Günter Schickert - Somnambul (1995)

Founder member of the trio GAM (spaced out rocking improvisations), Gunter Schickert also has a fruitful career in solo, figuring among the pioneers of the echo guitar (with Achim Reichel and Manuel Gottsching). He worked in collaboration with Klaus Schulze in 1975 for "Home Session". His two first classic albums "Samtvogel" (1975) and "Uberfallig" (1977) explore the fundamental weird-acid experiences of krautrock with emphasis on hypno guitar loops ("Uberfallig"). His releases from the 80's and the compilation "Somnambul" (1995) feature trancey like electronic soundscapes. In a certain way the first releases can be seen as an hybrid between Ashra Tempel's mystical trippy jams and Achim Reichel's colourful echo guitar motifs. The last works remind some Manuel Gottsching's minimalist, extatic guitar inventions or Richard Pinhas's menacing, supernatural electronic textures. An ambitious and talented career with lot of explorative tendances. (Philippe Blache)