Ash Ra Tempel - Join Inn (1973)

In Germany during the years 1968 - 1978 a whole decade of music was forged which has never been heard or seen again since, the music coming out of Germany during this period was so unique, so spell binding and so raw. 'Krautrock' as it is now called was a scene of music made by a small and select grouping of people in Germany which was so out-there, so experimental, so spaced-out, so unlike any other western music's which were happening at the time.

I would even say that 'Krautrock' could quite possibly be the best thing happening in music during the early 70s. A great number of German groups who formed during this heyday period of 68-78 became highly regarded amongst critics, bands such as Neu, Can, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Cluster and Ash Ra Tempel.

The story of 'Krautrock' is long and interesting, but what is often found when researching this music, is that fame, style, accolade and other exterior motives were not the goals of any of these musicians, the search from truth in sounds was!!! and just like the Heirophants of ancient Egypt and Greece, like the magi of ancient cultures, these long-haired proto-punk shaman's created musical alchemy in their studios, using warped guitar tones, synthesisers, pitch benders, ring modulators, oscillators, bass, guitar and drums... Some of the albums released by various 'Krautrock' groups are the trippiest recordings of the 20th century.

One of the most trippiest is Ash Ra Tempel's third studio album 1973's 'Join Inn'

'Join Inn' is a very very rare album to find and is extremely scarce, it is hard-to-find on both cd and vinyl and no modern labels have bothered to make a decent reissue of this album yet, I myself have been searching for 5 years or more for a copy to no avail and only have a cd-r copy which a friend did for me.

This was also the last Ash Ra Tempel LP which featured the electronic pioneer Klaus Schulze before he went onto a highly influential solo and production career.

The line up of the band during this album consisted of -

Harmut Enke - Bass

Klaus Schulze - Drums, Organ, Synthesisers

Manuel Gottsching - Guitar

Rosi Muller - vocals

'Join Inn' only consisted of two long pieces which each dominated a whole side of the vinyl.... please find below the tracks.

Freak'n' Roll

A guitar, drum and synthesiser crazed freak-out which attacks all senses leaving the listener somewhat reeling from the audio experience which they have just experienced, this is stoner orientated jazz rock of the highest order and is by no means phoney compared to it's American or British contemporaries, this is the real deal, these guys were head-loose in other realms and not really touching down on any real earth, raking in at just over 19 minutes long, it is a freak-out that must have induced panic based fear in the brains of the band members whilst recording.

Jenseit

This track is the reason I wished to write about 'Ash Ra Tempel' on the blog today, this 25 minute opus of pure cascading sounds, dream-like melancholy, spacey desperation and lunar longing has been constantly on repeat in my world for the last few days. With the autumn coming and my moods continually going up and down and finding no real solace or structure or no  real reason nor rhyme, musical oracle's like this one are the only things which have currently been keeping my mindset grounded whilst at the same time keeping me in starry-eyed oblivion undaunted by the harsh realities of the world around me, it is such a magical piece of moving music, I love everything about it, the organ drones, the tremolo guitar, the fluttering synths, the overall ambience and the cool German chicks strung-out and dreamy beatnik styled vocal lines which I have no real understanding of, the only line I get is when she sighs in gentle hushed-tones 'Eins, Zwei, Drier' half-way through the song.... A beautiful piece of electronic experimental music.

Don't get lost in the woods...

Paul Messis

Spectrum - How You Satisfy Me (Silvertone - 1991)

During my teen years, I was the biggest Spacemen 3 fan going, I purchased every record the band released and followed the band members' efforts post-Spacemen 3, I was even fortunate to become friends with a couple of the members over the years.

Spectrum was formed by Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember during the demise of Spacemen 3 in around 1990, after releasing a solo album as 'Sonic Boom', the Spectrum project began as a means for Pete Kember to continue his 'drone' minimalism and take music to new and spaced out heights and highs.

After a handful of one-off releases plus his debut solo effort, the first official release for Pete Kember's new band Spectrum was a great introduction to a band if there ever was one and was the first offering from the bands debut album 'Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) released the proceeding year in 1992. 'How You Satisfy Me' is in my mind possibly the best single of the 90s, it is one of the only songs I know which fuses many different genres of music into one song, there is German Krautrock a'la Neu! influence, 60s Garage influence, Punk influence, Psychedelic influence not to mention the main organ riff was nicely ripped off from an Evie Sands track called 'I Can't Let Go' (originally by The Hollies).

Spectrum 7" and LP packaging was always pretty cool, the 'How You Satisfy Me' single came in clear vinyl with a really hip clear plastic op-art sleeve featuring a cool image of the band, I think this sort of packaging is pretty cool and more bands today should put more imagination into their record sleeves... If I ever do another 45 myself, I am gonna look into doing a sleeve like the one above (top pic).

Below are sound clips of the 7" - I have included the vocal version of 'Don't Go (Please Stay)' originally on the US version of the bands  'True Love Will Find You In The End' single as the versions featured on the 'How You Satisfy Me' single were two instrumental takes of the song.

Dig the single...

How You Satisfy Me

Neo-Psychedelic drone fest with Krautrock leanings, you can't get any cooler than this during the 90s, seriously!!!

My Life Spins Round Your Every Smile

A truly wonderful piece of experimental soundscape mind tripping music, this piece of music is a great interlude between songs, Sonic Boom is a genius when it comes to making soundscapes such as the one above. What I love about this is the way it ebbs and flows not too mention I love the title of the song, it evokes a wealth of thoughts when listening to the music.

