Space Debris - She's a Temple. 2013 Germany

Space Debris also have at least four live albums not included above. It would appear that Breitklang is the house label for the band.

Space Debris are a German band that have been releasing albums for over a decade, and if the debut title is an indicator, have been recording for close to two decades. Their albums have never been for sale here in America, or if they had, only from a specialist mail order house and for a short time. Which is surprising really, as I think they'd sell pretty well here - relatively speaking of course. Since I was already ordering from Green Brain in Germany for the Cosmic Circus Music (see UMR site), I decided to throw this one in to save on postage.  Besides it was co-released by Green Brain, and the European write-ups I'd seen gave this one a big thumbs up. As you can probably tell by my album cover display protocol, "She's a Temple" is the only album I own by them - though I do still have a CD-R copy of "Three" which was my introduction to the band. I found both albums to be similar which gives me no reason to believe the remaining albums are any more different than the other. Though I'm sure each album has their peaks and valleys. I would certainly enjoy hearing them all at some point to see for myself.

I would consider Space Debris a Jam Band first and Krautrock band second. Their approach to music is based on the long form improvisational jam centered around the soloists for guitar and organ. On "She's a Temple" there are eight tracks of which only two are less than 8 minutes. Melody and composition are non existent, except if they accidentally stumble into one. The guitarist plays in a fairly heavy style, fortunately just short of the stoner fuzz standard, and certainly not metal. The keyboardist lives for his Hammond organ and 70s era synthesizers and it is he, more than anyone else in the band, that gives Space Debris their Krautrock undertone. While not exactly Orange Peel and Eiliff, one could potentially see those bands playing in a similar style 40 years later. The rhythm section keeps things moving along, and it's clear they have a background in rock rather than jazz. I found myself enjoying the album most when they locked into a solid organ groove. Perhaps it's just not something I hear as much nowadays, compared to the dozens of guitar-centered bands out there. I would say for comparison sakes that Electric Orange, another contemporary German band, is just the flip of Space Debris - that is Krautrock first / Jam Band second. The brooding and hazy atmosphere of the classic German underground is mostly missing here. Perhaps the biggest giveaway was the English spelling of "Temple". Haha - well maybe?

I think by now you can tell if Space Debris are for you or not. Maybe not my favorite type of band, but certainly I found this album enjoyable.

Ownership: CD: 2013 Beitklang

12/8/13 (new entry)