Popol Vuh

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1976 / 1999
The title track is the ubiquitous soundtrack for Werner Herzog's classic film Aguirre, the Wrath of God, an excellent movie about a doomed party of conquistadors gradually swallowed up by an uncaring jungle. Fricke created here a transcendent masterpiece of ambience; seriously some of the finest mellotron work ever recorded.

This is the last copy of the Ohr Version!

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1995
There were different phases of Popol Vuh concept development.
Ambient with elements of ethnic music (long before these genres were invented)["Affenstunde"; "In Den Gärten Pharaos"; "Aguirre"]; romantic meditative ballad rock with classical and Oriental influences ["Hosianna Mantra", "Das Hohelied Salomos"], raga rock with pepetitive choral chants ["Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte", "Sei Still, Wisse I'H BIN"]... By the early 90s Florian Fricke, leader of the band, understood that his old records couldn't impress young listeners (and the main listener was his own daughter), so he decided to adjust his music to the tastes of new generation of listeners, who listened to Future Sound of London, Enigma, Deep Forest etc. With the help of young musician Guido Hieronymus he recorded this album - "City Raga". Voice of Mexican singer Maya Rose, samples of ethnic songs, electronic beats and rhythms... It was like return to the roots of Popol Vuh (electronic music, ethnic elements) but in other epoch. The album is quite easy listening and the positive energy of Florian Fricke is here. Slow track "Last Village" could remind you of "Aguirre" theme. It was the last album with guitar playig by Daniel Fichelscher ("Morning Raga").
If you are fan of Popol Vuh sound of the 70s-early 80s - simply pass by this album.
If Popol Vuh is interesting for you as a concept - try to listen to "City Raga" and you would find much interesting moments here.
If you like music in style of Deep Forest, Enigma, Baco de Gaia - this album was recorded especially for you.

Here the last copy!

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1982 / 1992
This is the High Tide label version with different track lenghts.
Originally released in 1982, the soundtrack to yet another of Werner Herzog’s films, Fitzcarraldo is perhaps the most bizarre and provocative of all Florian Fricke’s film scores. Fitzcarraldo is the story of an opera house being built in the South American jungle for an appearance by Enrico Caruso. Yet Fitzarraldo’s music is not what one might expect given the film’s circumstance; it is music of and about deep contrast, with Caruso’s rich voice interplaying with the Popol Vuh sound. Fitzcarraldo is a true reward to all Popol Vuh and Krautrock fans alike.

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1991
1991’s For You And Me is one of the most beautiful albums in the last working phase of Popol Vuh. Written and recorded in the time of the first war in Iraq, the album stands as a Popol Vuh devotion to freedom in the world, more international understanding and tolerance beyond cultural differences. For You And Me is a positive celebration of world music, one which finds it’s influence constantly shifting from African, Irish, South American etc. flavours and is among the richest and most diverse in the Popol Vuh catalogue. As with past releases, Florian Fricke is again joined the unique vocal stylings of Renate Knaup-Aschauer. The bonus track is an unreleased piano version of the song OM Mani Padme Hum 3 played solo by Florian Fricke.

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1972 / 1999
Heavenly Melodies and tunes with a guitarplay, that reminds on Goettschings New Age of Earth.
Hosianna Mantra has finally been remastered with sparkeling and sharp sound quality.
Personnel: Florian Fricke - cembalo, piano & percussion, Robert Eliscu (Between) - oboe, Fritz Sonnleitner - violin, Connie Veit (Gila) - guitars, Djong Yun - sax & vocals and Klaus Weiss - percussion & tamboura
Here the original ZXY release.

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1978 / 2004
The new issue of Nosferatu contains more than 20 additional minutes of material left off the original release and for the first time appears as the complete soundtrack in the correct running sequence. Nosferatu contains four pieces which rank among the best in the Popol Vuh catalogue, thanks to a serene, mystic, deeply personal stance that basically transposes Hosianna Mantra into gothic music.

