EMTIDI

Emtidi were a duo made up of Maik Hirschfeldt from Germany and Canadian Dolly Holmes, who initially presented a rough-around-the-edges acoustic folk album for their debut all the way back in 1970. Two years later, and the pair not only gave their folky tunes an acid-twisted working over, but they introduced Mellotron and other trippy electronic enhancements to take their music a gentle step closer to some of the sounds that the harder rocking underground German bands were experimenting with, even offering two ambitious extended psychedelic suites, and `Saat' now holds a quietly spoken of place among so many other notable `Krautrock' works from the early Seventies.

There's a quirky and slightly bent edge to opener `Walkin' in the Park', an alternatively melancholic and spirited hippie folk ditty with dreamily chiming electric guitar strains and frantic runaway soloing in the manner of Manuel Göttsching and the Ash Ra Tempel. In fleeting moments Maik and Dolly sing in unison over lethargic acoustic guitar strums, the pair sweetly murmuring an amusing and playful repeated refrain of `Don't sit on the grass, it's too cold for yer ass...'! The crystalline `Träume' is a pretty and spacey keyboard interlude with Dolly cooing over the top, and the twelve-minute `Touch the Sun' is a wild blur of eerie keyboard drones, approaching/retreating shimmering synth ripples, regal scratchy Mellotron veils, ethereal siren cries and dazzling symphonic reaches. It ends up reminding of everything from Dom's `Edge of Time', the male/female proclamations of Brainticket and Amon Düül II, as well as the fuzzy atmospheres of early Tangerine Dream and even Deuter's schizophrenic `D'.

The B-side's `Love Time Rain' is a vibrant and catchy folk tune sung by Dolly over strident country-flecked guitar strumming, and the title track `Saat' is a stark folk meditation with a plaintive vocal, the acoustic backing again reminding of those gentler reflective passages off the early Deuter albums. The ten minute `Die Reise' closes on a delicious mess of noises and splintering musical fragments that take on a maddening intensity! A blur of ebbing electronics, huffing flute, jazzy electric piano slices and ragged acoustic guitars constantly growing more purposeful and intimidating, Maik barks out a harsher German vocal amidst spectral organ bleeding delirium, and the piece is almost as mischievously deranged as it is delightfully devilish!

While `Saat' holds some similarities to Hoelderlin's much-praised debut `Hölderlins Traum', some listeners may find a few of the vocals a little shrill, and the unpredictable direction changes crudely implemented and poorly developed. But it's that exotic blend of pastoral acoustic naivety and electronic experimentation that makes it so fascinating, and there's little traces of that scuzzy danger that permeates all the classic Krautrock discs. Ideal for those who wants a further reaching folk album or a softer Krautrock experience, `Saat' is simply another precious psychedelic gem from the vintage era well worth rediscovering today.

Four stars.

From an early age we are encouraged to look for the positives, take the bad with the good, and accept imperfections, be they in relationships, studies, careers, and, yes, music. How often have we grown to tolerate, then appreciate, and even more, love an entire piece even when initially only parts of it were pleasurable? Or a band even though some of their output was unappealing? I admit to not being a free love individual as far as music goes, but I still have learned to revel in earlier parts of a song just knowing that the piece de resistance is moments away. And even when a passage is without merit, I can usually deal with it either by sitting patiently, listening arms folded sternly, or whistling innocently while my hand goes behind my back and I hit the skip or next button!

Alas I fear I have met my Waterloo in this otherwise pleasant, even at times ingenious, prog folk meets Krautrock album by German-Canadian duo EMTIDI. Not once, but twice we are subject to emanations that might make one long for a simple claw on chalkboard interlude, or an equally musical growl from....insert your favourite death metal vocalist. The first appears at the end of "Touch the Sun", and sounds like a pitch bend gone rogue, and the second just beyond the halfway mark of the album closer, like a dental drill that hasn't been tuned up...ever. Both seem interminable and I honestly have to lower the volume to minus one to get any relief. What's worse, they oppress the entire epics of which they are a part, effectively squelching some imaginative song structures, vocals, and keyboards.

