SAND

To locate the seeds of this obscure Kraut Rock trio we'll have to go back in early-70's when brothers Ludwig and Ulrich Papenberg were performing with the five-piece act P.O.T. (Part of Time) in the region of Lower Saxony, but they had to move to the more open-minded city of Berlin to fully develop their sound, eventually forming Sand in 1972 as a trio along with Johannes Vester on synths and vocals.Their sole original album ''Golem'' from 1974 was a product for the Kunstkopf demonstration series on Delta-Acustic, produced by Klaus Schulze.

The presence of Schulze along with the trippy front cover already gives an idea of what Sand's music was all about, but unfortunately ''Golem'' suffers from repetitiveness and monotony throught its duration.''Helicopter'' opens with these loops recalling the propeller of a helicopter and develops into a very long hypnotic composition filled with soft psychedelic guitars and Electronics in a very boring trip.''Old Loggerhead'' is no different.The voice of Vester is accompanied by a low-tempo colorless groove and spacey Electronics from the start to the very end.''May rain'' is still grounded in the Psychedelic territory, but this is more of an emphatic piece of music compared to the previous tracks, a short acoustic-driven cut with some nice vocals by Vester.''On the Corner'' is more of the same with a very strong Syd Barrett-era PINK FLOYD influence, characterized by its narcotic acoustic rhythm and the questionable childish vocals of the group.The closing ''Sarah'' is not even music for the most of its part.Hypnotic loops and distorted vocals dominate this piece for 7 or so minutes, just before the entrance of a smooth acoustic groove and Vester's more listenable vocals.

This is not only very far away from the essential moments of the Kraut Rock movement, but I hesitate to call this a music album for half about of its duration.Very experimental and hypnotic stuff, which is not disastrous, but it is not even mediocre either, thus not recommended.

Another obscure one album German band. Sand came, delivered this album and disappeared again.

The music is basic, folky Krautrock with a lot of noodly rhythms and melody lines. The sound is pretty bad. The melodies are folky as in children rhymes. The vocals is unnatural kind of US accented English. It sounds fake and it is fake. The vocals is so over the top that it becomes a joke. The lyrics too is really bad.

The overall quality is pretty bad. There is really nothing here I can say I like. This album does not deliver on any levels at all. Bad sound, bad melodies and bad delivery. The reason why Sand is obscure is that this album is abysmal bad. Period.

1 star

A real dreary disappointment, despite the recent cd re-release with the help of 'Current 93'. Sand are just as miserable as 'Current 93' but no-where near as strange. The English spoken vocals just sound plain daft and infantile.

It's really hard to know what to make of this album as my mind keeps wandering while listening to it... That crumb on the floor... how long has it been there?... was it you, was it me, did I watch too much TV?.......... Anyway, must focus back on the album, as arduous a task as that is.

The plan was to get through this album as quickly as possible. Sort of like ripping off a plaster in one go to limit the pain. I'm now half way through 'Golem' and I'm losing the will to live.

This turns into a real endurance test after around 15 minutes. 'Golem' contains the whiniest vocalist you can imagine, coupled with some doleful unimaginative bass twanging. Johannes Vester's vocals intensify the weaknesses that are all too apparent as this soppy little album trudges towards its mediocre conclusion. He sounds like he's pinching his nose whilst singing. One of the most miserable decrepit albums I've ever heard.

Just about all of my reviews are observations rather than analytical breakdowns of individual tunes, and all I can give you here are my honest thoughts, which go something like this: Every minute involves me taking gasps for air and drinking caffeine to bolster myself until the end.

If anyone says this is their favourite album of all time I'll give them a million pounds. Not literally, obviously, but if I met such a person I'd certainly shake them by the hand.

A crushingly slow and shallow undertaking without any colour. In the 1940's people like this would have been mopped up by Big Brother.

Worse still. this is a damn double cd. Arrgghh! Sorry readers, there's no way I'm going to get through a second disc of this. Bye bye - it's been nice knowing you....

i still remember the day heard this album. i was no expectation from the album but these guys did very good job. the legend Klaus Schulze put some electronic spaced out their sound. everone know very well German bands have unique sound mid 70's. i cant call sand is a krautrock band, its harsh i guess. they are simply prog.folk band. especially first song (Helicopter) remind me syd barret's pf days. All songs have very melodic touch and very space mood. vocal and keyboard using are very bizzare but not disturbing at all. May Rain and Doncha Feel are my favorite songs on the album. finally, i admire their brave steps but they didnt go further unfortunately. 3,5 star for Golem nothing more !

