German Oak

A free form rock band founded by a small community of 5 German hippies / "avant garde" artists back at the beginning of the 70's. Their self title effort was published in 1972 in Düsseldorf at Luftschutzbunker (Air Raid Shelter) studio. The cover of their self title album (a militaristic image which is a portrait of the third Reich military force) provides an illustration of anger expressed by the WWII's young generation against their parents. By consequence German Oak's music is very eerie, dark and weird, dominated by heavy, "distorted" guitar solos & raw bluesy rhythms. The background creates "shadowy" & "ambient" sequences thanks to delay echoes, electronic "fuzzy" noises & repetitive bass lines. A funkadelic/jazzy felt punctuates with discretion this grandiose, "creepy" instrumental album.

The dark German collective back with completely catchy kraut-improvisations. All tracks deliver menacing heavy, fuzzy psychedelic moments that merit a serious listening. After their amazing and most popular effort, "Nibelungenlied" stresses the free-sonic-destruction dimension of their music. The sound is always dominated by screaming / electric bluesy guitar parts, sound experiments and macabre keyboards effects. "The heroic deeds of Siegfried" is a dark and minimalist, melancholic composition with a subtle "medieval" flavour. The savage percussion announces a delicate, simplistic guitar sequence in a moody tone. "Nibelungenlied I" is an agressive, dynamic guitar orientated composition, featuring really hypnotic, rocking sequences; all in improvisation with a repetitive bass line and some vicious guitar solos…

"The 6th entry in the Now-Again Reserve Edition series is the definitive reissue of a lauded and misunderstood Krautrock album as well as the first band-sanctioned reissue in the series. The most mysterious Krautrock album, German Oak's Down In The Bunker has been fetishized and demonized, lauded and misunderstood for nearly four decades. In this definitive Reserve Edition of the album, the German Oak trio – together again after 30 years apart – have approved the remastering of their 70s music; finally tell the story behind the creation of their dark, brooding album – and the occult-obsessed record collector behind the original album's release and its myth – and they share previously unreleased music and photos. This three CD set presents the album as it was initially released, the previously unreleased full versions of the two main songs on the original album, and other songs by the band, both rare and previously unreleased."

The rediscovery of Florence Price’s music has revealed one of the most significant bodies of work by an African American composer in the 20th century. The variety of genres represented on this release place Price’s immense artistic imagination on full display. The two Concert Overtures explore her engagement with spirituals, both episodically and coloristically, in music that embraces the somber, the poignant and the ebullient. Songs of the Oak is a tour de force of Hollywood-influenced storytelling while The Oak offers a more anxious, ultimately tragic portrait. Price’s best-known work is the Suite of Dances – originally for piano it is heard here in the composer’s full, sumptuous orchestration.