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Thirsty Moon - Thirsty Moon CD (album) cover

THIRSTY MOON

Thirsty Moon

Jazz Rock/Fusion


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Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Prog Folk
4 stars Debut album from a very typical group that performed a jazz-rock/fusion with that typcal Krautrock spirit, TM's music can be compared to early Doldinger's Passport or Kraan to a spacey Release Music Orchestra (to remain in Germany). Lead by the Drogies brother (guitar and drums respectively), this septet had everything in their handsto make an entertaining JR/F as they introduced some space/cosmische muzieke in it. Released on the verey collectible Metronome section of the Brain label (this would mean the brown label, not the gfreen) with an arresting artwork by artist Gil Funccius, this debut album is one of the better JR/F from their country.

One the opening side, Morning Sun is absolutely delightful and the 9-min+ Big City is a scorcher, both being the essence of TM. The two shorter tracks are also much worthy of the attention. The flipside is made of the sidelong Yellow Sunshine track, which is easily the album's highlight even if there are inevitable lengths and solos.

A very worthy album, just as their second would also be, I recommend starting out with their You'll Never Come Back as it might be a tiny bit more concise, but both are very worthy of every proghead's shelves.

Report this review (#30143)
Posted Wednesday, September 1, 2004 | Review Permalink
Atavachron
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Rich and warm first entry from a helluva band though it may take a few tries to get into this generous record, prog-jazz-space orchestra Thirsty Moon definitely came to play. Seemingly a jam album but that appearance fades as we begin to notice the clear vision, musicianship, taste, and subtle German precision. The band is given life by leader Norbert Drogies' hungry performance on drums and brother/co-leader Jurgen's support on guitar. No waiting here, the energy kicks right in for 'Morning Sun', pumping muscle turning into a smooth respite, Michael Kobs' cool electric piano, great layers of brass from Willi Pape and a bit of Krautrock trance. Strange and playful psych tune 'Love Me' is built with care, and 'Rooms Behind Your Mind' explodes with progressive energy, wild squawking from Pape, Hans Werner Ranwig's beautiful organ and Jurgen's black riffs. And 'Big City' lives up to its name, a sprawling nine-minute urban dig that smells of heat, fumes, food, people and life as it bustles forward. Twenty minute dirge 'Yellow Sunshine' is an ambitious opera that unravels gradually, only giving up its treasure to those who listen in full, packed with horn arrangements, killer organ, wailing space odysseys and amazing moments.

Like a shy but deep and brilliant person, Thirsty Moon is something you must invest some time into to benefit from, only later returning with stories of adventures in the night.

Report this review (#154024)
Posted Tuesday, December 4, 2007 | Review Permalink
apps79
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars A significant name of the German krautrock scene,THIRSTY MOON were found in Bremen in 1972 and started as a 7-member band.By the same year their epontmous debut was already recorded and released by Brain Records.

It consists of four short tracks and one epic jam,clocking at over 20 minutes.The album follows the typical German mode of krautrock with strong interplays,long jamming and a lot of space for endless improvisated musicianship.Saxes are everywhere played by Willie Pape and ranging from smooth passages to abstract heavy parts.There is also some lovely percussion work throughout the listening,featuring also nice organ and groovy electric pianos.Vocals are English with a rough edge,which fit very much to the band's style,while the epic of the album conatins also a lot of spacey parts,charcterized by the unbelievable saxes,the great percussion work and the smooth flutes.Sometimes it seems that the tracks are out of any logical structure,but repeated listenings will give you the time and chance to appreciate THIRSTY MOON's undenieable talent.Headed mainly to fans of jazz and kraut rock with heavy emphasis on good jams and improvisations!

Report this review (#179634)
Posted Friday, August 15, 2008 | Review Permalink
5 stars Unique kind of Jazz, weird effects, especially on guitar and keyboards. Lots of 'air' instruments added. Powerfull bass lines, nice drums. Thirsty Moon never sticks to the conventional, instead, seems to just play for themselves, wich can lead you to an enormous appreciation, or a '[%*!#] this band' kind of feel. Percussions also are a big part of the album, giving that groove to lead you trough the songs without loosing any interest. Saxophone playing is precise, cutting trough your speakers the way I like it. The singer's voice is excellent, fitting really well to the music. Give this a try, and you'll see if you're a 'now that's brilliant job!' kind of person, or a 'damn this is so much crap'. 5 stars to raise the pathetic score people give this album, it's a well-earned 4 stars.
Report this review (#298181)
Posted Thursday, September 9, 2010 | Review Permalink
siLLy puPPy
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
4 stars By 1972, the Krautrock scene had blossomed way beyond the hub cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Düsseldorf into a national phenomena attracting an unprecedented number of talented musicians taking a stab at their best spaced out prog rock. Bremen wasn't exactly the epicenter of the scene but did produce some top notch acts like THIRSTY MOON. The band was initiated by the two brothers, guitarist Jürgen Drogies and percussionist Norbert Drogies after splitting up from a band called DRP. After recruiting a whopping five other members they formed THIRSTY MOON, then recorded some demos and sent them out to Brain Records which was one of the Krautrock heavy hitters of the day pumping out many of the well known names such as New!, Cluster, Grobschnitt, Caravan, Atomic Rooster as well as lesser known acts such as the Wolfgang Dauner Group. The band gained a record deal and released their eponymous debut album in 1972 which included the mixing duties of Conny Planck who would become famous for his 80s involvement with Ultravox and the Eurythmics.

