VARIOUS ARTISTS – HEAD RUSH (2021, 3LP+CD Fruits de Mer Records) + The Bare Essentials (Free CD given to FdM Club Members)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Fruits de Mer Records (Strange Fish 22)

Format: 3LP+CD, Album, Limited Edition, Color Vinyl 1

Format: 3LP+CD, Album, Limited Edition, Color Vinyl 2

Release Date: 17 May 2021

Keith – Head of Fruits de Mer – is obsessed with Kraut Rock and (fortunately for us) this lovely obsession is translated as another Compilation album with various artists that are inspired and/or influenced by this legendary German scene from the early 70s! A filling triple LP set plus a Bonus CD with recordings by New Bands that are somehow paying their “dues” to those “Monsters” from the past, Can, Neu, Harmonia, Kraftwerk… The press release reads:

“Head Rush is a 3LP+CD collection of tracks that show the continuing influence of bands such as Can, Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk, and the ‘motorik beat’ that was pivotal to some of the most enduring recordings to come out of Germany in the early seventies.

We love Krautrock at Fruits de Mer, it was my first big musical obsession – 50 years ago – investigating a section in the tiny Virgin record shop in Birmingham packed with labels I’d never heard of (Brain, Ohr, Pilz…), featuring LPs by bands with unpronounceable names, housed in bizarre sleeves, full of wild sounds that were a long way away from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple: for me, the music still sound intense, groundbreaking and the bands responsible for it remain influential half a century on.

We released a double LP of krautrock covers – ‘Head Music’ – back in 2012 and followed it with more of the same, but on a somewhat smaller scale (a double 7” called ‘Shrunken Head Music’); then, in 2020 we released a double LP + double CD set of music inspired by the German kosmische/synth pioneers of the early 70s (that was called ‘Head in the Clouds’), followed by a triple LP of krautrock covers, which we creatively titled, ‘Head Music 2’.

Now we are back with another triple LP, this time with tracks that – to some extend – owe a debt to the likes of Neu!, Kraftwerk, Harmonia, and Can – and the hypnotic motorik beat that was invented by Can’s Jaki Liebezeit.

Artists that will be well-known to fans of Fruits de Mer (The Lost Stoned Pandas, Moon Goose, and Jay Tausig) are joined by a bunch from most corners of the globe that are new to the label, including Psychic Lemon, Alber Jupiter, and the aptly-titled Motor!k for the 3LP set – and we’re even including a bonus CD of tracks that we couldn’t quite squeeze onto vinyl or didn’t quite fit the brief but we wanted to include anyway – there’s even a 30-minute version of Harmonia’s ‘Watussi’ by The Legendary Flower Punk to round things off!”…     

