(11.01.05) Tight as hot pants on Pam Grier. Smokin. Slick. Mod. And as advertised, groovy as a corrugated roof, shaking hips like a cronked belly-dancer: The In-Kraut is all that and a bag of buds.
Encompassing some of the best of the late sixties and early seventies, it’s a raunchy Deutsche gumbo: smooth Bacharach bounces that even Burt would envy, a psychedelic anthem extolling the joys of marihuana, chicks sounding like Nancy Sinatra doing Dietrich, and even a dirty back-beat soul jam that Bernard Purdie and Jimmy Smith couldn’t do more funky.
This is a treasure trove of rarities. It makes Rhino releases seem like K-Tel. Tunes from the musty, dusty days of a still divided country that evince American influences, but also show off their own distinct flavors. And they’re tasty.
The variety is fantastic. Lounge, high-camp, rock, soundscape, jazz – each tune brings something new and fab to the mix. It’s hard to imagine a mélange like this coming to a gel. But these are jelly and jam, hot sauce and jalapeños: sweet as hominy grits and honey one moment, sultry as a silk garter the next. Lord Jesus, this disc is so good it’s driven me to more colloquialisms than Dan Rather on election night.
So I’ll end my review with just one more final, no jive comment: Get yourself to the record store now and buy this collection. Hell, buy 2. It’ll make the perfect Christmas present.
The In-Kraut: Hip Shaking Grooves Made In Germany 1966-1974 is out now on Marina Records.
