Between - Stille Über Der Zeit / Silence Beyond Time (expanded edition 2007, orig. rel. 1980)

The most high-profile entries in Between's compact discography are arguably And The Waters Opened (1973) and Dharana (1974).  Those two frequently crop up at the margins of krautrock 'must have' lists as prime examples of their jazz/kraut/world-fusion sound, with group mainstay Peter Michael Hamel also fairly well known in his own right.  I went for this one from the very end of their career for no other reason than it was more readily available than the others (almost all of these 2007 reissues seem to be out of print now), and it's an absolutely gorgeous album.

The sound of Silence Beyond Time has virtually nothing to do with krautrock of any shade, except maybe Popol Vuh at their most acoustic, and is based on piano, acoustic guitar and wind instruments (Robert Eliscu had played with Popol Vuh; Roger Janotta made some obscure appearances on ECM/Japo).  If anything, Between on this album sound more like a less jazzy/more classical-influenced Oregon, or Azimuth without the electronics.  After a brief opening track based on minimalist piano figures, the most atmospheric track Two Alone By The Waterphone is an early highlight.  Percussion when it appears is minimal, either bongos or, on the lengthy Indian-influenced Das Molekül, tabla from guest musician Pandit Sankha Chatterjee.  The baroque-inspired winds earned that track the working title "Telemann in India".  

 

On Side Two of the original album, the title track was written just before the death of Hamel's father, to whom the final track is also dedicated; it starts as a meditative tribute with wordless voice, before picking up speed with another minimalist piano part.  Peaceful Piece is a lengthy group improvisation; it's followed on the CD reissue by two further improvisatory tracks that didn't appear on the original LP, and are a fair bit looser and wilder than the LP tracks, so perhaps didn't make the cut for that reason.  The album proper concludes with another beautiful piano and voice based piece, and a sublime guitar/flute/bass trio that was the last ever Between recording.  Very highly recommended.

Original LP cover

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