IXTHULUH

The presented material clocks at around 80 minutes and propably comes from one-shot studio rehearsals, as the sounds has this live feeling, but the quality is quite decent.The long tracks are good examples of instrumental Kraut-Jazz Rock in the vein of KRAAN with some ethnic and plenty of psychedelic passages, fairly based on the JOHANNES PAPPERT-like show of saxophonist Max Wedl and the rough, jazzy guitar scratches of Dita Lasser.Nothing to get excited about, but these pieces are typical of the Kraut Rock scene, featuring impressive improvisations, great guitar and sax battles and interesting solos over hypnotic, psychedelic grooves.If you like KRAAN's productions circa 1970-75, you will love Ixthuluh's jazzy executions.Inbetween these extended performances there are several pieces in a more Psychedelic Rock style, some of them feature vocals and the sax is generally absent for a rockier and edgier style.Again the recordings are pretty cool with some jazzy and bluesy influences in the guitar workouts and most of them are driven by sharp lead guitars and frenetic solos, which lack personality, but are performed nonetheless with passion.

Nothing better than discover a free download connected to the 70's and the old-school Kraut principles.KRAAN, KOLLEKTIV and OUT OF FOCUS are good comparisons for Ixthuluh's ''Yes, we are a jazzband'', jazzy and psych leanings around a rhythmic, Kraut-styled enviroment.

'This compilation shows the bow of the musical way the band went through the years' comments Ernst Matscheko who administrates the musical (and spiritual) heritage of the band. 10 tracks were offered from the four regular albums 'Yes, We Are A Jazz Band', 'No Money For A Radio', 'Tea At Two' and 'What's The Name'. Some of them are newly remixed. Additionally we also have two previously unreleased tracks as a 'candy for the hardcore fans'. So at the end the band IXTHULUH presents nearly 75 minutes with improvised music which are standing for a turbulent phase in the 70s. Very experimental and unique according to the situation the band recorded the songs. Well - is it Krautrock from Austria or 'only' Psych? Everybody has to find the right answer on his own.

The album starts with a Medley of excerpts from the first release - very jazz rock oriented jams with a differing sound quality. Flowers, Stones and Early Morning - taken from the second album - is obviously more psych driven and therefore represents a change in the musical direction - my personal favourite. With Hell's jazz and Sadly, the previously unreleased tunes, the band has finally arrived the heavy psych universe. Ambient sounds are following sometimes accompanied by a mysterious psychotic saxophone. Skating in moonlight finally remarks a change to a better sound quality and a more grooving sound back to the jazz rock roots a little bit.

A very special and unique compilation - no barrier to check this out - Ernst Matscheko offers the IXTHULUH songs for free to download from his website. There is even given an instruction for making your own CD cover - don't miss the train!

"What's the name" was the last album recorded by the enigmatic band "Ixthuluh". Once again, the band's core members bring in the odd guest, and "borrow" instruments to help them in their quest. The tracks were recorded in a single take live, but the recording methods and equipment used (one tape recorder) lead to an unsatisfactory quality of sound.

The music once again consists of the improvisational Krautrock the band favour. We open with a dull percussion solo "In the bushes", which is thank fully sub-titled "Short version"! The album really starts therefore with "Start our fuzzy dreams", a simple guitar riff with mumbled and distorted vocals. "Fewa Blues" is the first chance we get to experience something slightly more refined, the pleasant guitar being supported by some atmospheric keyboards.

There are, perhaps inevitably, some impenetrable indulgences here. "Hornet in a bees basket" is complete nonsense, devoid of anything remotely musical. The keyboards return though for "Synthetic heaven", another pleasantly atmospheric piece with strong bass. "Visit from town" is the hardest track on the album, with an orthodox rock beat and some bluesy feedback guitar.

"Strings" is an unexpectedly delicate run through an acoustic instrumental. The playing is rudimentary, but the overall effect is satisfactory. "Camel trophy through seven dirty puddles" is a more adventurous lead guitar improvisation, which tends to ramble somewhat but at least offers some excitement.

Of the longer tracks, "Sailor's dream" is a 10 minute piece, which is based on ambient keyboard sounds with drifting lead guitar. It is actually a decent performance, marred only by the dubious quality of the recording. The similarly long "Desert nights" features Adi Nimmerfall on flute. The piece continues the relaxed, ambient atmosphere of "Sailor's dream", the flute adding a welcome extra dimension.

While "What's the name" continues to demonstrate Ixthuluh's alarming lack of quality control, both in terms of sound and substance, it is a better album over all than those which preceded it. The laid back atmosphere of a number of the tracks makes for a more accessible and acceptable listen, although it is necessary to skip across some of the more outlandish indulgences.

It seems Austria will never be among the heavyweights when it comes to contributing to the prog genre, but Krautrock band Ixthuluh made a bold attempt in the late 1970's and early 80's to fly their flag. "Tea for two", the band's third studio album recorded in 1980, is generally hailed as their most accomplished and coherent. Quite why this is though, is hard for me to grasp!

By this time, the band revolved around guitarist Dita Lasser and drummer Ernst Matscheko, who brought in guest musicians as required. The assembled group would often swap instruments during lengthy jams, not always ending up with one with which they were familiar!

While the album consists of eight tracks in total, over half of it is occupied by two tracks each lasting 24 minutes. The first of these, "Forbidden fruits" is a never-ending jam with psychedelic and space rock influences, but a distinct lack of focus! "The long trail to Gila bridge" opens with some Shadows like improvised guitar, the entire track consisting of bass, guitar and drums only. During its (what seems like) week long tenure, the musicians swap instruments, resulting in what is technically known as a complete mess.

