FEATURED CD: Out of Focus - Four Letter Monday Afternoon

[Poisoned Youth]

Underexposed album from an underrated German band. All of their work has charm, but this is their masterpiece. It's a difficult album to describe, but it's somewhere locked between proto-prog, brass-rock like Chicago, jazz-rock like Soft Machine, and Can. It clocks in over 90 minutes, there's a lot to absorb.



Review from ProgArchives:

I would like to say that the reputation of this album being Jazz-rock/fusion is much exaggerated . Sure the band was expanded and added up a temporary full brass section, taking in as a permanent member a second wind blower, but only the second disc can be seen (with the 48+min track divided into three parts) as real Jazz-rock flavoured disc. The sky-lit artwork is a cool but sober artwork for such a superlative work, again released on the now-legendary Kuckuck label.

The first disc starts off with the masterful L S B (17 + min) full of their usual interplay with some very pastoral moments between the flute and the guitar and organ. Only in the last five minutes are sung. The second track is a bonus on CD and is rather folkish as the last track of disc 1. Third comes on of those numbers with an infectious groove coming in soon and being repeated to the end but ever subtly changing and again the vocals come in late in the tune in the form of a great scat (Tsajama) being speeded up as the song is veering towards the end. Black Cards is another gem bringing you back to their second eponymous album.

The second disc is the reason why this does not get five stars. Only one tune on this album, spread out in three movements, with themes repeating themselves, adding up more and improving as they go along. Fascinating, brilliant and adventuresome, but too long and does not stand numerous repeated listenings. They might have made it more succinct into one side of vinyl as they had much more material from those recording session (will not be released until 2002) and some stuff that might have given this disc the full marks it disserves. On this album the jazz intonations are often reminiscent of a brass rock ensemble like Chicago or The Flock and If, than jazz-rock ala Mahavishnu or Weather Report.

A real must-hear, if you do not know the band, start with the previous and work either way, moving on to the excellent two posthumous albums after the official releases of the times. Aside from sometimes being a little self-indulgent, they had a flawless albeit short career, not making a single weak number. There are not too many band, that can be said the same..... What an awesome band they were, said Dag-Erik Asbjornssen. I can only nod in full agreement. - Sean Trane

[bill g]

Haven't heard of this band, but the clips above are interesting and likable. Not sure about the vocals, but the music has a lot to like. 'Black Cards' sounds really good from around the 3:30 mark on.

[Trane]

You can't go wrong with Out Of Focus


Even the three posthumous releases are awesome...

Rats Road is the left-over from this magnum opus is maybe not as strong, but if you loved this, you'll love that one as well.

[saulgoodman]

I really love all of the Out of Focus catalog, but this is their magnum opus. A Krauty, Jazz-Rock classic. Essential.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I'd love to love it, but sadly I can't even begin to really appreciate it at all. There's too much playing and too little actual music here; too few elaborate structures, too many endless repetitions, lacking in overall variety and nuance and - regrettably - to me, lacking in substance.

I quite enjoy their debut, although the fatigue of repetition starts already there. They were still better at Pretty Things-/Broughtons- and Doors'ian post-garage-blues-rock than this overblown, faux-jazzrock mammoth antic, though. Out of Focus were interesting and seriously freaky, but their general status among Kraut enthusiasts has always escaped me. I guess we can not all relate to the same dimensions.

[spacefreak]

L.S.B. is one of my all time favorite german progressive pieces.

[ashratom]

Fantastic group. This title is my favorite, but as Trane notes, you really can't go wrong with any of them including the archival stuff.

[JeffCarney]

I'd love to love it, but sadly I can't even begin to really appreciate it at all. There's too much playing and too little actual music here; too few elaborate structures, too many endless repetitions, lacking in overall variety and nuance and - regrettably - to me, lacking in substance.

I quite enjoy their debut, although the fatigue of repetition starts already there. They were still better at Pretty Things-/Broughtons- and Doors'ian post-garage-blues-rock than this overblown, faux-jazzrock mammoth antic, though. Out of Focus were interesting and seriously freaky, but their general status among Kraut enthusiasts has always escaped me. I guess we can not all relate to the same dimensions.

