{"id":22168,"date":"2021-12-20T05:30:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T10:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=22168"},"modified":"2023-09-28T08:25:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T12:25:37","slug":"album-review-popol-vuh-vol-2-acoustic-ambient-spheres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/20\/album-review-popol-vuh-vol-2-acoustic-ambient-spheres\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Popol Vuh \u2013 Vol. 2: Acoustic & Ambient Spheres"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In 2019, BMG put together a boxed set of five important albums by krautrock\/ambient group Popol Vuh. The Essential Album Collection Vol. 1<\/i> featured vinyl re-pressings of Affenstunde<\/i> (1970), 1972\u2019s Hosianna Mantra<\/i>, the band\u2019s high water mark of <\/i>Einsj\u00e4ger & Siebenj\u00e4ger<\/i> from 1974, Aguirre<\/i> (1976) and the group\u2019s Nosferatu<\/i> soundtrack from 1978. Taken together, those five present an engaging survey of Popol Vuh\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

But they certainly don\u2019t tell the whole story; in fact Vol. 1<\/i> focuses one some of the most mainstream (though that word is used in a relative sense) output from the group. Popol Vuh never fit easily into the krautrock category; much of the group\u2019s music relied on acoustic textures and can\u2019t really be considered any kind of rock at all. But it remains worthwhile, and the term used in Germany to describe it \u2013 kosmiche musik<\/i> \u2013 is an apt descriptor.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That brings us to a new 2021 release, Vol. 2: Acoustic & Ambient Spheres<\/i>. A 4LP set, it showcases Popol Vuh\u2019s more atmospheric works, with two of its four discs representing soundtrack work for the group’s longtime associate Werner Herzog. For reasons known only to the compilers, this set presents those four LPs in reverse-chronological order, but we can listen to them in whatever order we choose.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cobra Verde <\/b><\/i>
\nComposing for a soundtrack often means setting aside one\u2019s own creative inclinations, instead creating music that serves the artistic goals of the filmmaker. In the case of Popol Vuhl and Werner Herzog, the partners seemed to have been on a more equal footing. That means that while this music was in fact created for a motion picture in 1987, it stands well on its own as well. Luxuriant washes of synthesizer are all over the record, but it doesn\u2019t sound especially electronic. The tracks are atmospheric and moody in the extreme, and sense of foreboding characterizes much of the material. Guitars are present \u2013 as is Knaup, on vocals \u2013 but Florian Fricke\u2019s keyboard washes dominate. And that\u2019s not a bad thing.<\/p>\n

\"\"Agape-Agape Love-Love <\/b><\/i>
\nThis 1983 album is a suite of conceptually linked pieces. The band\u2019s hypnotic approach is fully refined here, and the pieces are often more meditations than actual songs. The most well-known piece, \u201cThey Danced, The Laughed, As of Old\u201d is a throbbing, cyclical work that \u2013 in typical Popol Vuh fashion \u2013 initially doesn\u2019t seem to go anywhere musically. But it certainly sets a mood, and that, ultimately, is the goal of this music. Renate Knaup is most often thought of as one of Amon D\u00fc\u00fcl II\u2019s vocalists, but her work here is extraordinary as well. The religious\/devotional undertones of Popol Vuh\u2019s music come through on these tunes.<\/p>\n

\"\"Coeur De Verre<\/b><\/i>
\nMore acoustic-leaning than either Cobra Verde<\/i> or Agape<\/i>, this soundtrack (for a 1977 Herzog film) is spare and spooky. Sitar figures prominently in the mix, as does what sounds like a hammered dulcimer. The pastoral textures suggested by those instruments define much of this record. Daniel Fichelscher\u2019s acoustic guitar work is sublime. And the LP features longer tracks than is typical on a soundtrack release. Instead of mini-snippets, we\u2019re treated to fully-developed songs. Coeur De Verre<\/i> thus sounds less like a soundtrack and more like a record that was created to exist for its own purposes. And it occasionally sounds a bit like the Grateful Dead. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

\"\"Seligpreisung<\/b><\/i>
\nThe earliest entry in this collection, The superb and simply essential Seligpreisung<\/i> dates from 1973. Listeners looking for the ethereal krautrock side of the band are advised to begin their journey (at least within this box) with this LP. It\u2019s contemplative and finely textured. Electric guitar is prominent, but it\u2019s rarely used in what one might define as an aggressive manner. Fricke\u2019s piano is a central element, and some of the arrangements place the music closer in spirit to some of Amon D\u00fc\u00fcl\u2019s more mainstream-oriented work. And unlike the other entries in this set, it sometimes \u2013 as on parts of \u201cSelig sind die, die da hungern\u201d \u2013 rocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2019, BMG put together a boxed set of five important albums by krautrock\/ambient group Popol Vuh. The Essential Album Collection Vol. 1 featured vinyl re-pressings of Affenstunde (1970), 1972\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,19,40,43,49,62,65,70,73],"tags":[4480],"class_list":["post-22168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ambient","category-compilation","category-instrumental","category-krautrock","category-new-release","category-rawk","category-review","category-soundtrack","category-vinyl","tag-popol-vuh","cat-5-id","cat-19-id","cat-40-id","cat-43-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","cat-70-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22168"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26122,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22168\/revisions\/26122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}