Kollektiv had connections with the much better known Kraftwerk, and its self-titled album sounds a bit like early Kraftwerk, back in that group's jazzier days before it invented techno-pop. Kollektiv's album fuses free-form jazz and rock in typical underground Krautrock fashion, with long, loose improvisations and plenty of solos on guitar, flute, and sax. The music is entirely instrumental except for some weird spoken word on the shortest track, "Forsterlied." "Rambo Zambo" begins the album with some heavily processed flute soloing before jumping into high-energy avant funk with more flute. "Baldrian" is slightly more tame, but on the three-part "Gageg," which dominates side two, Kollektiv turns the energy up even more. Like "Rambo Zambo," this one begins slowly before building into another intense avant jazz-funk workout with the tight rhythm section, and in the last section, "Pressluft," some blistering electric guitar riffing.
Not to be confused by the Cuba-born and American-based architect, Jorge Pardo is one of flamenco's most innovative instrumentalists. Known for his fluid and relaxed approach to the flute and tenor and soprano saxophones, Pardo has been one of the leaders of the "new flamenco" movement. A longtime member of the Paco de Lucia Sextet, Pardo has continued to explore the possibilities of his wind instruments as a soloist. While flamenco remains the foundation for his music, Pardo has developed a unique sound by incorporating elements of jazz and Carbbean and Afro-Cuban rhythms. His album, 10 De Paco, recorded with Cadiz pianist Chano Dominguez, featured guitar-less reinterpretations of ten of de Lucia's compositions.
In the liner notes the band tells us the significance of the name KOLLEKTIV. We "share the same aims and values, not just with regard to music. We do not seperate into soloist and accompanist (rhythm slave). Each musician and each instrument has the same rights. Our pieces aren't individual compositions; they are born out of and grow through creative collaboration. After all, our name is saying : we are our own roadies, manager, technicians, bus driver, record producers and article writers, and three of us share the same birthday." Another important revelation in their liner notes is : "The structure of our music is more simple than usual jazz, instead we pay more attention to sounds and moods. We mainly do improvisations. Even the themes and arranged parts were once improvised."
The albums of the Buenos Aires / Paris series are a point of reference within the creative scene of electronic tango in Buenos Aires. Thanks to extensive research, Buenos Aires / Paris Troisième Voyage (the third volume of the saga) returns to present the most popular artists of this genre, with new tracks off of their most recent albums, material that has yet to be released and exclusive remixes. As we all know, electronic tango has developped into one of the new music styles of this century.
The Brain Box is the first deluxe collection celebrating the Hamburg based label who paved the way for many Krautrock and German Psych artists. Limited to 3300 units worldwide, and containing 83 tracks on 8 cd's, a 74 page hardcover book, a Brain records tote bag, and all housed in a green linen wrapped box. CD's 1-6 feature artists like Guru Guru, Cluster, Jane, Embryo, Harmonia and more. CD's 7-8 contain music the from Brain Festivals in Essen during 1977 and 1978.
Acoustic versions of songs from the band's previous albums and cover song.