Florian Fricke’s band of kosmiche originals Popol Vuh may never have received quite as much press as many of their fellow German synthesizer pioneers, but they remain responsible for some of the era’s most crucial treasures.

The band’s early albums; 1970 debut Affenstunde and its 1971 successor In den Gärten Pharaos in particular stand as two of the decade’s most confounding and rewarding experimental albums. Fusing the then untapped potential of the synthesizer with ethnic rhythmic arrangements and a heady religious subtext Fricke’s vision was uncompromising and still inspires to this day.

It’s hard to believe then that the records have never been re-released officially on vinyl. There have of course been countless bootlegs, but it has fallen to Barcelona imprint Wah Wah to handle the mammoth task of making sure Fricke’s early works are available once more.

Along with the aforementioned pair of records, Wah Wah will also be releasing 1972’s Hosianna Mantra, 1973’s Seligpreisung and 1974’s Einsjäger und Siebenjäger, and each will be packaged in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes from purported expert Dolf Mulder. Each record has been remastered from the original tapes, so that should mean that they sound a little better than the truly lamentable series of bootlegs and grey-market re-issues cash strapped vinyl lovers have had to make do with over the years.

Bonus material isn’t being thrown around willy nilly (lets be honest here, the original albums are good enough already), but Affenstunde will be expanded to include short track ‘Bettina’ from the Electric Rock compilation, and most interestingly Hosianna Mantra will be bumped up to include a rarely-heard 7″ from Korean singer Djogn Yun, which had Popol Vuh as the backing band.

Limited to a measly 500 copies we have a feeling that these reissues won’t last long, so come September 16 you know what you have to do. [via Exclaim]

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