by Rolf Semprebon
Bassist Uli Trepte was one of the founders of the seminal space rock Krautrock group Guru Guru, and this CD, a reissue of a United Dairies LP with the track &Bo Diddley& added, combines material from Trepte's tenure with Guru Guru and some studio stuff done soon after he left the band. The two Guru Guru tracks were recorded live in 1972, and the performances on these long jams, capturing the group at their height, make up for the mediocre fidelity of the recordings. This is the classic Guru Guru trio, with Mani Neumeier on drums and Ax Genrich on guitar, and with the most basic rock combo set up, they improvise into some incredible riffing with the fluidity of free jazz. The Trepte solo material from 1974, done with the help of various musicians from Amon DüüI II, Embryo, Thirsty Moon, and Frumpy is only slightly more conventional psychedelic rock, with a stronger emphasis on song structure. That doesn't stop &Sitting in the Sun& from flying out into orbit towards the end, or &White Line Fever& from going into a wild guitar and percussion jam. The last track, &Ear Mike Song,& with heavily distorted vocals, even portends Trepte's later project, Spacebox. Unlike Genrich's solo album, where most of the solo material of Trepte's former bandmate pales in comparison to the two live Guru Guru tracks on that disc, Trepte's material on this one actually stands up quite well to Guru Guru's legendary Krautrock sound.