HEDERSLEBEN

I was a little disappointed with this latest HEDERSLEBEN album called "Orbit". Surprised too that Kaphera(keys/ vocals) and Jason(drums) have been replaced. They along with band leader Nicky(guitar/ composer) had been on the first three studio albums together, along with being in Nik Turner's band. Now I did notice that all three were on Nik's latest "Life In Space" so there's that. I'm not a huge fan of the new female singer here along with some of these songs. There are some good songs though and many excellent ideas in place here it's just that very few of them are working for me.

"Judas Star" has this spacey atmosphere with some guitar expressions until the song kicks into gear with organ and drums after a minute. I'm not into the sound before 2 minutes, annoying. I much prefer the calm that follows although the manipulated female vocals bug me too. I can't win here. Her vocals become normal after 4 minutes as she shouts the lyrics. A spacey calm ends it. "Walk Above The Clouds" has a nice heavy sound to it but it settles back quickly. A steady beat with vocals takes over a minute in. I'm not really into her vocals but I like that determined beat and the guitar starting before 2 1/2 minutes. It's angular here by the way.

"Distant Sun" has a dark atmosphere as sparse piano joins in. Male and female vocals follow as they almost drone like they are drugged. A calm before 2 1/2 minutes then it starts again with atmosphere, experimental sounds and sampled voices. "History Of Light" is a more energetic "rock" piece with female vocals. Organ and a heavy sound but I'm not into the vocals. I do like how the guitar echoes after 2 minutes. A catchy track.

"Apogie" opens with what sounds like church organ swirling as spacey sounds help out as they come and go. The drums kick in as well. A cool instrumental. "Hedersleben(Dream State)" is a top two as we get this melancholy with laid back guitar melodies and bass as reserved female vocals join in. Violin a minute in. Spacey, melancholic synths before 2 1/2 minutes. Just a great sound to this one.

"Rarefied Air" is my other favourite. Surprisingly(not) both are very melancholic. I think that's guitar and keys as drums then heavy bass lines join in. There's those melancholic synths I love before a minute. Vocal melodies replace the synths after a minute and they will continue to take turns. That sure sounds like mellotron around 4 minutes. "Be There" is an uptempo rocker with female vocals that I don't really enjoy while the closer "Perigree" is birds chirping throughout with dual acoustic guitar melodies.

As I said earlier there are some interesting ideas here but I want my old band back(haha). No this is a good album but I'll stick with the first three.

HEDERSLEBEN have gained some attention in the meanwhile, or how does it come that some of their tracks are featured in upcoming action movies like Diamond Cartel and The Devil's Domain? The band name originally derives from a small German village. This relation, and I would say it will affect mastermind Nicky Garratt most likely, manifests in a German speech at the end of Distant Sun for example. Hedersleben however includes the word 'life' too, which also stands for a constant coming and going. And this is significant when it comes to the line up over the course, completely renewed again, solely Nicky excluded of course.

Hence every album will sound remoulded too. Hey, what a benefit! There's a focus on female vocals here somehow, due to Alicia Previn being involved, a wonderful find equipped with so many variants. Either an otherworldly appearance while digitally retouched on Judas Star. Or concerning Rarefied Air massively reminding me at some early experiences comprising Embryo and Missus Beastly featuring Maria Archer on vocals during the mid 1970s. Furthermore, when counting her in playing the violin, Curved Air comes into mind occasionally.

Please forgive my ... eh, feasible narrow-mindedness ... just when having a very sceptical eye on this, ... somewhat strange is the album's total length, even if aiming at a vinyl issue. So much the more when they are taking the liberty to fade out most of the given nine songs! On the other hand though, the more this is proving the band's compositional prolificness, one may say. Either way, the entire song collection appears like a well sorted string of shiny tiny pearls, one after another, ending with Perigree like arriving in paradise, this accompanied by looping acoustic guitars and bird's twittering. No loss of spirit, you're welcome again!

