Review Summary: A bit different from their debut and a bit less good too, but still great.
Ash Ra Tempel was a German progressive rock band formed in Berlin, Germany, in 1970. Ash Ra Tempel was one of the founders of what became known as Krautrock, also called “Kosmische musik”, a German avant-garde and experimental rock movement that gave a special emphasis to electronic treatments, sound manipulation and repetitive music. They were responsible of two of the most influential projects of the German progressive rock scene, Ash Ra Tempel and Ashra. Their music is very spacey, psychedelic, powerful and dramatic, sometimes with a more atmospheric nature.
Born out of the late of the 60’s in the Berlin underground scene, Ash Ra Tempel were rooted in a succession of beat and blues German bands, including Bluebirds, The Bomb Proofs, Bad Joe, and Steeple Chase Blues Band. The latter one of these was transformed entirely when Klaus Schulze from Tangerine Dream met up with them becoming Ash Ra Tempel. The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Gottsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon the more conventional composition and song writing, in favour of free form improvising and developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that could exceed 30 minutes. That can be seen well on their first three studio albums.
“Schwingungen” brings some changes in relation to their debut. It’s a bit different from their debut because of the presence of vocals and the lost of Schulze, who was working on his first solo album “Irrlicht”. So, “Schwingungen” was recorded with a new drummer, Wolfgang Muller, who took the place of Klaus Schulze and a number of guests, such as saxophonist Matthias Wehler or vocalist signed as John L., previously from Agitation Free. Musically, it’s a bit less crazy material than the debut, as if the musicians wanted to combine psychedelic breakouts with more accessible, almost conventional playing. It’s no longer made of improvisation, but it’s partly based on previously composed motifs.
As we would expect from a band like Ash Ra Tempel, “Schwingungen” is characterized by their usual lengthy suites, which can exceed the twenty minutes. In the case of this 1972 album, we have two different parts. The first part that would be Side A of the LP, “Light And Darkness”, which is divided into two pieces, “Light: Look At Your Sun” and “Darkness: Flowers Must Die”, and the second part taht would be Side B, the title track “Schwingungen: Suche & Liebe”. The two parts are quite distinguishable but they’re part of a whole of an ensemble that divided can loses an important part of power. I’m talking about the synergy of the unit that is stronger than the sum of the factors separately.
“Schwingungen”, which could be translated as “vibrations” or “oscillatory movement” stood as one of the works of Ash Ra Temple that defined the cosmic music of that period. More turbulent than the descriptive works of Tangerine Dream, it was favoured by those who snubbed the technological haughtiness of these, in favor of a sound still rooted in rock. It sounds like a freaky Pink Floyd’s version crossed with Tangerine Dream and the ambient music of Brian Eno.
In “Light And Darkness”, the first part “Light: Look At Your Sun” recalls the blues roots of Gottsching and Enke. The band combines blues guitar parts and blues rhythm with the psychedelic cosmic ambience characteristic of Krautrock. Sadly, the vocal layer, which could have been without it, isn’t good. “Darkness: Flowers Must Die” is a crazier recording with a lot of electronics, exotic percussion, piercing saxophone sounds, Gottsching’s guitar madness and a hypnotic rhythm section play. But it has also the unnecessary and bizarre vocals again. No wonder that John L. who got booted out of Agitation Free for being too deranged, apparently Ash Ra Tempel felt the same and fired him after this album too. The second half of the album consists of “Schwingungen: Suche & Liebe”. It’s all about that meditative and attentive search for peace and love and the universal harmony. In addition to that peaceful vibe, the music is as meditative, airy and spaced out as it can be. “Suche & Liebe” (Search/Quest & Love) builds up slowly towards a blissful climax at the orgiastic end. “Suche” is a rather sinister spacey piece consisting of mostly vibraphone and organ and “Liebe” is more guitar and voice, this time by Gottsching, and that sounds like a cross between Pink Floyd and Ash Ra Tempel’s debut.
Conclusion: Comparing “Schwingungen” with Ash Ra Tempel previous debut, this is a more conventional progressive rock number, starting with echoed vibraphone notes and evolves into a Pink Floyd’s like atmospheric rock prototype. Combining experimental playing with greater accessibility wasn’t a bad idea, but the band should definitely stick with instrumental playing, and if you really wanted to have vocals, you should look for someone who can sing. I have no complaints about the instrumental layer, but this terrible howl takes away the pleasure of listening significantly and ruins the fantastic atmosphere of the album. “Schwingungen” isn’t their best album but we cannot forget the pioneering spirit of this band. Very little has been said about the legacy of Ash Ra Tempel to prog rock music, but some it’s here.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
