Various Artists – The In-Kraut Vol.2
Hip Shaking Grooves Made In Germany 1967-1974
20 mindblowing Beat, Now Sound, Soul & Soundtrack nuggets
01. Paul Nero: This Is Soul
02. Hugo Strasser: Black Night
03. Christer Bladin: Wildkatze
04. Ambros Seelos: Swingle Beat
05. Tommy Haggard Orchestra: Pealed Tomato
06. Hazy Osterwald Jet Set: Swinging London
07. Charly Antolini’s Power Dozen: Nofretete’s Headache
08. James Last: Soul March
09. Mary Roos: Blauer Montag
10. Klaus Weiss Orchestra: Get It On
11. Hildegard Knef: Holiday Time
12. The Dometown Gang: Rock In
13. Rolf Wilhelm: Do It Yourself
14. Joy & The Hit Kids: Run Away
15. Dieter Reith: No No No
16. Carlos Fendeira: Gimmi Moro
17. Kai Rautenberg & Orchester Jürgen Ehlers: Moon Mission
18. The Inner Space: Kamera Song
19. Uli Roever: Heisser Sand Auf Sylt
20. Hase Cäsar: Eine Kleine Hasenmusik
Compiled by Stefan Kassel & Frank Jastfelder
Liner notes by Stefan Kassel
Mastered by Bo Kondren at Calyx, Berlin
Art Direction & Design by Stefan Kassel / www.stefankassel.com
Compilation produced by Stefan Kassel, Frank Lähnemann & Frank Jastfelder
Release date: October 27, 2006 (MA 67)
Track-by-track notes
Reviews:
Bounded by an elegantly moulded song construction and perfectly realised arrangements, The Bathers’ majestic album is almost scuppered by its own penchant for poncification and pretension. The song titles alone (Venice Shoes, Pissoir, Via D’Oro, Ave The Leopards) are worthy nominees for Pseuds Corner. Chief Bather, singer and songwriter Chris Thompson somehow manages to brazen it out, and with the gentlest of nods to Van Morrison, Tom Waits and The Blue Nile delivers these sumptuous tunes with the born again soul intensity of a genuine Celtic troubadour, his octave-defying, swoony vocals cruise across a smoothly textured undertow of warmly caressed strings and mesmerising piano melodies on an LP which is quietly awesome. Paul Davies Q Magazine (4 Stars)
Chris Thompson is the Bathers and Kelvingrove Baby is his fifth Bathers album. It seems to me to be the fulfillment of all the potential. Lush and tasteful production is the perfect setting for Thomson’s voice that is David Bowie contaminated with a healthy slice of Leonard Cohen. Del Amitri’s Justin Ciurrie and Love and Money’s James Grant supply backing vocals to remind us that Kelvingrove is in Glasgow because the other place names have more to do with Europe than Scotland.
Moody and almost jazzy wurlitzers and pianos are joined by violins and accordians as well as minimlist and perfectly placed percussion and acoustic guitar to create a hypnotic continental sound. Vienna at midnight. Where this album stands out from previous outings is in the cohesion of all the tracks. There are no shock shifts in style and there are always interesting things going on in the most subtle and beautiful ways. You wonder if Van Morrison was 20 years younger would Astral Weeks have sounded like this.
Steve Stockman Rhythms of Redemption