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Emma Myldenberger - Emmaz Live! CD (album) cover

EMMAZ LIVE!

Emma Myldenberger

Krautrock


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Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Prog Folk
4 stars Previously only available trough cassettes (79 copies produced to be exact), this third EM album (and last if you do not count the Radio Noisz Ensemble, which is the logic continuation of this venture), the superb Garden Of Delight label reissued this album very recently for our pure enjoyment. And enjoyment it is, because this lengthy (68 mins + 3 bonus tracks for 81 mins) live recording is of excellent sound quality and there are much "new" material that weren't present on the two studio albums, but rehearsed live for a possible third studio album, which would never come. Sporting a colourized version of the cassette photo as artwork, corrected running times, some group pictures, the GOD release is the usual excellent product that gives progheads so many joys over the years.

Some of the previously heard songs are in fairly different versions here, often with less vocals or presented in a different light. The superb RAA and Regenreigen Suite are both presented with excellent live alternatives. The last three songs on the original cassette were foreseen for the third album (as would the last two bonus tracks), thus giving you an idea that this third album would've at least as good as their debut and approach the second's outstanding relevance.

Of the three bonus tracks, the jig of Narrentanz is the least interesting (and already present in the first studio album), but Schäfer Von Rotterdam and Alina are superb medieval-sounding tracks that we're all used to hearing. More added value for a Live album which turns out to be just as essential as the studio ones.

Report this review (#171088)
Posted Thursday, May 15, 2008 | Review Permalink
ClemofNazareth
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Prog Folk Researcher
4 stars It would seem to me this band’s music would be more appropriately characterized as pagan folk rather than Krautrock. I’ve never really understood exactly what ‘Krautrock’ is supposed to mean anyway – most of the bands I’ve heard classified as such sound more like heavy progressive rock or sometimes avant-garde. These guys are a little of both but the medieval (and earlier) influences abound in their instrumentation and arrangements, if not their lyrics.

This is a live album from nearly thirty years ago, but despite that the sound quality is quite good and for the most part these tracks could have been passed off as conventional studio works. The CD reissue is clearly derived from an earlier cassette release (or at least some of the artwork and liner notes are), but other than that I know very little about these guys. If you’ve ever listened to groups like Samla Mammas Manna or Nya Ljudbolaget and then imagined them with more acoustic instrumentation and an even more primitive sound you’ll have a grasp of what these guys sound like. There seem to be some jazz leanings at times (check out “Lenyas Fantasie” or “Raa”), but just as often the mood is closer to pagan folk (“Ferngespräch - Vorwahl 030/RAA”, “Opus 4”). Speaking of the former (and elsewhere on the album), Anne Goßlau’s violin work is raw and quite mesmerizing. Biber Gullatz delivers a very energetic flute passage on the same track and injects solemn oboe snippets from time to time throughout the album as well.

This is a pretty long album, clocking in at just over eighty minutes so there’s an awful lot of music to take in. Don’t try it in one setting or you’ll miss quite a bit. I’ve played this thing about a dozen times over the past year and am still discovering nuances every time. Such is the nature of complex and well-crafted music.

The highlight is the lengthy and almost neurotic “Regenreigen Suite” which bounces all over the place musically before slowly drawing to a close amidst flute, oboe and murmured vocals that are otherwise fairly sparse on the album. The very next piece “Ala Dalona” is highly rhythmic and intoxicating, offering an intriguing contrast to the more sedate suite. “Narrentantz” again shows another side to the band, with a lively and toe-tapping extended flute passage and dueling mandolins that in itself should surely be enough to convince most people this is more of a folk band than a Kraut one, despite the nationality of its members.

“Alina” again offers magical and seductive violin work for a brief but altogether charming closing to an ambitious album that manages to deliver to all expectations.

Four stars for a truly excellent addition to any music fan’s collection, and highly recommended to almost any sub-genre fan of prog music.

peace

Report this review (#280159)
Posted Saturday, May 1, 2010 | Review Permalink

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