HOELDERLIN

The two-sided theme approach to the album (Cloud side versus Clown side) is one of those things that was sometimes clever back in the days of albums, but is all but lost on today’s raised-on-CD audience. I think Joe Jackson’s ‘Night & Day’ was probably the last such disc I ever bought on virgin vinyl and it too seems to suffer from being recast on a 4-1/2 inch slab of whatever CDs are made of.

No matter, what’s important is the music and that is pretty good here. Slightly less folksy and more symphonic than the band’s ‘Hölderlins Traum’ CD, which is the only other disc I have from them. And the last two songs (the Clouds side) is much less animated than the Clowns side, but both are equally appealing in their own ways. I can appreciate the slowing building beauty of “Phasing” at the end almost as much as the rather hyper extended “Madhouse” that opens the record, and the bouncy “Circus” makes for a nice transition between the two.

Unlike the debut the vocals are in English here, which makes following along on what is essentially a loosely-coupled story album a bit easier for the likes of monolingual dullards such as myself. Thanks to the band for that.

And although there isn’t a hit single to be found anywhere (or probably even a single at all – or at least not one that I know of), this is in the end a decent piece of work. Nothing memorable, nothing spectacular; then again, nothing overly pompous or ponderous either. So all things considered since this is a prototypical progressive rock album coming right on the heels of the most self-absorbed period of progressive music, that in itself is a compliment.

Three stars for being quite good and worth listening two more than three decades later, even if this is a mostly forgotten record. Recommended to symphonic prog fans as much, or even more so, than prog folk ones.

peace

The band sold a surprising number of copies of this debut despite them being relatively unknown and not at all imbued with anything resembling a mass appeal sound. Great for prog folk fans today though, who have an opportunity to appreciate this rare recording thanks to Spalax’s reissue.

The recording quality is just a bit rough, even for early seventies standards, but this is only a minor distraction since most of us who seek out old prog folk music are pretty much used to substandard recording quality. But the range of instrumentation thanks to the nine performers makes up for the lack of range in sonic quality nicely.

The band is fairly naïve in their themes and arrangements, but in a charming way that music of this era tends to be. “Requiem Für Einen Wicht” for example is given a ‘requiem’ treatment simply by inclusion of stark piano chords throughout despite really being more of an almost traditional-sounding folk song made ‘modern’ thanks to heavy organ riffs and snare drums. Christoph Noppeney is particularly noteworthy on violin for this track, with most of the last several minutes focused around him.

The band shows a little Anglo influence with the medieval opening track “Waren Wir “ as well as “Erwachen”, while the lengthy title track is a rocking instrumental with more great violin and an animated and persistent rhythm track that carries the album to completion.

My only complaint is that the record is a bit brief at less than thirty-five minutes, but again this is a minor quibble and for the most part I found it to be truly enjoyable and very representative of progressive folk of the early seventies. A bit dated today, but if you are into old German prog folk bands like Ougenweide or Eden (although Hoelderlin’s later works are closer to Eden than this album), you may find this one to be pleasant and worth picking up. Four stars is a tad bit high but I think this record is just a bit better than three thanks to the variety of instrumentation and the obvious enthusiasm of the players. Recommended to most all prog folk fans.

peace

Even on first listen, the first and final cut distinguish themselves and leave one wondering what was missed in between. Both up the prog ante, with lots of mellotron and fine percussion. The way the album ends, I wonder if the second, self titled effort follows on from the more revved up style that fades out in mid promise, or if that was just an anomaly. Of the remainder "Reqiem für einen Wicht" is the best, with a middle section built on strong repetitive melody beautifully expressed by Nanny DeRuig. But ""Peter" and "Strohhalm" are fairly thin by any yardstick, and "Wetterbericht", in spite of some interesting ideas, takes too long to not fully express them.

Like a lot of dreams, Hoelderlin's Traum is hard to remember once I wake up, but like a lot of good dreams, I am left feeling happier. Even though the style was rife in 1971, this album manages to distinguish itself over and above the use of German, and that warrants a rounding up as I awaken from my catatonia.

When I first heard this album I thought instantly of the Brit-folkie classic "Just Another Diamond Day" by Vashti Bunyan. Vashti's album is a more stripped-down affair than this one but the spirit and the beauty of the simple music is quite similar. Holderlin takes the basic template of Bunyan's classic and adds a touch of hippie rock to the folk music. The acoustic guitars and lovely, delicate vocals that make up the basic framework here are adorned with bass, drums, flute, cello, organ, and mellotron. The result is some of the dreamiest and sublime folk rock you've heard, to my ears much better than what I heard from Trees. All vocals are in German but don't let that stop you.

