HAND UND FUSS

Without any doubts "Hand und Fuss" has been the more sophisticated and varied one of AERA's first two albums. From the original line-up only Groh and Kreutzeder was left-over and their sound gained a lot from the addition of violinist Christoph Krieger. Musical leadership has been taken over more or less by Kreutzeder and composing has been shared between Groh and the new bass player Peter Malinowski . Their new drummer Lucky Schmidt managed to bring much more forceful rhythms with a jazzier orientation into their music. Musicianship by all band members is here absolutely outstanding and each of the seven compositions is a little gem on its own. Highlights are the highly diversified "Mechelwind", the inventive "Elephen Elephants" with an amazing drum solo and the bolero-type "Kamele On". But the remaining tracks are really not inferior at all to those ones. Maybe worth mentioning that Klaus Kreutzeder presents some jazzy scat singing on "Ad Absurdum", actually the only "vocals" apart from some weird yowling in the finish of the last track.

Finally it's just left to say for me that I'd highly recommend AERA's second album to any Kraut- and Jazz-rock fan best achieved by buying the CD-reissue which combines both of their first two releases for highest value/money ratio.

Aera's second album, Hand und Fuss, is a substantial improvement over their debut (Humanum Est). With the Mahavishnu Orchestra still an influence, Aera diversify a bit to incorporate musical influences from all over the world into the mix. Lucky Schmidt takes up the drummer's stool this time around and Christoph Krieger joins on violin, and both of them enrich the group's sound considerably, but props also have to be given to Muck Groh, the group's furiously talented guitar player. Whilst the previous album didn't really stand out for me, this one is a great piece of late-1970s fusion proving that even in the latter half the decade talented artists were still advancing the genre.

Fusion for beginners - hot cocoa for the peeps in the know

I've often talked to people here on PA about how enormous the Italian prog scene was back in the day. Seems like everywhere you look - every rock you turn over, out pops a little obscurity. Well Germany was like that too. Man I've stumbled over some amazing records - spanning from Krautrock to Avant guarde to Symphonic cream. The scene was broad like a hippo's derrière - broad I say.

Aera fits in under the fusion umbrella, although I hear a strong psychedelic vibe from this band as well - meaning that whether you're cruising the Herbiedelic beboppadoo jazzy highway - or melting gently out on the terrace like a psychedelic gummy bear in heat, chances are that you're going to love this one like you love feet.

On Hand und Fuss (Hand and Foot) you are met with a delicious mix of melodies and a raw psych groove. No such thing as dry chops and duduliduh dududuliduh on its own - no, there's a sweetness to these pieces, that not unlike Danish band Secret Oyster manages to portray the music here as warm, vibrant and effortlessly flowing. Often you get obstacles in your fusion - blocking the easy way forth, making the melody skip the beat - drive around the set course, deviate from everything else, and leave everything behind for a nice spot in front of the band right up close to the mic. This is not the Aera way! This is smooth and floating jazz rock - with emphasis on the rock part of the equation. It's psychedelic as I mentioned earlier, but in a groovy gravy kind of way - with warbling bass lines and wah wahing guitar textures that sink into each other like hot scrumptious chocolate lovers making sonic adult gymnastics as the tunes drift along.

Just like Secret Oyster, the tracks here are often lead by birdy bird wind instruments such as saxomophone, flute and the occasional oboe. Mmmmhhh I love the oboe. It's like the instrument world's version of Pee-wee Herman... All these tooting birds are very attuned into the melodic approach taken by the other instruments around them. They don't complicate things unnecessary - they stay the course, but in a most brilliant way - which makes me think of the small insistent blackbirds outside my window that every summer wake me up around 5 in the morning with these sunshine serenades that all sound very smooth and beautiful - unlike the later afternoon sessions where they seem to have drunk a fair deal of alcohol, because they all start sounding like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Outside the birds, we have a violin taking care of business from time to time, and in a genius kind of way, it actually sounds perfectly like these aforementioned wind instruments - albeit with another timber and voice of its own. These are all the guiding beacons of Hand und Fuss, but where things start to get fuzzy and slightly psychedelic is in the guitar department, that whilst often sticking to the back draft with a tight rhythm bearing duty accompanying the bass lines - also freaks out when the moment calls for it - changing the scope of the track - adding olive oil to the mix slithering the tunes out of bounce in a most astonishing manner.

