Guru Guru – UFO (1970)

“Guru Guru is one of the most notable German Krautrock bands, existing from the late 1960s to the present. The band has had many incarnations over nearly 4 decades. Drummer Mani Neumeier has remained as the only original member. Mani and bassist Uli Trepte came from playing free jazz in the mid 1960’s with pianist Irene Schweizer and the appear on an obscure out of print album under her name shortly before forming Guru Guru in the late 1960’s. They were joined by ex-Agitation Free guitarist Ax Geinrich as a “power trio” that was clearly influenced by Hendrix, Zappa and LSD and perhaps Karlheinz Stockhausen… Guru Guru were looser, more improvisational and noisy than most of the Krautrock bands of that time.”

The Cosmic Jokers – The Cosmic Jokers (1974)

“The COSMIC JOKERS is an extreme musical trip, a unique adventure throw time and space. The music is for a large part improvised with proto-electronic gadgets combined to bluesy & spacey musical sentences built around the talented Manuel Gottsching’s electric guitar style (always spacey and bluesy). This is real German acid music, a ‘music of paradise’, transcending music, breaking of the materialistic world, a protest against the reality.”

Ash Ra Tempel – Ash Ra Tempel (1971)

“One of the most formidable of the German Krautrock groups, ASH RA TEMPEL were a powerful force led by guitarist Manuel GÖTTSCHING, and also included former TANGERINE DREAM drummer Klaus SCHULZE at various points. Their music is very spacy and psychedelic, in the manner popularized by early HAWKWIND and AMON DÜÜL II. The early albums all had basically one track a side, one more powerful and dramatic, the other of a more atmospheric nature. Their albums are all classics; those with Klaus SCHULZE (“Ash Ra Tempel” and “Join Inn”) are the best. ASH RA TEMPEL’s first release is a classic of the space/cosmic genre.”

German Oak – German Oak (1990)

“In the strange Olympic summer of 1972, the Düsseldorf instrumental group (community of 5 hippies / open mind artists) German Oak entered the Luftschutzbunker (or Air Raid Shelter), in order to record their eponymous first self-titled LP. The purpose of recording in a bunker was to recreate the feelings experienced by German soldiers during the Allied invasion of 1944. The strange acoustic conditions in the bunker made the music, which was a series of long, spacious guitar jams, sound distant and filled with echo… By consequence German Oak’s music is very tortured, dark and weird, dominated by heavy, “distorted” guitar solos & rhythms. The background creates “painful” & “ambient” sequences thanks to delay echoes, electronic “fuzzy” noises & repetitive bass lines.”

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Baby Grandmothers – Baby Grandmothers (2007)

“The band can be treated as ahead of time with a progressive experimental orientation playing long, mainly improvised songs oriented at Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Some of them were placed on a compilation which was released in 2007 by the swedish Subliminal label. They were recorded at the legendary ‘Filips’ club, a breeding ground for new experimental bands at that time. BABY GRANDMOTHERS also jammed with Mothers Of Invention and supported The Jimi Hendrix Experience on their Scandinavian tour at the turn of the year 1967/68.”

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JPT Scare Band – Sleeping Sickness (2000)

“JPT Scare Band has been blazing psychedelic trails for quite some time now. Over the years and decades they have managed to progress from totally unknown to painfully obscure. In spite of all that… they are still together, with the original lineup intact. Still making meaningful music in the 21st century, this veteran group of jammers is also proud of their vast legacy of classic twisted insanity recorded back in olden analogue times.”

Seven That Spells – The Death And Resurrection Of Krautrock: AUM (2011)

“Seven That Spells was formed by Niko Potočnjak in 2003. The beginnings of the band were rooted in the power trio format but have since then – and after more than 50 musicians passing through the band – evolved to a more modern and aggressive psychedelic sound incorporating polymetrics and occasional viking funeral rites… STS will continue to blow minds and play live shows as frequently as possible. All of the current members reside in Zagreb, Croatia.”

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Melting Euphoria – Upon The Solar Winds (1995)

“It’s less known about this band although MELTING EUPHORIA is often considered as one of the space rock flagships. Formed in San Francisco by keyboardist Don Falcone, England-native Anthony ‘Forti’ Budziszewski (bass) and Mychael Merrill (drums) they started with the album ‘Through The Strands Of Time’ (1994) – avant-garde oriented, forced by spacey synthesizer and tribal drumming… MELTING EUPHORIA moved on with guitarist DeFM and new keyboard/synthesizer collaborators evolving the psych/space fundament. At an interval of one year they released album for album and improved their significant style based on a melodic cosmic trippy sound enriched with a lot of synthesizer goodies.”

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