IN DEN GÄRTEN PHARAOS

I am completely bewildered as to why POPOL VUH only released two electronic albums? This was their second (and final) electronic album, before Florian Fricke decided to turn to religion (Christianity and Hinduism) and away from electronics (I can't figure out why his religious conversions caused him to suddenly hate synthesizers?) and to the piano, with totally new lineup and musical direction.

Now let's get with "In den Gärten Pharoas". In the grand tradition of many Krautrock greats of the era: ASH RA TEMPEL, SCHULZE, TANGERINE DREAM, etc., this album consists of only two side-length cuts. Side one is the title track, in which Fricke's Moog dominates. Mainly it's just electronics and percussion, not going too far off to many of their contemporaries. I can actually see why Fricke lended a hand in TANGERINE DREAM's "Zeit". The music ends with the use of electric piano. Then you have "VUH", largely a SCHULZE-style experiment of droning organ that gets extremely intense with tons of percussion, and Fricke's Moog surfacing. If you never heard this album, and you kept wondering why Florian Fricke was one of the electronic pioneers, but all you ever heard from the guy was him hating electronics, you simply have to look to their pre- "Hosianna Mantra" output and find synthesizers very dominant. Whatever Fricke said of his dislikes of electronics came after his religious conversion. Anyway, "In den Gärten Pharoas" is a recommended album for those who enjoy the early '70s electronic Krautrock scene.