Vinegar. 1971 Germany

This is exactly why I love the original era of Krautrock so much! This is unhinged psychedelic creativity from the grassroots movement itself. No major label advance towards commercialism or a modern day studied approach to revisionism - just simply the real deal. And this one has it all: Tribal drums, acid guitar, wordless female voice, primitive organ and handmade electronic "devices". Starts out in a subtle way, recalling oddly enough the Dutch group Ahora Mazda or the French band Ame Son. But as those excellent bands head off into freaky jazz mode, Vinegar go classic underground Krautrock. Right at the 7 minute mark when the organ enters, we are in prime Amon Duul II territory - fresh off the grooves of Yeti and Tanz der Lemminge. And the last track could have been an outtake from Side 2 of Ash Ra Tempel's Schwingungen. In fact, the album itself easily could have been an original Ohr release.

Ownership: LP: 1971 Phono Verlag Werner Purrmann; CD: 2003 Garden of Delights. I obtained the original LP via a European catalog circa 1998 or so. It wasn't cheap, but a bargain compared to today's prices. The CD is the usual great GoD job with full liners. No bonus tracks, which tells us there were none be found.

5/13/11 (RYM)