September is Krautrock month

Since it is back to school time, we decided to do a featured sale this month on a few select Krautrock titles issued up by the SPV label. There are a few essentials that should be in any record geeks library. SPV GmbH (Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH) is a label that has been reissuing several excellent reissues from Amon Düül II, Harmonia, Faust, Popol Vuh, Guru Guru, Agitation Free and others.

One of my favorites (and I think critical records) is Harmonia's "Music Von Harmonia" released in 1974 which features Michael Rother (of Neu!), with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius of Cluster. Just listen to the eternal track of "Watussi" below which has inspired many.

Originals on vinyl go for around $150 and I think it is worth every penny.

Off of their second record "Deluxe" here is "Immer Wieder" from 1975.
Both of these albums are highly prized in various Krautrock / psych collector circles.





Another essential Krautrock act is Amon Düül who later became Amon Düül II in 1968. The first time I was exposed to Amon Düül was when I saw the short film titled "Western" (which also included Peter Weibel) by filmmaker Kurt Kren (who lived in Austin for a short time in the early 80s). A story that still sticks out in my head is when he talked about this film and tour with Amon Düül. He said a film critic was amazed by his film and wrote a glowing review about it, and Kurt Kren told me "But actually I was really drunk on wine and I kept falling down." That is just a part of the truth, but it has made me laugh over the years.
Here is Amon Düül II's "Eye-Shaking King" from "Yeti"



Another piece of the early Krautrock puzzle is Guru Guru. I bet they knew what uniferkel meant.



Our sale will run through all of September and also features releases by Agitiation Free, Faust, Cluster, Jane, Popul Vuh, and more. And speaking of Popul Vuh, let's end this entry with the following clip from 1971. Werner Herzog used them for several of his soundtracks including Aguirre, Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo and Nosferatu. If you dig this clip then pick up their debut "Affenstunde" which was released in 1970 and still sounds totally fresh today. (Dan)