Agitation Free - 1999 - The Other Sides Of Agitation Free

Agitation Free
1999
The Other Sides Of Agitation Free

01. Atlantic Overcrossing (5:34)
02. Abulafia (6:17)
03. 6th Floor (5:11)
04. Deliverance (4:24)
05. Latino Catherine (3:37)
06. Get It Out (4:21)
07. Offstage (2:47)
08. Song Für Den Proletariersohn, Teil 1 (5:38)
09. Song Für Den Proletariersohn, Teil 2 (2:55)10. Song Für Den Proletariersohn, Teil 3 (1:36)


- Michael "Fame" Günther / bass
- Gustav Lütjens / guitar, vocals
- Mickie Duwe / vocals
- Harald Großkopf / drums
- Dietmar Burmeister / drums
- Jochen Bauer / drums
- Konstantin Bommarius / drums, percussion
- Manfred Opitz / keyboards, vocals
- Christian "Bino" Brero / piano
- Bernd Gruber / keyboards
- Klaus "Maus" Henrichs / saxophone
- Lou Blackburn / trombone


Forget everything you previously have heard by Agitation Free before. This album is a total break with their previous albums. Hence, it should not be called a Agitation Free album at all. I guess this incarnation of Agitation Free, which only includes to original members, is just trading on their name to sell more albums or even to get a record deal at all.
The music here is straight fusion and even jazz without any hints of Krautrock whatsoever. The music is down the Chick Corea alley. The main instruments are bass, some straight playing electric guitars without any fuzz, some vocals, a lot of tangents and drums.

Agitation Free - 1999 - The River Of Return

Agitation Free
1999
The River Of Return

01. River Of return (8:24)
02. 2 part 2 (5:46)
03. Fame's mood (4:10)
04. Susie sells seashells at the seashore (10:01)
05. The obscure carousel (5:16)
06. Nomads (7:07)
07. Das kleine Uhrwerk (5:04)
08. 177 spectacular sunrises (13:08)
09. Keep on (3:57)


- Lutz "Lüül" Ulbrich / guitar, keyboards
- Gustl Lütjens / guitar, keyboards
- Burghard Rausch / drums
- Johannes "Alto" Pappert (ex-Kraan) / saxophone
- Michael "Fame" Günther / bass, keybopards
Guest musicians:
- Chris Dehler / overtonevoice, Didgeridoo
- Koma / Bagpipe
- Minas Saluyan / percussion
- Bernard "Potsch" Potschka / guitar, Mandoline, Udu

If someone asked me to briefly describe the sound of "River of Return" I might say it reminds me of the mellower side of Djam Karet mixed with a shot of Meddle-era Floyd. Or I could go with the note on the back of the CD which says to "file under psychedelic ambient pop." Either way, the album is a space rock fan's delight. It reminds me very much of Djam's "Ascension" album though perhaps a bit less weird and with the nice addition of saxophone.
The title track begins with 2 ½ minutes of a chord picked out on acoustic with some light sax creeping in, before the band arrives. The next 6 minutes deliver a mid tempo rhythm with occasional pleasant guitar or sax solos before the acoustic from the beginning returns. "2 part 2" is a spacey hodge-podge of synths, bass, assorted noises to a straight up drum beat. Half way through they tear into a sweet electric guitar solo that stretches to the end of the song-great! "Fame's Mood" is an excuse for a nice bluesy little solo. Next up is the 10 minute "Susie Sells Seashells at the Seashore" and with that title it better deliver, right? Well it's quite different from the "normal" songs we've heard so far, this is pure experimental ambient noisescapes, way weird, way out there. Over the constant sound of waves rolling in, you have various strange keyboard samples rising like an Eno album with other bizarre parts making occasional entrances. Nice stuff, especially for the psychedelic warriors out there. "The Obscure Carousel" takes a lazy pace with some nice sparring between guitar and sax, nothing mind blowing but it's nice. "Nomads" is a highlight, beginning with hand percussion and very slowly adding a distant bubbly bass, acoustic rhythm guitars and some tortured electric soloing. Later the acoustics will solo a bit but the way the track builds so nicely is the story here. "Das Kleine" begins with folksy strumming and acoustic slide sounding a bit like an old acid jug band. They trade off on some rippin acoustic jams that would get Garcia and Grisman all hot and bothered. Yet they never lose the pretty melody holding it together. Nice. Last is the 13 minute mini-epic I suppose, "177 Spectacular Sunrises," which like Susie above shifts back to ambient drift and wide open canvas for spacey noodlings. This one is more minimalist than and not as interesting to me as Susie though it works. The bonus track "Keep On" is a rather unmemorable "straight" sounding pop-rock throwaway. A few nice guitar licks but really adds nothing after the long space piece.
So we have a very nice updating of the Agitation Free sound, they maintain their traditions but add a modern sound and quality production. It's not an essential album but it will please space rock fans I think. I especially feel that fans of Djam Karet should not miss this album. Plenty of medium gear rock with good guitar work and pleasant melodies married to the ambient meditative half.

