Tuesday, August 31, 2010

V.A. - Umsonst und Draussen - Vlotho 76. 1976 Germany


The second in the series, and also only a single disc.

1. Munju - Talk to Me 5:37
2. Embryo - The Bad Times are Gone 5:56
3. Einhorn - Wer hat Angst vor Adalbert Wenstein 5:20
4. Hammerfest - Cross 5:29
5. Missus Beastly - Slow One 6:38
6. Real Ax Band - Nylon Receycled 6:16
7. Skyline - Tashiro 5:26
8. Sparifankal - I mechd di gean amoi nackad seng

1) Munju opens the album with their fiery brand of jazz rock, with some great guitar soloing. Reminded me of their "Moon You" album, though this is one of their songs from "High Speed Kindergarten". This was the only previously released track found on this compilation.

2) Embryo followed with a funky piece in the "Bad Heads and Bad Cats" vein, BUT Roman Bunka really lets loose on the guitar here recalling the "We Keep On" era (similar to the 1975 concert). Fantastic! I'd love to hear the full concert here. Embryo were one of only 2 bands to have vocals on this album.

3) Wow this was a welcome surprise! Einhorn's is probably the best track of the entire album and follows Embryo nicely. The composition here is heavily influenced by early Soft Machine, with a nice sax solo followed by the best guitar solo of the album. I'd love to hear more from this band!

4) Hammerfest. Similar to the 1975 concert, they provide an instrumental to finish out Side 1. Starts and ends with an excellent organ/guitar symphonic prog section. In the middle we get some of the worst harmonica/blues one can imagine. I can see this band will be completely hit and miss.

5) Side 2 starts with Missus Beastly who are operating in funky fusion territory similar to "Dr Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles". This is probably the weakest era of the 70's version of the band (1978's "Space Guerillas" was a return to their classic 1974/75 jazz rock style). Still there is some amazing Rhodes piano work here. I miss the dual winds players found on the '74 album though.

6) Real Ax Band followed with a spirited instrumental funk fusion piece. I always liked their one album and feel this is what Aera on "Turkis" for example is not. Some smoking acid guitar can be found here.

7) Skyline provides another fusion track with a funky edge. Again, the guitar playing is sublime and this one had a deep groove, for some slow headbanging. This is much better than the rather generic "Louise For One Night" album (1976) that Garden of Delights reissued a few years back. Fortunately they added this track as a bonus.

8) Sparifankal is the odd group out and closes the album. Basically this is German hillbilly music sung in the ancient Bayern language. Hideous, but not my scene either, and fits perfectly with the concert outlook and vision.

Another very good set overall!

Personal collection
LP: 1976 Musikerinitiative Ostwestfalen-Lippe

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