PLANETEN SIT-IN

In the spring of 73, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser, one of the main promoters of Krautrock, brought Göttsching and Schulze from Ash Ra Tempel together with musicians from Wallenstein for a couple of impromptu jams. He recorded and released those sessions without consulting or paying any of the musicians involved. Not much to their liking obviously, and the third album culled from these jam sessions gives ample reason for the artists to be angry at their lack of artistic control.

Contrary to the two preceding albums, Planeten Sit-In does not have long jams, but a couple of shorter pieces strung together to imply one continuous flow. The music is very free-form, to a point that it almost becomes 'chance-music', especially Schulze's contributions don't go much beyond producing sounds by turning and twisting knobs on his equipment. It's a way of working he has always integrated in his 70s work but I very much doubt he would have thought any of the results here fit for release.

Also Göttsching is hard to be spotted on this album and the absence of his unique space-blues style is a let-down. In fact, this album doesn't offer much more then pulsating bass guitars, subdued drums and percussion, and Schulze's sound effects. On the bright side, it still manages to create some fascinating music with a dark muddy atmosphere.

With a length of just 35 minutes and few memorable moments, I can agree with the point of view that the whole Cosmic Jokers affair is a rip-off. But I still find something to love in this mysterious murk, so despite my mixed feelings, I'd call this release worth investigating for fans of the dark cosmic force. 2.5 stars.