Artist: Walter Wegmüller
Album: Tarot
Genre: KrautRock
Country: Germany
Year: 1973 (1994)




The music of German iconoclast Walter Wegmuller is here inerpreted by the Cosmic Jokers, who navigate the composer's dense, complex electronic suite with accuracy and aplomb.

This massive double album is cosmic Krautrock at its finest hour, as visionary Walter Wegmuller leads a tour through the entire major arcane of the Tarot deck while the Cosmic Couriers -- basically Ash Ra Tempel, Wallenstein, and whoever else producer Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser could rope in -- create a remarkable soundtrack encompassing space rock, folk music, funk, psychedelia, and electronic music. Wegmuller's album followed in the footsteps of Timothy Leary's Seven Up, Ash Ra Tempel, and Sergius Golowin's Lord Krishna von Goloka, backed by Wallenstein, the duo Westripp-Witthuser, and keyboardist Klaus Schulze. Tarot, with almost all these musicians on the roster, is the culmination, a bizarre roller coaster ride through sonic soundscapes, while Wegmuller intones in his deep voice, sometimes augmented by more effects, though he often remains silent for long instrumental stretches. From the opening track, a funky number with blazing guitar and rolling piano over which a circus-barker voice announces the band with grand élan, to the side four track's nonstop blast into hallucinogenic after-burn, this one is a monster all the way. Shimmering Ash Ra Tempel guitar freakouts blend with Wallenstein's more rollicking psych rock, Schulze's deep space keyboards, and Westripp's cosmic folk to create strange blitzes of electronic weirdness. This album provide an incredible pallet of styles that all seem to gel in a cohesive mass of pure mystical wonder. ~ Rolf Semprebon

Tarot is a major German electronic music piece composed & directed by Wegmuller & played by the Cosmic Jokers. Originally released in 1994 as a limited box-set & long out-of-print. This double CD reissue includes the original 16 page booklet. Gatefold digipak.




Manuel Göttsching - guitar
Hartmut Enke - guitar
Jerry Berkers - bass
Jürgen Dollase - keyboard
Walter Westrupp, Klaus Schulze, Harald Großkopf - drums





Track Listings:

Disc 1 (43:26)
1. Der Narr (3:55)
2. Der Magier (4:38)
3. Die Hohepriesterin (4:17)
4. Die Herrscherin (4:16)
5. Der Herrscher (2:58)
6. Der Hohepriester (3:10)
7. Die Entscheidung (3:51)
8. Der Wagen (5:15)
9. Die Gerechtigkeit (3:01)
10. Der Weise (4:01)
11. Das Glucksrad (3:38)
12. Die Kraft (3:26)

Disc 2 (41:34)
13. Die Prufung (4:56)
14. Der Tod (1:19)
15. Die Ma?igkeit (4:47)
16. Der Teufel (3:38)
17. Die Zerstorung (4:00)
18. Die Sterne (6:14)
19. Der Mond (2:50)
20. Die Sonne (3:03)
21. Das Gericht (2:06)
22. Die Welt (8:41)

Total Time: 85:00
 
http://www.last.fm/music/Walter+Wegmüller