Various Artists — Electric Junk - Deutsche Rock, Psych and Kosmische

Electric Junk is a four-CD journey into the mid to late 70s German underground music scene-whatever the genre category!. The thirty-two-track collection blends the known, lesser-known, and obscure projects in a nice and even manner, with a (largely ) good/eventful flow of tracks throughout the four-disc unfold.

The set appears on Cherry Red sublabel Strawberry, with the whole box set having a rather neat theme/ presentation. The white flip-side box features an ordnance survey map of Germany, woven with train lines and dotted with the names of projects from various locations across the country. Opening up the glossy sixteen-page inlay booklet, we find that each disc is laid out like a train platform, with the CD slip continuing the train theme with a numbered & stamped ticket set on top of the map backdrop. As well as track listing/ brief description of all of the tracks, we get an introduction to the set, and an explanation of why the often-used Kraut rock term is not used here.

Each disc/ platform (aside from number three) features ten tracks. So on disc one, we move from the struttingly fuzzed-out groove of Jane’s  “Early In The Mourning” which features Lenny-after-bender-like vocals. Onto bounding bass, moodily jaunting guitar tone, and heads down rocking moments of Messages “Dreams And Nightmares( Dreams). Though La Düsseldorf’s “Silver Cloud” with its blend of steady rock-pop beat, brightly warbling key tones, and roughshod, almost indie guitar churns.

Onto disc two and go from dense to simmering synth churning, oceanic electro wash, and waving pitch tone glides of Klaus Schulze’s “Satz Gewitter (Energy Rise, Energy Collapse)”. Onto Hans-Joachim Roedelius’s “Regenmacher” which moves from the brooding and windswept, to tribal & quirky/ playful electro tone lined. Through to rising bass pulse, simmer organ, and moodily eastern-to-psych guitar tollings/ wails of Agitation Free’s  “You Play For Us Today”.

On disc three, we find eleven tracks that move between My Solid Grounds “The Executioner”, which alternates between reverbed vocals/ bass uneasiness, and moments of bounding rock out. Onto the tight skittering beats, Arabic piping’s, vibe mellowness, and taut bass/ guitar pairings of “A Place To Go” by Embryo. Though to the fixed psych rock groove meet clip-clop off angular tribal drums of Electric Sandwich’s “China(single)”

Finally, on disc four, we move from Guru Guru’s “Stone In” with its mix of epically crashing ‘n’ hiss percussion, bounding bass tones, baying guitar tones, and just heard/ stained singing. On to the electric violin edged, dartingly structured, jiving organ tones, and chanted/theatrical vocals of Pell Mell’s “City Monster”. Finishing with the hazy-to-clumsy “Darkness To Light” with its shifts between clean guitar and flute work-outs, busily layered psych pop-rock moments, waving/ dense singer-songwriter vibes, and jazz rockouts

There is no doubt that Germany's underground music scene during the mid to late 1970s was a very fertile & creative place, where genres didn’t matter, and they were often blended & blurred- and that’s very much of what this compilation celebrates.  So, another excellent compilation from the Cherry Red Family of labels.