4th Round Classics: Yeti v. Rock Bottom
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Topic: 4th Round Classics: Yeti v. Rock Bottom
Posted By: micky
Subject: 4th Round Classics: Yeti v. Rock Bottom
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 08:10
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Next up... another battle of two greats! Yeti by Amon Duul 2In previous rounds we did song samples, great PA's reviews, with this round I wanted to do something a different. So I went outside PA's.. what do people outside of this site say about these albums. First up.. oh yeah baby.. Review Summary: The high-water mark of progressive psychedelic music. Born out of the ashes of an artistic and political community called Amon Duul, who undertook some free improvisation sessions in the late '60s, Amon Duul II hit the German scene in 1969 with their debut release 'Phallus Dei'. This stunning debut is often heralded as the high point of their long and varied musical career but this follow up certainly scales the dizzy heights of that seminal release and even manages to surpass it in some respects. I hesitate to use the term 'Krautrock' to describe this record as it was used as a somewhat derogatory term to describe a host of experimental bands that were spawned in Germany around that time so let's just describe this as progressive psychedelic rock. The approach on here is similair to their debut both in its delivery and musical character but the ideas are rather more distilled. While 'Phallus Dei' relied on building atmosphere and groove in a rather sedate manner, most notably on the extended title track, Amon Duul II opted here for shorter song formats and more panache in their song-writing. Even the multi-part suite 'Soap Shop Rock' is merely a loosely connected set of distinct songs with musical bridges linking the whole. But this seemingly patchwork approach doesn't actually detract from the flow and integrity of the music. There are such a plethora of bold ideas thrown onto this album, yet with such attention to maintaining the darkly unsettling vibe, that it never fails to titillate. One moment you will be swaying along to buzzing psychedelic riffs and languid leads, then a few bars of unhinged madness will devolve into a glorious mess of shrieking atonality before a caterwaul of screeching violins carry you on a mystical Eastern tinged magic carpet ride. And that's just the first 10 minutes or so of this psychedelic masterpiece. 'Archangel Thunderbird' is possibly the coolest song title of all time and it lives up to its promise. Renate Knaup's vocals soar above the irresistible freak-beat style riffs, flappy bass lines and scraggy rhythms. The ponderous 'Eye Shaking King' introduces itself with a grinding Zeppelin-esque groove before evolving into a head-swaying morass of swirling psychedelic Daleks, jarring keyboards and bluesy guitar licks. But this album isn't only about fuzzy riffs and strident rhythms. 'Cerberus' is a meandering instrumental piece full of undulating lines, South Asian style percussion and grunting angular licks and 'Sandoz In The Rain' is a lysergic trip full of hypnotic cadences, haunting violin and lavish flute. There is a 'loose jam' feel across the whole record, even during the more succinct pieces, but on the title track (explicitly referred to as an improvisation) Amon Duul II really let go and space out in style. The ideas are spread rather thinner over this 18 minute jam than elsewhere on the record but it is eminently suitable as a musical inspiration to chill out and spliff-up, as is the shorter improv 'Yeti Talks To Yogi'. However, it is within the tighter compositions that the true magic of 'Yeti' lies and finds Amon Duul II at the peak of their prismatic powers. This record is a truly mesmerising experience from start to finish and, along with 'Phallus Dei', an essential listen for anyone remotely interested in psychedelic music. and against the mighty Yeti we have
Rare and wonderful occasions they are when the hidden hands guide you into contact with music that you never knew you couldn't live without; when you know you've never heard a note of this stuff before but there's a tiny yet proud flame of recognition just sparked off in your innermost; when the way you look at life changes ever so slightly but irrevocably. And of course I cannae guarantee it, but I'll wager there's just a chance that your first experience of Rock bottom might prove to be one such occasion. The dark backdrop to the creation of Rock Bottom's probably far better known than the record itself: Robert Wyatt finds himself lying in a recovery ward after a drunken fall from a bathroom window at some party or other, faced with a couple of four-pipers that Holmes himself would struggle with, namely; how do i get through this? and pertinently, what does a newly-paraplegic drummer do now? Not that I'm trying to be at all flippant about such a personal catastrophe, but Wyatt's own recollections of the period are, with his charcteristic tendency to underplay the hand, far from anguished. At this remove, he's more of the opinion that the tragedy opened doors for him, freed him in many ways from certain hidebound views and behaviours. His notes to the 98 Ryko reissue of Rock Bottom make it clear that the key to his convalescence was a deliberate drift into reverie - allowing the dreamlife to sculpt the music and lead towards new ways of things. Via the ether, sea-change. There's real hurt and anguish in Rock Bottom, the hurt of frayed relationships, the ache of dependency. In a fascinating detail in his notes, Wyatt recalls the initial writing period (pre-fall) in Venice, whilst accompanying his partner Alfie as she worked on Nic Roeg's Don't Look Now, Roeg repeatedly recanting the film's message -"We are