This album was an early eighties compilation of their work spread over a double LP, with the later songs slightly over-represented. (The first and most progressive and raw album was fully ignored, as is so often the case.)
Hopefully the band itself needs no introduction, they managed to sustain an interesting and unique sound throughout the seventies all the way to the 1982 Nachtfahrt after which I confess I dropped out, expecting only eighties pop. Surprisingly they even made it to wikipedia-fame (but not presumably the Almanach de Gotha), though only in abridged format. Of course I would recommend hearing all the original albums especially since the earliest ones are under-represented in this compilation. Of note, I couldn't recognize the A2 track (Berliner Ring), perhaps someone could assist-- was it original for this release?
With regards to Kraan-related material, it's important to be aware of the guitarist Wolbrandt's solo work So Weit which is really just another Kraan album both in sound and artistry. Being more cohesive, I found it to be just a genuinely adorable and beautiful piece with all the happy energy and wild enthusiasm that so characterizes the band's efforts (just like the so very similar Kjol and Andy Goldner albums ex Exmagma). However, the others didn't fare so well, as I found "Alto" Pappert (saxophonist)'s albums somewhat inferior, and the bassist Hellmut Hattler's Bassball to be not worth hearing twice. Or at least so I recall.
Some of these songs should be very familiar, as the very representative instrumental Flyday from the album of the same name indicates...
http://www49.zippyshare.com/v/TyLsXYNM/file.html
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DeleteThanks so much for this.I only had a cassette of this.Kraan is one of my all time favourite bands and have been lucky enough to see them maybe 4 or 5 times.I think this album was only available to radio stations and were never for sale in stores.The first 3 songs had not been released before this point.Not sure if they had been recorded for this release or they wer leftovers from earlier recordings.But Berliner Ring is one hell of a track indeed.I got pretty much everything these guys have released over the years and there is loads of good stuff on later albums also,though they did have tough time going in the late 80ies and 90ies.Things started happening again when a Danish fella created a web site for them,and interest were there again and they had another good run.They still play a few times a year.Hatter the bass player is still very productive releasing albums under is own name.Great band.Great album.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, appreciate it. So if there are unreleased trax it is well worth hearing.
DeleteI noticed they made another compilation too, earlier.
A classic band of the progressive krautrock scene.
Hi Julian.I like 2 of the 3 unreleased on this one.The first comp on Star Portrait is their first 4 albums I believe.Their first live album which is considered their holy grail,is from their first 3 albums.My preferences are Wiederhoren and Nachtfarht and the Live album (Tourney) which came after, which I believe contains 3 tracks which don't exist anywhere else if I recall correctly.
DeleteHuge thanks ! I've been looking for this one for a long time, I even forgot about it as it was almost impossible to find.
ReplyDeleteReally appreciated, and if interested, i recommend the albums recorded during the 2000's. The 3 of them are really good.
Hi.Nice to see some other Kraan fans.I totally love their style.
DeleteThank you Julian!
ReplyDeleteAny chance of a version with a higher bit-rate, or perhaps even a lossless somewhere? The rip could benefit from a little postprocessing, such as rumble removal and scratch removal, and 128 kb/seconds isn't really good working on
ReplyDeleteit's a bit of a rarity, hard to find, would be nice if someone could rerip it (not myself as I'm not interested in purchasing this)
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