COTTONWOODHILL

BRAINTICKET's debut album is perhaps one of the most psychedelic recordings of all time (and also one I do enjoy). Led by Swiss keyboard wizard Joel Vandroogenbroeck, BRAINTICKET will space you out beyond belief. "Cottonwood Hill" is loaded with acid laced guitar solos, heavy forboding organ screeches and loads of psychedelic influenced lyrics and vocals. The uninitiated should recognize that the title song BRAINTICKET Part 1 & 2 does have a major repetitive chorus which although I find perfectly psychedelic may trouble others out there. Like all good prog rock, BRAINTICKET explore a vast array of music here and move from funk-like beats to heavy west-coast acid-freaked-out psychedelia. To sum it all up is to simply say that if your into the psychedelia then BRAINTICKET is your long lost grandfather.

A very repetitive album with a weird female moaning and yelling random stuff. Still, all the random noises and long, drawn out guitar solos make this album worth while and I think the first song is one of the sickest psychedelic songs ever. In fact, this album is probably the most psychedelic cd ever, next to all those Hawkwind and Cosmic Joker cds. I would reccommend this cd to anyone who wants to trip without actually taking any drugs, seriously, this cd is out there!!!

Perhaps one of the most radical recordings I've got in my collection. This is basically a different BRANTICKET with just flutist/organist Joël Vandroogenbroeck the only person in common with all their following albums. Even percussionist Barney Palm isn't present. You get future members of a band called TOAD, as well as Dawn Muir. The first two cuts, seem pretty tame. You get "Black Sand" which is an instrumental piece with organ. "Places of Light" features more great organ work, while Dawn Muir spouts out some psychedelic poetry. Nothing too much more radical than the prog and psych you expect from the time. But it's the other 2/3 of the album, entitled "Brainticket" that justifies the radical nature of the album. It's basically one fuzz organ riff repeated over and over with Dawn Muir under a serious psychedelic orgasm, tons and tons of electronic effects, sounds of jackhammers, electronic sirens that never lets up.

My mother thought I was completely out of my mind for listening to this, and she was used to hearing some of my other more radical albums like TANGERINE DREAM's "Zeit". This experience obviously broke the band up. Several of the other guys went and joined future Island (as in the 1977 prog album Pictures) guy Benjamin Jäger and formed the more conventional hard rock band TOAD, while Vandroogenbroeck simply assembled a new BRAINTICKET, and gave us "Psychonaut" which was a reaction against "Cottonwoodhill". Of course, "Cottonwoodhill" will not be to everyone's taste, I don't recommend this around children, or anyone with a weak stomach. But for those who want something outrageous, get this album.

Although I can admit liking this album , I am very cautious about recommending those crazy Swiss to other progheads. Mostly because of the psychic and very repetitive nature of this album. Actually two third of the vinyl are dedicated to one riff slowly evolving but still staying put (to the point of becoming minimalistic) and strange vocals sometimes reaching orgasmic levels but never realling reaching cosmic heights. Actually my fave tracks are the first two that are for the average proghead worthy of their attention , but as I said approach the last three (actually one track in three section) with care, this may put off more than one symphonic fan . The mainman from Brainticket is Joel Vandroogenbroeck is a Swiss madman with a Dutch name that might translate as "from the dry river" , this might be prophetic for his music.

May I suggest to you if you are interested in investigating this album , you might want to prepare a big fat doobie in preview to hearing this. Believe me , it helps.

This is one of the coolest psychedelic albums I ever listened, but it is not for the faint- hearted. First two songs, "Black Sand" and "Places Of Light" are wonderful mini- masterpieces, but the remaining title track is an experimental and noisy hotch-potch, driven by the repetitive organ chord and sound effects. The legend goes that the breaking glass and police alarm sounds were an accurate, documentary record of an actual drugstore robbery by a group of junkies, but I can't remember whether it was true or just a teenage fanboy imagination. Nonetheless, this theory sounds sympathetic and if you got strong guts, you may get to appreciate this crazy trip. Hammond organ is the signature sound of this album while the cover design says it all: approach with caution! (I can't remember exactly, but there was a sticky label on the record cover warning potential listeners that "after listening to this record your friends will not recognize you anymore" or something like that). Consume in small portions, after a proper meal!

