My Brother The Wind - I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity (2011)

The second album
Second album from the Swedish quartet of Nicklas Barker (Anekdoten),
 Mathias Danielsson (Makajodama), Ronny Eriksson, and Tomas Eriksson.
 Like their first album, I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity is pure psychedelic bliss.
 The songs have their roots in jam sessions.
 Overall there is a very German underground/krautrock feel.
 These long jams vary in tempo - from the buzz saw opener "Fire! Fire!"
on through the blissed out Yatha Sidhra-like acoustic "Pagan Moonbeam".
Lethal guitar leads augmented by dollops of Mellotron and organ are the order of the day.
All served up with phat analogue sound.
 If its possible to get high from a round aluminum disc this is the one that will do it for you.
 Highly recommended to those you seek to explore the innermost nooks and crannies of their brain.

Angel 'in Heavy Syrup - III ( 1995)

 

Angel'in Heavy Syrup was an all-female Japanese psychedelic rock band formed in 1990 in Osaka. Emerging from the Japanese noise rock scene, they were influenced by krautrock bands such as Amon Düül II, but drew primarily from psychedelic and progressive rock, resulting in their characteristic ethereal neo-psychedelic sound. After the release of their last album in 2002, the band appears to have fallen into indefinite hiatus status.
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5.0 out of 5 stars.... Heavy, twisted, and oh so gorgeous....

This album is truly beautiful. Heavy sonics and way spaced grooves with ethereal femal vocals. All the songs are sung in japanese. The singing is stunning, and these long jammy tunes are the perfect backdrop. Highly reccomended to anyone who enjoys psychedelic music at all.

Angel 'in Heavy Syrup - IV ( 1999 )

 

 The group remained quiet for nearly half a decade after their third album, finally returning with Angel’in Heavy Syrup IV in late 1999. Takahara was gone, and as if to admit that they’re incapable of keeping a steady drummer, her replacement Naoko Otani is credited as a guest musician. Their first album to be released simultaneously in Japan and the United States, the beautifully packaged Angel’in Heavy Syrup IV was also the first to feature English translations of Itakura’s Japanese lyrics in the liner notes.
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My Brother The Wind - Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet (2010)

  My Brother The Wind, a band consisting of Anekdoten’s Nicklas Barker, Makajodama’s Mathias Danielsson, and Magnolia’s Ronny Eriksson and Tomas Eriksson, made and brilliant achievement that would probably make even the worst pessimist believe in the impossible.

Our readers followers might know that we hade two separate interviews with the MBTW duo Nicklas Barker / Mathias Danielsson, where they have been telling us about the band’s background, its influences and other details.

These 4 guys have in succeeded harnessing the raw and wild energy of jamming and turn it into something that is going to be considered one of the high points of the genre in 2010.

Musically, hearing these six songs again and again is truly no passive experience. Certainly you will find in their performance a quality that forces you to listen carefully. At the other side, you can’t know what’s coming next,

Asterix (Pre Lucifer's Friend) 1970

Asterix was a direct predecessor of Lucifer's Friend; released one (eponymous) album in 1970. Technically, this was the first Lucifer's Friend album, only under a different name. Also, one single was released featuring a slightly altered line-up, without John's involvement.
Peter Hesslein began his musical career way back in 1963 with a band called the Giants. Peter Hecht and Dieter Horns were both members of a group known as the German Bonds, from 1965 onwards. Peter Hesslein joined the Bonds in 1968 which survived until 1970. At this point the various members took up the study of graphic design in an attempt to forge more sensible careers.

Amon Duul II - 1981-Vortex

 

Three years after audiences left them for dead (after the abysmal and best-forgotten ONLY HUMAN), the Düül return with a surprisingly vital reformation effort in VORTEX. The lineup this time: Karrer, Knaup, Rogner, Fichelscher (he and Renate were members of the then-current lineup of Popol Vuh) and Jörg Evers (on bass), with guest appearances by John Weinzierl, Lothar Meid and...er...Stefan Zauner (relegated to playing keyboards, mercifully not contributing to the songwriting).

Amon Duul II - Pyragony X - 1976

 

Amon Duul II's worst album is still a good album.

Although ADII evolved quite a bit throughout their lifespan, I would not say that they ever progressed. They simply changed from psychadelic krautrock to accessible pop/rock with experimental and psychadelic tendencies...and the evolution is evident from album to album. While songs may differ largely in overall excellence, every track this band ever recorded is easily enjoyable, that is to say they never made a bad song or album. If Pyragony X were my introduction to ADII, I may have been more hesitant to immediately consume all they have to offer, but such was not the case.

Amon Düül II 1973 Utopia [rem 2000] progrock ,Krautrock

 

Here's another Amon Duul II (?!) album - oh, wait a minute - it could be a Lothar Meid solo effort - or, Utopia !! I remember seeing LP's of this lumped in with others by Todd Rundgren's band of the same name - same prices as those common records, too. The songs on this album sound very close to ADII, and the quality is as good. I don't understand why this release isn't favoured here at PA, it features many of the traits which made the 'Mothership' so exciting. The first track 'What You Gonna Do' is a straight-ahead rocker, with Renate Knaup singing, always nice to hear her distinctive voice. 'Wolf-Man Jack Show' is a weird song, with Jimmy Jackson at the mysterious 'Choir Organ' (giving off a stranger sound than Mellotron choirs), which he actually utilised on many tracks to good effect. The Bass riff here is almost snatched straight from Beatlers' 'Come Together', played German style. 'Alice' is a sweet love song. The tune itself is care-free and up-lifting, and has Lothar playing Mellotron flutes. I can't help but be reminded of Kevin Ayers on this one. 'Las Vegas' is a hippy-sounding jam with congas, jazzy sax playing and a nose-flute !!

Amon Düül - Collapsing Singvögel Rückwärts & Co (1969)

 

Amon Düül biography
Amon 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.

Amon Düül - Paradieswarts 1970 [rep 1997]

 Paradieswaerts Duul is a primitive folk album that dwells in about the same region as the Velvet Underground's third album and Love's Forever Changes, but not as complicated as either of these releases. The album contains only three songs. "Love is Peace" is a beautiful 17 minute long piece that as Julian Cope notes in his Krautrocksampler, bares resemblance to "Sandoz in the Rain" on (Amon Duul II's)Yeti and not much else. This is also true of the third song on the Paradieswaerts Duul, "Paramechanische Welt". Straddled between these two is a guitar and drum instrumental "Snow Your Thurst and Sun Your Open Mouth". In its totality its a beautiful tranquil album that doesn't belong in our modern society. It certainly isn't rock, but it is Amon Duul at their most stunningly beautiful.