Agitation Free - 1998 - At the cliffs of the river Rhine

Agitation Free
1998
At the cliffs of the river Rhine

01. Through The Moods (13:28)
02. First Communication (8:56)
03. Dialogue & Random (0:57)
04. Laila (10:03)
05. In The Silence Of The Morning Sunrise (4:41)

 
- GustI Lütjens / guitar
- Lutz 'Lüül' Ulbrich / guitar
- Michael 'Fame' Günther / bass
- Michael Hoenig / keyboards
- Burghard Rausch / drums



Although AF inherited a major status in Krautrock history, their historical output was only of three albums, which is quite few compared to ADII, ART, Can, Kraftwerk, Embryo etc. But 00's, AF's total official output includes at least that many posthumous releases, of which At The Cliff Of River Rhine stand as the only one as essential and the only live album, which allows to think more could be heading our way, for there were lots of their gigs recorded. The Cliff part title does provide some confusion though, as it might hint that this record might have been recorded on the romantic Rhine (Koblenz to Mainz), at say Lorelei or something. .. But no, if indeed the live setting did happen in the Rhine valley, it was in Cologne, where the river lies calm and flat in what we can barely still call a very wide valley and there is not a cliff in sight for 100 km. This leaves the title taking inspiration on a cool-looking artwork that seems to inspire itself on the fantasmagoric world of Roger Dean. However these tracks had seen a previous release on Cd in a bootleg form under the title "At Last AF Is Free", because the concert had been a WDR radio broadcast.
This recording however is absolutely pristine and probably one of the best I've heard (apparently no overdubbing either) and it came a few months after the release of their second album (which explains the predominance of tracks of that album in the concert). Sonically very similar to their Second album, and still retaining the ABB edge of that album (there is a tracks that very reminiscent of "in memory of E Reed"), due to their double drummer attack of the previous year (yet un-documented), their usual twin guitar turbo drive (Ullbrich & Lutjens) and Hoenig's particularly superb electronic burbles (amazingly clear & audible for this live setting), etc.. No one single glitch on the whole 47 minutes of the broadcast. Not all that essential a posthumous release if you own their Second album, but if you're an AF fan, you'll know you'll need this.

Agitation Free - 1995 - Fragments (live '74)

Agitation Free
1995
Fragments (live '74)

01. Someone's secret (17:14)
02. Mickey's laugh (10:00)
03. We are men (10:21)
04. Mediterranean flight (4:00)

- GustI Lütjens / guitar
- Lutz Ulbrich / guitar
- Michael Günther / bass
- Michael Hoenig / keyboards
- Burghard Rausch / drums 


"Fragments" is one of the three 1974 Agitation free live albums, along with the famous "Last" and the less famous "At the cliffs of river Rhine". Here I review the "Garden of delights" CD version which features one more piece than the former release and full pieces versions. Moreover, sound has been much improved, compared to old CD versions.
Here the band plays in a psyche jam style with excellent guitar, as usual. Like in "At the cliffs of river Rhine", the music can be described as a cross of Pink Floyd and Grateful dead for the acid guitar sound. But there's also a more jazzy direction in "Fragments", thanks to keyboards. Fragments has been also compared to Santana, mainly because of percussions.
The summit is reached with the piece "We are men" which begins with excellent drum and aerial keyboard layers, contributing to this floating, almost jazz rock feel, but the psychedelic guitar parts and the space rock developments reminds that it's top psyche prog jam style. The bonus track "Blues" is a nice pure blues, but with a space sound.

