The Krautrock Thread

RIO has a thread, Zeuhl has a thread, Sympho has a thread, even Italian Sympho has a thread.  But what about Krautrock?  Those knob-twirling, tape-cutting boys from Germany deserve a thread too!  Maybe this thread will die immediately and not make an impact, but perhaps this can become a useful tool to introduce newbies and veterans alike to obscure corners of the deep, rarely-mentioned world of experimental sound that is Krautrock.

So: post your questions, comments, album reviews, obscure discoveries, etc. here so we can create a resource to aid all those desiring to broaden their musical horizons and discover some krautrock!


Edited by rileydog22 - August 17 2007 at 01:01

I like this genre a lot, though, of course, it is music of exponential acerbic nature and exaggerated experimental, profound sound-orientations and acid-"naturalizing" movement.

So far, I've shared a first experience out of listening to the early music that TD and Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel or the Cosmic Jokers have made, liking almost everything (the cosmic wobble in the first case, the drones and god-less mechanics in the second, the passionate rock-atmosphere crashes in the third, plus the meditation of nightmares and haunting sounds in the latter).

But, lately, I've tried krautrock under an experience of listening to new music. Having got to listen to Psi (a more jazzy band than acid rock jam), Floh de Cologne (an atypical band of concept, its theatrical style oftenly being a crazy avant-garde), Code III (project in which Schulze drummed, very tough and esoteric), Neu! (strangely the most pure rock I've heard, some experimentalism does the trick), Xhol (from soul and rhythm, to acid jazz and sound delight tangle) and Kollektiv (also jazzy, but much more compositional).

Since I'll continue these journeys, I might try to talk of them here.

Love it.

Edited by t d wombat - August 17 2007 at 01:13

NotSoKoolAid wrote: I'm okay with Krautrock, but from what I've heard there doesn't seem to be much diversity in the tempo from group to group. Can anyone prove me wrong?

there is a lot of difference in tempo; just compare tracks like "God's Endless Love for Men" by Guru Guru, "Sleepwalker's Timeless Bridge" by Amon Düül 2, "Pinch" by Can, "Radio Marrakesch / Orient Express" by Embryo, "Osmose III" by Annexus Quam, "A Day in my Life" by Dzyan, "Utopia No. 1" by Utopia, "In den Gärten Pharao's" by Popol Vuh, "Why Don't You Eat Carrots?" by Faust, to name but a few sound files in the archives  

I find more interesting the cosmic side of kraut rather than the most accessible one. Their role in the history of modern musci is well deserved, pioneering in an absolutely unknown world, on both composition and experimentation, although some works from that era are a bit outdated nowadays. But the influence of bands like EMBRYO, NEU!, CAN, TD, ASH RA TEMPLE and KRAFTWERK is still present, from ambient music to industrial, in songwriting and in musical developments. May I say, I love this side or rock!

Shouldn't we start with the understanding of the name KrautrocK????

set me up with an album that sounds like Floh de Cologne's "Mumien" please =)

I have a question for you Krautrock experts. Which Amon Düül II album should I buy: Phallus Dei, Yeti, Tanz der Lemminge or all three?

Chameleon wrote: I have a question for you Krautrock experts. Which Amon Düül II album should I buy: Phallus Dei, Yeti, Tanz der Lemminge or all three?

Chameleon wrote: Rocktopus wrote: Chameleon wrote: I have a question for you Krautrock experts. Which Amon Düül II album should I buy: Phallus Dei, Yeti, Tanz der Lemminge or all three? All three. In that order.   If the albums are half as awesome as the samples on PA, it will be money well spent!

they are... plus Wolf City as well.  A more refined album... but all of them are simply great albums