WÜRZBURG CAIRO 2015

German band Electric Orange have been around in some form for twenty five years now, founded by Dirk Jan Müller, a multi-instrumentalist who primarily handles keyboards (and also recently started a well-received Berlin School-influenced prog-electronic side-project Cosmic Ground). Over their early years, alongside frequent contributor Dirk Bittner, the group was mostly occupied by guests and/or a rotating door of varied musicians, but a settled line-up of the band eventually found their calling in heavy Krautrock-flavoured ambient jams on their most recent works. To commemorate their anniversary, Dirk and the group have delivered three very different and worthy works this year, one of them being `Würzburg Cairo 2015', a live document that showcases their set of trippy, atmospheric and frequently minimalistic jams from the 8th Psychedelic Network Festival of two years ago.

Fifteen-minute opener `Behind The Wall Of Sheep' (yes, you read that right!) sets much of the template that several stretches of the performance cover - behind Georg Monheim's rumbling incessant drums, Dirk's keyboards lightly coat the background in the most subtle of ways with pristine electronic caresses, Tom Rückwald's bass grumbles with purpose and Dirk Bittner's squalling feedback-laced distorted guitars reverberate into infinity. Traces of the improvisation remind of the legendary early Pink Floyd live performances in their more howling moments, and the piece moves between noisier builds and serene come-downs like so many of the classic Krautrock works.

Over a plodding beat, the guitars of `Fluff' move between victorious dreaminess and fierce defiant contemplations, Dirk's bleeding keyboard violations chug in and out of stormy drum tantrums throughout `Perpetuum Mobiliar', and `A Tuna Sunrise' drifts with shimmering electric piano tendrils and shambling acoustic guitars before culminating in a blissful Mellotron lift. `Supptruppen' is eleven minutes of haunting and mysterious drowsy guitar splinters cutting through murky ambient drones, and `Auslauf' is a shorter Mellotron-flecked guitar maelstrom that wouldn't have sounded out of place on the early Tangerine Dream albums. `Ducktango' is an early A.M hours drifting darkly jazzy saunter with slithering thick bass and groaning trumpet cries, and `Samba Ohrleck' is an equally stormy and chilled psychedelic shimmer with maniacal spoken-word rantings.

Equal parts dreamlike wander and nightmarish intensity, the near seventeen-minute closer `Mischwesen' is a relentless percussion-driven masterclass of hypnotic power and carefully executed build. Slow to unfold, meandering bass ruminations, droning trumpet wafts and maddening incessant drumming build into a barely restrained storm, Dirk adding a thick layer of brooding electronic washes, ghostly Mellotron choirs and a touch of early Klaus Schulze to his frantically delirious synth soloing.

Any listeners who have witnessed the band grow into the dynamic and mesmerizing Krautrock band that they are today over their last few studio albums will greatly appreciate this comparable and superb live account. While perhaps the band might be overdue for a new live DVD/Bluray, their first since `Live at the Psychedelic Network Festival 2007' a decade ago, `Würzburg Cairo 2015' is available on both CD and a lavish double LP on Sunhair Records, and it makes for a very fine way to celebrate the first twenty-five years of the group - here's to the next quarter century!

Four stars.