A nice initiative this new sublabel of Esoteric Recordings called Reactive, which is dedicated to the rereleases of long lost krautrock records. First Loss is the sole recording output of the Berlin band Murphy Blend. The music is dominated to a great extent by the organ of Wolf-Rodiger Uhlig whose sound greatly resembles that of organist Dave Greenslade, but with a sharper edge. Accompanied by that typical early seventies guitar riffing, Murphy Blend created a sound which is more on the rock side of krautrock and therefore could easily have originated from the prog scene in England. At the same time there are small bits and pieces that remind me of early Eloy : the dark synth sound drifting and slowly trampling in the background as a storm approaching on a bleak day, which brings you back to the heydays of that famous band. Unfortunately, Murphy Blend never got the same fame, because the two follow-up albums were recorded under the moniker of Hanuman after which the musicians drifted away. This really is a shame because with hindsight First Loss turns out to be a real gem of early krautrock which easily rivals the music of a band like Trace. **** André de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
