Collecting CAN records – Update 2023

Collecting Can records Update 2023 Can ist mit ihrer ganz einzigartigen Musik neben Kraftwerk die deutsche Band, die sowohl national als auch international bei Vinylsammlern am beliebtesten ist. Die Erstpressungen ihrer klassischen Phase von Monster Movie bis Future Days sind nach wie vor sehr begehrt und unterliegen einer dynamischen Preisentwicklung nach oben. Die in der [...]

Hölderlin-Hölderlins Traum – Pilz 20 21314-5 – 1972

HÖLDERLIN debuted in 1972 on “Pilz” with the quite formidable album Hölderlins Traum produced by DIETER DIERKS. Psychedelic folk rock was a rare & even tender plant in Germany, which was mostly hybridized into galactic cucumbers in ROLF-ULRICH KAISER’s cosmic greenhouse. It’s a pity that the original line-up of H. with the wonderfully elegiac voice [...]

ROLLING STONES – Their Satanic Majesties Request-UK-Mono DECCA TXL 403 / Stereo DECCA TXS 403-English version

The UK first edition of Satanic… is available in both mono and stereo. Both editions have the famous beautiful 3D cover in common. This, of course, does not exist on any CD edition that I know of. The original album is light years ahead of the CD not only sound-wise, but also haptically and visually, [...]

Agitation Free

Together with TANGERINE DREAM and ASH RA TEMPEL, AGITATION FREE formed the spearhead of the Berlin underground of the late 60s. Their experiments, oscillating between free rock, electronic music, ethno influences and free jazz, set them apart from inferior imitators of Anglo-American models and earned them a tour of the Middle East sponsored by the [...]

Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality

Vertigo 6360 050 Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality. Released with two different posters. one with a height of 35 inches, and one of only 24 inches. This is a leap forward for the Sabbies, no doubt about it. The interplay is more mature, as is illustrated by ‘After Forever’. They’ve even made room for [...]

Kalacacra – Crawling to Lhasa

Kalacakra Their name is Tibetan, and means “wheel of time”, more or less. It was the name adopted at the start of the 70s by two friends from Duisburg: Claus Rauschenbach, on guitar, congas, mouth-organ and vocals, and Heinz Martin – who was already an experienced live performer – on electric guitar, flute, shawm, violin, [...]

Kluster – Klopfzeichen + Kluster – Zwei Osterei

KLUSTER with “K” was the brainchild of CONRAD SCHNITZLER, who, with the help of the later much more successful MÖBIUS & RÖDELIUS, practised his exciting but occasionally quite alienating principle of “random music” hic et nunc & completely without electronics. SCHNITZLER, born in ’34, released Klopfzeichen in 1971 the first, and shortly afterwards Kluster Zwei-Osterei [...]

CATAPILLA – Changes – Vertigo 6360 074

This is Catapilla`s 2nd album. Catapilla plough ahead on their own scary road. Meek’s exorcising and often wordless vocals still dominate the soundscape, as do Calvert’s ubiquitous saxophones – frequently with two of them playing at the same time. There is no sign anywhere of concessions being made to sales figures: this music aims at [...]

XHOL CARAVAN – Electrip

This band, from Wiesbaden, were originally called Soul Caravan. The band had made one fairly lacklustre LP, upon which they accompanied two black GIs who seemed to think they were Sam and Dave. After the two Americans had returned home, the rest of the band fell under the influence of Pink Floyd, acid and Rolf [...]

Achim Reichel & Machines

Achim Reichel & Machines came from my home town of Hamburg. The blond-haired Achim was the figurehead of the Rattles in the 60s, and later he was part of the wonderful Wonderland (who had a hit with “Moscow”). In 1971, he seems to have been evidently under the influence of certain chemical substances when he [...]

Kraftwerk in Detroit – English version

English Version Kraftwerk (‘Power Station’) are essentially Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider-Essleben, both of whom came from well-to-do families. Rather than having to struggle to survive, they could afford to kit out their famous Kling-Klang studio with first-class equipment. In 1969, under the name of Organisation, they made the album “Tone-Float”, which was only released [...]

Kraftwerk in Detroit – German version

Kraftwerk sind im Wesentlichen Ralf Hütter und Florian Schneider-Essleben. Beide kommen aus betuchtem Hause. Statt ums Überleben kämpfen zu müssen, konnten sie sich eher um erstklassiges Equipment für ihr berühmtes Kling-Klang Studio kümmern. 1969 erschien unter dem Namen Organisation das Album „Tone-Float“, welches nur in Großbritannien auf RCA veröffentlicht wurde, heute ein gesuchtes Sammlerstück. 1970 [...]

Schlager & Psychedelic

Was hat die PSYCHEDELIC mit dem deutschen SCHLAGER gemein? Howard Carpendale/Michael Holm/Joachim Heider Du Hast Mich aka Glory Be 7“ Single, Das Schöne Mädchen Von Seite 1 / Du Hast Mich, Columbia 1C 006-28 756, 1970 7“ Single, Love Needs Love / Glory Be, Golden 12 G12/96, 1970 Wir schreiben das Jahr 1970, Hochzeit der [...]

Joy Division – Closer – vinyl check – English version

Factory Records FAC XXV-FAC 25-1980/81 Original UK Pressung 1980, Original GER Pressung 1981,  Reissues 2007, 2020 In Mint Magazine No. 34 of February 2020, Frank Wonneberg takes on Joy Division’s first album “Unknown Pleasures” in his usual professional manner. In this wonderful essay, Frank distils, to my great surprise, the German first edition as the [...]

Joy Division – Closer – vinyl check – German version

Factory Records FAC XXV-FAC 25-1980/81 Original UK Pressung 1980, Original D Pressung 1981,  Reissues 2007, 2020 Im Mint Magazin Nr. 34 vom Februar 2020 nimmt sich Frank Wonneberg in gewohnt professioneller Weise des Joy Division Erstwerks „Unknown Pleasures“ an. In diesem wunderbaren Aufsatz destilliert Frank zu meiner großen Überraschung hörtechnisch ausgerechnet die deutsche Erstausgabe zum [...]

The Velvet Underground & Nico LP

Die meisten von uns kennen dieses Album seit Jahrzehnten. Es erschien 1967 in den USA in einem Klappcover, dessen Außenhülle auf der Vorderseite eine Banane ziert, entworfen von keinem Geringeren als Andy Warhol. Diese Banane lässt sich nicht nur leicht abpellen sondern der Künstler fordert ausdrücklich dazu auf, indem er rechts neben der Banane die Zeile „peel slowly and see“ angebracht hat. Daher ist ein „ungepelltes“ Exemplar extrem selten und entsprechend teuer. Die deutsche Erstpressung auf Verve erschien in einem importierten US Klappcover. Lediglich ein kleiner Papieraufkleber mit der deutschen Katalognummer, auf dem Coverrücken angebracht, weist auf die deutsche Ausgabe hin. Offenbar konnte keine Druckerei in Westdeutschland ein solches Cover zu angemessenen Kosten herstellen.  […]