Popol Vuh - Seligpreisung (1973/2004 Remastered Expanded Edition)
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Album: Popol Vuh - Seligpreisung (Remastered Expanded Edition)
Released: 1973 (2004)
Genre: Electronic Krautrock
SPV 085-70132 CD
Popol Vuh's fourth album from 1974. Still as beautiful as previous releases, Seligpreisung carries on the delicate ethnic spaced out feel but has a slightly darker edge, the overall effect perhaps best described as gothic folk.High quality digi pack and bonus material. - Freak Emporium
This is one of the best POPOL VUH albums. Everything sounds perfect. The unique and celestial music is relaxed as usual for POPOL VUH. Texts are from the Christian Bible but the music sounds more oriental. Band leader Fricke often had the tendency to fusion Christianity with Oriental spirituality. But this is no new age music. It's folk prog at it's best! Sometimes it also rocks (slightly) thanks to drums and guitar, for example in "Selig sind, die da hungren" but the guitar sound is always clean. Pastoral acoustic passages are very frequent but there is enough diversity to keep the listener satisfied. The only drawback is the album's lenght - only a little less than 30 minutes! However, it's the quality that matters! Recommended for anyone interested in peaceful, pastoral and uplifting prog! - Matej Luketic, ProgArchives.com
Popol Vuh's Seligpreisung is another essential work from the band, ushering in the classic middle period for which they are best known. The album represents the reconvening of the band after Fricke had contributed to Gila's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, after which he brought former Amon Duul II drummer turned guitarist Daniel Fischelscher into the fold of his main band. Fischelscher would become Fricke's main collaborator for what is essentially Popol Vuh's most intensely brilliant period, reaching a possible culmination in the subsequent classics Letzte Tage, Letzte Nachte and Einsjager & Siebenjager. In light of those later achievements, Seligpreisung still stands as a solid addition, if slightly more tentative. Certainly, the album lacks the raw power, intensity and sheer sonic grandeur of those albums, relying on a more meditative, subtle approach. In contrast to the dominant role he would take later on, Fischelscher here opts more often for a clean, melodious guitar tone, perhaps not wishing to step on anyone's feet with the kind of flailing, distorted outpourings he would later incorporate. Indeed, his guitar playing here sits in perfect balance with Fricke's moving piano melodies, creating absolutely gorgeous sound tapestries that cut right to the soul. Unfortunately, neither Djong Yung or Renate Knaup feature here on vocals, leaving Fricke to admirably contribute the occasional pleasant chant here and there himself.
Translating as "Songs of Praise", Seligpreisung is an extremely spiritual album, and it shows. Thankfully, it's also one of the few albums I know of that pulls this off without being exceedingly lame. Indeed, perhaps me not understanding the lyrics leaves me blissfully unaware of any "preachiness" that might be occurring, but the relative sparseness of the vocals leads me to doubt any such intent. The music here just sounds honest, impeccably composed, and most important of all, inspired. The only problem I have with the album is its brevity. Finding out that it clocks in at under 30 minutes after having shelled out 18 bucks didn't exactly have me singing songs of praise. In retrospect however, it's a half hour of music I'd gladly pay twice as much for. Though not reaching the same brilliant highs as some of the immediately subsequent Popol Vuh albums, Seligpreisung is a quiet, beautiful work that will be an immediate delight to any fan of the group. - Greg Northrup, ProgWeed.net
With this fourth album Popol Vuh hits their stride. Conny veit still participates to this album but as a guest but in comes the second most important Popol Vuh member after Fricke"; ex Amon Duul II drummer Daniel Fichelscher. Not only will he perform most percussions but he will play guitars also.
