Ambient sound
Musical landscapes: Agitation Free with new album
Daniel Cordes (lr), Burghard Rausch, Michael Hoenig, Gustl Lütjens and Lutz “Lüül” Graf-Ulbrich from the band Agitation Free have a new album. photo
© Max Schwarzlose/Another Dimension/dpa
They paved the way for bands like Tangerine Dream and inspired musicians like Brian Eno and David Bowie. Now the band is releasing a new album with psychedelic sounds – like a journey through time.
There are bands that you don’t even know still exist. The band Agitation Free, founded in Berlin in 1967, is one such band. The progressive rock band around Lutz Graf-Ulbrich (Lüül), Michael Hoenig, Burghard Rausch and Daniel Cordes is now releasing a new album after almost 25 years – four members of the original line-up worked on the record. This includes Lutz Graf-Ulbrich, who himself seemed a bit surprised when speaking to the German Press Agency in Berlin that a new album was now being released.
“Momentum” is anything but a quick fix, as the new work took almost ten years to work on. “In 2013 we played a festival. That’s when the idea came up that we would make another album together. In 2014 we met, everyone brought musical ideas with them and we looked to see whether there were still enough creative forces in the band.” says Lutz Graf-Ulbrich.
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These creative forces are definitely still there, which you can see for yourself with the seven songs on “Momentum”. Lush spherical psychedelic ambient sound paired with rich guitars create musical landscapes familiar from previous Agitation Free records. This runs through the entire album and takes the listener on a journey through time. Right at the beginning of the album you can hear sounds of an appearance by Agitation Free on French television in 1973. An idea from the band to bring their past closer to their younger fans in particular. “We always ran a little under the radar – unlike Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream. We started earlier than many others, but then there was a break in 1969 when Christopher Franke left for Tangerine Dream, so we had to rebuild again. At “The other bands really got going, the big propaganda machine, but we weren’t there,” says Graf-Ulbrich. “But young people in particular are discovering us now and older people are discovering us again.”
Lutz Graf-Ulbrich has his own explanation for this phenomenon. “There’s a longing, I think. Newer stuff sounds pretty similar, perfect, smooth, interchangeable. Krautrock used to be more of an insult – now it’s a seal of approval. There’s still a love for it Music, which is very nice.” He says he would also often be asked about the Velvet Underground singer and Warhol muse Christa Päffgen alias Nico, who died in 1988 and with whom he had a long-term relationship in the 1970s. “Also Nico is revered as an icon by very young people.” She always had a great sympathy for Agitation Free’s music, says Graf-Ulbrich. “Nico could be a real fan, like a teenager. She could sit there, listen and be amazed,” reveals the 70-year-old.
Agitation Free have stayed true to their sound with the new album. And that should be taken as a compliment. Yes, this band still exists.