Real Ax Band - Nichtstehenbleiben / Move Your Ass in Time. 1977 Germany

Real Ax Band were one of many Embryo offshoots to appear in the late 1970s, and were active in the German festival scene of the time. They took the Bad Heads and Bad Cats jazz rock fusion sound to the next level. Featuring Maria Archer, a soul singer from Ghana with a beautiful voice (and was with Embryo as well), along with funky electric guitars and a driving rhythm. There's an edge to all of these songs that would be likely missing on an American album from this time. A very fine album not to be missed. And if you're fan of late 70's Embryo, Missus Beastly, Munju, Moira, et al, then this becomes an essential pickup.

Ownership: LP: 1977 April; CD: 2001 Funfundvierzig. The vinyl comes in a fine gatefold, and was originally picked up online in the late 90s. The CD is superb with one translated German article from 1978 and a new essay for the reissue. Many photos as well. No bonus tracks though.

V.A. - Umsonst und Draussen - Porta Westvlothica 1978. 1978 Germany

1. Munju - I Feel So Blue Without You
2. Out of Focus - Sommer '58
3. Real Ax Band - Never Never Again
4. Good Food - Take It
5. Embryo - Wir sind alle politische Gefangene
6. Aera - Herr Siebert & die sieben Siebe
7. Mathea Wlömsk - Bahama Mama
8. High Crack - Anina
9. Porta Westfalica Allstars - Airto
10. Das Dritte Ohr - Don't Use Your Spray
11. Hammerfest - Wilde Zeit
12. Molle - Bildertraum
13. Checkpoint Charlie - Smogalarm
14. Porta Westfalica Allstars - Keine Macht für Niemand
15. Spacebox - Tape Talk
16. Julius Schittenhelm - Er dreht sich hinein ins Hirn
17. Airbreak - Crossover
18. Missus Beastly - Porta Erotica
19. Brühwarm - Tango
20. Brühwarm - Fummelrock

1) No better way to open than with some electric sax in the Xhol Caravan, "Hot Rats" era Zappa sort of way. Excellent opener. This track came from Munju's "Moon You" album.

2) Out of Focus make their first festival appearance. One of the legendary bands from the early Krautrock era of 1970-1974. Out of Focus proved to have quite a bit of archival material as they have not only one, but two full CDs of studio music plus one live concert. But none of it extends as far as 1978, where the band was about to become Kontrast. And here they prove to be the veterans they are, with a superb piece, complete with a beautiful melody driven by the flute. I want to hear more of Out of Focus from this era!

3) is an unreleased track by the Embryo offshoot group Real Ax Band. This one is a slow burn, with a deep funk groove and wah wah guitar solos. The Barry White vocal attempt was.... not a good idea. Where's Ms. Archer? Vocals aside, I'd love to hear more of this session.

4) Don't know who Good Food is, but this is a really swell primarily instrumental Latin inspired fusion piece driven by some great rhythm work and Rhodes piano leads the solo and melody lines. At 7 minutes, this is also the longest piece on the entire 2 LP set. Definitely a band I'd like to know more about.

5) Schneeball/April heroes Embryo weigh in with a deep funk piece, also a bit of a slow burn similar to the Real Ax Band, with almost scat like vocals. A different sound from Embryo, but one I found highly appealing. Amazing guitar solo from Bunka. Maybe I'd be interested in Garden of Delights releasing this concert first - rather the '77 one!

6) Well, it was about time Aera showed up! Another "name" band, and by 1978, a group who already had a couple of albums under their belt. Oddly, they only featured a primarily percussion piece (excepting a few ensemble seconds at the end). Hardly representative of the band, who are fine progenitors of jazz fusion.

7) Mathea Wlömsk is another new name for me. I suppose it should be no surprise they are yet another fusion band. The driving bass and phased guitar solos recall the excellent obscure group Mosaik. I definitely want to hear more from this band!

8) Yet again, we hear a new group - High Crack. They are a bit more in the typical funky fusion genre that was all the rage in Germany at this time. A bit more generic than their festival peers - at least on this one piece. I'd still like to hear what else they have to offer.

10) Das Dritte Ohr have a few albums, of which I know nothing about. Here they provide an old time got-the-blues-real-bad-oh-yea-I-do complete with amplified harmonica. It's awful... next!

11) Hammerfest, as mentioned before, are one of the sponsors of the festival - so they of course get their space. They're a bit eclectic, and here they offer yet another got-the-blues-real-bad track - though at a faster pace than Das Dritte Ohr. OK, so they're a mover and shaker of the scene, what are you going to do? Next...

12) And here we have Molle, who started the 1977 album off inauspiciously. Contrary to that piece, the music here is quite good, dominated by a nice flute line and an excellent guitar solo. There's quite a bit of German vocals, which I suspect is politically motivated, but not sure.

13) And now for Germany's most prolific polit-rocker Checkpoint Charlie. Apparently an hilarious song about ecological destruction. And what says funny like left wing political Germans? OK, no fair, I'm not German (well, I am actually - but 3rd generation American...), so let's move on... next!