not prepared". And that's in Rock Bottom too; the terror of your known world simply washing away. But ultimately, the album glows of rebirth, illustrates the sometime-necessity of surrender if we're to truly overcome - the sea of possibilities behind this first-level world we troll. It's about the pull of the tides, the waters we come from (the geographical and the female), the changeling nature of things under the influence of the full moon (in a recent mag interview, John Balance called Rock Bottom "the most lunar album ever made" and he may well be right). It's also about the relinquishing of the strictly masculine, the schematic, and instead embracing the feminine and the other; Alifie/Alifib (the album's astonishing centrepiece, a babel of babytalk) is one of the bravest, most open-hearted lovesongs you'll ever encounter, honest injun. Perhaps most of all, the album's an open channel, a balm - healing music. Not some new age bubblebath, but a tough succour; no easy answers or convenient resolutions, but still a clear message from somewhere that, yeah, you're not crazy, there is more to it all than just this. In a parallel world, everybody flooded down the shops and bought this instead of Tubular Bells. Not that I've any axes to grind as regards Mike Oldfield - I couldn't name anything he's done in a pepsi challenge, and he crops up with some marvellously spidery and enervated guitar on Rock Bottom's finale Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road - but rather I've distinct reservations about Saint Richard Branson, and I'd have been far happier if the heft of his coffers had arisen because he helped this magical invocation of an album into millions of homes. But how sad can you be when Rock Bottom's still out there waiting for you to discover and cherish? One full moon, treat yourself to a copy and take a little refreshing nightswim back in your mind. Come home for a bit. Drift and revive. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Replies:
Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 08:12
| Aw man... rough bracket. |
Posted By: zravkapt
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 08:30
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Tough one, will have to get my thinker out. ------------- Magma America Great Make Again |
Posted By: The Bearded Bard
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 08:37
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Two artists/albums I like but don't love. Going with Yeti, but on another day I could have chosen differently. -------------  
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Posted By: micky
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 09:44
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love both.. but Yeti is... me I suppose. Though that is perhaps why I love Rock Bottom so.. it speaks to me on a very personal level. That is more out of what life has thrown at me as opposed to how I know myself to be. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 10:43
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Two great albums, Yeti gets the vote. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: LearsFool
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 11:27
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The Abominable Snowman -------------  
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Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 17:05
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Yeti. ------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005  |
Posted By: akaBona
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 18:46
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Rock Bottom to me. There aren't many albums that influenced me more, both music and lyrics ... |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 19:33
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Yeti Best album in Norway may 1957. ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: August 29 2015 at 19:35
| Going with the masses on this one. Both outstanding albums but I return to Yeti more often than RB. |
Posted By: Svetonio
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 01:16
| Rock Bottom |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 06:30
Amon Düül II, even though I walked away their concert yesterday  |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 07:06
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Rock Bottom
------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 08:36
That bad? That's sad. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Meltdowner wrote:Posted By: GKR
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 08:52
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Going with Yeti, but... no passion here. ------------- - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 09:55
 The band was quite distant too, it seemed like they were all playing individually, it was really boring  I think I won't regret it, I saw a much better Italian band on another stage, probably the best concert that day  |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 09:59
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You wear earplugs? I've found them essential for about a decade and can just leave them in my pocket if not needed. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 09:59
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which one? ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:00
both ears ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:03
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I remember that time we saw Eddie Jobson at the Jammin' Java... My ears rang for a couple of days after that! Thankfully they toned the volume down at that venue when we went there on other occasions. |
