About

Along with Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel (later Ashra) was one of the first bands to convert the trippier side of late-'60s psychedelia into the kosmische rock of the '70s. Most Ash Ra titles were solely the work of Manuel Göttsching, plus any other additional players who happened to be around during the recording of his ten albums. Göttsching trained in classical guitar and studied improvisational music plus electronics at school. In 1970, he formed Ash Ra Tempel with no less than Klaus Schulze (fresh from a brief stint in Tangerine Dream) and Hartmut Enke. After a self-titled album in 1971, Schulze left for a solo career; Göttsching carried on with a variety of bandmembers and guests, including Timothy Leary on 1973's Seven Up (and Schulze again, for Join Inn).

Schwingungen is characterized by their usual lengthy suites, which can exceed the twenty minutes. In the case of this 1972 album, it consists of two different parts. The first part that would be Side A of the LP, “Light And Darkness”, which is divided into two pieces, “Light: Look At Your Sun” and “Darkness: Flowers Must Die”, and the second part taht would be Side B, the title track “Schwingungen: Suche & Liebe”. The two parts are quite distinguishable but they’re part of a whole of an ensemble that divided can loses an important part of power. I’m talking about the synergy of the unit that is stronger than the sum of the factors separately. Schwingungen, which could be translated as “vibrations” or “oscillatory movement” stood as one of the works of Ash Ra Temple that defined the cosmic music of that period. More turbulent than the descriptive works of Tangerine Dream, it was favoured by those who snubbed the technological haughtiness of these, in favor of a sound still rooted in rock. It sounds like a freaky Pink Floyd’s version crossed with Tangerine Dream and the ambient music of Brian Eno. — via Sputnik Music

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Label: MG.ART
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, Gatefold, 180g
Reissued: 2021 / Original Release: 1972
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Krautrock, Prog Rock, Ambient, Psychedelic Rock

File under: School of Rock
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