The Drogies brothers managed to recruit a stable lineup but one that didn't see eye to eye in musical taste. While the brothers themselves preferred the harder edged blues rock style of Hendrix and Steve Winwood's traffic, most of the other members were more into the jazz-rock styles of bands like Soft Machine and the "Bitch's Brew" era of Miles Davis. The result of their first album is a creative mishmash of both these musical worlds and dished out in creative doses that allow each track to stand out as totally distinct from the other. The album consists of only five tracks with the first four completing the first side of the original vinyl edition and the monstrously long "Yellow Sunshine" swallowing up the entire B side at 21 minutes and 25 seconds. The seven musicians on board unleash a plethora of sounds including electric guitar, bass, saxophone, clarinet and flute. There are two keyboardists with Hans Werner Ranwig dishing out the ubiquitous organ sounds while Michael Kobs handles the electric piano. There is also a larger than usual percussion section with Erwin Noack contributing congas and regular rock drums as well as the Drogies brothers both adding extra percussive touches.

"Morning Sun" begins the albums with a rather typical jazz-rock style that wouldn't sound out of place on, say, an Embryo album but beginning with "Love Me," the band gets more creative and progressive with not only catchy jazz-infused melodies but jumpy, jittery time signature workouts as well as an extra serving of percussive delights. This one is super cool as it has quirky key changes with energetic bombast before simmering down into a mellow jazzy rocker. "Rooms Behind Your Mind" is a short little heavy rocker that offers some substantial guitar delivery as well as a rather funk inspired bass section. While most of the music focuses on instrumental heft, this one displays the Ranwig's lead vocals as well as an Ornette Coleman inspired sax solo that is electrified and sounds like what John Zorn would make famous a decade later. One again the tribal conga drumming offers an intense percussive spine while the dreamy organ fills add an atmospheric touch to the heavy rock drive. "Big City" clocks in at over eight minutes and is a cool original sounding track that offers background sound effects of "Big City" activities with some sort of "dripping" metal percussion that creates a totally indescribable sound. This one is also a nice mixture of Krauty psychedelic rock with jazz-rock. The grand finale is the epic "Yellow Sunshine" which wends and winds through many different moods throughout its 20 minute plus timespan. It begins as a totally ambient spaced out affair but evolves into a melodic rocker that offer moments of bombast as well as freakier segments with none outlasting their welcome.

THIRSTY MOON remains one of the more obscure Krautrock bands to have emerged from Germany's fertile progressive rock scene and admittedly this debut eponymous release failed to inspire me upon first listen. After a few more spins though the entire thing clicked and began to display its creative uniqueness that separates them from the usual Krautrock suspects. While not jazzy enough to be considered a true jazz-rock band, there are more than enough brass moments and compositional approaches that are only a couple steps away from that labeling. This debut album is a brilliant mix of the heavy psych rock of the late 60s and the tripped out ambience of artists like Klaus Schulze or Tangeine Dreamn all topped off with the jazzy and occasionally folk flavored aspects. For me the extra percussive drive makes this one all the more addictive but all the elements are laid out in highly original compositional approaches. Definitely a band that deserves a lot more recognition in the modern day.

Report this review (#1821288)
Posted Friday, November 10, 2017 | Review Permalink
Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars THIRSTY MOON were a German Jazz Rock/Krautrock band who released two absolutely incredible albums in the early seventies. This is the debut from 1972 and what a debut! A seven piece band here with an experienced Jazz man in Willi Pape who adds sax, clarinet and flute. He will go on to play with the band DENNIS who released a killer album in 1975. Interesting that this album is produced by Jochen Petersen who played horns and guitar in IKARUS another band I'm a huge fan of. We get a guy playing organ and another playing electric piano. Six of the seven members play percussion and one of those only plays percussion and congas. Of course we get drums, guitar and bass too.

In the liner notes they mention that several of the songs on this album were played on the radio in Bremen their home town. A different time. The opener is worth the price of admission and I would suggest every fan of good music should hear this song. The vocals throughout are in English and man this guy has such a great voice. When he arrives in this song around 1 1/2 minutes in he brings such a warmth and a feel good vibe. Some power in this one and the sax impresses. Check out how it ends as it self implodes in an experimental manner. Favourite song right there. "Big City" is close behind opening with traffic and crowd noise that eventually fade as it then builds with some outstanding bass. The electric piano makes me happy then sax before 2 minutes. So much going on too. The electric piano is back after 5 minutes then guitar. Again the bass is huge here. The closer "Yellow Sunshine" is 21 1/2 minutes long and it does impress. Like the clarinet and guitar. Narration too sounding futuristic. An experimental ending but man what a trip this one is. I have to mention the very dissonant sax on "Rooms Behind Your Mind" and the guitar that hits us like a runaway truck a minute in on "Love Me" and he keeps up this fast and intense playing for 1 1/2 minutes!

Again if you can pick up either or both of the first two THIRSTY MOON albums I wouldn't hesitate.

Report this review (#2544186)
Posted Wednesday, May 19, 2021 | Review Permalink

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