Posted By: The Bearded Bard
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:08
-------------
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Posted By: micky
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:10
hahhaha.. which Italian band  ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:11
I'll never forget that show ... my ears literally did bleed.. and bleed like they had not since the New Kids on Block concert------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:31
It's odd the bands that played before them were not loud at all. The band that played after was even louder, and I was so far away from the stage
 I hope they'll record "normal" albums in the future |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:34
 and yes.. earplugs do come in handy.. especially for indoor shows. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:40
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Rock Bottom is a lifechanger but they are both favorites of mine so I don't mind Yeti winning. ------------- 
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Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 10:46
  Hard to choose between two beards
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Posted By: zravkapt
Date Posted: August 30 2015 at 12:07
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^I ended up going with Santa. ------------- Magma America Great Make Again |
Posted By: digdug
Date Posted: August 31 2015 at 10:34
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Yeti for me ------------- Prog On! |
Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: August 31 2015 at 12:18
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Santa made a fantastic record. Still have to learn to appreciate mr. Snowman. Vote for Rudolf the Red Bottomed Deer Hits The Road Again. |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: August 31 2015 at 21:56
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Yeti ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: August 31 2015 at 22:26
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Posted By: Prog Sothoth
Date Posted: September 01 2015 at 11:27
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I like the title of this thread...can the Yeti escape his downward spiral of depression to oblivion? I think so...Yeti gets my vote.
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Posted By: t d wombat
Date Posted: September 02 2015 at 04:36
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Sentiment really, had to go with Wyatt. ------------- Andrew B “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” ― Julius Henry Marx |
Posted By: AEProgman
Date Posted: September 02 2015 at 08:34
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^ same here. Bottoms up for me. ------------- 
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Posted By: Dayvenkirq
Date Posted: September 02 2015 at 09:36
| Second half of Yeti is plain filler, so I went with Rock Bottom. |
Posted By: SaltyJon
Date Posted: September 03 2015 at 18:44
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Yeti, Rock Bottom never quite caught me the same way it caught others. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Salty_Jon" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: symphonicman
Date Posted: September 07 2015 at 17:00
Robert Wyatt, Rock Bottom.------------- Master James of St. George. Of the fields and the sky. He used to build castles of stone, steel, and blood. But lines get broken down. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: September 10 2015 at 14:09
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too close for comfort.. one of the four of my top 20 albums of alltime (including non prog) still in the contest (3 winning) go YETI!!!  ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: September 11 2015 at 05:52
| Rock Bottom for me. I do love Yeti, though not as much as Wolf City, but Rock Bottom is one of those really rare albums where the melancholy's there and sets into your bones and then the whole beauty of the thing lifts you out of it. Sort of like Jackson C Frank. Emotionally, Yeti doesn't hold a candle to it. |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: September 11 2015 at 16:42
Very much this  . |
Posted By: progrockdeepcuts
Date Posted: September 11 2015 at 17:15
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Rock Bottom for sure ------------- Listen to older shows here: mixcloud.com/progrockdeepcuts/ |
Posted By: garfunkel
Date Posted: September 11 2015 at 18:17
Oooh! Simon and Garfunkel started me on the music highway and I found Jackson C Frank through them. I love his album. Just as beautiful as Rock Bottom! Still haven't made it all the way through Yeti (of course I'd probably need 10 listens for the monster) so I'm not voting. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: September 11 2015 at 19:57
give it the time it might need to grow on you. Frickin fabulous album.this was an interesting battle of two completely dissimilar albums... both incredible in their own ways. Hate to see either lose, even if one is in my top 20 albums of alltime and the other is not. Mainly because I generally perfer music that celebrates living life.. rather than music that makes me want to end it hahaha. get those last votes in... special mick points to anyone who sends this to a tiebreaker.. this one (among several) really deserve a tiebreaking vote off... ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: September 11 2015 at 21:18
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Rock Bottom is about rock bottom for me. Yeti doesn't really thrill me either, but it'll do here. ------------- 
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