Spacebox is the solo project of Uli Trepte (Guru Guru bass player, also member of early Neu! and Faust). Two albums have been released; "Spacebox" (1981) with Geoff Leigh and Catherine Williams as guests and "Kick Up" (1984) as a collective: it features an electric, eclectic, primitive "jazzy" rock "trip". These intriguing "obscure" German improvisations have been reissued by the Japanese label Captain Trip.

Plamp, a Swiss band only named after the first names of the musicians involved, came from the city of Chur and were around since the mid-70's as a quintet, Mario Giovanoli played flute and saxophone, Peter Toenz was on electric guitar, Peter Streiff on Hammond organ and piano, Louis Streiff on drums and Andrea Thoeny on bass, while all members contributed on the vocal parts.For their only release ''Und ueberhaupt …'', pressed privately and released sometime during year 1978, they were joined by Fortunat Froelich on cello and piano and Marc Keller on acoustic guitars. Plamp used the nearby Kraut Rock qualities in a lighter version to produce their own personal sound, obviously influenced by Folk, Jazz and Psychedelic Rock, and it's really amazing why the band remained so obscure, they were propably at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Next to Embryo, Kraan are among those German groups who include psychedelic, sometimes ethnic elements to their distinctive, innovative jazz rock. At the beginning of their career, started in 1970, Kraan free form jazz rock was really into jam sessions, totally improvised, mainly instrumental (featuring sax sections and many guitar/bass solos). Their self title album was experimented with ethnic, psychedelic/acid tastes and discreet electronic manipulations. Since their debut album and with their two following "Wintrup", "Andy Nogger" the band has demonstrated with interest, dynamism and humour how can we make fusion / jazz with addition of influences from everywhere. Really imaginative, inspired and technical these albums provide something new and amazing: an absolute trippy ethnic jazz rock. This particular facet of the Kraan music culminates with their masterwork "Live" (1975)…

Kollektiv had connections with the much better known Kraftwerk, and its self-titled album sounds a bit like early Kraftwerk, back in that group's jazzier days before it invented techno-pop. Kollektiv's album fuses free-form jazz and rock in typical underground Krautrock fashion, with long, loose improvisations and plenty of solos on guitar, flute, and sax. The music is entirely instrumental except for some weird spoken word on the shortest track, "Forsterlied." "Rambo Zambo" begins the album with some heavily processed flute soloing before jumping into high-energy avant funk with more flute. "Baldrian" is slightly more tame, but on the three-part "Gageg," which dominates side two, Kollektiv turns the energy up even more. Like "Rambo Zambo," this one begins slowly before building into another intense avant jazz-funk workout with the tight rhythm section, and in the last section, "Pressluft," some blistering electric guitar riffing.

Wolfgang Dauner has now been highly active on the scene for more than fifty years. Dauner hired top young musicians to be around him for the current upgrade to United 2.0. The second United generation, like the first one, is eagerly researching the crossing points between jazz, rock, funk and world music. Featuring some of the finest avant-garde jazz players from Germany and beyond the Ensemble began life in 1975. Pianist Wolfgang Dauner, initially recruiting musicians from his home base of Stuttgart (then a hotbed of avant-garde jazz), put together a rotating cast of musicians, and shared writing and arranging duties with guitarist Volker Kriegel. They recorded the first album under the United Jazz+Rock Ensemble name, Live im Schützenhaus, in 1977, to be released on the group's then founded Mood Records label. The album was a hit, eventually becoming the best-selling German jazz record of all times, and the Ensemble was awarded the "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis 1978" for artist of the year, followed by another 14 albums plus a variety of international collaborations.

Milestone reissue! In 1982 Cassiber (phonetically: ‘a message smuggled out of prison’) crashed like a locomotive into the Deutsche Neue Welle. Founded by Heiner Goebbels, Alfred Harth, Christoph Anders and Chris Cutler, Cassiber managed to fuse materials and attitudes drawn from experimental rock, fringe jazz, punk, pop, plunderphonics, improvisation, close structure and musique concrete with an energetic and complex form of studio (and then concert) composition that was unique in its combination of diverse experimental approaches to form with a risky, emotional and expressive mode of execution…

Panta Rhei were an jazz rock and soul group from then East Berlin formed in 1971 by Herbert Dreilich, Henning Protzmann and Ulrich Swillms. The musicians played together for a while while playing jazz oriented music before there came to be a formal group which would eventually incorporate lyrics by poet Jens Gerlach or Dreilich, which were political in different degrees. By 1975, Veronika Fischer, singer of the band, started a solo career and other line-up changes occured which led to conceptual differences and eventual dissolvement of the band. In later years compilations of the material in their active years were released to accompany their one self-titled album that was released in 1973.

Muck Groh was born in 1946 and started his musical life by first learning the trombone before he became more known as a guitarist, first band he was featured in being the the krautrock band Ihre Kinder. Later on he founded Aera which mixed jazz and progressive rock and which he left in the 70's to pursue more solo projects, like his album "Muckefuck" (it is a German word for bad coffee) and another jazz rock group Grotesk. Besides a rich music career, Groh spent much of his time as a freelance painter until 2006 where he initiated a revival of Aera called Neue Aera with which he tours regularly. Groh's musical endeavors can therefore be checked in bands mentioned above while his only solo album in 1979 is a fine record with folk overtones that might also please fans of Frank Zappa's jazz rock oriented albums.

Xhol was one of the first bands who participated at the send of the 60s to the launch of the Krautrock movement in Germany. Nevertheless their music cannot be categorised. Their roots came from rhythm'n blues with soul tendencies. With their second album "Electrip" they rapidly found their own style which can be considered as an original fusion of free jazz, psychedelic rock and electronic experimentations. Very dynamic their jazz rock can sometimes be compared with the spirit of the psychedelic soul developed by Soft Machine. However the unusual use of electric instruments and electronic manipulations made Xhol absolutely unique. After "Electric", the band carries on their musical adventure with two great and totally free jazz rock albums. Dominated by endless, electric and cool improvisations "Hau Ruk" is a must for fusion and jazz lovers…

Aufbrüche! is an important music documentation from the early years of the Umsonst & Draussen festivals - a quite famous trademark nowadays all over in Germany. It all began in 1975 with a one-day event in Vlotho/East Westphalia. Aufbrüche mirrors the years from 1975 to 1978 where most of the bands/artists can be filed under the label progressive rock - at least prog-related. The four discs are dominated by fusion and jazz rock oriented music. There are Embryo, Missus Beastly, Skyline, Out Of Focus, Hammerfest and many others interesting bands. 'Aufbrüche' is a worthy investment for all those who want to get an impression of the early German festival history which was dominated by progressive rock bands.