Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock & friends
| 1. Paradiso 17:15 2. Raga 6:15 3. MoM-Medley 6:36 4. Sehnsucht 6:28 5. Heart of the sun 9:52 6. Ganges 19:21 7. Sri D 13:47 (CD-R) P+© 2003 by HEART and MIND - HaM4 |
All songs were played live on December 15, 2002, during the Schallwende EM-Breakfast in Düsseldorf. Thanks to the Schallwende crew and everybody who helped to make this event possible. And another big THANK YOU to the kind audience that loves to see, hear and feel music being made by hearts, mouths and hands. Keep the music alive!
The album by the master of Mind Over Matter is a tour-de-force of space music and symphonic rock fusion. Guitars, sitar, Mellotron, exotic percussion, and electronics combine into a tapestry of dynamic instrumental arrangements and celestial musical excursions. The blending together of "rock" and "space music" is organic and smooth, with ethnic instruments and motifs added at various intervals to spice up the mix. For the last decade or more Klaus has been making great music, and this is as good as anything he's done to date.
Archie Patterson (USA)
There is only Klaus Hoffmann Hoock to think and put on feet such a project. 'Psychedelic Breakfast' is really what it means: a musical lunch between friends, a way to relax, to enjoy life and the benefit of it, to open out with the friendly smiles that surround you.
And it is with 'Paradiso' that this psychedelic breakfast begins. One of the first MIND OVER MATTER's work, 'Paradiso' is a slow procession which starts here with a strange tribal drone like a morning prayer. The first chords filter a reverberation which mixes perfectly to a bass with sensual progression. Stephen Parsick's piano is of virginal softness on a dense Mellotron, with the heavy and sensitive veils which are moulded in perfect symbiosis with a crescendo movement of infinite tenderness. Neither those which don't know the Mellotron yet nor its romantic effect may find very beneficial to discover the major charm of this instrument. Here, Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock is offering us the Tron's charm: magical moments, undulatory rotations where the sound waves and loops intersect in a paradise-like atmosphere.
'Raga' reflects the psychedelic aspect of 'Breakfast'. The sitar of KHH is sharp on wanderings vocal and hands custom percussions. 'MoM-Medley' is a collective of acoustic guitars on vivid chords, where the host interprets segments of his MOM repertory, with an astonishing dexterity and a well-sharpened sense of rhythm - a very beautiful moment, which brings us to the atmospheric and very Ashra-like 'Sehnsucht': spacey and floating, the electric guitar resounds in a lunar environment where placid veils of synthesizer-like guitar sounds float in the stridency of gliding six-cords. This is a marvellous moment from the gliding Krautrock era which we will find later on a more elaborate way with the splendid 'Ganges'.
'Heart of the Sun' is an interpretation, with flowing riffs, of Pink Floyd's psychedelic anthem. This interpretation is of an astonishing realism, exceeding even the delirious whims of the English quartet - a true swirl of a static psychedelic violence, in a boosted musical atmosphere, on a splendid play of ignited guitar. More animated than 'Ganges', 'Sri D' exploits the same floating paths of a space rock of the 70's with a play of discrete keyboard, a throbbing organ, of tablas and a moulding bass, which give more strength to a passive impulsion which ground in the blackness of a cosmic silence.
'Psychedelic Breakfast' of Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock & Friends responds clearly to the expectations created by its title. In a very intimate environment half of MOM's musicians give a concert which joined us, a concert to which we can identify to without problem, thanks to a splendid sound recording which brings us closest. Quite relaxed once sitting we have the impression to be there. And it is not because it is a breakfast, on morning, that it is necessarily quiet. Admittedly, there are soft moments, but the wild and rebel side of Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock rather spout out from time to time for the greatest pleasure of the listening.
Another good album for Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock and his MIND OVER MATTER-musicians, a group which resists time while keeping its identity.
