COTTONWOODHILL

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.