AGITATION FREE — معليش = Malesch (1972) RM | Three Version | APE + FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

The debut album by Agitation Free followed a somewhat different path than your average Krautrock band, veering unexpectedly toward the Middle East, specifically Egypt, in search of atmosphere and material. Underneath the dueling guitars and spacy synth work, desert rhythms and taped sounds of dusky cities percolate, adding depth and spice to the otherwise smooth, Teutonic grooves. It's a tribute to the apparent sincerity of the band that the use of these motifs does not sound at all contrived, instead integrating quite well. The delicate, intricate percussion that concludes "Ala Tul," for instance, sounds as lively as anything by Steve Reich from around the same period. Tapes of street songs emerge surprisingly and effectively toward the end of the otherwise stately march "Khan El Khalili," providing a bridge to the Terry Riley-ish organ trills that begin the title track. "Malesch," like many of the tracks, spins off into a leisurely stroll, sounding unexpectedly close to some Grateful Dead jams. Even when it picks up pace, there's an unhurried quality that fits in nicely with the Saharan undertones of the album. Malesch is a solid, even inspired recording that stands somewhat apart from the usual clichés of the genre. Fans of German progressive rock from this period will certainly want to hear and enjoy it. Brian Olewnick  

 At the time, Agitation Free from Berlin only released two LPs ("Malesch" and "2nd") on the Vertigo label, but meanwhile seven CDs of the band are available on the market. This goes a long way to showing how good and how much in demand they are although their slightly dreamy instrumental progressive rock is a bit unusual. Shortly before recording "Malesch" they had several gigs in the Middle East, which is reflected by the LP’s oriental influences. Steven and Alan Freeman list both LPs among the top 100 German Rock records in their anthology "The crack in the cosmic egg" (Leicester 1996), and they had very good reasons for doing so. Agitation Free, by the way, used to rehearse in the infamous "Kommune 1" in Moabit, where Dieter Kunzelmann, Fritz Teufel, Rainer Langhans and Uschi Obermaier were living then. ---- This CD edition is deleted. GOD

Tracklist :
1.    You Play For Us Today    6:08
2.    Sahara City    7:42
3.    Ala Tul    4:50
4.    Pulse    4:43
5.    Khan El Khalili    5:30
6.    Malesch    8:10
7.    Rücksturz    2:09
– BONUS TRACKS –
8.    Music Factory Live    15:15
Credits :
Bass, Tape [Tapes] – Michael Günther
Bongos – Uli Popp
Drums, Marimba [Marimbaphone], Vocals – Burghard Rausch
Guitar – Jörg Schwenke
Guitar, Zither, Organ [Hammond] – Lutz Ulbrich
Organ [Hammond] – Peter Michael Hamel
Synthesizer, Electronics, Steel Guitar – Michael Hoenig