V/A-WIENER BLUTRAUSCH, LP, 1979, AUSTRIA

I'll just give you a moment here to soak in that cover. The unreal quality of that image is matched by the cheerfully idiom obliterating nature of this Austrian compilation's contents, which veer wildly between prog, fusion and new wave, and seems to have triangulated a cherry spot pitched right in between these poles with the fascinating assortment of little known artists featured. Drahdiwaberl kick things off with a campily theatrical form of spacy rock that makes me think of Eroc covering Pink Floyd's Money, only to get prog funky in the rustic/Teutonic manner of Muck Groh. Over the rest of the A side, Mini-Sex propose equally unlikely shotgun weddings and make me think of the way New Wave forms got perverted in amusingly uncouth ways by Yugoslavian outfits like Zabranjeno Pusenje or Marjanov Cudni Zajec. Metzlutzkas Erben finish out the side by dancing an appealing fandango between high voltage fusion and the proggy satirical rock zaniness of later Checkpoint Charlie. On the flip, Chuzpe enjoyably tear through some early Ultravox-like art punk ramalamma with the nerviness they're named for, if not an equal measure of originality, Mordbuben AG proffer distinction-free back-to-basics rawk 'n' roll and Metzlutzkas Erben pop 'round for a second pass of absolutely wicked fusionoid antics.

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