I was lucky enough to find pristine copies of the first German pressings of the first two Neu! albums in a second hand record shop in Birmingham circa 1990 for £7 each. Previously I had a comp, called Black Forest Gateau for some reason, but NEEDED the original albums. I also snapped up the copy of Neu! 75 on UK United Artists there for the same price. What a find! The blokes who ran the shop had no clue about the band.
Fellow Krautrock/Kosmische obsessive here. Grew up on the music – my father had a lot of Krautrock, Berlin School stuff and German jazz-rock in his collection. Few decades later, I worked on two reissues with a US-based independent label (Paternoster and German Oak on Now-Again).
That being said, love your selection. Great writing in the intro too.
I particularly remember him being into Can, Tangerine Dream, Embryo, and some weird other German 70s stuff which wouldn't quite fit the Krautrock moniker – like Klaus Doldinger's Passport.
Possibly, though he didn't live in one of the major hubs of the scene – he studied in Hanover, of all places, where I was born. (I do remember him talking about a Roxy Music show, but weirdly no German bands!)
I've got both of those albums on Now-Again Records, and a great pair of LPs on one CD by Aussie multi-instrumentalist Rob Thomsett. Great work but I'm not sure about the new titles on the expanded German Oak album!
In the 90s, I was playing in a strange improv band and one night I was playing a live recording we'd made to an older guy, when he turned it down and asked me, "How much Can do you guys listen to?", or something to that effect. I replied that I'd never heard of Can. He stopped the conversation, got out of my car and said "Oh, that's crazy". The next day he loaned me Tago Mago. Now that is almost like a Year Zero moment, a music I'd been searching for without knowing.
After that it seemed like Krautrock / Kosmische was poking it's head around corners all the time. I remember watching the Shaw Brothers kung fu classic "Master of the Flying Guillotine" and falling out of my chair—every time the bastard appears, his theme music is Neu!—Super 16...
Like, who made this choice? A lot of Hong Kong movies pirated music—another one is a training sequence, I think it's in "Hong Kong Godfather", set to Blüe Oyster Cült's "Teen Archer".
And on rereading I have suddenly noticed your comment en bas re: Swedish circus Kompani Giraff! Fascinating music-performaing arts crossover as I find that circus arts, like printmaking and puppetry, are actually at the forefront of democratic cultural socio-economic narratives, mapping power structures and the economy, the role of democracy, labour rights, gender, animal rights, notions of beauty, notions of high art & low art, art and outsiders in whatever cultural contexts they (the circuses) find themselves. In the years prior to 1930s, circus, academics and artists alike attended the circus as avant garde libertarian art forms. The Surrealists, Bauhaus, Dada artists, Situationists, Impressionists, Picasso, filmmakers Fellini, Wim Wenders, sculptors like Calder and more were all greatly inspired by the circus aesthetics and philosophies. I mention as am an artist following in their visual-art-making legacy and often working in and around the circus arts. Just performed an experimental Teatro Lambe Lambe puppetry circus show at a socio-anarchist-performing object cabaret at Casa Del Popolo this past Saturday in Montreal.
As always, thank you for your fab presentation of all this amazing music and the associated contexts, crossovers and histories. You and your efforts are gems! So cool and we are so lucky to read it all.
Merci/gracias/obrigada/thank you!
Gonna go look up Kompani Giraff now! o woweee they are incredible!
A Study of Losses, Beirut’s seventh studio album, was commissioned by Swedish circus Kompani Giraff for an acrobatic stage show of the same name, which doesn’t sound like an auspicious start. Zach Condon initially felt the same, explaining that when the idea first came up “a certain amount of Elephant Gun era trauma initially came rushing up”. “I had been pigeon-holed for years as a whimsical circus waif, full of sepia-toned images of penny farthings and perhaps lion tamers with handlebar moustaches,” he added. And, well, guilty as charged. But something about recording in such ridiculous circumstances appears to have flipped a switch in Condon, who has made what sounds like his most effortless - and perhaps best - album in ages. Some of it - stand forward Tuanaki Atoll - is pure Beirut, all swooping, drooping melodies, acoustic rushes and joyful melancholia. And by GOD can Condon write a melody."
Absolutely agree on the Neu! album. Thanks for the other recommends - a few here I still need to check out.
let me know how you get on! LOVE that Neu! album
I was lucky enough to find pristine copies of the first German pressings of the first two Neu! albums in a second hand record shop in Birmingham circa 1990 for £7 each. Previously I had a comp, called Black Forest Gateau for some reason, but NEEDED the original albums. I also snapped up the copy of Neu! 75 on UK United Artists there for the same price. What a find! The blokes who ran the shop had no clue about the band.
