EROC

Joachim Heinz Ehrig better known by his stage name EROC had humble beginnings with early ambitions of becoming a chemical lab technician but sometime around 1966 took up the role as drummer and started his first high school band called The Crew. While that band would find a few singles released, it was with the band Grobschnitt where EROC found his greatest glory years where he served as drummer and band leader during the band's existence throughout the 70s until he departed in 1983. Grobschnitt enjoyed considerably success as one of Krautrock's most enduring bands that was well known for the indefatigable stamina of performing three hour plus live shows night after night.

Just like many band members across the board, EROC was moonlighting and creating his own stash of musical ideas that were never really meant for public consumption. Many of the electronic projects began before he ever started Grobschnitt and without the confines of pleasing a record label, EROC nurtured his strangest fantasies into bizarre musical beasts that only ended up on record due to a friend of his insisting that he record them as a solo album. The result was this heavily electronic slice of Krautrock released in 1975 on the Brain label. While originally a self-titled debut, the album has more affectionally been referred to as EROC 1 since the following albums continue the rather ho-hum methodology of naming the album the following number in sequence.

While serving as Grobschnitt's drummer, EROC also mastered many other instruments such as the keyboard and the guitar and plays everything on this album not to mention his mastery of the soundboards and production. The result is a stellar sounding experimental album that takes your soul into the cosmos and although on the cusp of the waning years of the most outrageously creative years of progressive rock, EROC's collection of tracks that were constructed throughout the time period and display the true zeitgeist of one of Germany's most creatively fertile eras in the experimental music scene. The album originally only contained seven tracks but the newer remastered versions contain an extra six unreleased bonus tracks, many of which are of the same top quality as the originals.

"Kleine Eva" begins the album and also serves as its lengthiest which at over 12 minutes nearly doubles the playing time of anything else. This showcases a clear departure from Grobschniit's bombastic hard rock approach and exists as a soothing Berlin school styled progressive electronic track with dreamy melodies on one synth while another casts comet-tail sweeps that accent the offbeats. While charming and even a bit quaint, the following "Des Zauberer's Traum" is much moodier with terrifying drones and frightening sustained buzzing as well as a plethora of overdubs that was taking a cue from the most surreal aspects of Klaus Schulze's early years and while "Die Music com Ölberg" sounds like an electronic dedication to a royal knighting of some sort. The most kosmische of the tracks that take the award for trippiest on the album go to "Norderland" and "Horrorgoll." The former simulating a frost-bitten landscape in all its bleakness and the latter diving into the farthest out lysergic trip with a never ending series of echoed vocals and sounds.

"Sternchen" ends the original album with a strummed rhythm guitar that oscillates in and out of tune along with sensible atmospheric embellishments which gives it a strange unearthly feel. The bonus tracks are interspersed throughout the album instead of being tacked on to the end of the album as is usually the case. The strategic placement is most likely the original intent of the album's run before time limitations of the era reared their ugly head as it sounds quite logical as to how everything is placed. Personally i've never been huge on Grobschnitt as i find them one of the most ordinary and uninteresting bands of the Krautrock era but EROC's debut solo project is a whole different beast and one that is highly recommended for those seeking out the more electronic and experimental sounds that emerged from the 70s German scene. I'm unfamiliar with the original album's production quality but my remastered 2005 CD sounds as if it was recorded in the modern era. Some of the bonus tracks have pop elements that would prognosticate the future of EROC's solo albums.

His first solo album outside the three-ring circus of GROBSCHNITT saw lead clown Joachim Ehrig (alias Eroc) downplaying his irreverent "Lumpy Gravy" humor in favor of a milder brand of homemade Krautrock, more experimental than the music of his parent band but hardly inaccessible. And for a musician otherwise employed as a drummer there's a conspicuous lack of percussion over most of the album, without so much as a cymbal to be heard over its entire first half.

Be prepared instead to settle into the long, electronic lullaby of "Kleine Eva": twelve sublime minutes of beautifully arranged keyboard variations on a simple, childlike melody. That opening idyll is followed by the more unsettled synthetic reverie conjured by "Des Zauberer's Traum" (The Magician's Dream), and then a brief audio-vérité joke shared with a member of Grobschnitt's road crew and performance troupe.

The flipside of the 1975 LP explored more traditional Krautrock territory (if that isn't an oxymoron) in the Teutonic Rock anthem "Norderland", an obvious album highlight. And the weirder face of the Eroc coin was revealed in "Horrorgoll": an ACHIM REICHEL-like echo effect nightmare built around repeated voice samples and atonal piano accents. The track is longer than it needed to be, but the silver lining is the lovely "Sternchen", bringing the album to its final, graceful resolution.