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 2011
A Popol Vuh selection of Electronica and Werner Herzog Soundtracks, together with 10 Ambient- , Downtempo- and Club-Remixes (2 CD-Album) As a tribute and homage to German Progressive Rock Band Popol Vuh, SPV records announces a special record release: in memory of the 10th anniversary year of the death of the band's founder Florian Fricke, "Popol Vuh Revisited & Remixed (1970-1999)" combines selected Popol Vuh tracks, new bonus material and eleven remixes of Popol Vuh by Avant-garde bands, electronic musicians and DJs of the day. It will be available and released as CD and digitally in June 2011. "Popol Vuh: Revisted & Remixed (1970-1999)" is a double album: Side A contains original Popol Vuh tracks, highlighting their Ambient- and Electronica oeuvre, including 1970's Moog III Synthesizer tracks and selected soundtracks of Werner Herzog's movie-classics "Aguirre", "Nosferatu" and "Cobra Verde", Popol Vuh is now the second German Progrock Band after Can getting remixed by a younger generation: Elevating Popol Vuh's music into the 21st Century, Side B introduces their music to a younger audience: It includes tribute remixes by Vienna 's Peter Kruder (Kruder & Dorfmeister), Berlin based electronic Combos Mouse on Mars and Stereolab, Dub experts A Critical Mass, Moritz von Oswald, Thomas Fehlmann (The Orb), deep housed Roland Appel and Alex Bark (Jazzanova), and minimal specialists Mika Vainio (Pan Sonic) and Haswell / Hecker. They have remixed Popol Vuh original electronic albums such as "Affenstunde", "In den G„rten Pharaos", and their soundtracks including "Aguirre", "Nosferatu" "Heart of Glas", "Cobra Verde". Remixes of more lyrical, progrock-oriented, classic Popol Vuh albums like "Hosianna Mantra" ,"Letzte Tage, Letzte N„chte" recall the typical Popol Vuh sound including piano journeys, cosmic guitars strings, hypnotic conga drums and lyrical rides. With a new rebirth of Ambient and Progrock, over the past decades, Popol Vuh's music has inspired a younger generation of composers, bands and electronic musicians including Aphex Twin, Stereolab or Mouse on Mars. Currently new "Kosmische" mouvements are rising in Berlin, London and New York. Produced by Edition Popol Vuh, Johannes Fricke, and technoproducer and DJ Roland Appel, this album is a deep listening journey into Popol Vuh's Electronica and Soundtrack world. Popol Vuh are considered one of the most influential German "70s progressive rock" Avant-garde acts of the Seventies and are also known as a a pioneering band in Ambient- Electronica and Progressive Rock Music. Their records "Affenstunde" (1971) and "In the Garden of Pharao" (1972), played with the Moog III Synthesizer, are claimed to be fundamentally influencing works in Electronica. They went down in the annals of German film music history with their soundtracks for legendary cinema classics by director Werner Herzog and composed more than 15 soundtracks, with the majority of them for Herzog's feature films with Klaus Kinski as the leading character. From 2004 on, SPV reissues the complete back catalogue of 20 original Albums by Popol Vuh.

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1993
Nowhere in all of Popol Vuh's releases is East Indian fusion more apparent, and more wonderful, than on this album and its earlier incarnation. On this release, however, some of the purity of that earlier vision has been lost and the tracks overlaid with keyboard harmonics on the beauty of the compositions themselves.
These are dancing pieces (not pieces to dance to necessarily) full of worshipful wonder for the mysteries of Nature.
Remixed & recorded at New African Studio, Munich, Dec. 1992.
Track 8 was originally titled "Einsjäger - Siebenjäger" and produced 1974 (therefore no composing credits are given).

Artist: Popol Vuh
P: 1981 / 1991
This is the version, where the 2 albums are released together on one CD.
An album that we must listen with closer eyes because it'a a meditation progressive music. Some piano and a calm female voice give a strong music effect ina psichedelic space rock vein but with a strong classic influencies. Everithing is calm, the guityar, the voices , percussion, but this is not a album with orient and Indian influencies. We find a west context in this album. Quite good and quite calm, this masterpiece from Germany it's very good to listen after the stress or in the end of the day. Higly recomended for people that like psichedelic space rock and want start a discover of the sounds of this work, in a calm, balanced and not boring album 5 stars of cours.

Artist: V/A
P: 1992
Very good Prog-Rock compilation with Popol Vuh and Amon Düül 2.

Here the last copy!