Condor Gruppe: Psychedelia for the Searching Soul

Some musical discoveries strike like lightning. You hear one track—maybe even just a fragment—and instantly know: this is different. This is special. That’s exactly how I felt when I discovered Condor Gruppe. Not through a hit (they don’t have those), not through an algorithm, but through chance, curiosity, and a bit of luck. I had vaguely heard the name before, but never really dug deeper.
That changed when I found out that the founder and bassist of the band also happens to be the owner of my favorite record store in Antwerp. From that moment on, I started exploring further — listening, discovering, and getting lost in their fascinating musical world. Since then, I’ve been completely hooked.

Condor Gruppe isn’t a band you listen to casually. They pull you in, drag you deeper, open landscapes in your mind you didn’t know existed. From that first moment, I was profoundly impressed—and without hesitation, I can say I’ve become a huge fan.

A Cinematic Universe in Sound

At the busy crossroads where jazz, krautrock, spaghetti westerns and psychedelia wink at one another, there stands an Antwerp-based band devoted almost religiously to mood and sound: Condor Gruppe. For over a decade, this instrumental band has been a vital force in the Belgian underground. And once you’ve seen them live or explored their discography, you know: Condor Gruppe isn’t something you just listen to. You experience it.

Their music is like a hallucinatory road trip through the subconscious, populated by cacti, barren plains, shadowy figures and forgotten films from another universe. Founded by Jan Wygers (bass) and Michiel Van Cleuvenbergen (guitar), Condor Gruppe is not your typical psychedelic band. They are the heirs of a musical legacy stretching from Ennio Morricone to Can, from Moondog to Sun Ra, and from Neu! to Erkin Koray.

They are adventurous without being pretentious, cerebral without being cold, mysterious yet never alienating. What makes their music so captivating is its cinematic quality. Each track feels like a scene from a nonexistent film. They compose as if working with images, using only sound. No vocals, no lyrics—just atmospheres, textures, hypnotic patterns, and entrancing grooves.

The Albums of Condor Gruppe: An Auditory Pilgrimage

Latituds del Cavall (2014)

Latituds Del Cavall, Primary, 1 of 7

This debut album feels like the soundtrack to a road movie through the desert: dreamy, hypnotic, and richly cinematic.

Highlights:

  • Philomena: a fresh surf-inspired guitar melody with subtle humming and a wink to The Shadows.
  • Dusty Fingers: rhythmic percussion, and a catchy bass line.
  • Ondt Blod: radio-friendly with whistling, driving guitars, and a nostalgic feel.
  • Montenegro: introspective and emotionally restrained, providing sharp contrast.
  • Cardinale: could have easily fit into a Tarantino soundtrack.
  • Stone Lizard: features Duke Garwood with a spoken word/vocal accent—dark, layered and spellbinding.

The album is full of filmic soundscapes, surf guitars, exotic percussion, and kraut-inspired subtleties. Perfect for closing your eyes and drifting into imagined landscapes. Live shows confirm this, turning each song into a hypnotic soundtrack for an imaginary film—languid and sensuous.


Frog Bog – A Tribute to Moondog (2016)

Frog Bog - A Tribute To Moondog, Primary, 1 of 6

This six-track EP is a tribute to outsider composer Moondog (Louis Hardin, 1916–1999), known for his minimalist, rhythmic pieces blending jazz, medieval chant, and classical influence.
(Note to self: I definitely need to write a post about this Viking of Sixth Avenue someday)

Condor Gruppe transforms these minimalist pieces into their own tropical-psychedelic language: surf guitars, warm horns, dreamy textures. Trumpet, saxophone, and baritone sax (played by Dirk Timmermans, Matti Willems, and Hanne De Backer) add a jazzy dimension. The result is a mesmerizing cross-pollination between Moondog’s spirit and Condor Gruppe’s cinematic hypnosis.

