Rufus Zuphall's debut was released at a time when Germany was just starting to get the engines roaring. It would be another year when 100's of underground albums would hit the market, and the newly minted Krautrock tag would be applied. It would have been impossible for even the dedicated buyer to keep up! But one year earlier, there were only a few handful of bands managing to get out this new type of sound. Running the gamut from freak outs like Tangerine Dream's Electronic Mediation, Guru Guru's UFO, and Kraftwerk's debut to jazzers such as Wolfgang Dauner and onto the UK prog/blues rock of Nosferatu, Out of Focus, and Armaggedon. Rufus Zuphall is closest to the latter style. Flute and guitar play a major role, and the compositions aren't particularly wild or intense. Their structure remains loose, and the title track is a side-long improvised jam, something that was fairly common in the US and UK by this point. When I first heard this album some 30+ years ago, it left me a bit dissatisfied, as I was expecting it to be more freaky than it is. About 10 years after that, I appreciated more what the band had accomplished here. And now two decades later, I hear the album better than ever. Of course it's flawed - but that's part of the allure of the scene to begin with. It was never about classical level perfection. It was about the raw emotion the German youth had pent up and were ready to unleash. Weiss der Teufel is part of that buildup phase.
Ownership: LP: 1989 Little Wing. Purchased sometime in the late 90s. Comes in a wonderful gatefold with a unique painting. From the beginning, Little Wing made the controversial decision not to use original covers, and go with original artwork*. In general, I disagree with this approach. But I have to say that this album, along with Ainigma's Diluvium, are so far superior, that I have to give credit where credit is due. I never bothered to pursue the CD from Long Hair, but wouldn't reject it either if a heavily discounted copy came my way.
* Little Wing's CDs however were a disaster that utilized the same boring cover for each (with no other info) - as if to say "you're stupid to buy CDs". I do not own a single Little Wing CD as fortunately other, more enlightened labels (namely Garden of Delights and Long Hair), came through with quality reissues.
No comments:
Post a Comment