All worthwhile, in its own modest way. But the 2005 CD re-issue presents a different experience altogether. The copious bonus material, recorded more or less around the same time, is salted throughout the disc instead of lumped together at the end, totally changing the pace and flow of the original album. These aren't really outtakes (the music is too good), but more like a random sampling of unreleased songs from the composer's private stock of basement tapes, built (mostly) around gently strummed guitars, tasteful synths, homeopathic percussion, and the occasional kazoo (of course).

Hardly essential, but classic Eroc. And like the rest of the album so German every chord deserves its own umlaut. Fans of Grobschnitt's vaudeville Prog may find it a surprisingly restrained effort from such an extroverted cutup. But every joker should be allowed a few private moments of creative introspection.

As the drummer, lyricist and co-producer of famed Teutonic prog outfit Grobschnitt, Joachim Ehrig - who is otherwise better known under the self-chosen pseudonym 'Eroc' - has enjoyed a long, colourful and successful career in his native German homeland. Known for their quirky sense of humour, fantastical themes, epic concept albums and highly-skilled musicianship, Grobschnitt were one of the premier German rock acts of the 1970s, especially in the live arena. Although strong domestic sales and deliberately-English lyrics failed to translate into British or American success, throughout Central Europe Grobschnitt's reputation was fearsome and well-earned. The album's 'Grobschnitt', 'Ballermann' and 'Jumbo', as well as a punishing live schedule, had seen the group develop from slightly awkward psychedelic rock origins into a full-blown, Yes-styled, symphonic prog group featuring lush, complex instrumentation, layers of keyboards and synthesizers and suitably striking artwork adorning the gatefold LP vinyl jackets. However, it would be the impressive, space-rock themed double-album 'Ballermann' that would really put Grobschnitt on the(central European) map thanks to the epic, 33-minute long composition 'Solar Music' which took up both sides of the second disc on the original release. With this success behind them, Grobschnitt would temporarily fragment, allowing Eroc to complete work on his long-mooted and eponymously-titled debut solo album. Released in 1975, several months before the group's much-anticipated third album 'Jumbo', 'Eroc 1'(as it has now come to be know thanks to subsequent and similarly-monikered follow-up albums) equally baffled, bemused and excited those who bought it. Obviously influenced by the innovative electronic krautrock groups Cluster, Harmonia, Tangerine Dream and, of course, Kraftwerk, Eroc's genre-defying debut is far-removed from the drummer's Grobschnitt days. Instead of intricate guitar-keyboard interplay and manic comedy 'Eroc' feeds the listener a series of slowly-evolving and carefully-layered electronic compositions that seem to blend the melodic instincts of progressive rock with the experimental nous of Berlin school sonic design. The album has a cool, relaxed and slightly detached vibe, as evidenced on the beautifully-ornate 'Kleine Eva', which crawls slowly and deliberately through twelve minutes of gently-pulsating, small-hour-evincing, electro ambient pop soundscapes in a style not dissimilar from mid-period Klaus Schulze albums such as Picture Music and Mirage. Later tracks, such as the rougher 'Norderland' and the almost celestial 'Sternchen' also tread this electro-psych path, only with an occasional nod-and-wink to Eroc's work with Grobschnitt. Surprisingly, and unlike many other band-members, Eroc has not employed any of his colleagues to help him on the recordings. Instead, the talented drummer has played all the instruments himself, including keyboards, synths and guitars, which may explain the slow pace of much of the material on offer. However, despite this minor critique, Eroc's debut reveals itself to be a truly original - and welcome - stylistic departure. Despite their German heritage, Grobschnitt were never considered a 'krautrock' group. In creating this LP, Eroc has joined the ranks of electronic purveyors who made that dubiously-titled genre so fascinating, and fans of analogue electronica should find much to admire on this refreshing record. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2011

A pretty good debut from the GROBSCHNITT drummer. This is nothing like the music that GROBSCHNITT plays, in fact it's more in the Electronic-Prog genre with that Krautrock vibe. I must admit that EROC to me is more about his recording studio "The Ranch" and his work in that area than as a musician. I guess that's from mentioning him often in many of my reviews over the years in that capacity.

