PLAMP

The oddly named PLAMP emerged from the Swiss town of Chur which is much more famous as the hometown of the macabre artist H.R. Giger of Alien and Necronomicon fame. The name of this band makes a bit more sense when you realize it's an anagram of the band's members, thus Peter, Louis, Andrea, Mario and Peter who took a cue from ABBA and decided the strange unflattering name PLAMP would do. You know, i think they should've chosen Chur instead!

One of many lost and forgotten examples of a prog rock band that released one album and called it a day, PLAMP formed in 1975 and stuck around until 1981 but only managed to release this one album ?UND ÜBERHAUPT? which translates into English as the rather ho hum "?And Anyway?" This album featured seven tracks totaling a playing time of over 40 minutes with seven musicians providing some stellar prog performances.

The lineup included Mario Giovanoli (flute, saxophone, vocals), Peter Tönz (electric guitar, vocals), Peter Streiff (Hammond organ, piano, vocals), Louis Streiff (drums, vocals), Andrea Thöny (bass, vocals), Fortunat Frölich (cello, piano, vocals) and Marc Keller (acoustic guitar, vocals) and the album was released like many from the era as a vinyl private pressing but has found a CD reissue on the Germn label Paisley in 2018. One of the many late to the game prog artist from the 70s, this 1978 release attracted few followers but was actually a decent slice of unique prog from that era.

Sung in the Swiss dialect of German with only a few moments of English, the vocals are probably the weakest link on ?UND ÜBERHAUPT? but luckily the album is primarily an interesting mix of instrumental symphonic prog, local folk flavors with lots of flute and a nice mix of melodies teased out into more progressive performances that include many interludes and deviations as well as time signature deviations. Although the band itself considered PLAMP to be a jazz-rock band, the addition of the saxophone is rather sparse and the influences from classical organ prog meets Canterbury compositional flare is much more accurate. Funk guitar and jams are also common.

The album flows quite nicely with no throwaway tracks and the band constructed a nice atmospheric mix of slower and faster segments with touches of jazz-rock, symphonic prog and folk flavors. This eclectic mix was more on the cheerier side as opposed to other Swiss prog artists like Island and Circus. While PLAMP crafted an excellent album of late 70s prog, unfortunately the album seems like a patchwork of different styles from the vast world of influences that preceded without any particular sort of goal in mind. The music sort of meanders but saved by the pleasant melodic flow and funk / jazz moments decorated with stellar organ performances. Overall not a bad album at all but fails to impress enough to ascend to greatness. Oh, and what a horrible band name!

3.5 rounded down

Plamp, a Swiss band only named after the first names of the musicians involved, came from the city of Chur and were around since the mid-70's as a quintet, Mario Giovanoli played flute and saxophone, Peter Toenz was on electric guitar, Peter Streiff on Hammond organ and piano, Louis Streiff on drums and Andrea Thoeny on bass, while all members contributed on the vocal parts.For their only release ''Und ueberhaupt ...'', pressed privately and released sometime during year 1978, they were joined by Fortunat Froelich on cello and piano and Marc Keller on acoustic guitars.

Plamp used the nearby Kraut Rock qualities in a lighter version to produce their own personal sound, obviously influenced by Folk, Jazz and Psychedelic Rock, and it's really amazing why the band remained so obscure, they were propably at the wrong place at the wrong time.The result of their efforts was a rich album with long instrumental passages and reduced, mediocre vocals in English, containing a wide range of inspirations, as proposed by the expanded instrumentation, including keyboards, sax and flute.They offered what most Kraut Rock acts were doing previously yet in a calmer edition, the arrangements sound a bit more delicate and elaborate as a whole, but you can find all the traditional elements of the movement, some serious groovy parts, some cosmic/psychedelic breaks with a folky aura and of course some nice little jams with a jazzy background.Close to Austrians ISAIAH, their music goes from lyrical, rhythmic parts with organ showering to flute-based psychedelia and from jazzy interventions, featuring great sax and piano, to standard Kraut Rock abnormalities with tireless solos on various instruments.''Behind'' is a nice example of their undefinable eclectisicm, archaic flute lines meet with theatrical vocals, cello strings and organ in a very jazzy enviroment.

The band stayed together until early-80's.Musicians of Plamp have been later detected in various local-based bands and collaborations, while three members, Louis Streiff, Toenz and Thoeny, rejoined forces again in 1984 for Paulin Nuotcla's album ''Mouva't''.

Nice Kraut-influenced Psych/Prog/Fusion with diverse influences and instrumental mannerisms.Very expensive in its original form without any reissues, still a good one within the movement.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

3,5 really

Plamp is an forgotten and very obscure band coming from Switzerland, releasing only one album in 1978 named ... und überhaupt .... I was very pleasent surprised when I heared this album. A combination of psychedelic rock like in late '60's early '70's with progressive arrangements and also some jazz hints here and there. Very good album overall, nice compositions and yet complex enough arrangements to please any prog listners, the vocal parts are in german language and also one track has english lyrics - Behind. Some instruments pieces give a special atmosphere, the most progressive from the album, opening track Streiffzug and Serum stands above almost all the rest. The longest track from here Arwen clocking around 11 min, is excellent, mid tempo piece with great arrangements. So, a great album, very unnoticed to prog listners and for sure needs a better view. The name of the band is taken from the initials of the names of the mebers, Plamp. 3.5 quite great record, very hard to find today in original form and quite expensive aswell. They remind me in places, maybe because is a lots of flute here with Rousseau, german progressive band from the '80's. Pastoral feeling combined with progressive elements. Recommended.