Klaus Wiese — Kalengra

Klaus Wiese was a German sound maker whose work fell between ambient, minimalism, and pared-back/drone-focused world music. With a particular focus/ mastery of singing bowls, though he utilized other elements in his sound creation too.  Between the early 1980s & early 2000s, he released over a hundred-plus albums.

 Here from Kray Records is a CD reissue of Kalengra- a 1987 album, which was originally released in the form of a cassette on German New Age Label Aquarium Verlag- but don’t let that put you off, as there is nothing twee or blandly New Age about this release.  Both half an hour tracks here are fairly episodic, and I guess I’d describe what we have here is drifting ambient improv.

The CD comes present in a jewel case, which is presented inside a card slip. Both the jewel case artwork/layout, and outside slip are very basic. As we just get basic black text on a white background with a reproduction of the album's artwork- which is of an old eastern print of a kneeling figure, in front of a feminine character wearing a turban, surrounded by a tree with a bird & nest in, as well as a busy selection of other fauna. There is no mention of when the album was first released, it’s history, or anything else. All we get are the following credits. Klaus Wiese- Voice, Zither, Tamboura, Harmonium, and Tibetan Singing Bowl. Ted De Jong- percussion.  We find out from the stuck-on label on the front of the release- informing us this is limited to just 300 copies.

The first track is “Manonash” which runs at around the thirty-one-minute mark. It opens with a minute or so of twanging ‘n’ picking tone dwell. Before opening up into a pressing & golden drone sustain- as this progresses, we start to make out a circling bright tone glow, and a steady if stripped back/ set back in the mix percussive tone. To begin with I was rather getting a more hopefully Stars Of Lid type vibe, but as the other elements come in, I'm getting a more gliding ‘n’ goldenly simmering Popol Vuh vibe- by around the twelve-minute mark this part fades out. We then move from a blend of warningly churning, lightly twang, and distant ringing and tolling tones. Onto rapidly cascading Harmonium playing, though to blends of gentle pick & twang over a bed of lightly buzzing drone- with light field recordings of bird sounds edging in here and there.

Next, we have “Desert Flower” which clocks in just over the thirty-seven-minute mark. This begins with around four minutes of circling ‘n’ simmering like mass of buzzing sound- which has a decidedly spacy synth-like vibe, with a harmonic line just rising around the edges. As we move on, we go from shifting variations of golden glide ‘n’ gentle twang, through to more bright drone-fed drifts.

It certainly is great to see Mr Wiese’s work been reissued- I just wish there had been just a little bit more information about the release, it's recording, etc with this reissue. All in all, if you enjoy long-form drifting, droning, and twanging ambience I think Kalengra will most certainly appeal. And I look forward to checking out more of Mr Wiese's output, as Kray Records have reissued a few more items from his back catalogue.