Agitation Free - 1974 - Last

Agitation Free
1974 
Last

01. Soundpool (5:47)
02. Laila II (17:08)
03. Looping (22:45)


This is my fave Agitation Free album from their first era. Actually, this is a selection of recordings that the band had already planned for release, but the release only took place many months after the band's demise, due to some French label's initiative. This circumstance helped the album to become a cult classic of krautrock. Anyway, IMHO, the three tracks in "Last" comprise the most proficient performances accomplished by the five musicians; they also contain the most confident labour of texture and jamming ever conceived by the band during this first era. While being more stylish and refined than "Second" and much more cohesive than their debut recording "Malesch", "Last" continues to capture the band's unique energy perfectly. The band's inherent sonic power of the band is still there, irradiating its peculiar light across their increasingly polished sonic landscapes. Jörg Schwenke is back in the band, while drummer/percussionist Burghard Rausch was gradually leaving AF: in one of the tracks he is replaced by Dietmar Burmeister. It seems that the band's internal turmoil didn't affect the level of consistency of their new material. Once again, the Ash Ra Tempel influence is quite noticeable (more evident, in fact), specially when it comes to the fluid transition from the cosmic layers to the more jam-oriented sections. Track 1 starts with a very laid-back hypnotic sonic landscape that feels distant, as if drifting through space (it kind of reminds me of early Pink Floyd); eventually, a not too long jam reprising a slight variation of the main motif of 'Rucksturz' ("Malesch" closing number) fills the room and gives the track a more definite shape. Then comes the very long 'Laila II', which retakes one of the basic subdued themes of "Laila" and explores it further, even taking it to different places as the jam goes onward. Some of the best guitar interplaying ever in AF's history is comprised in both this track and the next one, the long-side "Looping": the way that the latter incorporates dreamy passages and rocking moments in a fluid intercalation comes as no surprise to those already familiar with the band's capability to create their unique ethereal walls of sound, bathed in majesty. My overall rating for this album is the maximum one in Prog Archives terms - this is, after all, a unique masterpiece of krautrock. 

Agitation Free - 1973 - 2nd

Agitation Free
1973
2nd

01. First Communication (8:10)
02. Dialogue And Random (1:51)
03. Layla, Part 1 (1:41)
04. Layla, Part 2 (6:47)
05. In The Silence Of The Morning Sunrise (6:33)
06. A Quiet Walk (9:15)
a) Listening
b) Two-not Of The Same Kind
07. Haunted Island (7:11)



- Stefan Diez / guitar
- Micheal Gunter / bass
- Micheal Hoenjo / synth, keyboards
- Burghard Rausch / drums, assorted percussions, voice, Mellotron
- Lutz Ulbrich / guitar, 12 string guitar, Bouzouki


In some ways, Second is the logical successor to Malesh with its twin guitar "attack"; these two (Schwenke is replaced by Dietz following drugs problems) are so mellow that it seems a shame to call them an attack. But the name "attack" is now apt for the drumming since the group enlisted a second drummer (ex-ART Burmeister), thus giving an exacting edge that only the Allman Bros Band had before. Losing the second drummer just prior to recording their aptly-titled Second, AF retained all of the inertia and the album has a fantastic ABB fluidness wherever necessary. Graced with a drought, than rain season artwork, this second album lost all ethnic touches of Malesh, one passage excepted, proof that their debut's rep was indeed overdone.
Starting on the First Communications, you can hear the Floydian cosmic/psych influences of Malesh will also be relatively absent as well. Dialogue & Random is an electronic free jazz improve leading into the two-part Leila, which is strongly reminiscent of the ABB's Elizabeth Reed and fades into Silence Of The Morning sunrise with electronic birds chirping along to tranquil electric guitars gliding along the organ mist layers. Superb music. The birds lead you to a slow Quiet Walk into a cosmic dark hole (Tangerine Dream's Zeit is not far away here) if it wasn't for an electric Indian-laced guitar (the only real ethnic moment of this album), before stretching itself out maybe a tad too long. The closing Haunted Island is the only sung track of the album, filtered, almost recitative over a superb mellotron, and once over, the two guitars take over and soar in the sky for a grandiose finale.
Although AF's second album holds some fairly different influences, trading in the Arabian and cosmic /psych Floyd ambiance, for a more pastoral west coast sound, both albums can be regarded as AF's crowning achievements.