9) & 14) The Porta All-Stars is obviously a collective gathered for the concert. On the first track they present a sort of acoustic blues, with some nice flute, acoustic guitar and wordless voice. No Power for Nobody is what the second title translates to. IIRC, Ton Steine Scherben also had an album by that name. Yea, baby, ANARCHY RULES! Apparently we're in the midst of the hardcore polit-rock section of the LP. Next!

15) Uli Trepte's Spacebox is a big fave with my more avant minded music friends. For me, they leave a lot be desired. 'Tape Talk' is a track from their self-titled 1979 album. Pretty much mindless drivel as far as I'm concerned. OK, NEXT!!!

16) Producer and folk busker Schittenhelm pushed through another irrelevant track. NEXT!!

17) OK, back on solid ground with Airbreak, a funky fusion band with wah wah rhythm guitar driving the sax & guitar leads. A typical tropical and sunny sound dominates here. Probably not a group that would be overly special on LP, though I'd be interested in hearing more anyway. Not that much different than the High Crack group earlier in the album.

18) UMR's favorite Missus Beastly contributes an unreleased track, that if we were to go by name only would appear to be background music for a, ahem, "blue" film. In reality it's pretty much in the genre of all of MB's work, with a solid groove and great instrumentals provided by electric piano, guitar and flute. Definitely one of the highlight of the entire set.

19) The less said about Brühwarm the better.

Despite a great opening, the festival has clearly taken a turn for the political, at least on vinyl. My least favorite set of the 1975-1978 festivals.

Unfortunately this was the end of the classic era of the Umsonst and Draussen festivals on vinyl. The festival itself continues on to this day. There was one more album released in 1983, but it's a huge drop off in quality. Not only musically, at least for fans of the classic Kraut fusion sound like myself, but primarily the sound quality is awful. Which seems inexcusable, given the date - but alas it is what it is.

V.A. - Umsonst und Draussen - Vlotho '77. 1977 Germany

1. Molle - The Joker 4:30
2. Hammerfest - Jung Siegfried 5:35
3. ES - Today 5:15
4. Checkpoint Charlie - Ausschnitt aus der Geschichte von Herrn Müller 3:55
5. Julius Schittenhelm - Drei Orchideen 3:30
6. Munju - Patscha Menga Underground 8:48
7. Moira - Improvisationen 6:15
8. Funky Bone & The Gang - Higher 7:30
9. Embryo - Getalongwithasong 6:40
10. Real Ax Band - Move Your Ass in Time 5:40
11. Skyline - The Journey 7:49
12. Sadja - Daka Dhin 2:30
13. Einhorn - Einhorn Thema 5:55
14. ES - Fee Forever 1:30
15. Missus Beastly - For Flü 7:28
16. Release Music Orchestra - Sonntag 6:25
17. Ihr - Give Peace a Chance 1:27

1) Gets things off on the wrong foot with an awful cover of the Steve Miller Band classic complete with harmonica leads. Don't know Molle and don't need to. OK, looks like they managed an album called "Kotten". Next...

2) Hammerfest are obviously a core band of the festival, and the April/Schneeball kollektiv. This group has proven hit and miss so far, and I'm ignorant of their actual albums, so what do we get this time? We get the good Hammerfest, where music comes first. Here they show their hand at a more sophisticated progressive blues rock style, with some nice organ and guitar work. Even the vocals are soft focused and not offensive as would normally be the case. Hey, the crowd liked it too!

3) Well, lookee here. I've got a copy of ES' "Wham Bang" album, which is actually not bad at all. ES is made up of members of Tomorrow's Gift and their follow-on group Release Music Orchestra (who are also at this festival). With the funky fusion sounds and female vocals, it appears ES are heavily influenced by Embryo's "Bad Heads and Bad Cats" album as well as The Real Ax Band. 14) is a short thrown in, a harmless female vocal lead piece. Not sure why they felt obligated to toss this in.

4) Checkpoint Charlie are the very definition of politrock. I've had a couple of their albums in the past and they mix complex aggressive punk rock with virulent lyrics. Similar to fellow Germans Oktober. Almost like the Cardiacs but even more angry. Here we pretty much have a spoken word (in German) entry with some nice fusion moves underneath. It would be interesting to hear Checkpoint Charlie with an instrumental album. But that's not what they're about...

5) Features the former Ohr record producer. Even before Dieter Dirks was doing the insane knob twiddling in Berlin, Schittenhelm was phasing bands like Annexus Quam through the hazy fields of madness. As an artist, Schittenhelm is a folk singer - hey, gotta throw a bone to the masters once in awhile and keep them happy.

6) Second year in a row for one of Schneeball's most stalwart bands. As with the '76 concert, Munju covers another track from their debut "High Speed Kindergarten". Here they add an extended percussion sequence as a prequel. Munju were near the top tier of Kraut fusion bands of the era, perhaps slightly behind only Embryo, Missus Beastly and Moira.