Sylvain Lupari Québec, Canada
Guts Of Darkness; French Home of Dark & Experimental Music
Mind Over Matter "in Concert" zu erleben ist immer ein eindrucksvolles Erlebnis, schade nur, dass das Ambiente häufig nicht dem Event-Anspruch gerecht wird. Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock und seine Freunde hätten wahrlich ein außergewöhnliches Auditorium verdient, wie z. B. ein Sandstrand in Südindien mit Sonnenuntergang und warmem Westwind oder ein griechisches Amphitheater oder vielleicht doch der Rittersaal in Burg Satzvey?
Wer nicht live dabei war beim "Psychedelic Breakfast" im Dezember 2002 in Düsseldorf, kann mit dieser Audio-CD einiges wettmachen, vor allem in Sachen Imagination & Relaxation kommt der Hörer voll auf seine Kosten.
Edel-Oldies von Mind over Matter wie "Paradiso" oder "Ganges", die im Original schon ihre Schwingungen hatten, sind in dieser Live-Fassung noch mal ordentlich aufpoliert, mit Tablas, Percussion und Gesang unterstützt. Das neue Outfit passt perfekt. Schon allein diese zwei Tracks mit einer Gesamtlänge von über 36 Minuten garantieren den Wert des Albums. Sie laden zum Träumen ein und projezieren (immer wieder) Reisen durch ein altertümliches Indien.
Ein paar Nummern mit Akustikgitarre oder indischer Sitar zeigen erneut, was für ein hervorragender Performer Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock ist. Es ist sein unverwechselbarer Stil moderne Elektronik mit traditioneller "handgemachter" Musik zu ergänzen
W.Lücken SCHALLWENDE (D) 2003
I love the premise for this CD. Get some friends together to play electronic music – over breakfast! This CD is packed with gems covering a range of styles, all recorded live on the same morning. It starts with the beautiful, relaxed "Paradiso", a perfect blend of mellow progressive rock and electronic music. The Rhodes piano by Stephen Parsick is so cool, and the Mellotron strings are fantastic. Subtle shadings of other details round it out, including light percussion and spacey slow guitars. "Raga" puts heavy emphasis on the psychedelic aspect, jumping fully into Hoffmann-Hoock on the sitar. Wordless vocals add to the trippy mood. I think George Harrison would have liked this track very much. "MoM-Medley" is an interesting animal, a collection of Mind Over Matter tracks on acoustic guitar, very impressive axe work. Atmospheric electric guitars and synthlike guitar sounds permeate "Sehnsucht", a number very much in the more laid back style of Ash Ra Tempel. "Heart Of The Sun" goes into all-out Krautrock, spinning wildly out of control in frenetic intensity. It's a bit noisy for my taste, but if you like freak-out jam sessions it's excellent. The last two tracks are similar in tone to the opener, lengthy mellow space excursions with beautiful Mellotron sounds totalling over 30 minutes of first-rate psychedelia. These and "Paradiso" comprise over 50 minutes of classic Cosmic Hoffmann space music, and the explorations into other styles are worthy diversions. Highly recommended.
