PARANHA

Not many non-German groups could reproduce the early Kraut Rock mood, but apparently Swiss band Pyranha was one of them.A sextet from the city of Yverdon near the French-Swiss borders, they consisted of Henry Skippy on sax, Wy Wyss on guitar, Armand Bucher on organ, Jacques Riccio on drums, Beb Anhas on bass and Christian Scheder on vocals.Their only private, self-titled album came out in 1972.

One of the weirdest releases of German-influenced Psych/Prog, ''Pyranha'' opens with the long jamming on ''Clepsydre'', pretty decent example of loose Psychedelic Rock with a narcotic rhythm section providing a steady groove over the developing scratches of saxophone and the muddy sound of organ, featuring some jazzy influences as well.The 13-min. long ''Time 13'' is an overstretched dissapointment, a mix of hypnotic, psychedelic and Ethnic soundscapes akin to CHEVAL FOU with only bits of some interesting guitar work but also endless improvisations on percussion, effects and minimalistic chords.The two short following tracks feature eventually the presence of Christian Scheder on vocals and you should start thinking about ASH RA TEMPEL and AMON DUUL II recruiting CHRISTIAN DECAMPS of ANGE on vocals.Intense psychedelic grooves with saxes and organ in evidence, having a sinister atmosphere and a powerful, theatrical edge due to Scheder twists between crying narrations and haunting chants.Same occurs with the long outro of ''Mouette'', which seems actually more like a vocal experiment than a compact piece of music.Having mostly a trippy electric piano, a vibraphone and a bass in the background, Scheder appears to given space for some poetry in this cut, which ends up to be too long and rather monotonous.

There are shades of great potential during the listening, but overall there is no wonder why this group remained so obscure.This is rather minimalistic and extremely loose Kraut Rock with French lyrics, certainly personal but with a limited musical value.Strictly for fans of the more experimental side of Psych/Prog.