Same experience here. And I blame Dag Erik Asbjornsen, whose writing I really enjoy, but who hyped them in Cosmic Dreams At Play as going far beyond Colosseum, Gravy Train, Jethro Tull or some such ... so obviously my hopes were high.

I kind of dig Not Too Late, their unreleased fourth, and there are certainly elements on the first two that I enjoy, but the third is tough to even get through. I've tried. And maybe it's time for yet another revisit as it has been a few years, but I just am not sure this one will ever pull me in.

[Rarebird]

Is there any difference between the Reactive and the Kucku edition?

[nosebone]

I'd love to love it, but sadly I can't even begin to really appreciate it at all. There's too much playing and too little actual music here; too few elaborate structures, too many endless repetitions, lacking in overall variety and nuance and - regrettably - to me, lacking in substance.
.

Agreed.

This is something I really want to like, but those stoner jams go (mostly) nowhere.

[Digital_Man]

I've heard bits and pieces on internet radio and youtube. Fine band. I plan on exploring further.

[Jay.Dee]

I am in the yay camp about this particular album. I dig the repetitive aspect of the songs, as the main themes are strong, execution is musically inspired and arrangements are well crafted and varied, shifting constantly between brass-rock, jazz-rock and psychedelia. Overall, one of the most enjoyable records in its own segment.

I am actually surprised that after rather generic "proto-prog" fare on their previous two albums they would come up with such a strong effort. I still need to check those two posthumous studio releases, because after having got acquainted with the horrendously sloppy Palermo 1972 live release I somewhat lost appetite for their archival recordings.

[Levgan]

I am actually surprised that after rather generic "proto-prog" fare on their previous two albums they would come up with such a strong effort.

My sentiments exactly. In fact I'm very surprised to see disdain for Four Letter Monday Afternoon here as I thought this one was generally highly touted in prog circles. Granted, the "Huchen" piece which takes most of the third side and the entire fourth side of the original 2LP set can be a bit too much to grasp for some folks, but jammy as it is, it's exactly the kind of jamming that I never tire of. It has this wild psychedelic abandon, and an ability to move into different directions, that I adore in the longer jams by the likes of Can or Xhol. On the other hand, the first two albums always seemed underdeveloped and rather ho-hum to me, which makes this double masterpiece all the more surprising. To each his own, but for me it's firmly in my top 20 krautrock albums. I like it so much I even invested in the original LP (on Kuckuck label).

[Progbear]

I’m with Jay Dee here. I think this might be one of the few times that a double album is my #1 album by an artist*. The first couple of Out of Focus albums didn’t do a thing for me. I guess what they needed for inspiration was a wider palette, because the music was a lot more interesting. I like the jazzier direction (that horn intro to “L.S.B.” sold me on this immediately!) and the more shades and gradations present in the compositions. That multi-flute theme that recurs through the “Huchen 55” cycle is one of my favorite parts of the disc, and ties the whole piece together.

Still haven’t heard Rat Roads, so I can’t compare that one to the “official” albums.

*I’d probably put Tanz der Lemminge in here as well.

[Poisoned Youth]

I'd love to love it, but sadly I can't even begin to really appreciate it at all. There's too much playing and too little actual music here; too few elaborate structures, too many endless repetitions, lacking in overall variety and nuance and - regrettably - to me, lacking in substance.

I quite enjoy their debut, although the fatigue of repetition starts already there. They were still better at Pretty Things-/Broughtons- and Doors'ian post-garage-blues-rock than this overblown, faux-jazzrock mammoth antic, though. Out of Focus were interesting and seriously freaky, but their general status among Kraut enthusiasts has always escaped me. I guess we can not all relate to the same dimensions.

I love this kind of thought out critical review even if I can't agree. Gets me thinking a little deeper about it.

[Svetonio]

A great jazz-rock album without a weak moment.

