04: Amon Duul 2 - Carnival In Babylon

Time to upset the krautrock police: Carnival In Babylon is, in my mind, Amon Duul 2's best album. Cope skips over Dance of the Lemmings, describing it as crap. Consequently, I've avoided that album like the plague - always staying true to the Copian doctrine...

Anyway - I bought this on my second visit to Sheffield. Prior to going to University proper I went to an induction week which was for people who had social problems (not literally) and were worried that they wouldn't make friends at University. I was such a person and at some point in the week stole away to the legendary Record Collector and perused their krautrock selection. At the time this was pretty good, and the guy that worked there was more than happy to oblige. It eventually came down to a choice between an original clear Faust and Carnival In Babylon. At the height of my Amon obsession I plumped for the later, and not for the first time made a stupid record buying mistake.

So gone is the fuzz overload of Yeti and Phallus Dei, and to replace it is still fairly repentant playing, but critically less Chris and more Renate. Also that bonkers picture on the inside of the gatefold of a bleached out Amon Duul 2 in amongst the leaves. It's more reflective and less of an ordeal than the albums previous and you don't need the time to take everything in. The tracks are generally shorter and you can hear the lyrics and they tend to drop the pissing about which ruined Phallus Dei and a bit of Yeti. Though more restrained they still have a bit of time to freak out. The colour of the record is more varied and it's not just a full on onslaught - there's time for some ballads, and good ones too.

C.I.D. In Uruk starts with a shimmer and leads onto All The Years 'Round - two well balanced tracks that are all guitars and Renate, sometimes in German and sometimes in English. Shimmering Sand starts off all Amon Duul 1 with a folk tinge before going into restrained fuzz and guitar.

Kronwinkl 12 brings in something new to the Amon Duul 2 - a bit of funk before going into something that's almost like trad psych rock but there's enough interesting bits to keep things going. Tables are Turned continues the folk theme and is very pleasant indeed. Hawknose Harlequin finishes everything off  and is the longest song on the album but has a few changes here and there and could almost be split into different sections.

And that's the lot. Unlike the previous two albums which are great records but like War and Peace not something you'd listen to every day this is just a great album, I've listened to it every day this week and had completely forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Very solid indeed.

03: Amon Duul 2 - Yeti

Yeti was always a going to a beast. The cover is fearsome, so understandable that it also forms the cover of the book. After reading the book, it was clear that this was one of those records to track down, and that it would form a pivotal point in understanding Krautrock and the power it contained. Being of limited resources though meant that it was very difficult to locate however. In the end, in one of those rare moments of weirdness I think I eventually found it in the Virgin in the Galleries in Bristol. In my younger days, and pre-internet, I thought nothing of spending each weekend trawling every record shop in Bristol for something I was after - including the major high street chains. This was a generally a fruitless process but occasionally it paid off: Pointless Walks to Dismal Places in Our Price of all places, a copy of Hex Enduction Hour in Virgin, and then the wondrous and mysterious Yeti, also in the same Virgin.

I think my copy is a french CD, that used to have an image of the band in the middle page, which I swiftly removed and stuck on my wall and has since been lost to the ages. I think that this is one of the records which I just got straight away, and it's effect was immediate - much more significant than Phallus Dei or anything else up to that point. It is accessible and whilst it doesn't contain much subtlety in the way that other records on the list do it is pretty awesome.

To some extent it retains the pissing about present on Phallus Dei, but it's a little more restrained and more effectively used. It also opens up a side of the band that would never really be seen again and like a lot of the great Krautrock records is a game of two halves (though given that's a double album, it's actually a game of four quarters).

A suite starts everything off: Soap Shop Rock, formed from four tracks: Burning Sister, Halluzination Guillotine, Gulp A Sonata and Flesh Coloured Anti Aircraft Alarm. From the off it's a wack of fuzz, drums and wailing - there's probably a Melody Nelson type story present in the suite but it goes well over my head. Then a stop gap in the form of She Came in Through the Chimney, which is a pleasant bit of whimsy that, on it's own, would not be of any consequence. Here, though, it's a bridge between the complexity of the suite and the track that follows. Archangel's Thunderbird is the character of the record: Huge walls of bass fuzz and drums and fairly bonkers lyrics about said Thunderbird. Functionally available as a 45 (with Burning Sister on the flip side) it is a huge psych tune and whilst not really characteristic of Krautrock in general, nor not really of Amon Duul 2 it's what you imagine that this music should sound like.

The record continues in a reflective manner, following from the fuzz. There's less lyrics which is a good thing, as it restrains the tendency for stupidity to ensue. A few really good tracks follow Thunderbird, which are shadows but are functional nonetheless. After that it's into the traditional side long track which is actively described as an Improvisation on the sleeve. It's a bit more structured and consistent than Phallus Dei but has a little less drive. Following that, another long song in a similar vein before the whole thing ends on a collaboration with a couple of people from Amon Duul 1. This is another mellow reflective thing that's more Paradieswaarts than Psychedelic Underground.

So all in all, this is a huge record that I still feel that I'm getting to grips with. It's length, and the size of the first half of the record in comparison to the second means that I would often focus on the fuzz tracks rather than the longer ones, probably to my detriment. In a similar vein it took me about a month to listen to Moyshe McStiff beyond the first three tracks as I just kept rewinding to the beginning. It's characteristic of how you imagine Amon Duul 2 should sound rather than how they generally sound. It is a good record but perhaps a little of sore thumb amongst the other stuff - Amon Duul 2 always felt a bit more like a proper band to me, rather than the other Krautrock groups who always sounded like they existed outside of standard music. I love the story about Cope calling his mates "Yeti" in honour of the album and always wanted to do that myself but never found anyone else who shared the same desire for off the wall nicknames.