© 2004 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space USA
The man's a genius!!!!! Amid all this "Berlin School" dross that's coming out of Europe and UK right now, this is like a breath of fresh air. Nearly 80 minutes long, it features three long tracks and four mid-length tracks. The opener, the seventeen minute 'Paradiso' is a mellotron lover's dream track, with wave upon wave of rich mellotron chords over a languid, almost decelerated Ash Ra style backing from deep bass, synth chords that hang suspended like droplets in the air, and an overall feel of warmth to the whole gorgeous composition, just sensational stuff and worth the price of the CD alone for this track. Following this we get a six minute track 'Raga' that is a mix of dense electronic soundscapes, sitar, tabla and has a totally exotic, almost heady, psychedelic feel to it, with this immense wall of sound filling every available space as the incredible raga rings out. The 6 minute MoM-Medley' is just incredible - the sound of multi-tracked twelve string acoustic guitars set to another wall-of-sound backdrop and it's amazing, dropping down a little in intensity towards the end but an absolutely fantastic sound. 'Sehnsucht' at six minutes, is very Ash Ra-esque with a soaring lead electric guitar over a deep bass river and more acoustic guitar backings, the presence of any synths reduced to a distant backdrop and all the better for it - as the guitar rings out to glorious effect, the sound still full and textured. Then, at nearly ten minutes, an amazing rendition of Pink Floyd's 'Heart Of The Sun' done in an almost 'Interstellar Overdrive' style, and so authentic, you'd think it was some lost version from the seventies, but with this incredibly well produced roar of bass guitars, electric guitars, organs and drums, the overall impact one to leave you jaw-dropped and breathless at the sheer impact this track will have on you - awesome doesn't even come close. The nineteen minute 'Ganges' is, although you'd hardly notice up to now because of the sheer quality of what has preceded it, the first real synth track on the album and this is a masterwork of seventies Ash Ra-meets-Yatha Sidhra styled warm, languid, multi-layered, multi-textured synths, keyboards, mellotron, tabla drums, flute and guitar, just flowing slowly, effortlessly and to gorgeous tranquil but substantial effect, true musical beauty dripping from very pore and some of the finest synth layers and sounds on the planet, a rich symphony of cosmic/melodic colours. The album ends with the thirteen minute 'Sri D', as before, another mass of gorgeous synth and keyboard chords, eastern exoticism provided by tablas, the huge and dense backdrop from mellotron choirs, distant guitar and richly textured amorphous bass rivers, all building as a rippling bass line appears, overlapped by a resonant synth chording and the presence of ringing electric piano styled chords that have a depth like no other. Then a wall of mellotron chords are introduced briefly as the bass comes up in the mix and twangs away merrily over the rich backdrop, dies off and an organ layer is introduced, layers and textures coming and going on what is a truly remarkable composition. Overall, then, eighty minutes of the finest music around, faultless to a tee, and as perfect an an album in an overtly electronic-prog crossover field as you could get, although music of this quality defies mere categorisation. As I said earlier - genius!!!
Andy Garibaldi (GB)
| Joseph Goetz | vocals, shruti box, e-bass, a-guitar, loop device |
| Dagi Daydream | vocals |
| Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock | e-guitar, a-guitars, Jerry Jones e-sitar, Rikhi Ram Sitar, Digital MELLOTRON |
| Peter Joergens | percussion, tabla, 12 string a-guitar |
| Jürgen Vonderhecken | roadmanager, pa-sound |
| Stephen Parsick | Rhodes e-piano, Roland Vocoder Plus, Roland RE-501, Moog Prodigy |
The album by the master of Mind Over Matter is a tour-de-force of space music and symphonic rock fusion. Guitars, sitar, Mellotron, exotic percussion, and electronics combine into a tapestry of dynamic instrumental arrangements and celestial musical excursions. The blending together of "rock" and "space music" is organic and smooth, with ethnic instruments and motifs added at various intervals to spice up the mix. For the last decade or more Klaus has been making great music, and this is as good as anything he's done to date.
Archie Patterson (USA)
There is only Klaus Hoffmann Hoock to think and put on feet such a project. 'Psychedelic Breakfast' is really what it means: a musical lunch between friends, a way to relax, to enjoy life and the benefit of it, to open out with the friendly smiles that surround you.
And it is with 'Paradiso' that this psychedelic breakfast begins. One of the first MIND OVER MATTER's work, 'Paradiso' is a slow procession which starts here with a strange tribal drone like a morning prayer. The first chords filter a reverberation which mixes perfectly to a bass with sensual progression. Stephen Parsick's piano is of virginal softness on a dense Mellotron, with the heavy and sensitive veils which are moulded in perfect symbiosis with a crescendo movement of infinite tenderness. Neither those which don't know the Mellotron yet nor its romantic effect may find very beneficial to discover the major charm of this instrument. Here, Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock is offering us the Tron's charm: magical moments, undulatory rotations where the sound waves and loops intersect in a paradise-like atmosphere.
