Krautrock - Cosmic Price Guide

 

There are some things that don't make sense about this music scene ... and some that do make sense ... and no one talks about it.

 

-- The more obvious one, is Tim Leary in the AshRaTempel album. MG has never said anything about it ... although I am inclined to believe that Tim is there only in quote, not person ... a few of his words are actually very important ... "get into the vibes of the music" ... is actually a very sensible and with it statement about the kind of thing that krautrock started ... but DID NOT finish ... when it went "pop music" instead of having stayed with their original concept, which was a much more interesting artistic creation that explorered a lot more than it opined. One could say that these folks graduated ... to what? making money? Ok ... then it's not about the music? ... but yes ... you and I do have to buy some food and pay for a roof on our heads ... that is understood.

 

Being the same age, and I was "there" ... in the West Coast, things were not ... as hip ... Tim Leary was, and remained a freak with some far out opinions. At UCSB no one even gave a dang about him ... too many people around me were more interested in the next butt and toke than they were in anything else ... specially meaning of any kind other than a selfish mode desire ... get laid ... And sometimes I think that he was a sort of "idol" that stood there and justified an experiment in "self analysis" .... which could also be done via drugs, dreams or visions ... another person/teacher not needed ... or required.

 

-- Amon Duul stuff ... they never discuss much their commune days ... the upside of it was that in those days they had some free form flow to their music that made their albums even better ... in later times it was just a "pop song" with an eccentric and strange edge to it. So .. the "free form" ended with the commune? That is a drastic reaction is it not? Or maybe someone was tired of sleeping with so many people? ... that is acceptable!

 

For all the "learning" ... including being around at least one actor and a film maker ... in the end, it seems that the past was written off. A bit weird ....

 

It was a nice album, for example ... to hear "Nada Moonshine" ... but one could hardly feel as inspired as one did with "Yeti" or "Dance of the Lemmings" ... or "Wolf City" ... and I think that the breaking point came right after .... the song "Apocalyptic Bore" ... in the album "Vive La Trance" ... the band decided on pop songs ... end of story and music!

 

There must have been some friction in the band within, and some of it related to Renate ... it was strange to see her sing like this and that and show anger on one side and then go lala with Popol Vuh ... and the band totally ignoring that part ... with the exception of a few digs at New Age stuff in the Nada Moonshine album ... or maybe the loosey girls song is about that ...

 

-- The connections to the art school/s. Nowadays it seems that everyone trashes the past ... it wasn't worth it, and it's gone. This is very fashionable with Schulze, Mueller and many others ... their very own learning and development notwithstanding of course! Many of these folks were actually students in at least one important school of music and art.

 

-- Influences. There rarely is a discussion, or sentiment about what got them to play the stuff they did ... I always thought that AD2 had more Zappa and JAirplane (with some Doors thrown in) in it, than they did themselves! ... at least Zappa did not always repeat himself and AD2 didn't either ... so that is a compliment.

 

-- What really happened in 1974 when the Stones and Zeppelin got the 100 million and 1,000 European bands were dumped from promotions, delivery and development. Many of those musicians really fell apart after that when they should have united and fought back ... their victory only came 25 years later when the Internet did what should have been done before ... and leave the music conglomerates complaining that their CD sales are down ... with sh*t music ... why not?

 

-- More and more ... how much did Branson rip off TD? We know that at least one band is still after him ... and he was important in delivering Tangerine Dream ... but he was also instrumental in killing the smaller acts ... and take care of his own bollocks ... ooopppps balloons!

 

-- The film and music connection. We know that Herzog was close to the Popol Vuh family ... and he made them look good too! Not to mention that the music also gave his films a wonderful glow ... try playing Aguirre without the music ... it is not the same film! You gotta be kidding me  ... this is the only one? Nobody else thought film was fun and fine and good?

 

-- The theater connection. AD/AD2 had the connection at the start ... and they obviously broke away from it. What is weird is that there is no discussion/connection between the likes of Peter Weiss or Peter Handke and some other playwrights of the time ... that were expanding the boundaries of the stage ... Handke did endup doing a couple of things with Wim Wenders ... who also used a Can song or two in at least one of his films ... but otherwise ... it is bizarre since Handke's plays are almost completely symmetrical to ... to ... a Faust record ... it is almost the same concept ... albeit the Handke example has to be more focused into a theatrical performance (that is ... a beginning, middle and an end -- conventional theater) ... than Faust had to in an album or performance. But the acting exercises required to learn and do a Pinter, an Ionesco, a Handke ... is something that many musicians could use to help them get rid of "rock'n'roll" theories and existential musical concepts ... and all the music could create was Scorpions? Bizarre!!! to say the least.

 

-- AD2-Scorpions connection ... friendship or slaps? In Apocaliptic Bore, the song is about a magnificent time that no longer is ... and it ends with a massive blow out jam with a guitar and violin going absolutely off the scale in one of the best written rock anthems ever ... and one of the most important ... Scorpions in what appears to be a couple of weeks later ... did "Fly to the Rainbow". the title cut seemingly is a finger to the AD2 song ... it is also a massively well done guitar explosion/duet in the end just like the song by AD2 .... and aside from the  fact that Scorpions only did pop music for radio ... at least we know that AD2 copied this time ... they did the same after that ... no more long cuts!

 

-- TD ... well, there is not much else that can be added here ... but it would be nice to see/hear Edgar say a little more and be a bit kinder to his legacy.

 

-- AshRaTempel/Klaus Schulze ... weird to hear Klaus say that this was kid stuff ... and they were probably too stoned to know the difference ... through it all Klaus kept his electronic raga concept alive ... much better than anyone else mind you ... which added to his integrity and desire ... but in many ways ... also alienated the rest of the folks around him ...

 

And then there is the book "From Music to the Self" by Peter Michael Hamel ... and you should read the attacks on everyone's music disguised as an intelectual/academic discussion ....