MORBUS

A Krautrock rebirth - dressed in showy clothes ...

Now it's time to present the current album of ELECTRIC ORANGE, a german band which was founded in the year 1992. The members describe their music as Neo Krautrock - that suits fine as a matter of fact. 'Morbus' - mastered by Eroc (Grobschnitt) - shines with much variety and a wealth of details is to be considered whereas the cover artwork is a controversial thing anyway. Very deliberately, I think. The songs are constantly driven by hypnotic grooves, embraced with space/psychedelic organ and synth layers. Samples and diverse other elements like german recitatives are integrated and there are many 'inventions for guitar'. ELECTRIC ORANGE's music is somewhat retro, inspired by Krautrock bands of the 60/70s with their typical Trance and Psych. But you can also feel a 'modern' TripHop/TripRock touch. Provided with some crazy ideas this album has a very special unique atmosphere.

Einwahn is arranged to be the only way to get into the album for sure. I assume the band changes one letter of the german expression 'Einbahn' (One way). And it comes up a compelling song with a very repetitive rhythm. Initiated by some samples the track develops from a mysterious Trance mood to a Psych groover offering some impressions what follows in the next 70 minutes. Rote Flocken, cumbersome, seems to be provided with another title variation (Rote Socken?). A modified voice recitates german lyrics accompanied by distorted guitars. The track sounds like a krautrocked version of the french volkslied 'Frère Jacques' - absolutely crazy! Next one Span 5 has got its place on this album totally improvised without any reworking - a Space Jam which remembers me at AMON DÜÜL's Yeti decorated with some floydy keys. The title song Morbus has nothing to do with any sort of disease, right? A german voice with an accent is giving a lecture about ... nonsense? Weird guitars are interrupting this interesting lesson from time to time - what the hell is goin' on here?

Errorman follows - gloomy, Mellotron pregnant, symphonic with heavy guitars and english spoken words. In opposite to this Flohfunknest swings because it's carried by a jazzy contrabass. Someone brushes his teeth, recorded secretely and used as the only long solo of the album - oh boy! Unfortunately I couldn't find any credit which band member is responsible for that! Traumama - another pun - you have 5 minutes to give it a serious consideration. Space/Psych with nice female voices and ASHRA guitars. Krautschock is beautiful relaxed with flute and organ - the song flows just like a meditation mass. Vibraphone alike sounds, Harmonium and freaky samples in the background are initiating the longest track Wald. A punching bass and spacy keyboards are giving the song a new direction after a while. Noticable is also one of the rare guitar solos at the end.

Reaching enlarges ELECTRIC ORANGE's repertoire with a ballad surprisingly, supported by the use of acoustic guitar, percussion and Mellotron. The door to avantgarde music is opened wide due to Schöhl 2, hard to define, fascinating - it picks you up on its way to another universe. After a beautiful melancholic meandering intro with flute Sarau glides into a sensitive TripRock groove - my personal favourite. Fine organ layers, excellent bass lines and guitars matching with Manuel Göttsching. The song ends with a sudden death much too early and you are back and present with the one and only avoidable question: what can I expect from this band in the future?

'Morbus' seems to be ELECTRIC ORANGE's masterpiece at the moment. As for the first impressions you might think it's monotonous here and there. But if you take some time the album unfolds its beauty. For the summary a must have - not only for Krautrock fans - get it and enjoy!

4.5 stars. Thanks to bands like ELECTRIC ORANGE and THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND Krautrock is alive and well in 2008. I don't know if the spirit of Krautrock ever really died but I sure appreciate these bands giving us fresh material to listen to. The only thing I don't like is the cover art, but it's all about the music right ?

"Einwahn" opens with samples that make you think were in a middle of a party.Then the pounding drums arrive with guitar melodies. This is very repetitive(hey it's Krautrock) and catchy. Organ joins in at 2 1/2 minutes. A minute later the sound changes as the drums become less prominant. "Rote Flocken" has these spacey sounds, drums and spoken words. Processed vocals 2 minutes in and a heavy soundscape. Organ runs are great that follow. Dissonant flugel?(sounds like trumpet) out of nowhere after 3 minutes. Distorted guitar and organ are outstanding. "Span 5" has this mid-paced, catchy rhythm. The bass stands out as the organ comes and goes.The harmonium cries out 3 minutes in.This is amazing ! Some ripping organ 5 minutes in to the end. "Morbus" opens with percussion and drums as spoken words arrive. It's almost impossible not to groove to this one. A powerful wall of sound 2 minutes in changes things briefly before the beat comes back. This contrast continues. "Errorman" opens with sinister sounding organ as a nice heavy sound comes in. Drums and organ dominate this tune. Vocals a minute in. This is incredible ! The melody stops 6 1/2 minutes in as deep, dark sounds take over,then back to the melody. "Flohfunknest" opens with drums, bass and strange sounds. Powerful organ joins in. Spoken words come in as drums,bass and organ lead the way.

"Traumama" is spacey with drums and organ. Female vocal melodies 2 1/2 minutes in. Guitar comes and goes. "Krautschock" opens with dark,spacey sounds as drums and spoken words come in. The flute comes and goes. Organ and other sounds come and go. This is trippy stuff, I like it. "Wald" features drones and spacey sounds to open with no melody. An OZRIC TENTACLES-like beat comes in 2 1/2 minutes with organ. Vocals 5 1/2 minutes in with spacey synths. The beat stops 7 minutes in but then kicks back in with attitude. Killer guitar too. Fantastic ending on this one, incredible song. "Reaching" is a restrained tune with percussion, processed vocals and mellotron. Freaking amazing ! Strummed guitar and flute also come in. The sound on this one reminds me a little of OPETH's Damnation album. "Schohl 2" is different with outbursts of sound coming and going. Not a fan of this one. "Sarau" sounds great with these waves of sound with organ and flute. A very spacey, FLOYD-like soundscape. Before 4 minutes in a beat arrives and the tempo picks up. Guitar after 7 minutes is atmospheric then noisy in a good way. Love the last 1 1/2 minutes of this one.

