Search - Ash Ra Tempel :: Schwingungen

Ash Ra Tempel's finest hour?

Cartimand | Hampshire, UK. | 09/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Schwingungen, which is probably my favourite Ash Ra Tempel album, opens with the utterly sublime Look at Your Sun. This is a towering psychedelic tour de force, building gently with the most beautifully laid-back guitar and bass and lyrics of a direct intense simplicity ("I look out my window and see the blue sky", "and I know, we are all one"), through the maniacally frantic central section and then back to the classic Gottsching lonely guitar sound as the track drifts away.



Flowers Must Die is a stunning trippy powerhouse of a song belted out by a manic John L, who sounds totally out of his tree. In places vaguely Hawkwind-ish, the overall feel of this track is surprisingly punk/new wave and therefore many years ahead of its time.



The extended third track, Schwingungen (Vibrations) covered the entire second side of the original album and is a brilliant example of the definitive Ash Ra Tempel cosmic/ambient sound.

A warning though! This track is significantly hypnotic and mood-changing, and it is not recommended to listen to this while you're driving!



The sleeve notes on the original album said something like "You're not hearing this music for the first time - you are recognising it once more" and you will understand what is meant when you listen to this. That classic Ash Ra Tempel chord sequence (later reprised in the Time sequence on the Seven Up album) does seem to grab you at a visceral or primordial level and, once heard, will be with you for ever.



Existing Ash Ra Tempel fans will surely not be able to resist this, and those of you yet to experience this music will not regret letting it into your lives!



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