Various Artists, The In-Kraut Vol. 3 Hip Shaking Grooves Made In Germany 1967-1974
The funkiest German music you may ever hear. Seriously.
Given the current fascination for classic soul and the shing-a-lingers who twitch tuchuses to these funked-up syncopates, the latest (and supposedly final) Deutschaphonic collection from the compulsively eclectic Marina Records is a Teuton's treasure trove. "My soul is black," sings Gene Williams, immediately translating it into guttural German, a miscegenation that will thrill lovers of cross- cultural oddity, of which there is schnitzelbank a-plenty here. Go directly to the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra: "The World Is Gone," never to return. Instead, you have a lost planet of inspired producers, great session musicians and bizarro music meant to fill a slot — many of these cuts originated from soundtrack factories — or interpret trends heard over Armed Forces radio or the local import shop.
Sometimes you can be seduced by the professionalism and off-the-cuff solos that inhabit these well-chosen tracks: Ambros Seelos '"Hangman's Rope" has all the attack and precision of Chicago, while the hotshot clavinetist, Sylvester Levay, would later go on to direct the Silver Convention's "Fly Robin Fly." I'd sure like to hear the Hammond-eggs organ player of Certain Lions & Tigers ("Fever") work out with the Dap-Tones. Session Meister Pierre Cavalli takes a wicked fuzz guitar ride in the Rainbow Orchestra's "La Avispa," and who is that mystery bass player underlying Heinz Kiessling's "Drift"? Then there are the singing "personalities," many of whom never made it across the banks of the Rhine: Katja Ebstein, who starred in three Eurovision Contests, slithering slinkily around "A Hard Day's Night;" Georgees out-Tomming Jones ("Butterflies Never Cry"); an early appearance of Inga (Rumpf), one of Germany's most stalwart artists (still recording today), embellishing the roles of both Sonny and Cher in her version of "The Beat Goes On"; and Adam and Eve, whose "The Witch" is suitably eerie, featuring slightly askew harmonies with the keening edge of Tegan and Sara.
More, the songs on the album — even the prosaic — contain a palpable texture of their times, soundscapes and rhythms that would ultimately make Germany one of the hotbeds of disco, a deep foot on the bass drum and a sense of swagger that immediately calls to mind the merging of the mirror ball and dance floor. I believe the word is zeitgeist.