[Jay.Dee]

I love this kind of thought out critical review even if I can't agree. Gets me thinking a little deeper about it.

Scrotum usually has little use for sentimental music, maybe except for Forever Changes. I understand his J'accuse very well, but I am such a sentimental fool sometimes...

Sentimentality audio test here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsQE_MzZvDY

[Scrotum Scissor]

Scrotum usually has little use for sentimental music, maybe except for Forever Changes.

You're usually spot on, Jay, but not on this one; Scrotum adores skinless sentimentality in rock/pop music, but not when it's brought on by a seemingly bad hangover as with OoF on this album.

Seriously, like I said, I'd really love to be able to enjoy it. I get a major kick out of other rambling garage-progressive Krautrock like Ikaros, Subject Esq., Nine Days' Wonder and so on, but OoF never worked outside of bits and pieces from their first release. On their second album there's this lengthy track with a neverending two-tone stumbling semi-riff underneath one of the least convincing sax solos I ever encountered, and I actually remember myself being grumpily hungover once and throwing my plate across the room in sheer frustration over the thing. I sold my Kuckucks of that and Four Letter the following week.

Think I'll pull out that debut again this upcoming weekend, though. It's got great sound and there are some groovy parts galores.

[Jay.Dee]

On their second album there's this lengthy track with a neverending two-tone stumbling semi-riff underneath one of the least convincing sax solos I ever encountered, and I actually remember myself being grumpily hungover once and throwing my plate across the room in sheer frustration over the thing.

Yeah, but that second LP is lacklustre and I would not subject myself again to the track you've mentioned ("Whispering" I guess). However, on the third LP we're discussing the band upped their game significantly by bringing additional musicians, and I think here their trademark repetition really works.

Of course, the particular instruments may still lack individuality and edge (the disastrous live album might be quite telling in that regard), but this music speaks to me as a whole, marrying minimalism and pomp in a way somewhat akin to what Pink Floyd did on Atom Heart Mother or Echoes.

I suppose its proximity in arrangements and aesthetics to jazz/brass-rock may make listeners expect more expressive solo parts. However if one gives up waiting in vain for a guest appearance of Elton Dean or Dick Heckstall-Smith, attunes more to a Bang On A Can-like approach instead and focuses on the sum of all parts, the music may start to work.

[Trane]

I'd love to love it, but sadly I can't even begin to really appreciate it at all. There's too much playing and too little actual music here; too few elaborate structures, too many endless repetitions, lacking in overall variety and nuance and - regrettably - to me, lacking in substance.

I quite enjoy their debut, although the fatigue of repetition starts already there. They were still better at Pretty Things-/Broughtons- and Doors'ian post-garage-blues-rock than this overblown, faux-jazzrock mammoth antic, though. Out of Focus were interesting and seriously freaky, but their general status among Kraut enthusiasts has always escaped me. I guess we can not all relate to the same dimensions.

Difficult to argue with your first paragraph, and I can only offer you my most sincere condolences .

Same experience here. And I blame Dag Erik Asbjornsen, whose writing I really enjoy, but who hyped them in Cosmic Dreams At Play as going far beyond Colosseum, Gravy Train, Jethro Tull or some such ... so obviously my hopes were high.

I kind of dig Not Too Late, their unreleased fourth, and there are certainly elements on the first two that I enjoy, but the third is tough to even get through. I've tried. And maybe it's time for yet another revisit as it has been a few years, but I just am not sure this one will ever pull me in.

I happen to totally agree with Asbjornssen in this case... It's rather rare that he gets this excited. yeah, I get that one may find their meanderings a bit long on their longer tracks, but it clicks all the right buttons with me. Moran's lyrics are maybe the weaker thing in their music, though.

Yeah, Not To Late is more concise than FLMA

Is there any difference between the Reactive and the Kucku edition?

I didn't know they were released on Reactive...
On CD, it was Kuckuck, and the posthumous releases are on Garden Of Delight. Didn't Esoteric reissue the three historic releases a while back?

