Vespero ~ Russia

Krautrock styled; Space rock

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Latest: Tej 6.7 (2026). June 10

UMR review page for Vespero

8/10/17 (new entry)

The Cosmic Dead ~ Scotland

Space rock; Krautrock styled

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Latest: Beyond the Beyond (2026) Apr 17

UMR review page for The Cosmic Dead

6/1/13 (new entry)

Papir ~ Denmark

Space rock; Krautrock styled; Jam band

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Latest: IX (2025) Nov 21.

UMR review page for Papir

5/31/13 (new entry)

The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus ~ England

Krautrock styled; Neo Gothic Progressive

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Latest: Devotion to a Noble Idea (2025) EP

Beauty Will Save the World (2015)

The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus' debut Gift of Tears sounded like Popol Vuh and Emtidi met head on with Harmonia - with a big dose of intense spirituality a la Dead Can Dance. The EP Le Liturgie Pour le Fin du Temps sounded like a Krautrock Delerium. Other albums left a big WTF behind. And here we are with their first new album in 20 years. RYM gives it the genre of Avant Folk, the same as Moondog and Catherine Ribeiro (shakes head. Huh?). Anyway, forget it, the band defies categorization. Are they even from here? Earth, that is...

---12/5/15

Other albums I own and still need to review: The Gift of Tears (1987); Mirror (1991); Le Liturgie Pour le Fin du Temps (1993); Paradis (1995)

12/5/15 (new entry)

Oresund Space Collective ~ Denmark ~ Sweden

Space rock; Krautrock styled

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Latest: Alotta Hella Down in Estrela (2025). To be released May 5.

UMR review page for Oresund Space Collective

9/8/11 (new entry)

Elephant9, Norway

Jazz rock; Krautrock styled

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Latest: Catching Fire (w/ Terje Rypdal) (2024). Release date: Oct 18

Silver Mountain (2015)

For the opener ‘Occidentali’, take 1969 era Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and Soft Machine. Roll them up tight in a ball, and then have Wolfgang Dauner’s Et Cetera play that imaginary music. Get your attention, did I? Not sure I’ve ever heard those 4 names tossed together in the same breath. This is followed by a Stevie Wonder cover tune, as driven by the same above parameters. OK then. Not that you’ll actually recognize the tune, as it’s about as psychedelic interpreted as it can possibly get. There’s also this strange 1971 vintage Tangerine Dream quality about these two compositions. Like a long form ‘Ultima Thule’ if that makes sense. As the ladies of HGTV like to often say, these 2 songs are ahh-MAY-ZING. ‘Abhartach’ is a bit too much though, and ear fatigue begins to set in. It reminds me of those modern Japanese bands where they never seem to know when to quit. Redlining it all the time is tiresome. Though experience tells me there's a contingent of those who feel "too much of a good thing, is a good thing", so you'll probably love this track too. ‘Kungsten’ starts out similar, and it’s time to find the fast forward button. But by the 7 minute mark, the band slows it back down to atmospheric keyboards,  psychedelic moods, and jam sequences. This is clearly where Elephant9 shines, on this effort anyway. The last 2 minutes brings back the energy of the prelude, though its placement here is far more effective. Finale ‘The Above Ground Sound’ recalls ‘Occidentali’ mixed with ‘Kungsten’. Once again Dungen’s guitarist Reine Fiske is on board, and his decidedly acid guitar tone adds much to the overall psychedelic stew. Vintage keyboards, primarily organ, electric piano, and mellotron, are still the focus here. Overall, Silver Mountain is certainly Elephant9’s most experimental album to date, though no less worthy. Four albums in, and Elephant9 have yet to disappoint. They are by far, IMHO, the best band on the Rune Grammofon label.

---3/26/17

Other albums heard: Dodovoodo (2008); Walk the Nile (2010); Atlantis (2012)

2/26/13 (new entry)

Kikagaku Moyo ~ Japan

Heavy psych; Krautrock styled

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Latest: Hasenheide (2024) archival from 2016.

UMR review page for Kikagaku Moyo

12/4/13 (new entry)

Mushroom ~ USA ~ San Francisco, California

Space rock; Jazz rock; Krautrock styled

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Latest: Messages from the Spliff Bunker. To be released Feb 10.

Still playing live in 2025.

UMR review page for Mushroom

1/20/24 (new entry)

Il Ballo delle Castagne, Italy ***Inactive***

Neo Italian prog; Krautrock styled

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Latest: Live Studio (2015)

There was talk of a studio album on this date, but it seems to have fizzled.

Kalachakra (2011)

I'm always on the lookout for modern bands who incorporate psychedelic influences into their progressive rock, and it was clear by the few reviews I saw, plus my sampling of their first album a few months ago, that Ballo delle Castagne are one such band. One only has to look at their label name to pick out a distinct Krautrock predilection. 

Given the sitar, echoed acid guitar and overall trippy effects, perhaps it's surprising that Ballo delle Castagne also possess an early 80s maudlin New Wave sound, especially evident in the vocal styling presented. In some ways, I'm hearing that most misunderstood debut album by the Italian group Runaway Totem (Trimegisto). Ballo delle Castagne's second album, for me at least, improves significantly as it progresses on - losing some of the 80's song narrative, while bringing forth their 1970s Krautrock influences. The moody and atmospheric 'La Foresta dei Suicidi' is my pick for best track.