For the rest, the shorter pieces offer deceptively simple trippy pleasures, from the clever "Walking in the Park" with its surprisingly rollicking instrumental coda on lead guitar and bass, to the sweet ethereal synth solo that is "Traume", to the drone of biological and creative imperative that is the title cut. The arrangements are such that this talented duo could easily pass for a 5 piece, and drums need not even apply.

Thus it is sad that, in a fit of pique, I must dock not a half but a full star for transgressions as noted, with no regrets, proving that sometimes that (former) partner's habit with the toothpaste, that job where you have to sit through boring meetings with horrible coffee while standing up every morning, or that song with the synthesizer being inexpertly lassoed at 5:18 really cannot be redeemed, whatever mom might have told you.

Saat or seed is a nice name for a folk-rock record. Emtidi only was not just a folkrock band, but a band playing progressive electronic as well. Both sides of the vinyl record start with a folkrock part, which is than followed by the progressive electronic part.

The folkrock sounds a bit like the Fairport Convention and Pentangle of the British folk movement. Emtidi's both and only groupmembers sing, which result in high pitch woman vocals and lower bass men vocals. In my opinion the woman vocals are far better then the men vocals, but which is the case in many groups - the men's vocals are somewhat more daring. And so, it's the men vocalist who has a vocalsolo! The folk-parts sounds very natural, even though they are somewhat more electronic than in the british folkscene.

The progressive electronic part of each side sounds much like Klaus Schulze, but there are more themes in the same time. Especially the electronic progression on the second side are really great. The first side however ends with some great vocal parts and is therefor also very good.

I do really like the combination of folk en progressive electronica. It's a combination not often heard. A very pleasant listening.

Very beautiful dreamy mix of acid folk and atmospheric cosmic kraut psych. Definitely up there with Broselmaschine's debut, Holderlin's Traum, and Carol of Harvest. This gets as transcendent as some of the best psychedelic krautrock, and for me that gives it a great deal of value. Hugely better than their debut, which was a much more basic style of harmonic folk. This has a lot more electronic sounds on it (i.e., keyboard/organ whatever) and very beautiful mostly female singing. "Touch the Sun" (12:06) is my favorite track, and "Die Reise" (10:17; the only song sung in German) is very good too. These two long pieces along with "Traume" are the most electronic, and "Walkin' in the Park", "love Time Rain" and "Saat" are more solidly in the psych folk genre.

If you’ve ever wondered what Bob Dylan would sound like with a kazoo backing him up, just hunt down this record and check out “No Turn Back”. German Maik Hirschfeldt, who does a fairly decent job of parroting Dylan’s intonation and (sic) articulation on this album is backed by kazoo on that song by Dolly Holmes, a Canadian and the other half of this odd early seventies folk duo. This is their first album, and is even more obscure than their second and final, the sometimes praised ‘Saat’ (but not by me).

This record was first released in 1970 on the Thorofon label, a company better known for their classical music catalog. You won’t find a copy of that anywhere; and the 1995 CD from the dubious Germanophon label is a poor copy from the vinyl from what I’ve read. Wah-Wah Records issued a vinyl copy from the master tapes in 2007, and that’s probably the only one that can be found anymore. Not that I’d recommend going to too much trouble to do so – this is an unexceptional recording and not even as interesting as their slightly more approachable Krautfolk follow-up ‘Saat’.

There are no drums, bass or electric instruments here, and in fact the duo recorded it with nothing more than a couple of acoustic guitars, occasional flute, a bouzouki and the aforementioned kazoo which seems to only appear on “No Turn Back”. The guitar playing is fairly generic acoustic folk stuff, with a bent note or tempo shift here and there just to let you know the two musicians are capable of a bit more than simple strumming. The flute is almost imperceptible when it does appear and really barely counts as an instrument as a result (except on the closing “Flutepiece”). And the bouzouki blends with the 12-string acoustic to the point where neither is distinguished from the other.

The most interesting thing about this album is how distinctly different the front and back sides are. The first five tracks are not much more than simple hippy folk that was so prevalent in that era that there are likely hundreds of forgotten, similar albums who are even more lost to time than this one. The back side, on the other hand, branches out just enough to make the ‘acid folk’ label seem appropriate. The title of “Let the joint go ‘round” speaks for itself, a five minute disjointed acoustic guitar jam with half-discernable vocals and the overall feel of a mellow buzz on a slow afternoon. “Yvonne's Dream” is more of the same although shorter, and here I almost get the impression the two artists are poking a bit of fun at the genre.

