IBLISS

IBLISS was a short lived band that formed in 1971 in the German Rhineland region and is probably more famous for who was in the band rather than the music itself. In the fertile cross-pollinating musical streams of Krautrock, IBLISS was the next step of Basil Hammoudi who was in the band Organisation that morphed into the more familiar Kraftwerk. Likewise IBLISS contains another Kraftwerk connection in the form of drummer Andreas Homann who was on the debut Kraftwerk album. IBLISS differentiated itself from the multitude of Kraut bands of the era with the inclusion of a heavy percussive drive that was heavily influenced by Middle Eastern rhythms courtesy of Hammoudi having been born and raised in Iraq. In this regard their sole album SUPERNOVA has the same percussion heavy grooves as the first Agitation Free album, however IBLISS (the Arabic word for "devilish") is much more of a loose jammy type of album that focuses on meditative bass laden grooves with heavy drumming circles providing the backbone for psychedelic flute and sax solos.

While most of the album is a repetitive groovy vibe that allows the flute and sax to go gangbuster, there are also psychedelic electronic passages that eschew the jazz-fusion meets bellydance themes and enters into true lysergic arenas. While Andreas Homann is the main drummer, so strong is the percussion drive that three other members contribute as well. Basil Hammoudi not only dishes out beautiful spacey flute flutterings but various percussive sounds as does brothers bassist Norbert and guitarist Wolfgang Buellmeyer. Only Rainer Buechel has entered the percussion-free zone and stands as a sax and flute guy exclusively. The original album release was rather limited and first copy editions are quite rare with only 1000 or so having been created and has become quite the collector's item however a new remastered CD has been released most recently on Garden Of Delights and the sound quality is excellent.

This is one of the Krautrock albums you will either love or not. This is not one of those sophisticated monster freakout type bonanzas of the Amon Duul II type but rather a fairly repetitive light and fluffy jam session that offers up strong percussive beats with cheerful flute melodies along side with a jazz-fusiony saxophone presence that emerges from time to time. Rhythmically it reminds me a lot of the minimalism that Neu! would soon make their own although more varied along with an overall fusion sound somewhat reminiscent of early Embryo but never as sophisticated. These are minimalistic trance inducing tunes that never break into complex song structures but rather remain within a parade of pleasant percussion laden grooves with happy melodies along for the ride. All is instrumental for the most part but vocal utterings do emerge in cheers coming from the background.

While i readily admit that IBLISS was not the most talented band in the early 70s Krautrock movement, i find their sole album SUPERNOVA to be mesmerizing and a cheerful little listen nonetheless. This is basically four long jams that never stray into super proggy territory but stay well-grounded in the Earthly realms rather than straying too far into the sonic ethers although there are scant moments of airy passages. Despite the rather easy to digest sounds on board, this band still found a home on the Nurse With Wound List most likely for its unorthodox experimental voyaging into hitherto untried genre mixing however it still qualifies as a fairly euphoric heady musical experience. Personally i love this one.

An entirely unremarkable album. This Ibliss recording is entirely instrumental with quite a lot of flute and repetition of bass. Comparable in some ways with Embryo, Kollektiv and Brainstorm, but far softer and less imaginitave.

'Supernova' is quite a laid back affair - with lots of percussion and tunes that sound 'of their time' and wouldn't sound too out of place on an episode of 'The Goodies' (70's UK situation comedy)

This album is nothing special, nothing startling appears out of the blue. The only thing to make me smile was looking at the photograph of the band on the cd notes. Jeez! - I used to have school teachers that looked like that! Unfortunately, there's not too much to get worked up about here. A mostly run of the mill affair, but pleasant enough but not deserving of three stars and entirely forgettable.

Ibliss is a Krautrock band formed around Andreas Hohmann, drummer of the first Kraftwerk line-up, and Basil Hammoudi from Organisation. The band fuses jazz rock jamming with world music influences, most notably in the Latin rhythms and the ethnic percussion and flutes.

The bulk of the album consists of two 15 minute improvisations that are a bit problematic. There's no interplay between the musicians and the basic groove, consisting of drum, bass and guitar, is too lifeless and static to hold my attention. It sounds as if those instruments were recorded first, before the soloing flutes and saxes were added without interacting with the other instruments. Anyway, whatever the cause, the result sounds like an average jam you could hear from any group of beginners. Hailing from a scene where jamming was an art, it makes this album rather redundant.

