Emma Myldenberger - Emmaz Live! (1981/2007 Remastered & Expanded Edition)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Album: Emma Myldenberger - Emmaz Live! (Remastered & Expanded Edition)
Released: 1981 (2007)
Genre: Kraut-Folk
Gnosis Rating: 10.12
Garden of Delights - CD 131
This was the band's third and final release and was released only on cassette in an edition of 79 copies, amazingly enough. This is live recordings from 1980/81 and includes a long interview with band member Michel Meyer. Another great, thorough GOD job. - Wayside Music
Here on their third and last release Emma Myldenberger show that they could easily stand their ground also, and particularly well, on stage. The folk group from the Odenwald released their LP ”Emma Myldenberger” in 1978, ”Tour de Trance” in 1979, and shortly before their split in 1981 the cassette ”Emmaz live!” (Transmitter Cassetten 31), all of them recorded with the same line-up and production style. This MC, a regular release in a small edition of exactly 79 copies, is now available as a CD full to the brim with material. It was drawn from the master tape and enriched with three equal(?) bonus tracks. Occasionally with German lyrics sung in harmony but mostly instrumental. This work’s masterpiece is no doubt the”Regenreigen suite” (rain round dance suite), a track of at least 15 minutes. As usual, the group’s enthusiasm can be felt at every moment. - GoD
Previously only available trough cassettes (79 copies produced to be exact), this third EM album (and last if you do not count the Radio Noisz Ensemble, which is the logic continuation of this venture), the superb Garden Of Delight label reissued this album very recently for our pure enjoyment. And enjoyment it is, because this lengthy (68 mins + 3 bonus tracks for 81 mins) live recording is of excellent sound quality and there are much "new" material that weren't present on the two studio albums, but rehearsed live for a possible third studio album, which would never come. Sporting a colourized version of the cassette photo as artwork, corrected running times, some group pictures, the GOD release is the usual excellent product that gives progheads so many joys over the years.
Some of the previously heard songs are in fairly different versions here, often with less vocals or presented in a different light. The superb RAA and Regenreigen Suite are both presented with excellent live alternatives. The last three songs on the original cassette were foreseen for the third album (as would the last two bonus tracks), thus giving you an idea that this third album would've at least as good as their debut and approach the second's outstanding relevance.
Of the three bonus tracks, the jig of Narrentanz is the least interesting (and already present in the first studio album), but Sch?fer Von Rotterdam and Alina are superb medieval-sounding tracks that we're all used to hearing. More added value for a Live album which turns out to be just as essential as the studio ones. - Hugues Chantraine
Initially formed by a number of street musicians in Hirschberg, 1977, with the desire to create something more than just folk music, Emma Myldenberger quickly established a rich folk-rock style, totally acoustic, featuring female vocals and a penchant for blending in many other ethnic musics than just German folk. Really, their eponymous debut was much like a throw back to the progressive Kraut-folk albums of several years earlier, akin to Br?selmaschine, H?lderlin or Emtidi, yet with an otherworldly medieval feel, embellished by Middle-Eastern ethnic musics, notably with Biber Gullatz's distinctive oboe playing, their concoction was unique. Especially, it was amazing in that everything was acoustic!
The second album, TOUR DE TRANCE, with considerably longer tracks and much more instrumental interplay, broke even more ground with a uniquely styled music that even went beyond the pioneering music of Between or the Third Ear Band, mysteriously ethnic and medieval, not really rock but with a lively rock energy, and an abundance of solos, surprising for what was still a totally acoustic ensemble. Emma Myldenberger were indeed pioneers that were pushing beyond the frontiers of established progressive, folk and world musics. But, for some unknown reason, they split before the end of the decade.
