My Solid Ground
My Solid Ground, Baccilus Records, Germany, 1971. £1,250
My Solid Ground formed in Russelsheim, Germany in 1968, and included 14-year-old guitarist Bernhard Rendel. By 1970 they had become popular in the local scene, and later in the year recorded an epic 24-minute psychedelic/ progressive track titled Flash which won them second place in a competition for SWF Radio and led to a record deal.
In early 1971 the band recorded what has become one of the most soughtafter LPs of the early Krautrock era, although to describe the album purely as Krautrock would be misleading, as a lot of it is simply great hard/heavy rock.
Opening track Dirty Yellow Mist is a prime example of the strange sonic assault associated with the Krautrock genre. It’s a captivatingly dark 13-minute drone monster with haunting piano/ organ, scary distorted voices, eerie female mantras, repetitive beats, megadistorted guitar chords and postapocalyptic vibes. Bringing to mind Ummagumma (in the studio)-era Pink Floyd, it’s the album’s most out-there cut.
Elsewhere, proto-metal headbangers That’s You, Flash Pt IV and Handful Of Grass will appeal to hard rock fans, while gentle prog moves of Melancholie, the ballad-like Devonshire St W1 (seemingly about a surreal encounter by one of the band during a trip to London) and the outright weirdness of The Executioner make this album a surreal journey.
Following its release, several line-up changes took place before they finally folded in 1974.
‘One of the most sought-after LPs of the early Krautrock era.’