Ardo Dombec - 1971 - Ardo Dombec

Ardo Dombec 

1971

Ardo Dombec

01. Spectaculum (4:02)

02. Supper Time (3:19)

03. A Bit Near the Knuckle (4:32)

04. Clean-Up Sunday (6:50)

05. Downtown Paradise Lost (5:52)

06. Oh, Sorry (0:08)

07. 108 (4:36)

08. Unchangable Things?! (5:58)

Bonus tracks on 2002 CD reissue:

09. Heavenly Rose (3:54)

10. Open the Door, Open Your Mind (2:11)

11. Young and Strong (3:15)

12. Riverside (4:15)

Helmut Hachmann / saxophone, flute

Harald Gleu / guitar, vocals

Wolfgang Spillner / drums, vocals

Michael Ufer / bass

Not much is known about ARDO DOMBEC except that they were an early 70's German prog band who released an album with a heavy, bluesy, and slightly jazzy feel, ending up barely sounding German at all. Often compared to COLOSSEUM, their music features a lot of saxophone, often matched by electric guitar and flute. Their arrangements are upbeat and bright, yet the lyrics are rather dark and cynical in contrast. The band consisted of Helmut Hachmann on sax and flute, Harald Gleu on guitar and vocals, Wolfgang Spillner on drums and vocals, and Michael Ufer on bass.

Their only album, entitled simply "Ardo Dombec" (1971), collects just about everything the band has ever recorded. At times, their jazzy material flirts with pop and at other times, it sounds downright baroque. The band obviously enjoys strange and complex rhythms, SOFT MACHINE style. Although they seem to favour vocal tracks (which aren't exactly their forte), it is in the instrumental sections that they truly shine. Technically speaking, the musicianship is fairly good but the compositions may lack a little inspiration and excitement.

Ardo Dombec differs from other folk-blues-fusion-hard rock bands of the early 70's by the presence of omnipresent visceral saxophone arrangements that remain pretty structured, sometimes reminding the Dutch fusion band Solution. Because of the aforementioned subgenres, Ardo Dombec perfectly falls into the art rock category. The drums and bass are often very fast, rhythmic and complex, flirting with fusion elements, and reminding the early Camel without the keyboards. Despite their German origin, Ardo Dombec have nothing to do with the krautrock subgenre. The lyrics are sung in English. The tracks are pretty progressive for 1971. Many flute parts a la Jethro Tull, Focus and even Camel add some interesting variety; the track with the very pleasant visceral harmonica exhibition also shows how versatile the members can be. The music is quite addictive, disciplined and structured: this allows me to qualify the album as excellent. Some catchy tracks, combined with the typical lead vocals, should even slightly remind the listener a sophisticated Elvis Presley!

Spectaculum A set of truly fun(ky) grooves, infused with sax stabs that I would be very surprised if the Hip-Hop community had already exploited to death (if they haven't then keep this one to yourself!). The intial energetic groove is taken back a few gears to something altogether more slinky, before re-asserting itself after a subtle Can-styled strip-back. For fans of the more obscure, there's a passing similarity to Kaputter Hamster here.

There's no holding the grooves back in Supper Time, with quasi-operatic vocals suggesting Arthur Brown. Fun details expose themselves in the music, and the same tempo drop-back technique is used, bringing about a kind of harmonised Doors flavour. A searing dissonant guitar solo scorches its way across the musical landscape, bluffing wildly, but colouring effectively. The band, all the while, providing a some-nonsense, rock-solid boogie.

I'm again reminded of the Kaputter ones in A Bit Near the Knuckle, which is more of the same - solid jazzy, funky grooves, quasi-operatic vocals, time changes, wandering bass lines and fun details in the musical structure. Here, the slower section gets even slower and more laid-back, hinting at Pink Floyd, but with a jazzier, groovy edge and some fun chord leaps - and an even more fun build-up back to the verse. The vocals here are again a cross between Arthur Brown and Jim Morrison, featuring declamations with a core of anger, and the sax dominates proceedings without overpowering them. The solo, particularly is a wicked toe-tapping groove, around which the sax slithers and slides to tremendous effect.

A flute suddenly takes the sax's dominant position for the start of Clean-Up Sunday, a story about a girl halfway between Cinderella and Eleanor Rigby, it seems. Featuring the flute so heavily lends a natural Jethro Tull flavour at some points - but suddenly we drop into the jazziest, funkiest groove so far - around 1:36, and the flautists' vocalisations recall Ian Anderson very strongly indeed - but with something added in the humour department, comical without being ridiculous - a very good job indeed.

Some awesome jazz touches jump out of the groove before it suddenly dies, giving way to an acoustic guitar, which noodles around a little, appears to settle, fades out completely, then gives way to some parallel 5th chanting over tinkly bells, evoking a monastic kind of feel - suggesting the Sunday spirit of the piece, although not for too long. Another groove is laid down on us, with flavours of Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit, and this grows, bar-by-bar back to the song and the story we've pretty much forgotten about by now!

No real surprises at the start of Downtown Paradise Lost - we're back to the sax dominated texture for an R&B flavoured number about the Red Light District. Despite some hugely emotive outpouring from the singer, and some very enthusiastic kit work from the drummer, there's not a huge amount of excitement to this song, despite its subject matter - although you can clearly hear RAP around 2:25 - to think that rap didn't take off as a genre until at least 10 years later (probably more)!

Here's where the song really hots up, as the story hots up - the music punctuates the action, before dropping into a sultry and suggestive harmonica-topped, hip-shakin' groove. Can't think why they didn't use the sax instead - but it does show up for a turn, before the story is resumed.

Heh - good job I've got a CD, instead of the vinyl (well, you try finding a vinyl copy!), or I might have been fooled by Oh Sorry, a vinyl owner's nightmare.

This is followed by the most progressive piece so far, 108, with a glorious acoustic guitar intro - really, this is how an acoustic intro should be written and played - none of your simple two-chord even-note picking rubbish here - PROPER guitar playing!

I could listen to an album of this, but then the flute joins in and makes it an even more pleasurable listen. OK, the chord sequence IS based around 2 chords here, but it's still fun and interesting, as the flute soars, warbles and chirps beautifully.

The album closes with the rockin' Unchangable Things, which, ironically changes persistently as it progresses over a solid bass groove, before dropping into the sax solo which sounds like it might have been lifted from a Gong album in terms of the overall sound produced. There's then another change to a new groove - and OK, I got the joke in the first sentence. Teutons and their musical jokes, eh?

Monster groove alert around 3:20 - this one's a killer, replete with psychedelic, noodly, wah-drenched guitar solo, which pulls out all the stops to avoid becoming predictable - and largely succeeds.

Despite the English words, a fantastic, fun piece of Krautrock, recalling many of the greats and the obscurites of that genre, but without truly going into full-blown Kosmische, a tremedous work of jazz/funk with wondrous grooves for all to enjoy and nice details in the arrangements to stop Proggers falling asleep.

A real pleasure to listen to and review - and nicely within this particular field of Progressive Rock. I even hung around for the bonus tracks, which are, yes, you guessed it, a lot of fun. Excellent addition to your collection - although maybe not if you don't like funky grooves (and who doesn't?