If bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! sit as standard bearers of krautrock, and Hawkwind firmly wears the crown of space rock for many, where does that put a band like Ash Ra Tempel? Somewhere in the middle, at least to my ears after listening to their sophomore record Schwingungen (a name I can’t help but pronounce in my head like Mike Myers in Wayne’s World). The title translates to “vibrations” from German and over the course of its three tracks indeed vibrate back and forth between the two genres, finding pockets of blues and psychedelia along the way. This was one of my impulse “let’s check out a band I know nothing about purchases” and it’s something I need to be down with in order to enjoy. Exhausted and running on fumes, it’s about what I can manage this morning.

A German trio, the band was founded by guitarist Manuel Göttsching, drummer Klaus Schulze, and bassist Hartmut Enke. Schulze was previously in Tangerine Dream and only in Ash Ra Tempel for their debut before moving onto a massive solo career, one I’ve been diving into and will get around to here eventually. So for the triptych of songs on Schwingungen Göttsching and Enke are joined by Wolfgang Müller on drums and vibes, and it brings a more laid back, slightly accessible structure to the songs. Particularly the opening track “Light: Look At Your Sun”. More than anywhere else it’s where the blues influences seeps in, and if you believe Wikipedia was inspired by Peter Green’s playing on “Albatross”. The guitar work is certainly inspired; Göttsching lets loose with some searing leads as Müller and Enke back him up. The only lyrics is a sometimes hushed, sometimes wailing “We Are (all) One” from a gentleman only identified as John L. in the liner notes.

Also spotted in the liner notes: the album was engineered by Dieter Dierks, who would go on to fame shortly as the producer for Scorpions classic run, starting with 1973’s In Trance and ending over a decade later with 1988’s Savage Amusement.

The dark reflection of its predecessor, “Darkness: Flowers Must Die” embodies a lot of the krautrock tenants, even if the patented motorik rhythm isn’t apparent in Müller’s propulsive drum work. But the hypnotic quality remains largely thanks to Enke’s bass, and the electronic pulses and explosive breakouts with horns and Göttsching’s guitar make for an interesting listen, with an overall unsettling mood ending the side.

That leaves the epic, 19 minutes of the undulating title track for Side B, and “Schwingungen” the song itself settles for its opening segment into ambient electronics for almost nine of its minutes before the drums kick in. We really don’t get much of Göttsching’s guitar until the last third of the song, and then it’s a subdued, wah-driven chord vamp aligned with moaning vocals, evoking more of the desert psychedelia from before.

On the whole Schwingungen comes across to me as more interesting and passive, nothing I would actively need to listen to (although maybe I’ll make an exception for “Light: Look At Your Sun”). I still have the debut on CD to check out, but I suspect that will be a later entry here than an earlier one.