mercredi 4 août 2010

Krokodil - An Invisible World Revealed (1971)




"The Crack in the Cosmic Egg" says:

Krokodil (German for "Crocodile") were constantly promoted by the labels they signed to as a Krautrock band, yet though they had the spirit of Krautrock in their veins, the truth was that they were Swiss! Naturally, Liberty tried to present them as the Krautrock answer to The Groundhogs. Well, Krokodil did have blues origins, they really knew how to rock-it and had a flair for the experimental, so they did have the same sort of attitude as The Groundhogs. But, all that aside, Krokodil were innovators in their own right, not at all copyist, except for maybe their John Mayall type roots. Like most Swiss bands, Krokodil were an unlikely combo, mostly of German-Swiss extraction, with one Englishman: Terry Stevens. Early on, the quoted "Swiss Bob Dylan" Hardy Hepp seemed to be in control, his softer folk and blues mix, and Mojo Weideli's harmonica, gave them a more down-to-earth sound. After Hardy's departure for a solo career, Krokodil really blossomed with the extraordinary AN INVISIBLE WORLD REVEALED, an album that took on all sorts of ethnic and fusion elements, becoming like a hybrid of Amon Düül II, Man and Third Ear Band, all mixed into that unique Krokodil style. Ethnic elements had figured in earlier Krokodil recordings, but not so much as here, where the sitar, tablas and flute are heavily featured. Krokodil had become the finest of Swiss Krautrock bands. A change of label, to Bacillus, their next album GETTING UP FOR THE MORNING offered a similar blending of rock, blues and ethnic styles, though in a more condensed and song-based concoction. The double album SWEAT & SWIM, though it had a couple of duff tracks, also contained some of their best, not least so the 17 minute cosmic-ethnic trip "Linger" recalling the masterworks of AN INVISIBLE WORLD REVEALED.


Songs / Tracks Listing:
  1. Lady Of Attraction
  2. With Little Miss Trimmings
  3. Oddyssey In Om
  4. Green Fly 
  5. Looking At Time 
  6. Last Doors
  7. Pollution (Bonus)
  8. Krokodil Session Part.1 (Bonus)
  9. Krokodil Session Part.2 (Bonus)
Line-up / Musicians:

  • Walty Anselmo / guitars, sitar, bass, vocals 
  • Terry Stevens / bass, guitar, Mellotron, vocals 
  • Mojo Weideli / flute, harmonica, vocals 

1 commentaire:

  1. Love this! I'm really enjoying the download. I've wanted to have this album for awhile now, but of course couldn't locate it. Then I discovered Brainticket's CELESTIAL OCEAN, which I love, and searching on them and Carole Muriel brought me here (by way of the Drum Circus posting). Great blog! A goldmine. Many thanks!

    By the way, first heard both Krokodil and Brainticket on an internet radio station based on the island of Jersey called "Stellar Attraction" (www.stellar-attraction.com), which I can't recommend too highly.

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Rarity Indication


Rather common

Unearthable

Rare

Very rare

Almost impossible to find !

Holy Grail !!!