MALESCH

Something about this album creates this pleasant aura that really stimulates the mind, whether you're focusing in on the music or not. Agitation Free makes it a team effort here as they dabble more with textures and experiences rather than riffs, solos, epics and lyrical allegory (although there are a few guitar solos here).

Every instrument is present to where you notice, but none overly dominate. Instrumental highlights include the bass figure opening ''You Play For Us Today'', the organ textures in ''Ala Tul'', the mallet percussion closing of the same track, the haunting atmosphere of ''Pulse'', the tempo spike in the title track and the final closing guitar solo. Most of the tunes are essentially psychedelic jams, but these jams are the kind to send the listener in a trance and not to sleep.

The liner notes of the CD remaster tell stories of the band fusing an Eastern sound into their music after a trip to various Middle Eastern countries like Cyprus and Egypt. The remaster also includes a fifteen minute jam session featuring their trademark sound live, a few little electronic dabbles and a rendition of "Rucksturz".

MALESCH is not what I call an outstanding, mind-blowing piece of art, but it's not far off. It has this quality of where you put it on and your mind is lost in the soundscapes they create. MALESCH is a safer, warmer album for progsters than another Krautrock cornerstone in TAGO MAGO (from CAN). If you hated TAGO MAGO, MALESCH is a different story and might make you look at Krautrock in a different way.