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Various Artists

Son of Kraut – The Next Generation of Kraut Rock

Review by Gary Hill

This is quite a strong set. I’d say that pretty much everything here lands in progressive rock, but some is closer to psychedelic than others are. It’s got a nice balance between the contrasts – mellower and harder edged, faster and slower, instrumental and vocal tracks. This is a great way to sample some new acts. It’s a pretty safe bet that if you like progressive rock, you’ll find a few bands to check out after listening to this one.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Far Tranceport - Lock In (Namby Pamby)

I love the intricate introduction on this. The bass that rises up is cool. Then the vocals come in spoken and the piece works forward in fine fashion from there. This evolves gradually and tastefully. There is some cool psychedelic guitar soloing built into it later, too. It all drops down to a stripped back percussion dominated section at the end.

Space Debris – Stranded
Coming up mysterious and psychedelic, this makes me think of a combination of The Doors and early Deep Purple as it rises upward. Keyboards dominate as this builds. I love the bass line that emerges as a driving force later. Still, there are some killer space keyboards over the top of that. None lyrical vocals that are part world music and part psychedelic strangeness emerge after a time. Guitar gains prominence later and this is just a great piece of music that lives somewhere between progressive rock, psychedelia and space rock territory. It does get a harder rocking, more intense jam later in the track that’s part prog and part stoner metal. After that gets more of a full psychedelic treatment for a while, they drop it down to much mellower and slower moving jamming for the closing section.
Sankt Otten - Nach Dir die Sinnesflut
A dreamy but dramatic keyboard dominated electronic section opens this. I’m reminded of both Kraftwerk and Vangelis as it moves out. Although that same basic musical concept remains (and Tangerine Dream would be another valid reference), this works through quite a few shifts and changes. It’s a tasty instrumental.
Electric Moon - Madrigal Meridian
Take the musical territory from that last one and add in some Hawkwind and you’ll have an idea of what the introduction here sounds like. As this gets more rocking textures and energies it feels even more like Hawkwind. There are some dreamy understated vocals in the mix at times, but otherwise this is an instrumental.
Level Pi - Black Rabbit
I love the cool electronic prog meets space rock vibe here and the groove is great, as well. There is some hard rocking sound in this thing that’s rather metallic. There is a guitar solo later that makes me think of some of David Gilmour’s work in early Pink Floyd. This instrumental works through a number of changes but also manages to remain pretty consistent and constant.
The Perc Meets the Hidden Gentleman - This Moon of Both Sides
This is like the punky side of Hawkwind mixed with The Talking Heads.
Tapwater - I Can’t Walk My Floor
A fairly stripped back psychedelic romp, this is fun, and a nice change of pace. It’s not as strong as some of the other stuff, though.
RPWL - World through my Eyes
Several movements take this early. It’s got a lot of world music built into it. There is also quite a bit of world music. There are other things here, too, making this quite an intriguing piece of music. Parts of it make me think of early Hawkwind. Still, there is a more rocking section that’s got a more mainstream modern progressive rock sound. This is pretty typical RPWL, landing somewhere in the cross point between Pink Floyd and textural modern progressive rock. It’s a fairly epic number and quite cool. The vocals are typically dreamy and rather understated.
Electric Orange – Psysomasyl
This jam starts off very much like early Pink Floyd. It grows out from there in an energetic jam that has a lot of Hawkwind and other stuff in the mix. In fact, a lot of this makes me think of the Space Ritual era of Hawkwind.
Fantasyy Factoryy - On Stranger Tides
I love the mellow groove to the music here. The vocals are a little less successful, though. This is a slow moving psychedelic piece. In fact, those vocals are a little hard to take. Fortunately, the song is strong enough to make up for it. I really love both some of the keyboard work here and some of the guitar soloing.
Le Mur - O.m.e.n. – Riddles in the Dark
High energy, psychedelically tinged progressive rock drives this beast. It’s a real powerhouse that’s a lot of fun. The saxophone lends a lot to a rather mysterious sounding section later. This continues to shift and evolve. Parts of it are quite hard edged.  There is one line of vocals that’s heard several times. Otherwise, though, this is an instrumental.
Panzerballett - Vulgar Display of Sauerkraut
Incredibly heavy and incredibly intense, this has a lot of King Crimson and Frank Zappa built into it. It’s a real screaming rocker. It’s also pretty metallic. It’s a pretty crazed instrumental with some intriguing shifts along the road.
 
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