OUGENWEIDE

In the midst of the massive explosion of Krautrock which overtook Germany in the late 1960s and early 70s, OUGENWEIDE stands out from the burgeoning creative outburst of musicality in the fact that instead of looking to the future for insight, this Hamburg based band looked back, way back that is all the way to the Middle Ages for inspiration. This was unthinkable for a German band which took its name from the Middle German word for the modern German word Augenweide which in English translates as "Feast For The Eyes." Well, i wish i could've seen them back then but all i can say is hearing this nearly 50 years after its initial release in 1973, this self-titled debut album is certainly a feast for the ears.

Formed in 1970 and more accurately named after a Medieval song from the German minnesinger Neidhart von Reunental, this band incorporated a healthy dose of what was going on in England with bands such as Fairport Convention, The Pentangle and even Jethro Tull but infused a bit of medieval German folklore into the mix with the result of crafting some of the most instantly addictive folk music delivered with a touch of rock gusto. While the band would stick around for 15 years and produce several albums, this eponymous debut is perhaps the most authentically Medieval in its approach and included a whopping seven members that played a staggering number of instruments including the standard fair of guitar, bass and drums along with congas, maracas, timpani, harmonium, recorders, Indian flute, Arab flute, mandolin, bouzouki, sitar, glockenspiel, xylophone and more!

The album was produced by A.R & Machines tripper Achim Reichel who also contributed fuzzy bass, flue and timpani. This short album of only 33 plus minutes is quite electrifying as it runs the gamut of authentic Medieval sounding classical music as heard on the beginning "Nieman Kan Mit Gerten" to the rock powerhouse closer "Es Fur Ein Pawr Gen Holz." The sacred masculine and divine feminine are on equal footing on this one with not only vocal tradeoffs but with a keen sense of sensuality mixed with more energetic lively performances. The band was notorious for crafting music around old poems and songs and although primarily interested in the world of Medieval music, didn't limit the sounds to pure retro folk as say Gryphon did on its first release. OUGENWEIDE deftly mixed the old with the new and at its most energetic oft sounded like the German version of Comus only with a healthy dose of Ian Anderson inspired flute runs.

The band stood out like a sore thumb but offered a much more pleasant experience and immediately catapulted itself into the limelight of German society with a reflective experience that the nation had rarely if ever revisited in a modern context. While the band's success would really take off on subsequent albums, it was on this debut that the basic blueprints for the band's entire career had already been set in stone. Imagine if you will the primeval direct energy of Comus' "First Utterance" cross-pollinating with Fairport Convention's unconventional folk diversity of "Unhalfbricking" and you're on the right track however OUGENWEIDE kept true to its Germanic origins and crafted a truly German sounding album that mined the folk music of the past and placed it in the similar context that the aforementioned bands had successful achieved with English folk.

This is a beautifully crafted album with all the musicians as sharp as a chef's knife with an ever exhilarating assortment of tones and timbres erupting from the multitude of instruments that decorate the sonicscape so artfully. Each track stands on its own and the melodies are so angelically beautiful that it's impossible not to fall in love with this on just a single listen. The modern crossover pop hooks are in full effect but the progressive aspects are always present in the subtle juxtaposition of the arrangements. OUGENWEIDE hasn't been a band that has gotten as much attention as its English counterparts but was clearly in the same league as the best of what England had to offer. Perhaps the language barrier has lingered due to the fact folk music fans focus more on the lyrics but even if you can't understand a single word, the music itself conveys a time and place that is timeless in nature.