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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Agitation Free| image =| caption = The members of Agitation Free as depicted in the artwork for their 1973 album 2nd .| image_size = | background = group_or_band| origin = Germany | genre = Experimental rock , krautrock , space rock , progressive rock , psychedelic rock | years_active = 1967–1974, 1998, 2007, 2012| label = Vertigo Records|Vertigo , BMG , Barclay Records|Barclay , Spalax (record company)|Spalax , IRI , Prudence (record label)|Prudence | associated_acts = Tangerine Dream , Ash Ra Tempel , Michael Hoenig , Ashra (band)|Ashra | website =| current_members = Michael Gunther (musician)|Michael Gunther Lutz Ulbrich Burghard Rausch Michael Hoenig Gustl Luetjens | past_members = Christopher Franke Lutz Ludwig Kramer Axel Genrich Jörg Schwenke , Stefan Diaz Agitation Free was a Germany|German experimental krautrock band. The band was formed in 1967 with Michael "Fame" Günther (bass), Lutz " Lüül " Ulbrich (guitar), Lutz Ludwig Kramer (guitar) and Christopher Franke (drums). They were initially called Agitation, a name they chose at random from a dictionary. The name later changed to Agitation Free as the result of a panel before a free show played in the early 1970s where it was written "Agitation Free" (meaning "free concert"). The other reason for the band to change their name was that another band with the same name already existed.
After losing guitarist Axel Genrich to Guru Guru in 1970 and drummer Christopher Franke to Tangerine Dream in 1971, the band recruited Jörg "Joshi" Schwenke (guitar), Burghard Rausch (drums), and Michael Hoenig (keyboards). They released their debut album, Malesch in 1972 on the Music Factory label. The album was inspired by their tour through Egypt , Greece , and Cyprus , sponsored by the German Goethe Institute . Later that year, they performed at the 1972 Munich Olympics .
A second album was released in 1973, and guitarist Jörg Schwenke was replaced first by Stefan Diez, then Gustl Lutjens; but the band disbanded in 1974.
Agitation Free reunited in 1998 and released River Of Return in 1999; then reformed in 2007 (with the 1974 line-up) for a series of concerts in Tokyo. In 2008 remastered CDs of their back catalogue were officially released, and in 2011 they released Shibuya Nights , recorded at their 2007 Tokyo concerts. 2012 sees them touring again to promote this album.
The band is included on the Nurse With Wound list .
Musical style and sound
Agitation Free's music is psychedelic, experimental krautrock with elements of spaced-out ambient, experimental electronic, and drone. Their music for the most part consists of driving organ-patterned drone-like rock; seamless psychedelic cosmic musical textures with intricate musicianship and musical variety; hard, driving rock similar to Amon Duul II but more compelling, refined, and developed; and jamming that occasionally invokes the interplay and styles of Garcia, Weir and Lesh of The Grateful Dead and hints at a blues rock base not unlike The Allman Brothers Band . Their music features frequently great musical interplay and great playing, great textures, melodies and grooves. Many of their songs have a trance-inducing, psychedelic feel with sections of driving rock fueled by fiery and melodic moving guitar lines and solid, propelling and intricate drumming and a prominent bass. All of Agitation Free's Songs are instrumental apart from some recitation on "Haunted Island".
Their first album Malesch is much more cosmic, aggressive, psychedelic, creative, ethnically flavored (mainly by short interludes of recordings from Egypt), mysterious and densely packed with ideas whereas their second, titled 2nd is more laid-back and upbeat, with longer structure, much more of an emphasis on traditional styled jamming à la The Grateful Dead and a warmer and more straightforward sound. On Malesch the songs blend together to make a seamlessly flowing, tangential and uninterrupted musical journey, whereas on 2nd songs are more predictably structured, more varied in their sound, and stand more as independent works.
Their sound is similar to, but fairly distinguishable from, other contemporary Krautrock bands such as Ash Ra Tempel , Amon Düül II , Guru Guru , Brainticket , Yatha Sidhra , and Kalacakra , as well as the mixed-influence blues-based jam rock of The Grateful Dead and the The Allman Brothers noticeable on 2nd , and slightly later and more symphonic bands like Asia Minor and Anyone's Daughter .