Agitation Free - 1972 - Malesch

Agitation Free
1972
Malesch

01. You Play For Us Today (6:08)
02. Sahara City (7:42)
03. Ala Tul (4:50)
04. Pulse (4:43)
05. Khan El Khalili (8:10)
06. Malesch (8:10)
07. Rücksturz (2:09)



- Peter Michael Hamel / keyboards
- Michael Hoenig / synthesizer, keyboards
- Michel Gunter / bass
- Uli Pop / bongos
- Burghard Rausch / drums, keyboards, vocals
- Jorg Schwenke / guitar
- Lutz Ulbrich / guitar, keyboards 

A classic of the German space genre. Their current music is a combination of Progressive Rock and New Instrumental Music, with touches of Jazz and passages dedicated to an experimentation near to Ambient. Their originality was due to the blend electronic and repetitive musics with a lot of ethnic elements from North Africa, India, etc. Very much like your early ASH RA TEMPEL, GURU GURU type bands except with a cultural influence.

"Malesch" is an ethic excursion and a clear passion for the European avant-garde with extended guitar solos and mesmerizing atmospheres. "Second" is more Euro-folk inflected, with a stronger use of acoustic guitars and bouzouki. Both "Malesch" and "Second" are excellent space excursions but absolutely brilliant recordings... ESSENTIAL!.

Several AGITATION FREE albums were released after the group's breakup, including 1976's "Last", 1995's "Fragments" and the following years's "At The Cliffs of The River Rhine" (1998). The following year "River Of Return" appeared, featuring the original quartet as well as new members Johannes Pappert and Bernard Potschka. Their aptly titled "Last" is considered by many to be one of the best live space albums ever. Lots of acid-drenched guitar and electronics to really carry you "out there".

Before starting my review, I have to mention that the Middle-Eastern influence surrounding "Malesh" is greatly exaggerated. For years, I kept reading about how the band travelled around the Middle East (back in 1972), played with local musicians, and recorded local sounds. Well, they could have easily just made the album in Germany. That being said, this is excellent "krautrock". For those of you unfamiliar with krautrock, it's basically a genre of music that started in Germany around 1969 and peaked in the mid-70s. The music is influenced by psychedelic music (both American and English), yet the German musicians set out to create something entirely new. Many bands began to include electronic experiments, African and Middle-Eastern rhythms, Karlheinz Stockhausen-like experiments, local German influences, and industrial-like repetition into the music. For some collectors, the music that came out of the period is greatly overrated, but krautrock fans love its naive charm, and overall weirdness, not to mention that modern rock music owes everything to krautrock(for good or for bad). Okay, on to AGITATION FREE's "Malesh". The majority of the album is made-up of stoner-like jams. Fortunately, the musicians were quite good and sound rather tight on the album. If they did any drugs at the time, it was probably done after the recording sessions. The listener here is quickly treated to psychedelic interplay between bassist, guitarist, organ player, and electronic manipulation. For those of you worried about cliches found in psychedelic music, I have to say that the music here is quite original and unpredicitable. Once in a while I'm reminded of the GRATEFUL DEAD. In fact, the occasional Arabic-like jam on Malesh tends to sound similar to what the Dead were doing at the time. In between the tracks we find short field-recordings made by the band during their visit in Egypt, and Lebanon. Maybe at the time it was new to add "field recordings" to music, but today the idea has been quite accepted. So, the field-recordings here tend to serve as interludes between the longer jam sections. I do have to add that the ending of the album is rather emotional. The band bursts into a finale that is quite powerful, moving, and completely unexpected. In all, I was expecting something more Arabic in nature, but what I got instead sounds equally as good. If you're interested in Krautrock this is the introductory album to get.