Affenstunde [Bonus Tracks] [Digipak]

Performer: Popol Vuh
Producer: Bettina Fricke; Gerhard Augustin; Bettina Fricke; Gerhard Augustin
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Popol Vuh: Frank Fielder (synthesizer); Florian Fricke, Holger Trulzsch. Personnel: Florian Fricke (Moog synthesizer); Holger Trulzsch (percussion). Liner Note Authors: Gerard Augustin; Michael Fuchs Gamb�ck. Recording information: Bavaria Music Studio, Munich, Germany (1970). Photographers: Bettina Fricke; Frank Fielder. Affenstunde is the debut recording by composer and multi-instrumentalist Florian Fricke's Popol Vuh, named for the sacred Mayan text. It was issued on the Liberty label in Germany in 1970 and has been in print, off and on, in Europe, Japan, and even in the United States sporadically since that time. For those completely dislocated by Tangerine Dream's early experiments in sonic terror and dynamics, Affenstunde is somehow akin yet very different. Fricke's synthesizers are more interested in pulse and circularity, not utter dislocation and shock. The music here all seems of a piece, despite the different selection titles and the single percussion piece on the set, "Dream, Pt. 5" -- primitive hand drums run through the middle of the mix. Other than this selection, the entire album would have made a fantastic soundtrack for Andrei Tarkovsky's film Solaris. The sheer momentum of the title cut, which closes the album and integrates spacious electronic soundscapes, ever deepening tonalities, found taped choral vocals whispering in the background, and percussion is one of the most provocative pieces to come from the Krautrock generation. This is an auspicious debut, which holds up wonderfully in the 21st century. ~ Thom Jurek Affenstunde is the debut recording by composer and multi-instrumentalist Florian Fricke's Popol Vuh, named for the sacred Mayan text. It was issued on the Liberty label in Germany in 1970 and has been in print, off and on, in Europe, Japan, and even in the United States sporadically since that time. For those completely dislocated by Tangerine Dream's early experiments in sonic terror and dynamics, Affenstunde is somehow akin yet very different. Fricke's synthesizers are more interested in pulse and circularity, not utter dislocation and shock. The music here all seems of a piece, despite the different selection titles and the single percussion piece on the set, "Dream, Pt. 5" -- primitive hand drums run through the middle of the mix. Other than this selection, the entire album would have made a fantastic soundtrack for Andrey Tarkovksy's film Solaris. The sheer momentum of the title cut, which closes the album and integrates spacious electronic soundscapes, ever-deepening tonalities, found-taped choral vocals whispering in the background, and percussion is one of the most provocative pieces to come from the Krautrock generation. This is an auspicious debut, which holds up wonderfully in the 21st century. [SPV reissued the main thrust of Popol Vuh's catalog in 2004, including refurbished packaging and bonus tracks with each edition.] ~ Thom Jurek

With their early experiments in sky-touching electronic music, German group Popol Vuh are sometimes lumped in with the Krautrock bands of the 1970s, but they had been working their own territory from the beginning. Less interested in classical forms and intellectualism, keyboardist/composer Florian Fricke crafted mind-expanding ambient Moog pieces supported by tribal percussion that mimicked Indian ragas, African drum circles, and other ethnic influences. It was one of the first examples of "world fusion," uniting the best aspects of Western technology with second- and third-world sounds and forms. The band pursued this track into the '90s, and released 22 albums, including soundtracks to several Werner Herzog films.

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