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Neu! courtesy Groenland Records<\/p><\/div>\n
But as odd as the music might have sounded to American and British ears \u2013 if they even knew about or heard it \u2013 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 \u2013 as solo artists, as collaborators and as part of key German groups of the era \u2013 helped guide music toward new and exciting frontiers.<\/p>\n
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<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n
The Finest Kraftwerk<\/b>
\nToday he\u2019s a preternaturally youthful 73 year old musician, but in 1970 Michael Rother was working in a mental hospital. \u201cAs a conscientious objector, I was doing a substitution for military service,\u201d he explains. Drummer Klaus Dinger \u201chad this invitation to do some music with a band called Kraftwerk, and he invited me to join him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rother says that he knew nothing about the group. \u201cI had never heard the name; I thought, \u2018The band name sounds a bit silly.\u201d At the time, Kraftwerk was a radically experimental group, with a sound bearing little if any connection to its later commercial successes \u201cAutobahn\u201d (1975) and 1981\u2019s Computer World<\/i> LP.<\/p>\n
Founded by Ralf H\u00fctter and Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk would pioneer electronic music. But in 1970, the group\u2019s experimental music relied upon conventional instruments; unlike later releases, there are no synthesizers on the group’s 1970 self-titled release.<\/p>\n
At his first visit, Rother listened to the musicians improvise, and when an idea occurred to him, he picked up a bass guitar. \u201cI had been alone with my ideas of a different music,\u201d Rother says. \u201cJamming with Ralf H\u00fctter opened a new door for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kraftwerk\u2019s experimental nature made for some compelling live concerts, but Rother says that the group \u2013 at one point a trio of him, Dinger and H\u00fctter \u2013 \u201cwas not ready\u201d to make a second Kraftwerk album. \u201cWe were not able to transfer the raw and rough excitement of what we played live into a studio environment.\u201d Recording sessions were abortive. \u201cThat\u2019s why you don\u2019t see [my name] on any official album release of Kraftwerk,\u201d Rother says. \u201cThere was a realization that the project didn\u2019t please us,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd when we failed in the studio, I think that was sort of the final straw.\u201d He and Dinger departed to launch their own new project.<\/p>\n
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Harmonia<\/p><\/div>\n
Something Neu!<\/b>
\nBy its very nature, Neu! (\u201cNew\u201d) was a more stripped-down musical concept than early Kraftwerk had been. \u201cWe were not theorists,\u201d Rother emphasizes. \u201cWe were practical musicians; we made music.\u201d And Neu! was largely a self-contained project. \u201cNot knowing any other musicians, we said, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s give it a try, Rother recalls. \u201cConny Plank agreed to work with us, and we rented a studio.\u201d<\/p>\n
Producer\/engineer Conny Plank is among the most significant figures in German music of the 20th<\/sup> 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n But in 1972, Plank was not yet famous; he had been involved in less than a dozen album projects. \u201cWe were quite different from the Kraftwerk guys,\u201d Rother says. \u201cKlaus Dinger and I were poor musicians; we didn\u2019t have money in the bank.\u201d But he says that they took the creative and financial risk to get Neu! off the ground. \u201cConny Plank shared the risk with us; we all threw in the money.\u201d The trio booked late-night sessions in a Hamburg studio with an eight-track recording console.<\/p>\n The sound they created was unlike anything anyone had heard before. But paradoxically, it didn\u2019t come about through any sort of grand design. \u201cI played my guitar style,\u201d Rother says, \u201cand [Dinger] played his drum style.\u201d Working extemporaneously \u2013 with little in the form of preconceived demos to guide them \u2013 Rother and Dinger created the revolutionary music heard on the group\u2019s self-titled debut.<\/p>\n Neu!<\/i> tracks like \u201cHallogallo\u201d and \u201cNegativland\u201d are built around what has come to be known as the motorik<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n