Krautrock Album Database

Combine the guitar talents of Manuel Gottsching with the electronics wizardry of Klaus Schulze, the skilled keys of Jurgen Dollase, the technical drumming of Harald Grosskopf and the engineering mastery of Dieter Dierks and you have the greatest session group in German music and perhaps rock music in general. These members were involved with other genre members on three 1972 albums in which they were dubbed 'The Kosmische Kuriere'. The three albums were Ash Ra Tempel/Timothy Leary's 'Seven Up', Walter Wegmuller's 'Tarot', and Sergius Golowin's 'Lord Krishna von Goloka'. Cosmic Jokers was the brain-child of Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser - more-or-less a chance to get together drop some acid and jam some pschedelic music! The sessions were supervised by Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and Gille Lettman. Even though not released as such, the Sci-Fi Party and Gilles Zeitschiff albums are basically Cosmic Jokers albums.

Albums

Cosmic Jokers 1974
Galactic Supermarket 1974
Planeten Sit In 1974
Sci Fi Party 1974
Gilles Zeitschiff 1974

Cosmic Jokers (Kosmiche Musik 1974)

Album Legnth: 42:13

Genre: 'Kosmische'/Space Rock

Best Song: 'Cosmic Joy B'

Release Info: 1994 CD Reissue Spalax 14293

Tracks:

1. Galactic Joke A 7.10
2. Galactic Joke B 6.44
3. Galactic Joke C 8.50
4. Cosmic Joy A 9.19
5. Cosmic Joy B 10.06

Rate This Album Online

Average Rating based on 16 votes: 4.1

Overview:

Cosmic Jokers is the first album by this Krautrock supergroup, although the members had joined forces together previously on Walter Wegmuller's 'Tarot' and Sergius Golowin's 'Lord Krishna Von Goloka'. The music is a little representational of the backgrounds of the band as well, sometimes sounding like Ash Ra Tempel (Gotsching and Schulze) and at other times like Wallenstein (Dollase and Grosskopf). Legendary engineer Dieter Dierks, whose name is synonymous with the Ohr and Kosmische Musik recordings, plays a pivotal role in 'glueing' the sound together. The resulting recording is a good album which comes closer to the 'kosmische' sounds of Ash Ra Tempel than the symphonic rock of Wallenstein. In all there are 2 extended tracks divided into suites with a sound dominated by an eerie/spacey synth and some heavily-reverbed guitar. A must have for Ash Ra Tempel and Klaus Schulze fans as well as fans of the 'kosmische' sound. [4/5 Doug]

Musicians:

Manuel Gottsching - Guitar
Klaus Schulze - Electronics
Jurgen Dollase - Keyboards
Harald Grosskopf - Drums
Dieter Dierks - Bass

Galactic Supermarket (Kosmiche Musik 1974)

Album Legnth:

Genre: 'Kosmische'/Space Rock

Best Song:

Release Info: 1994 CD Reissue Spalax 14296

Tracks:

1. Kinder Des Alls A
2. Kinder Des Alls B
3. Kinder Des Alls C
4. Galactic Supermarket A
5. Galactic Supermarket B
6. Galactic Supermarket C

Overview:

Album Rating: 3 out of 5 [Doug]

Musicians:

Manuel Gottsching - Guitar
Klaus Schulze - Electronics
Jurgen Dollase - Keyboards
Harald Grosskopf - Drums
Dieter Dierks - Bass

Gilles Zeitschiff (Kosmiche Musik 1974)

Album Legnth: 47:11

Recorded: 1972 Dierks Studio (Dierks)/1974 Quadro Studio (Schulze)

Genre: 'Kosmische'/Space Rock

Best Song: 'Electronic Rock Zeitalter'

Release Info: 1994 CD Reissue Spalax 14885

Tracks:

1. Tim Bleibt Bei Uns 7:06
2. Downtown 2:42
3. Lord Krishna 1:23
4. Power Drive 1:40
5. Bei Tim 1:50
6. Right Hand Lover 1:33
7. Cosmic Courier Bon Chance 2:55
8. Swiss High Lands 1:19
9. Der Magier 2:45
10. The Electronic Scene 3:38
11. Electronic Rock Zeitalter 11:09
12. So Beautiful 3:51
13. The Queen Of Sunshine 3:22
14. Meine Kosmische Musik 1:46

Rate This Album Online

Average Rating based on 8 votes: 2.1

Overview:

Definitely not the best release, but 'Gilles Zeitschiff' (Gilles Spaceship) is perhaps the freakiest artifact to come out of the Cosmic Jokers' short existence. A pastiche concept 'sampler', the album contains heavily overdubbed excerpts from the Kosmische Kuriere projects: 'Seven Up', 'Lord Krishna Von Goloka', and 'Tarot'. The material is spiced up by additional material recorded by Klaus Schulze and Gille Lettman. Schulze's signature cosmic synthesizer sound is used to full effect while Gille can be heard delivering an acid drenched narration in German and English. The narration details the power of 'Mr. Energy', Timothy Leary, and how he became involved with the Kosmische Kuriere group. In case you weren't aware, Gille makes it known that Timothy is a love god and that "T. L. stands for true love". Obviously the effect which Mr. Leary had on Gille was out of this world. Plain and simple, 'Gilles Zeitschiff' is krautrock in its purest form and the album should make its way into your collection at some point. This one is best listened to with head phones! [2/5 Doug]

Musicians:

Gille Lettman - Vocals
Klaus Schulze - Electronics
Jurgen Dollase - Keyboards
Manuel Gottsching - Guitar
Harald Grosskopf - Drums
Dieter Dierks - Bass
Hartmut Enke - Bass, Guitar
Walter Westrupp - Guitar
Bernd Witthuser - Guitar
Sergius Golowin - Vocals
Brian Barritt - Vocals