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Interesting how 13 years can change a perspective. As many albums have lost their space in the collection, an effort like Kalachakra sounds more fresh to my ears now than (apparently) then. The group describe themselves as a mix of hard rock, progressive, and New Wave. The latter was something I wasn't into so much when I heard this. Now I even hear an obscure genre like Italo-Disco which I had no clue about until the last couple of months (think Kraftwerk). One can hear similarities to fellow Italians Il Segno del Comando, another band that seemed to enjoy New Wave, especially the more gothic side of the house. The twist here is Ballo delle Castagne's fondness for early 70s Krautrock. My favorite track remains 'La Foresta dei Suicidi' which recalls Popol Vuh, a band that Ballo delle Castagne clearly has a fondness for. I can't think of another album like this in my collection. That gets you a +1.

---4/29/11; 9/23/24

4/29/11 (new entry)

Lumerians, USA

News: Lumerians are another band that got away from me recently, but their latest album is titled Call of the Void and was released in June earlier this year. The reviews look good, so I popped for the CD. More to come on UMR!

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Location: Oakland, California

Overview: Lumerians' rhythms are pure Krautrock motorik, straight from the Can and Neu! school. The dreamy vocals recall Barrett era Floyd, or perhaps more to the point, the early 90s neo psych of Sun Dial.

UMR notes

Liquid Sound Company, USA

News: I recently spoke with guitarist / band leader John Perez and Liquid Sound Company are back in business with promises of a new album in 2019! Currently they are playing live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

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Location: Arlington, Texas

Overview: Liquid Sound Company are a Krautrock influenced psychedelic jam band who put out a couple of great albums in 1996 and 2002 respectively. They also resurfaced in 2008, but I haven't heard this incarnation of the band. They list the following as bands they enjoy, which is telling: Asteroid #4, Group 1850, Agitation Free, Dukes Of Stratosphere, Flight Reaction, Word Of Life, Vibravoid, Vibrasonic, Plasticland, Cloud Eleven and tons more!

UMR notes (none yet)

Hills, Sweden ***Inactive***

Space rock; Neo Krautrock

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Latest: Alive at Roadburn (2017)

Frid (2015)

Frid is the 3rd studio album from this fine space rock / Krautrock band from Sweden. Overall, this is a fairly conservative effort. Meaning... Hills seems all too content to play to genre norms, including motorik styled beats, and fuzz guitar explosions. The band is so rigid in their structure, if would appear they might break in half if they threw in an actual meter shift, or a completely new idea. The beauty of the original Krautrock scene was the escaping of expectation, and blowing minds with exploration. Tonality and color continue to be challenges for the band, as they've never replaced the warmth of the flute from the debut. Sitar is a nice inclusion, though it's unclear who plays what, since the album lacks any kind of documentation.

Despite all these minor gripes, I'm predisposed to liking music such as this, which is probably the only reason I rate it as high as I do. I will submit though, that Frid is a slight improvement on the even more rigid The Master Sleeps. The highlight for me is the ending of 'National Drone' which segues nicely into the superb 'Anukthal is Here'. This is as close as Hills has gotten to their own early 70s native music scene like Algarnas Tradgard and Flasket Brinner. And 'Och Solen Sänkte Sig Röd' won me over on the third straight listen (and 3rd beer). Sometimes it takes that effort...

---10/8/15

Master Sleeps (2011)

I felt Hills on their debut showed a lot of promise and that they'd captured the spirit of the original Krautrock movement very well. Master Sleeps shows the band moving more towards the trendy, post-rock motorik side of the house with the familiar steady 4/4 Can/Neu! styled beats. The title song underscores this tactic. On other tracks you'll hear the "wall-of-sound" fuzz guitar overload ala classic Hawkwind. I'm fond of all these bands, but I was hoping Hills would explore new regions of the genre, or at least walk down the road less traveled. So for me, even though I still recommend Master Sleeps, I do think the album is a bit of a step back. I definitely miss the flute, an instrument that greatly extended their range. 

---2/1/12

Hills (2009)

Hills are probably the closest recent band I've heard to conjuring up the spirit of the original Krautrock movement. Mistakes and all. Hills restrain themselves from the endless jam that befell bands like Acid Mothers Temple and, as noted recently, Sulatron's latest signing from Detroit: THTX. Plus Hills reintroduces the flute as an all important ingredient, starting right away on 'Death 1', adding a much needed soft lead instrument to the typical harsh textures that the genre calls for. 'Istiklal Street' reminded me of the Cosmic Jokers, though a slight 2 minute trimming throughout the piece would have helped. 'You Talk The Talk!' is a dead ringer of Kraftwerk's debut (for you kids just startin' out, that would NOT be like the Kraftwerk you are familiar with): The echoed flute, shimmering guitars and pounding metronomic drums are to die for. 'Rainship [Solregn]' is like a psychedelic Neu!. The familiar driving beat but with obvious space rock / psychedelic textures. Bonus track 'Schlaraffenland' made me glad I bought the CD just for this. Similar to tracks 3 and 4, but even more in the vein of Ash Ra Tempel's 'Freak N Roll' from Join Inn. A hypnotic space rock jam. 'Messias' is another bonus coming from a previously released cassette.

Hills have enormous potential. I highly recommend this album as it is. However, I'd like to see them tighten the ship a bit, focus on a little melody and add in some more compositional structure, as they could really put out a monster album here. They have the RIGHT sound.

---7/15/11

7/15/11 (new entry)