As opposed to the previous Hosianna , this is a much more refined and accomplished album that will grow on you at each spinning in your deck. The mystical/spiritual overtones developped in Hosianna are just as strong here but less severe allowing this album to be the perfect make-out-with-your-girlfriend music (for those always stuck with listening to Mariah while getting intimate with the mate , this could be a welcome change;-). Again the highly meditative and contemplative music is very calm and soft on athmospheres but never shallow. The mix between the ethnic (mainly Indian) percussion with fairly solemn but relaxed piano and guitar lines provide a great moment of relaxation. A very even album with no weak spots but no real exceptional track either. - Hugues Chantraine
Led by keyboardist and composer Florian Fricke, Popol Vuh are one of the most unique-sounding bands in the history of progressive rock. To be fair, only a part of their output could be regarded as "rock", rather a lot of their work could be seen as pioneering in such genres as electronic, ethnic or New Age music. They have an extensive and somewhat confusing back catalogue, with a legion of studio albums, soundtracks, compilations and re-releases which don't always match the original versions. Furthermore, same tracks can appear on different albums under different titles (either in English or German) and sometimes different versions of the same song appear on different albums. What follows is a brief introduction to the bulk of their output, roughly in chronological order:
Affenstunde and In den Garten Pharaos -- Ambient and almost free-form music, basically just Fricke experimenting with a Moog synthesizer backed by some ethnic percussion. Reminds of Alpha Centauri / Zeit era Tangerine Dream. The gloomy organ, cymbal clashing and eerie voice on "Vuh" (In den Garten Pharaos) also bring to mind Pink Floyd's "A Saucerful of Secrets". Both are quite abstract works and not really representative of the band's main output. Note: one CD version of Affenstunde actually features the whole first half of In den Garten Pharaos, while another includes the entire Die Nacht der Seele album.
Hosianna Mantra -- Exit synthesizer, enter Conny Veidt on electric and acoustic guitars and Djong Yun on vocals. Fricke's piano paints lush, melodic sound scapes which are filled out by Veidt's echoing, spooky electric guitar lines and Yun's dreamy, whispering vocals, singing Biblical texts. This delicious musical cake is further sweetened with some tamboura, violin and beautiful oboe. A marvellous album of dreamy, mystical music with a subtle menacing undertone, Hosianna Mantra provides the blueprint for the next few Popol Vuh albums.
Seligpreisung -- Daniel Fichelscher of Amon Duul II enters the fold to provide percussion and more electric guitar. The melodiousness of Hosianna Mantra is sustained, but the still sparingly used drums give the music some rock feel, evident especially on the only instrumental track "Tanz der Chassidim". Fricke is the lead vocalist this time, giving a rather murmuring performance which doesn't diminish the power of the music, though... - Kai Karmanheimo, New Gibraltar Encyclopedia Of Progressive Rock
Florian Fricke was born by Lake Constance in 1944. From 1959 till 1963 he studied music in Munich, where he was a pupil of Rudolph Hindemith (Paul Hindemith's brother). At the age of 25 he became acquainted with the Moog synthsizer which leads him to form his band POPOL VUH. This name and inspiration come from the holy book of Guatemala's Quiche Indians. Historically, Popol Vuh's "Affestunde" (1970) is the first experimental rock release entirely built around the Moog Synthesiser (with the add of percussions to provide a mystical flavour).
In 1971, their second album "In Den Garten Pharaos" keeps on fusing ambient electronic textures with traditional, ethnic instruments, but put the stress on spiritual themes. In 1972, "Hosianna Mantra" marked a turning point in POPOL VUH career by rejecting electronic instrumentations in favour of acoustic elements including a lot of oboe, konga, tamboura accompaniment and female vocals (the Japanese soprano Djong Yun and later Renate Knaup, front woman of AMON DUUL II)
In 1974, after the departure of the guitarist Conny Veit (the founder of GILA), Daniel Fichelscher (former drummer of AMON DUUL II) becomes an active member of POPOL VUH ethereal and spiritual adventure. Florian Frike's POPOL VUH was also known from a larger audience thanks to the collaboration with the German director Werner Herzog, providing the soundtracks of many of his classic films, notably the hypnotic and reflective "Aguire, Wrath of God", "Heart of Glass"...In 1978, Florian Fricke founded the "working group for creative singing" and became a member of the society of breathing therapy. He holds lectures all over the world on his work in this field. - ProgArchives.com
1 Selig sind die, die da hungern (06:03)
2 Tanz der Chassidim (03:17)
3 Selig sind, die da hier weinen (05:10)
4 Selig sind, die da willig arm sind (03:13)
5 Selig sind, die da Leid tragen (03:39)
6 Selig sind die Sanftmütigen (02:33)
7 Selig sind, die da reinen Herzens sind (02:33)
8 Ja, sie sollen Gottes Kinder heißen (02:44)
9 Be In Love (Bonus Track) (04:59)
Robert Eliscu - oboe
Daniel Fichelscher - electric guitar (2-3-4-6), drums, congas
Florian Fricke - piano, cembalo, vocals
Conny Veit - electric & 12-string guitars
Klaus Wiese - tamboura
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