My knowledge of krautrock extends to ‘Zuckerzeit’ by Cluster which happens to be a fuck of a good album and curiously not dissimilar to this.
‘Flut’ then, is the steroidal ‘in heat’ version of that reference point. This album comes from the production of the improvisational jams of organist Jochen Irmler (Faust) and drummer Jaki Leibezeit (Can). The other thing to bear in mind is the analogue nature of the instrumentation. Two titans slugging it out then or collaborating harmoniously? Probably the latter as Jaki comes across as lazy bongo and Jochen distorted right hand.
In some ways it is best to consider this album as one piece i.e. it could just be one long track rather than say a pop album with singles on and suchlike. If part of the appeal of listening to music for you is imaging the human beings behind it and what they are doing then you may well like this. The biog describes it as a hypnotic maelstrom and that seems apt enough.
There are only six tracks and they range from five and a half to ten minutes in length and opener Amalgam is one of the later. The keyboard sound is kind of God Of Hellfire and then it starts decaying and flailing around. For six minutes! With minimal percussive backing. The scene is set. Golden Skin starts with more effects on the drums and then heads the same way although the keyboards are a little more fruity. Ein Perfektes Paar has the keyboard treated a bit more like a fuzzed up guitar and then back to its normal self. Sempiternity is probably the eye of the storm for this album. It is heavy but controlled and very good, as is Washing Over Me. The album finishes off with Konig Midas which, believe it or not, does not change the template in any way, shape or form.
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If you like krautrock and if you like improvisation then dig in. If anyone can, Jochen and Jaki can and as Jaki says, “Musical bars are like prison bars. Playing without notes means that you must play repetitively, and repetition is rhythm. At the same time repetition does not really exist here, because you never (quite) play the same thing (twice).”
Klangbad Records online
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