Yatha Sidhra ‎– A Meditation Mass

Yatha Sidhra ‎– A Meditation Mass

Release date:1974

Genre: Krautrock

The Fichter brothers from Freiburg (South East Germany) had been playing in various groups together since the mid-1960's. Their first professional band was the rock and soul combo 'Lea Gamble' which they formed with two American ex-service men.
Later they formed 'Brontosaurus', together with French bassist Jean-Michel Boivert and flautist Peter Elbracht.
Apparently at this time they sounded like a hard-rock twist on 'Jethro Tull'.
In early 1973 'Brontosaurus' began to work on a new ambitious opus, a suite called "A Meditation Mass". In concert, they caught the attention of Achim Reichel, who managed to get a contract for them via his Gorilla Music for an LP release on Brain. There was one concession, the name 'Brontosaurus' no longer fitted the type of music they were making, so a new mystical name was chosen: "Yatha Sidhra".
"A Meditation Mass" is actually one of the most magical albums ever made, a single cosmic suite, self-contained and an island unto itself. Aptly, it would be my "Desert Island Disc", and I've often quoted it as my favourite all-time album, due to its uniqueness, that it has never dated, and is so charged. Few albums hold that same enigmatic quality. It starts from silence, at first faintly bubbling and scuttling, gaining focus oh-so enigmatically, a musical form gradually develops amidst a wash of psychedelic echo/reverb effects, out of which a semi-sung unfocused song develops, leaving us like a half grasped thought as the music becomes dynamic, gaining fire, and if that weren't enough it goes from brilliant diversion to theme change, to extraordinary crescendo, with many more surprises on the way, eventually returning to silence. A superb blending of ethnic, Kosmische and pure Krautrock. Flutes, guitars and electronics are the basis of the music, backed up by a rock/jazz rhythm section, all perfectly balanced. A mystical Eastern step on from the realms of Kollektiv or instrumental Thirsty Moon, "A Meditation Mass" remains one of the most enigmatic and timeless albums ever made.
It's a shame really that "Yatha Sidhra" only made the one album, though later the Fichter brothers did form a new band named 'Dreamworld'.

1. Part 1
2. Part 2
3. Part 3
4. Part 4

• Rolf Fichter - Moog, Flute, Vibes, Electric Piano, Guitar, Vocals
• Klaus Fichter - Drums, Percussion
• Matthias Nicolai - Guitar, Bass
• Peter Elbracht - Flute