The Kosmische label was originally intended to feature avant garde philosophers, artists, and other intellectuals musically backed by the stable of bands on Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser's Ohr label. First up was the exiled American Timothy Leary, the Harvard professor most known as a major advocate for LSD, and at that point an escaped prisoner living in Switzerland. He was then joined by Ash Ra Tempel for their infamous LSD spiked Seven Up album. After this experience, two other local Swiss underground poets and painters arrived on the scene: Sergius Golowin and, our topic at hand today, Walter Wegmuller. Both of these artists were surrounded not only by Ash Ra Tempel, but also Wallenstein, Walter Westrupp, Bernd Witthuser, and whoever else they could find hanging around. These 2 albums are arguably much better and more focused than Seven Up.
In some ways, I would submit, Tarot is the ultimate cosmic Krautrock album - the apex of the entire movement. Which is not the same thing as saying it's the greatest Krautrock album. Far from it, though still brilliant on the whole. When one reviews the entire cosmic wing of German rock to that point in history, it would seem Tarot was the realization of their mental fiction. Combine the 2 album extravaganza with the incredible original packaging (see Personal Collection section below), and the results are almost overwhelming on first exposure.
On the music front, there aren't too many surprises if you're already familiar with the Cosmic Courier clan. This is space rock of the highest order, with the high octane cosmic blues of Ash Ra Tempel combined with the symphonic progressive sounds of Wallenstein. The stars of the album are Enke on wah wah rhythm guitar, Gottsching on lead guitar, Grosskopf's energetic drum kit work, and Dollase's keyboards, most notably piano and mellotron. Throughout the album you'll hear Wegmuller droning in German, sounding as if he's reciting an incantation, giving the album an entirely eerie feeling. Overall it's a dark sounding album with occasional bursts of light generally provided by the fine piano work. This is a mandatory listen for cosmic Krautrock freaks, and likely to draw curious interest even from those who are unfamiliar with the genre.
After these 3 albums, the Kaiser really lost his mind in Timothy Leary fashion, and expanded his label beyond the original premise. In addition to some legitimate albums from Ash Ra Tempel, Wallenstein, Popol Vuh, Mythos, Klaus Schulze, and Witthuser/Westrupp, there were the infamous Cosmic Joker sessions, released without the musicians consent. Unfortunate for them, though it must be said a gift to music fans worldwide. Pity it wasn't handled correctly though. Edgar Froese, for his part, called the whole label movement a "Cosmic Circus" and refused to be associated with it, which is why Tangerine Dream's Atem was released on Ohr instead, even though the Kaiser had essentially shut the label down by then.
Ownership: LP: 1973 Die Kosmischen Kuriere One of only 3 albums on the Die Kosmischen Kuriere label, which was later changed to the more familiar Kosmische Musik. The LP package is nothing short of magnificent. Comes in a tin foil box, similar to how large classical albums were released back then. In addition to the 2 LP's you get a sheet of Tarot cards - each painted by Wegmuller himself and mass produced. Also there's a series of Biography cards and information regarding the release. A few years ago (2013) I bought on ebay a dead stock unsold original copy from the 70s. It certainly wasn't cheap, but a great deal considering what a stone mint copy goes for today (there's probably only one handful in the world like mine, I would imagine).
CD: 1994 Spalax (France). The first press Spalax CD does a great job at trying their hand at replicating the original LP. Ironic in that the label is generally bare bones at best. But they poured all of their profits into this release. Instead of a square box, they released a rectangular box, that comes with a full 2 CD digi-pak, a booklet containing what the "cards" above had, and this time a full deck of Wegmuller's painted playing cards (verse the sheet of the the original). Extraordinary. There's no better LP and CD combination, from a packaging perspective, in my collection today. Later the CD was released only with the digi-pak.
My first LP copy was a mail order acquisition (1991) on the Italian PDU label (1976), and is a fine 2 LP gatefold.
1991; 2/1/19 (new entry)
No comments:
Post a Comment