Three Emma Myldenberger members later became the nucleus of the equally innovative Radio Noisz Ensemble. Biber Gullatz is nowadays much sought after as a session musician, working in jazz, ethnic and new-age musics. - "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg", Encyclopedia of Krautrock
Emma Myldenberger have a unique sound, essentially acoustic, mixing various elements from authentic pagan folk to medieval and psych-progressive rock. The exact history behind this band is vague, admitting only a few indications. Their first album was probably released in 1978. Musical themes are closed to ancient music, ritualistic in nature. The instrumentation essentially refers to a nice orchestration made of guitars, oboe, ocarina, mandolin, crumhorn, hand percussions, with addition of a fragile female voice and an almost eastern-like exoticism. Their second album called "Tour de trance" is considered to be one of the most achieved psych-folk listenings. A very ambitious effort made of high quality kraut-folk improvisations. After two releases the band formed the Radio Noisz Ensemble (Third Ear Band, Between similar musical experiences).Garden of Delight reissues contain some precious informations about the band short history. An important document. - Philippe Blache, ProgArchives.com
EMMA MYLDENBERGER was a folk band from the Weinheim an der Bergstraße area, situated between the Rhine and the Odenwald. In 1978, they released the LP "Emma Myldenberger" and in 1979 the LP "Tour de Trance", of which they sold 4000 and 2000 copies respectively at that time. Meanwhile, both LPs have been released as CDs with bonus tracks on the Garden of Delights label. There you will also find the group's history until 1979. The group's third work, "Emmaz live!", from 1981, then appeared only as an MC (Transmitter Cassetten 31) and is now available as a CD. The well-harmonizing lineup was the same as that on the two previous LPs, namely: Michel Meyer (*7/20/1956 in Stuttgart), Biber Gullatz (*3/21/1962 in Korbach/Waldeck), Anne Goßlau (*3/2/1958 in Dresden), Reines Pauker (*1/7/1949 in Cuxhaven), Gaby Kinscherf (*9/28/1958 in Weinheim), and Michael "Topsi" Tkacz (*9/12/1959 in Weinheim). A look back into those times by Michel Meyer: "Some of the musicians who founded Emma Myldenberger in 1977 had previously played in various groups, sometimes in the streets; they even did so later. From 1977 to 1981 we weren't at home very often. During their band history, namely between May 1977 and July 1981, Emma Myldenberger had 201 gigs, a fact testified by the chronicler. Many of these gigs bring back to our minds anecdotes like, e.g., the Berlin gig in the Quartier Latin on 4/8/1979 (our fee was paid only half a year later, after a court seizure), or at a festival in Wurzburg on 6/3/1978 (in the afternoon before our evening gig we were playing ourselves into a slight state of trance at the edge of the festival grounds and noticed only late that we had a big audience - magic moments); at the Gurten festival in Berne on 7/1/1979 (while we were playing, a new member of the cast joined us on stage), or at the festival in Bad Friedrichshall on 7/7/1979 (when we started playing the piece 'Regenreigen' it stopped raining - the audience was enthusiastic. Or maybe it started raining, I'm not sure.) Not to forget the scenery of a town partly destroyed by an earthquake at one of our last concerts in the north of Italy. We had gigs in places called 'Sauschdall' (pigsty) (Ulm) or 'Ponyhof (Gau-Algesheim), or even '7 Zwerge' (7 dwarfs) (Salem). There were stages on which electric amplification was not allowed - with the anthroposophists in Stuttgart -with the consequence that all of the quiet instruments could not be heard. And then there are those concerts no one can remember although they are on the list (e.g. Mainz, 3/16/1981 in the assembly hall of the Grundschule-Nord (primary school North)). Finally, there were meetings with numerous colleagues with whom we shared the stage, organising an evening with two or three bands, or with many at a festival: Zugvogel, Thomas C. Breuer, Guru Guru, Vizöntö, Werner Lämmerhirt, Larynx, Zeitenwende, Robin Williamson & his Merry Band, Bernie's Autobahnband, Le Clou, to name only a few. In 1980, we were also thinking of a third LP. A series of new tracks were written which were to become an LP under the working title of 'Modern Mandala'. I don't know for what reason, but after scrutinizing the notes it seems that we planned a self-production. 'Modern Mandala' was not finished, but we had collected some material from live gigs, first as a kind of blueprint for the new record; with new tracks like 'Caept. Blau Blau', 'Zweischlingen' and 'Ala Dalona', but also with newer concert versions of older tracks. On the recordings, the track 'Oboenstück' from our first LP again and again appears in different guises: as 'Ferngesprach nach Trier' (long-distance call to Trier), 'Ferngespröch nach Conavara' or 'Ferngespräch/Vorwahl 030', depending on the question if one of us was then in love with someone outside the area. In the summer of 1980, Emma Myldenberger, together with percussionist Rammy Mizrachi travelling there from Switzerland, spent one week in the alternative conference centre Zweischlingen near Bielefeld. With Rammy Mizrachi we rehearsed the programme he had until then accompanied rather spontaneously, but we also developed some new tracks. 'Ala Dalona', a traditional song from Pakistan as far as I know, was a piece we had heard on a record, rehearsed and immediately recorded on a four-track tape. The recording on this CD has therefore been played 'live', but without an audience. In 1981, when it was clear that no third LP would be released, 'Emmaz live!' came out as an audio cassette on Werner Pieper's and Lutz Berger's Transmitter label as number 31. The recordings for the MC were partly made by Nikolaus Sonnenschein with Biber's four-track TEAC tape recorder, some recordings, however, were given to us by people from the audience who had taken them during live gigs. These kind people have been mentioned with the tracks in the MC/CD booklet if they were known. As early as 1980, the musical and biographical interests of the individual musicians developed into various directions. A small farewell festival the group held in their home town Birkenau (as guests: Pan Ra and Wosso Wosso from Essen) on April 19th, 1981, wasn't, however, their last gig. Some concerts and festival gigs followed, and in the summer of 1981, after their last two gigs near Venice, the group finally split up for good. In 1982, Michael Tkacz, Biber Gullatz and Michel Meyer continued to play under the band name of Radio Noisz Ensemble. The trio played together with various percussionists (amongst others Mani Neumeier from Guru Guru) and recorded their only LP, 'Yniverze', in 1982. As a live band, the Radio Noisz Ensemble existed until 1986. Today, Michael Tkacz is living in Heidelberg, as a bassist and teacher of double-bass. Since that time, Biber Gullatz has been writing music for the theatre, cinema and television in the 'First Take Studios' founded by himself; from the years 2000 to 2006 in Berlin, and now back in Weinheim (for the plays and films 'Emil und die Detektive' (Emil and the detectives), 'Bibi Blocksberg', Tatort', and many others). Michel Meyer is working as a painter, illustrator, and designer - also in Weinheim, as well as Gaby Kinscherf who, among other things, creates and produces costumes for theatre and cabaret stages in her own studio. Reines Pauker is living in the Palatinate with his family and has been singing as an ensemble member in the wonderful Odenwald Shanty choir for many years. Anne Goßlau is today called Annekatrin Schrecke and has again taken up making music since 1998: she has become a member of the Triphonia ensemble (fairytales and music) in the Munich area. What has become of Rammy Mizrachi, we unfortunately do not know."
