Vampire State Building (1972) ...
Spin off from the Faust collective, recorded early 1970's at Wümme, slightly Jimi Hendrix inspired 'krautrock' ...Simple Headphone Mind ...
In the annals of Krautrock, Alcatraz's debut was one of the great unknown classics. A sizzling hybrid of many influences all wrapped-up into a unique style of their own. One part Faust (it is recorded at Wümme by Faust's engineer after all), one part Frumpy, Nosferatu, Out Of Focus, Xhol Caravan, and lots that is their own. There's also a jazz standard adaptation thrown-in (also heard adapted by Nucleus on their Elastic Rock album - so coincidental it's spooky), powerful white blues, and some of the strongest hooks and grooves you could ever wish for, plus tons of sizzling solos, great vocals, and more. What's not to like? Or indeed be totally stunned by!Vampire State Building ...
"Where The Wild Thing Are" may be the most cohesive piece here, in that you've got a chunked and funked up Deep Purple-ish guitar and syncopated sax chugging along for about a minute, before a swinging Jazzy build up which goes back to the original rhythm with the guitar soloing to the end!?Where The Wild Things Are ...
The title tune is a kinda mellow Jazz Funk thing for about a minute, before a trippy synth and sax play over an almost Bolero rhythm?! At 2 minutes the electric guitar and some seriously mind blowing synth swoop in, which disappears in a flash about 45 seconds later for a Jazz drum solo for about two and a half minutes. A new section starts, made of a ghostly wind synthesizer and a twee guitar lick, which leads to a most excellent section starting around 6:15 of effected flute and cymbals for about a minute. This grows back into a trippy lounge thing with vocals, and eventual flute and guitar solos until 11:55, at which time we inexplicably return to the original Jazz Funk thing?!... Discogs ...Alcatraz...
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