SAUCE HOLLANDAISE

At least, nearly 20 years after, the first live release from ASHRA. "Walkin' the desert" wasn't a live recording but a studio album with reworked tracks inspired by a 1988 Berlin concert. The set-list is a bit curious as it does not feature any official ASHRA studio track from its golden age, the 70's. In the tradition of electronic progressive pioneers, the performance contains both already released and previously unreleased compositions, the known ones being rearranged.

"Echo Waves" (from "Inventions for Electric Guitar") is the most convincing track. Nice and modernized with techno beat, it finishes with a cool spacey guitar solo. If you enjoy the original studio version, you'll enjoy this live track. However, "Twelve Samples" (from "Walkin' the desert") is a bit different. It's an audacious choice as this is rather singular piece in ASHRA's discography. However, this live version is more ambient and less middle-eastern, which leads to 2 problems. First, if you don't know the original version, this mixture results in a strange sauce, sometimes hard to digest. Second, if you know and enjoy the original version, the middle-eastern samples are more discrete, thus reducing the personnality and the charm of this composition. "Niemand Lacht Rückwärts" (previously unreleased) is the main novelty here. The first part consists in mysterious experimental passages and drumming, while the second part is quite dreamy and ends with a cool guitar solo. Overall, pleasant but a bit unequal.

As a first live release from ASHRA, "Sauce Hollandaise" is enjoyable, although not essential. Not the ideal place to discover the band's classic compositions, but the spirit is present.