Chillage.
Florian Fricke was a founding member of the German electronic Kosmische band Popal Vuh. He also jammed with Tangerine Dream on “Ziet” and played in the band Gila. Naturally, I got curious and wanted to see if Fricke had any solo material. There are three albums, so I figured this one would be a fun dive as it’s certainly quite ambient and it influenced modern new age music. This was released in 1983, so my first concern was as to whether this might sound dated, but luckily, none of it does.
The opening two tracks consist of echoed and reverbed vocals, creating a very mellow and trance like state of meditation. Some sources say this is similar to Tibetan style vocal work or even throat singing. However, I can’t quite pinpoint its intention, as the vocals are layered, somewhat textured, and are mainly made of simple low toned hums. It’s relaxing as fuck and it’s probably the most mellow thing I’ve played over the last few months.
I didn’t notice where the first track ended and the second began. I had to settle for streaming this on YouTube as I’ve yet to score a physical copy; that might explain part of that. Honestly, blending those two tracks together made for one solid mellow ride and I would recommend playing it as such for maximum effect.
The final track is simply a guitar and a group of folks humming along somewhat meditatively. This reminds me a bit of Deuter’s earlier material as he began to switch from Kosmische into more new age-esque music. It’s even mixed similarly, which I kind of liked. I couldn’t help but wonder, then, what a jam between Fricke and Deuter might have been like….
I’d recommend this album if you’re searching for something on the extreme side of relaxing. This would no doubt work for meditation or even as a piece to send you off to dreamland. Sonically, this would be perfect if mixed into a playlist with the likes of Tuu. I’m now eager to get back into Popal Vuh’s discography. I’ve only played their first album so far, which I wrote a bit about on here. Let’s get moving!
Good stuff. Reissues are available on the Atlas Eclipticalis and Wah Wah Records labels, although the prices second-hand are a bit steep, so beware of collector prices.
The Far Out Fox 