VA - Best Of Krautrock Vol.1 (2006)

The featured bands on this DVD are Amon Düül II, Can, Frumpy, Lucifer's Friend, Epitaph, Birth Control, Passport, Guru Guru, Popol Vuh, Kraftwerk, Embryo, Novalis, Lothar Meid, Eloy and Jane. These bands deliver a lot of variety, from psychedelic (Amon Duul II), experimental (Popol Vuh) and jazzy (Passport) to symphonic rock (Novalis and Eloy), bluesrock (Frumpy) and hardrock (Lucifer's Friend). I was very delighted about the tracks by Frumpy (great Hammond organ sound), Amon Duul II (captivating psychedelic rock with raw guitar, a powerful violin solo and lots of weird synthesizer sounds), Eloy (wonderful and lush sound with Hammond, Minimoog and fiery electric guitar along the warm and distinctive vocals by Frank Bornemann), Jane (simple but very compelling symphonic bluesrock with great interplay between fiery guitar and powerful Hammond waves) and the absolute highlight Novalis delivering their epic Sonnenwende (17 minutes): wonderful keyboards by Lutz Rahn (beautiful flute-Mellotron intro, then tasteful work on Hammond, Minimoog, string-ensemble and clavinet), inspired vocals and sensitive, very flowing electric guitar, GREAT! The 42 minutes docu is very interesting but also a bit sad because it confronts you with the difficult situation in which the many promising Krautrock groups had to survive, only a few managed because most of the bands got no support from record companies and government! The docu contains very exciting live footage from bands like Udo Lindenberg & Panikorchester, Amon Duul II in 1968, Pell Mell, Kraan, Hoelderlin, Atlantis (with Inga Rumpf), Conny Plank Studio with Grobschnitt, Can and really great live scenes from mid- Seventies Tangerine Dream, including Edgar Froese on the Mighty M400 Tron!! ~Progarchives

Tracks:
1. Amon Düül II - Between The Eyes
2. Can - Paperhouse
3. Frumpy - Take Care Of Illusion
4. Lucifer's Friend - Ride The Sky
5. Epitaph - Early Morning
6. Birth Control - The Work Is Done
7. Passport - Uranus
8. Guru Guru - Oxymoron
9. Popol Vuh - Bettina
10. Kraftwerk - Rückstoss-Gondoliere
11. Embryo - Calcutta Streets
12. Novalis - Sonnenwende
13. Lothar Meid - Helden aus dem Untergrund
14. Eloy - Decay Of Logos
15. Jane - Expectation
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16. Documentation "Krautrock" - (1975)
17. Lothar Meid Interview

Big thx to YWM1957