02: Amon Duul 2 - Phallus Dei

My second Amon Duul 2 record, purchased (I think) from Replay records circa 1995/1996?. I was introduced to Amon Duul 2 via Wolf City and pretty much wrote them off on the basis of that - it's not a great record and Cope leads you to believe that all the records on the list are stone cold classics of the highest order. I vaguely remember coming across in the racks of Replay for about a tenner or so and thinking that I'd found a massive bargain not realising that the Sunset reissues were cheap as chips.

Anyway I probably raced home and was completely blown away - this was the Amon Duul 2 that Cope promised, or it was to some extent. The weight was there, the fuzz was there in spades but then why did they piss about so much?

Kanaan is as heavy an opening as you want, all fuzz and drums and these crazy unintelligible lyrics (see it live here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuHzDQvZd4Q). But then "Den Guten, Schonen, Wahren"brings on the silliness with fake laughing and Renate's witch like cackles. Luzifers Ghilom has the best intro of any song, paned horns leading to drums and fuzz. All the band in synchronicity playing something that sounds like you want music to sound. Renate does some wailing, everything stops and then they start pissing about again. The music's great, all stop start and crazy drums but those lyrics and the stupid made up words really grate. He seems to be singing "Running through the paper plates". At the end of side 1 "Henriette Krotenschwanz" is like a throw away from a marching band record.

But it's side 2 where it all comes together. I had read in the book about the concept of a side long track and thought it fairly ridiculous and I'm not even sure if this was the first one I had come across but it's certainly one of the best. Wails and squeals leads into one of the most furious fuzz and drum parts I've ever heard and they're all over place but in a strangely together kind of way. That goes on for about 10 minutes and it's into a stupid hoe-down before going back to stupid lyrics. "I broke my magic stick!". Great. Then it returns to drums for the last part. It's basically incredible.

And that was Phallus Dei - I can't remember it having a huge lasting impact on me at the time but I've certainly come back to it over the years more than most. There's a few sleeves knocking around, the trees one in the picture above is the original, and there's the psychedelic UK sleeve which I seem to recall is pretty expensive. There's some kind of DVD movie of a live performance of the title track which I've never seen. The CD above is worth getting - four bonus tracks (instrumentals thank god) which add about 15 minutes but they're pretty good all told. 

In some regards, this was to me the quintessential krautrock record. Heavy, bizarre and little bit bonkers. They weren't as cool as Amon Duul but they're records were easier to find and more accessible. And they had a violinist.

01: Amon Duul - Paradieswarts Duul

Amon Duul's Paradieswarts Duul, released in 1970 was a fairly late addition to my set being bought on the 21st January 2010 whilst in Barcelona. The Wah Wah reissue also adds the Eternal Flow 7" tracks. To me the record was a bit of an anomaly - both for the group and in terms of the overall list. The book describes the formation and split of Amon Duul into Amon Duul and Amon Duul 2, but then focuses more on Amon Duul 2. Psychedelic Underground is mentioned and always seemed to me to be the more appealing sounding record.

At the time of the book, I'm not sure how easily available it was - certainly a Spalax reissue existed but I don't recall ever having the chance to buy it or seeing it in the shops. For me Psychedelic Underground came first via the "This is Amon Duul" cheapo copy. That was as I expected: Chock full of monster riffs, radio static and booming cut up drums. This one passed me by until I read the Europe chapter of Seasons they change and I had no idea that this one was a bit of an acid folk classic.

Musically it is very different to the jam session Amon Duul and to Amon Duul 2. All European folk noodling and extended jamming - it does cross a little into the territory featured on the collaborative track on Yeti but stays on the right side of rural rather than spacey. The side long tracks preclude repeated listens and it meanders a bit too much but it is a stunning listen and fundamentally beautiful to the core. I don't know if it's up there with the classics or maybe it transcends them - I haven't listened to it enough to decide either way. I think the meandering jamming is the crucial flaw and whilst it's nice to have it on in the background it never really demands attention - not because it's laid back but it doesn't have the focus needed to go beyond what it is.

Ohr records are an interesting one though - some of them are incredible (Emtidi, Embryo etc.) and some of them are meandering (Limbus 4) but there's always something about it that suggests mystery and enigmas. I imagine originals of this are hideously expensive and even the 45 is pretty hard to turn up though I've never really seriously looked.

So in short it's a good record but not one I return to that regularly. I think there are a lot of other records that do something similar slightly better.

Beginnings

Alongside @jeanetteleech's film a week and the equally awesome Milla I've decided to take on a "something every week" project. Having finally just finished J's Seasons they Change and thinking that it would have been the perfect book for an 18 year old me, opening up a new world of music and adventure, I decided to revisit the book which did just that when I was 18. The all mighty Krautrock sampler:

My interest in this book came from a school friend (Neil?) who was a big Julian Cope fan and through a shared love of the Fall he introduced me to the Copester. Cope was all over the place at the time promoting said book and so I was quite excited about it. It turned out to be difficult to source as the distribution wasn't great. Finally a convergence - Spiller's records in Cardiff had a copy and I was visiting on a University open day. Thus I managed to secure a copy and read it very quickly on the train home from Cardiff.

The book is in two halves - the first part are essays about Krautrock in general and more detail on some of the specific bands involved. The second part is a top 50 records list, with detailed descriptions. Over the years I've bought a fair few of these (about half though I thought it was more) and some have become my favourite records of all time. Every now and then I'll return to the book and it always pushes me to investigate further. So this year I've decided to complete my set and to write about them - probably not as eruditely as Mr. Cope but I'll have a go. I'm going to try and listen to each one at least 5 times in the week and may even resort to doing the dirty and buying some on iTunes.

Assuredly I'll have fun.