Yes, total bollocks. Having said that, I always think the Rother albums are a bit on the bland side, a bit too nice, I prefer La Dusseldorf. I love his guitar playing though. I like Ashra too, but they're bland too.
― Monica Kindle (Tom D.), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 00:02 (five years ago) link
although I raved about "Zyklodrom" above from memory some 14 blink-of-an-eye years back, when I listened again to Flammende Herzen the track that still did it for me was/is "Feuerland", with its smears of sound and fatigued/winded drum sound (which reminds me of JD's Closer, e.g. "Passover"). I suspect that Martin Hannett was listening closely, just as "Oasis" on Ash Ra's Correlations invents Durutti Column a year early.
― Paul, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 00:12 (five years ago) link
Every Rother solo tune sounds like he's about to break into the melody of "Modern Love" by Bowie
haha oh wow
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 00:25 (five years ago) link
I listened to these again last night after reading the thread and agree they do sound a little enervated - like echoes of previous work, work in which he was more immanent. I do love the title track of Flammende Herzen - that and Feuerland.
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:23 (five years ago) link
"Oasis" on Ash Ra's Correlations invents Durutti Column a year early.
This is true btw.
― Monica Kindle (Tom D.), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:45 (five years ago) link
Stromlinien is my favourite thing he's ever done, like a krautrock Shadows:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvDmbjqPfb8
― PaulTMA, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 16:02 (five years ago) link
idk about enervated/not immanent
the michael rother albums are 'redeemed' music, not 'struggle' music. It is their core identity to be thus. Deluxe and Neu! are at least partly struggle music.
(classic examples of redeemed music/struggle music for context: mozart/beethoven, early stravinsky/mid period stravinsky, david sylvian/scott walker, kottke/fahey)
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 16:07 (five years ago) link
He'd definitely had a Hank Marvin thing going on.
― Monica Kindle (Tom D.), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 16:07 (five years ago) link
early/mid stravinsky are the wrong way around in what I just typed
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 16:09 (five years ago) link
I like this explanation; I need to think about it. I suppose I instinctively find the former more engaging, where the latter can seem a little programmatic.
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 16:28 (five years ago) link
yeah it really depends; i have music from either type that reduces me to a shuddering jelly
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 16:33 (five years ago) link
This is the thing - I'm not against redemptive at ALL; in fact, I might prefer the strange kind of ecstacy that comes with the unburdening of struggle. An obvious point, but it's always the quality of the expression.
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 16:48 (five years ago) link
Digging this convo Thanks to all, as always, for tolerating my ridiculous pronouncements
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 22:52 (five years ago) link
Every Rother solo tune sounds like he's about to break into the melody of "Modern Love" by Bowie at any moment
that 3am manhattan vibe is a good thing imho. "modern love" is self-actualized/-redeemed blues -- "i know when to go out and when to stay in . . . it's not really work, it's just the power to charm" -- resonant like rother's solo stuff of the bittersweet relief/ennui of a world-class artist with nothing left to prove but still the impulse to create
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 23:30 (five years ago) link
is there a particular origin for the redeemed/struggle dichotomy?
― rob, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 23:49 (five years ago) link
Not entirely, it’s kind of a personal fixation, but it sprang from an interview in the wire with Scott Walker shortly after tilt came out in which Sylvian comes up and, at least the way I remember it, SW contrasted his music and Sylvian’s by describing the latter’s music as coming from a “redeemed” place. Stuck in my mind. Struggle is not a great polar twin term but you see what I’m getting at.
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 6 December 2018 00:24 (five years ago) link
Found it tucked away quoted by a commenter on one of momus’ live journal posts:He's much more of an ethereal merchant than I am. I'm a man who struggles with spirituality whereas he's given in to it. My album and the one before it is about struggle in a Dostoyevskian sense. It's a real fight for me in every line. Whereas he's given in to a state of grace.
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 6 December 2018 00:32 (five years ago) link
First part of a long interview: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/02/20/39086811/german-guitar-god-michael-rother-talks-kraftwerk-neu-and-the-dubious-term-krautrock
― JoeStork, Thursday, 21 February 2019 20:15 (five years ago) link
his first four albums are re-released, also available on spotify now.
― JoeStork, Saturday, 23 February 2019 23:26 (five years ago) link
another good interview: https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2019/03/06/michael-rother-the-aquarium-drunkard-interview/I like michael rother, he seems like a cool guy.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 March 2019 15:44 (five years ago) link
Played live in London earlier this month, with Thurston Moore opening. Review: https://thequietus.com/articles/26329-michael-rother-neu-live-review
Amazing setlist (4 to 9 constitute Sterntaler, but Scheisse, look the songs that make up the rest of the set!)1. Katzenmusik 1/Katzenmusik 5/Katzenmusik 62. Neuschnee3. Seeland4. Sonnenrad5. Blauer Regen6. Stromlinien7. Sterntaler8. Fontana di Luna9. Orchestrion10. Deluxe (Immer Wieder)11. Hallogallo12. Dino13. Negativland (with Thurston Moore)14. E-Musik (with Thurston Moore)
― willem, Tuesday, 16 April 2019 20:39 (five years ago) link
oh damn, I'd pay like....20 bucks for a live album of that
― frogbs, Tuesday, 16 April 2019 20:41 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtYvda-Q2Nc
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 16 April 2019 21:23 (five years ago) link
that was AWESOME thank you
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Tuesday, 16 April 2019 22:19 (five years ago) link
wow <3
― nxd, Wednesday, 17 April 2019 09:01 (five years ago) link
it's now impossible for any vaguely avant-garde gig to happen in London without Thurston Moore showing up, apparently
― Neil S, Wednesday, 17 April 2019 09:14 (five years ago) link
Pretty much.