An intriguing ambient kraut album.

Golem is a very interesting and enigmatic album consisting of hypnotic undulating synthesizer based dronings broken up by slightly odd folk songs that are somewhat reminiscent of early PINK FLOYD and SYD BARRETT. This album is really a love or hate affair, if you can derive enjoyment from the droning dongs then you will definitely like the album, if you find it boring or silly then it probably wont be for you. I personally enjoy the droning and the drone songs are my favourite on the album, particularly 'Vulture I' and the opener 'Helicopter' (the CD edition is a must by the way, it's about 3 times as long as the LP and contains some of it's best moments) the only real instrument in the drone songs is the bass which does contribute an awful lot at times and there is occasionally some vocals (the imitating of the helicopter is pretty silly).

Golem is an acquired taste, if you have time, patience and are in the right frame of mind then you will definitely enjoy this album, it's great for relaxing out in the sun on a warm summer's day and contains some very soothing yet psychedelic music. Definitely not for everyone, recommended to fans of 70's KRAFTWERK, kraut and ambient music. 4 stars, the sheer amount of decent content in the extended CD version, the originality and the emotional impact when it does hit the mark certainly warrant it.

A very curious, enigmatic album which is originally written for primitive folk songs. The presence of Klaus Schulze as a producer enables some fantasies in the choice of electronic spaced out arrangements. The result is a bizarre psychedelic electronica release with references to lugubrious abstract works from the Cosmic Jokers, notably due to the use of weird electronic gadgets & effects and manipulated stoned voices. The general atmosphere is gorgeously esoteric and intriguing. "Helicopter" and "Hold Loggerhead" are two minimal "stoned" folk pieces, integrating moody bass lines, reverberations and haunting "cosmic" chords. "On the Corner" is a simplistic psychfolk celebration including druggy vocals. "Sarah" is the most immersive composition, an epic dreamscape featuring a spiritual sonic ambience. Not a standard but a crazily original & abyssal psych "electronic" folk artefact. All bonus tracks are strictly folk semi acoustic versions of the previous songs.

I must say, I love this album. It was one of the first not well known kraut records I've listen to. The reason why I get a copy of that album on tape was Current 93 coverversion of "when the may rain comes". And it was a really new world for me, to listen 70ties music that sounds like the "modern" stuff (beside the well known NEU!, Can etc) I've listen in that times (1996 - I was 18 years at this time) . For me it is a very interesting and good sounding time document. It has a very relaxing and sometimes dark surreal mood loaded with effects and the best, it lacks of that boring blues influenced heavy/prog rock which labeled as krautrock, too. thanks the current 93 people (D.Tibet/S.Stapelton) Sand was rereleased with all recordings of them including the non art-head-stereo recordings of the tracks, which are a bit flat for me. I prefer the special stereo mixes. At all, this is a very surreal timeless piece of music. a kind of electronic psyche folk and I would not miss that in my musical socialisation ;-). will give them full rating because I found nothing similar to that album!

This is a not very good krautrock album! Is this another case for the half star rating? One thing is sure: the rating will never be very high! The album has some basic effects like early Tangerine Dream circa Zeit and Alpha Centauri, but I must admit Golem is a bit more interesting to listen. The music relies very much on the typical krautrock echo applied on vocals and on instruments.

The side 1 starts with a weird imitation of an helicopter and an helix-propelled plane. Then, completely crazy & annoying male screams & speeches appear to confirm that this record is VERY marginal: was the singer on drugs when the music was recorded? The punk low-fi acoustic guitar does not help at all: I cannot give more than 1 star for the side 1, keeping in mind that I slightly prefer it to albums like Neu!2 and early Tangerine Dream's.

The side 2 is a bit more melodic and loaded, despite the music still remains very marginal and minimalist. There are no drums and very rare percussion parts in the form of tam-tam parts. The sound is not dynamic enough, despite the miscellaneous treatments that lead to a certain surround atmosphere. The repetitive "Sarah" tracks are quite hypnotic and slightly dreamy, as reveal the angelic voices. I give 2 stars for the side 2.

Mostly this is a marginal, minimalist & bizarre German work with some hypnotic arrangements.

Rating: 1.5 star