Category Archives: Avant Garde
CIRCLES-CIRCLES AND MORE CIRCLES.
CIRCLES-CIRCLES AND MORE CIRCLES. Between 1969 and 1977, German music was thriving. In towns and cities, new groups were being formed. Many of these bands eschewed the Anglo-American, jazz-blues tradition, and decided to plough their own musical furrow. What followed, was a musical revolution…Krautrock. The Krautrock era lasted for eight years, and nowadays, is regarded …
QLUSTER-ECHTZEIT.
QLUSTER-ECHTZEIT. Back in 1969, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Dieter Moebius and Conrad Schnitzler founded Kluster, which would become one of the most important groups in the nascent Krautrock movement. Kluster went on to release two albums between 1969 and 1971, Zwei-Ostere and Klopfzeichen. However, in 1971 Conrad Schnitzler announced that he was leaving Kluster. So Hans-Joachim Roedelius …
HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS- AWARDS, HARMONIA, CLUSTER AND QLUSTER.
HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS- AWARDS, HARMONIA, CLUSTER AND QLUSTER. The words pioneer and innovator are often overused. However, it is a fitting description of Hans-Joachim Roedelius. He is, without doubt, one of the most inventive and influential musicians of the past fifty years. His music has influenced and inspired several generation of musician. That’s why recently, Hans-Joachim Roedelius was awarded a Schallwelle …
NICKLAS SORENSEN-SOLO.
NICKLAS SORENSEN-SOLO. Back in late 2010, Copenhagen based instrumental rock trio Papir, released their eponymous debut album. Papir was released to critical acclaim, and in the process, launched the career of one of the rising stars of the Nordic music scene. A year later, in 2011, Papir returned with their sophomore album Stundum. It was …
SULA BASSANA-SHIPWRECKED.
SULA BASSANA-SHIPWRECKED. Nowadays, most musicians are content to release an album every year or two. It’s a far cry from the sixties and seventies when bands would regularly release two albums a year. That most people thought, was a thing of the past. However, it’s not. Dave Schmidt is proof of this. His three groups …
BAUMAN/KOEK-BAUMAN/KOEK-VINYL EDITION.
BAUMAN/KOEK-BAUMAN/KOEK-VINYL EDITION. By 1978, German music was changing. The Krautrock era had ended in 1977, and there was a move towards electronic music. This wasn’t new. The Berlin School had been around since the early seventies. It was also a precursor of ambient music, and went on to influence future generations of ambient musicians. Among the …
FIRE!-SHE SLEEPS, SHE SLEEPS.
FIRE!-SHE SLEEPS, SHE SLEEPS. During the sixties and seventies, jazz musicians thought nothing of releasing two and sometimes three albums a year. Often albums were recorded in a few days. This included many a classic album, including John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Nowadays, recording an album can be a long, drawn out process. That’s been …
DIES IRAE-FIRST.
DIES IRAE-FIRST. For many new bands, their main objective is to release a “record.” They want to do this as quickly as possible. For them, it’s a sign that they’ve “arrived” and have one foot on the musical ladder. Sadly, for some bands, that’s as far as it goes. The album fails to sell and …
SPLASHGIRL-HIBERNATION.
SPLASHGIRL-HIBERNATION. When doom jazz trio Splashgirl released their sophomore album Arbor in 2009, it was the first release on the newly formed Hubro Music label. Since then, a lot has happened to both Splashgirl and Hubro Music. Both Splashgirl and Hubro Music’s star have been in the ascendancy. Splashgirl have released two critically acclaimed albums, …
CHES SMITH-THE BELL.
CHES SMITH-THE BELL. In January 2014, Ches Smith was booked to play at the prestigious New York Winter Jazzfest. This was a huge honour for him. The great and good of jazz descended on New York for Winter Jazzfest. Over these three days, jazz musicians from all over the world would be creating groundbreaking music. …
JOHN COLTRANE-A LOVE SUPREME-THE COMPLETE MASTERS BOX SET VINYL EDITION.
JOHN COLTRANE-A LOVE SUPREME-THE COMPLETE MASTERS BOX SET VINYL EDITION. On December 9th 1964, four musicians made their war to the Van Gelder Studio, on 445 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. They were scheduled to record an album with renowned jazz producer Rudy Van Gelder. He was a veteran of countless recordings, and had worked with some …
IKARUS-IKARUS.
IKARUS-IKARUS. In Greek mythology, Icarus, the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, who created the Labyrinth, met a tragic ending. Icarus and Daedalus were desperate to escape from Crete. So Daedalus constructed wings made of feathers and wax. As Icarus prepared to make his escape, Daedalus warned his son of complacency and hubris. Icarus shouldn’t …
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-LIVE AT MAX’S KANSAS CITY.
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-LIVE AT MAX’S KANSAS CITY. 1970 should’ve been the start of a new era for The Velvet Underground. They had just signed a two album deal with Atlantic Records in late 1969. This should’ve been the dawn of a new era for The Velvet Underground, where they belatedly made a commercial breakthrough. Instead, …
GURU GURU-UFO.
GURU GURU-UFO. By the late sixties, the members of many British and American bands were well on their way to becoming multi-millionaires. Especially groups like The Beatles and Rolling Stones. They had been at the top for the best part of a decade, and were now enjoying wealth beyond their wildest dreams. To look after …
KOLLECTIV-KOLLECTIV.
KOLLECTIV-KOLLECTIV. Musical history is littered with bands who only ever released one album. Often, that album fails to find the audience it deserves. This can come as a bitter blow, and sometimes, can lead to the band breaking up. By then, the rock star dream is over. The only option left, is to return to …
IRMIN SCHMIDT-ELECTRO VIOLET BOX SET-IMPORT.
IRMIN SCHMIDT-ELECTRO VIOLET BOX SET-IMPORT. One of the most eagerly awaited box sets of 2015 was Irmin Schmidt’s twelve disc career retrospective, Electro Violet. It was released by Mute Records in December 2015. However, only 1,000 copies of Electro Violet were available. They were like gold dust and finding one of the Electro Violet box sets wasn’t …
AGITATION FREE-2ND.
AGITATION FREE-2ND. Berlin, 1967. That was where the Agitation Free story began. That was when Lutz ‘Lüül’ Ulrich, Michael ‘Fame’ Günther, Lutz ‘Ludwig’ Kramer and Christoph Franke formed Agitation. This new band quickly established a reputation as one of the pioneers of Berlin’s underground music scene. When Agitation played live, their sets were like the …
SUNBIRDS-SUNBIRDS
SUNBIRDS-SUNBIRDS. Back in the seventies, the only German band most British people had heard of was Kraftwerk. A few more knowledgeable music lovers have heard of Can, and maybe, Neu!, Cluster or Harmonia. That however, was the extent of their knowledge of German music. That was a great shame, as Germany in the seventies, had …
THE BEST LIVE ALBUMS OF 2015.
THE BEST LIVE ALBUMS OF 2015. The final category in my best of series is live albums. For some reason, live albums seem to divide opinion. While some people love live albums, others loathe them. There seems to be no middle ground. Partly that’s down to how an artist approaches a live album. It may be …
THE FIFTY-FIVE BEST COMPILATIONS OF 2015-PART 3.
THE FIFTY-FIVE BEST COMPILATIONS OF 2015-PART 3. GROOVE WITH A FEELING-SOUNDS OF MEMPHIS-BOOGIE, SOUL AND FUNK 1975-1985. By 1975, soul music was no longer as popular as it had once had been. Executives running the Sounds Of Memphis label realised this; and between 1975 and 1985, the label released a much more eclectic selection of …
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