Amon Düül biographyAmon Düül were a huge musical collective that had a spectacular appearance in a tv-show in 1968. Before they put out their first album they split though, and one half set off to form Amon Düül 2 . The others kept the name Amon Düül and in 1969 published the first Krautrock album ever, "Psychedelic Underground". It was very badly produced, and the music consisted of long improvisations, but after this album no other band needed to have an inferiority complex. Their second official album "Paradieswärts Düül" is much better produced and has a folky touch. The albums "Collapsing - Singvögel Rückwärts", "Disaster" and "Experimente" stem from the same session as "Psychedelic Underground" and are of similar nature; they were published after the band had split up already.
Studio Album, released in 1969
Songs / Tracks Listing
1. Booster (Kolkraben) (3:06)
2. Bass, Gestrichen (Pot Plantage, Kollaps) (3:32)
3. Tusch Ff. (4:39)
4. Singvogel Ruckwarts (Singvogel Vorwarts) (4:17)
5. Lua-Lua-He (Chor Der Wiesenpieper) (2:05)
6. Shattering & Fading (Flattermanner) (4:31)
7. Nachrichten Aus Cannabistan (3:18)
8. Big Sound (Die Show Der Blaumeisen) (2:14)
9. Krawall (Repressiver Montag) (3:18)
10. Blech & Alfbau (Bau, Steinen & Erden) (2:11)
11. Natur (Auf Dem Lande) (2:56)
Total Time: 36:07
Line-up / Musicians
- Ella Bauer / percussion, vocals
- Rainer Bauer / vocals, guitar
- Angelica Filanda / percussion, vocals
- Helga Filanda / percussion, vocals
- Wolfgang Krischke / percussion, piano
- Ulrich Leopold / bass
- Uschi Obermaier / maracas
Releases information
Spalax 14949 This reissue 1969/1996
3 stars. This is a primitive, tribal psychedelic rock manifestation, continuously improvised, spontaneous and making a large place to acoustic, ritualistic percussions, agressive fuzzed out guitars. Tracks 2& 3 contain massive, obsessive, hammering drums exercices in ethnic folk, acid proportions, based on repetitive, endless motifs. Track 3 also features stoned, bizarre monotonous voices at the end. Track 4 is an original kraut improvisation, including dark drum experimentations, noises and violent bluesy rock guitars. Track 5 is a heavy psych piece, delivering an insistent rhythm and free chants. Track 6 is a folk trip song with a basic repetitive rhythm, almost unsignificant stoned voices in the distance and psych guitar harmonies. Track 7 includes an avalanche of ritual drums. Track 9 is a mechanical noisy experimentation with drums, concerte sounds and voices (the atmosphere is closed to cryptical stuffs written by the German avant garde band Anima). Certainly less refined than Amon Duul II but it contains a very catchy primitive energy. The contemplative, pastoral psych "Paradieswarts" remains the best part of these late 60's live sessions and among the best Amon Duul's materials. A very bad sound quality but it is an interesting release for krautrock collectors.
3 stars Though this album follows the style of the first recording of the gonzo jamming of this musical collective, I found this as a more interesting and pleasant release than the trashy "Psychedelic Underground". Here the sound quality is a bit more better, and the atavistic session excerpts have been molded as collages with editing and enrichening them with soundeffects. I guess this album would appeal to fans of tribal music, as there is a strong presence of ethnic collective drumming in the music, accompanied by toxicated waillings and chaotic fuzzed electric guitars. There are also some very quiet parts there, though in some cases the building up of hypnotic trance is disturbed with sudden cuts or sounds, making this record a more chaotic listening experience than the following more mellow "Paradieswärts Düül" album, which I see as their most profilic release, and this one being a good second in their discography from the quality point of view.
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