Rufus Zuphall ~ Germany

Phallobst (1971)

---Sep 2005

I’ve been a late bloomer to appreciating the sounds of Rufus Zuphall. I think I wanted Ohr and got, well Krautrock, not Kosmische. No question, this is easy stuff to enjoy for those that like guitar / flute driven rockers from 1971. File with Nosferatu, Ikarus, Os Mundi, and Electric Sandwich. 

---8/18/25

Some albums are hard to create a narrative from, and Phallobst is one of them. The album is about half instrumental, half vocal, and mostly in control. More traditional prog rock than what you would normally associate the term Krautrock with. There's even a bit of folk rock here. The above reference groups are accurate, and if you were to strip away the flute prominence, you could also see this as a prototype to Thirsty Moon or Satin Whale. Interesting to note that this album was to originally be released on Ohr. In the liner notes of the CD, much is made of the mellotron, but its usage is very light, only showing up on the last two tracks.

The CD adds the first half of the Farewell Aachen 1972 concert. The second half can be found as bonus tracks on Weiss der Teufel, which I don't own. The entire concert was originally released as part of the 4xLP set from Little Wing in 1993. The concert itself isn't the greatest recording, but sufficient for an archival 1972 event. It's a spirited show with some unique tracks, most notably the nine minute improvisation 'Sau Aas'. Not enough for me to hold onto as a supplement, however.

Ownership: 1971 Pilz (LP). Gatefold.

9//05 (acquired / review); 8/18/25 (update)

   

Weiss der Teufel (1970)

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: 1989 Little Wing (LP). 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.

1989 (first listen); 1998 (acquired); 5/24/21 (review)

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I've heard their unfinished third album Avalon and On, but recall nothing about it. There are two more live releases since 2000 that I've not heard.

5/24/21 (new entry)