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(Please note that this page is in progress and is far from finished!)
A few artists and some thoughts on their music:
Amon Duul 2
Guru Guru
Frank Zappa
Tangerine Dream
Klaus Schulze
Vangelis Pappathanassiou
Ash Ra Tempel and Manuel Gottsching
Gong and their families
King Crimson and Robert Fripp
Djam Karet
Incredible String Band
Ange
Magma
Banco
Carmen
Egberto Gismonti, Terje Rypdal, Jan Garbarek and ECM
Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny
Of all the bands I have ever heard, none of them stand out as well as this one.
There are so many reasons that it is difficult to decide which one is more important. Needless to say, the most fascinating of all the reasons is that of all their catalogue there is very little that sounds similar to the previous album, with the exception of the concept of the original release of "Wolf City" (which had the order of the songs reversed from the LP's Side 1 and 2 when it came out on CD!), and their next album "Vive La Trance", where upon, right after one of the best anthems ever written about the good old days of drugs and hippiedom, they changed gears.
The group, originated from a commune that also had actors with them and more than likely film makers, and of course, musicians. And it appears that it was common place for everyone to get together and start up the drums (so to speak) and do something which was akin to experiencing things, even if one was on drugs, which is possible. These ended up in various forms as "Amon Duul" (the first version?) and not a whole lot is said about it, and I have this feeling that there are some reasons that Amon Duul 2 makes a bit obvious via their work in the next few albums.
The first one was "Phallus Dei" and I tend to thing that the long cut that made this band known in Europe is pretty much about the commune and the "party" atmosphere, as the song breaks out into a rock party. It is an interesting listen, but not as important musically as the upcoming albums in their catalogue. I tend to think that this is very much a comment that the whole commune thing was almost exclusively about sex and nothing else. There may have been political and social this and that, but it might have been minor and not that important. One thing is clear, and some of it shows up in another band's work, which is also important. Guru Guru.
Their next album is called "Yeti". The cover is an interesting design itself. A man with a scythe is harvesting something. It appears to be "energy". And I always thought that it was very symbolic of their work all around. The immediate question is, where is it coming from. The celestial atmosphere of the cover suggests somewhere else with a spiritual side to it, and this may have been a call back to the previous album. The internal cover, a foldout on the LP, suggests an underwater experience with visuals that seem to come and go. This shows up later, and is also the mixed media work of the man who played the keyboards for them.
The title cut of the album, is massive. If there is such a thing to describe a guitar as "raw" and "unbridled", this is it. I can only think of two other examples that even come close to it. They are the guitarist James Gurley (I think, sorry!) on the Cheap Thrills album during "Ball and Chain" and then Djam Karet in a couple of their pieces.
When I close my eyes, the whole piece comes off like this ... a spaceship landing and aliens coming out and trying to move around, and eventually dissipate into the midst of every thing else. I'm sure that others will interpret this totally different, but if there is a piece of music that would fit the film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", this is it, although I am not sure that many would be able to handle it. The music is totally different and spaces out immensely and takes you away very quickly, if you are one of those folks that simply loves to fly with music.
Their next album, is different, and their first "change". Taking from their instrumental and experimental nature they put together a double LP called "Dance of the Lemmings". And much of the album flows together and at least one side of that LP suggests that these were improvisations. And if so ... wow ... is all one can say. The question often arises, where is the "improvisation" and the "song" and what starts where and ends where? At least one whole side "The Marilyn Monroe Memorial Church" is a very quiet piece that stands out a lot, and it probably is/was the last of the big improvisations that this band did. The other 3 sides of the LP flowed together although each side has its own title with sub-sections. Of special note to me, is the section that was on Side 2 (Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child) and its pieces. And a moment that is very funny and crazy and the same time, and you have to hear it to appreciate it ... the opening of that door and the resulting sounds say it all. To many this is very weird. To some, it is music to the ears and then some, but I think that it was a commentary on how people saw them, since what they were doing was not "commercial music" per se, but some very vivid explorations. One can sit here and try to figure out what the lyrics meant, and they are of the psychedelic variety and it is very difficult to say and think that they mean something since the next moment it appears to go the other way. It keeps you totally off balance, but somehow, when you get done listening, you will probably end up saying to yourself something like "Wow, that is different" and on the 2nd and 3rd listen, you fall in love with it. It's that good, and there are no "conventions" in music to describe here, I don't think. It's strictly an experiential thing.
