I’d had this album for years before I knew it was part of whatever krautrock and kosmische are. I got it in the early Eighties from a beat-digging friend, someone who was activated long before sampling kicked in. This quartet, with Chris Franke later of Tangerine Dream, have a sick backbeat and dial in their cosmic trails and flash burns carefully. Maybe their role as house band for the Zodiac club made them careful about freaking people out. Their overall momentum is pretty heavy, much less folky and delicate than some of their peers. “Ala Tul” is straight up DJ Shadow stuff.

– Sasha Frere-Jones