Jueves 1 Jun 2006, 4:45

What a strange career arc Germany’s Joy Unlimited has had. Beginning as a vehicle for legendary rock & soul singer Joy Fleming, then the band went on to collaborate with ballet choreographer Lothar Höfgen, first with a highly eccentric album featuring Joy (Schmetterlinge), then a somewhat similar (yet slightly toned-down) one featuring American vocalist Ken Traylor (Reflections).

Minne is the third and final fruit of the collaboration. Now featuring German singer Joschi Dinier, the band take their brassy jazz-rock into an odd, folky direction on this album. Only a few tracks feature the full-on brass sound of earlier releases, acoustic guitars, recorders and harpsichords making up the bulk of the sound this time. Also some full-force Mellotron strings on the opening and closing tracks. Vocals are in an archaic, medieval dialect of German.

I’ve often heard this album compared to Bröselmaschine, Emtidi or early Hoelderlin. I suppose such comparisons are valid in that if you like them, you’ll likely enjoy this too. But this album has a unique spark all its own. I really like it a lot!