Navigating through Krautrock

A lot of "krautrock" has strong progrock tendencies, and this includes much of the above IMO. It always makes me laugh when some bullshit artist hipster starts banging on abt how it *just isn't prog, right* (cf thommy baby, wee bobby) Somehow, You jusy KNOW that if hawkwind, man, art bears or peter hammill had been german, they'd fucking love them (sigh.) Anyway, there's also stuff that I like, such as eloy, grobschnitt, jane, guru guru and the like that, given thee good doktor's anti prog preledictions, he'd probably best avoid. Be aware that just like british progressive/underground bands, most krautrock bands were only good up to a certain point - ESPECIALLY amon duul2!

One other important thing - if any ILM-ers based in or near leicester have contact details for thee "ultima thule" record shop, please post them. don't even waste your time with any other sources of kraut reissues. What these people don't know, isn't worth knowing.

A friend of mine recently described julian cope as being like "guru guru, if they'd been managed by malcolm mclaren" GOD how I wish *I'd* though of that!

Something else I though of - germany in the '70's was a bit like jamaica in the '70's, in that the amazing & unique music made there will NEVER happen again, because of the globalised media, MTV etc, and that it is UTTERLY futile to try to recreate what they did, not that it stops FOOLS trying, ov course. x0x0

and I'll add: - Cluster, any good? And what albums? - Of course it's prog rock. I always thought it was a bit ironic that all those punks who trashed prog-rock got into Can in a big way.

I've always hated the "If X had made it instead of Y you'd like it" argument. It presumes too much about another person's tastes, it is a dead end, and it's silly too because X didn't make it and because who makes records is part of how we respond to music - the context, the package, etc.

Still what's up with Cluster?

It just tends to piss me off that weird 1970's german bands (many of whom were great) get lionised, often by fckng posers, whilst weird 1970's british bands (many of whom were great) are "prog"=destroy. It just makes no sense, and I'm damn sure there's something more than just musical taste being paraded there (er, not here, though, it seems :)

x0x0 x0x0

BUY MORE HAWKWIND

It's all part of being a music fan - lots of the fun is affectation.

Personally I like Hawkwind and AD II about equally = not much.

The other really big aspect is that you can hear/read the lyrics on a lot of British prog records and if lyrics are important to you that might be a turn-off. Whereas that's less the case with the Germans.

And country of origin is important. There's something heroic about Turbonegro rocking Sweden in a way that there isn't about Buckcherry rocking the US, say.

The bit abt the lyrics is a good point - would a native-english speaking band have got away with kraftwerks lyrics? or can's?

Good point abt yer band rocking sweden too. I hope they're better than buckcherry though...er....

Anyway, Someone mentioned ashra tempel, who I forgot abt. They're also one of my favourites, "join inn" being the pick IMO. However, here's a warning - they did do two stinkers, which I'd *avoid*, even if cheap. "seven up" would be OK were it not for singing (tim leary IIRC) so k-lame it makes you feel all horrible inside, and "featuring rosi" is just a clinker. Otherwise, any ash ra tempel album featuring klaus schulze is worth picking up. One of their later albums, "blackouts", is quite nice for that 2am knackered-but-can't- sleep thang.

x0x0

More info at Brainwashed Releases

April 23rd (I think the UK releases are being imoported /issued on Gronland) * Neu! - Neu! CD/LP, Neu! II CD/LP and Neu! 75 CD/LP [official reissues] (Grönland, Germany)

May 15th for the US folk trendy electronic label Astralwerks * Neu! - Neu! CD, Neu! II CD and Neu! 75 CD [official reissues] (Astralwerks, US)

Previously these have been available from some dodgy illegal Italian label (where copyright law is extremely weak), I picked up a copy of Neu 2 last year.

If you check my weblog regularly you would have been aware of the Neu reissues earlier this month.

As a personal preference my favorite albums are the first two Harmonia albums, which are superb. They were a kind of super group of Cluster and Neu! members, and were representative of the more mellow side of these two groups. Unfortunately they are quite hard to get hold of as you can only get them on Import from Japan as far as I know. I managed to get them from Rough Trade in Neals Yard, but on two seperate visits.

I can't really speak to how much their other albums 'rock' but Tangerine Dream are certainly krautrock; Zeit is an album that actually deserves the description 'glacial'. As far as I've heard anything from earlier on in their catalog will be good and also different enough from the others to make exploring worthwhile.

Can 'Free Concert'
Can 'Future Days & Past Nights'
Amon Duul II 'Live in London'

yeah, man. thank god it isn't cool anymore, i can stop feigning interest in it and start feigning interest in something new.