"Waren Wir" begins so beautifully with violin and acoustic guitar, enter the soul stirring singing of Nanny DeRuig. After the introduction the song changes a bit and we get a fairly snappy beat over mellotron with flute improvisation. In the middle of this section some male spoken vocals briefly intrude. Strange opener. "Peter" has a very traditional folk music sound and this one reminds most directly of Bunyan's album. The pleasant vocal melody carries the song over acoustic and bouncy bass. "Strohhalm" is another fairly traditional folk song with sitar, tablas, flute, and male vocals this time. "Requiem" injects some tension with the nervous violin in places and is considerably more dramatic in mood. Some room is allowed for a string solo in the middle. Make sure to watch the cool live video we have of this track on the site or on YouTube. "Erwachen" has a flute solo for an introduction, very nice. After a short pause the song continues with piano, acoustic guitar, and nice vocal. A bit of cello comes through now and again. "Wetterbericht" starts with two acoustic parts and Nanny's fragile childlike singing. The guitar work sounds simple but is actually quite well thought out and trance inducing. "Traum" continues the meditative picking of the previous track but soon adds some hopping percussion, flute and violin. The pace is much more upbeat here and would make a great track for some of that free-form Deadhead style of dance. The violin and bass interplay gets fairly crazy towards the end and then fades.

Essential for fans of our folk prog genre. The album cover is perfectly fitting. The music of Holderlin's Traum is like a dreamy summer afternoon flitted away in a meadow. When I listen to this at work it makes me want to turn off my computer, walk out the door, and drive to the country. Music like this could cost you your job. Oh well, life is short. I really encourage fans of this album to hunt down Bunyan's "Diamond Day." It's every bit as good as this although much sparser and without the proggy touches. 3.75 stars.

The album ends to a fabulous "Traum" (Dream), which starts with waves of drum plates evoking mantralike acoustic guitars descending below, joined by tablas which predict the rock rhythm section and flute to enter, making again a groove sounding quite much RUFUS ZUPHALL's album "Weiss Der Teufel". Later the faster beat collapses, and the voices reduce pace and their form swirls surrealistically for a moment before the melodic theme returns, before the track and the entire record melts away. Here the fadeout works well (a rare example), making a feeling of ascending away from the dreamy realm left to run to the planes unreachable, exept when summoned by playing this album. The record was probably an influence for late 1970's CAROL OF HARVEST, having great instrumetal free impressionistic jamming sequences. I really like the romaticism, mysticsm, medieval influences surged trough the psychedelic frame of reference with a find musicmanship making up yet anonther vintage ace album from the 1970's Germany. Recommended for anybody for liking hazy and traditional folk music with fragile female voice!

Hoelderlin's New Faces is a pop-rock album with some electronic influences that make it a bit prog, but just vaguely. None of the songs can be considered prog per se, but there are some few songs that are more interesting, like, for example, the opener, with some electronics, but nothing else. Other songs are completely pop-rock, and some are in the same situation of the opener, but it is not sufficient to make this album interesting from a prog point of view and even for the folk-prog fans from the early days of the well-crafter prog rock made by Hoelderlin, since the album is neither prog, not folk.

So it is better avoided by most of prog fans and even Hoelderlin's fans.

And how about their current sound? Well, if you like their acclaimed mellow prog folk on the debut album Hoelderlin's Traum you will be pleased with the new CD Eight: most of the 10 compositions sound dreamy with acoustic guitars, violin and pleasant vocals (female and male). The female singer has an important role, she colours the music very beautifully with her a bit high pitched but warm voice. Some songs sound a bit more powerful like the splendid On The Bridge (from dreamy to compelling and bombastic featuring in the end a raw and great build-up guitar solo with hints from Neil Young) and the mid-tempo songs Come To Me and The Mechanism Of Antikytherea, the UK progfolk band Mostly Autumn comes to my mind. I was also delighted about the wonderful pieces Forget Me Now (with intense violin work) and the final track Rivers delivering a dreamy atmosphere with soft organ waves, sensitive piano play and warm vocals, beautiful!

If you are up to warm, melodic, tasteful and a mainly mellow blend of prog and folk (with the emphasis on folk), this album will be yours! My rating: 3,5 stars.