My brother in law introduced me to this Swiss Krautrock band. He's very much into the experimental side of music, enjoying Rio, Zeuhl, Krautrock and Psychedelic bands. Sean Trane is right, it would really help if you were stoned when listening to this album especially the "Brainticket" suite that makes up 3/4 of this record.

Things get started with "Black Sand" my favourite track on the album. The organ and guitar trade solos on and off throughout while a steady almost funky beat is unrelenting. Processed vocals arrive before a scorching guitar solo. "Places Of Light" features guitar melodies and flute. The organ comes flying in and bass after a minute. This contrast continues. More processed vocals but this time they are female. "Brainticket (Part One)" opens with loud crashing noises, as samples of sirens and other sounds come and go. The beat is groovy and it continues throughout this whole suite. Female vocals come in speaking at the 5 minutes mark. She sounds desperate and does so for the 1 1/2 she's talking. One of her lines is "Did you hear me touch you with my eyes."

"Brainticket (Part One Conclusion)" continues with the same melody, as more samples arrive. She's screaming now while spacey sounds blow in. Some of the samples include people cheering, a monkey yelling and part of Beethoven's Fifth. "Brainticket (Part Two)" continues with the same beat. I'm surprised these three parts of the "Brainticket" suite don't just blend into each other, but they don't as each part has a silent space in between. Anyway she starts talking again for 2 1/2 minutes. This is not easy to listen to, she's freaking crazy ! A man then repeats the word "Brainticket" over and over. She's back briefly 7 1/2 minutes in and then we get more sampled sounds before she returns 11 minutes in. More sampled sounds like a car crashing and an explosion to pretty much end it.

Yes this is a very experimental and psychedelic record to say the least. It's the woman's vocal style and voice that's a little hard to take. I still highly recommend this as it's legendary in Krautrock circles.

What a trip! - an acid soaked adventure.

BRAINTICKET's debut album as a great psychedelic kraut record full of mind bending experimentation (if not structually), it's particularly great if you're in the mood for it but it has to be acknowledged that it's certainly not for everyone and is very much a love it or hate it affair. The primary reason for this is that the songwriting is fairly primitive in that all the songs are generally one riff or progression with various instrumentation and vocal wailings over the top which isn't a bad thing at all because it perfectly suits the music.

The album starts with my favourite song 'Black Sand' with a pounding rhyhthmic drum and bass section with great organ and guitar wailing over the top and heavily effected vocals over the top. 'Places of Light' is more of the same this time with more of funky foundation and some female vocals. The three part 'Brainticket' will either make or break the album for you, it's pretty much the same riff over all 3 parts (and what a riff) with paranoid frantic female spoken word craziness (she sounds like she's about to climax) and all kinds of effects and samples over the top, a great soundtrack of an acid trip.

Cottonwoodhill is not for the faint of heart you'll either love it or hate it, in my case I love it, I think it's a great psychedelic album for chilling out, fans of kraut and psychedelia should definitely check this out.

A debut with ups and downs ...

A krautrock band from Switzerland headed by the Belgian Joel Vandroogenbroeck. Sounds interesting and makes curious. 'Cottonwoodhill' is the first album of this band from 1971 and psychedelic acid krautrocked more than anything. Just have a look at the cover art for some time. A unique remarkable element is the appearance of distorted male and female vocals during the complete album.

Compared to the title song the album starts relatively innocent but still excellent with Black Sand. Against a simple bass and drum background we have some deformed male vocals. Especially the guitar and organ contributions are the finest expressing a heavy rocking touch a little bit. The following impressive Places of Light is nearly in the same vein - mellow, with flute and some weird female recitatives. This was BRAINTICKET playing on the safe side.

The title song - divided in three parts - now appears as the ultimate acid trip - rough, unpolished. Repetitive guitar and organ chords for 26 minutes combined with sound experiments. The band must have produced lots of broken porcelain and glass for the recordings by the way. Enraptured female vocals by Dawn Muir - sometimes shrill sometimes whispering. Produced with the help of some pills I'm quite sure - and really enjoyable for the complete length only with the help of some pills too.