7) And speaking of Moira, here's their first appearance on one of these compilations. No points for figuring out this is a loose jam. A quite good one with freaky guitar, flute solos and a driving rhythm. Both of their albums are well worth seeking out. Hopefully one of the great German labels will see fit to reissue them in the near future.

8) Funky Bone & the Gang. I wonder what style of music they'll play? This is their only appearance and not sure if they're related to 1975's The Jack Bone Group. Well they don't sound like they are anyway. Despite the funky disposition, this is pretty tight, with some good sax charts and a little wailing as well. Plenty of guitar soloing thrown in for good measure. Another band I'd like to hear more of.

9) Is the requisite Embryo appearance. They are certainly the "name" band in these festivals and they let absolutely no one down. This is a track that would show up on "Apo Calypso" but in an extended 14 minutes form at that point. Garden of Delights has announced their intention to release Embryo's entire Umsonst concert on CD.

10) Is the title track to Real Ax Band's sole album. They catch a groove early and run with it. If you're unfamiliar with this band, I highly recommend the CD that came out about a decade ago. Definitely recommended to fans of Embryo's "Bad Heads and Bad Cats" and both feature Maria Archer, a superb female vocalist from Ghana.

11) Skyline is back for their second appearance in a row. Again, their live material is far superior to their rather static studio LP. Like the '76 song, this track was also added by GoD on the CD release of "Louise For One Night". I would love hearing these concerts in full, rather than these two snippets.

12) Sadja are an Indian acoustic offshoot of Embryo, and foreshadows their later world fusion efforts that they would pursue more steadfastly in the 1980 and beyond.

13) For me, Einhorn was the big revelation of the 1976 concert. Here, they get a bit more fast and loose with the structure, and there's plenty of unhinged free blow. Though I was a bit unimpressed with this piece, I'd still be most curious if the group has any tapes in storage waiting to be reissued.

15) The other big hitter in the Schneeball lineup along with Embryo, is of course my pet fave group Missus Beastly. This is a track that would show up on their superb "Spaceguerilla",and is a fine representation of their infectious and complex progressive fusion sound.

16) Release Music Orchestra is a relative big name, and this is their first appearance for the free concerts. Only Kraan is missing at this point! Here, they offer a slow and atmospheric jazz piece.

17) is a crowd chant to close the album out.

This set features more released material than prior ones, but overall is still quite good!

V.A. - Umsonst und Draussen - Vlotho 76. 1976 Germany

The second in the series, and also only a single disc.

1. Munju - Talk to Me 5:37
2. Embryo - The Bad Times are Gone 5:56
3. Einhorn - Wer hat Angst vor Adalbert Wenstein 5:20
4. Hammerfest - Cross 5:29
5. Missus Beastly - Slow One 6:38
6. Real Ax Band - Nylon Receycled 6:16
7. Skyline - Tashiro 5:26
8. Sparifankal - I mechd di gean amoi nackad seng

1) Munju opens the album with their fiery brand of jazz rock, with some great guitar soloing. Reminded me of their "Moon You" album, though this is one of their songs from "High Speed Kindergarten". This was the only previously released track found on this compilation.

2) Embryo followed with a funky piece in the "Bad Heads and Bad Cats" vein, BUT Roman Bunka really lets loose on the guitar here recalling the "We Keep On" era (similar to the 1975 concert). Fantastic! I'd love to hear the full concert here. Embryo were one of only 2 bands to have vocals on this album.

3) Wow this was a welcome surprise! Einhorn's is probably the best track of the entire album and follows Embryo nicely. The composition here is heavily influenced by early Soft Machine, with a nice sax solo followed by the best guitar solo of the album. I'd love to hear more from this band!

4) Hammerfest. Similar to the 1975 concert, they provide an instrumental to finish out Side 1. Starts and ends with an excellent organ/guitar symphonic prog section. In the middle we get some of the worst harmonica/blues one can imagine. I can see this band will be completely hit and miss.

5) Side 2 starts with Missus Beastly who are operating in funky fusion territory similar to "Dr Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles". This is probably the weakest era of the 70's version of the band (1978's "Space Guerillas" was a return to their classic 1974/75 jazz rock style). Still there is some amazing Rhodes piano work here. I miss the dual winds players found on the '74 album though.

6) Real Ax Band followed with a spirited instrumental funk fusion piece. I always liked their one album and feel this is what Aera on "Turkis" for example is not. Some smoking acid guitar can be found here.

7) Skyline provides another fusion track with a funky edge. Again, the guitar playing is sublime and this one had a deep groove, for some slow headbanging. This is much better than the rather generic "Louise For One Night" album (1976) that Garden of Delights reissued a few years back. Fortunately they added this track as a bonus.

8) Sparifankal is the odd group out and closes the album. Basically this is German hillbilly music sung in the ancient Bayern language. Hideous, but not my scene either, and fits perfectly with the concert outlook and vision.

Another very good set overall!

Personal collection
LP: 1976 Musikerinitiative Ostwestfalen-Lippe