The back side of the record is also mostly instrumental, including a very pleasant if unoriginal acoustic guitar solo on “Birds on a Graveyard”, and a sort of folk freak-out bouzouki-and-flute extended play called “Flutepiece” that makes it clearly apparent these two were tripping and recording at the same time. It was 1970 after all.

This isn’t anything close to a masterpiece, but it may be of mild interest to serious progressive and acid folk fans. I’m going to round up my assessment (2.6 stars) to the next even number and call it three, but with only a tepid recommendation. Don’t spend your money on this one unless you are the sort of person that listens to bands like Höelderlin, It’s a Beautiful Day or the Ghost.

peace

Emtidi’s first album has been described as an amateurish psych-folk recording from the mostly unknown duo of Maik Hirschfeldt and Dolly Holmes. I haven’t heard that one, but as far as psych music there really isn’t much on this, their second and final release. A bit of bending electric guitar and primarily on the opening track, but for the most part this is a rather innocuous bit of folk-leaning music. Loads of mellotron for those who are into that sort of thing, and plenty of other keyboards too: harpsichord, piano (including electric), Hammond and other organs are all played by Ms. Holmes, who also shines with her angelic vocals on much of the album. Hirschfeldt sings a bit as well, but I don’t care as much for his voice and it tends to be a bit distracting.

After the opening track things slow down considerably with the brief and ambient instrumental “Träume” accompanied by chamber- like humming from Ms. Holmes and instrumentally pretty much consisting of mellotron and other keyboards.

“Touch the Sun” includes mellotron as well, and also a fair bit of Hammond. Ms. Holmes’ vocals here remind me a bit of Kate Bush but without the dissonance she has a tendency to inject in her singing, but again Hirschfeldt’s voice is a detractor from an otherwise complex and satisfying piece. There’s a sequence of harpsichord toward the end that is quite striking but would have been more so without the accompanying vocals. “Love Time Rain” is the most folk-leaning track with Holmes chanting above the spinet, piano and acoustic guitar. This leads into the title track with its staid and almost boring arrangement of acoustic guitar and faint keyboards along with mostly Hirschfeldt singing. He doesn’t sound bad on his own, so I suppose it is Holmes’ superior vocals that make him sound worse when she accompanies him (or vice versa).

The final track is the ten minute “Die Reise”, a rambling German language piece that vacillates between keyboard forays and bard- like strumming/singing passages. This actually sounds like it should have been two different songs that got diluted by mixing them together into an attempt at something more ambitious than it ends up sounding like.

Several reviewers have mentioned Hoelderlin as a similar-sounding band, and musically that isn’t far off. These guys don’t seem to be in the same league though, and while their music is pleasant enough, it doesn’t really capture one’s imagination or inspire much at all. I’m tempted to give this three stars, but considering you would have to go to a bit of trouble to find this and would probably pay more than you’d end up being happy with, I’m going to say this is a high two star album and leave it to you to decide for yourself if it is worth picking up.

peace

Demandingly artistic and complex, but still with no visible success drawn from what they've accomplished, the duo of Emtidi remains a band of shadows and special music, whether it's a specialty most absorbing or something meant to astonish any converted tastes. This second album is twice better than the hollow debut (and the general received appreciations on it actually are even more graceful in telling Saat is a work of sharpening beauty), but every essence is in its space of obscure, minimal, calm or stringing shape. The album is good, with many interesting vibrations, and a lot of split styles. Mainly an album of folk impressionistic and outstanding forms of naturalness, you always have to bear in mind the psychedelic sound reactions (or, sometimes, rashes), the intense of a music dearing to its sound, the obviously moments of krautrock (something far from essential) or pure interpretation. To add specifically to Saat, there is an intense progressive rock pure feeling, making obvious the value which lead Emtidi to a better spotlight than hoped for. Or played (intensively) after.

