FULL HORN

Fairly schizophrenic krautrock-era craziness from the one-shot German outfit Cornucopia, this intriguing yet somewhat infuriating debut was issued by the legendary Brain imprint sometime after the summer of 1973. Featuring a seven-strong line- up(eight if you include guest musician Jochen Petersen) and a full arsenal of instruments, 'Full Horn' is the kind of record that could have been great, yet certainly isn't thanks to a colossally overwrought sound which stuffs far too many conflicting ideas into the melting pot. Too many cooks ruins the broth, they sometimes say. Featuring everything from grinding proto-metal riffs to proggy keyboard washes, strange sound effects, warbling vocals and spacey electronics, Cornucopia's major problem is their complete and utter refusal to settle down into one accepted style, continuously scuppering promising melodies at birth and inserting odd and unattractive instrumental passages into the mixture just when they really weren't needed. All this adds up to one eclectic and consistently shifting listen, and once the epic nineteen-minute opener 'Spot On You Kids' (finally)finishes - with a splash of disconcerting fairground ambience - the idea of sitting through yet more random madness seems almost unbearable. Germany and 'krautrock' gave us many fantastic acts during the fertile 1970's; Cornucopia certainly weren't one of them. A tiresome, silly and slightly disturbing slab of bad-trip psych-rock, 'Full Horn' is a mess from beginning to end. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2015