Not quite as heavy on early-'70s material as the first volume of
Deutsche Elektronische Musik
, this sequel from
Soul Jazz
offers another wide-ranging mix of experimental music from Germany. It too is fairly balanced between the obscure and the relatively well-known, with no artist appearing more than twice. Between the extremes of
Hans-Joachim Roedelius
' tranquil piano-and-bird-sounds piece "Le Jardin" and
D.A.F.
's jagged and confrontational "Co Co Pino," there are the likes of
Michael Rother
's dazed "Karrussell,"
Eno
,
Moebius
&
Roedelius
' burbling "Base & Apex," and
Can
's tumbling "Halleluwuah" (included as five-minute edit, different from the one on the band's
Anthology
). This time, succinct electronic explorations such as
Pyrolator
's "Danger Cruising,"
Asmus Tietchens
' "Zeebrugge," and
Michael Hoenig
's "Sun and Moon" (taken from the onetime
Tangerine Dream
member's 1978 album, released in the U.S. on
Warner
), are more common than guitar-driven trance jams. Once again, there's no
Kraftwerk
, but that doesn't thwart the set from providing another smart sampling that, depending on the listener's level of knowledge, can function either as an entry point or as a gap filler; most of the parent albums are within a range of good to tremendous.
David Stubbs
' lengthy sleeve notes here are typically informative and illuminating. Forgive the label for identifying an image of
Kurt Dahlke
as "Pyrolater." ~ Andy Kellman