To a true extent, Saat seems more absent in a folk formidable and attractive state than the debut has had it played and spiced. But that album was too much of a faulty simplicity. And, nevertheless if the large pallet of rock and nuances seems bickering, it's still an essential idea that, given the folk sustenance, Emtidi plays a music more unusual to fans of general orientation (and the charm of discovering it is double the expected glimpse), given the progressive rock ardor, they are conventional but right a la mode (with a music not far from crossing over the best styles, but also modest in showing the grace in a wide open burst of simple act), and given the eclectic mood, Emtidi are still the relaxing musical approach which bears a lot of complicated efforts, serene art joys and a distinctive mark of music between the notes of emotion or fantasy. That being more folk metaphorical than any noticeable regress or mistake, slow move or independent blur.

Maik Hirschfeldt and Dolly Holmes are still the musicians who create all the magic of Emtidi, whether it flows and ravages the taste and the sensations. But Dieter Dierks is invited as percussionist, giving a more adapted rhythm. The instrumentality is again eclectic, but the essences richen the album to its full potential; maybe less special, it certainly has more progressive forms, highlighting being the Mellotron rough, but easy works. Dolly sings a lot less, but when she does, the atmosphere is light and enjoyable - most prominently, Love Time Rain, whilst being a contrasting too easy piece for the album's scotch, is a wonderful dance-rock melody.

Generally (and generously), this album is full of potential and bursting craft, out of which the more naive orientations lose to those perfected and smoothened beyond a particular reason and limit. Strange slow fusion and melody rock in Walkin' In The Park (which I don't think it rhymes with the actual jazz tune, but it's a nice artistic thought), psychedelic obvious movement in Traume, exposed sound music and incipient kraut-"folk" regards in a chronic Touch the Sun improvisation, slow folk acoustic essence in the four minutes title track, and finally an epic progressive surround, boosted by all the main appetites, but mostly by a unique and calming attention towards music, art and the gift of melody between rhythms and rawness. Die Reise is the best thing Emtidi composed, ever.

A good experience for the folk/psych devoted listeners, a flavor of the progressive classic moods (though not dedicating any of its bitter suite parts towards it, expressively) and a good, more obscure and more discrete, musical creation.

Just like listening to this album and this band can come out of an interesting search down a rock 'n' stuff obscure store, down the more dusted and old-stocked albums sections (true, the second album Saat can be more top-shelved, it's much better than the debut), the album itself is purely an interesting listen, with some calm progressive features and a bit of biased mix, always good to sense, feel or radically attach.

Emtidi mixes, generally, a folk consistent craft with a sum of various impressions, going from symphonic easy/too easy affections, psychedelic impressive nuances or drops, even some krautrock derange, most rare to hear, and a general good disposition towards the separate blend of composition, instrumentality, vocals-dominance and lyricalness. Sadly from this partially good partially unreachable debut comes the fact that all those mentioned styles aren't the best, the strongest or the most intricately played in the entire genre: the progressive radical involvement, in such an early time, is complicated enough, as to show Emtidi in both a relaxing and pointless spotlight. Not to gravely emphase the second word, nevertheless to decisively mark that Emtidi could have been a better prog musical program.

The album is strangled by the work and persisting value of only two artists, who play an eclectic range of instruments and do get to express even more than that. Maik Hirschfeldt, though credited for mainly traditional instruments, makes the wondrous precision of an acoustic guitar special sound, of a relatively complex instrumentality or of a chain of effects, proper for folk, prog or otherwise nothing so pointed-out at all. Dolly Holmes is essential by her vocals (which combine the good affection of chanting, small effects and crystal lyrical vitality essences, but also lowers down to ballads and swings, familiar with Renaissance and Annie Haslam's sound-charm), but can only please, though not distinctively, her part of instrument perdition, mixing more unusual ones with the same guitar cocktail.

Finally this folk/psychedelic album isn't fantastic, but peaceful and in a peace of prog satiety. Good melodies attract small moments of poignant ethnicism or folk clever accents. The drift, though, sticks to being a charm cast, a progressive outtake, a fragmented sense. The first part, though under all manners gaining in beauty sung and melody-personalization, suffers the most; casual, crispy at most, chestful gentle at best. The second part, highlighting Space Age's sudden improvisation of strange sounds, more sequenced instrumentality or a bright cosmic flare, and Flutepiece, as a strong and exciting explosion of flute play and sound-movement, can be something good for fans or for a worthy artistic inclination. Counting all the efforts and the delicate composition, but facing a popular, easy, even adverse from major folk or truthful psychedelic orientations, Emtidi is rather pale, early recorded, fascinatingly missed and smooched.

