Krautrock

John · 27-12-2006 4:18pm #1

I'm just listening to Faust's IV album (and have a rake of Can albums lined up to listen to) and marvelling at how wonderful it sounds. Aside from Faust, Can and Kraftwerk, does anyone have any good krautrock recommendations? Any Tangerine Dream I've listened to has left me cold but I'm sure there's a wealth of great music from Germany in the 70s.

mike65 · 27-12-2006 8:20pm

Amon Duul II have a high reputation, have'nt heard any myself though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21tzc4GI3wc pretty cool

Mike.

is_that_so · 27-12-2006 8:23pm

Have a look at Die Toten Hosen and Die Aertze, two bands who have been around for yonks. Wikipedia link

funktastic · 27-12-2006 8:46pm

'Phaedra' by Tangerine Dream is very good. The title track is really great.
I'm not so big into Can myself. The first Neu! album is worth checking out. Guru Guru's first album 'UFO' is also a good listen.

John · 27-12-2006 9:11pm

I tried Phaedra and I really didn't dig it. Normally I'm into droney music but it wasn't for me. I always forget about Neu! On a related note, I ordered Deluxe by Harmonia earlier today.

Revelation Joe · 27-12-2006 9:24pm

Julian Cope wrote a book called 'Krautrocksampler' which is an in-depth story of the whole Krautrock scene and includes the 100 Krautrock pieces you must own

Dennis the Stone · 27-12-2006 9:29pm

wow cool thread!

you can't beat can or kraftwerk, early kraftwerk is mad! As for tangerine dream, it's difficult to like at first but eventually it clicks! Amon Duul II's album Wolf City is brilliant! And Neu! are excellent, not sure about Faust though

Colonel Kurtz · 27-12-2006 10:37pm

Definitely recommend CAN - Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi are superb.
Neu! are also worth checking out - especially the self-titled first album and the third album, Neu 75.

mike65 · 27-12-2006 11:05pm

I've got a few Neu! odds and sods but found them to be a bit of a one-trick pony ("heys lets 4/4 until doomsday"). The chap who's on Today FM at midnight has played them quite a bit in the past.

Mike.

damonjewel · 27-12-2006 11:33pm

If you like Neu! you will love Harmonia's deluxe, musik von Harmonia is good too. Krautrock covers a lot of ground from the esoteric sounding Tangerine dream, the tripped out ashra tempel, experimental Popol vuh, and the just sublime Amon Duul II. However I think you are more into the Motorik sound of Krautrock, Try Harmonia, Neu! and La Dusseldorf, Cluster might be a bit too weird for you but I love them and are in this subgenre. Eno recorded with Harmonia and there is an album called 'tracks and traces 77' however I haven't heard it, also Michael Rother's early solo stuff might be up your street. Can are very rhythmic and I think Monster movie, and Tago Mago are the best albums. Early Faust is very strange compared to the Faust IV album.

A good place to order is www.ultimathulerecords.com in England is a good place to order, and the owners of this shop are also the authors of The crack in the cosmic egg, on their website there is a link to the online version. Give them a call as they are very helpful.

Cheers

John · 27-12-2006 11:51pm

Wow, great post damonjewel, thanks a million. I've got Soundtracks, Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi by Can and this is the kind of Krautrock that I really enjoy. As I said, I've ordered Deluxe by Harmonia, a little googling tells me that I've actually seen two thirds of them live this summer (Rother and Moebius in Birmingham, great stuff!).

Also, Revelation Joe, just had a look for Cope's book. Easy to find if I want a copy in German, for an English version they're at least €100! Ouch!

damonjewel · 28-12-2006 11:44am

Hi John

No problem, I got into Krautrock about 2 years ago and have become an avid fan. Just to let you know Faust have a great webpage with a lot of Material available for download

http://www.faust-pages.com/tracks.master.html

As for Cope's book, I bought it on ebay and its very expensive. It pointed me in the right direction but I feel that Cope's views on Music is too tainted by punk. For example he heaps praise on 70's German scene whereas he disdains the British scene, sure there is a lot to dislike about the British Music prog scene but the Avant Garde sounds of early Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream are very challenging. I think the Crack in the Cosmic egg is more rounded and gives a good synopsis on the Bands, the history and the Music. See the link below. Aslo it covers a lot of bands that Cope doesnt mention, e.g. Wallenstein, Dyzan, Mythos, Broselmaschine, Kraan, Frumpy which were all part of the scene. See link below

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ultimathule/krautrockers.html

Judging by your Sabbath lyrics in your signature then you may like to rock out. May I suggest Amon Duul II and Guru Guru as well worth listening. Amon Duul II have been long compared to Hawkwind but I think they are much better than the 'wind. Guru Guru are very raw and rocky, However the title track UFO is very weird, lots of strange guitar sounds that try to give the impression of a UFO.

Feel free to PM me for any info

Revelation Joe · 28-12-2006 11:57am

John wrote:

Also, Revelation Joe, just had a look for Cope's book. Easy to find if I want a copy in German, for an English version they're at least €100! Ouch!

Really??? WOW! Better look after my copy then! I only bought as I'm a big Cope fan but it did get me interested in Krautrock

DominoDub · 28-12-2006 4:34pm

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/groonrikk/krautrock_sampler__top_50_albums_compiled_by_writer_julian_cope/

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/holerj/the_krautrock_list_of_lists

moonboy · 28-12-2006 7:03pm

for modern kraut have a listen to caribou/manitoba.
especially "milk of human kindness".
kraut rules.

Lunar Junkie · 30-12-2006 6:33am

I'll second\third the recommendations for Neu! 1 and Neu! 3/1975 (half of the second Neu! album is quite good too). Don't think anybody mentioned Can's 'Future Days'.. that one is actually my favourite of theirs, a very mellow and beautiful record.. Another Krautrock band that doesn't seem to get mentioned much is Popol Vuh - I recommend their 'Hosianna Mantra' album, spacey and layered stuff verging on ambient music.

