Frumpy: 1970 - 1973

 

Frumpy was a German progressive rock/krautrock band based in Hamburg, which was active between 1970–1972 and 1990–1995. Formed after the break-up of folk rockers City Preachers, Frumpy

released four albums in 1970–1973 and achieved considerable commercial success. The German press hailed them as the best German rock band of their time and their vocalist Inga Rumpf as the "greatest individual vocal talent" of the contemporary German rock scene. They disbanded in 1972 although the various members all worked together at various times over the following two decades and they reunited again in 1989, producing three more albums over five years after which they disbanded once more.
                

All of the band members met as performers with Germany's first folk rock band City Preachers, formed by Irishman John O'Brien-Docker in Hamburg in 1965. In 1968, the band had split, with O'Brien-Docker and several other members parting company. Singer Inga Rumpf, a distinctive "un-feminine"

sounding vocalist often compared favourably with Janis Joplin, continued to use the band name with a line-up including drummer Udo Lindenberg, singer Dagmar Krause, French organist Jean-Jacques Kravetz and bassist Karl-Heinz Schott. In the spring of 1969, Lindenberg left to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Carsten Bohn, who by November that year had grown disappointed with Krause and called for the band to pursue a new creative direction, "a fusion of rock, blues, classical, folk and psychedelic."
                 

Reforming in March 1970 as Frumpy (a play on Rumpf's surname inspired by seeing the word "frumpy" in a CBS record catalogue) the new line-up of Rumpf, Bohn, Kravetz and Schott debuted at

the Essen International Pop & Blues Festival in April 1970, where two of their songs "Duty" and "Floating" were recorded and released on the live compilation album Pop & Blues Festival '70. This was followed by more tour dates in France, Germany and the Netherlands, an appearance at the Kiel Progressive Pop Festival in July 1970, and at the Open Air Love & Peace Festival at Fehmarn, 6 September 1970.
                  

Frumpy topped the Musik Express poll as the most popular German rock group of the year and the newspaper FAZ assisted singer Inga Rumpf to be "the country's biggest individual talent", but a tour of

England with MOTT THE HOOPLE failed to attract popularity in Britain. Musical differences with keyboarder Kravetz caused him to leave FRUMPY, in spring 1972, to record a solo Lp with Inga Rumpf singing one song. But he returned for the recording sessions of FRUMPY's third LP "By The Way". But FRUMPY disbanded after a farewell concert on June 26, 1972. Inga Rumpf, Jean-Jacques Kravetz and Karl-Heinz Schott formed ATLANTIS. The year 1990 saw a FRUMPY reunio and a new LP "Now!".  
                   

1. FRUMPY - ALL WILL BE CHANGED 1970

                    

This is not Krautrock like Can, Amon Duul II, Faust, and the likes. Inga Rumpf's influence is in soul

and blues, and obvious she wanted to be a white soul singer, but at the same time didn't want to be confined to soul music and instead exploring progressive rock. While the drum solo and experimental passages might be a bit difficult for some to take, this album still has a lot of great material that I can highly recommend. Frumpy could be on par with the best organ based blues rock bands of the time.
               

Frumpy – All Will Be Changed
Label: Repertoire Records – RR 4146-WP
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue, Repress
Country: Germany
Released: 1970    
Genre: Rock
Style: Blues Rock, Krautrock, Prog Rock

TRACKS

                     

01. Life Without Pain    3:45
02. Rosalie Part I    6:01
03. Otium    4:22
04. Rosalie Part II    4:12
05. Indian Rope Man    3:17
06. Morning    3:22
07. Floating Part I    7:39
08. Baroque    7:36
09. Floating Part II    1:23

BONUS TRACKS            

10. Roadriding    4:00
11. Time Makes Wise    2:49

LINE - UP

Inga Rumpf / vocals, percussion
Jean-Jacques Kravetz / organ, piano, Mellotron, spinet, saxophone, percussion
Karl-Heinz Schott / bass, percussion
Carsten Bohn / drums & percussion

