HYPERTHALAMUS

DENNIS was formed by the original drummer for FRUMPY Carsten Bohn who would also play percussion with A.R. & MACHINES. He's brought in the FRUMPY guitarist Thomas Kretschmer who also played on Jean-Jauques Kravetz amazing album. We get Michael Kobs from THIRSTY MOON on keys along with Manne Rurup also on keyboards and he played with RELEASE MUSIC ORCHESTRA, TOMORROW'S GIFT and A.R. & MACHINES. We get Klaus Briest on bass from XHOL CARAVAN along with Olaf Casalich on percussion and he's played with OUGENWEIDE, TOMORROW'S GIFT and A.R. & MACHINES. Finally Willi Pape on sax, clarinet and flute also from THIRSTY MOON.

The music is Krautrock all the way on side one with no hint of Jazz while the side two suite is a jazzy affair but there's still that strong Krautrock spirit that overall makes me file this one under Krautrock not Jazz/ Fusion. Side one was surprising the first time I heard it only because by 1975 Krautrock seemed like it was on the way out. Thankfully DENNIS has offered up one classic album right here that has Krautrock all over it. There's plenty of reverb and the sound is quite murky but man it all works big time as these qualities only add to it's charm.

"Do Your Own Thing" opens with the sounds of a subway station as we hear the trains brakes, people talking and milling about while announcements are made over the intercom. It sounds like a backwards loops before 2 minutes then the sounds of a guitar which has been manipulated big time. Bass, intricate guitar and cymbals take over before 3 1/2 minutes but then this beautiful section is disturbed before 6 minutes by some experimental outbursts.

"Others Do" opens with the sound of a plane flying over head before a guitar/ bass melody takes over sounding dark and dirty. "Already" features some killer guitar leads as the sound starts to build. It turns spacey a minute later as the guitar and beat stops. A trippy beat then takes over and slowly speeds up. The guitar is back and it's dark before they start to trip along and we get some organ as well. So that's side one and Krautrock all the way.

"Grey Present Tense" is the 19 1/2 minute closer where we hear horns and electric piano for the first time which helps give us that jazzy flavour. Love the atmosphere with the electric piano to start out. Flute joins in as we still get plenty of atmosphere. It starts to pick up around 5 minutes and this is both trippy and jazzy with electric piano leading the way. The sax joins in before 7 minutes as they continue to trip along. Some clarinet then it's like the song is about to end after 10 1/2 minutes but it's not over by a long shot as electric piano, drums and atmosphere keep this track alive. The sax starts to play some melancholic melodies here as they jam. Some crazy sounding synths then It picks up at 16 1/2 minutes and ends in a spacey manner.

Easily 4 stars. This is my kind of music, especially that jazzy closing number but I dig all of this.