Last (Agitation Free album)|Last (released 1976, recorded live 1974)
Fragments (Agitation Free album)|Fragments (released 1995 and again in 1996, recorded live 1974)
At the Cliffs of River Rhine (released 1998, recorded live 1974) Garden of Delights
The other sides of Agitation Free (released 1999, recorded 1974–75)
River of Return (1999)
Shibuya Nights (live Feb 2007 in Tokyo, released 2011 on Esoteric Recordings)
References
Reflist
Further reading
Ulbrich, Lutz: „Lüül". Ein Musikerleben zwischen Agitation Free, Ashra, Nico , der Neue Deutsche Welle|Neuen Deutschen Welle und den 17 Hippies “ – Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf – Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89602-696-8
Ehnert, Günter: Rock in Deutschland: Lexikon dt. Rockgruppen u. Interpreten / Günter Ehnert ; Detlef Kinsler. - Orig.-Ausg., (3., aktualisierte u. erw. Aufl.). - Hamburg : Taurus Press, 1984. - 434 S. ; 18 cm, ISBN 3-922542-16-6
Christian Graf: "Rocklexikon Deutschland". Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2002, ISBN 3-89602-273-3
Frank Laufenberg , Ingrid Laufenberg: Frank Laufenbergs Hit-Lexikon des Rock und Pop. , Ullstein Tb., Oktober 2002. ISBN 3-548-36362-8
Christian Graf, Burghard Rausch: Rockmusiklexikon Europa, Bd. 1. , Fischer Tb., Frankfurt Juli 2005. ISBN 3-596-16428-1
Christian Graf, Burghard Rausch: Rockmusiklexikon Europa, Bd. 2. , Fischer Tb., Frankfurt Juli 2005. ISBN 3-596-16429-X
Christian Graf, Burghard Rausch: Rockmusiklexikon Amerika, Afrika, Asien, Australien , Fischer Tb, Frankfurt Oktober 2003. ISBN 3-596-15869-9
Tibor Kneif: Sachlexikon Rockmusik. Instrumente, Stile, Techniken, Industrie und Geschichte , Reinbek b. Hamburg: Rowohlt, überarbeitete und erweiterte Ausgabe 1980. ISBN 3-499-16223-7 (Lexikon und Beispielsammlung aus Rock and roll|Rock ’n’ Roll , Rhythm and Blues|Rhythm & Blues , Jazz rock , Funk metal , Country rock , Folk rock , Blues rock , Hard rock , Punk rock|Punk , New Wave music|New Wave sowie ein Register)
Tibor Kneif: Rockmusik. Ein Handbuch zum kritischen Verständnis. Mit einem Beitrag von Carl-Ludwig Reichert , Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1982. ISBN 3-499-16279-2 (mit einem Kapitel über die Grundlagen der Rockmusik, z.& nbsp;B. Elemente, Instrumente und stilistische Wurzeln sowie Materialien zu einer Theorie der Rockmusik, ihrer Soziologie, Ästhetik und Geschichte)
Artemy Troitsky: "Rock in Russland: Rock und Subkultur in der UdSSR", Hannibal-Verlag, Wien 1989. ISBN 3-85445-046-X
Zöller, Christa. Rockmusik als jugendliche Weltanschauung und Mythologie. Religion und Biographie, Bd. 2. Münster: Lit. 2000. ISBN 978-3-8258-4517-9
Steven & Alan Freeman: The crack in the cosmic egg: encyclopedia of Krautrock, Kosmische musik & other progressive, experimental & electronic musics from Germany , 1996, Audition Publ., Leicester ISBN 0-9529506-0-X
External links
http://www.agitation-free.de/indexe.html Agitation Free Official site - Includes extensive history of the band (English language)
http://www.luul.de/ Lüül - Official site (German language)
http://christopherfranke.com/ Christopher Franke - Official site (English language)
http://www.lutzludwig.com - Official site
Category:German progressive rock groups Category:Musical groups established in 1967 Category:Krautrock