So what we have here is, 15 tracks that are spread on the 6 sides of this triple LP plus another 7 tracks on the bonus CD! Lots of interesting tunes by even more interesting and intriguing bands! The set kicks off with “Sunrise Part 7” by Giacomo & Carolina, a Tangerine Dreamy Sunrise (got it?), uplifting, melodic with a cinematic feel. Silver Vials are presenting “Follow The Sun”, an adventurous Space-Kraut tune with that characteristic beat. My very good friend Jean d’Auberlaque, through his Das Blaue Palais project, offers an amazing tune, spacey effected and futuristic, a kind of a rhythmic mutated Neu! track, entitled “Zeitfeld (Dusseldorf Motorik Mix)”. The next one comes from a band, that I’m so proud that I “discovered” them back in 2019 (their “May Contain Traces Of Dream” album made it to my personal TOP25 list of the Best albums of 2019 – also the track “Anarchy!” was included on the CD comp of TimeMaZine Issue #11), so “Anarchy!” by The Love Explosion from Australia is featured here, a magnificent neo-kraut atmos or else Neu! Meets Can! David Oakes presents “The Sahara (2020 Remix)”, a dark, creepy industrialized Krauty tune that finally becomes a distorted dance anthem! “Getaway” is a great space-a-delic dreamy neokraut jam by UK’s space rockers Sonic Trip Project. Another “familiar” band with TimeMaZine is Moon Goose, they’re taking part with “Shiny Man”, an electronically-distorted flavored tune with a psych-rock beat (whatever that is), extremely flirting with guitar-based Space Rock and a fabulous futuristic kind of sci-fi atmos while after the first 2:30min, the track is being transformed into a dark n’ creepy Psychedelic Capsule full of mystery and complex Krauty heaviness! If there is a “post-kraut” sub-genre then it is presented here with “Obsession Is The Mother Of All” by Oslo Tapes. Jay Tausig is another well-known artist to TimeMaZine but to FdM Records also, so his “Ecstatic Engines” composition, shines all over, this is Space-Kraut at its best with the Sequencers on fire! Another astonishing track is “Telefunken Baby” by Astral Son’s electronic experimental alter ego Son Of Ohm, it’s organic, it’s electronic, it’s retro but futuristic, it’s New Age Kraut! “Martine A La Plage” by Alber Jupiter has a pure Krauted sound with a motorik beat, becoming Spacey while The Lost Stoned Pandas (also usual guests at TimeMaZine) are successfully mixing their electronic ambient psych space rock with huge amounts of pure virgin Kraut under the title “Motorik Wah Nine”! The name of the next band leaves nothing to the imagination, Motor!k is presenting a synthesis full of motorik beats, krauty rhythms, monotone adventurous soundings entitled “Tyrants”. “Ei” by Culto Al Qondor is full of heavy energy and some Kosmic intergalactic krautness while the triple LP set ends with “Jam 7” by Psychic Lemon, really heavy doses of improvised Kraut Space Rock!

The bonus CD starts with “Vuh Part 1” by Fred Laird’s personal vehicle, Taras Bulba, a chaotically spacey electronic Popol Vuh-ish experiment! Vince Cory (driving wheel of Sonic Trip Project), offers “69 Wheeler”, a dynamically spacey Krautelicious tune while Psychic Lemon follows with another jam, “Jam 5” is less heavy, quite experimental, and trippy enough! Audio Cologne Project with “Grobmotorik” are offering a guitar-based track, flirting with different Krauty styles, futuristic but improvised also! “Vuh Part 2” by Taras Bulba leaves no unfinished business, a dark, far-out tune, quite robotically experimental! Our beloved Icarus Peel comes next with “Der Wald”, dreamy, serene, electronically krauty emerging a strong feeling of euphoria! THIS Krauty adventure comes to an end with a cover of Harmonia’s “Watussi”, a 30 minutes Live version of a Space-Kraut journey by The Legendary Flower Punk,  becoming dark, trippy, electronic, futuristic, fantastically exciting!!! “Head Rush” is another “Must” to your Kraut (or not) collection! Thanks, Keith at Fruits de Mer Records for keeping on ‘kraut-bombing’ us!!! TimeLord Michalis

** The club members of Fruits de Mer Records that will place an early order of “Head Rush”, will have the opportunity to get a FREE CD called “Bare Essentials” (part of Friends of the Fish promos, CD11), featuring artists that are completely new to the label!

Bare Essentials Tracklist:

Magic Cobra – Magic Cobra
Kazarus – Moon Landing
Nicholas Haeffner – Wake Up Charlie
Pigsontrip – Psiconauta
Mani Neumeier + Zeus B. Held – Swallow The World
Upupayāma -The Blue Magician’s Fantasy
Aaron Ellis – Night Shuttle To Havana
Astral Magic – Veil of Isis
Jonathan Morgan – Perseverance
Øresund Space Collective – Approach

Here are a few words about each one of the 10 tracks/participants:

MAGIC COBRA – Magic Cobra (5:27), drone n’ fuzzy heavy rock by this Philly, Pennsylvania band. (www.magiccobra.bandcamp.com)

