Xhol Caravan
Electrip

THE REVIEW

1969, Germany. The dawn of Krautrock.

And while bands like Kraftwerk and Amon Düül II were about to form, Xhol Caravan were already giving birth to this gem titled "Electrip," which many have completely forgotten. Considered one of the first albums that can be categorized under the definition of Krautrock, even if it has very little of the traditional Krautrock that we are used to listening to.

The album begins with the sound of a toilet flushing.

There is immediately space for the opening "Electric Fun Fair", which makes clear the intentions and the sounds offered: when I listened to it for the first time, I didn't imagine encountering a track with purely Jazz influences, instrumental, where the circus atmosphere catapults us into a psychedelic fair. Accompanied by a saxophone taking the lead role, over a carpet of organs and an elastic drum.

Pleasantly surprised, we move towards "Pop Games", still strongly influenced by Jazz but already more experimental: soft yet pressing saxophone, electric organ, more guitars, but above all more bass, which unleashes with almost Funk/R&B lines. Midway through the track, everything changes face for a very trippy experimental tail.

Still on the same line, we arrive at the sax virtuosity and the noise of "All Green", known for its organ solos and the already more Krautrock vibe.

These tracks prepare the ground for the 17-minute monolith that is "Raise Up High", the first non-instrumental track, by the way. The guitars, seasoned with good doses of Fuzz, launch a psychedelic overture where transverse flute, saxophone, organ, and funky bass become a single soul. Over the minutes, the track increasingly gives way to the Free Jazz delirium of the psychopathic saxophones (which quite remind me of John Zorn) and then continuously changes skin until the end.

The adventure concludes with "Walla Mashalla", a sort of one-and-a-half-minute outro with Middle Eastern inspired vocals over joyous jazzy sax foundations.

Primordial Krautrock accessible even to those who are not very familiar with Krautrock.