I was eager to check out HEDERSLEBEN's second album after really enjoying their debut. I have to say there's not a lot to chose between the two as I think both are solid 4 star works. I like the way they set this one up like some of the classic Krautrock albums with that side long suite complimented with several songs on side two.

So lets start with the epic and title track "Die Neuen Welten" a 17 1/2 minute journey. Floating organ to begin as blips come and go. Bass comes in around 2 minutes and builds then the guitar starts to make some noise after 4 minutes but it's brief. Pulsating organ a minute later. Catchy stuff after 6 minutes as spacey synths come and go. A PINK FLOYD vibe before 9 minutes as the guitar joins in. Drums to the fore 10 1/2 minutes and there's a real Krautrock impression here. Some nice guitar expressions 13 1/2 minutes in including some angular lines after 15 minutes. This is followed by 2 minutes of calm with piano melodies and electronics to the end.

"(On The Ground) Safe And Sound" reminds me so much of HAWKWIND with that catchy chorus. It opens with pulsating sounds along with mellotron waves then bass and more as it builds. Check out the guitar before 2 minutes playing over top. That chorus comes in before 3 minutes and lasts about a minute. "Nomad World(Dreamstate)" is the only "Dreamstate" song this time as we had two of them on the debut. Picked guitar and atmosphere to start and I really like the guitar expressions and female vocal melodies that come and go. A beauty.

"Xo5B" is slower paced with vocal melodies, a beat and piano early on. Spacey synths join in followed by the guitar and bass. Nice. The vocal melodies stop before the guitar starts to grind it out a minute later. The organ starts to lead then the vocal melodies return, then spacey synths. "Tiny Flowers/ Little Moon" sounds so good to start, love that bass. Female vocals join in quickly and again the bass and drums sound really good here. A calm after 2 1/2 minutes with piano to the end.

These guys have released a new album in 2015 so I'm really looking forward hearing that one. Krautrock fans need to check this band out.

HEDERSLEBEN are a new Krautrock band out of Germany named after a village in Germany where Nicky Garratt the brainchild of the project is from. He became interested in this style of music after jamming in Hedersleben with guitarist Uve Mulrich from EMBRYO. By the way this tradition of jamming with other musicians in Hedersleben continues to this day as a yearly event. Nicky and drummer Jason Willer were part of Nik Turner's band on the album "The Space Gypsey" which was released in 2013 just like this album. Nik actually guests on the final track here playing flute. Even more members of HEDERSLEBEN would be on Nik's latest album "Space Fusion Odyssey". Oh, by the way this band HEDERSLEBEN is now also part of BRAINTICKET, joining Joel in that endeavor.

"Upgoer(Part 1)" opens with what sounds like the wind blowing and birds making noise as the organ floats in. Whispered words after 2 1/2 minutes join in as well. Sounds like synths in this experimental and somewhat dark intro. It kicks into a groove before 5 1/2 minutes. Some interesting sounding guitar follows as the female vocals almost shimmer and the drums pound. I like the keyboards before 8 minutes. It's all about the percussion and atmosphere 9 minutes in. This reminds me of Raga music here. "Der Donner Voegel(Dreamstate)" opens with the thunder rumbling as intricate guitar melodies join in. Drums a minute in, synths too. Organ late as we get thunder one more time. Spoken words join in to end it. Beautiful stuff.

"Dark Nebula" has this catchy beat as spoken female words join in. This is very BRAINTICKET-like in my opinion. The beat and voices stop after 2 minutes as we get floating organ then piano joining in. The guitar joins in late. "Upgoer (Part 2)" opens with experimental sounds that come and go until around 4 1/2 minutes when a trippy groove kicks in. A minute later it's experimental again but it's brief this time as it kicks back in quickly. It's jazzy with paino 6 1/2 minutes in then we get a change after 8 minutes as female vocals take over as we get that trippy beat again. "End Of Love(Dreamstate)" has these relaxed guitar melodies as pastoral flute from Nik Turner joins in. Dreamstate indeed. Just a gorgeous soundscape that might be too long.