A cult album for sure and good enough to be recommended - but not a masterpiece. On this occasion the complete Brainticket trip is turned out too long, too exaggerative and less expressive according to my taste - 3 stars for a debut are nothing to get disappointed about and some more albums are following.

Brainticket released their first classes in savage free form psych/ space rock before to engage themselves into more synthesised soundworlds. This first album is without any doubt one of the most tripped out album released during this early 70's krautrock period. It presents an astonishing collection of fuzzy-harmonised-damaged acid songs. Black Sand opens with a screaming-nervous psychedelic song with fuzzed out guitar tricks, vintage groovy organs. A mighty composition. Places of Light is a beatific-acid folk ballad dominated by ethereal dancing flutes and epic organs. Supreme stuff and totally improvised. Brainticket part 1 is a provocative, delirious association of collage sounds. Brainticket part 2 launches the listener into an eternal, obsessionaly repetitive acid (almost funky) groove. Definitely recommended before to go to their ultimate masterpiece Psychonaut. A classic of the genre.

This was the very first Krautrock record I ever heard and also one of my favourites. After this I couldn't get enough of the stuff. A lot of Krautrock is rather hit and miss, especially in the late seventies and I think Brainticket went the same way. Cottonwoodhill must have been mindblowing stuff in 1971. It's very unusual and not like other music from that time. Nurse With Wound liked this one so much that in 1984 they ripped off an entire side of the record with a song called Brained by Falling Masonry which is basically the same track as Brainticket parts 1&2 on this record, with Clint Ruin of Foetus adding some great vocals. Certainly the wackiest of all the Brainticket albums, it features a crazy, spaced out female vocalist named Dawn Muir who sounds about ready to collapse in a heap or fall flat on her face. Brilliant! There are lots of effected guitar, funky bass and freaky organ playing throughout, as well as some laid back flute. It appeals to me in all the right ways - much more than the proceeding albums which were lame in comparison, although Psychonaut and Celestial Ocean are still good in a different sounding way. You know, for a Swiss band, Dawn Muir sounds very English which is probably a good thing as that's the language she rants in on this album. Ahhh! I remember having snowball fights in the back garden in 2006 with this playing in the background. Good memories. The front cover kind of sums this record up. A lot of folk might find it a bit too weird. Oh, and it's great for cycling to as well, as it's all quite upbeat. Great stuff.

Well what a trip this one is...

That seems to be the general point everyone is putting across here. Cottonwoodhill is a lot of things, and none of them are "normal", whatever passes for normal these days. All I know is that this album is NOT normal. What it is though, is very fun, and probably one of the most psychedelic albums ever recorded.

The album starts off kind of deceptively. The first two tracks, while still psychedelic and just a bit off center, are close enough to "normal" to please most listeners. Both of them have some great rhythm/groove going on. The acid really kicks in on Brainticket Part One, though, and doesn't let up until the end of the album. The whole Brainticket epic is based around a repetitive organ/guitar riff and some backing percussion, and along with these we've got Dawn Muir excitedly spouting some sort of drugged-up nonsense over everything and crazy samples of everything from broken glass to Beethoven. I was turned onto this album thanks to Part One being available to listen to here...I listened to it over and over and over again, just loving the way the whole thing grooved along. It was only preparation for the true adventure of listening to the whole piece, though. This epic really messes with your head if you let it. Listening to it through headphones is especially fun...it's kind of like being half asleep and hallucinating.

If you're looking for one of the most bizarrely psychedelic albums ever recorded which still (usually) sounds like music, I highly recommend this one. It's definitely a divisive album, as I'm sure a lot of people will really hate it, but it's a minor Krautrock legend in my mind.

Cottonwoodhill is a delirious psych experience from Switzerland. The album has some of the furthest out-there hallucinatory music of the early 70s, and while not part of the Kraut movement, the music is certainly Kraut enough in style to be listed as such.