'Raga' reflects the psychedelic aspect of 'Breakfast'. The sitar of KHH is sharp on wanderings vocal and hands custom percussions. 'MoM-Medley' is a collective of acoustic guitars on vivid chords, where the host interprets segments of his MOM repertory, with an astonishing dexterity and a well-sharpened sense of rhythm - a very beautiful moment, which brings us to the atmospheric and very Ashra-like 'Sehnsucht': spacey and floating, the electric guitar resounds in a lunar environment where placid veils of synthesizer-like guitar sounds float in the stridency of gliding six-cords. This is a marvellous moment from the gliding Krautrock era which we will find later on a more elaborate way with the splendid 'Ganges'.
'Heart of the Sun' is an interpretation, with flowing riffs, of Pink Floyd's psychedelic anthem. This interpretation is of an astonishing realism, exceeding even the delirious whims of the English quartet - a true swirl of a static psychedelic violence, in a boosted musical atmosphere, on a splendid play of ignited guitar. More animated than 'Ganges', 'Sri D' exploits the same floating paths of a space rock of the 70's with a play of discrete keyboard, a throbbing organ, of tablas and a moulding bass, which give more strength to a passive impulsion which ground in the blackness of a cosmic silence.
'Psychedelic Breakfast' of Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock & Friends responds clearly to the expectations created by its title. In a very intimate environment half of MOM's musicians give a concert which joined us, a concert to which we can identify to without problem, thanks to a splendid sound recording which brings us closest. Quite relaxed once sitting we have the impression to be there. And it is not because it is a breakfast, on morning, that it is necessarily quiet. Admittedly, there are soft moments, but the wild and rebel side of Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock rather spout out from time to time for the greatest pleasure of the listening.
Another good album for Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock and his MIND OVER MATTER-musicians, a group which resists time while keeping its identity.
Sylvain Lupari Québec, Canada
Guts Of Darkness; French Home of Dark & Experimental Music
Mind Over Matter "in Concert" zu erleben ist immer ein eindrucksvolles Erlebnis, schade nur, dass das Ambiente häufig nicht dem Event-Anspruch gerecht wird. Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock und seine Freunde hätten wahrlich ein außergewöhnliches Auditorium verdient, wie z. B. ein Sandstrand in Südindien mit Sonnenuntergang und warmem Westwind oder ein griechisches Amphitheater oder vielleicht doch der Rittersaal in Burg Satzvey?
Wer nicht live dabei war beim "Psychedelic Breakfast" im Dezember 2002 in Düsseldorf, kann mit dieser Audio-CD einiges wettmachen, vor allem in Sachen Imagination & Relaxation kommt der Hörer voll auf seine Kosten.
Edel-Oldies von Mind over Matter wie "Paradiso" oder "Ganges", die im Original schon ihre Schwingungen hatten, sind in dieser Live-Fassung noch mal ordentlich aufpoliert, mit Tablas, Percussion und Gesang unterstützt. Das neue Outfit passt perfekt. Schon allein diese zwei Tracks mit einer Gesamtlänge von über 36 Minuten garantieren den Wert des Albums. Sie laden zum Träumen ein und projezieren (immer wieder) Reisen durch ein altertümliches Indien.