A great start for this young band and not much thrills me more these days then hearing new Krautrock, Zeuhl or Canterbury. Bring it on! A solid 4 stars.

HEDERSLEBEN are one of my favourite bands in recent times. Meanwhile this is their third output, which matters one album per year to be precise. Hereby they do not repeat themselves, so much for my first initial statement. Yep, based on the eponymous Sci-Fi novel written by Barrington J. Bayley, which is dealing with time travel and some resulting paradox in particular, 'The Fall Of Chronopolis' is provided with other leanings again. Their new charm offensive is drifting towards more song structure, more variety. Extended songs, equipped with krautrock and jamming attitude, are out of fashion this time.

HEDERSLEBEN at the core is consisting of a trio basically, as there are drummer Jason Willer, Kephera Moon on keyboards and guitarist Nicky Garratt, who seems to be the spiritual head, cares for the orientation. Apart from that the band line up has been far away from being a constant during recent times, which also applies to their live performances. Nonetheless, or even due to that - the choice is yours - they are very productive and successful. I'll choose the latter, new collaborators are contributing new impressions, new facets, new ideas. So Ursula Stuart (bass) and Ariana Jade (vocals, violin) are aboard here on this occasion - yeah, this means ladies in the majority actually!

The starter An Empire is symptomatic for my previous remarks. Eh, don't know really why this reminds me of the German band Analogy, Ariana's and Jutta's voice are not really congruent. But the overall mood otherwise ... in any case this is a rather sophisticated composition while offering several turns, a memorable melody, dramatic keyboard riffs, variable acoustic and electric guitars ... it definitely takes some time to come along. According to the concept their music evolves with a more cinematic and theatrical touch, seems to be completely arranged, hence they have nothing left to chance I would say.

Presumably due to the restricted vinyl length Imperator and other songs unfortunately will be faded out way too early. I'm impressed by the beautiful ballad Somewhen Veaa (Dreamstate) - Jason temporarily takes a time out - melancholic keys, violin and acoustic guitar, produced with so much empathy. The following song Ghost Armada contrasts a lot with proper drive and dramaturgy, the drumming is excellent. 'The Fall Of Chronopolis' comes as a pure prog genre effort, covers art rock proportion more than ever. Definitely substantial again. I'm wondering what will come next ...

With their 3rd album, Hedersleben completely changed their direction yet again from the avant-garde krautrock of their debut "Upgoer" and the moodier voyages of "Die Neuen Welten" into full-blown prog rock concept album territory with "The Fall of Chronopolis", while still retaining key traits of their sound, yet now presented in a tighter and more dramatic fashion and dare I say, the most rocking of their 3 albums thus far. The major players of the last 2 albums, guitarist Nicky Garratt, drummer Jason Willer and organist Kephera Moon really seem to stretch their songwriting muscles more than ever on "Fall of Chronopolis". However, the new additions to the band, vocalist/violinist Ariana Jade & bassist Ursula Stuart, make their respective presences known right away. Jade with strong lead vocals (a first for Hedersleben) and simple, yet effective violin melodies (sometimes in duet with Garratt's guitar), and Stuart with the bass-tapping madness of instrumental "Gulf of Lost Souls". What really sets Hedersleben apart from most modern prog is their incessant groove. They're not afraid to play 4/4 if it's works, and nothing on here is needlessly complex for complexity's sake. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the 5 core songs, "An Empire", "Third Time Fleet", "Imperator" (my personal favorite), "Ghost Armada" & the title track. The arrangements are tight and focused and there isn't a wasted note or time signature on this album. "Ghost Armada" for example has sections in 5/4 and "Imperator" is mostly in 6/8, but you wouldn't know it with the way everything stays in the pocket so well. In between those songs are 6 short vignettes that keep their improv-based tendencies in play without losing focus on the story. The 11/8 instrumental "Somewhen Veena" is the strongest piece of the 6 and the most pleasant sounding song on the record, retaining the same dream state qualities of "End of Love" (from "Upgoer") and "Nomad Worlds" (from "Die Neuen Welten"), yet somehow being more unsettling than both of them. Overall, there is some real dynamite playing on this album and proves that not only is Hedersleben a bunch of amazing musicians that excel at flights of fancy, but they can write some great tunes as well. If you love prog rock of the days or yore, this will satiate your appetite well enough for new material. And if you're new to Hedersleben, this is a great place to start, but the best thing you can do is go see them play live. If you love the albums, the live show is even more epic!