Don't Go (Please Stay) - vocal version

A hypnotic and chilled out track with a great vocal line (even though it was taken from The Cryin' Shames' Please Stay)... how great is the lyric "Be Different, Please Stay, Don't Go).... What I have always loved about this is the use of the words "Be Different"... I will likely do a post about the Joe Meek produced 'Please Stay' by The Cryin Shames at another date.

Enjoy

Paul 

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth 1956 -1958 (Saturn Records - 1966)

Not many folks who are acquainted with me or know of me know that I am heavily into Jazz, particularly the experimental type of jazz which was coming out of the mid 50s to early 60s, the period of jazz which fused together elements of Be-bop, Modal Jazz, Hard Bop, Swing and the then new style of improvisations which later became Free Jazz, fusing all of the above to create a rich flavour of sound, this is the type of Jazz I hugely enjoy and have a vast taste for... it could be considered the age of 'Cool' in Jazz terms (if that even makes sense).

I have a large cd and Lp collection featuring many of Jazz's hip elite and pioneering luminaries names including Coltrane, Monk, Gillespie, Coleman, Taylor, Davis not to mention a whole host more.

One such name however which has always fascinated me was Sun Ra, even during my early teenage voyages into late 60s American Punk Rock music a'la The Stooges and MC5 alongside my vested enjoyment of Experimental Avant Garde music, the name Sun Ra always seemed to pop up and be sited as an influence and this in turn made me investigate the man and the music behind the name Sun Ra.

 
Born as Herman Poole Blount in 1914, Sun Ra and the life which would entail until his death in 1993 would consist of embracing and absorbing music as fully as a person can whilst at the same time living life as an outsider and virtual unknown for much of his life. Sun Ra is the only musician I know of who lived life completely in servitude to his craft and passion, this passion was his music. Sun Ra lived, breathed and walked music and possibly is one of the most intense and passionate artists of the 20th century.

Adopting the name and persona Sun Ra after studying Mysticism and having a life changing experience during his twenties, this is where Sun Ra's legacy begins.

A competent musician since his childhood, one could claim Sun Ra to have been a prodigé , During his teens and early twenties Sun Ra played in a number of jazz bands and groups.

The Story of Sun Ra is an interesting one and there is a wealth of media to explain about the man's life and music.

The discography of Sun Ra is something to behold, it is probably the largest back catalogue any one musician could ever have, proving that Sun Ra was for much of his life completely living his existence for the purpose of and for music.

I have a few Sun Ra LP's myself, however these are never really cheap and not at all common or easy to find (even online)... However once you've purchase one Sun Ra album you kind of want to own them all because they usually come adorned with beautiful sleeve designs and look amazing. The music on the records are amazing too, a strange form of Jazz like no other before or even after it, compared to other Jazz musicians of the time, none were anywhere in the same realm of Sun Ra and this is why Sun Ra himself is often not given as much credit as being an influence to music in comparison to his contemporaries who seemed to know how to 'play the game' a little better than he did.

Sadly he was also considered somewhat of an outsider in Jazz circles too, yet he remained true to his cause and beliefs and produced  some of the most dazzling and way-out Jazz recordings ever released and I feel some of the most interesting pieces of music during the 20th century.

My first ever Sun Ra Lp was the one in which this post is honoured, 'Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth', the record was released in 1966  and released on Sun Ra's own label 'Saturn Records'. The LP is split in two. Side 1 (of the vinyl) features cuts of tracks which were originally intended to be released on the 'Sounds Of Joy' album recorded in 1956 (which still wasn't released when this LP came out ironically) and Side 2 (of the vinyl) features various cuts by Sun Ra and his Arkestra in 1958.

Below are a few tracks which I really love from this album.

Planet Earth (this is my favourite, possibly of all Sun Ra material)

Eve

El Viktor

Please if you like the sound clips above, buy the record and also try and find more of Sun Ra's releases, he has been consistently good creating fantastic music in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and even during his last years in the 90s.

Cheers

Paul

Jimmy Witter & The Shadows - AAAAAHHH!!! b/w If You Love My Woman (Elvis Recording Co.- 1956)

The year was 1956, the location was Nashville, Tennessee and from this location came forth one of the meanest 45rpm moments in the rockabilly genre. Jimmy Witter with his group the Shadows cut two killer sides which make the above record a real holy grail amongst rockabilly and instrumental music record collectors.

Jimmy Witter later became a well-known radio disc-jockey for WALT in the 60s by the name of Ron Hart.

Young Jim's genius however lies solely in this 45 that he cut for Nashville based 'Elvis Recording Company' in 1956, the label didn't last long as would be expected and was shutdown after this release as Colonel Tom Parker felt that the record label was capitalising on his boy-wonders' name (which they obviously were).

I'm unsure what side was the A-side or what was the B-side.

But the track I wish to highlight in this post is the monstrous instrumental screamer aptly titled 'Aaaaahhh!'.

The track begins with a menacing trio of twangy guitar, tough bass and monotone on the beat drumming, making it a hell of a mean song, an instrumental like this would have set any red-blooded males frustrations higher. The track is unadulterated teen-frustration and primitive snarl in music, only interrupted by the pulse tingling scream which Jimmy Witter let's out mid way through the track. Any mad man, teenage boy, pissed off person can relate to such a scream.

Dig it...

The 45 is a pretty rare one amongst collectors and has reached as high as $400 on ebay in the past.

Enjoy 

Paul Messis