KAZARUS – Moon Landing (5:06), Hard Rock with a Progressive touch coming straight out of Poland (Gdansk). (https://kazarus.bandcamp.com/album/moon-landing-instrumental-single-2020)

NICK HAEFFNER – Wake Up Charlie (4:51), a song taken from Londoner’s Nick 2019 CD release “A New Life Awaits You”, experimental sci-fi Psych with a tweaked ambient feel that will Blow your Mind! (www.nickhaeffner.bandcamp.com)

PIGSONTRIP – Psiconauta (10:03), a musical project of Italian musician/composer Giuseppe (Perugia), presenting a trippy Prog tune with a spacey touch and lots of 70s Pink Floyd influences… (www.pigsontrip.com)

MANI + ZEUS (Swallow The World (4:30), experimental, tricky, and electronically flavored Kraut-Rock by legendary German Kraut figures, Mani Neumeier and Zeus B. Held! (www.bellerophonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-secret-lives)

UPUPAYAMA – The Blue Magician’s Fantasy (6:58), hailing from Parma, Italy and taken from the self-titled Digital album (Nov 15, 2020), this is a psychedelically flavored acid druggy Folk… (www.upupayama.bandcamp.com)

AARON ELLIS – Night Shuttle To Havana (5:38), a veteran multi-instrumentalist of the Liverpool scene, on a track taken from his 2020 Digital Album release “Desolate Days”, a dark ambient electronic instro with a Proggy touch and a Spacey edge. (www.aaronellisliverpool.bandcamp.com)

ASTRAL MAGIC – The Veil Of Isis (5:43), this is the solo project of my friend Santuu (known as the bass of Dark Sun and also as DJ Astro), experimental electronic cosmic space with an intense Middle Eastern feeling! (https://darksun.bandcamp.com/)

JONATHAN MORGAN – Perseverance (6:59), a multi-talented musician from Birmingham, England on a super Heavy Improvised instrumental… (www.jonathanmorganmusic.net)

ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE – Approach (20:55), a rather familiar band on readers of TimeMaZine, a Scandinavian Space Rock supergroup held together by Dr. Space (Scott Heller), a track taken from the 2020 double vinyl release “Four Riders Take Space Mountain”, improvised and full of energy modern Space Rock that “helps the mind to escape the Matrix…”! (www.oresundspacecollective.com)

HEAD RUSH Tracklist

LP1:
1. Giacomo & Carolina – Sunrise, Part 7 (5:05)
2. Silver Vials – Follow The Sun (6:05)
3. Das Blaue Palais – Zeitfeld (Dusseldorf Motorik Mix) (8:11)
4. The Love Explosion – Anarchy! (3:58)
5. David Oakes – The Sahara (2020 Remix) (5:04)
6. Sonic Trip Project – Getaway (11:10)

LP2:
1. Moon Goose – Shiny Man (5:41)
2. Oslo Tapes – Obsession Is The Mother Of All (5:54)
3. Jay Tausig – Ecstatic Engines (8:42)
4. Son Of Ohm – Telefunken Baby (12:52)
5. Alber Jupiter – Martine A La Plage (7:15)

LP3:
1. The Lost Stoned Pandas – Motorik Wah Nine (10:16)
2. Motor!k – Tyrants (10:28)
3. Culto Al Qondor – Ei (12:19)
4. Psychic Lemon – Jam 7 (7:01)

bonus CD:
1. Taras Bulba – Vuh Part 1 (3:56)
2. Vince Cory – 69 Wheeler (7:53)
3. Psychic Lemon – Jam 5 (8:26)
4. Audio Cologne Project – Grobmotorik (6:51)
5. Taras Bulba – Vuh Part 2 (5:15)
6. Icarus Peel – Der Wald (14:14)
7. The Legendary Flower Punk – Watussi Live (30:25)

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