Amon Düül II: Tanz Der Lemminge 1971

Amon Düül II (or Amon Düül 2, Pronunciation = Amon Düül) is a German rock band. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene. Their 1970 album Yeti was described by British magazine The Wire as "one of the cornerstones of [...] the entire Krautrock movement."

The band emerged from the radical West German commune scene of the late 1960s, with others in the same commune including some of the future founders of the Red Army Faction. Founding members are Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner (b. 14 September 1943), John Weinzierl (b. 4 April 1949), and Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz (b. Renate Aschauer-Knaup, 1 July 1948).

The band was founded after Weinzierl and the others met at the Amon Düül 'art commune' in Munich. The commune consisted mainly of university students, who formed a music group initially to fund the commune, with everyone who lived there joining in to play music whether or not they had any experience or ability.

Their first album Phallus Dei ('God's Phallus'), released in 1969, consisted of pieces drawn from the group's live set at the time. By this time the line-up was built around a core of Karrer (mainly violin and guitar), Weinzierl (guitar, bass, piano), Rogner on keyboards, bass player Dave Anderson, and two drummers (Peter Leopold (b. 15 August 1945) who had joined the group from Berlin, and Dieter Serfas).

Their second album Yeti (1970) saw them introducing arranged compositions along with the bluesy violin and guitar jams such as the long improvised title track. The next album Tanz der Lemminge

(1971) was based on four extended progressive rock suites. By this time bassist Anderson had returned to England and joined Hawkwind, to be replaced by Lothar Meid (born 28 August 1942), and the group was augmented by synthman Karl-Heinz Hausmann (Karrer had formed a short-lived group in 1966 - supposedly named 'Amon Düül O' - with future Embryo founders Lothar Meid and drummer Christian Burchard).

Amon Düül II's drummer, Peter Leopold, died on 8 November 2006. A memorial service was held for Leopold in Munich, where the remaining members of Amon Düül II sang a song for him. Leopold was replaced by multi-instrumentalist Daniel Fichelscher, for many years guitarist and drummer of Krautrock group Popol Vuh. Fichelscher is not new to the group, and in fact has had a long affiliation with Amon Düül II, having played with them as early as 1972 on Carnival in Babylon.
Bass player Lothar Meid died on 3 November 2015.

Tanz der Lemminge (English: Dance of the Lemmings) is a double LP released in 1971.
The first side of disc 1 is a 4-movement sidelong epic (lasting some16 minutes) called March Of The

Roaring 70's where the group appears in top form, ready to exploit the ground broken with pallus and Yeti, and indeed the wild psych they dealt us in Yeti is at least matched on this first side. Wriiten by Chris Karrer, the track is an excellent progressive space folk track. The flipside is occupied by Weinzerl's 7-movement Restless Skylight/Transistor Child suite, which is extremely wide in its scope ranging from Indian (guesting is futurePopol Vuh sitarman al Grommer) to a devillish and ever-changing soundscape, including a mellotron.

The album's second disc is opened by Rogner's Chamsin Soundtrack (for a seldom seen film), filled with completely spaced out ambiances created by a sliding growling organ lines and echoed guitars answers. While this track might be faaaaar out, it stands out also as a bit too spaced out for repeated

listenings and since it takes on a full side of the album's seciond disc.....
Its flipside is a confused affair, filled with a succession of short tracks that seem somewhat linked together. With these three "shorter " tracks, we return to the screaming full psych that had been lacking us since the start (there was a bit of it during Weinzerl's suite), but Chewingum Telegram is a bit short, but sounding like some Quicksilver Messenger Service on strong dope... More crunchy guitars on Melted Moonlight, but here the recording sound shoddy and the whole thing lacking tightness. Closing the album is the medium-sized (for this album anyway with its almost 8 minutes) Toxological Whispering, an excellent Agitation Floyd track

[There aren't many double art-rock albums from the early '70s that have stood the test of time, but then again, there aren't many albums like Tanz, and there certainly aren't many groups like Amon Düül II. While exact agreement over which of their classic albums is the absolute standout may never be reached, in terms of ambition combined with good musicianship and good humor, the group's third album, is probably the best candidate still. The musical emphasis is more on expansive arrangements and a generally gentler, acoustic or soft electric vibe; the brain-melting guitar from Yeti isn't as prominent on Tanz, for example, aside from the odd freakout here and there. You will find lengthy songs divided up into various movements, but with titles like "Dehypnotized Toothpaste" and "Overheated Tiara," po-faced seriousness is left at the door.