"Kleine Eva" is the longest track at almost 12 minutes and probably my least favourite too. Spacey sounds pulse as keys join in around 2 minutes then this sound which you would think was a child's keyboard or something also joins in. Loud synths before 5 1/2 minutes that are annoying to say the least. "Des Zauberers Traum" opens with sounds that hum and other electronics.The synths before 2 minutes get annoying after 2 1/2 minutes.

"Toni Moff Mollo" is less than a minute of two people talking in German. "Die Musik Vom Olberg" is somewhat catchy with a beat and synths. Glass breaks to end it and the sound of someone running away. "Norderland" is my favourite and the first song I actually like. Organ floats in with spacey winds. A melody kicks in with guitar. Nice. An interesting track. "Horrorgoll" is pretty much voices and sounds that echo throughout. Not a fan. "Sternchen" is better with guitar melodies. A dead calm before 2 minutes then it builds again.

This is good but when you consider it's 1975 he's a little late to the Krautrock party. I suppose that wouldn't be an issue if I really liked it though.

Eroc is best known of course as the percussionist and creative genius of Germany's Grobschnitt (as well as music engineer). This was Eroc's 3rd album and is an excellent and sometimes strange eclectic mix of songs and experiments. Fans of Grobschnitt will love this solo album which contains many allusions to songs of Grobschnitt including the great "Tontillon" (which also appears on the Repertoire remastered version of Rockpommel's Land. Perhaps the best known track off the album is "Wolkenreise" which in the remastered form sounds fresh and new. My personal favourite track is the 10 mins "Sunny Sunday's Sunset" which could have been on any Grobschnitt album and shows us how much Eroc meant to this band musically! Overall Eroc 3 is a great album and one that should be in your collection

Eroc 3 wasn't really a solo album but rather a retrospective of his works starting from 1968 and contained besides two new tracks mainly archived recordings done by him with Grobschnitt or the previous band called Crew Blues Session. Let's go roughly through the tracks presented here.

"Wutpickel" is a short bluesy piece originating from the time between disbandment of Crew Blues Session and formation of Grobschnitt when Joachim Ehrig played in a trio with the same name. "Tontillon" is an improvised instrumental track from the recording sessions for "Rockpommel's Land" and in a similar slightly melancholic vein as this album. "Fito Linte" and "Wolkenreise" are true solo works by Eroc and the latter one especially became quite well-known due to its highly memorable soaring melody. That one had been written as an introduction for Grobschnitt's 1978 live show. "Solar Plexus" is an excerpt of a live recording for "Solar Music" overdubbed with accordeon. "Euer Lied" is another one of Eroc's fun pieces, a rather simple drum solo starting with an invitation of the audience to accomplish it with their own music. "Falke Whips It Out" is a collage of recordings from 1968/69 featuring an improvisation over "Born To Be Wild", some screaming, some parodistic pompous organ solo and a phone talk of Eroc with Grobschnitt roadie Peter Falke railing about some famous Prog bands. "About My Town" is an early live recording by Grobschnitt from 1971 with second drummer Axel Harlos which never saw a release on any of their albums. "Sunny Sunday's Sunset" is a demo version of the recording session for Jumbo album sounding completely different from the final version. The final "He's Around Here" was the first recording of Crew Blues Session which never saw a release, the music is a rather simple beat and only the voice of Stefan Danielak reminds at Grobschnitt. "Crew Blues Session" is an excerpt of an improvisation of the band played during their farewell concert in October 1969. This was actually the very original version of "Solar Music", here still with scatting vocals by bass player Peter Klassen but one can hear already the typical spacey sound.

Recently all of Eroc's solo records got CD reissues finally with the addition of multiple bonus tracks. This one was actually the most interesting sounding one at least for me providing a quite nice and enjoyable historical overview. Nevertheless I don't see any reason why it should be of much interest for others than fans of this particular band. Thus to rate it higher than with 2 stars would be exaggerated!

Second solo album by Eroc is the least attractive one for me from his first three I've to say. It's basically a rather quaint compilation of some nonsensical fun tracks (which I can only smirk about into parts, but not really laugh) and some nice and enjoyable songs like "Der Traum vom Wald". That one is actually a quite serious, melancholic, almost mawkish story told in spoken words about a lost childhood's dream backed up with some pleasant music played on accordeon. Thus it will be certainly of rather little interest for someone not knowing German language. Still the best tracks are "Nebelwelt" opening the album with some melancholic guitar chords and "Abendmeer" which is a quite impressing pile of Mellotron and accordeon tunes. "Ich bin ein Lachen" is another serious and surprisingly aggressive one. In between all those fairly good songs one can listen for example to some chats of the band members in typical Rhine area idiom having a couple of beers together, you can imagine how exciting this must be, even for someone like me who understands what they're talking about. One of the short spoken sections is actually a faked conversation of Eroc with his producer who blames him for not entertaining enough his audience with the music he's doing which is quite a good joke I've to say because in fact he's right in saying this. Anyway this record should be considered even more than his first one for Grobschnitt fans only as a fairly good supplement and demonstration of Joachim Ehrig's multiple talents!

