Human Being - Live at the Zodiak-Berlin 1968 [SAA Album Club discussion thread]

[dankrsta]

Where did you dig this out from Jack Pat? I read that review you posted and according to the writer this is some important record that nobody knows about. All the mentioning of the German art rock history, kraut rock and later industrial and noise made me really curious. I've never heard of this record before. I agree with clutnuckle, this music does feel like a "vague sketch" of the things to come. I'm not sure if I feel that way because I read that article before listening to the music, but now I can't shake that suggestion.

This must be heard on headphones, as I've noticed it doesn't quite hold my attention without it. My mind tends to wonder of during this 45 min., but on headphones I can hear all the little subtleties and changes. On the very first listen it sounds like a big mass of formless sounds, but as you go with it you notice that it has a constant, gradual build up all the way through. Still, during this journey it feels unpredictable in parts, there are good portions of this piece that appear to not have any direction. That's the nature of this type of droning, semi-improvised music I guess, but the downside is that it easily loses focus. It picks up however in the second part and towards the end it only gets better and better. It gets stronger, noisier, more concrete finishing with a very dense, screechy, forceful noise. This was an "a ha" moment, when I finally got the Einsturzende Neubauten reference of the article.

I will give this a solid mark, with the potential to go higher. I would have enjoyed it more if it was a bit shorter, more dense and focused, especially in the middle part. The last third is great though.