There are no keys or synths on this outing and I quite frankly don't miss them. If the individual track needs a splash of something out of the ordinary, the instruments on deck will surely take care of this in a jiffy - just like the weird and oddly infatuating animal piece called Elephen Elephants - where the sax changes its natural presence in for a much more lovable and nasally charged pachyderm sound, that takes me back into the Jungle-book with Colonel Hathi marching along - blowing his trunk to the saucy beat of the forest. So sweet this track, and again so melodic and alluring that it practically invites you in.

This is a jazz rock album for the uninitiated and those who are still wondering how and where to start in these fusioneros waters. These are treacherous - yes I know, but Hand und Fuss is so welcoming, rocking and melodically enhanced, that it is damn near impossible not to get a little smitten by it. This is a perfect album to start your journey into the more jazzy lands of prog rock, and if you already love this kind of stuff - you'll most likely adore this one. Somewhere between Kraan and Secret Oyster lie Aera with their marvellous brand of jazzy psych rock - that swoops over you like a cosy hand held sonic sprinkler. Frooooossshh!!!

Man this is so much better than anything else that I have from this band. A big thankyou to David for this one. The music here is simply more powerful and more passionate than their other records. The new drummer is fantastic and the bass is upfront the way I like it so yes a prominant rhythm section is the result plus we get guitar, violin, flute and sax helping out. Lets put it this way, there is a definite Rock in this Jazz / Rock album.

"Mechelwind" is such a good track. Guitar to start as bass, drums and violin join in. We get a nice heavy rhythm section here. Sax too. Some nice guitar work after 3 minutes. A calm before 5 minutes then the violin comes in ripping it up. Relaxed horn before 6 1/2 minutes as the violin stops. A beautiful guitar solo comes in before 8 minutes as the drums and bass continue. Violin returns late. "Alabaster Keaton" has some depth to it once again because of the bass and drums. The flute comes in over top. It picks up 1 1/2 minutes in. Love the drumming here. It all eases up with the flute again playing over top like earlier to end it. "Wrdlbrmfd" has a beat with sax and the guitar joins in too. Violin after 1 1/2 minutes followed by sax as they continue to trade off. Some energy late.

"Elephen Elephants" has these deep bass lines with drums and sax also standing out. Violin replaces the sax after a minute. Then it's the flute's turn. Sax is back then we get a drum solo before 3 1/2 minutes. A change 6 minutes in with cymbals, guitar and sax followed by drums as it turns fuller. Violin before 8 minutes. "Herbstzeitlos" is sax led with the drums and bass doing the ground work. I like it ! Violin replaces the sax briefly. "Ad Absurdum" has these punchy sounds that come and go. Some nice drum work when it picks up each time. The violin and sax play over top after 2 minutes. Great sound ! Vocal expressions before 4 minutes. "Kamele On" is so good ! The guitar leads and sounds amazing as he lights up the soundscape.

Easily 4 stars and I finally know what all the fuss is about with this one (insert groan here).

A couple of line-up changes occured in the Aera line-up after ''Humanum est''.Dieter Bauer and Wolfgang Teske jumped off board, we would meet the later a few years later on Muck Groh's solo release ''Mucke[%*!#]''.Their replacements were violin player Christoph Krieger and drummer Lucky Schmidt from WIND, while bassist Peter Malinowski would be promoted to a regular member.The next offering by the group was the album ''Hand und Fuss'', released in 1976 again on the Erlkoenig label, featuring also guest star Onkel Latzi on sax and oboe.

The classic 10-min. opener ''Mechelwind'' sets the tone for another solid release by Aera.Wild Kraut-Fusion with blisterring grooves, sudden breaks, folky vibes and external interplays, executed with passion and precision all the way.''Hand und Fuss'' is another very tight album by the talented Germans, swirling around the Jazz-Rock and Fusion territories with plenty of progressive vibes in well-arranged tracks with a nice deegree of variety, missing the strict lines of the rough Kraut Rock style and sounding quite refined.Great violin movements, powerful sax interventions, rhythmic flute drives, Folk references and a few acoustic textures surround a very energetic rhythm section, dominated by the difficult bass lines and steady but furious drumming.The guitars are less apparent compared to the band's debut with just a few explosions, as the music is strongly based on the sax, violin and bass parts.However the sound remains very dense with minor flaws and and some tremendous battles between the instrumentalists, mostly in a jazzy vein.

Nice and strongly recommended follower to the otherwise solid ''Humanum est''.Instrumental Prog/Fusion of high quality, essential for all lovers of the style...3.5 stars.