Honestly I wouldn't consider any of the solo works by Grobschnitt drummer Joachim Ehrig aka Eroc an essential addition for a Prog collection, even not for one based on Krautrock I would say. Certainly there are some experimental parts included, mainly with electronic sound and tape recordings but on the other hand after taking out those few ones and some recorded smalltalk (which isn't even funny if you're a native German speaker) there's not much left over that's able to impress me. After subtraction of those experiments and supposed to be jokes we get to listen some nice and pleasant music played on guitar, synthesizer and accordeon which could easily do its job as some background acoustic irradiation, something that might be called Muzak. I mean, a track like the super-long (and much too long if you ask me) "Little Eva" could have entertained easily my grandma (born 1900) getting me to the point to question what that's supposed to do with progressive music. It might have to do with the fact that I'm really not into electronic music, usually I find it rather suckin' than fascinating. Don't get me wrong that's a lovely track, maybe just too lovely and gets boring after a while. Others like "Des Zauberers Traum", "Norderland" or "Horrorgoll" are sounding at least into parts slightly more interesting but only for 1 or 2 spins and quite dated on the other hand. The latter one in particular is clearly the most experimental track on here consisting exclusively of a collage of tape recordings (probably taken from tv/radio) with the addition of some echo effects. "Die Musik vom Ölberg" had been the introduction for a Grobschnitt live show and last one "Sternchen" sounds a bit like an excerpt of "Solar Music". Overall this record (like all of Eroc's solo catalogue) should be considered rather an interesting addition for Grobschnitt fans and seams vastly overrated here IMHO. This one might still be the best of his first three solo albums (the fourth one I don't know yet) but nonetheless I'm hesitating to rate it with 3 stars!

The first and best effort by Eroc (Grobschnitt) in solo. A magnificent and ambitious affair that directly leads Eroc to the pinnacle of German progressive synth eccentricities. Nothing is "cosmic" or "trip out" as in Klaus Schulze, Conrad Schnitzler and others but it remains surprisingly weird and accessible at the same time. The argument is organic, cerebral and humorous with lot of manipulations in studio (voice and other sounds). "kleine eva" is a synth dominated song with flowing and beautifully sweet melodies. "des tauberers traum" is a darker track, including "loopings" and repetitive organic fragments. "toni moff mollo" is one of these particular and satirical sketches we can find in later albums. "die musik vom ölberg" is an enthusiastic, funny synth composition with a more commercial and dated flavour. "norderland" is one of my favourite Eroc's compositions; a moment of rare introspection and desolation with plaintive electric guitar lines & glissando, drums and sound effects. Great!!

I've just seen that this one hasn't been reviewed yet. Let's say a few words about this third album by Eroc (drummer and original member of Grobschnitt). Contrary to his first solo effort Eroc clearly put the accentuation on solid progressive rock compositions, almost rejecting his convinced experimentations & demonstrations in electronica. "3" stays a good follow up to "Zwei". The positive aspect is the diversity of atmospheres created and the pleasure to play together. The opening track is a massive, heavy bluesy track with some aggressive drum parts. "Tontillon" is a floating rock composition featuring a nice melodic guitar line with some keyboards arrangements. "Fito linte" starts with a wonderful, dreamy acoustic guitar interlude accompanied by spacey electronic effects then carries on an other emotional dimension. "Wolkenreise" is a kind of Teutonic folk, popular music interpretation with accordion, synth and guitar. "Solar Plexus" is an original and fantasist musical piece starting with a theatrical narration in German. The track progressively goes into a dancing, animated folkish excursion. "Euer Lied" is a drum interlude by Axel Harlos. "Falke Whips It Out" is a grotesque, satiric speed rock song closed to Grobschnitt's material."About my town" is an imitation of boogie woogie. "Sunny Sunday's Sunset" is an other typical Grobschnitt's heroic and lyrical symphonic rock composition. It can be a nice surprise if you are into Grobshnitt sound.