OFF: More_on_Amon_Duul_II

K Henderson henderson.120 at OSU.EDU
Wed Jan 30 05:04:52 EST 2002


SF says sorrowfully (sorry I can't come up with new jokes every time)...

>Oh nuts, I can't help it, I have to add just a bit more to this very
>verbose thread...all previous quotes are from KeithH (>>) and DougP (>)...

At least it isn't a one-on-one discussion. :)

>My copy of the PD reissue should be arriving soon and I'll hopefully be
>able to partially answer this when it does...

For PD fans, I saw that someone on Ebay was selling a Phallus Dei button,
one of the weirder items I've seen there lately.  It was the blue forest
cover.  I have that CD, but also the reissue LP with the all-purple band
photo cover with the weird sunray pattern.  What's the original look like?
I've heard it's cool...I suppose it might be printed in one of the krautrock
books (Cope, Freeman, Asbjornsen) but I can't remember seeing it.

>Keith's description is quite accurate even if his reaction to it is about
>180 degrees different from mine. I think it all falls together very
>organically, so it sounds like a continuous piece of music, not at all like
>a collage (like The Faust Tapes). A 60+ minute heavy psychedelic tribal jam
>- hog heaven for me.

My main problems are 1) hardly any real new music uncovered, but mainly 2)
the goddamn clicking!  Otherwise it would be 'ok' at least.

>>> the thing ends up with (about 90 seconds of) Master of the Universe
>>> straight off of ISoS.
>
>Heh, that bit always gives me a kick, though I would have guessed it came
>off Space Ritual Vol. II - I'd better go back and listen to it again.

Um...yeah, I didn't really listen too closely either.  I know it's from a
regular source - it didn't sound unusual.  But I just assumed they'd used
the ISoS version, 'cause why would they put Lem on there?!

>If Eternal Flashback is similar, I'd love to get my hands on a copy, but
>Andy Gilham's AD website says it was a Captain Trip promotional-style item,
>and I don't think I've ever seen it for sale.

Um, yeah, I don't know what the deal was - I did get it direct from Ken.
But I thought it was for sale at some point.  (?)

>>> But then there are some obvious pre-Phallus Dei demo recordings
>>> in here also.  Including most obviously a slowed-down earlier
>>> version of Kanaan, which then leads right into the P.D. version
>>> of the same tune.  There's also a couple different folk/skiffle
>
>Now I REALLY would like to hear this, though if the pattern holds I'll end
>up liking it less than Kobe.

:)

Oh, come now!  Look at the big picture.  You and I both agree that Amon Duul
II 1969-1975 was vastly superior to Amon Duul II 1976-1982 (and beyond),
right?  So I just think *their* particular talents were better suited to
(strange and quirky) song composition than psych jamming, and you guys think
oppositely (in that sense only).  Well, sue me.  As I was saying with the
Scorpions, different bands present different aspects of music to my ears and
I respond according to what my own senses are telling me.  I get my fill of
psychedelic jamming from other bands (I'll throw on Guru Guru's Hinten for a
better time), so I'm hardly starving there if I pass on some of my
second-favorite band's material!  :)

For lots of bands, I look at a (hypothetically) unfamiliar CD of theirs and
see several tracks over 10 minutes in length, and think Excellent!  And
other bands (even proggy and psych bands) and see lots of four minute tracks
and think Fantastic!  Well, not that often, but you get my drift.  Of
course, with Amon Duul II, some of their best songs (RST-Child and SSR) are
tremendously long things (sometimes with eight titles in between) so track
times are kinda meaningless there.

>When it comes to ranking the ADII releases, I'm going to second Doug pretty
>much line for line, right down to them losing me at Vive La Trance, except
>I'd like to say that while Live in London may not strictly speaking be
>essential, it is far too good to pass up. Also, in comparing Carnival in
>Babylon and Wolf City, my feeling is that all the material on CiB is at a
>more or less even level of goodness, while WC is a bit more varied - the
>tracks on there that I really like (mostly side 2) I like more than
>anything on CiB, while some of the others (mostly side 1) I tend to like a
>little less than anything on CiB. So its kind of a tossup there.

Has anyone heard the '18K Gold' album?  It seems it was around the time of
Hijack and featured a similar cast with Lothar Meid playing a big role, so I
never thought to look for it.  Is it out on CD?  Now knowing my tastes in
terms of AD2, might I like it?

Kraan discussion...
>I'd particularly like to mention Johannes Papperts (alto?) saxophone >playing

Yep, he plays an alto most of all I presume, given that his nickname is
'Alto' Pappert.  He's now in the reunited Agitation Free.  I don't remember
his sax sound from back then too much off-hand...suppose it's possible he
could be on a soprano sax there, or else maybe just using some fX.

>the Live release (with the toothy topless cartoon chicks on the cover)

Cuties.

>And just to prove to Keith that our tastes are not completely divergent, I
>will say that The Phoebe Cates arrived yesterday and first listen gives a
>good impression...

They of course have split, though some tracks from (presumably) a second
intended release are up on their mp3.com site.  I guess doing a search on
the name will get you there, unless the actress does her own recordings.

Grakkl (FAA), who believes firmly that Phoebe Cates (the band) was better at
long instrumental space jams than shorter shoegazer-type songs.

P.S. I lied about ending this discussion.



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