The music isn't always wacky per se, but knowing that the group can laugh at itself is a great benefit. The first three tracks each take up a side of vinyl on the original release, and all are quite marvelous. "Syntelman's March of the Roaring Seventies" works through a variety of acoustic parts, steering

away from folksiness for a more abstract, almost playfully classical sense of space and arrangement, before concluding with a brief jam. "Restless Skylight-Transistor Child" is more fragmented, switching between aggressive (and aggressively weird) and subtle passages. One part features Meid and Knaup singing over an arrangement of guitars, synths and mock choirs that's particularly fine, and quite trippy to boot. "Chamsin Soundtrack" exchanges variety for a slow sense of mystery and menace, with instruments weaving in and out of the mix while never losing the central feel of the song. Three briefer songs close out the record, a nice way to get in some quick grooves at the end.
By Ned Raggett ]

Amon Düül II ‎– Tanz Der Lemminge

Year: 1971

Label: Repertoire Records ‎– REP 4915, Repertoire Records ‎– REP 4915A

Format: CD, Album, Remastered

Country: Germany

Released: 2001

Genre: Rock

Style: Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock

TRACKS

    Syntelman's March Of The Roaring Seventies  15:51

01. In The Glassgarden     1:39

02. Pull Down Your Mask  4:39

03. Prayer To The Silence     1:04 (Vocals- Chris Karrer)

04. Telephonecomplex     8:26

    Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child

05. Landing In A Ditch     1:12

06. Dehypnotized Toothpaste     0:52

07. A Short Stop At The Transylvanian Brain-Surgery (Vocals – Lothar Meid)  5:00

    Race From Here To Your Ears

08. Little Tornadoes (Vocals – Chris Karrer)  2:08

09. Overheated Tiara     1:46

10. The Flyweighted Five     1:26

11. Riding On A Cloud (Vocals – Henriette Kroetenschwanz, Lothar Meid)  2:33

12. Paralized Paradise  (Vocals – John Weinzierl)  3:07

13. H.G. Well's Take Off  (Vocals – Rolf Zacher)  1:26

    Chamsin Soundtrack

14. The Marilyn Monroe-Memorial-Church (Impr.)     18:05

15. Chewinggum Telegram     2:44

16. Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight     4:39

17. Toxicological Whispering     7:50

CREDITS

Chris Karrer (1969-1981): Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Saxophone, Electric Guitar (tracks: 1 to 17)

Lothar Meid: Bass, Double Bass (tracks: 1 to 13), Vocals (1971-1973, 1974, died 2015) 

Peter Leopold: Drums 

Electronics, Engineer [Sound] – K.-H. Hausmann

John Weinzierl(1969-1977): Guitar, Piano (tracks: 14 to 17)

Mixed By, Remix – Kalle Hausmann

Falk Rogner: Organ, Electronics (tracks: 14 to 17)(1969-1971, 1972-1975, 1981)

Jimy Jackson: Organ, Organ [Choir-organ], Piano (tracks: 1 to 13)

Peter Leopold: Percussion (tracks: 1 to 13) (1969-1972, 1973-1979, died 2006)

Peter Leopold: Piano (tracks: 14 to 17)

Producer – Amon Düül II, Olaf Kuebler

Al Gromer: Sitar  (tracks: 1 to 13)

Written-By – Karrer (tracks: 1 to 4, 14 to 17), Rogner (tracks: 2, 8, 14 to 17), Weinzierl (tracks: 5 to 17), Meid (tracks: 14 to 17)

 MP3 @ 320 Size: 160 MB
FLAC  Size: 404 MB