Fellow Krautrock/Kosmische obsessive here. Grew up on the music – my father had a lot of Krautrock, Berlin School stuff and German jazz-rock in his collection. Few decades later, I worked on two reissues with a US-based independent label (Paternoster and German Oak on Now-Again).
That being said, love your selection. Great writing in the intro too.
Inspired me to make my own list!
I love the fact your dad had a load of Krautrock! What a dude. Would love to read your list.
Yeah, that was his time.
I particularly remember him being into Can, Tangerine Dream, Embryo, and some weird other German 70s stuff which wouldn't quite fit the Krautrock moniker – like Klaus Doldinger's Passport.
oh my word! He must have seen some incredible gigs, too, right?
Possibly, though he didn't live in one of the major hubs of the scene – he studied in Hanover, of all places, where I was born. (I do remember him talking about a Roxy Music show, but weirdly no German bands!)
I've got both of those albums on Now-Again Records, and a great pair of LPs on one CD by Aussie multi-instrumentalist Rob Thomsett. Great work but I'm not sure about the new titles on the expanded German Oak album!
Thanks man, love to hear that. Yeah the artists insisted on new titles. They were chosen by the label owner‘s children.
In the 90s, I was playing in a strange improv band and one night I was playing a live recording we'd made to an older guy, when he turned it down and asked me, "How much Can do you guys listen to?", or something to that effect. I replied that I'd never heard of Can. He stopped the conversation, got out of my car and said "Oh, that's crazy". The next day he loaned me Tago Mago. Now that is almost like a Year Zero moment, a music I'd been searching for without knowing.
After that it seemed like Krautrock / Kosmische was poking it's head around corners all the time. I remember watching the Shaw Brothers kung fu classic "Master of the Flying Guillotine" and falling out of my chair—every time the bastard appears, his theme music is Neu!—Super 16...
Like, who made this choice? A lot of Hong Kong movies pirated music—another one is a training sequence, I think it's in "Hong Kong Godfather", set to Blüe Oyster Cült's "Teen Archer".
But tell me this isn't an amazing intro...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzM-Uh5R81w
and the Neu! kicks so hard!
I love your Can story. I hope you agree that tago mago is the best! It took a lot of soul searching...
That is an amazing into!
OOOOooooOOooo how fascinating!!
And on rereading I have suddenly noticed your comment en bas re: Swedish circus Kompani Giraff! Fascinating music-performaing arts crossover as I find that circus arts, like printmaking and puppetry, are actually at the forefront of democratic cultural socio-economic narratives, mapping power structures and the economy, the role of democracy, labour rights, gender, animal rights, notions of beauty, notions of high art & low art, art and outsiders in whatever cultural contexts they (the circuses) find themselves. In the years prior to 1930s, circus, academics and artists alike attended the circus as avant garde libertarian art forms. The Surrealists, Bauhaus, Dada artists, Situationists, Impressionists, Picasso, filmmakers Fellini, Wim Wenders, sculptors like Calder and more were all greatly inspired by the circus aesthetics and philosophies. I mention as am an artist following in their visual-art-making legacy and often working in and around the circus arts. Just performed an experimental Teatro Lambe Lambe puppetry circus show at a socio-anarchist-performing object cabaret at Casa Del Popolo this past Saturday in Montreal.
As always, thank you for your fab presentation of all this amazing music and the associated contexts, crossovers and histories. You and your efforts are gems! So cool and we are so lucky to read it all.
Merci/gracias/obrigada/thank you!
Gonna go look up Kompani Giraff now! o woweee they are incredible!
https://kompanigiraff.se/en/ incase anyone else is curious
"Beirut - Tuanaki Atoll
A Study of Losses, Beirut’s seventh studio album, was commissioned by Swedish circus Kompani Giraff for an acrobatic stage show of the same name, which doesn’t sound like an auspicious start. Zach Condon initially felt the same, explaining that when the idea first came up “a certain amount of Elephant Gun era trauma initially came rushing up”. “I had been pigeon-holed for years as a whimsical circus waif, full of sepia-toned images of penny farthings and perhaps lion tamers with handlebar moustaches,” he added. And, well, guilty as charged. But something about recording in such ridiculous circumstances appears to have flipped a switch in Condon, who has made what sounds like his most effortless - and perhaps best - album in ages. Some of it - stand forward Tuanaki Atoll - is pure Beirut, all swooping, drooping melodies, acoustic rushes and joyful melancholia. And by GOD can Condon write a melody."
Very fun Krautrock doc is here:
"Krautrock –The Rebirth of Germany" (2009) [English/Français/Español/Italiano/Portugués subs] BBC 4 - Benjamin Whalley
---> https://youtu.be/QP5dOKTB3ng?si=XEaCw7qEdowqSz-X