I think this is only for fans (folk and psych, most confidently). With Saat, the picture changes.

The album "Saat" has some vintage synths along with the basic folk instruments unlike it's predecessor, and there are two longer suites here too, so Emtidi has evolved to a more impressionistic and interesting direction with this release in my opinion.

Some parts of the opening song "Walkin' in the Park" are very pretty, like the melody at the start, but the verse is somehow naive. There's also a bluesy jazz run at the end, but there isn't a very strong groove present, as there are no full drum set included in the band. The guitar solo isn't very wonderful too, and the song fades out during it. However, the moods get much better direction then with "Träume" (Dream), which is a very beautiful, quiet and ethereal aural landscape for syhths and voices. Sadly it is quite short one, unlike the next nearly 12 minutes long "Touch the Sun". It opens with long waves of electronic sounds, which are later joined by crystal-like notes and gentle weeps from guitar and vocal. This is quite minimalist solution, but very beautiful and works pleasantly. After five minutes the acoustic guitar opens the folk composition phase with charming and strong melodies, and there is also the fabulous Mellotron audible behind some parts. The keyboard driven part in the middle of the conventional folk part introduces some avant-gardist elements to this composition, which weren't most optimal here for my own listening experience. The also song opens and closes with some quick sounds of birds, creating an illusion of physical space to the tune.

"Love Time Rain" is a just short conventional folk track, resembling the song of their first album, but the title tune "Saat" (Planting) is much, much better. It opens with some nice quiet chord runs on the acoustic guitar, where both female and male vocals soon are joined. Though this is also quite common psych folk song, the charming melodies and coherent performing makes this a nice tune, actually one of the best one of the album concerning overall quality. Even the other tracks are good and more experimental, there are some solutions and details in them which I did not like so much, but after listening the record during the years, I have grown to like this album quite much. There are some classical progressions from Spanish-styled music also to be heard here.

The epic "Die Reise" (The Voyage) lasting ten minutes, opens again with ethereal keyboards. Soon a brisk acoustic guitar starts to drive the song forward, and this progression is led by a male voice singing the lyrics in German language. There are also some supporting form minimal keyboards and female voices. Sadly this tune did not totally achieve the potential it has in my opinion. After three minutes the voyage leads to a church organ sounding keyboard universe, where ancient electronics paint some aural patterns. Near the end there is yet much better sounding stuff, where a flute does solo over quiet synth chords. The epic closes for final emerging of the beginnings theme repetition.

I first wasn't totally charmed by this album, but often love grows with time, and I have learned to like it and accepting some elements which weren't so attractive to me first. I also think it is more interesting album than the band's first LP. Fans of psychedelic folk and German 70's underground should check this out certainly.

The music on this album resembles mostly American hippie folk music which was popular at the 1960's. The more famous icons of this genre like Peter, Paul & Mary have probably been influences for these performers, but this stuff is slighly more amateurish when compared to the material of more professionally produced recordings of their innovators. However, sometimes rawness can be an interesting characteristics also. "Emtidi" is still an enjoyable album for a folk fan, but this record doesn't have very progressive music elements (experimentalism, innovations, emphasized spiritual insight) in it in. The simple compositions have some good melodies, but there are also some weak moments included, so I do not consider this the most classy "guitar and singer" material I have managed to hear yet on my path of musical exploration. Also most of the psychedelic elements here are only related to the non-musical aspects of folk scene, like themes in the lyrics etc. The first five songs (maybe the A-side of the LP?) are less innovative as the rest of the tracks, which have hits of Indian-style music with raga influences, as for examples "Let The Joint Go 'round" and the longer instrumental number at the end of the record titled "Flutepiece". "Birds on a graveyard" is a very good instrumental tune, worth of mentioning too. I wonder if the first songs are their early material, or have the first side have been wished to be more accessible? As for a German act, they sing and pronounce English quite well. The recording quality isn't exceptional, and there is lots of analog hiss audible on the background. Their following album sounded much more innovative, but the fans of psyhcedelic folk and German underground scene might want to check this out.