A year later, the album "Carnival in Babylon" comes out. I don't know how to review this album compared to the previous ones. It is different and even though there is one longer cut, there seems to be a concentrated effort, or demand, to make their material more accessible, and understood, and I think that meant that some of the material had to be more to a "song format", rather than their previous meandering material, almost none of which any one of us that has heard this band thoroughly can say that it is not good and could be cut down. I love to say, make it longer!
One of the best rock albums ever designed and played is their next album. It is called "Wolf City". From it's magnificent cover, energy from the ancients I like to say and describe it, the album starts out simply enough, turns into an instrumental that has a beautiful electronic mix with eastern music, and then fires away with a song that is very satirical of Adolf Hitler (Deutsche Nepal). As one turns the album one of their better known songs starts and is called "Surrounded by the Stars" and the most astounding thing to my ears is the ending of the song and the segue into the next one, which pretty much showed this bands roots, how to blend music from an improvisational idea and go to the next movement, or piece seamlessly. When you hear the sound effect of the saw and the soft bass carrying it into the next moment, one can only think that this is a dream that doesn't stop. And the album doesn't.
Vive La Trance is their next album, and it starts out similarly to "Wolf City", but it's highlights are 2 specific songs. The one that closes the side one of the LP is called "Mozambique" and it is a vicious attack on the slavery thing and the white man's part in it, and then opening the side 2 is "Apocalyptic Bore". And here is Amon Duul 2 at its very best, in what I think is one of the most important anthems about music and the "hippie" days, and the end of the "commune" idealism. They do not set out to say that it was wrong, but instead, say, in the last lyric in the song "it's ok" ... and it was very clear that they looked at the whole thing from a very ethereal and clear point of view. The song ends with a massive blast out of a duet between violin and guitar, something that I'm not sure has been duplicated as well or with such care ever, or since. And right after this song I was expecting something else, and instead, they break out into a series of songs that show their humor and abilities. But one thing was clear. The band that had started out experimenting and flying all over the place had changed and they were probably not going to do that again. And they didn't.
They became a very eccentric band with some very far out material. Some that stood out and some that didn't. Most of the AD2 fans that I know always talk a lot about their early material and not enough is said about their later material. Maybe the changes and come and go attitude that apparently was still incorporated into the group finally stopped, but with it went something else. The astounding sonic attacks in favor of music that, in some ways was still eccentric, but was somewhat more accessible to the public ear.
In between this and their next album there might have been some issues, and there was an album called "Utopia" that has some very nice things. It also featured some jazz musicians amidst their various friends, and it was very nice. In it featured a song that is/was one of their themes. "What You Gonna Do" is a song about some dead rock stars and I think it is stating, what now, that your heroes are gone. I never felt that the song was a downer, and really thought that it was a nice anthem and thank you for the inspiration that they had been all this time. But I still look at that song as a bit of a warning about drugs, and there will be more about this.
"Hijack" is their next album and it is an astonishing and eccentric mix that has a cartoon cover. And it ends with a funny song that immediately recalls a bit from one of the Firesign Theater albums. The very first song in it is daring. "I can't wait" is as far as I can tell an anti drug song, and it lays it on the line. The follow up to "What You gonna do" is here in "Explode Like a Star" which as the previous song is about the same thing, burning oneself out. And then one of the funny things happens. "Da Guadeloop" is a funny bit that has Renate marching off as if she were a big time feminist and the guitar plays a lick giving them the finger. It is, a hilarious statement despite it being such a somber thing to think about, but I think that it is more about the militancy of it all than it is against the feminism movement, specially since they came from the commune groups where sex was open, and women appeared to be the desired toys! The angry attitude is fine, but not necessary? Is all I ever thought this meant. The album closes with the song "Archy The Robot" and he has put the devil on TV! I'm not sure that this group had the opportunity to hear the Firesign Theater's version of this or not, but it may just be a compliment in the end to both Archy the hero that went on to star in some films, for making some drinking potions to ... and a whole lot of other things.
Of interest in the middle of this is a "Live in London" album where they play their material from "Yeti" and "Dance of the Lemmings", and it is a fabulous concert all around, with the musicians all standing out and probably playing better than the original, if that is not something that should or could be said.
After this came "Made in Germany" which was cut down into a single album for America from the double LP in Germany, and it had its moments although I can safely say that I missed the glorious improvisations. The group had some further fragmentation and there are a couple of other albums and "Vortex" is to my ear the one that stands out.
More than 10 years later, an album called "Nada Moonshine #" came out. At the time I thought it was fine. It was a going back to the "Hijack" days and then some, and it did have a couple of songs that were important, and hearing the word "divine slime" said, pretty much stated what they thought of some of the New Age stuff that was going on around them at the time. The album has some super nice stuff, but again, I miss the extended material.