Ein paar Nummern mit Akustikgitarre oder indischer Sitar zeigen erneut, was für ein hervorragender Performer Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock ist. Es ist sein unverwechselbarer Stil moderne Elektronik mit traditioneller "handgemachter" Musik zu ergänzen
W.Lücken SCHALLWENDE (D) 2003
I love the premise for this CD. Get some friends together to play electronic music – over breakfast! This CD is packed with gems covering a range of styles, all recorded live on the same morning. It starts with the beautiful, relaxed "Paradiso", a perfect blend of mellow progressive rock and electronic music. The Rhodes piano by Stephen Parsick is so cool, and the Mellotron strings are fantastic. Subtle shadings of other details round it out, including light percussion and spacey slow guitars. "Raga" puts heavy emphasis on the psychedelic aspect, jumping fully into Hoffmann-Hoock on the sitar. Wordless vocals add to the trippy mood. I think George Harrison would have liked this track very much. "MoM-Medley" is an interesting animal, a collection of Mind Over Matter tracks on acoustic guitar, very impressive axe work. Atmospheric electric guitars and synthlike guitar sounds permeate "Sehnsucht", a number very much in the more laid back style of Ash Ra Tempel. "Heart Of The Sun" goes into all-out Krautrock, spinning wildly out of control in frenetic intensity. It's a bit noisy for my taste, but if you like freak-out jam sessions it's excellent. The last two tracks are similar in tone to the opener, lengthy mellow space excursions with beautiful Mellotron sounds totalling over 30 minutes of first-rate psychedelia. These and "Paradiso" comprise over 50 minutes of classic Cosmic Hoffmann space music, and the explorations into other styles are worthy diversions. Highly recommended.
© 2004 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space USA
The man's a genius!!!!! Amid all this "Berlin School" dross that's coming out of Europe and UK right now, this is like a breath of fresh air. Nearly 80 minutes long, it features three long tracks and four mid-length tracks. The opener, the seventeen minute 'Paradiso' is a mellotron lover's dream track, with wave upon wave of rich mellotron chords over a languid, almost decelerated Ash Ra style backing from deep bass, synth chords that hang suspended like droplets in the air, and an overall feel of warmth to the whole gorgeous composition, just sensational stuff and worth the price of the CD alone for this track. Following this we get a six minute track 'Raga' that is a mix of dense electronic soundscapes, sitar, tabla and has a totally exotic, almost heady, psychedelic feel to it, with this immense wall of sound filling every available space as the incredible raga rings out. The 6 minute MoM-Medley' is just incredible - the sound of multi-tracked twelve string acoustic guitars set to another wall-of-sound backdrop and it's amazing, dropping down a little in intensity towards the end but an absolutely fantastic sound. 'Sehnsucht' at six minutes, is very Ash Ra-esque with a soaring lead electric guitar over a deep bass river and more acoustic guitar backings, the presence of any synths reduced to a distant backdrop and all the better for it - as the guitar rings out to glorious effect, the sound still full and textured. Then, at nearly ten minutes, an amazing rendition of Pink Floyd's 'Heart Of The Sun' done in an almost 'Interstellar Overdrive' style, and so authentic, you'd think it was some lost version from the seventies, but with this incredibly well produced roar of bass guitars, electric guitars, organs and drums, the overall impact one to leave you jaw-dropped and breathless at the sheer impact this track will have on you - awesome doesn't even come close. The nineteen minute 'Ganges' is, although you'd hardly notice up to now because of the sheer quality of what has preceded it, the first real synth track on the album and this is a masterwork of seventies Ash Ra-meets-Yatha Sidhra styled warm, languid, multi-layered, multi-textured synths, keyboards, mellotron, tabla drums, flute and guitar, just flowing slowly, effortlessly and to gorgeous tranquil but substantial effect, true musical beauty dripping from very pore and some of the finest synth layers and sounds on the planet, a rich symphony of cosmic/melodic colours. The album ends with the thirteen minute 'Sri D', as before, another mass of gorgeous synth and keyboard chords, eastern exoticism provided by tablas, the huge and dense backdrop from mellotron choirs, distant guitar and richly textured amorphous bass rivers, all building as a rippling bass line appears, overlapped by a resonant synth chording and the presence of ringing electric piano styled chords that have a depth like no other. Then a wall of mellotron chords are introduced briefly as the bass comes up in the mix and twangs away merrily over the rich backdrop, dies off and an organ layer is introduced, layers and textures coming and going on what is a truly remarkable composition. Overall, then, eighty minutes of the finest music around, faultless to a tee, and as perfect an an album in an overtly electronic-prog crossover field as you could get, although music of this quality defies mere categorisation. As I said earlier - genius!!!
Andy Garibaldi (GB)