If you don't know Hedersleben, then you're in for a real treat. They hail from California (by way of the UK & Germany) and they do an interesting and fresh take on krautrock & psychedelic rock without sounding at all derivative or phony. Led by guitarist Nicky Garratt, each album sees the band taking off on almost completely different directions from the previous one, while still maintaining a signature sound all their own, mostly driven by drummer Jason Willer and organist Kephera Moon. While "Upgoer" is Hedersleben's debut album, this is also their most avant-garde, freeform and somehow funkiest release. The titles and musical themes of this album almost suggest a nautical journey as opposed to the more space and time themed fare of their next 2 albums. In the opening "Upgoer, Pt. 1", we're greeted by a somewhat atonal intro filled with distant narration underpinned by waves of synth bleeps and bloops and organ drones. Then as the drones start to build and build, all of a sudden the drums kick in and we get that sense of movement we've been waiting for and within the next few minutes of the piece, we get a few different iterations of a single theme built on variations of the G scale. First we get the main iteration on organ, chugging rhythm guitar and whispered vocals, then changing gears quickly to an almost James Brown kind of guitar chord, and then again to a complete change of scenery to what I can only describe as a kind of Arabian ashram freak-out. As the last chords of "Upgoer, Pt.1" fade away into some well-placed sound effects of what I assume is grave-digging, we enter into the sound of thunder and the true centerpiece of the album, "Der Donnervogel". Sad & moody rainy day music built on an off-kilter A minor guitar arpeggio and a drum beat creating a waltz feel out of 11/8 and lead by the kind of organ sound that suggests influence from Rick Wright's Farfisa odysseys, but a tad edgier and more focused in Moon's approach to the instrument. Side 1 closes with "Dark Nebula", another short song graced by spoken word, bringing back the same funkiness that we first felt in "Upgoer, Pt. 1". But before we know it, the drums disappear completely into a pleasant bit of respite with a doubled piano sequence and some bluesy guitar punctuation on the fade out. Being the shortest track on the album, "Dark Nebula" seems to end all too suddenly, but the positive is that the theme and style of this particular tune would be greatly expanded upon on their next album, "Die Neuen Welten". Side 2 opens with "Upgoer, Pt. 2", and it's even more unsettling than it's counterpart. More atonal organ, assorted percussion and a curious violin sample that to my ears suggests the want for a real violin, which wouldn't come into play in Hedersleben's sound until their 3rd album "The Fall of Chronopolis". A slight re-imagining of the main theme of Pt. 1 enters, this time underpinned by 12-string acoustic guitar before everything falls apart into an almost bluesy 12/8 breakdown, before settling back into the 12-string theme again for the finale. The album closer "End of Love" is certainly the mellowest song on the album, it's also the most straightforward, percussion abounding with all sorts of cymbals, gongs, bells and whistles, while the guitar holds down the rhythm, re-iterating the off-kilter fingerpicking from "Der Donnelvogel", but this time in a major key, and graced by the presence of Nik Turner's flute intertwining with flute samples. It closes the album on a bit of lull, but that's not to say the piece is a downer, more like it's just a nice & meditative. The perfect thing to bring the listener back down to the ground after exploring much rockier territory. Overall, while it's certainly not Hedersleben's strongest effort, it's a damn fine debut album, and certainly a worthy addition to your record collection.

