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NOT TOO LATE
available as...
CD Cosmic Egg UTCE 001 £11.00
bandcamp download
duration:
41'05"
1.
That's Very Easy (Moran
Neumüller) 9'04"
2. X (Remigius Drechsler)
10'57"
3. The Way I Know Her (Moran
Neumüller) 3'36"
4. Y (Remigius Drechsler)
7'51"
5. Spanish Lines (Moran
Neumüller) 9'11"
Produced
by Ultimate Transmissions.
Recorded by Remigius Drechsler at Herrsching Am Ammersee (Spring 1974).
Moran Neumüller: vocals, tenor/soprano saxes, flute.
Remigius Drechsler: guitars, choir.
Klaus Spöri: drums.
Stephan Wischeu: bass.
Wolfgang Göhringer: guitars, choir.
Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus: baritone/alto saxes.
info...
A cracking way to launch the Cosmic Egg label! This is the
unreleased 4th album by the classic Munich Krautrock band Out Of Focus,
continuing in style from LP 1 of their "Four Letter Monday
Afternoon" double. The focus is a little different, having dual guitars
(no keyboards), and it is heavier too, but with bigger instrumental breaks,
lots of flute, etc. Also, with copious Embryo and Soft Machine edges blending
with the unique Out Of Focus sound, especially so in the simply titled
"X" and "Y". The relaxed "The Way I Know Her"
is a wry and ironic love song that's a bit of light relief sandwiched between
the four big tracks. In all, it adds up to a well-balanced mixture. It's a
must have, especially for those that love the jazzier end of the Krautrock
field.
reviews...
a good review, a
not so good review, and a
sensational review...
4.5
stars really!!!
Actually this disc must be considered as OOF's fourth full-blown album,
although it was never released until 1999, but was recorded in 74. It is
their last known recording session (except for one track in 78), I believe
that the band only existed in a sporadic manner from 74 onwards and this
might explain why this was not released at the time. Graced with a weird
artwork (a painting from the guitarist's wife), this aptly titled album was
released on the specialist label Cosmic Egg, a subsidiary of Ultima Thule in
the late 90's. By 74, the band had now admitted saxman Ingo Schmid-Neuhaus
and guitarist Gohringer into the band as full-fledged members. The
disappearance of Hennes Herring, (heading towards Sahara, another excellent
German band) and the added second guitarist (making the group now a sextet),
however changed the sound slightly but the album stays within the "OOF
guidelines" (if such thing ever existed), and the spirit remained
progressive since the group's drive to an ever-more jazzy sound was again
respected.
Only five tracks (and two of two apparently nameless) again taking a
progressive step upwards into OOF's constant march towards jazz-rock, NTL is
the first album that can really be called a full blown jazz-rock album, as
opposed to jazzy prog/psych rock and brass rock previously. The badly named
That's Very Easy is a constantly changing tempoed track where Moran's voice
seems to have lost whatever capacities it had to irate some listeners. Less
up to front, one must be reminded that the previous double album FLMA was
almost instrumental compared to the group's first two albums, but he
concentrates on his flute here. X is probably the weakest link on the album,
sporting a drum solo towards its end, but other wise it is still a full-out
fiery 100 MPH track. The short The Way I Know her is an acoustic guitar
track, but unlike their previous songs in OOF and FLMA, here it sounds less
folky. Drechsler's other track, Y, starts on a lengthy intro of guitar
arpeggios that you could almost imagine on an early Genesis album if they
weren't over a sax instead of a flute, before Moran and Ingo take the debate
to much higher grounds before Drechsler's goes into a wild searing & soaring
solo, and the "brass section" answering it in a Colosseum fashion.
The closing Spanish Lines is the album's apex starting out again of a
Heckstall-Smith fashion, before the track veers through a succession of
superb impressions, everytime stepping up the ladder, bringing the excitement
and tension to an unbearable level, then closing it up much the same way they
had started it: Kolosseum-al!!!
Just as worthy as their other three historical albums (even if this one is
not really as historic for obvious posthumous reasons), NTL is yet another
wild escape into the Munich-based group's realm. For some strange reasons,
the group will only record one more small session in 77, before folding the
next year, some five years after releasing their last album (NTL not counting),
but OOF was definitely an awesome group and there are very few groups that
released four such perfect albums, that none of them without so much as a
weak tracks throughout their entire works.
[from Progarchives, review by Sean Trane]
Versions...
LP: Tripkick 004 - released ?/2000.
CD: first edition of 1,000 copies - released 23/6/2000.
CD: second edition of 500 copies - released 11/2/2002.
LP: Sireena 4006 - released 2010.
Bandcamp download - released 29/11/2018.
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