Remember when we were 15 and still cared what was cool?

x-post

Well it wasn't quite so big when it was chopped in half.

it was still the biggest by population

weird that the biggest city in Germany produced so little krautrock

Never heard of the Berlin School (of Krautrock) (not a physical school, of course) - which was T. Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ashra? There's lots who were based there though whether they were actually from there I know not: Agitation Free. Kluster. Conrad Schnitzler. I'm sure there's more.

Ash Ra..forgot about them..

It's not that bad a representation, 'cos all of those artists are good, there are probably a 100 more terrible ones I can't think of right now

I mean, Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, and what have they got? Faust... I'm struggling beyond that.

And by the way, I was in Hamburg earlier this year, and none of the people I talked to there had even heard of Faust! I'm talking musicians and people who are into music.

so which city was the krautrock capital?
i had a theory for a second it was a suburban movement..

which music are they into?
xpost

There wasn't one, there was was no movement (xp)

I don't know, sort of indie people I suppose. Germans (I've met) don't seem that interested in German music tbh

how old are they?

it's logical if they are young

current german music isn't what it used to be.

30-40 I'd say.

maybe Faust is relatively more popular abroad than in Germany.

Lots of the well-known bands were from Dusseldorf, Cologne or Munich... Frankfurt was poorly represented though I think.

awesome stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LneduxXyt9I

I thought I'd read that you could loosely separate the genre into two camps - the Berlin School and the Dusseldorf School (with various outliers of course). Berlin = Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream; Dusseldorf = Neu!, Kraftwerk, Can, Cluster.

Dusseldorf wind, easily

wins

Yes. Plus by default you can add Harmonia and La Dusseldorf to that camp. And Faust is an outlier. Where were ADII from? Popol Vuh? Probably they just complicate my simple binary distinction.

both from munchen

Berlin = Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream; Dusseldorf = Neu!, Kraftwerk, Can, Cluster.

Can and Cluster have got nothing to do with Dusseldorf though. Cluster started in Berlin!

s.y.p.h. - "pst!"(1980) & "s.y.p.h."(1981) they're both available one one CD on the captain trip label. holger's on board for french horn , prod & edit duties. a sloppy, punky, minimalist step sideways from the CAN template. sounds like it was recorded yesterday & released on psf.
both moebius / beerbohm (aggro 2 note synth/ drum ambient chocolate-monk stomps)& moebius / renziehausen (toytown keyboard presets create virtual reality senile muzak weirdness) discs also essential although by no means ROCK.

Anyone looked into the 6CD boxes called "Krautrock: Music For Your Brain"? There are *5* of these boxes. Here's the first one: http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=14856

No one's familiar with the boxes I mentioned?

tracklist for the first looks thrown together almost at random. can't see why one wouldn't just want to buy the original albums the songs are taken from.

I heard the first box - it's mostly German hard rock and early prog. Moving on to albums from Copey's list.

This series looks quite promising! I'm in for the first couple of volumes at least.

To provide an overview of the various musical styles in which Bureau B specializes, the label launches a new compilation series entitled Kollektion. Each release in this series will be curated by a musician perfectly suited to the task. The first kick-off release will be: Kollektion 01: Sky Records, compiled by Tim Gane. The erstwhile Stereolab mastermind delves through the archives of the legendary German Krautrock label. More projects to follow: Kollektion 02: Roedelius -- Electronic Music -- Compiled by Lloyd Cole; Kollektion 03: Bureau B -- Compiled by Richard Fearless (Death In Vegas) -- Double Album; Kollektion 04: Populare Mechanik -- Compiled by Holger Hiller. About Sky Records: The record company was founded in the year 1975 and went on to become one of the few German labels to reap international acclaim. It was run by Gunter Körber, who quit his job at Metronome where he and Bruno Wendel had spent four years developing and managing the legendary Brain label. About Tim Gane: No less a figure than Tim Gane, the man behind Stereolab, has delved into the Sky Records archives for the Kollektion series. Gane has never hidden his love of Krautrock; many a Stereolab song has its foundations in the typical "motorik" beat, while his latest band, Cavern Of Anti-Matter wallows in Klaus Dinger rhythms. Experimental sounds hold no fear for him, as early noise cassette releases under his Un-Kommuniti alias testify. His selection of tracks fits the pattern seamlessly: Asmus Tietchens, Cluster, Moebius, Roedelius, Michael Rother, Riechmann, Gunter Schickert, etc. All names writ large in the avant-garde scene of German progressive music, as well as underlining Gunter Körber's audacity in offering such music a forum with his label. In the booklet, Asmus Tietchens, who released four albums on Sky Records, looks back on collaborating with Gunter Körber.

Currently reading David Stubbs's Future Days, a great read.

