IRRLICHT

During the second half of the 1960s Germany lived with a music scene heavily influenced by American and English references. The records came with labels indicating the positions obtained in the charts of those countries and this was enough to attract the attention of the general public.    In the underground scene, the scene was quite different, several groups sought their own non-commercial musical identity and were influenced by artists and innovative scenes from other countries, such as the minimalism (repetition, variation of phrases, sequences) of the Americans Morton Subotnik, Terry Riley and Steve Reich or the emergence of the electroacoustic music of Pierre Schauffer, Edgar Varèse, Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage, based on the sound manipulation of magnetic tapes, natural or industrial noises, also influenced by the atonalism of the late 19th century, which ended up unfolding in two movements: Musique Concréte in France and Elektronische Musik in Germany.
   Within this scenario, several experimental groups were formed incorporating minimalist, electroacoustic, experimental, and lysergic references, since in rock, groups and musicians incorporated these references, such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Frank Zappa. 
   Klaus Schulze begins his musical experiments in groups like Psy Free between 67-69, then Tangerine Dream between 69-70 and finally Ash Ra Tempel between 70-71, but very quickly loses interest because of the difficulties and endless discussions about the directions, concepts and future approaches of the music of each group.    Irrlicht has great affinity with the concepts of the French Musique Concréte. It was composed using random recordings made by Klaus during rehearsals for the Colloquium Musica Orchestra and a modified organ, which, according to Klaus himself, broke down soon after the recordings. For its release, it ended up taking advantage of Edgar Froese's relationship with Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser, who was an executive at Ohr and a big betting enthusiast for experimental music artists, and who had released Tangerine Dream's Electronic Meditation on the label.    Irrlicht, in German, has the same meaning as will-o-the-wisp, jack-the-lantern, ignis fatuus, or in Portuguese fogo fátuo, which is that phenomenon of combustion of decomposition gases that occurs in places like swamps, marshes, garbage dumps, and even cemeteries, usually visible only at night.    Having said all this above, it is not so difficult to imagine the sound of the album, lots of organ, many recording effects, reverberation effects, orchestral insertions, and all permeated by a dark and highly dramatic ambience that develops throughout the tracks. 
   Guaranteed trip.

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