With their nearly nonexistent public profile, you'd be forgiven for throwing a blank when the name of these krautrock merchants is raised, their peripheral status seemingly the price they've paid for being largely out of step with the dominant Kosmiche tradition. Given canterbury jazz-prog's limited cache amongst indie rock cognoscenti, Eiliff's aberrant penchant for this decidedly non-Germanic idiom (at least on their stunning debut) makes their obscurity seem all too predictable.
With its immediate stylistic affinities to Thirsty Moon, Embryo, Out Of Focus and other participants in the psychedelically addled German jazzy jam band jamboree, this live document certainly goes a long way toward reinstating them within the circumscribed boundaries of krautrock as its popularly identified, though it's also concurrently less identifiable as something likely to raise the hairs on my neck or the lump in my throat. That said, any seasoned krautrock afficionado's pleasure centers are sure to be mercilessly molested by the epic title track from their second album Girlrls as reworked here, an 18+ minute revelation that sidles up so close to the spirit of Agitation Free's 2nd, it practically dry humps it. While the remainder falls short of attaining access to this sanctified realm, it's never less that engaging. A second tier title from a first rate outfit, newcomers are strongly advised to dip their toes in the soma pool of Eiliff's self-titled debut before venturing into this somewhat less auspicious backwater.
(Originally published in Alternative Press #140, p.78; reprinted with
permission)
Original jazz rock or "rock fusion", somewhat similar to early Soft Machine/Canterbury school and Moving Gelatine Plates. The album contains four tracks, which increase in both length and quality as the album proceeds. The highlight is the 21 minute final track simply called "Suite". This is a sensationally diverse track of heavy jazz rock going through various moods and quite similar to the long instrumental parts on Zappa's "Hot Rats/Burnt Weeny Sandwich" albums. A minor classic of the German rock fusion scene.
