If you've read enough of my ramblings on this blog you'll have probably noted that I'm a huge fan of guitarist Roman Bunka. He's one of those uniquely gifted artists that never disappointed, and yet is widely unknown. He recently passed away last year with barely a mention. He had found the perfect bandmate in Christian Burchard, and the two ensured Embryo would never be tempted by commercialism. Outside of Embryo he's most known in world music and film circles, as he became fascinated with, and ultimately a master of, the oud.
Dein Kopf ist ein Schlafendes Auto (Your Head is a Sleeping Car) is Bunka's only rock oriented solo album, and that's a pity as one can tell the creative juices are just beginning to flow. Bunka's background is on full display here making for a very disparate, but ultimately satisfying album. This is miles away from most progressive solo artists of the era anxious to demonstrate that they too can release pop slop like everyone else. You won't get a 'Funny Feeling' here (Steve Hackett if you must ask). I wouldn't even know how to qualify the album's opener... maybe a mutant Can updated for the 80s with a patented Embryo styled finish? This is followed by 'No More Jogging' which sounds like 'Lost Scooters' with Garden Wall's Alessandro Seravalle on vocals (deep dive reference, but if you know Garden Wall, then you know it's pretty crazy). The following two tracks demonstrate Bunka's love for Asian music and provides a nice, if somewhat jarring, contrast. This gets us to Side 2, and it's here we get the highlights of the album. Now we're in Embryo's jazzy-ethno-psych-jammy phase of the late 70s, something I'll never tire of. B1 has a killer psych sequence towards the end. Be sure to get ahold of the CD as well, as it features another great track, as Bunka covers 'On the Corner' era Miles Davis on a 10 minute excursion with his own material. Overall the album is nearly impossible to categorize. Is it world fusion, no wave, psychedelic, jazz rock? Yes. For categorization purposes, progressive rock it is.
Ownership: CD: 1996 ATM. Jewel box release with informative liner notes and the aforementioned key bonus track. Purchased new upon release and this was my introduction to the album. I consider it the primary for the collection.
LP: 1980 private. Single sleeve. This is one of those originals I picked up "along the way" (online 2013) just because. Even today it's shockingly inexpensive and easy to get, in Europe at least. This tells us that it must have sold pretty well initially despite being a private press, demonstrating the great respect Bunka had in the music community of the era. While typically I would only keep one version of an album such as this, I feel compelled to keep both. But if push comes to shove, the LP will go.
1996; 2010; 11/29/17; 9/7/23 (new entry)
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