embryo

That promised second mention of black sweat loveliness comes courtesy of embryo, a real rare find indeed is ’message from era ora’ . for those previously unaware of embryo – like say for instance yours truly which is only a half truth given we‘ve heard of them in passing but have never had the pleasure of having their sounds grace our player, this collective have been the cause of swooning fits among the more tuned in cognoscenti who prefer their ear gear more freeform and free from generic boundaries. Emerging in the celebrated late 60’s German music scene, the same scene noted for its experimental prowess and drawn together by similar minded souls who’d feared Germany had lost its musical voice in an age still cowed by the lengthening shadow cast by the second world war, Buchard and Serfas set about collaborating musically into what would become Embryo, far from being a rudimentary one trick pony, this ever evolving sound collective forged from a early career penchant for psychedelia soon began to develop and blossom far outside the restrictive codas of kosmiche sounds, more Coleman and Davis than Can and Faust there’s an eclecticism to Embryo, their musical melting pot is stirred to a concoction whose roots are very much informed by the free spirited nature afforded by the trappings of progressive rock and yet upon whose dynamic / structure an intensely fluid and vibrant jazz spiked ethno beat print is tattooed. Now I’ll be honest, when I first heard this the first name that popped in my head was ozric tentacles, both share the same free spirited mindset, that element of any thing considered and anything goes so long as its fit for purpose doctrine appearing to be the only rule. So to ‘message from era ora’ – a true vault find featuring two previously unreleased expansive freeform cuts totalling 43 minutes of groove recorded live way back in 1976 in a church and featuring Italo jazz legend Massimo Urbani in a freakish jam face off and something that captures the collective at the height of their mercurial powers. The set comes pressed upon a limited issue wax platter, 500 in total 200 of which arriving on splatter wax with the remaining number gouged on black vinyl. Admittedly not I’m guessing everyone’s cup of tea but safe to say those who’ve plugged into on a regular basis to the likes of classic era Amon Duul II, colosseum and nucleus will find much of interest here for this is deeply intricate stuff, in fact scratch that this is huge stoned out head music within whose lengthy duration you can actually grow a beard and you’d be well do so because these babies literally terra-form the deeper you get constantly shape shifting to draw into the brew essences travelled in from Africa, India and the hazy heat scorched plains of Tibet with jam #1 providing something of a kitchen sink and more besides thrown in for good measure and positing itself as the looser of the two head to heads. That said it’s the second side that proves the most wigged out experience, revealing a more defined rock mindset with the first five minutes primed to a gnarled strut gouged electric boogie that had us for a moment double checking that Acid Mothers hadn’t been mistakenly supplanted on the pressing like some nest robbing cuckoo before jettisoning off into the depths of the minds third eye like some rocket hot cosmica troupe headed up by Bill Laswell. And then it mutates again 10 minutes in cooking up a deeply intense and fraying slab of potent white hot scalded blues blistered rock a boogie to which admirers of hawkwind, white hills and mugstar ought to converge upon at their very earliest convenience. Quite sublime if you ask me. http://www.blacksweatrecords.com