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