JONATHAN

Jonathan is a new discovery for me. German duo consisting of drummer Peter Garattoni (of Eulenspygel) and keyboardist Helmut Grab along with guests as needed. This was their only album, first released on the very obscure AAR label, then on Bellaphon. It strangely received a Greek release as well. Wonderful cover, totally '70s sci-fi, although if you look carefully, that's no sun, it's an apple. The Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock were rather dismissive of it, like it's not worth your time. Not in the least for me. It has that rather spacy feel, with Mini Moog, Solina String Ensemble, Fender Rhodes Electric Piano and Roland Synth, but I swear up and down I hear an ARP Pro-Soloist (he isn't credited to one, though). Unless the Roland (which they didn't specify which model) was capable of similar sounds. It's a rather underrated album actually worth getting. To my ears these guys seemed to have fun doing it, and it's true there isn't any huge ambition, it's all very enjoyable and that's what matters to me. "Li Song" has a rather Asian-influenced sound, kinda like Kitro but with more guts. "Raising Winds" starts off slow with spacy sound effects and then the drums kick in and they get down to business. "Funky's Visit" has a rather funky feel, with guest Emil Wirth providing funky slap bass. You can't imagine the traditional Berlin School electronic guys doing that! "Moved Earth" is a pretty typical sound for these guys. I don't find a single bad song on this album, although one wishes maybe a little more variety in synth timbre. Not exactly innovative or groundbreaking, but an enjoyable piece of late '70s electronic music and prog.