Out of all of Hedersleben's releases so far, I'd say that their 2nd album is their strongest and my personal favorite. Unlike their first album with the title track in 2 parts, "Die Neuen Welten" is structured like a classic Amon Duul II or Kraftwerk record, title track side-long epic and a few shorter, yet no-less-epic tracks behind it. While their music certainly calls back to the glory days of progressive rock, krautrock and psychedelia, unlike most of the bands of the last 2 decades that have been mining that territory, Hedersleben FINALLY has something new to say in those respective genres. Guitarist Nicky Garratt might be the central creative force behind the band, but the overall sound is a showcase for the talents of master drummer Jason Willer and keyboard goddess Kephera Moon. And nowhere is that more apparent than on the side-long epic that opens the album, "Zu Den Neuen Welten". For me, as a piece of music, it's right up there with the side-long epics of yesteryear (read: Phallus Dei, Autobahn, Echoes) and in my opinion, Hedersleben's masterpiece (or meisterwerk?). Anchored by Moon's repeated D dorian Farfisa riff that just grabs you by the brain stem and never lets you go, even as the piece goes through different iterations of that theme, from the opening drones to the Magma-ish piano chords that gradually fade in with Willer's pulsating Latin-esque beats and bassist Bryce Shelton's contrapuntal, yet complementary basslines. As the piece comes to it's thrilling climax of orchestral percussion, Mellotron and cooing space whispers it all comes to screeching halt and just when you think it's all over, we're greeted with a nice epilogue of the main keyboard riff again, this time on a solitary grand piano buoyed by the ocean, which closes side 1 perfectly. By extension, the other 4 pieces on the album continue the space-faring theme of exploring new worlds, yet never losing the focus that side 1 has already established. Side 2 opener "On The Ground (Safe 'n' Sound)" is suggestive of the Hawkwind influence (and playing with Nik Turner doesn't hurt either), whereas "Nomad Worlds" reminds this listener more of Mike Oldfield, and then "Xo5B" has a distinctly desert rock meets Phantasm soundtrack feel. The album closer, "Tiny Flowers/Little Moon" brings in the first real noticeable use of lyrics in a Hedersleben song, which would be greatly expanded upon in their 3rd album, The Fall of Chronopolis and the addition of vocalist Ariana Jade (who joined the band right after the release of this album). On earlier pieces from "Upgoer" and this album, if there were any lyrics, they really only served the song as much as any instrument or texture and not as a central focus. Here the words, sung by singer/lyricist Kati Knox, are a tad basic to some listeners, but actually serve the song well, complimented by Garratt's unique & tasteful guitar arrangements and paired with Moon's breathtaking piano coda, this song closes the album on a great bit of respite as perfectly as the closing coda of side 1 did. In short, while it may suggest listeners of the past, this is by no means a nostalgic or derivative work. This is a new, fresh take on music for a higher purpose, but my words don't do it justice. Go give all 3 of their albums a listen and then go experience Hedersleben live.

The band name seemingly evolved from a rather pragmatical solution. Nicky Garratt, co-founder of the British punk band UK Subs, once met Uve Müllrich, bass player of Embryo. This just happened at Hedersleben, a small village situated in Eastern Germany (former GDR). After celebrating some jams together and obviously being inspired Nicky decided to form a new band, where he could convince his ex-colleague and drummer Jason Willer to take part in the project as another constant. And finally keyboardist Kephera Moon also turns out to be one of a party with regularity.

While also including a few other like-minded musicians they have toured the US up and down, had collaborations with Nik Turner and made an important contribution to the recordings for the new Brainticket release. Two band albums were recorded so far, this one is the latter from 2014 which clearly shows them underway on kraut respectively space rock paths. The extended title track comes inspired by diverse bands - there is a ADII/Yeti adapted flow to state, or just taking the Doors alike psychedelic organ into account.

A wonderful relaxed listening experience featuring soaring guitars and synths as well as hypnotic bass lines contributed by Bryce Shelton. Kati Knox's ethereal voice appears here and there and finally it all turns into a nice, more classically flavoured piano sequence. The following four songs are building a range of shorter excerpts offering a more common song structure - though, basically also equipped with the aforementioned attributes further on, this is definitely appealing too. An astonishing affair when considering Nicky's musical origin. Spot on! Highly recommended!