Affenstunde ("Hour of the Monkey")[2] is the first album by German band Popol Vuh. Originally released in 1970 in Germany by Liberty Records, it has been reissued several times by various international labels. The 2004 German SPV edition features one previously unreleased bonus track. It is a notable early example of the Moog synthesizer being used for the production and composition of original music.[1]
| Affenstunde | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1970 | |||
| Recorded | Bavaria Music Studio, Munich, West Germany | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:02 | |||
| Label | Liberty | |||
| Producer | Bettina Fricke, Gerhard Augustin | |||
| Popol Vuh chronology | ||||
| ||||
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
AllMusic called it "an auspicious debut, which holds up wonderfully in the 21st century."[3] Perfect Sound Forever described Affenstunde as "a landmark electronic album" that "also doesn't have the timeless quality of many of their later works".[1] Julian Cope described it as "a debut album of incredible sounds and sensations that were unlike anything prior to its existence".[4] David Stubbs described the album as sounding "otherworldly, beguiling, perhaps precisely because of its 'datedness', its raw technological naïveté".[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks by Popol Vuh except track number 5 by Florian Fricke.
- "Ich mache einen Spiegel – Dream Part 4" – 8:44
- "Ich mache einen Spiegel – Dream Part 5" – 4:41
- "Ich mache einen Spiegel – Dream Part 49" – 7:43
- "Affenstunde" – 18:30
- 2004 Bonus track
- "Train Through Time" – 10:30
Personnel
edit- Florian Fricke – Moog synthesizer
- Holger Trülzsch – percussion
- Frank Fiedler – Synthesizer mixdown
- Bettina Fricke – cover design, production, tablas (un-credited)
References
edit- ^ a b c Bearman, Gary (October 2008). "The Transcendent Music of Popol Vuh". Perfect Sound Forever. Archived from the original on October 29, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ "POPOL VUH—AFFENSTUNDE". Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ a b Jurek, Thom. Affenstunde at AllMusic
- ^ Cope, Julian (January 2012). "Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | The Book of Seth | Popol Vuh – Affenstunde". Head Heritage. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
- ^ Stubbs, David (2020). Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany. Melville. ISBN 9781612194745. Retrieved 6 May 2020.