk
54. Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk 2
55. Message - From Books & Dreams
56. Mythos - Mythos
57. Mythos - Dreamlab
58. Neu! - Neu!
59. Nine Days Wonder - Nine Days Wonder
60. Nosferatu - Nosferatu
61. Organisation - Tone Float
62. Out Of Focus - Out Of Focus
63. Out Of Focus - Four Letter Monday Afternoon
64. Popol Vuh - Affenstunde
65. Popol Vuh - In Den Garten Pharaos
66. Popol Vuh - Aguirre
67. Popol Vuh - Letzte Tage - Letzte Nacht
68. Achim Reichel & Machines - Die Grune Reise
69. Achim Reichel & Machines - Echo
70. Achim Reichel & Machines - AR. 3
71. Achim Reichel & Machines - AR. IV
72. Achim Reichel - Erholung
73. Release Music Orchestra - Life
74. Rufus Zuphall - Weiss Der Teufel
75. Sand - Golem
76. Gunter Schickert - Samtvogel
77. Conrad Schnitzler - Rot
78. Conrad Schnitzler - Blau
79. Klaus Schulze - Irrlicht
80. Klaus Schulze - Cyborg
81. Klaus Schulze - Timewind
82. Klaus Schulze - Mirage
83. Tangerine Dream - Electronic Meditation
84. Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri
85. Tangerine Dream - Zeit
86. Tangerine Dream - Atem
87. Technical Space Composers Crew [aka Holger Czukay] - Canaxis V
88. Thirsty Moon - Thirsty Moon
89. Thirsty Moon - You'll Never Come Back
90. Tomorrow's Gift - Tomorrow's Gift
91. Tomorrow's Gift - Goodbye Future (have .wma, .mp3s welcome)
92. Virus - Revelation
93. Vita Nova - Vita Nova
94. Wallenstein - Blitzkreig
95. Walter Wegmuller - Tarot
96. Wired - Wired "Free Improvisation"
97. Witthuser + Westrupp - Trips + Traume
98. Xhol Caravan - Electrip
99. Xhol Caravan - Motherfuckers GmbH & Co KG
100. Yatha Sidhra - A Meditation Mass
101. Brainticket - Cottonwoodhill

So, who's going to kick us off with some Agitation Free?