Hausmusik ~ Germany

Ear Mail (1980)

As I listen to and review the CD Reissue Wish List items - that is those albums that have yet to be reissued and I haven't picked up the originals in the meantime - it's quite fun to find albums that remain undiscovered even some 10 years later. Ear Mail is one such album. Released only on cassette, the album still has yet to be entered into Discogs (as of 3/25/25 this remains true), even though the cassette label has other entries presented there.

Hausmusik features an all-star lineup of Ingo Bischof (Karthago, Guru Guru, Kraan), Butze Fischer (Embryo, Missus Beastly, Moira, Guru Guru), Roland Schaeffer (Fashion Pink, Brainstrom, Guru Guru), Gerald Luciano (Guru Guru, Embryo), and Jan Fride (Kraan, Guru Guru). It would appear Guru Guru is the glue on this one. Given the pedigree, one would think more buzz would surround it.

Ear Mail is a fascinating album that contains a fusion of Eastern / Asiatic music, jazz, and rock. The album is filled with lengthy improvisations that would have benefited from a nice editing, though it's still a pleasant listen. Musically Ear Mail ties closest to the Embryo offshoot group Sadja (yet another cassette only band that time forgot), though there are more rock elements presented here.

It must be said that Ear Mail is not the best recording in the world, and one wonders if it was ever intended for mass release. Today, this would probably be a limited released on CD-R. The 1980 equivalent was the cassette. And sure, very limited no doubt. This was an old AC discovery, one of many great finds he dug up.

Not reissued as of 3/25/25.

1/23/11 (review); 2/1/20 (update / new entry)