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So I've had a chance to listen to La! Neu? 'Cha Cha 2000'. I've been keen to hear anything Klaus Dinger recorded under La! Neu? for some time and my interest was rekindled after a previous post. The barrier thus far has been unreasonably costly imports but feeling a yearning for some genuine motorik sounds lately I decided that 'hey, there's probably worse ways I could spend 20 bucks.
Consisting of one concert split over two discs released on the Japanese based Captain Trip records 'Cha Cha 2000' is literally a long improvisation on the La Dusseldorf track.
After a gentle piano based introduction reminiscent of the quieter parts of. Neu! 75 the performance veneers off into a wild and chaotic improvisation tampered by overbearing female vocal shrieking before tribal drumming its way through a deep and unnerving groove. (By this point I was severely testing my girlfriends patience)
Eventually a signature Dinger beat emerges followed by the first recognisable shapes of the original La Dusseldorf version of the track. From their things progress steadily into a transcendent and repetitive groove that, for me, recalls the image suggested by the German poet Rilke in his poem about the panther in the zoo and the power of its "ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed". The beat really holds that kind of power. Lots of bands may have imitated Klaus Dingers motorik sound but it never sounds better than whenever it appears in his own projects. Dinger rules that fucking beat! And you know what, he's punk as fuck too. A proper visionary.
Disc 2 continues on from the peaks of the first half and just builds and builds with seemingly limitless potential. The whole thing just seems to ascend ceaselessly into what, for the duration of the disc, feels like a glorious infinite rising beyond something. Like 'Sister Ray' by the Velvets the various instruments seem to compete for dominance while the rhythm locks it all together. The disc as a whole stands amongst the most defining and surprising of Dingers career. Everything you could want, as a fan of his, and more is there to be found. Including, in an unexpected twist, some truly comedic moments towards the finale as Dinger addresses members of the crowd directly encouraging them to hum along.
. . . and the end, well, its a damn shame this thing ever has to end.
Anyway, excuse the lengthy rambling post. Stuff just blew my mind tonight.
― AnotherDeadHero, Thursday, 10 March 2011 23:40 (thirteen years ago) link
ten months pass...
one year passes...
ok - one of those (Japandorf) has just been released. kinda typical Dinger stuff but which cute Japanese vocals. another version of "Cha Cha" which throws in a huge "Hallo Gallo" homage. it's actually pretty fun and IMO better than most of the La! Neu? albums. not a terrible way to go out!
― frogbs, Thursday, 11 April 2013 13:25 (ten years ago) link
four years pass...
just hearing Cha Cha 2000 Live in Tokyo now. Kind of hard to believe this isn't more known, especially given it's similarities to what Boredoms were doing at almost the exact same time.
― Dominique, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 15:17 (six years ago) link
four years pass...
The track "Tschüs" on the Die Engel Des Herrn album, about his dad who had died recently, is a wonderful thing. Typically, the rest of the album is a mess.
― When Smeato Met Moaty (Tom D.), Sunday, 28 November 2021 13:23 (two years ago) link