Last night on eMusic I decided to revisit the genre known as Krautrock. I can’t stand that term, but on my fifth try with this genre, I think I’ve hit on some stuff I might like: a few songs by Neu! (eg, “Hallogallo”, “Fur Immer”, “E-Musik”), a half dozen songs off the first two Faust albums, and a handful of Popol Vuh songs, a band I’ve already liked and purchased albums by thanks to the soundtracks of Werner Herzog films. When I’m done spending quality time with these downloads, I’ll revisit the music of Can, a band I’ve always found lacking in anything but a few good ideas.
What do you make of this Krautrock stuff? Because I’ve disliked the term so much, I’ve barely poked at it and its likely rich mine of rock nerd knuggets of knowledge. I know John Lydon talks about the influence of this stuff on PiL, but I don’t hear that as much as I hear an influence on Martin Hannett‘s production work for Joy Division and others. This Neu! stuff I’m listening to in particular sounds like backing tracks for Ian Curtis to sing over.
Neu!, “Fur Immer”
So go ahead, call me late to the party, but now I’m here and I’m ready to catch up. I welcome your assistance and guidance, Rock Town Hall.
I’m no expert, but there’s some Amon Duul II on emusic that’s really good. Wolf City and Yeti are my two favorites.
Wolf City is a little more song oriented, and easier to get into.
I only have one Can anthology, which is Cannibalism, Volume Two. I really like it, though its first half is much stronger than its second half. I’ve also heard parts of Delay and Tago Mago and I really like them, but have never listened to them in their entirety.
I really like the first Neu! album, but have never heard anything else by them.
A band I like that hasn’t been mentioned in this thread yet is Ash Ra Tempel. I have an awesome bootleg of them playing one, 54-minute song at a festival in Bern, Switzerland in 1974. At times it’s reminscent of the great Eno/Fripp boot Air Structures but it’s more of a gradual buildup from utter quiet to a torrent of noise. I highly recommend it.
Also, does Kraftwerk count as “Krautrock”? This is a serious question here, folks.
Early Kraftwerk (before half the band split to form Neu!) is definitely krautrock, and I certainly think the mid-period records (AUTOBAHN through TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS) qualify, but I think everything they’ve done since is its own little minimalist-electronic thing that doesn’t subscribe to the whole groove-uber-alles thing that I consider the central tenet of krautrock.
Thanks, so far. Can anyone confirm whether Martin Hannett took 98% of his production ideas from the Neu! sample I’ve posted?
Is that party still going on? Someone took me there in like 1976 and everyone was wearing tight leather pants and I think everyone had no idea what anyone was talking about, but they all nodded their heads in agreement lest they be uncool punks in jeans and flannel shirts, like me.
I guess the crappy parties really do seem to just go on an on, though.
Faust have been a long time favorite of mine. I think I’ve written before about their first two albums “Faust” and “So Far” being conceptual opposites of one another, the first issued originally with a clear sleeve and clear vinyl and having very long, rhythmically complex pieces and the latter in a black sleeve with an embossed black label being song based with simple repetitive rhythms. I think the Wumme Years Box set which contains those albums as well as the Faust tapes and some other material from their early years is critical. Faust 4, the last record before their initial dissolution is also great. Now it should be understood that I’m into concept at least as much as execution. The Faust stuff is in no way sensual, but rather it stands as an uncompromising display of ideas, listening pleasure be damned. A good example is a song called “It’s a Bit of a Pain” from Faust IV. On this relatively conventional, unassuming singer songwriter ballad, the title of the song is driven home by some sort of annoying phone sound that comes in and obscures the sensitive finger picked chorus tag.
Geo, I don’t understand you. You’re talking about music, yet you say “listening pleasure be damned” as if that’s a worthwhile goal. I won’t pretend to know much about Faust (kind of other than I thought what you said when I heard a little of it), but even though it may be a kind of music I don’t, can’t or just won’t appreciate, isn’t the attitude of the band that feels “listening pleasure be damned” just a bit fucked up?
If you don’t care what you hear, then why not just listen to Bill O’Reilly? At least it’s free.
2K, I hear you. But the point that should have been made is that Faust offers another kind of listening pleasure–the band has had consistent and hardcore fans over a long period of time, which is more than most folks around here can say about their bands. “This is America, right? I like Faust and I like the Stones and if you don’t like it you can kiss my ass”–that, not some corporate BS about “who listens to this shit?” is what counts.
Why 2K said:
“Isn’t the attitude of the band that feels “listening pleasure be damned” just a bit fucked up?”
Yeah, but, the way it works is that the execution is focused more on doing something to see how it sounds than doing something to make it sound a certain way. Faust has lots of clumsiness in what it does and, in general, musical clumsiness drives me crazy. But with Faust, their apparent dedication to other objectives render the clumsiness irrelevant, completely beside the point. It’s music that comes from an entirely different angle than the sensuous groove approach of the Stones, but as mwall mentioned, it’s possible to like both for the different things they do.
Mr. Mod,
Can has lots of stuff out there, and I think that the quality of their best work gets obscured by trying to pick through all their releases without a clear idea of what is essential. I think a great place to start is the album Future Days. This album exploits the elegant groove of Liebezeit’s drumming and has the feel of a Fripp/Eno collaboration crossed with Bitches’ Brew.
My favorite faux-Krautrock is Wilco’s song “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” from A Ghost is Born. It would sound right at home on a classic Can or Neu album.
Mod Said regarding American Music:
“I know it’s tough to get at what I’m really saying sometimes, but like Geo said about the music of Faust…well, you know what I mean. “
Hey motherfucker, watch the snide. I like Faust and I’m tryin’ my best to explain why!
Geo, that snide wasn’t directed at you but those who objected to what you were saying. I knew EXACTLY what you meant and would back you up on the value of that approach.