Flac Size: 307 MB

2. FRUMPY - FRUMPY 2 1971

                        

This is classic rock with subtle progressive touches for friendly & catchy compositions. This second album is perfectly achieved technically speaking, with kick ass guitars, propulsive Hammond Organs and astonishing, powerfully emotional vocals. "Good Winds" starts as a crazy freak'n roll song and

continues on a brilliant melodic "trip" with a mesmerizing keyboard demonstration. "Take care of Illusion" is a dense, furious heavy rocking song with solid guitar riffs and a great bluesy soul; It's kinda heavy in a sense ever developped by bands as Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster..."Duty" is a fragile emotional ballad with high class vocals, gorgeous guitar solos. "How the gipsy was born" reaches the whole album with an absolutely punchy, sensitive heavy rock song.
                   

Frumpy – 2
Label: Repertoire Records – REP 4339-WP
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Stereo 1993
Country: Germany
Released: 1971    
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock, Blues Rock, Krautrock

TRACKS

                 

01. Good Winds   10:02
Written-By – Rumpf
02. How The Gipsy Was Born   10:05
Written-By – Rumpf, Kravetz
03. Take Care Of Illusion   7:30
Written-By – Rumpf, Kravetz
04. Duty   12:09
Written-By – Rumpf, Kravetz

LINE - UP

Karl-Heinz Schott - Bass [Guitarist]
Carsten Bohn - Drums [Drummer]
Rainer Baumann - Guitar [Guitarist]
Jean-Jacques Kravetz - Keyboards [Keyboarder]
Inga Rumpf - Vocals [Singer]

Flac Size: 242 MB

3. FRUMPY - BY THE WAY 1972

                  

Different from the two previous CDs, By The Way proved Frumpy could manage a very fine record

without the "Kravetz sound". All songs are good and there was more experiments (specially on the guitar parts), with songs like Release and Singing Songs proving that they had all the chops and talented needed to be on par with the best hard rock bands of the time. It is only a shame they never realize their full potential as an international act, nor got the recognition they surely deserved.

                       

Frumpy – By The Way
Label: Repertoire Records – IMS 7019
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Stereo 1994
Country: Germany
Released: 1972
Genre: Rock
Style: Krautrock, Prog Rock, Blues Rock

TRACKS

             

01. Goin' To The Country    3:40
02. By The Way    8:51
03. Singing Songs    7:02
04. I'm Afraid, Big Moon    6:25
05. Release    8:50
06. Keep On Going    5:25

LINE - UP

Inga Rumpf  / vocals, acoustic guitar
Rainer Baumann / electric & steel guitars
Jean-Jacques Kravetz / keyboards
Erwin Kania / keyboards
Karl-Heinz Schott / bass
Carsten Bohn / drums, percussion

Flac Size: 270 MB

4. FRUMPY - LIVE 1973

              

The jamming stand out track Release which shows them experimenting quite a bit. This also includes the obligatory or maybe essential drum solo. Overall the album is not what prog purists are looking for.

Fans of rrrrrrocking live performances though can't fail here. I mean those gigs where the band is featuring a lot of prowess and acting very close to 100 percent. Nice remembrance, at turbulent times nonetheless, for diverse reasons. Although being prolific and successful, surprisingly the group was disbanded in 1972 for the first time.
               

Frumpy – Live
Label: Repertoire Records – IMS 7035-WR
Format: 2 x CD, Album 1995
Country: Germany
Released: 1973    
Genre: Rock
Style: Blues Rock, Hard Rock

CD1.

             

01. Keep On Going    12:06
02. Singing Songs    8:54
03. Backwater Blues    4:56
04. Duty    17:35
05. To My Mother    11:34

Flac Size: 345 MB

CD2.

