What Was Old is Neu! Again (Part 1 of 3)

A pair of 2024 releases on vinyl refocuses a well-earned spotlight on an important corner of modern music. A deluxe version of Musik von Harmonia, the 1973 debut album from German group Harmonia is receiving its first-ever authorized U.S. release in a Record Store Day exclusive. And A Tribute to Neu! collects remixes and reworks of music from that pioneering duo, created by some of today’s groundbreaking artists. Both titles were released April 20 on Groenland Records.

One of the most important yet too often overlooked strains of 20^th century rock is the style known as krautrock. That subgenre was a groundbreaking musical movement that itself drew from a wide array of inspirations: psychedelic rock, avant garde composition, free jazz, musique concrète and improvisation. The krautrock label was not created by West German musicians, but instead by British music journalists seeking a shorthand method of referring to the unusual music. In the German cities and countryside where the form developed, innovative artists applied both rock and non-rock sensibilities to their work, often completely avoiding conventional ideas about song structure and melody.

But as odd as the music might have sounded to American and British ears – if they even knew about or heard it – krautrock would make an indelible impression upon the music scenes in those countries. The music of artists as varied as David Bowie, Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Radiohead, Brian Eno and U2 all bear the indelible influence of krautrock. And two of the pioneering figures in the form are Michael Rother and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Their work – as solo artists, as collaborators and as part of key German groups of the era – helped guide music toward new and exciting frontiers.

The groups with which Rother and Roedelius are associated would make especially notable impacts upon the wider musical movements in and beyond West Germany. Neu! pioneered the propulsive, droning motorik beat and created audio remixes long before that term existed. Cluster explored the impressionistic sonic possibilities within electronic music, and would become a leading force in development of ambient and proto-new age music. And when members of the two collaborated as Harmonia, the blend of the two new forms resulted in an innovative euphony.

The Finest Kraftwerk
Today he’s a preternaturally youthful 73 year old musician, but in 1970 Michael Rother was working in a mental hospital. “As a conscientious objector, I was doing a substitution for military service,” he explains. Drummer Klaus Dinger “had this invitation to do some music with a band called Kraftwerk, and he invited me to join him.”

Rother says that he knew nothing about the group. “I had never heard the name; I thought, ‘The band name sounds a bit silly.” At the time, Kraftwerk was a radically experimental group, with a sound bearing little if any connection to its later commercial successes “Autobahn” (1975) and 1981’s Computer World LP.

Founded by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk would pioneer electronic music. But in 1970, the group’s experimental music relied upon conventional instruments; unlike later releases, there are no synthesizers on the group’s 1970 self-titled release.

At his first visit, Rother listened to the musicians improvise, and when an idea occurred to him, he picked up a bass guitar. “I had been alone with my ideas of a different music,” Rother says. “Jamming with Ralf Hütter opened a new door for me.”

Kraftwerk’s experimental nature made for some compelling live concerts, but Rother says that the group – at one point a trio of him, Dinger and Hütter – “was not ready” to make a second Kraftwerk album. “We were not able to transfer the raw and rough excitement of what we played live into a studio environment.” Recording sessions were abortive. “That’s why you don’t see [my name] on any official album release of Kraftwerk,” Rother says. “There was a realization that the project didn’t please us,” he says. “And when we failed in the studio, I think that was sort of the final straw.” He and Dinger departed to launch their own new project.

Something Neu!
By its very nature, Neu! (“New”) was a more stripped-down musical concept than early Kraftwerk had been. “We were not theorists,” Rother emphasizes. “We were practical musicians; we made music.” And Neu! was largely a self-contained project. “Not knowing any other musicians, we said, ‘Okay, let’s give it a try, Rother recalls. “Conny Plank agreed to work with us, and we rented a studio.”

Producer/engineer Conny Plank is among the most significant figures in German music of the 20^th century; in the years before his death in 1987, he worked with nearly every West German band of note. His unconventional techniques in the studio helped many of those artists realize their creative ideas. Plank’s heavyweight skills and reputation as an enthusiastic collaborator led to work with major groups beyond Germany including DEVO, Ultravox, A Flock of Seagulls and Eurhythmics.

But in 1972, Plank was not yet famous; he had been involved in less than a dozen album projects. “We were quite different from the Kraftwerk guys,” Rother says. “Klaus Dinger and I were poor musicians; we didn’t have money in the bank.” But he says that they took the creative and financial risk to get Neu! off the ground. “Conny Plank shared the risk with us; we all threw in the money.” The trio booked late-night sessions in a Hamburg studio with an eight-track recording console.

The sound they created was unlike anything anyone had heard before. But paradoxically, it didn’t come about through any sort of grand design. “I played my guitar style,” Rother says, “and [Dinger] played his drum style.” Working extemporaneously – with little in the form of preconceived demos to guide them – Rother and Dinger created the revolutionary music heard on the group’s self-titled debut.

Neu! tracks like “Hallogallo” and “Negativland” are built around what has come to be known as the motorik drumming style: a 4/4 beat that conveys determined, unrelenting forward motion. Along with Can drummer Jaki Liebzeit (a later Rother collaborator), Dinger is recognized as a pioneer in the style.

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