When it comes to "different" and "exploratory" and "original" there are very few folks that can come close to this band. Be it the mix of a lot of other musics, including Eastern influences and instruments, or simply the talent and the harnessing of those energies into something glorious, I doubt that anyone could have done so much and not repeat themselves silly, or sound the same. Simply one of the great rock bands of all time, one can not even hear musical influences in here since they are so subtle and so well mixed together to the point that it is hard to not think ... this is good, and very different.
Headed by a drummer, Mani Neumeier, this is one of those groups that deserves a mention for various reasons. The first, is, free form and experimentation. The second is that while the lyrics in their music is slight, and sometimes not much, in the end, it is ALL about the music. And how to express it. I have always thought this is what Jimi Hendrix would have liked to try and do, if everyone around him allowed him to get out of the "blues" and music that appeared to not allow him to do what he really wanted, which was to experiment and see what the instrument can do.
It has been said that there are two kinds of music. The one where the instrument dictates the structure, and then the one where the moment dictates what to do, and it has less to do with the notes and chords than anything else. That moment, for some rock music, has been its greatest and most important gift to the history of music, but it comes at a price. Most musical historians and academics tend to not have a lot of words or feelings towards music that ... is not composed, so to speak. And I would venture to say that this band's first three or four albums are highly indicative of a freedom of expression, even with different guitarists, that is un-matched anywhere else, and more than like a tribute to its founder and drummer, Mani. And what a drummer he is.
(In progress)
Some bands defy description. According to Chuck Oken, the inspirations range from King Crimson, Richard Pinhas and much other music that is considered "progressive" from those magical days of the late 60's and early 70's.
But one listen to the first 4 or 5 albums by this group, and one is hard pressed to say that there is a lot more here than meets the eye, and that the inspiration brought on by those groups is, marginal, and what they have done is create an atmosphere that is far beyond a lot of music, and material that is so visual, that I would think that many folks find it scary, weird and strange. And it is all done with the music, and lyrics are not necessary which has always been a contention of mine, for a very long time. The music has to speak, regardless of the note or chord that the guitar is playing. It has to have a life of its own, with the background or without it. If the music can stand out, it will be remembered, regardless of whatever else is over it.
And this is where this band shines the most in my words.
On one of my listens, a friend once commented that they also have a bit of Pink Floyd in them. I prefer to state that if they do, it is not measured or tied to blues, rock, jazz or anything, but it's own strength and desire to live, and to me this is the most special feeling that one can add to music, and in the end is the stuff that is remembered and fondly discussed. What one does that is basically the same as what everyone else does is usually dismissed or forgotten, since it is so common. But when it is different, then it begs another listen, or view, and this is the difference between "music" and "art" for me. One lives, and the other has a very small and limited life span in the visual area. That is not to say that blues, rock and jazz or classical music can not have these types of moments. That is not true and they do, however, I find them more in the longer and expressive pieces and solos than I do in the conventional "songs" and smaller pieces that one is mostly used to hearing. In this sense, it more closely related to classical music and its history than it is to the smaller "songs" that rock music, so far, is mostly associated with - something that music history is finally attending to. I often say, replace that violin concert by Mozart with a well measured guitar (someone please do Albinoni's Adagio in G and start straight and then distort it further and further until the end ... please!), and what do you have? The same experience done by "our time and place" instead of the experience done "in that other time and place". And this is what music history has been about, when you go to see the local symphony do Beethoven, or Bach, or Berlioz (they need to do PDQ Bach too btw!), instead of taking the next step, that would naturally bring the younger audience to also appreciate some of the beautiful things that have been done before, and will continue to be done!
That said, Djam Karet, is about music. And only music. And the invention of "sound spaces" or "sound spheres". To my ear. And the style and expression that it is done with is quite expressive and so vivid that it is hard not to notice it and appreciate it.
In looking at it, as is the case when talking or writing in a blog or board that deals with music, such as Cakewalk (specially The Coffee House), a lot of it may be described very simply as just another knob being turned, and some folks love to say that Vangelis, Klaus Schulze and others are not that good because of it. The difference is, what does the doing of that bring about, in an experiential way, and to me, it is not about the knob as much as it is about that person exploring his/her own inner life. And when these are extended in music, this is one of the most enchanting and far out things, and often creates something in the experience that one remembers far more than simply the girl (or otherwise) that you had a very special evening with.
