This is the third instalment in Bureau B's Silberland series of Kraut Rock compilations, this time taking us on an ambient journey, full of legendary German artists from Brian Eno to Moebius through to Faust and Thomas Dinger helping to open our minds to other possibilities.
The A-side opens with Ho Renomo by Cluster & Eno that has a rather pretty, central piano part, that the percussive and other elements are built around, the piano part could easily stand alone, but the added textures help add an ethereal layer to its meditative qualities, before the guitar becomes more prominent.
Veilchenwurzeln by Roedelius pulses and sways on lush carpet of synths and glistening strings, exploring the feminine side of abstract reality, laid back sophistry intoxicates your mind.
Di Wuste by Der Plan is apparently inspired by the film Die Wust but having not seen it, I don't know if this taut and sometimes a little bit paranoid sounding rumination fits in with the films content, the slow drums and tonal shifts feel uneasy.
Hope Is The Answer by Rolf Trostel slowly evolves around synth notes and swirls of stretched notes, hoping against hope to get the message across that Hope is The Only Answer at the time this was recorded they may have been hoping for an end to the cold war and re-unification, rather than today's myriad problems. Pulsating and slowly mutating into a relaxed peaceful biosphere, disrupted by oddly intrusive scraping noises.
Hitze by Vono feels like the soundtrack to a nature documentary, where all the insects' sounds have been amplified, giving the feeling of moving through a wonderland of insect activity.
The B-side opens with E-Night by You taking us on a trip deep into the night garden, strings plucked a warped sensibility, of beauty emerging from the gloom, synths rise while we gaze at the moon.
Phrase IV by Serge Brenner takes a repeating keyboard motif and adds high pitched synth squiggles, taking us off out into another world. Falsche Ruhe by Moebius takes classical strings and mixes them with the synth chordal extrusions.
Ocean Heart by Harald Grosskopf feels like we are watching, Jacques Cousteau voyage into deep and murky waters, this has a very deep underwater feel to it, submarine dives further down towards the Marianna Trench and all the wonders they might find there.
Tedan by Lapre has some very new age guitar, over shifting tonal synths and pulses, perfect to meditate too while creating your own home ashram.
The C-side opens with Abendlicht by Reichmann that could easily be the title music to the Austrian film of the same name, if it is, then the film would be a sci-fi sunset on the old world, a new Dune like world emerges through the heartbeat like beat and slow moving synths, taking us across an ever darkening landscape, the sun slowly sinks beneath the hills in the distance.
Per Aspera Ad Astra by Mental Voyage is a journey into the inner cortex of your mind, shifting sands of synths build and fall deep within the last corner of your mind still in focus.
Lampe An, Tur Zu, Leute Rein! by Faust is the darkest tune on the album, this has cellos and double bass strings going deeper and deeper, while it sounds like doors are opening and cracks are widening.
Electric Garden by Conrad Schnitzler has sampled water droplets being manipulated into different spaces, this feels tangential like you are plugged in, next to the electric pond with coloured raindrops falling on the grass beside you.
Nordostliches Gefuhl by Moebius & Plank has a very calm serene feel to how the synths work around the laid-back drumming, this almost sounds like it should be heard while you're in a flotation tank.
The D-side opens with Unter Tage by Deutsche Wertarbeit with the feel of a Harald Faltermeyer soundtrack, the bass notes are rather gloomy against the far more upbeat sounding keyboard notes and sylph like strings.
Rauschlinge by Asmus Tietchens is the first tune that sounds like you might hear it in a club, it has a slow motorik beat, keys mutating over the beat, with the odd stab of feedback giving it an almost industrial dancefloor chill out feel.
Minimal Tape 1/8 by Pyrolator sort of does as it suggests, the minimal bending of the notes, stretching of time, dissolving of thoughts, opening of new vistas, drugs will hit and explode to this short piece of mind music.
Southland by Rudiger Lorenz is for a documentary about Antarctic wastelands and the insects you find surviving in the harshest of environments, or that's what is sounds like to me, synths echo David Bowie on the B-Side of Low crossed with Richard Pinheas Iceland, the oscillations and reverberations of a crystalline landscape.
The album closes with Alleewalzer by Thomas Dinger a mesmeric sweep of strings, chiming synth, bells full of stately grace and shimmering beauty, perfect to sink into the silk sheets drifting away.
Find out more at https://shop.tapeterecords.com/v.a.-silberland-vol-3-the-ambient-side-of-kosmische-musik-1972-1986-4370 https://bureaub.bandcamp.com/album/silberland-vol-3-the-ambient-side-of-kosmische-musik-1972-1986