However, there are also strong indications of great talent in the band. The shorter opening and closing pieces sound much more focused and powerful. Marga fires off with percussion heavy rhythms before bass and sax join for a nice bit of brass rock. Excellent track. Also the closer Athir is nice, it has slow-paced entrancing psychedelic vibe with spacious guitar arpeggios, dreamy flutes and lots of jungle sound percussion.

Supernova is an obscure album with potential, but both the extended jams are at least twice as long as they should. Fans of Organisation, Embryo and Kollektiv might enjoy some of this album.

IBLISS were a six piece band from Germany who put out only one album before disbanding. They played a jamming style of Krautock that was all instrumental except for the odd vocal expression. There was flute and sax besides the traditional instruments. Lots of percussion by the way, and the main percussionist Basil Hammoudi used to play with ORGANISATION. Also Andreas Hohmann the drummer played on KRAFTWERK's debut. Conny Plank was the engineer.

"Margah" opens with percussion galore (three of them played it) until 3 minutes in when the drums take over then other instruments join in.The guitar starts to solo before 5 minutes and he rips it up. "Drops" opens with faint sounds that come and go. The main melody comes in and it's very laid back sounding. Sax comes in around 5 minutes and plays some lazy melodies. Things start to build in intensity. Great sound here. The melody stops and the last 2 minutes become experimental. "High Life" opens with bass, flute and drums which create a relaxing soundscape. Some vocal expressions on this one and the sound becomes more passionate. I like ! "Athir" opens with soft flute as percussion and other sounds add support. Sax after 4 1/2 minutes takes over for flute. Flute returns late.

I like jamming music so this is right up my alley. Trippy stuff.

German ensemble Ibliss created a heavily jazzy voice within the psychedelic atmosphere that wrapped and shaped the psychedelic atmosphere of krautrock back in the late 60s and early 70s. This band is tightly sustained on the standard of jazz-fusion and jazz-rock, closely related to the 1st Annexus Quam, post-"Opal" Embryo and Xhol. "Supernova", while not being as brilliant as any of Embryo's efforts nor as magical as Annexus Quam's debut album, definitely displays a focused appeal that should be very appreciated by inquirers in the jazzy side of early German prog rock. Actually, the fact that one of the Ibliss guys (percussionist Basil Hammoudi) was part of pre-Kraftwerk act Organisation makes it clear that he was in no small degree responsible for the elaboration of the aforesaid band's ethnic side. Now, in Ibliss, the terrain is proper for a further development of this type of sonority. With two members recurrently in charge of the percussion department and two more adding extra percussions, it is no wonder that rhythm and cadence play such a big role in the tracks' bases and developments. The writing process seems to have been minimal, mostly based on the repetitive installation of a simple starting point, with the full band going on with it in order to create some sort of trance for the mind and the spirit. The opener kicks off with its abundant tribal pulsations, taking some time to gradually reinforce the powerful beat: halfway through the punchy guitar and the agile sax phrases enter in to explore the psychedelic potential of this ambience. The abrupt ending is a perfect culmination for this manifested enthusiasm. Track 2 goes to more serene places, changing the firs track's African vibe for a mysterious elaboration of Latin-jazz ambiences. This is the moment for the sax to steal the limelight with its controlled soloing: fresh and at times moderately aggressive, constraint is its major asset. A track like this wouldn't have been out in place on any Embryo album from "Rocksession" onwards. The intimacy alluded in 'Drops' is accentuated in the fade-out that follows after the cosmic interlude that previously worked as a false fade-out. 'High Life' starts the album's second half, going for a more American feel, funky-based in a Weather report-esque sort of way. The mid tempo pace allows the band o dig deeper in its evocative side: the recorder soloing states a lyrical color to the whole picture. The last 9 minutes are occupied by the languid 'Athir', a piece that finds the quintet getting closer to the realms of soft psychedelia with Indian trends: something akin to Yatha Siddra. The percussive foundation is quite hypnotic, with the whole band sounding like an exorcist that summons spirits from out a dream. The guitar feels at home with its subtle lines and evocative arpeggios going around the sax and flute solos. If we pay attention to his album's tracklist, it is a gradual journey from exaltation in the light of day to the quietness of the night. This is a real lost treasure waiting to be appreciated by prog fans all over the world.