There is not a lot to be added. The edition of the MC consisted of exactly 79 copies. On the yellow tape sticker there is only the name of the label and its address as well as the handwritten order number 31, but not the band name. It was a Transmitter standard sticker used for all 160 MC releases of this label. The playing time is over one hour. The nine tracks had been recorded live during the years 1980 and 1981, and all of them had been written by the artists themselves - except the oriental folk song "Ala Dalona" (the pumpkin) and the lyrics of the beautiful "Regenreigen suite" (rain round dance), which was written by Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947). Biber Gullatz had mixed the sound in his small Hallo Hawaii Studio. For the present CD, the original photo, which can also be seen on the cassette, has been used, however in colour, more clearly printed and differently arranged. On the cassette cover, the playing times of all tracks have been wrongly specified: the times given are too short. These details have been corrected on the present CD. It has been drawn from the master tape which was kept thankworthily, properly stored for 26 years. The first of the three bonus tracks, the "Narrentantz" (fools' dance), is known already (in a studio version) from the 1978 LP "Emma Myldenberger". The following one, "Der Schafer von Rotterdam" (the shepherd from Rotterdam), has obviously been conserved only on this recording by Emma Myldenberger. On the LP by Radio Noisz Ensemble, which appeared later, a studio version of this track can be heard. The track had been written only shortly before the split of Emma Myldenberger. "Alina", the third and last bonus track on the present CD, is a rehearsal recording. It was made on 5/10/1981 in a Mörlenbach shared flat, in which then lived Michel Meyer, the group's roadie Nikolaus Sonnenschein, and others, and in which the band used to rehearse at that time. Both "Der Schäfer von Rotterdam" and "Alina" had been scheduled for their third LP "Modern Mandala", which finally, however, was not finished. In general it can be noticed that there are significantly less vocals to be heard on the MC than on the previous LPs...
As amongst record collectors there is not a great demand for MCs, there is not a lot to be found about this release in the well-known reference books and in the internet. There is one general entry on the group in the pocket-book "Das Folk-Music-Lexikon" (the folk music encyclopedia) by Don Paulin (Frankfort, 1980).
Last but not least some additional information about the earlier band history, delivered later by Werner Pieper. First, the LP "Musik aus dem Odenwald" (Der Grüne Zweig 50) from 1978 appeared not only in two, but in three different covers. The third one, designed by Rainer Sieber, was made for those records sent somewhere on demand. Second, people wondered why, on the Odenwald LP, Emma Myldenberger used the pseudonym Emyl, under which they had never before had a gig. The solution: The record was destined for groups who had not previously played with the line-up used for this record. The only exception were the young Emma Myldenberger. Thus, they were at least given a new name, if only because they themselves weren't that new any longer. And third, "Die grüne Kraft" (the green power) at that time was not a book publisher, but mainly published booklets, and then also cassettes; it ran under the notion of "media experiments"... - Birte Häffner
1 Live Rückkehr aus Emmarokkoko (09:43)
2 Lenyas Fantasie (06:14)
3 Opus 4 (07:03)
4 Ferngespräch Vorwahl 030 (03:25)
5 RAA (06:37)
6 Regenreigen Suite (17:27)
7 Ala Dalona (06:08)
8 Capt. Bla Blau (07:20)
9 Space Fasching In Zweischlingen (03:24)
Bonus Tracks
10 Narrentanz (02:57)
11 Der Schäfer Von Rotterdam (07:44)
12 Alina (03:33)
Biber Gullatz (oboe, flutes, percussion, vocals)
Gaby Kinscherf (flutes, glockenspiel, percussion, vocals)
Anne Goßlau (violin, flute, banjo, vocals)
Michel Meyer (guitar, mandolin, kalimba, Moroccan drums, vocals)
Reines Pauker (guitar, mandolin, Moroccan drums, vocals)
Topsi Tkacz (bass, percussion, vocals)
Rammy Mizrachi (tabla, percussion)
|
