Cosmic Jokers (Kosmiche Music 1974)
Genre: Kosmische, Space Rock
Album Length: 47.11
Best Song: 'Electronic Rock Zeitalter'

Tracks:
1. Tim Bleibt Bei Uns 7:06
2. Downtown 2:42
3. Lord Krishna 1:23
4. Power Drive 1:40
5. Bei Tim 1:50
6. Right Hand Lover 1:33
7. Cosmic Courier Bon Chance 2:55
8. Swiss High Lands 1:19
9. Der Magier 2:45
10. The Electronic Scene 3:38
11. Electronic Rock Zeitalter 11:09
12. So Beautiful 3:51
13. The Queen Of Sunshine 3:22
14. Meine Kosmische Musik 1:42

Definitely not the best release, but 'Gilles Zeitschiff' (Gilles Spaceship) is perhaps the freakiest artifact to come out of the Cosmic Jokers' short existence. A pastiche concept 'sampler', the album contains heavily overdubbed excerpts from the Kosmische Kuriere projects: 'Seven Up', 'Lord Krishna Von Goloka', and 'Tarot'. The material is spiced up by additional material recorded by Klaus Schulze and Gille Lettman. Schulze's signature cosmic synthesizer sound is used to full effect while Gille can be heard delivering an acid drenched narration in German and English. The narration details the power of 'Mr. Energy', Timothy Leary, and how he became involved with the Kosmische Kuriere group. In case you weren't aware, Gille makes it known that Timothy is a love god and that "T. L. stands for true love". Obviously the effect which Mr. Leary had on Gille was out of this world. Plain and simple, 'Gilles Zeitschiff' is krautrock in its purest form and the album should make its way into your collection at some point. This one is best listened to with head phones! [2/5 Doug]

Musicians:
Gille Lettman - Vocals
Klaus Schulze - Electronics
Jurgen Dollase - Keyboards
Manuel Gottsching - Guitar
Harald Grosskopf - Drums
Dieter Dierks - Bass
Hartmut Enke - Bass, Guitar
Walter Westrupp - Guitar
Bernd Witthuser - Guitar
Sergius Golowin - Vocals
Brian Barritt - Vocals

Cosmic Jokers "s/t" 1974

Cosmic Jokers (Kosmiche Music 1974)
Genre: Kosmische, Space Rock
Album Length: 42.13
Best Song: 'Cosmic Joy B'

Tracks:
1. Galactic Joke A 7.10
2. Galactic Joke B 6.44
3. Galactic Joke C 8.50
4. Cosmic Joy A 9.19
5. Cosmic Joy B 10.06

Overview:
Cosmic Jokers is the first album by this Krautrock supergroup, although the members had joined forces together previously on Walter Wegmuller's 'Tarot' and Sergius Golowin's 'Lord Krishna Von Goloka'. The music is a little representational of the backgrounds of the band as well, sometimes sounding like Ash Ra Tempel (Gotsching and Schulze) and at other times like Wallenstein (Dollase and Grosskopf). Legendary engineer Dieter Dierks, whose name is synonymous with the Ohr and Kosmische Musik recordings, plays a pivotal role in 'glueing' the sound together. The resulting recording is a good album which comes closer to the 'kosmische' sounds of Ash Ra Tempel than the symphonic rock of Wallenstein. In all, there are 2 extended tracks divided into suites with a sound dominated by an eerie/spacey synth and some heavily-reverbed guitar. A must have for Ash Ra Tempel and Klaus Schulze fans as well as fans of the 'kosmische' sound. [4/5 Doug]

Musicians:
Manuel Gottsching - Guitar
Klaus Schulze - Electronics
Jurgen Dollase - Keyboards
Harald Grosskopf - Drums
Dieter Dierks - Bass