Gila ~ Germany

Gila (1971)

Of late, I've been talking about the Essence of Krautrock. If Erna Schmidt represents the ultimate example of that sound from an archival perspective, then one could make a similar argument for Gila's debut in real time. There are few albums out there that capture that magical time and place (1971 Germany) as well as Gila. It may not be the best example, or have the extreme highs of Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, or Embryo, but it's still a 5 star masterpiece, once again showing what a strong bench the country harbored back then. There's an energy and an atmosphere that is hard to capture in words, but Gila writes a complete novel on how it's done. The baby crying on 'Kollaps' sends me goosebumps. Every time I hear this album, I'm transplanted back to an era that I was alive in, but obviously didn't experience (I was a 6 year old living in Texas then). But we have the historical record, so I can go there anytime I want. Gila is one more ticket to that place.

Ownership:

1971 BASF (LP). Gatefold with poster. 

2017 Garden of Delights (CD). Historical liner notes.

1989 (acquired); 2/20/07; 2009; 8/8/22 (review / new entry)