The first two tracks are the most conventional in form, offering heavy acid rock with a clear nod to the 60's. Great stuff. The more delirious side of the band can be found on the 26 minute Brainticket suite which is absolutely stunning for 10 minutes but rather boring for the remainder of it's duration. The funky organ loop and accompanying guitar strumming is absolutely brilliant but it doesn't build up. The song plays all of its cards right from the start and by the time the 'Conclusion' of part 1 starts the fun is over. The band continues to add interesting layers of cosmic sounds, samples and drugged female vocals but the harm is done. I've lost the groove and groove is what this track is all about.

An interesting obscurity but not one you should seek out unless you're in need of a musical surrogate for illegal hallucinatory substances.

My first Brainticket album. I love the hypnotic organ play of Joel Vandroogenbroeck--and the sexy vocal performances of Dawn Muir. I find the constant influx of incidentals parading in and out of the soundscapes highly entertaining--loving to imagine what was going on in the studio ( and in Joel's mind) at the time. Even the long repetitiveness of the band's signature piece--all three parts--are enjoyable (they always pass so quickly!) What I would consider a signature piece of the whole Krautrock music movement--especially in keeping to its true original essence of Kosmische Musik or "Cosmic Music". While not essential, and not even great (especially due to its 34 minute length and sometimes questionable or even shoddy sound engineering) but it is definitely capturing the essence of the burgeoning experimental drug-induced "cosmic" music scene occurring in Germanic states. It is well worth hearing--you'll probably smile and enjoy yourself.

Taking the idea of the psychedelic freakout album to its logical extreme, the debut album by Brainticket distinguishes itself from the competition through its sheer uncompromising devotion to being as bizarre as possible. To the reverbed vocals on opener Black Sand to the trancelike rhythms and orgasmic muttering of the epic title track, the band takes all the most extreme ideas from the psychedelic and krautrock scenes as they existed at the time, mashed them together, cranked all the dials to 11 and played like crazy. The result is an album which you probably won't want to return to very often, but which will certainly stay with you and is well worth a listen for anyone interested in the freaky end of psychedelia.

Producing the kind of freaked-out sounds that makes most other psychedelia seem tame and mundane in comparison, European outfit Brainticket are often bracketed under the far-reaching 'krautrock' banner, though truth be told any categorisation is missing the point. Led by Belgian flautist Joel Vandroogenbroeck and featuring members from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Brainticket's debut 'Cottonwoodhill' was issued on the Germany Bellaphon label(home to the likes of Nektar) in 1971, encompassing a multi-coloured mixture of disparate elements ranging from ethnic folk, raga-rock, experimental sound collages, warped jazz, metallic fuzz-pop and retro-electronica. It's a decidedly mixed bag of tricks, yet a surprisingly potent one too featuring a wonderfully distinct sound that takes several listens to truly appreciate, yet appreciate you will once you have adjusted your ears to the jerky rhythms, cosmic effects and warped soundscapes that make up this singular slice of hardcore European psychedelic eclecto-rock. The trick seems to be simply a case of throwing virtually every musical idea in the pot and seeing what happens, with brazen, feedback-drenched proto-punk passages('Black Sand') melded somewhat skilfully onto grazing rock riffs('Brainticket Part 1') and occasional moments of celestial calm'(Brainticket Part 3'), only with tabla's, sitars, anaogue synths, exotic percussion, demented guitar solo's and odd, moaning vocals(if you can call them that) thrown in for extra brain-frying effect. Imagine bedroom alien-rock architects Chrome jamming with freak-folk exponents Comus whilst Kraftwerk are having an epileptic fit in the corner, and you may just get an idea of what Brainticket are about. One of those albums(and groups) that needs to be heard to (dis)believed, it doesn't get more adventurous or bizarre than this.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

I love the hammond organ. It is the instrument of choice for me. When it is distorted and thumping away or when it is soothing and relaxing, gentle and loving. It does not matter. The organ. The word alone gives me shockwaves of delight.