Agreed.

This is something I really want to like, but those stoner jams go (mostly) nowhere.

I really enjoy those kind of meanders

I am in the yay camp about this particular album. I dig the repetitive aspect of the songs, as the main themes are strong, execution is musically inspired and arrangements are well crafted and varied, shifting constantly between brass-rock, jazz-rock and psychedelia. Overall, one of the most enjoyable records in its own segment.

I am actually surprised that after rather generic "proto-prog" fare on their previous two albums they would come up with such a strong effort. I still need to check those two posthumous studio releases, because after having got acquainted with the horrendously sloppy Palermo 1972 live release I somewhat lost appetite for their archival recordings.

I hear the proto-prog in their debut album, but to me, their second one (my fave) is really full-blown JR/F (despite some great folk moments), whereas the second disc of FLMA is more in the brass-rock alley.

I didn't hear the sloppiness on their sole out-of-Germany concert recording.... But then again OOF can do little wrong with me

You're usually spot on, Jay, but not on this one; Scrotum adores skinless sentimentality in rock/pop music, but not when it's brought on by a seemingly bad hangover as with OoF on this album.

If I had hangovers like this, I'd be the world's greatest alcoholic and would be on my fourth liver transplant and attend the Munich (OoF's hometown) Oktoberfest every year

[Jay.Dee]

I get that one may find their meanderings a bit long on their longer tracks, but it clicks all the right buttons with me. [...] I really enjoy those kind of meanders

Well orchestrated meandering is priceless.

What would become of Atom Heart Mother if we cut out all those reprises of the main theme? Or take for instance Man's C'Mon recorded live at the Roundhouse '73 or L.S.B. from the discussed OoF album. Both reach for a similar grandeur as AHM by using fairly common means: thickly arranged recurring themes (in Man's case employing choir, in Out of Focus' - brass/horns, in Pink Floyd's - both) layered over repetitive rhythm and organ patterns interspersed with free-form interludes and soaring solos.

I love all three and would not drop a second out of either - repetitio est mater musicorum!

[JeffCarney]

I happen to totally agree with Asbjornssen in this case... It's rather rare that he gets this excited. yeah, I get that one may find their meanderings a bit long on their longer tracks, but it clicks all the right buttons with me.

Ok, but clicking buttons isn't really the point. How does Out Of Focus go "far beyond" bands like Colosseum, Gravy Train and Jethro Tull?

I just fail to see how that statement could be backed up. Not in terms of musical taste, but by any objective sense of musical analysis.

[Jay.Dee]

How does Out Of Focus go "far beyond" bands like Colosseum, Gravy Train and Jethro Tull?

I am more interested in what Gravy Train is doing in this comparison. Putting the nebulous meaning of "going far beyond" aside, is Gravy Train a milestone of quality in the discussions among prog experts?

[JeffCarney]

I am more interested in what Gravy Train is doing in this comparison. Putting the nebulous meaning of "going far beyond" aside, is Gravy Train a milestone of quality in the discussions among prog experts?

I wouldn't think so, but I assume Asbjornsen was thinking of their first album or two and maybe Tull's first album or two as somehow stylistically in the same category.

I rate Norman Barratt as one the great songwriters of his era. You could take everything Out Of Focus has ever done, even add the posthumous releases and you wouldn't have a single pimple on "Bring My Life On Back To Me." But this isn't my quote, so I can't really answer why the particular bands mentioned were chosen as a basis for comparison. I'm pretty sure those were the bands mentioned, but I don't have the book at hand.

[Jay.Dee]

I wouldn't think so, but I assume Asbjornsen was thinking of their first album or two and maybe Tull's first album or two as somehow stylistically in the same category.

The flute (omni)present on their earlier albums might have something to do, I guess.

Colosseum comparison could be more apt for the third LP we're debating here, but I don't hear it. Instead I would rather single out Manfred Mann's Chapter III as a point of reference, who also employed recitative singing and repetitive patterns led by a "wall of horns" playing in unison.