BRÖSELMASCHINE

Very solid Prog Folk from Germany. This album is remarkable for its clarity of sound production and for the amazing vocal arrangements and performances--and in English!

1. "Gedanken" (5:06) blues folk oriented and fairly simply arranged but masterfully executed and with wonderful vocals--male lead, female lead, and harmony vocals. (9.5/10)

2. "Lassie" (traditional) (5:06) a kind of average though remarkably clear rendition of a traditional folk song. (8/10)

3. "Gitarrenstuck" (2:03) a guitar duet with choir background vocals. The AMERICA-like mid-section is quite gorgeous. (5/5)

4. "The Old Man's Song" (5:26) guitar based but then electric guitars, congas and flutes join in and shift things. Female lead vocal is presented as if added in at the last minute. Nothing too special or innovative here. (8/10)

5. "Schmetterling" (9:31) sitar, zither, tabla, steel-string acoustic guitars fill the first two minutes before the German spoken voice of Jenni Schücker enters for a minute. Then it returns to instrumental. Guitars and, later, flutes do most of the work until the 5:00 mark when Jenni returns only in a vocalise form emulating or mimicking the flute and the rhythm patterns of the tabla. Then she stops (as does the tabla) and we're left with a solo from a strumming guitar. Flute and tabla return and then the final 90 seconds are filled by Mellotron-supported sitar in support of the flute melodist and tabla and guitar. Nice song. (17.5/20)

6. "Nossa Bova" (8:06) gentle finger-played acoustic guitar opens this one before tremoloed zither joins in. In the second minute hand percussion joins in as guitar and zither go their separate ways (both still playing, though). Reverbed voice enters at the 2:45 mark as Jenni sings a pretty, whimsical hippie lyric. Metallophone solo follows to fill out the fifth minute. The song has some timing/cohesion issues, otherwise it's pretty nice and very transportative. I'm rating it high because of its desirable, nostalgic "feel good" feel. (14/15)

Total Time: 35:18

Though not the most sophisticated or complex musical compositions, incredible sound reproduction (except for Jenni's vocal tracks), clear and pure voice and instrument arrangements of simple song constructs win the day. Truly an unusual and exceptional album for its time.

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of Prog Folk.