Ash Ra Tempel - Friendship



1. Reunion (30:40) 2. Pikant (21:40) 3. Friendship (26:30)

Total Running Time: 78:53



Perhaps one of the scariest events for fans of rock bands that were around in the early seventies is a reunion. As soon as the powerful word is conjured from the depths of oblivion, an unending string of questions come up immediately: no way, they got together again? Wait a second, are they doing it for the money or because they really want to? Can they still get together again and do it? And perhaps most importantly: Do they really have something more to give us?

In the case of Krautrock pioneers Ash Ra Tempel, the answer to these questions might very well be a plethora of opposing perspectives and facts. Yes, Ash Ra Tempel recorded a new studio album in the form of Friendship, alas without bassist Hartmut Enke, who was around with the band much longer than Klaus Schulze was. Yes, they can still do it and the music is honest and heartfelt, but they're not doing it in the tradition of what was Ash Ra Tempel, with Schulze in charge of machines, sequences, etc. as opposed to his original position in the drummer's stool, and the music not being what one would normally expect from this act. Yes, they have something more to give us. Don't wait for a "but," because there isn't any.

Friendship is a gorgeous and relaxing experience consisting of three slowly evolving tracks, each with its very own personality and flow, all united by common grounds and beauty. Closing one's eyes, one can't help but imagine flying trough the skies above peaceful landscapes of deep lakes and rushing winds, swaying branches and introspective warmth. Amongst the sparse and minimalist atmospheres that Schulze gently creates, Manuel Göttsching glides tenderly in and out of sonic tapestries with his guitar, featuring ethereal tones that recall smooth and tender ambience. So it is that "Reunion" spans nearly half an hour in Tibetan tranquility and gentle sensuality interspersed with eruptions of passionate sentiment, "Pikant" does its name honor by means of a relaxed lounge-like nature of recurring themes and the touching midway incursion of an acoustic guitar, and "Friendship" floats with a contagious melancholy that fittingly ends an adorable time.

Friendship is a statement of electronic sensuality; a gentle sonic caress that extends itself slowly and uses a richly thick ambience to embrace the listener in pacifying waves of sound. The results of an endearing progression, each track on the album is a lush excursion that focuses on its very own peculiarities and maintains only a limited number of themes, yet each of them growing in a painstaking process that soothes the listener's psyche. This is music that transcends bodily limits in order to engage directly in a tranquil exchange of passion with the listener, leaving all mundane questions of reunions a thing of the past.

-by Marcelo Silveyra

back to top