Affenstunde is the debut recording by composer and multi-instrumentalist Florian Fricke's Popol Vuh, named for the sacred Mayan text.
It was issued on the Liberty label in Germany in 1970 and has been in print, off and on, in Europe, Japan, and even in the United States sporadically since that time.
For those completely dislocated by Tangerine Dream's early experiments in sonic terror and dynamics, Affenstunde is somehow akin yet very different.
Fricke's synthesizers are more interested in pulse and circularity, not utter dislocation and shock.
The music here all seems of a piece, despite the different selection titles and the single percussion piece on the set, "Dream, Pt.
5" -- primitive hand drums run through the middle of the mix.
Other than this selection, the entire album would have made a fantastic soundtrack for Andrei Tarkovsky's film Solaris.
The sheer momentum of the title cut, which closes the album and integrates spacious electronic soundscapes, ever deepening tonalities, found taped choral vocals whispering in the background, and percussion is one of the most provocative pieces to come from the Krautrock generation.
This is an auspicious debut, which holds up wonderfully in the 21st century.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AffenstundePopol Vuh | Popol Vuh | Play | 18:35 | 42 MB | 78 MB |
| 2 | Ich Mache Einen Spiegel - Dream Part 4 | Popol Vuh | Play | 08:44 | 20 MB | 37 MB |
| 3 | Ich Mache Einen Spiegel - Dream Part 5 | Popol Vuh | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | Ich Mache Einen Spiegel - Dream Part 49 | Popol Vuh | Play | 07:43 | 17 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Train Through Time (Bonus Track) | Popol Vuh | Play | 10:30 | 24 MB | 57 MB |
| 50 mins | 115 MB | |||||
| 50 mins | 225 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerard Augustin | Producer |
| 2 | Frank Fielder | Group Member, Mixing, Synthesizer |
| 3 | Bettina Fricke | Cover Design, Producer |
| 4 | Florian Fricke | Group Member, Moog Synthesizer, Piano |
| 5 | Popol Vuh | Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist |
| 6 | Alfred Steffen | Cover Design |
| 7 | Holger Trulksch | Group Member, Percussion |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |