von junzt

I believe that true psychedelic music and psychedelic rock music has more to do with Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and other mainland European countries than anywhere else; after all LSD was developed at Sandoz Labs in Switzerland, and the great band Brainticket, whose first album is about an LSD trip, also hail from Switzerland. The German band Can, here called Inner Space, only hint at what's to come in the coming years. Michael Karoli isn't on this recording, it's keyboard player Irmin Schmidt playing guitar here, and it is very much in the Can style. This is a movie soundtrack, and there are some mellow parts to be sure, but when drums and bass get a head of steam up, you can smell the kraut cookin' from a mile away. Not nearly as great as what Can would produce shortly after, but interesting nontheless.

I bought this double CD back when it was released because it was at a good price and it looked interesting. I was not disappointed.The sheer scope of artists and approaches here really runs the gamut from contemporary electronic dance floor fare (William Orbit) to music that would be an installation at the Guggenheim if music could be displayed that way (Stephan Micus). Then there are such luminaries as Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Robert Quine, David Sylvian, Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit and Irmin Schimdt from Can all performing at the peak of their creative potential. This is an amazing recording to have as a jumping off point to investigate other works by these artists. Despite the disparities in styles from track to track, this recording has a great flow to it and rarely do I want to skip a track or re-arrange tracks. It is a great credit to the compiler that these tracks were all found and put on here, it is a true banquet of ambient music. I tracked down at least a half dozen recordings by the artists who were featured on Music of Changes. Robert Quine and Fred Maher's record and Michael Brook are really top notch. Highly Recommended.