Walter Wegmüller
The Cosmic Couriers present:
Tarot
1973
CD / 1994 / 320Kbps
Tracklist:
1. Der Narr
2. Der Magier
3. Die Hohepriesterin
4. Die Herrscherin
5. Der Herrscher
6. Der Hohepriester
7. Die Entscheidung
8. Der Wagen
9. Die Gerechtigkeit
10. Der Weise
11. Das Glücksrad
12. Die Kraft
13. Die Prüfung
14. Der Tod
15. Die Mässigkeit
16. Der Teufel
17. Die Zerstörung
18. Die Sterne
19. Der Mond
20. Die Sonne
21. Das Gericht
22. Die Welt
Personnel:
Bass – Jerry Berkers
Drums – Harald Grosskopf
Drums, Electronics – Klaus Schulze
Guitar – Hartmut Enke, Manuel Göttsching, Walter Westrupp
Keyboards – Jürgen Dollase
Vocals – Walter Wegmüller
This massive double album is cosmic Krautrock at its finest hour, as visionary Walter Wegmuller leads a tour through the entire major arcane of the Tarot deck while the Cosmic Couriers - basically Ash Ra Tempel, Wallenstein, and whoever else producer Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser could rope in - create a remarkable soundtrack encompassing space rock, folk music, funk, psychedelia, and electronic music.
Wegmuller's album followed in the footsteps of Timothy Leary's Seven Up, Ash Ra Tempel, and Sergius Golowin's Lord Krishna von Goloka, backed by Wallenstein, the duo Westrupp-Witthuser, and keyboardist Klaus Schulze.
Tarot, with almost all these musicians on the roster, is the culmination, a bizarre roller coaster ride through sonic soundscapes, while Wegmuller intones in his deep voice, sometimes augmented by more effects, though he often remains silent for long instrumental stretches. From the opening track, a funky number with blazing guitar and rolling piano over which a circus-barker voice announces the band with grand élan, to the side four track's nonstop blast into hallucinogenic after-burn, this one is a monster all the way. Shimmering Ash Ra Tempel guitar freakouts blend with Wallenstein's more rollicking psych rock, Schulze's deep space keyboards, and Westrupp's cosmic folk to create strange blitzes of electronic weirdness.
This album provide an incredible pallet of styles that all seem to gel in a cohesive mass of pure mystical wonder.
Straight, no chaser.
:)