In the end, it begs to ask one question, that I am not sure most music lovers do. It might be in there for all of us, but rarely does it get discussed or mentioned. What is it that came from the music? Did it come from you, or from them? Music history will tell you that it is probably the combination of both, but it is really hard to not think that it has to be slanted towards the artist, since it was what triggered your imagination. And this is far more important than most people can accept or understand, I think, and it is an area that needs better understanding and discussion.
Is the music their for your experience, or is it there for ... just music? I think it can do both, but the first one is more important. Music comes and goes, but experiences are remembered forever. And the difference is how does one group attend to that difference. Djam Karet, to me, expresses that experience better, and much more satisfying than almost any group out there. And has for a long time!
I think that most folks will tend to stop at this point and not go further, when discussing music like this. Specially musicians. Many feel the pressure to put together something that can help them quit their meager jobs and take on the life full time, and one could easily say that there are way too many out there, that try to justify their presence with one line, song, word or sound effect, instead of developing the atmosphere and the value it has to offer. And, words are not the most important thing in here. Doing it and experiencing it are. Can this be done with words? I think it can and there are experiences in theater and film that show it, although some of them are difficult to discuss since everyone's view is different as is their expression of what they see. And Djam Karet themselves might see this differently than I do!
One thing is for sure, this group is not about the "commercial" sounding material, although there are moments here and there where there is some music that is easier for our ears to work with, but in the end, the part of this band that appeals to me the most is the part that is "less notes and chords" and more "sounds". The experiment. The experience of what those sounds mean and do to you. And no where is this more visible in their 3rd, 4th and 5th albums (I have to check that!) "Reflections From the Firepool", " Suspension & Displacement", and "Collaborator".
I, sometimes, like to say about this group, "Welcome to the Church of the Electric Guitar", but sadly that is not a fair description of this group's work, and I say "Welcome to the Church of Djam Karet", which is a bit stranger and more cryptic than the first expression. But it is the way that the Electric Guitar is used here that is out of this world. And even if Chuck likes to say that Robert Fripp/King Crimson or Richard Pinhas/Heldon are an inspiration, I still say, that you, Djam Karet, are just as good and just as inspired, if not more so. And above all, you are coming from an area and place that is not exactly known for its originality in music since The Doors went away. A place where "hit" and "star" is the mode, and few people are able to succeed above it, in order to make a name for themselves. There are many musicians in that area that stand out, Frank Zappa being one of the most important, but few can easily say that their output is totally different and has a feeling of exquisitiveness that is intense, amazing and impressive.
And there is one other thing that is nice, and valuable, although sometimes it might be dismissed as not important, but cool. The fact that one of their most famous and identifying pictures is one of the band with instruments as their heads instead of their faces. In so many ways, this is so important and so indicative of the group and their work that it tends to pass by and not be noticed. This is this group's work and soul. And the image is really perfect, if you ask me. And it is a tribute to the instruments themselves that they can produce such work, and stand out so well.
During the late 60's and early 70's with the advent of the synthesizer, there were a lot of experiments and people talking about "anything" being music. From sound effects and any kind of sound created. And this helped place experimental music in the scene. Sadly, a lot of this was dismissed and many were not considered "musical" and were unfairly treated, but it only took one listen to the likes of the German group Faust, and see so much "noise" come together into something, to realize that ... these people are right. Everything can be, and is, music, in some form or other. And too much of it is thought of as music only if it uses the conventional musical scales and styles. And moments like these helped break that barrier, however, the music industry itself, was not kind to many of these people. Understandably, something has to sell to cover the costs involved, and my simple mind likes to think that today, with DAW's and such this would be easier, but guess what ... is the only thing that someone can do with a DAW beat strict and tied?
Do I have any special preferences of material from this group? Hard to say. I totally fly away with "Animal Origin", or "Dark Clouds, No Rain", or "Reflections From the Firepool" as the type of thing and "moment" that I love so much in music, and it is as loving to my ears and internal life as the best music ever created, or I have ever heard. And you can put on "Collaborator" to catch something else, that also takes you away.
Yes, I can hear Robert Fripp in here, and not as much King Crimson. Robert in his solo efforts has done so much exploration as to just about leave one silly and wondering what next, and almost all of it is "out there" and special in its own way. For fans of King Crimson, or "progressive music", I often think that this material from Djam Karet is simply too far out, and unusual for most music fans. But the discipline and attention to detail in these explorations is second to almost none in my view and something that should be a part of anyone's "musical discussion", as a way to describe what music is really all about.
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