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Formed in 1968 by Swiss percussionist Marcus "Mani" Neumeier (who had played with
jazz musicians Irene Schweizer and the Globe Unity Orchestra), bassist Uli Trepte and
former Agitation Free guitarist Ax Genrich, the Guru Guru Groove Band (later
shortened to Guru Guru) offered a surreal mixture of psychedelia, humour,
improvisation and collage technique. It was different from what the most
famous German bands of the period were offering, and perhaps less revolutionary.
They were taking inspiration from Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa rather than
inventing a whole new kind of electronic music.
Their albums were played, recorded and organized in a sloppy manner.
Ufo (Ohr, 1970) contains five lengthy free-form pieces, including
their anthem, the 20-minute juggernaut Der LSD Marsch. The other tracks
pale compared with this masterpiece:
Stone In (5:43),
Girl Call (6:21),
Next Time See You At The Dalai Lhama (5:59),
Ufo (10:25).
Ax Genrich was not an academic guitarist, and he could make Hendrix turn in his
grave, but he was a living hurricane, staging manic assaults to the brain.
The four jams on Hinten (Ohr, 1971) are less chaotic and less primitive,
but, if possible, they are even more extreme, misunderstanding
Jimi Hendrix and the Cream as a wall of noise that will be surpassed
only by the Japanese bands of a few years later:
Electric Junk (10:58),
The Meaning Of Meaning (12:09),
Bo Diddley (9:56),
Space Ship (11:05).
Kanguru (Brain, 1972) may not be the most creative of Guru Guru's albums,
but it is played in a more structured manner and produced in an almost
professional manner.
THe 15-minute Immer Lustig is a classic of space-rock.
Oxymoron (10:33), Baby Cake Walk (10:57) and
Ooga Booga (11:11) all have their share of brilliant brainscapes.
Der Elektrolurch (Brain, 1974) is an anthology.
Space Ship is an anthology of their best years (1971-74).
As the line-up began changing, Neumeier remained the only constant member.
Guru Guru (Brain, 1973),
Don't Call Us (Atlantic, 1974),
Dance of the Flames (Atlantic, 1974),
Mani und Seine Freunde (Atlantic, 1975),
Tango Fango (Brain, 1976),
Gobetrotter (Brain, 1977),
Sunband Hey Du (Brain, 1979)
were variations on the same theme.
After a long hiatus, Guru Guru returned as a clone of Hawkwind with
Mani in Germani (1982),
Neue Streiche (1983),
Jungle (Casino, 1987),
Shake Well (1993),
Wah Wah (Think Progressive, 1995),
Moshi Moshi (Think Progressive, 1998),
2000 Gurus (Funfundvierzig, 2000).
Privat (Admission, 1993) is credited only to Neumeier and is an
experimental drum album.
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