― Do you like 70s hard rock with a guitar hero? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 17 April 2019 09:22 (five years ago) link
and an irresistible, groove-driven ‘Hallogallo’ from the first Neu! album, that gets the crowd dancing wildly. An audience member shouts out: ‘Play that one again and for longer!’
Can that clip above loop for three hours?
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 19 April 2019 19:22 (five years ago) link
some days i think if sterntaler was the only music i heard for the rest of my life i'd be okay with it
today is def one of those days
― Homegrown Georgia speedster Ladd McConkey (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 5 February 2020 14:43 (four years ago) link
never heard this before. listening now - it extremely owns
― ||||||||, Wednesday, 5 February 2020 18:26 (four years ago) link
hell yes
― Homegrown Georgia speedster Ladd McConkey (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, 5 February 2020 18:31 (four years ago) link
I hadn't listened to it in a long time so I put it on now immediately my mood improved 100%. Thank you thread and Michael.
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 6 February 2020 05:48 (four years ago) link
I listened to him constantly after Brexit Day - his albums (first 4) are a pure sugar rush.
― (includes digression on farting) (Tom D.), Thursday, 6 February 2020 09:25 (four years ago) link
He comes across in interviews as an extremely pleasant, positive and nice person - and his music mirrors his personality perfectly.
― (includes digression on farting) (Tom D.), Thursday, 6 February 2020 09:28 (four years ago) link
Tother is on most of my playmixes, he goes with everything
― GK Chessington's World of Adventure (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 6 February 2020 12:20 (four years ago) link
tom otm re: nice guy michael, i always feel bad for him that he had to play with certified bastard klaus dinger despite the magic of their work in neu!
― Homegrown Georgia speedster Ladd McConkey (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 6 February 2020 12:41 (four years ago) link
Perfect combination of personalities imo.
― (includes digression on farting) (Tom D.), Thursday, 6 February 2020 16:29 (four years ago) link
The sober ying to Klaus' raging yang
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 6 February 2020 16:37 (four years ago) link
Dude is supporting Einstürzende Neubauten in Denmark in a few months. I've been trying to persuade them to get Rother to join them onstage for a song, because wow, I think that could have a similar sober ying / raging yang dynamic. Blixa seems to like the idea, and he's actually thinking about it?
Like, the Düsseldorf school and the Berlin school colliding in such a pleasing and circle-completing way would make me so happy.
― Branwell with an N, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 07:22 (four years ago) link
Is he still hot af @ 69 yo?
― Good taste, bit Victorian but who isn't? (jed_), Wednesday, 12 February 2020 07:25 (four years ago) link
Blixa or Michael? They are both still hottttt.
― Branwell with an N, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 07:41 (four years ago) link
Michael looks really spry and healthy, like he plays tennis every day. :D
― Branwell with an N, Wednesday, 12 February 2020 07:42 (four years ago) link
Wopp-Wopp, new album Dreaming. Can't find anything about it apart from the pre-order page on Grönland's webshop https://www.groenland.com/product/michael-rother-dreaming-lp/
― willem, Friday, 19 June 2020 10:22 (three years ago) link
aw hell yeah
― scampo, foggy and clegg (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 19 June 2020 10:46 (three years ago) link
Seven disc boxset yall
― Scampidocio (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 24 June 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link
That’s all great news!
― michaellambert, Wednesday, 24 June 2020 16:37 (three years ago) link
As if on cue this morning, Spotify Hipster Boyfriend let me know that Michael Rother has a new album out called Dreaming.
The first track starts with a tangle of Cluster-esque electronics and soft NEU!-esque recordings of flowing water, and I am here for this!
― Extractor Fan (Branwell with an N), Friday, 4 September 2020 09:27 (three years ago) link
If my recollection is correct, I believe there is a quote in that BBC documentary about Krautrock from Rother talking about living near a river his life being an influence upon their sound.
― earlnash, Friday, 4 September 2020 10:02 (three years ago) link
Yeah I can see that, music that both forges forward and shimmers when it's doing so.
― Matt DC, Friday, 4 September 2020 10:06 (three years ago) link
Yeah, I think he was talking about the river at Forst, where he records - which I think Roedelius later revealed was actually contaminated with nuclear power plant radiation? But also about the way that Düsseldorf was so centred around the Rhine.
I'm about 2/3 of the way through the album, and it is fantastic BTW. I remember reading an interview a while ago, about the new vocalist he was working with, but I cannot for the life of me remember her name. She does add a lovely intimacy to the record. I'm really digging it - Bitter Tang in particular is quite a good lockdown anthem.
― Extractor Fan (Branwell with an N), Friday, 4 September 2020 10:15 (three years ago) link