The opening "Welcome, touch me" is a sparse piece, devoid of any real melody, but featuring some reasonable guitar noodling. This gives way to the 12 minute "Sittin' on my lonely chair", the most rock based song on the album. Unfortunately, the prime achievement of the track is to highlight why the band tends to stick to instrumentals, the vocals being decidedly tuneless. Apart from the vocals, only guitar and drums are used on the track, leaving it sounding rather lifeless.

The shorter tracks are equally rambling, even the sax on "So sad" adds nothing to a bass loaded ramble.

I readily admit that this type of music is not what I favour. Normally however, I will willingly acknowledge the technical ability of the band members, even if I am left cold by the music itself. When however the band members start playing instruments they are unfamiliar with, they pass beyond mere indulgence, and leave themselves open to accusations of being disrespectful to their audience. In short, I can find no redeeming features here whatsoever.

After recording four albums, Austrian Krautrock band Ixthuluh decided to call it a day. Their jazz orientated, jam based albums never really offered anything exciting or innovative, so this collection of outtakes from the period during which they recorded their first two albums was never going to be essential. The tracks here are presented chronologically, but since the period covered is less than three years, that is not significant.

On the majority of these track, de facto band leader Dita Lasser tends to dominate, his guitar work being the cornerstone of virtually all the tracks. "Foxy rock" has strong similarities with Jimi Hendrix "Voodoo chile", and "Underground crawler" is pure retro instrumental rock and roll". "Black dancers in fur in front of the mirror" has some reasonably pleasant softer guitar, some diverting flute, and some interesting if overlong bass noodling.

The rare vocals on the brief bass laden "She was no to buy" show all too clearly why the band almost exclusively recorded instrumentals. "Flags in sharp north wind" features the sax of Max Wedl, who also pops up on the all too aptly named "Boring Sunday afternoon, little bit drunk". This tedious rambling dirge makes freeform jazz seem structured and appealing. Wedl has a couple of solo flute tracks which display his virtuosity while also being reasonably interesting. I'm not sure if the closing "Radio gnome" is actually intended as a cover version. By the time this 12+ minute ramble through noises and effects came around I have to admit I was past caring.

While there are obvious influences taken from bands such as Gong and Can, Ixthuluh appear to have been determined here to take the worst of those influences as their starting point.

In summary, it is all too apparent why these tracks were originally left behind. Ixthuluh's quality control was at best dubious when it came to what did make it onto their albums. The fact that these tracks were deemed sub-standard says it all.

As with all Ixthuluh's albums, "Outtakes 1977-1979 is avalable for free download at www.matscheko.at/ix_dl.html

The album title says it all here. De-facto band leader guitarist Dita Lasser shares centre stage with saxophonist Max Wedl for some lengthy jazz improvisations. On later albums, Lasser would go on to have a much greater influence in the sound of Ixthuluh but here he allows Wedl to largely dominate things.

While the tracks were pre-rehearsed, they are essentially live studio jams. The title track is nine minute sax dominated improvisation. "It's cool", whose main theme is apparently used on other tracks, is a 13 minute sax and guitar improvisation, with drum and bass solos too. To be honest, the latter track is somewhat tedious, the constant repetition of the main theme rapidly becoming more than a little irritating. The other longer tracks "Spring air" and "Konglomerat" are more of the same, while "Black Aschbach" is a wearing 5 minutes of drums and bass.

There are occasional notable exceptions to the main feel of the album. "You can be free" is a Hendrix like rock number with strong lead guitar work by Lasser, and some rare vocals. "The ride" also has the Hendrix guitar and rock beat, but is more improvised. "Dancing in the rain" sounds a bit like the Shadows playing a western theme down at the local pub, while "Illegal travel" appears to be an improvisation on the backing track for the Beatles "Daytripper".

In all, a competent if largely anonymous debut with stronger jazz, especially sax, leanings than on later albums.

Sound quality wise, the album is somewhat variable, being digital transfers from almost 30 year old analogue tapes. This album is currently available for download in full at the band's website www.matscheko.at/ix_dl.html

Although "No money for a radio" was only Ixthuluh's second album, it already represents a transition phase for them. The band bought a house together, losing both their original bassist and drummer in the process, and proceeded to move away from the traditional jazz of their first album towards a psychedelic direction. While guests were brought in to bolster the line up, no direct replacements for the departed members were brought in, the remaining members playing various instruments, almost on the basis of who got there first! Hence, any line up indications of who played what should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

The results were predictably poor, and this album represents their least focused, and frankly worst album (as readily admitted by the band). In their quest for a new direction, the band decided to forgo quality controls, and to experiment publicly. By way of mitigation, they explain that for this album the listener should appreciate the ideas, rather than the technical aspects of the music. Unfortunately, it is painfully apparent that ideas were also in short supply, many of the tracks being clearly devoid of any inspiration whatsoever.

There are some occasional moments of relief, notably the flute sections on "Sleep Song In Rain And Meadow" and "Offroader", and some Pink Floyd ("Ummagumma") spacey sounds on a few tracks, but they only offer momentary breaks in the tedium.

The recording quality reflects the basic nature of the equipment used, but this could have been compensated for to some extend through avoiding the use of long sparse sections.

Even though the entire album is available for download at the band's website www.matscheko.at/ix_dl.html, this is one to avoid.