Speaking of Bureau B and Sky Records, their upcoming reissue of Harald Grosskopf's Synthesist is very welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j0TUyukpnY

There's a new collab between Harald Grosskopf (Ashra, Klaus Schulze, a billion other bands) and sometime Kraftwerk/Neu! associate Eberhard Kranemann out now on Bureau B - the album is called Krautwerk and it seems they're touring under that name too.

Thought I'd post here as I thought I remembered reading a lot of praise for Grosskopf's "Synthesist" on ILX though I can't find where. Anyway the album isn't grabbing me that much yet but it has its moments.

They've done a few shows together already, has anyone seen them? Any good? They are playing here in Oxford on Tuesday and I would normally automatically go but the timing is inconvenient, the venue's not great, etc...

...apparently tonight's Grosskopf/Kranemann/Krautwerk gig is cancelled, btw, so I hope nobody had decided to go to it after reading my post there.

Not sure why or when it was cancelled or if it will be rescheduled. It's listed as cancelled on the Facebook event and 3 different ticket sites but there's no mention of the gig at all on the promoter's Facebook or Twitter, which is kind of weird imo. Hope everyone involved is OK.

There was a gig in Brighton which was cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

geez that's a lame reason to cancel a show

brighton show was booked at quite a sizeable/expensive venue iirc?

Soul Jazz just announced Deutsche Elektronische Musik Vol. 3 and I'm frickin' stoked!

Klauss Weiss – Wide Open Space Motion
A.R. & Machines – I'll Be Your Singer, You'll Be My Song
Deutsche Wertarbeit – Deutscher Wald
Dzyan – Khali
Missus Beastly – Geisha
Alex – Derulé
Agitation Free – In The Silence Of the Morning Sunrise
Georg Deuter – Pearls
Michael Bundt – The Brain Of Oskar Panizza
Popol Vuh – Ja, Deine Liebe Ist Sußer Als Wein
Novalis – Dronsz
Bröselmaschine – Schmetterling
Neu! – Neuschnee
Between – And The Waters Opened
La Düsseldorf – White Overalls
Klauss Weiss – Constellation
Achim Reichel – Tanz Der Vögel In Den Winden
Roedelius – Lustwandel
Pyrolator – Die Haut Der Frau
Cluster – Hollywood
Streetmark – Passage
Niagara – Rhythm Go
Michael Bundt – Neon

can’t wait for some alt-right dipshit to discover ‘white overalls’ and turn white supremacists onto krautock

A nicely diverse playlist. Guess they really must like that Klaus Weiss album?

I think this is the best Deutsche Elektronische Musik yet

Volume 4!

1. Alex – Patella Black
2. Klaus Weiss – Driving Sequences
3. Can – I'm So Green
4. Agitation Free – Laila, Part II
5. Deutsche Wertarbeit – Guten Abend, Leute
6. Amon Düül II – Wolf City
7. Michael Rother – Flammende Herzen
8. Klaus Weiss – Pink Sails
9. Virus – My Strand-Eyed Girl
10. Conrad Schnitzler – Ballet Statique
11. Kalacakra – Nearby Shiras
12. EMAK – Tanz In Den Himmel
13. Et Cetera – Mellodrama 2a
14. Between – Triumphzug Kaiser Maximilian I
15. Roedelius – Halmharfe
16. Dzyan – Dragonsong
17. Harmonia – Deluxe (Immer Wieder)
18. Günter Schickert – Suleika
19. Witthüser & Westrupp – Schöpfung (1. Mose 1)

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/sjr/product/deutsche-elektronische-musik-4

Bear family just started a series of 2cds called Kraut! I think it might include some of the rockier stuff that Cope was trying to exclude.

There are also a number of contemporary to the non-scene bands from elsewhere like Area and Balerno di Bronzo from Italy, Nyl from France and a few other things worldwide that if you like krautrock you should also enjoy. Though that might be difficult to predict. I hear an overlap in the sound anyway.
Also US things like Larry Young's Lawrence of Newark and the much later Savage Republic Jamahiriya.
Or Simply Saucer Cyborgs Revisited and things like peak Chrome that you should also check out. But hopefully you already know that.& at least 70s Hawkwind and Eno era Roxy Music should also appeal.

Interesting that the Bear Family are moving out of their country/rockabilly comfort zone.

Looking forward to volume 4. For some reason I thought that 3 was going to be the last.

Me too, it was the "That's All Folks" text on the back.

Bear Family also has an excellent set of NDW compilations called "Aus grauer Städte Mauern - Die Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW) 1977-85"

That Et Cetera song is gorgeous

here's something I really dig about certain German records - stuff like Neu!, La Dusseldorf, Harmonia, Gottsching's E2-E4, etc. - it sounds like what I imagined the first albums ever released would have sounded like, if you asked me at the age of 6