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Gunter Schickert used only guitars, echo devices and a modest recording technique for "Samtvogel". The album is a genuine DIY production - radical in every respect and not at all in keeping with the zeitgeist of the time. It was perhaps this radicalism that made it difficult to find a suitable record label to release the album. In any case, Schickert initially self-released "Samtvogel" in 1974 in an edition of 500 copies. It wasn't until two years later that the album was released in a much larger edition on the Brain label. I am sure that Schickert was familiar with the minimal music of Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Philip Glass. I don't know whether he had also heard "Die grune Reise" (1971) by Achim Reichel. "Inventions for Electric Guitar" by Manuel Gottsching would not appear until 1976. With his version of minimal music, Schickert completely dispenses with electronic sound generators; neither synthesizers, sequencers nor rhythm machines can be heard on "Samtvogel". Instead, he enters into a dialogue with the echo device and uses it and his electric guitar to create seemingly simple, almost rudimentary repetitive patterns that only reveal their minimalist nuances on closer listening.
Tracklist
1 Apricot Brandy
2 Kriegsmaschinen, Fahrt Zur Hölle
3 Wald