Search - Ash Ra Tempel :: Schwingungen / Seven-Up

All flowers must diiiiiieeeeeeee

Sean M. Kelly | Portland, Oregon United States | 09/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Formed by guitarist Manuel Gottsching, bassist Hartmut Enke, and former Tangerine Dream drummer/keyboardist Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel were, along with the underrated Guru Guru,the quintessential German power trio. Their debut lp was an instrumental tour de force, and a must have in any psychedelic collection.By the time their 2nd lp, "Schwinungen," was released, change was occurring in the band. Schulze left temporarly to record his groundbreaking debut lp, "Irrlicht," a staple of synth music, as was his follow-up lp, the amazing "Cyborg." Vocalist John L, recently sacked from Agitation Free, another important German band, joined the ranks of Ash Ra. "Schwinungen" is an amazing lp, a mix between "Saucerful of Secrets" era Floyd and "Funhouse" era Stooges. The playing is intense, pyschedelic, laid back, beautiful- all at once. John L's vocals are frenzied at moments, incredibly soothing at others. The lp flows from rock to amazingly slow burning acid freak outs... the descriptions are rather contradictory, but then again, so is the lp..a treasure.Schulze rejoined the band soon after, and John L would be sacked by Gottsching for being too drugged up and way too weird. Taking into consideration the state of the German acid rock scene at this time, one can only imagine just how out there John L. was.At this time, acid guru Timothy Leary, in exile from the US, was in Germany and Switzerland, and was making music. The drugs were all the reason Ash Ra Tempel and many Kosmische ("comsic", a term used for many bands of the day) bands needed to go to the feet of the master head himself..The results of jam after acid soaked jam were several lps- Walter Wegmueller's "Tarot"(complete with Tarot cards), Sergius Golowin's "Lord Krishna von Gologa," several lps (5 in all)by the jam band that became known as the Cosmic Jokers, as well as others by Wallenstein, and "Seven-Up," the sometimes over the top jams by Ash Ra Tempel and Leary.To say the least, the results are bizarre, loose jams, with Leary adding his own brand of lyrics to the music..easily dismissable and laughable, the jams are a wonderful look into the time and place it all happened..invaluable.The 2 lps are not as strong as Tempel's amazing debut, but nevertheless classic gems of German psychedelic music at its most out there."

Two incredible underrated Krautrock gems on one disc!

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 02/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What can I say here? Well, I think both Schwingungen and Seven Up are rather underrated, compared with Ash Ra Tempel's wonderful 1971 debut. I think the reason for that is these two features vocals, which might throw many off, but I think both are simply incredible. By this point, of course, Klaus Schulze left, to pursue his solo career. Guitarist Manuel Göttsching and bassist Hartmut Enke recruited a new drummer named Wolfgang Müller, as well as vocalist John L., and a saxist, giving Schwingungen a somewhat more jazzy bent. John L's vocals are definately an acquired taste and if you don't have a problem with Can's Malcolm Mooney, you won't have a problem with John L's, as his vocals reminds me of Mooney's. He does tend to scream out of tune a lot, so if you want nice vocals, you won't find it here. The somewhat jazzy influence can be found on "Flower Must Die", because of Müller's jazzy drumming and the sax. The album then ends with "Suche & Liebe", which is this album's "Traummaschine", more or less. The first half consists mainly of vibraphone and spooky organ, while the second half is more or less like Pink Floyd, with great spacy guitar from Manuel Göttsching himself. For their following album, Seven Up, the band found themselves a new drummer, and former Tangerine Dream guy Steve Schroyder (who played on TD's Alpha Centauri and guested on Zeit) and five different vocalists. None other than Timothy Leary makes an appearance here! He was in exile in neighboring Switzerland, but since the band couldn't get Leary in to Germany, the band recorded this album in Switzerland. As you might guess, this is one truly radical album! The first half of the album contains several blues songs ("Downtown", "Right Hand Lover", and "Velvet Genes") and a killer jam ("Power Drive") and in between all that is a wall of relentless electronic effects and noise. If you can imagine an unholy alliance of the blues and the more twisted moments of Can's Tago Mago (like "Aumgn") then you're not too far off. The second half of the album simply consists of a three movement suite called "Time" which is more conventional Ash Ra Tempel, that is not playing blues songs, and venturing more in to early Klaus Schulze/Tangerine Dream territory. This is another incredible gem of space rock, and part of this is a re-recording of "Suche & Liebe". To me, I think these two album are not to be overlooked, regardless of what might be said of these albums, I think they're incredible. If you don't mind the band venturing in to the blues sometimes, and you don't mind the vocals, you're sure to enjoy this."

Oh, the first 24-bit Digitally Remastered double CD by ART.

BENJAMIN MILER | 07/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Two Ash Ra Tempel CDs return with all new 24-bit Digitally Remastered versions on one double CD, enhancing the beauty of these timeless recordings."