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  Gurumaniax 
  Psy Valley Hill
  (Bureau B) 


  
   review by Jeph Jerman
  2011-01-19
Gurumaniax: Psy Valley Hill (Bureau B)

Drummer Mani Neumeier late of Guru Guru, and guitarist Ax Genrich, are joined by bassist Guy Segers from Universe Zero for a "let's lay down some sounds before we can't anymore" jam, and succeed in resurrecting the ghost of Krautrock. Not having heard very much of this genre I can't comment on how it compares to the "classic" recordings, but for what it is, it's a fun listen. This kind of jamming can become tedious really quickly, but through good playing and listening, and some well-placed textural elements, these guys manage to keep things interesting.

"Drumoroto" kicks off with a driving beat and once it gets going turns into a nice Psych-rock work out, building to a couple of peaks and settling back down. "Spaceship Memory" is, as its name implies, spacier, with whines, groans and synth sounds oscillating between speakers before a throbbing beat starts up. The longest track here, it takes its time getting going. "Telefonladies" has bits of disembodied telephone operator voices floating through, and these are just about the only vocals on the album, except for a bit of yodeling from Neumeier on "Ghost Of Odin".

"Voodoo Touch" is jazzier, with a swing beat underneath the synth sweeps which gradually starts to unravel a bit, creating some tension. "Electrosaurus" starts with a crunching sound and continues with highly reverberated guitar and synth. Probably the most atmospheric thing here, the beat kind of floats before disappearing altogether. And so it goes. Not a groundbreaking session by any means, but hey, what will you be doing when you're 70?





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