On the wings of the organ I can suffer much and plenty. Having said that I must admit to sort of liking Brainticket's first album. The organ is omnipresent and really distorted. "Black sand" is quite a nice track. The vocals merge together with the organ in a very scary but fascinating way. Although... The presence of organ does in fact do little to warm my heart to this kind of music.

By large it is a collection of droning, so-called mind exppanding noise and uttter fury which in my ears leave little room for shifts in moods and texture and it gives me no rest at all. This is scary stuff. It is demented, twisted and very special, I have to say. I suppose that there are similarities to bands like Faust and Can etc but unlike the latter I only feel intimidated and uneasy by Brainticket's Cottonwoodhill. It sounds to my ears like a long nightmare without an end and that is not really entertaining or enjoyable.

The plus sides of the album, to speak of those, are the sort of unique ability to create music that is dark as the darkest darkness (plus-dark, as it would read in 1984) and scary like few black metal band have ever been able to. Whle this has nothing to do with black metal, it's scaryness lies in the dark and twisted sounds and noises made. No, the album does not lack melody or structure but it is, to me, simply a long droning experience. If you like this kind of music I suppose that this would be your cup of tea but to me it is simply unintelligable, though I recognize their plight and effort. I can even appreciate them for it.

So, how to rate it? I really do not know. On the basis of the plus sides, and avoiding my own and personal view, it would be rated four stars. I will however rate it from my perspective and that leaves me no choice but to award this scary pit of dark despair two stars. To me it is an overrated piece of noodling and an exercise in droning. Sorry!

Forget about those lame Parental Advisory labels. The first Brainticket LP actually had the following caution printed directly on its rear sleeve: "Only listen once a day to this record. Your brain might be destroyed! Hallelujah Records takes no responsibility."

Pure P.T. Barnum claptrap, of course. But unwary consumers should still approach the album with care, because there's more at risk here than the tender contents of your skull. Consider the possible damage to clothing, furniture, and any remaining shred of dignity after you simultaneously void your bowels, flush your bladder, and begin bleeding from every other orifice while enjoying this lunatic musical experience. And yes, enjoyment is the correct word.

The album opens with two songs almost designed to lull you into a false sense of security: a pair of mildly psychedelic funk grooves with polite stoner poetry ("Your mind will ache to be carried off in her silver light / pain will fill your being as you devour the beauty that evades your control...") Go ahead and laugh, but the words foreshadow the unrestrained mayhem waiting just around the corner, in the two-part, three-sectioned title suite, spread like a virus over the remaining one-and-a- half sides of vinyl.

The track opens, appropriately, with a loud crash and the siren of an emergency response vehicle, closely followed by one of the grungiest Hammond organ riffs ever heard on Planet Earth. That nervous, jerky keyboard rhythm will repeat for 25-minutes, functioning like an anchor for a dizzy array of random sound effects: alarm bells, raucous laughter, breaking dishware, vigorous tooth- brushing (complete with gargling and spitting), freight trains, Gatling guns (or are they jack- hammers?), manic chimpanzees and, at the end of Part One, the heroic four-note orchestral fanfare to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. It isn't actually Krautrock, but where else would you put music like this, outside of a straightjacket?

And then there's Dawn Muir, the band's resident succubus: a lysergic Pandora opening the lid of her voice-box and unleashing a host of psychotropic demons upon an unsuspecting world.

Her performance (recited, not sung) is by turns seductive, menacing, funny, frightening, paranoid, ecstatic, and completely unhinged. I would love to have been a fly on the studio wall while the tapes were rolling and Ms. Muir was firing on all cylinders: whispering deep purple invitations, shouting brainwave non-sequiturs, hyperventilating on the edge of orgasm, and pleading (too late) for some return to sanity. Give her credit for holding nothing (repeat: nothing) back, least of all her unsteady grip on reality.

What it all adds up to is a unique but lopsided album, unbalanced to the point of near-collapse. The extended title track completely overwhelms the rest of the album, and likewise obliterates the band's entire subsequent discography, which can't help but sound tame by comparison. You may love the uninhibited self-indulgence, or you may hate the album for the exact same reason. But once heard it won't be soon forgotten, and there aren't many records able to make that claim.