            

01. Release    22:00
02. Take Care Of Illusion    8:54

BONUS TRACKS        

    
03. Duty    7:33
04. Floating    12:14

LINE - UP

Inga Rumpf / vocals, guitar
Jean-Jacques Kravetz / keyboards
Rainer Baumann / guitar
Karl-Heinz Schott / bass
Carsten Bohn / drums

Flac Size: 320 MB

Acid Rooster: Studio Discography 2019 - 2024

 

Acid Rooster is an Instrumental psychedelic/kraut/ space rock from Leipzig, Germany and their heir music is solid gold from start to finish. (...) Every time you think they’ve taken a break, given

you a bit of a breather, a slow track to let you regain your senses, you quickly realise that no, the drop in tempo is purely there so they can wind it up, and up, and up again, until we are once more in orbit.
Though Acid Rooster have flown their freak flag high for many moons, the band only released their impressive S/T debut very recently.
                    

And not to exaggerate — Acid Rooster is one of the best contemporary psych bands around, (...). Mainlining the spirit of Agitation Free, Neu! or any of the well known German psych and krautrock

pioneers, Acid Rooster’s partially-written and part-improv take on free-thinking psych is equal parts monolithic and hypnotic, executed with genuine conviction – it’s like being catapulted into orbit by wave after cosmic wave in a maelstrom of psychedelic flavors, whether it’s blistering guitar pyrotechnics or the downtempo check-ins with your consciousness. It’s Acid Rooster’s strength to relentlessly take you well beyond the astral planes.
                   

Acid Rooster from Leipzig blast off into space like a textbook sonic joyride straight out of Alan

Freeman’s The Crack in the Cosmic Egg. With a sound evoking the spirit of German kraut and psych rock pioneers, the instrumental tracks on their partially written and improvised albums often oscillate between slow-burning, spaced out jams and mind-bending climaxes that have earned them a stellar reputation for their captivating live shows.
                        

Demonstrating a striking level of instrumental tightness and intuitive improvisation, it is perhaps not

surprising to learn that the three childhood friends Sebastian Väth (guitar), Max Leicht (bass, synthesizer) and Steffen Schmidt (drums, percussion) share a long history of rehearsing and jamming in their native hometown in southern germany.
            

Praised by critics for the soaring cosmic drone-riffs and monolithic rhythm section on their self-titled

debut "Acid Rooster" (2019), the band soon got invited to a string of shows and appearances at renown festivals such as LeGuessWho and Fusion Festival. They shared the stage with bands such as Kikagaku Moyo, Acid Mothers Temple, Föllakzoid or Bitchin Bajas. Their second EP "Irrlichter" (2021) was followed by several tours through europe and the UK, the release of the live album "Ad Astra" (2022) and their brand new full lenght studio album "Flowers & and Dead Souls" (2023).
                 

With ‘Hall Of Mirrors’ Acid Rooster (2024) presents a work made up of four individual parts of

immersive and psychedelic music. Acid Rooster’s ever-evolving template is tapping into the same transcendental minimalism but delivered with a new-found urgency as they add additional layers to their intoxicating after-midnight grooves.
                    

The magic begins as the music unfolds, driven by the taut, propulsive rhythm whilst melodic bass lines

propel the music in a perpetual forward motion, guitars flicker and cascade from angular and razor-sharp to shimmering and forlorn, peppered by the ambient whirr of synths that oscillate subtly in the background throughout.
                

01. ACID ROOSTER - ACID ROOSTER 2019

                          

Excellent album. Very well done, psychedelic space-rock, without being over-indulgently proggy or solo driven. Liquid lead guitar solos, space rock synth, and groovy rhythm chart a course into

outerspace. The songs flow freely exploring drone, improvisation, psychedelic experimental rock, classic kraut rock and space rock. Acid Rooster is digging deep into the well of far-out psychedelic rock and has created their own dimension of this mind-expanding vibrational brew. The way the band comes together can only happen when people are listening and following their ear. The structured elements of the sound remove any sense of hesitancy or misdirection.
                         

