TONE FLOAT

Officially named ORGANISATION ZUR VERWIRKLUNG GEMEINSAMER MUSIKKONZEPTE ( Organization for the Realization of Shared Music Concepts ) but sensibly shortened to ORGANISATION, this early Krautrock band from Düsseldorf is best known as the launching pad for Ralf Hütter and Florian Scheider who would shortly go on to form Kraftwerk. While basically their band, ORGANISATION which existed from only 1969 to 1970 was formed after Hütter and Schneider met at the Robert Schumann Hochschule where they found a common interest in the experimental rock scene that was blossoming in Germany. It's true this band would probably not be as well known as it is if not for Ralf and Florian future success with the later synthesized robot-pop sounds of Kraftwerk but as far as early Krautrock albums go, this one is quite unique.

While Kraftwerk is known as a pioneer for electronic music, ORGANISATION was definitely riding on the wave of the 60s psychedelic rock craze and was on the cutting edge of jettisoning the pop and blues aspects of much of the 60s rock in favor of a more astral and ethereal journey into the world of Krautrock. The band featured Hütter on organ, Scheider on flute, percussion and violin, Basil Hammoudi (glockenspiel, percussion, music box, voice), Buch Hauf (bass, percussion) and Fred Monicks (drums, percussion.) The band's existence was brief however they managed to squeak out one album titled TONE FLOAT which emerged in August of 1970 just a few months before the band broke up and Kraftwerk was born and released its debut in November of the same year.

Like many of the early Krautrock pioneers, ORGANISATION delivered sprawling improvisational jamming sessions that built off the principle of the most psychedelic features of early pioneers such as Pink Floyd and added new flavors and stylistic approaches to the mix. This album features five tracks with an unusual number of percussive instruments churning along at any given moment. The drumming and percussion provides a large swatch of the soundscape on TONE FLOAT and offers a rhythm section akin to Latin jazz only accompanied by ethereal organ runs and busy flute performances. Other instruments such as the violin and glockenspiel come and go but the percussion-rich infusion of drums, bongos, maracas, cowbells, bells and even a triangle keep this one from completely escaping the Earth's gravitational pull and drifting out into the cosmos. The album found Krautrock legend Conny Plank sitting in the producer's chair which surely allowed the production techniques to expand further than if the band had self-produced.

At this point in time most Krautrock was trying to exude the most kosmische escapist's paradise possible and in that regard ORGANISATION succeeded in crafting a galactic journey through sound that isn't worried about the destination but rather simply engaged in the journey of getting there. The title track is by far the most dreamy and Krautish of the lot as it drifts on for almost 21 minutes of time while the following shorter tracks such as "Milk Rock" feature a more proto-punk style of bass thumping that in a very faint way points to the future of Kraftwerk however this track remains trippy with an exotic Eastern flair that offers oriental musical scales and more "normal" rock drumming with some hefty tom-toms. The flute is also unhinged on this one as it is the lead instrument. Once again the organ runs offer the true psychedelic frosting on the cake and overall it's a pretty weird track as the flute sounds like a muffled voice at times. This track also would provide the scaffolding of the Krautwerk track "Ruckzuck" which would appear on its debut album.

"Silver Forest" returns to a dark kosmische ambience only with a busy percussive drive and an ethereal use of organ sounds with echoey effects. "Rhythm Salad" begins with oscillating sounds that make you think of a UFO hovering by but soon becomes a percussion orgy with various percussive runs offering a tapestry of contrapuntal rhythms that ends in a climactic drum solo. No other instruments to be heard on this one. The album ends with "Noitasinagro," which brings the band back to kosmische freakery. Slow building with the organ gradually usurping domination, the track is fueled by a chilled out bass groove and then eventually joined by a moody violin.

While many may check this album out simply for the Kraftwerk connections, personally i find TONE FLOAT to be an exhilarating slice of early Krautrock based on its own merits. Ralph and Florian certainly had a clear idea where the world of Krautrock was heading and crafted some interesting early kosmische gems with the addition of a hefty percussion section which set it apart from virtually any other Kraut band of the era. Evoking the spaciest aspects of Amon Duul II along with the psychedelic freakery of "Saucerful Of Secrets" era Pink Floyd, ORGANISATION certainly could have gone on to construct even more brilliant displays of the trippiest and most out there side of Krautrock but that was not meant to be. After this album's release the band would be no more and Ralf and Florian would quickly recruit a new team to record and release the Kraftwerk debut just a few months later. The rest is history. If you come to this one NOT expecting anything remotely connected to the future world of Kraftwerk you and you love hypnotic astral journeys through sounds then you might like this one as much as i do!