There are some strange musical releases have emerged since the dawn of the recording industry but some are certainly stranger than others. It's always a fine balance, that is to find an utterly alien way of expressing oneself through the possibilities of sound and another matter completely to keep the alienating feel while adding just the right amount of elements that entice the listener to experience it unto completion. While formed in Switzerland with a diverse grouping of different European musicians, BRAINTICKET was the brainchild of Belgium born Joel Vandroogenbroeck whose study of classical and jazz went astray as the psychedelic 60s hit full force, leading him into temptation which ultimately led to the forbidden psychedelic fruit that led to his Krautrock infused band BRAINTICKET. The debut COTTONWOODHILL was famous in the psychedelic scene that the original LP sleeve carried the following warning: "After Listening to this Record, your friends may not know you anymore" and "Only listen to this once a day. Your brain might be destroyed!" While that may have been a nice gimmicky exaggeration and perhaps more true in the year 1971 when it was released, it does however portend to the listener that they are in for one demented, explorative and crazy piece of work.

By some COTTONWOODHILL is one of the trippiest records made of the era, however such claims are subjective of course depending which lysergic pastures one would graze in but unorthodox i believe is an adjective upon which everyone could agree and COTTONWOODHILL retains a distinct identity that sounds neither derivative nor copied decades after its release. It remains an utterly unique specimen tucked into myriad displays of psychedelic free form expression of the era. The album is essentially three tracks with the first two "Black Sand" and "Places Of Light" existing in a more "normal" plane of psychedelic and progressive rock that sounds like they could have even been playing on the stage of Austin Powers' warehouse in late 60s London. The tracks are surprisingly rooted in funk rock with a groovy bass, heavy drumbeat and prominent organ dominance with guitar licks adding the extra touch. While the album is filled with vocals, this isn't the normal type of vocal rock album as the vocals are never straightforward and directly sung. On the contrary they either emerge through the din of a processed electronic effect or are more commonly doled out in spoken narrative form especially by the psychotropic ranting freak outs of Dawn Muir.

While "Black Sand" is a heavy funk rocker, "Places Of Light" is light-hearted 60s sounding affair with Vandroogenbroeck cranking out pleasant flute melodies and keyboard runs. Muir begins her spoken word philosophical rants on this track and in a way the two openers are merely there to whet the appetite for the three part "Brainticket Suite" which takes up a whopping two thirds of the album and utilizes the same frantic groove for the majority of its duration. This groove is the combo effect of Vandroogenbroeck's hyperactive funk organ and the loop effect of Ron Bryer's guitar in sync with Werner Frohlich's slap bass guitar which serve as the anchoring foundation but pretty much everything else is fair game as everything from gargling water sounds, to atmospheric turbulence that sound like spaceships taking off to the seductive vocal rants of Dawn Muir come and go as the hypnotic groove creates a trancelike effect as all the accoutrements whizz on in a frantic flurry of activity. It is in effect an entertaining and skillfully crafted construction of order and chaos very much in sync with the visual imagery of the album artwork.

Upon my first experience of COTTONWOODHILL i was a little disappointed as i didn't find this as "trippy" as i had hoped it to be. There's something about the continuous and unrelenting groove loop that keeps this from taking me into the true lysergic lands of total escapism, but i have to keep reminding myself that this was 1971 when this came out and even so is still very much rooted in the 60s psychedelic scene that it was only a baby step removed from. It's better to look at this one as the mixing of not only the most psychedelic rock of the era but also of the ostinato musical elements that much of progressive rock was utilizing in order to allow various musicians to solo around. In this case, it's not the musicians who are doing the soloing but rather the sound effects, spoken word freak outs and collage of incessant swarms of noise that are the focus however the never changing groove loop with ever changing everything else is quite unsettling at first! While BRAINTICKET would continue to record with an ever changing lineup conquering new musical arenas with every release, COTTONWOODHILL sounds like no other, neither in their own canon or in any other band's for that matter. An utterly unique musical statement at the peak of psychedelic musical freedom. One that should be experienced to be believed :)