Favourites are "Span 5", "Errorman", "Wald", "Reaching" and "Sarau". Thought about 5 stars because i adore this record, but at 78 minutes in length it has it's share of average moments. Lots of variety though.

The sea-captain's favourite

I live on the north western side of Denmark. I can almost spot the sea, if only I was 15 feet taller that is. On a daily basis the wind freely sloshes in over the countryside without any form of restraint. This is agricultural lands, so there is literally nothing put in its way, leaving the wind unchecked and free to flow like - yep you guessed it: the wind. It has a way of humbling you. It sets you straight - you often feel these wild powerful gusts crashing into you without warning - reminding you of mother nature and just how fickle she can be.

I don't know why it dawned on me, but earlier during a meaningless walk around the neighbourhood, I felt this particular natural trade in many ways complimented Electric Orange's Morbus record. I might be insane and a bit off, but to me that aforementioned sloshing quality - the sailor-like shifting back and forth, like were you standing on a ship in heavy seas, that is in fact the essence of what makes this album so magnificent.

This is first and foremost simple music. You won't find much in the way of blistering solos or crazy Haydn inspired oboe segments, although you may encounter the odd time sig here and there, - no the music is all about creating brooding sloshing atmospheres, that take you out on windswept journeys where only mad sea-captains have ventured before. For a long period of time I had the sneaking suspicion, that I knew the music - that I at least knew the feel of it. Like it was lying on the tip of my tongue, yet no dice - there was absolutely nothing that came to mind in terms of other Germanic Krautrockers or the likes. Then I attended a social gathering with some old school buddies of mine, and suddenly whilst drinking Tuborg beers and snaps it struck me like a ton of bricks: Damn!!! Is that Cypress Hill we're listening to?!?!?!

We were in fact listening to Cypress Hill playing live at the Filmore. Now don't start with me before you hear me out, because I reckon you may find it hard believing in any sort of redeeming parallels between west coast gangsta rap and modern day Krautrock, but the fact of the matter is that there are a couple of valid references. Firstly, Cypress Hill were playing with a real backing band. On one of their more politically charged tunes called Looking Through the Eye of the Pig they wield a tasty form of psychedelic guitar driven rock, and it is here that I suddenly heard the similar qualities that I'd been searching for. Electric Orange flow much in the same vein. Like the aforementioned sloshing winds, the guitars also feel sluggish, lethargic, thick like melting glue. They are rhythmic figurines accompanied by slow oscillating organ parts that drift and waft like a dense sauce-like fog. On the backbone of this you have the bass and drums keeping things nice and heavy - spreading out roots for this high towering smeared musical endeavour.

Like I said, this is essentially very simple music. It takes some of the best facets of post- rock and apply them to an endemic musical force, making it sound nothing like the genre. I don't hear any post-rock, but the constant bobbing back and forth on these sloshing guitar driven hard hitting psych textures - are testimony of what you can obtain with the approach.

I love everything about this release: the constant overhanging organ thicket occasionally replacing itself with a flügel - or some floating mellotron. Or maybe all of this gets thrown into one big smoothie and the music suddenly feels like it's swimming. I simply adore it. I also am completely smitten by the agitation style of Rote Flocken, that incorporates these German military vocals into a porous and psychedelic piece of Krautrock. And let's not forget about the fabulous Wald that hypnotizes you with it's lengthy stroboscopic washes of worming guitar-riffing.

In fact, I find it very hard not rating this with a full 5 stars, but somehow the length of nearly 80 minutes does amount to the tiniest of dents in the armour. So consider this the biggest 4 stars you'll ever encounter. I'm talking 4.99999999999999 here people!

This album is however a brilliant exhibition of modern Krautrock. It is psychedelic, brooding, heavy, lethargic, simple, oscillating, effervescent, floating, relaxing, sloshing, hypnotic and very much in tune with its forbears - yet without ever resolving to borrow anything directly from them. Morbus feels original and like it was conceived in a musical Zoo with lions, tigers and lizards all over the place, if only to rub off that fickle and fleeting animal essence to the proceedings - you know the part of music that makes us into reptiles and humans all at the same time.

My introduction to this Kosmische (Krautrock) Musik revival band and still my favorite album of theirs--though 2014's "Volume 10" gives it a run for its money, mostly for better sound engineering and a greater display of idiosyncracy. The rhythms and grooves here are just catchier, quicker to get under your skin and get you up off your duff dancing around the living room. There is a lot of nods/reverences to 70s progenitors CAN (titles, humour, voice & radio/audio samples) and even a little BRAINTICKET (the title song), but there is a lot of music here that stands very well on its own, fore-fathers or no.

Five star song: 12. "Sarau" (8:31) (19/20); 7. "Traumama" (4:58) (9/10); the ultra-smooth 8. "Krautschock" (7:02) (12.5/15), and; the hypnotic, autobahn rockin' 9. "Wald" (10:14) (18/20).

Four star songs: 1. "Einwahn" (7:54) (17.5/20); the bass-driven 3. "Span 5" (7:56) (17.5/20); 6. "Flohfunknest" (3:33) (8.5/10); 10. "Reaching" (4:28) (8.5/10); and the rest.