Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Agitation Free - Second (1973)

Agitation Free was a German experimental krautrock band. The band was formed in 1967 with Michael "Fame" Günther (bass), Lutz "Lüül" Ulbrich (guitar), Lutz Ludwig Kramer (guitar) and Christopher Franke (drums). They were initially called Agitation, a name they chose at random from a dictionary. The name later changed to Agitation Free as a reflection of their live performance style.

After losing guitarist Axel Genrich to Guru Guru in 1970 and drummer Christopher Franke to Tangerine Dream in 1971, the band recruited Jörg "Joshi" Schwenke (guitar), Burghard Rausch (drums), and Michael Hoenig (keyboards). They released their debut album, Malesch in 1972 on the Music Factory label. The album was inspired by their tour through Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus, sponsored by the German Goethe Institute. Later that year, they performed at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

A second album was released in 1973, but the band disbanded in 1974. Agitation Free reunited in 1998 and released River Of Return in 1999

Agitation Free's music is psychedelic, experimental krautrock with elements of spaced-out ambient, experimental electronic, and drone. Their music for the most part consists of driving organ-patterned drone-like rock; seamless psychedelic cosmic musical textures with intricate musicianship and musical variety; hard, driving rock similar to Amon Duul II but more compelling, refined, and developed; and jamming that occasionally invokes the interplay and styles of Garcia, Weir and Lesh of The Grateful Dead and hints at a blues rock base not unlike The Allman Brothers Band. Their music features frequently great musical interplay and great playing, great textures, melodies and grooves. Many of their songs have a trance-inducing, psychedelic feel with sections of driving rock fueled by fiery and melodic moving guitar lines and solid, propelling and intricate drumming and a prominent bass. All of Agitation Free's Songs are instrumental apart from some recitation on "Haunted Island".


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