Agitation Free

Agitation Free is a German experimental krautrock band formed in 1967 by Michael "Fame" Günther, Lutz "Lüül" Ulbrich, Lutz Ludwig Kramer and Christopher Franke.

WWW Official Site

Name

They were initially called Agitation, a name they chose at random from a dictionary. The band had to change the name because another band with the same name already existed. Agitation Free was chosen based on a poster for a free show played in the early 1970s saying "Agitation Free".

History

After losing guitarist Ax Genrich to Guru Guru in 1970 and drummer Franke to Tangerine Dream in 1971, the band recruited Jörg "Joshi" Schwenke, Burghard Rausch and Michael Hoenig. They released their first album, Malesch, in 1972 on the Music Factory label. The album was inspired by their tour through Egypt, Greece and Cyprus, sponsored by the German Goethe Institute. Later that year, they performed at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
A second album was released in 1973, and guitarist Schwenke was replaced first by Stefan Diez, then Gustl Lütjens. The band disbanded in 1974.
Agitation Free reunited in 1998, with the 1974 line-up, and released River of Return in 1999. The band again reformed in 2007 for a series of concerts in Tokyo. In 2008, remastered CDs of their back catalogue were officially released, and in 2011 they released Shibuya Nights, recorded at their 2007 Tokyo concerts. In 2012, the band toured again to promote this album.
The band is included on the Nurse with Wound list.

Musical style and sound

Agitation Free's music is psychedelic, experimental krautrock with elements of spaced-out ambient, experimental electronic and drone. The music for the most part consists of driving organ-patterned drone-like rock; seamless psychedelic cosmic musical textures with intricate musicianship and musical variety; hard, driving rock similar to Amon Düül II; and jamming that occasionally invokes the interplay and styles of Garcia, Weir and Lesh of The Grateful Dead and hints at a blues rock base not unlike The [Allman Brothers Band]. Many of their songs have a trance-inducing, psychedelic feel with sections of driving rock fueled by fiery and melodic moving guitar lines and solid, propelling and intricate drumming and a prominent bass line. All of Agitation Free's songs are instrumental apart from some recitation on "Haunted Island".
Their first album Malesch is cosmic, aggressive, psychedelic, creative, ethnically flavored, mysterious and densely packed with ideas whereas their second, titled 2nd is more laid-back and upbeat, with longer structure, much more of an emphasis on traditional styled jamming à la the Grateful Dead and a warmer and more straightforward sound. On Malesch the songs blend together to make a seamlessly flowing, tangential and uninterrupted musical journey, whereas on 2nd songs are more predictably structured, more varied in their sound and stand more as independent works.
Their sound is similar to, but fairly distinguishable from, other contemporary Krautrock bands such as Ash Ra Tempel, Amon Düül II, Guru Guru, Brainticket, Yatha Sidhra and Kalacakra, as well as the mixed-influence blues-based jam rock of The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers noticeable on 2nd, and slightly later and more symphonic bands like Asia Minor and Anyone's Daughter.

Personnel

Members

Lutz Ulbrich – guitars
Michael Günther – bass guitar
Christopher Franke – drums
Lutz Ludwig Kramer – guitars
Michael Duwe – vocals
Ax Genrich – guitars
Jörg Schwenke – guitars
Michael Hoenig – keyboards, electronics
Burghard Rausch – drums
Dietmar Burmeister – drums, percussion
Stefan Diez – guitars
Gustl Lütjens – guitars
Bernhard Arndt – keyboards
Daniel Cordes – bass guitar

Lineups

N.B. changes in bold

1967–1970	1970	1970–1971	1971–1973
Lutz Ulbrich – guitarsLutz Ludwig Kramer – guitarsMichael Günther – bass guitarChristopher Franke – drums	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Christopher Franke – drumsAxel Genrich – guitars	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Christopher Franke – drumsJörg Schwenke – guitars	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Jörg Schwenke – guitarsMichael Hoenig – keyboards, electronicsBurghard Rausch – drums
1973 spring	1973 mid	1973–1974	1974
Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Jörg Schwenke – guitars Michael Hoenig – keyboards, electronics Burghard Rausch – drumsDietmar Burmeister – drums, percussion	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Michael Hoenig – keyboards, electronics Burghard Rausch – drumsStefan Diez – guitars	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Michael Hoenig – keyboards, electronics Burghard Rausch – drumsGustl Lütjens – guitars	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Michael Hoenig – keyboards, electronics Burghard Rausch – drums Gustl Lütjens – guitarsBernhard Arndt – keyboards
1975–1997	1998–1999	2000–2006	2007
Disbanded	Lutz Graf-Ulbrich – guitars, keyboards Michael Günther – bass guitar Burghard Rausch – drums Gustl Lütjens – guitars, keyboards	Disbanded	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Burghard Rausch – drums Gustl Lütjens – guitarsMichael Hoenig – keyboards, electronics
2008–2011	2012	2013	2014–present
Disbanded	Lutz Graf-Ulbrich – guitars Michael Günther – bass guitar Burghard Rausch – drums Gustl Lütjens – guitars Michael Hoenig – keyboards, electronics	Lutz Ulbrich – guitars Burghard Rausch – drums Gustl Lütjens – guitars Michael Hoenig – keyboards, electronicsDaniel Cordes – bass guitar	Disbanded

Discography

Malesch 2nd Last Fragments At the Cliffs of River Rhine Garden of DelightsThe Other Sides of Agitation Free River of Return Shibuya Nights

''Momentum''