Agitation Free were one of the founding bands of krautrock — a Berlin group at the very heart of the “Berlin School”, whose long, exploratory, guitar-led improvisations helped invent a whole German underground. Best known for the Middle-Eastern-tinged masterpiece “Malesch” (1972), they were pioneers not only of krautrock but of what would later be called world music.

The short version

Formed in Berlin in 1967, Agitation Free were, alongside Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, founders of the Berlin School that became krautrock. Their two early-1970s albums — the exotic, acclaimed “Malesch” (1972) and the jam-based “2nd” (1973) — are freeform, almost entirely instrumental works of twin-guitar psychedelia, electronics and ethnic colour. A springboard for many famous musicians, they remain one of the most adventurous bands of the German scene.

Berlin, 1967: the Berlin School

Agitation Free came together in Berlin in 1967, founded by the sixteen-year-old guitarist Lutz “Lüül” Ulbrich among a circle of young musicians in the city’s underground. Their early ranks included drummer Christopher Franke, who left in 1970 for Tangerine Dream, and guitarist Axel Genrich, who went on to Guru Guru. Mentored by the avant-garde composer Thomas Kessler — whose electronic studio became a workshop for the whole Berlin scene — and collaborating with composers such as John Cage, they built long, free improvisations accompanied by liquid light shows and experimental films. Together with Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, they were founders of the “Berliner Schule”, the Berlin School that gave birth to krautrock; through every change of personnel, Ulbrich remained the constant.

Improvisation, electronics and the East

Agitation Free made music of pure exploration — long, freeform instrumental improvisations built on twin guitars, Hammond organ and synthesizers, blending psychedelic rock, electronics, jazz and a strong strain of ethnic, Middle Eastern colour. Drone, groove and atmosphere mattered more than song; though they shared something with the Pink Floyd of the era, they forged an identity all their own, and in their fusion of German experimentalism with the music of the wider world they anticipated, by years, the idea of world music.

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Malesch and 2nd

In April 1972, at the invitation of the Goethe-Institut, Agitation Free toured Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus and Greece — a journey that transformed them. The field recordings and impressions they brought home shaped their debut, “Malesch” (1972), a fascinating, entirely instrumental web of Middle Eastern textures, exotic percussion, electronic drones and psychedelic guitar that is widely held to be one of the finest krautrock albums of all. Their second, “2nd” (1973), took a different path — looser, groovier, more in the jamming spirit of Can, with bluesy guitars and a spoken-word finale in “Haunted Island”. The band toured widely, even appearing in the cultural program of the 1972 Munich Olympics, but “2nd” sold poorly, and they folded in 1974. A posthumous live album, “Last”, appeared in 1976, and the band would reunite decades later.

Album by album

Two classic albums of exploratory, guitar-led Berlin krautrock. Tap any title for its guide.

The players and afterwards

The Agitation Free who made “Malesch” were Lutz Ulbrich, Michael Günther, Jörg Schwenke, Michael Hoenig and Burghard Rausch, though the line-up shifted constantly over the years. Few bands launched so many careers: drummer Christopher Franke became central to Tangerine Dream; guitarist Axel Genrich joined Guru Guru; Lutz Ulbrich went on to Ash Ra Tempel and a long partnership with the singer Nico; keyboardist Michael Hoenig built a career in solo electronic and film music; and drummer Burghard Rausch played on in groups including Electric Family. After splitting in 1974 the band reformed in the late 1990s, recording new music and touring once more, their reputation only growing with time.

Where to start

Begin, without question, with “Malesch” (1972) — the band’s masterpiece and one of the great krautrock albums, its blend of Middle Eastern atmosphere and electronic psychedelia like nothing else of its time. From there, “2nd” (1973) offers their looser, more jam-based side. Together they capture a band at the very frontier of the German underground.

Why they still matter

Agitation Free matter as true pioneers — founders of the Berlin School, early masters of improvised electronic rock, and, in “Malesch”, architects of a fusion of krautrock and world music years ahead of its time. The roll-call of musicians who passed through their ranks reads like a history of the German scene in miniature. For anyone exploring krautrock and the roots of cosmic, electronic and world music alike, they are essential.

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