DadaKopf · 30-12-2006 9:20pm

Don't see the connection there. And Manitoba/Caribou are Canadian!

I dunno, I can see the point in mentioning prog bands, but Manitoba aren't really prog, are they?

Dennis the Stone · 31-12-2006 8:16pm

Lunar Junkie wrote:

Don't think anybody mentioned Can's 'Future Days'.. that one is actually my favourite of theirs, a very mellow and beautiful record..

yeah you legend.. what an album, the only I have listened to every single day since I discovered it. You can't beat it. The big problem I have with Tangerine Dream and Neu! is that they aren't as good as Can. Even mediocre Can is ****in excellent!!! (flow motion, rite time)

as for the manitoba/caribou reference, i never thought of a connection there but I love Caribou so I like when those kind of connections are made. By the way, another of my favourite bands, Stereolab, take a lot from Krautrock. WAHEY!

Scratch Acid · 02-01-2007 1:40am

Some albums:

Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei, Yeti
Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingunnen, Join Inn
Silver Apples, although they're American and were around before the Krautrock era, make kinda similar music and their first two albums (which you can get on one CD nowadays) are goddang essential.

Like the duder above me mentioned, Stereolab are a firekin' stunning band. Kind of a mixture of krautrock and Free Design/Serge Gainsbourg-ish type shtuff. (Free Deisgn and Gainsbourg eh? They sound nothing alike! I know!) My favourite records of theirs are probably: 'Emporer Tomato Ketchup', 'Mars Audiac Quintet' and 'Dots and Loops'. The compilation 'Oscillons from the Anti-Sun' is also a really good introduction.

damonjewel · 07-01-2007 10:56pm

Hey John

Did you get your copy of 'deluxe' yet? I think its fantastic, would like to hear what you think of it.

Keep it Kosmiche!

Cheers

John · 07-01-2007 11:33pm

Hasn't arrived yet, it is due to arrive (according to amazon) on the 9th but I won't be able to pick up my post til Friday

John · 13-01-2007 3:50am

It arrived. Listened to it once and it is excellent. Very similar to what Rother and Moebius are doing live at the moment. Have to give it a few more spins to fully appreciate.

JLemmon · 20-01-2007 6:32pm

Great Topic.
Great thing about Krautrock is it leads you onto other great bands who are followers of the movement like Stereolab as mentioned, but also the Post Rock Movement is particularly indebted to our german friends. Bands like Tortoise, Slint, Bark Psychosis etc.. look it up on on allmusic
Also all the warp records acts like Autechre, Aphex Twin, right into the Post punk movement with The Fall, Pil, right up to today with Wilco and Fujiya and Miyagi and millions of others. It's a great journey very rewarding mind expanding.
Emusic has alot of albums up to download, like the Amon Dull albums just in case you have trouble finding them in shops or online.

John · 20-01-2007 6:59pm

I've got a couple of Amon Duul albums wish listed on amazon (as well as more Harmonia, Neu!, Cluster, La Dusseldorf, etc.).

damonjewel · 21-01-2007 12:23pm

Which Amon Duul are you going for, I think for know you should stick to Amon Duul II, (Just for other readers information Amon Duul was a political commune in Germany during the late 60's. The original band Amon Duul recorded a more kind a acoustic free form jams but then wanted to take the music into a more political dimension, the more musically inclined members split to form Amon Duul II) You can download Yeti and Wolf City off www.gomusic.ru for very little to give yourself a taste. Or watch these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21tzc4GI3wc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipNKI7tGHLE&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=givbP4-x7UY&mode=related&search=

As for La Dusseldorf listen to White Cloud and then listen to Bowie's Low and find the rip off song.

John · 22-01-2007 1:27am

I didn't know there were multiple Amon Duul's. I'll probably look into them both (Yeti is in my wishlist, I don't download from Russian mp3 sites on principal).

damonjewel · 22-01-2007 11:45am

Yeti is always quoted as ADII at their best, the track Sandoz in the Rain actually has a lot of the other members from the other Amon Duul and is pretty much along the lines of what Amon Duul sound like. I like ADII's early stuff Phallus Dei, Yeti and Dance of the lemmings. Carnival in Babylon and Wolf City are a bit more structured and commercial, but they are still very good.

Also what cluster have you wishlisted?

John · 23-01-2007 12:52am

I've got the following wishlisted:
Cluster II
Cluster '71
Zuckerzeit
Cluster and Eno
Sowiesoso

damonjewel · 23-01-2007 10:50am

Cluster 71 is heavy going, its basically very heavily effected instruments overladen with more effects and drone on for ages. Its a bit like Metal machine music but instead of sounding like a telly that isn't tuned in, it actually has direction.

Cluster II is similar but the tracks are shorted and more versatile, and therefore more listenable. This would be my favourite of the ones you have selected.

Zuckerzeit (Sugartime) shows the influence of Rother. Cluster start using a drum machine and the music is far more accesible (although sometimes a bit kitsch) this is very like Musik von Harmonia (The first Harmonia album is with a drum machine unlike Deluxe).

I have never heard Soweisoso so cant comment but I have always wanted to check it out.

Cluster and Eno, is more of an Eno album, it has all the ambient Eno trademarks but is still a very nice chill out album.

Hope this helps

John · 24-01-2007 1:20am

Great help thanks. Cluster 71 sounds the most interesting from your descriptions, I'll probably order that and Cluster II next.

damonjewel · 24-01-2007 2:17pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lkHvcsZ_nM

Actually here is the first few minutes of the first track on Cluster 71 on this you tube video.

Krautrock

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