Popol Vuh - Kailash: Pilgrimage To The Throne of God (2015)

‘Kailash’ is a new collection of work from Florian Fricke, leader of Popol Vuh, seminal group in the German rock scene of the 1970s (Can, Faust, Amon Duul, Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream) and creators of classic soundtracks to the films of Werner Herzog (‘Aguirre The Wrath Of God’, ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘Fitzcaraldo’, among others). ‘Kailash’ brings together essential and unreleased piano recordings, together with Fricke’s travelogue film ‘Kailash’, about his spiritual voyage to Tibet’s 22,000 foot Kailash mountain, ‘Throne Of The Gods’ and the accompanying soundtrack album to this film.

‘Essential Piano Recordings’: For the first time, this compilation on Soul Jazz Records unites a careful selection of Florian Fricke’s most favourite piano tracks and compositions, both released and previously unreleased. Aside from his groundbreaking work with Popol Vuh, Fricke’s background is that of a classical composer and it was one of his late wishes to release ‘piano only’ recordings.

These essential piano recordings by Florian Fricke should be considered as something like the core or the heart of many Popol Vuh compositions. They contain tracks from 1972-1989 that Florian Fricke would have liked on a piano only album, enriched with further song improvisations that have been found posthumously, after he passed away in 2001. Some of these are studies for key tracks of Popol Vuh (for example 1972’s ‘Hosianna Mantra’). Others are reoccurring patterns and sequences, with Florian often working with recurring motives frequently further developed with the group.

TRACKLIST

01. Spirit of Peace 1
02. Spirit of Peace 2
03. Spirit of Peace 3
04. Mahayana (Karuna)
05. The Heart
06. Earth View
07. Moses
08. Garden of Pythagoras
09. West Tibet - Land of the Nomads
10. The Garden Morya
11. Manasarowar - The Turquoise Lake
12. Nomads Move
13. Last Village
14. West Face - Place of Death
15. The Kora - Ritual Circuit of the Sacred Mountain
16. Valley of the Gods
17. Buddah’s Footprint
18. Transhimalaya