SEI STILL, WISSE ICH BIN

Thankfully, a large part of Popol Vuh's discography has come back into print the last few years- I bought this on iTunes, and I'm glad I did. By the 1980s, the spiritual side of Florian Fricke's vision had come to the forefront. This album and "Agape-Agape" are vocal-oriented, often choral works redolant of spirtual music from many cultures, unapologetically mystical and very beautiful. With a full choir and Renate Knaup's (Amon Duul II) incredible vocals, this record is a must-buy for anyone with even a passing interest in Fricke's post-electronic works. There are elements of polyphony, plainsong but also Eastern music and European folk idioms on this album, blended beautifully. The backing music is the typical mix of Fricke's piano, Daniel Fichelscher's hypnotic electric guitar and assorted percussion, with a guest appearance from Chris Karrer, but the music is always just a setting for the richness of the vocals. This is basically a secular mass, and like all of Popol Vuh's music, it manages to straddle the genres between modern classical, folk and ambient musics without ever approaching New Age cheeze. It's a five star album for me, but since it would be an acquired taste for most, I'll take it down to four- reluctantly.

This has been one of the most difficult POPOL VUH records for me to get into. I love Florian's spiritual music but this seems to take it too far for my tastes.The focus is on the choirs and vocals over the usually beautiful, pastoral instrumental work i'm used to hearing from this man. Renate Knaupe adds her vocals and we also get some guest sax from Chris Karrer. Hey when you include Daniel Fichelscher (guitar & drums) that's three former AMON DUUL members helping Florian out with this album. The choir by the way is from the Bavarian State Opera. Of course the album cover gives us a clue to what's inside with all these white robed people gathered around in a large circle out in a field somewhere. By the way this album was produced by none other then Klause Schulze which might explain in part why this one sounds so different from the other POPOL VUH records.

"Wehe Khorazin" is all about the choir as a drum slowly beats. Then we get Renate's chanting with acoustic guitar and slowly beaten drums. I like this part. "Und Als ER Sah Es Geht Dem Ende Zu" is kind of haunting with those male vocals seemingly coming out of the darkness. It then gets calm before cymbals are banged about . Renate comes in around 3 1/2 minutes. A difficult listen. "Garten Der Gemeinschaft" opens with piano, acoustic guitar and light drums as the choir chants. Sax in this one. This song sounds really good.

"Gemeinsam Assen Sie Das Brot" also opens with acoustic guitar, piano and light drums as Renate comes in vocally. It's building. Another good one. "Lass Los" is a blend of acoustic instruments and vocals (both the choir and Renate). I like it. "Gemeinsam Tranken Sie Den Wein" is more chanting with acoustic guitar. "...Als Lebten Die Engel Auf Erden" is the short closing track with no vocals and a fitting way to end it. This really recalls the music from Florian that I adore so much.

I'm just not a big fan of the choral singing here. It's certainly an interesting listen but not worth 4 stars in my book. The best track is the bonus track which is more like what i'm used to hearing from Florian.