Customer Reviews

Cosmic Jokers (Dig)

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I recently went on an Indonesian boat trip and brought this recording along, and I will tell you this: the music contained on this recording is a heavenly landscape beyond explanation. I cannot put into words what it made me feel, what it made me think about, or what it made me see. The Cosmic Joke, the main source of attraction for me, is quite simply one of the most profound satorical compositions I have listened to. From beginning to end, its liquid movements feel almost as if the band, led by Manuel Gottsching's fingers, are being propheticaly propelled into a subconscious realm we cannot completely understand. Very powerful, soul penetrating music. Themes of good and evil, light and dark, right and wrong, beginning and end, and other fundamental elements of existence radiate throughout. Whether you are a musician, a surfer, a philosopher, a tripper, a traveler, a stoner, a driver, or someone who just plain likes music with a higher force, I strongly recommend you check this out. Some will never "get it", and that thats ok.

This is the first of the (in)famous Cosmic Jokers releases, culled from master tapes of jams by members of Ash Ra Tempel, Wallenstein, et al that Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser surreptitiously released on his Cosmic Couriers label...eventually resulting in the demise of that and the Ohr label, as well as R-U Kaiser's career! Seems that these jams came out without the permission (or compensation!) of the artists involved, and at the time those circumstances were highly controversial. Controversy aside, though, this initial Cosmic Jokers release is a wonderful thing, a pair of truly psychedelic (supposedly the sessions were highly LSD-drenched affairs) and flowing jams reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, and then-current efforts of Tangerine Dream (viz their "Electronic Meditiation" album). A very trippy landmark of space-rock, to be sure.

Originally released in 1974,as this was Cosmic Joker's very first release,out of five(5)lp's.Ironic enough,all five were put out that same year.Cosmic Jokers were a krautrock super-group.Made up of musicians Manuel Gottsching(Ash Ra Tempel),Klaus Schulze(Tangerine Dream),two members from Wallenstein and top-of-the-genre producer Dieter Dierks at the mixing board.CD has just two tracks.Both are lengthy spacy,cosmic,trippy freak-out pieces(call 'em what you will),"Galactic Joke"(22:30)and "Cosmic Joy"(19:24)should fully satisfy any fan hungry for this sort of music.To some of us,there IS no other music.None that matters anyway.Recommended.

This 1974 release marks the first in a total series of five albums that feature "pirated" instrumental space jams recorded by this German experimental "supergroup". The musicians on this album include electronic master composer himself Klaus Schulze (synthesizers), members of Wallenstein (Jurgen Dollase - organ/spoken words and Harald Grosskopf - drums); and a single member of Ash Ra Tempel (Manuel Gottsching - guitars). Deiter Dierks produced the album and also played bass guitar - he actually does a pretty good job too. I really like Harald's drumming - he is an exceptionally creative drummer and does a great job of "filling in the blanks". This music is essentially space/psych/prog rock comprised of very spacey, loose, and completely structureless jams that are spread over two lengthy tracks (Galactic Joke = 22'39"; Cosmic Joy = 19'25"). The first track features more in the way of guitars and drums, while the second track essentially consists of "music drifting in from the deep cold and vacuum of space" and reminds me of very early Tangerine Dream.

For those of you that can't get enough of this stuff, five albums were cranked out in 1974 including: (1) The Cosmic Jokers; (2) Galactic Supermarket; (3) Sci-Fi Party; (4) Gilles Zeitschiff; and (5) Planeten Sit In. Of these albums, Gilles Zeitschiff is not all that great.

The eponymous debut is the best of the lot, although Galactic Supermarket is pretty good too. This is truly cosmic bliss - recommended.

Cosmic Jokers were a series of late night jams from some of the finest in Krautrock: Manuel Göttsching (Ash Ra Tempel), Klaus Schulze (Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, solo), Harald Großkopf (Wallenstein, Schulze), Jürgen Dollase (Wallenstein), and Dieter Dierks (studio engineer and producer for many acts). These albums were released without anyone knowing it, and it was Göttsching who found out in 1974 when he entered a Berlin record store and found out the music being played on the stereo was from those sessions. Schulze had been by far least pleased of these albums, he deemed them "Cosmic sh**", an embarassment, wished they were completely buried and forgotten. It's true that these albums caused lawsuits against Rolf Ulrich Kaiser (head of Kosmische Musik, formerly Ohr) and drove him out of Germany. Despite the controversy surrounding these albums, the Cosmic Jokers made some of the finest in Krautrock (even if Schulze would have you believe otherwise). I already got Galactic Supermarket (the second in the series) and was completely amazed, so I went and bought the first, self-entitled Cosmic Jokers offering. Well, what can I say: this album is truly a must have for those who enjoy Ash Ra Tempel and Schulze. "Galactic Joke" is most like Ash Ra Tempel, because it's mainly dominated by Manuel Göttsching's guitar work. You don't get to hear much keyboard, so Schulze and Dollase seem to be more in the background. "Cosmic Joy" is much more keyboard-dominated, allowing Schulze to really shine. It should not come as any surprise the music at time should resemble his own albums of the time like Cyborg or Blackdance, but with that Ash Ra Tempel sound thrown in as well. Throughout the the whole album you get a lot of phasing, which lead me to think that was an afterthought, once the album was mixed after the recording. To me, Galactic Supermarket might be an easier album to get in to, but this is another great album to have in your collection.

The Cosmic Jokers were never a real band; in 1973 Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser offered several prominent 'Cosmic' Musicians (style was later called "Krautrock" by the UK press) all the psycedelic drugs they could consume for a recording session. Afterwards he mixed the album together and released it under the title The Cosmic Jokers.

The album is amazingly fluid despite its origins, and it wasn't until the second album was released that many of the musicians that made up The Cosmic Jokers realized they were a part of this so called 'Supergroup'.

Originally only Rolf-Ulrich was credited with this album, but it stands as a landmark album in any sense for its conception and birth under such unique circumstances.