Aera - Mechelwind [1973-2009-2CD]

Excellent archival release that predates their debut album "Humanum Est". This one features organist Steve Robinson from Twenty Sixty Six and Then, and plays down their later fusion tendencies. Great album, more towards traditional Krautrock, and represents a completely different side of the band.
__________________
 This double CD unites absolute rarities of famous German band Aera. Aera founded in 1972 by 'Ihre Kinder' guitarist Muck Groh and 2066 & Then keyboard player Steve Robinson were in their very beginnings, when they recorded their special extended version (26 minutes) 'Mechelwind Suite' of their later classic title 'Mechelwind' (on album 'Hand und Fuss', LHC 44, vinyl-edition). The Mechelwind Suite is divided into 5 parts and is rather different from the later album-version, not only because of Steve Robinson's excellent keyboard playing but also because of Muck Groh's fine guitar playing and Klaus Kreuzeder's pleasant sax tunes. CD 1 finishes with two SWF-recordings 'Hodibbel' and 'Mechelwind' from Oktober 1973 again with 2066 & Then keyboarder Steve Robinson. CD 2 contains a live performance of Aera from 23.12.1973 with the same line up as on CD 1. Highlights are the 15-minutes-version of 'Hodibbel' and 12-minutes-version of 'Papa Doing'. The recordings show Aera at their very best during their first decade. Both CDs are digital remastered from the original tapes. Double CD comes with comprehensive booklet with a lot of unseen photos and band history told by founder-member Steve Robinson.
.from progarchives.

Progressive/Jazz Rock.
Boxset/Compilation, released in 2009

Songs / Tracks Listing

Disc 1

1. Mechelwind Suite (25:34)
2. Hodibbel (7:50)
3. Mechelwind (10:45)
time: 44:15

Disc 2

1. Mechelwind (7:48)
2. Hodibbel (15:16)
3. Papa Doing (12:04)
4. Klaus With The Birds (6:31)
time: 41:41

Total Time 85:48

Line-up / Musicians

- Dieter Bauer / Bass (disc 2 tracks 1, 2, 3, 4)
- Paolo Grobben / Bass (disc 1 tracks 2, 3)
- Peter Malinowski / Bass (disc 1 track 1)
- Sidhatta Gautama Schwitzki / Drums, Percussion
- Muck Groh / Guitar
- Steve Robinson (Rainer Geyer) / Organ, Piano, Mellotron, Synthesizer
- Klaus Kreuzeder / Saxophone, Flute
Releases information

Released by Long Hair. Disc 1 tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 were recorded at Studio Nuremberg Symphonic Orchestra, Summer, 1973, Germany. Disc 1 tracks 6, 7 were recorded on 22, 10, 1973 at SWF Studio, Baden-Baden, Germany. Disc 2 was recorded live on 23, 12, 1973, Stadthalle Erlangen, Germany.

8 comments:

subharmonia.blogspot.com said...

Wow, haven seen this rarity online ever! Aera are from the area of my hometown Wuerzburg and I met some of the musicians, when I grew up there and saw them perform live.
RIP Klaus Kreuzeder, who was despite his disability and health issues a fantastic sax / lyricon player https://youtu.be/6SGc0uzMoDc
I used to have two of their albums: "Hand & Fuss" & Live, which got lost when I moved to Berlin in 1982.
Anymore of Aera? Thanks a lot for this one!

progger ears said...

@ subharmonia.blogspot.com
And the fun is mine to give you the opportunity of good memories!
Have a nice listen ;-)

progger ears said...

I can give you in lossless or in lossy this albums below;
(Not my rips)

Aera - Humanum Est1974 Hand Und Fuß 1976 (2004)
- The Bavarian Radio Recordings Vol.1&2 (2010 remaster)
- Turkis & Live (1979, 80 - 2004, Erlkonig) 2CD

Only lossy: - Too Much 1981 (320 kbps)
- Akataki 1982 (256 kbps)

subharmonia.blogspot.com said...

There seems to be something wrong with the password when I try to open it with unrar. Why are you using it anyway? Yes, more Aera would be welcome. Thanks!

progger ears said...

@subharmonia.blogspot.com;

-If you downloaded the RAR file, double clicked and put in password, but you keep getting message that archive file is incomplete or corrupt: USE the new version ; Install WinRAR v5.01. And it will work for all popular compression formats (RAR, ZIP, CAB, ARJ, LZH, ACE, TAR, GZip, UUE, ISO, BZIP2, Z and 7-Zip)

-Yes I use WinRAR, and it works quite well so keep using it!
-I asked you which Aera you want, don't think to charge everything...
-And whether you want it in lossless or lossy...please.

Anonymous said...

Great find!! Many thanks!

Anonymous said...

Did you ever manage to share the links to the other Aera albums? Where can I find them?

progger ears said...

No i will not share the links to the other Aera albums or upload but:
You can find them in Rustracker,
first you have to register (use a translator)
and then you can download in torrentclient.