Acid Rooster – Acid Rooster
Label: Sunhair Music – 0031
Format: Album, Limited Edition, Numbered, Repress
Country: Germany
Released: Oct 11, 2019
Genre: Rock
Style: Acid Rock, Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                          

01. Oculatus Abyss    5:12
02. Moon Loop    11:16
03. Sulfur    6:30
04. Time Lapse    7:47
05. Focus    8:20
06. Äther    5:04

LINE - UP

             

Sebastian Väth / guitar
Max Leicht / bass, sitar, synthesizer, mellotron
Steffen Schmidt / drums, percussion

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS

Jan Werner / 12-string guitar (2,6)
Bodo Hansen / synthesizer (3,5)
Christopher Kunz / tenor saxophone (3)
Patrick Schönfeld / throat singing (2)

Flac Size: 287 MB

02. ACID ROOSTER - FLOWERS AND DEAD SOULS 2022

               

The nights are drawing in and the stars shine ever bright in the autumnal skies, amidst the gathering gloom and pale light that catches leaves slowly making their way to the ground there is a sound … a big heavy psychedelic sound … this can only mean one thing: a new album from Germany’s Acid Rooster has dropped and is here to light our way through dark evenings. A warm synth

sound and chiming guitars introduce “Flowers And Dead Souls”. Its rolling rhythm courtesy of Steffen Schmidt on the drums means the track almost cruises into being like a giant craft entering the Earth’s atmosphere after a long trawl through hyperspace. Echoed guitar from Sebastian Vath calls out across the solar system, as if trying to send a message to its home world. Max Leicht’s bass and synthesizer flesh out the sound, helping it springboard beyond Kuiper Belt objects to the farthest reaches of our solar system. Another stunning release from Acid Rooster that takes you on an aural journey; not just outward in to the cosmic night, but inward to your own self realisation.
                   

Acid Rooster – Flowers & Dead Souls
Label: Tonzonen Records – TON158
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition Aug 25, 2023
Country: Germany
Released: 2022
Genre: Rock
Style: Acid Rock, Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

             

01. Sounds Of Illusion    7:37
02. On The Run    6:15
03. Schattenspiel    8:46
04. Dead Bodies    5:07
05. Good Mourning    7:22
06. Heaven Scent    10:47

LINE - UP

                   

                
Sebastian Vath / guitar
Max Leicht / bass, sitar, synthesizer, Mellotron
Steffen Schmidt / drums & percussion

Flac Size: 302 MB

03. ACID ROOSTER - HALL OF MIRRORS 2024

                               

             
With ‘Hall Of Mirrors’ Acid Rooster presents a work made up of four individual parts of immersive and psychedelic music. “Hall Of Mirrors” contains just 4 tracks, equally divided into the 2 sides of the vinyl LP album and is based on a daemonic mutated lost Pink Floyd (from their mid-80s period) riff, shimmering wah-wah guitar sounds, some groovy basslines, and rather powerful drumming

under a huge krauty prism, creating a supersonic Space Rock sounding capable enough to launch the Spaceship into the… future!  Is spacey, futuristic, and deeply electronically flavored, covered by a huge Krauty monotone cloak, this is trippy Space Rock with dreamy and floating atmos and a mysterious kind-of Psych aura all over, but slowly and progressively the Spacey soundscape is filled with pure ACID while the Spaceship males a stop somewhere in the year 2525 before safely landing into its initial state (of mind)!
                           

Acid Rooster – Hall Of Mirrors
Label: Cardinal Fuzz – CFUL0318, Little Cloud Records – LC-117, Tonzonen Records – TON169
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition
Country: UK
Released: Oct 25, 2024
Genre: Rock
Style: Acid Rock, Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock, Space Rock

TRACKS

                      

01. Automat    5:50
02. Chandelier Arp    14:13
03. Confidence Of Ignorance    10:57
04. When Clouds Part (Guitar [Additional Guitar] – Jason Shaw)   8:49

LINE - UP

                    

Sebastian Väth / Electric Guitar [6 String Electric Guitars], Electric Guitar [12 String Electric], Acoustic Guitar [Acoustic Guitars]
Maximilian Leicht / Bass, Synthesizer, Organ, Flute, Saxophone, Sitar, Guitar, Harmonium, Percussion
Steffen Schmidt - Drums, Percussion, Vibraphone, Shruti Box 

Flac Size: 240 MB