Frog Bog is a surprising and atmospheric EP, reimagining Moondog’s legacy in Condor Gruppe’s exotic, psychedelic idiom. Longer tracks like Single Foot invite full immersion, while All Is Loneliness and Bird’s Lament retain their minimalist roots. Essential listening for fans of either artist.


Interplanetary Travels (2018)

Interplanetary Travels | CONDOR GRUPPE | Condor Gruppe

Released on Condor Men Records, this third album continues their signature blend of krautrock, spaghetti westerns, surf, exotica, and filmic psychedelia. The title nods to Sun Ra, but also to music as a way to spiritually escape daily life.

Highlights:

  • Abyss: slow-building opener with dramatic guitar tones and Hitchcock-like tension.
  • Pulse: kraut-meets-western energy with spacey synths, xylophone, and a melancholic trumpet solo.
  • The Wanderer: Latin horns and ghostly humming evoke a sultry, 70s Gainsbourg vibe.
  • House of Kraut: an explosion of surf guitars, Latin fusion, Hendrix and Santana—“an eargasm” according to one reviewer.
  • Void: minimalist and etheric with an emotional piano passage.
  • Orbit of the Sun & Moon: sitar intro (by Nicolas Mortelmans), followed by a sensual groove referencing Bollywood and Sergio Leone.
  • Saraba: African percussion, bamboo flutes, horns and deep baritone voices—an exotic dreamscape.
  • Farewell to the Last Man on the Moon: bluesy, nocturnal closer with sax, humming, and wistful guitar.

This album expands Condor Gruppe’s cinematic sound with sitars, horns, xylophones, and world instruments. It’s a colorful, cosmic evolution—an adventurous sonic safari.


Gulliver (2022)

Gulliver | Condor Gruppe

Their most refined and cinematic album yet. Gulliver is a wonder-filled journey of sound—melancholic, grand, hypnotic, and deeply elegant. For fans of European jazz meets world psychedelia, this is a gem.

Highlights:

  • What Could Have Been: slow-building, ominous, and epic like a spaghetti western.
  • Farid: evokes desert landscapes and mirages—slow, hypnotic, and infinitely replayable.
  • Rhymes On Our Mind: laid-back, funky, with global grooves and jazzy touches.
  • Inside Out & Galata: sitars and Indian-Arabic melodies create an exquisite Eastern jewel in a Western film setting.
  • Echo of Things: evokes Ravel’s Bolero in a jazz-infused miniature—surprising and inventive.

This album proves Condor Gruppe continues to evolve without compromising their essence—a beautiful gift for dreamers and musical travelers alike.

Live: Not a Concert, but a Ritual

Condor Gruppe - Brussels Park - 2016 #1

A Condor Gruppe show is not a typical rock gig. There’s no banter, no anecdotes, hardly even a pause between songs. Just music—fluid, immersive, intoxicating. Visuals are sparse but suggestive. The focus is on surrender. You don’t watch—you wander.

They shine brightest in dark venues or focused festival settings. In that twilight between consciousness and dream, their music finds its true home.

What Makes Condor Gruppe So Unique?

Stylistic Fluidity: they blend genres organically, never losing their core identity.
Philosophical Depth: they give meaning to music without ever using words.
Belgian Defiance: untrendy, uncompromising, always relevant.
Independence: no major promo machines—Condor Gruppe thrives on the margins, where they belong

Final Thought: Music as a Timeless Journey

In an age where algorithms dictate your taste and skipping is the default, Condor Gruppe asks something radical: time, attention, surrender. Their music isn’t made for playlists. It’s made for inner landscapes. For seekers, dreamers, nomads.

Condor Gruppe is not a band of hits. They’re a band for those who dare to ignore the noise and ride the current beneath.

Condor Gruppe remains a beacon for anyone who believes music is more than entertainment. It’s a trance, a journey, a ritual. And as the discs keep spinning, there will be ears that listen—not with the mind, but with the soul.

By cave